Gameplay Journal A Kalos Chapter of Summer Scramble Nuzlocke (2023 edition)

SAF · Jul 4, 2023

Okay, for some reason the Summer Scramble Nuzlocke event drew my attention. I decided to set my other Kalos challenge aside (storytelling became so tedious, heh) and do a new run in X with my MC being a girl named Soleil (not to be confused with Laslow's kid in FE Fates). I mean, summer is when you'll typically want to bask in the sun, right? And since Kalos is the Pokémon version of French, I might as well give my girl a French-sounding name while at it.

Anywho, I'll record my encounters and other whatnots in this site. I mean, I could've done so in Google Sheets or something, but setting it up is already tedious in itself and I don't have enough brainpower to do so.

Edit: Per @Hraesvelgr's suggestion, I'll copy-paste my encounter tracker in the spoiler tag below. Will still provide my original tracker's screenshots in my posts, though.

Starter: Elio the Fennekin Braixen (dead)

Route 2: Celine the Pidgey Pidgeotto (dead)

Santalune Forest: Alvin the Scatterbug Spewpa Vivillon (dead)

Route 3: Marissa the Bunnelby Diggersby (dead)

Route 22: Meru the Azurill Marill Azumarill

Route 4: Pepe the Budew Roselia Roserade

Lumiose City: Forrest the Bulbasaur Ivysaur Venusaur

Route 5: Haku the Furfrou

Route 6: Airin the Venipede (dead)

Parfum Palace: Allen the Goldeen

Route 7: Kenji the Snorlax

Connecting Cave: Emma the Whismur

Route 8: Nora the Mienfoo (dead)

Ambrette Town: Hideki the Tyrunt Tyrantrum

Route 9: Kai the Helioptile Heliolisk

Glittering Cave: Anetta the Machop Machoke

Cyllage City: Kalino the Onix (dead)

Route 10: Nagisa the Emolga (dead)

Route 11: Natsu the Hariyama

Reflection Cave: Sherry the Chingling Chimecho

Shalour City: Garrett the Remoraid Octillery

Tower of Mystery: Blacky the Lucario

Route 12: Brenna the Lapras

Azure Bay: Fiore the Slowpoke

Route 13: ??? the Dugtrio (missed)

Route 14: Kaede the Goomy Sliggoo

Laverre City: Josson the Blue-Striped Basculin

Route 15: Raymond the Skorupi Drapion

Lost Hotel: Juno the Klefki (dead)

Route 16: Rio the Foongus

Frost Cavern: Altale the Bergmite Avalugg

Route 17: Snowy the Snover Abomasnow

Team Flare Secret HQ: Nymiera the Xerneas

Route 18:

Terminus Cave:

Couriway Town:

Route 19:

Route 20:

Pokémon Village:

Route 21:

Victory Road:

And have quick links too~

Santalune City - Viola

Cyllage City - Grant

Shalour City - Korrina

Coumarine City - Ramos

Lumiose City - Clemont

Laverre City - Valerie

Anistar City - Olympia

Team Flare on its last legs

Snowbelle City - Wulfric

The Kalos League

Hraesvelgr · Jul 4, 2023

SAF said: ↑

Okay, for some reason the Summer Scramble Nuzlocke event drew my attention. I decided to set my other Kalos challenge aside (storytelling became so tedious, heh) and do a new run in X with my MC being a girl named Soleil (not to be confused with Laslow's kid). I mean, summer is when you'll typically want to bask in the sun, right? And since Kalos is the Pokémon version of French, I might as well give my girl a French-sounding name while at it.

Anywho, I'll record my encounters and other whatnots in this site. I mean, I could've done so in Google Sheets or something, but setting it up is already tedious in itself and I don't have enough brainpower to do so.
Click to expand...

This site, does it allow others to track and see what you're doing in-game? I've never seen this site before.

SAF · Jul 4, 2023

Hraesvelgr said: ↑

This site, does it allow others to track and see what you're doing in-game? I've never seen this site before.
Click to expand...

Not exactly. It's mainly for my personal tracking as I go through the run because the site uses your device's cookies to function, though I will screenshot everything I wrote there for you. Or... want me to copy-paste my record to Google Sheets?

Hraesvelgr · Jul 4, 2023

SAF said: ↑

Not exactly. It's mainly for my personal tracking as I go through the run because the site uses your device's cookies to function, though I will screenshot everything I wrote there for you. Or... want me to copy-paste my record to Google Sheets?
Click to expand...

Prefer copy/paste is preferred, but can you not do it in the topic itself or does that give issues?

SAF · Jul 5, 2023

Soleil's Journey part 1: Viola arc

So it all started from a certain bedroom~

Home sweet home, indeed.

Soleil dressed up real quick and met new neighbors, Calem and Shauna. According to these two, Soleil had to be a new kid in Vaniville -- and Kalos in general. They told her about this man called Professor Sycamore giving a task of sorts to five kids with the three being some of them. Soleil, Calem, and Shauna then met the other two, Tierno and Trevor, in Aquacorde where they discussed some stuff with everyone ending up calling Soleil "Sunny". And most importantly, Soleil got her starter.

Starter: Elio the Fennekin

Also, Tierno gave Soleil the professor's letter to be delivered to her mom. But before she could do so, Shauna wanted a battle -- which she immediately lost courtesy of Elio's Ember.

Aww...

One mail delivery later, the gang moved out to Santalune. Soleil got Elio some friends along the way:

Celine the Pidgey (Route 2),

Alvin the Scatterbug (Santalune Forest),

Marissa the Bunnelby (Route 3), and

Meru the Azurill (Route 22).

Training sessions were also in order to catch them up with Elio's power level. And guess what, Alvin evolved already. Twice.

Alvin rocks his Jungle form here. Too bad Indonesia wasn't listed here, but still makes sense.

More grinding later, Soleil and the gang were ready for their first gym fight: Viola and her bugs. Alvin dispatched her Surskit easily, then faced off against her own Vivillon. Infestation took hold of Alvin at first, though he managed to switch with Elio as soon as the Infestation ended. The battle soon ended by the Fennekin's Ember knocking Viola's Vivillon out even after the latter had a Potion to try tipping the scales. And oh, did I tell you that Alvin managed to paralyze the Vivillon beforehand?

Yeah, right.

With that out of the way, the band of five kids pressed on to Lumiose where Professor Sycamore lives.

Current team

Name: Alvin
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Compound Eyes
Moves: Tackle, Struggle Bug, Stun Spore, Protect

Name: Marissa
Nature: Impish
Ability: Pickup
Moves: Tackle, Double Slap, Leer, Quick Attack

Name: Meru
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Thick Fat
Moves: Bubble, Water Gun, Charm, Water Sport

Name: Elio
Nature: Quirky
Ability: Blaze
Moves: Scratch, Tail Whip, Ember, Howl

Name: Celine
Nature: Hardy
Ability: Keen Eye
Moves: Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust

PS: Names on the spoiler titles are the mons' in-game names.

Jeydis · Jul 5, 2023

Looking like a nice varied team so far, I love that color of Vivillion.

SAF · Jul 12, 2023

Jeydis said: ↑

Looking like a nice varied team so far, I love that color of Vivillion.
Click to expand...

Aw, thanks. Too bad the geographical quirk of Vivillon's didn't last beyond 3DS games tho.

Soleil's Journey part 2: Grant arc

One Budew (yes, Soleil caught a Budew named Pepe in Route 4) and a round of rollerskating later, the gang finally reached the big city -- Lumiose. Soleil, for one, met Professor Sycamore's assistants, Sina and Dexio, who led her to the professor himself. And believe it or not, she actually got to battle him as soon as Calem and Shauna arrived.

Aw, Prof...

The professor used all three of Kanto starters and he allowed Soleil to pick one, so...

Second starter: Forrest the Bulbasaur (and his Venusaurite)

Back outside, Sunny did some exploring around Lumiose, then had a chat with Calem in the Cafe Soleil (see, this is why the gang nicknamed her Sunny) where they met Lysandre and Diantha, then pressed on. It was there at Route 5 where Sunny met Korrina and her two Lucario, one of which already taking interest on the girl for some reason. She also got Haku the Furfrou and Elio evolved there too.

Oh, yes.

And then she met Tierno and Trevor with the former apparently wanting to see some moves. What a restless guy.

Oh? Really now?

Moving on, Forrest nearly died to a trainer's Kadabra in the very same route. But nope, not today, especially since he barely survived at 2 HP. Very very close. It was a good thing too because he got to evolve later on.

Nice.

Past Camphrier, at Route 7, a Snorlax blocked the way. A Poke Flute was needed to wake it up, but it's in the Parfum Palace and the gang needed to get it to proceed. Soleil and Shauna picked it (and Airin thr Venipede from Route 6) up real quick, then went back to Route 7 where Soleil caught the roadblock that was a Snorlax (nicknamed Kenji btw), then moved on. And yes, Meru evolved too.

Happy now?

And then for some reason Tierno and Trevor wanted to tag-team for a friendly match. It wouldn't be fair if Soleil were to fight them alone, so it was nice of Calem to offer his assistance.

Nice move, indeed.

I mean, hands-on practice is important too, y'know.

More evolutions ensued on the way to Ambrette: Celine, Meru (again), Marissa, and Pepe.

For some reason Calem had a bright idea of checking out the fossils as soon as the gang reached Ambrette in case it's somehow related to Mega Evolution. Like, how???

Oh well, whatever. More mons for Sunny then:

Emma the Whismur in the Connecting Cave,

Nora the Mienfoo at Route 8,

Kai the Helioptile at Route 9, and

Anetta the Machop in the Glittering Cave.

It was there in the Glittering Cave where Soleil met Team Flare for the first time.

It's a me, Soleil.

Sunny and Calem took them all down and got a Jaw Fossil and a Sail Fossil for all the trouble. She took the former, by the way, which was then turned into a Tyrunt in the Ambrette Fossil Lab. The journey was then continued with more friends coming:

Kalino the Onix at Cyllage City and

Nagisa the Emolga at Route 10.

One exploration at Cyllage later, the local gym leader, Grant, decided to grant Soleil the HM Strength as a consolation prize for missing out on a local bike race. He then invited her for a gym battle which she eagerly took on. So, a lot of climbing later, Nora single-handedly caught Grant's Amaura off guard. Unfortunately though, his Tyrunt managed to avenge the fallen Amaura by killing Nora, thus forcing Marissa to finish the job for her.

Me? A wall? You're too kind, man.

So... yeah. Next target: Shalour gym.

Current team

Name: Nora
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Regenerator
Moves: Rock Smash, Meditate, Swift, Fake Out

Name: Marissa
Nature: Impish
Ability: Pickup
Moves: Strength, Double Kick, Mud Shot, Quick Attack

Name: Meru
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Thick Fat
Moves: Bubble Beam, Aqua Tail, Charm, Water Sport

Name: Elio
Nature: Quirky
Ability: Blaze
Moves: Scratch, Flame Charge, Ember, Psybeam

Name: Pepe
Nature: Mild
Ability: Natural Cure
Moves: Cut, Giga Drain, Mega Drain, Stun Spore

Name: Forrest
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Overgrow
Moves: Tackle, Poison Powder, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf

PS: Names on the spoiler titles are the mons' in-game names.

SAF · Jul 15, 2023

Soleil's Journey part 3: Korrina arc

Route 10. The Menhir Trail. Team Flare dudes back at it again.

Wow, what a sharp memory.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Seems like Soleil's sticking with that saying as she plowed through the Flare goons on her way to Geosenge. And yet, she met another one of those in town.

Not that this guy picked a fight or anything, but still...

She tried to follow the guy only to find a dead-end. Oh well, let's take photos of the rocks instead.

...yeah, so much for some rocks.

But for some reason the locals seemed to be proud of these random rocks to the point of various theories emerging from it. Soleil's poor braincells couldn't fathom the many theories of these rocks' origins and functions, so she decided to move on. Before she could do it though, she had to fight Korrina and her two Lucario first. Good thing Elio and Meru were dependable tho.

Eheheh...

At Route 11, before Soleil even got any wild mon encounters, Professor Sycamore called.

Good news, yes, but it would have to wait until we reach Shalour City.

So Sunny got even more friends now:

Natsu the Hariyama at Route 11 and

Sherry the Chingling in the Reflection Cave.

And before I forget, can I just say that the Brains and Brawn duo was... annoying? I mean, they took Celine down already.

Anyway, the gang managed to reach Shalour City where the Mega Evolution guru (as the professor worded it) was supposed to be. Specifically, in the Tower of Mastery.

What a tower...

The person in question? That would be the old man right beside Korrina here:

His name is Gurkinn, by the way.

Long story short, the gang actually learned about Mega Evolution from the master himself. He'd love to give all five kids a Key Stone each, but he actually only had one. Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor seemed to have their own priorities already, so Calem and Soleil decided to battle it out themselves. Didn't last that long thanks to Forrest dealing with his Frogadier and Alvin sweeping the other two, Meowstic and Absol, big time. I love this Vivillon. Really.

Better luck next time, Calem.

Korrina then invited everyone to challenge her in the local gym. But before that, training time. For some reason Soleil had a bright idea to train Airin and Natsu somehow, but it just... didn't work out for the former. Why? Because a random Golett took her out.

Anywho, let's fast forward to the gym. It's actually a rollerskating arena. Very Korrina. Challengers would need to fight all the resident rollerskaters to build a rail leading to the gym leader herself. It was in one of those fights when Sherry evolved and another one when Elio was... forced to retire.

Ding ding ding~

Oh well, the show must go on. Alvin's Psybeam confused Korrina's Mienfoo big time. Her Machoke then tried to Rock Tomb him only for Sherry to take the blow and catch them off guard instead. And as for her Hawlucha, let's just say they needed to learn when not to use Flying Press: when their opponent is an Emolga with Static who could always shock them whenever he pleased.

Like, how?

With one more badge in hand, there's one last thing for Soleil to obtain: the ability to Mega Evolve. She needed to climb all the way up the Tower of Mastery for it. Although... why Lucario?

Arceus knows why it has to be Lucario.

It was there at the top floor where Soleil received her very own Key Stone attached to a Mega Ring. It does look more like a bracelet, though.

Nice.

For some reason one of Korrina's two Lucario wanted to switch to Soleil's side, so... the Mega Evolution tutorial session became a Lucario-on-Lucario match.

Whelp. Dunno why, but thanks.

And yes, Soleil took the Lucario in. He's now known as Blacky even though he's mainly blue and black-- right.

Current team

Name: Sherry
Nature: Lax
Ability: Levitate
Moves: Last Resort, Astonish, Confusion, Uproar

Name: Nagisa
Nature: Lonely
Ability: Static
Moves: Spark, Shock Wave, Pursuit, Acrobatics

Name: Meru
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Thick Fat
Moves: Bubble Beam, Aqua Tail, Aqua Ring, Strength

Name: Alvin
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Compound Eyes
Moves: Aerial Ace, Struggle Bug, Draining Kiss, Psybeam

Name: Hideki
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Strong Jaw
Moves: Rock Tomb, Stealth Rock, Bite, Ancient Power

Name: Blacky
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Steadfast
Moves: Power-Up Punch, Swords Dance, Metal Sound, Bone Rush

PS: Names on the spoiler titles are the mons' in-game names.

SAF · Jul 17, 2023

Soleil's Journey part 4: Ramos arc

Moving on, a man at Route 12 gave Soleil a Lapras because he couldn't take care of it-- I mean, her anymore. Yep, this Lapras was a female whom Soleil nicknamed Brenna. One HM Surf later and this happened:

Look at them go~

That, and she also caught a Slowpoke named Fiore at the Azure Bay despite wanting an Inkay or something. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers anyway.

As soon as she arrived at Coumarine, Calem challenged Sunny to a battle in front of the gym. However, it had to wait because she needed to take a monorail to get there.

This is the Seaside Station.

And this is the Hillcrest Station.

Lo and behold, she met Professor Sycamore in the Seaside Station... wait, is that Diantha?

My eyes didn't deceive me, right? RIGHT???

So one monorail ride later, Soleil took up Calem's challenge. His Meowstic's Disarming Voice was a bit scary, but Hideki managed to get away with two rounds of Strong Jaw-powered Bite. Blacky Mega Evolved per Calem's wish (to which Soleil happily obliged) and proceeded to OHKO his Absol with a Power-Up Punch. And just like last time, Forrest took care of his Frogadier.

I... Wh... I just... Whaat.

Surprise surprise, Forrest evolved. This means he can use his Venusaurite now.

Our Rafflesia frog is here, baby.

And as for the gym itself, it's literally a jungle gym. A Grass-type gym on a giant tree with ropes, climbing poles, and Pokémon Rangers -- very fitting. And its leader? An old man named Ramos resting atop the giant treehouse. He started off with his Jumpluff, which was a good starting point for Brenna's Ice Beam. Pepe did a little setup with two layers of Toxic Spikes before passing Ramos' Weepinbell's execution (wha--) on to Nagisa's Acrobatics. Then Ramos' ace, Gogoat, was taken down by a combination of Nagisa's Acrobatics, the Toxic Spikes from before, and the recoil from their Take Down. And yes, Soleil purposefully used her two lightest mons because Brenna took the Jumpluff's Grass Knot badly considering her weight and types. For the record, here's how much everyone in Soleil's gym party weighed:

Pepe: 2.0 kg / 4.4 lbs.

Nagisa: 5.0 kg / 11.0 lbs.

Alvin: 17.0 kg / 37.5 lbs.

Hideki: 26.0 kg / 57.3 lbs.

Blacky: 54.0 kg / 119.0 lbs. (or 57.5 kg / 126.8 lbs. in his Mega form)

Brenna: 220.0 kg / 485.0 lbs.

She also considered using Forrest at first, but he's about half Brenna's weight at 100.0 kg / 220.5 lbs. (or 155.5 kg / 342.8 lbs. in his Mega form). So... yeah, Pepe's much lighter with the same type combo.

I agree, old man.

Fourth gym down, time to go back to Lumiose.

Current team

Name: Brenna
Nature: Docile
Ability: Water Absorb
Moves: Water Pulse, Body Slam, Ice Beam, Surf

Name: Nagisa
Nature: Lonely
Ability: Static
Moves: Spark, Shock Wave, Pursuit, Acrobatics

Name: Pepe
Nature: Mild
Ability: Natural Cure
Moves: Cut, Giga Drain, Venoshock, Toxic Spikes

Name: Alvin
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Compound Eyes
Moves: Aerial Ace, Bug Buzz, Draining Kiss, Psybeam

Name: Hideki
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Strong Jaw
Moves: Rock Tomb, Dragon Tail, Crunch, Aerial Ace

Name: Blacky
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Steadfast
Moves: Power-Up Punch, Swords Dance, Poison Jab, Bone Rush

PS: Names on the spoiler titles are the mons' in-game names.

SAF · Jul 24, 2023

Soleil's Journey part 5: Clemont arc

Fourth gym down, time to go back to Lumiose -- or so was the plan because Soleil kept forgetting that the big city had been having a power outage. Apparently the nearby Power Plant borked somehow. So bad that she just had to check it out. But before that, backtracking time for some encounters:

Allen the Goldeen in the Parfum Palace,

Garrett the Remoraid at Shalour City, and

Missed a Dugtrio at Route 13.

Back on track, a Flare grunt was blocking the way. Seems like they'd solemnly sworn that they're up to no good.

Bright orange suit? It's not like they've attended Naranja Academy or anything.

So in she went with a Power Plant Pass randomly laying somewhere on the ground only to find Team Flare stealing electricity from the Power Plant to... wherever they're directing it to. Bad stuff, indeed. Being a stubborn kid she was, Soleil proceeded to knock everyone in orange suits out left and right until she reached the generator's central part. Turned out this particular, er, "project" was led by one of Team Flare's scientists, Aliana. She was there with an admin whose Houndoom was taken care of by Meru. And as for Aliana herself, her Mightyena tried to Swagger Natsu only for it to be her downfall -- his Force Palm overpowered the supposed confusion.

Oh, yes.

With Team Flare skedaddling, it's time to GTFO as well. Soleil made her way to Lumiose... only to bump with an incredibly giant man.

I'm sorry, what?

Whatever he babbled about made no sense, so Sunny just shrugged it off as she entered Lumiose. Well, more like another part of Lumiose. Shauna met up with her right away to gush over the problem that was recently solved.

Honestly, Soleil herself was not in the mood to brag.

For some reason Shauna wanted to see the Prism Tower, but what Sunny didn't really expect was her already being friends with the gym leader and his little sister -- Clemont and Bonnie, respectively. Since Clemont uses electric-types, ground-types should be handy here...

Wait, didn't Soleil have another ground-type? Onix? Kalino?

So it's basically a grind fest for Kalino yet Hideki was the one who evolved. Great.

One big T-Rex coming up~

With that out of the way, Soleil made her way to the gym for a... pop quiz???

With Bonnie as the host, I see?

While Soleil technically can answer all the questions easily, she chose to continue Kalino's training until he's on par with the rest of the party -- that is, by the time they reached Clemont. She knew Kalino couldn't Bulldoze Clemont's Emolga, but at least his Rock Slide worked wonderfully. The gym leader's Heliolisk then tried to OHKO Kalino with a Grass Knot (Ramos all over again, I see? ) only for it to barely hit Nagisa instead. Soleil's own Emolga, however, seemed to be more susceptible to Thunderbolt instead. Cue constant switching to Hideki, then Pepe, before finally taking the Heliolisk down with said Roselia (and wasting Clemont's Hyper Potions while at it). And as for Clemont's Magneton, Marissa took them down with a Double Kick and a Dig. No, really. Good thing Magnemite line doesn't have Levitate.

Gee, thanks.

Five down, three to go. Next destination: Laverre.

Current team

Name: Kalino
Nature: Mild
Ability: Rock Head
Moves: Rock Slide, Slam, Dragon Breath, Bulldoze

Name: Nagisa
Nature: Lonely
Ability: Static
Moves: Spark, Shock Wave, Pursuit, Acrobatics

Name: Pepe
Nature: Mild
Ability: Natural Cure
Moves: Cut, Giga Drain, Venoshock, Toxic Spikes

Name: Marissa
Nature: Impish
Ability: Pickup
Moves: Strength, Double Kick, Dig, Quick Attack

Name: Hideki
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Strong Jaw
Moves: Rock Tomb, Dragon Claw, Crunch, Bulldoze

Name: Blacky
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Steadfast
Moves: Power-Up Punch, Swords Dance, Poison Jab, Bone Rush

PS: Names on the spoiler titles are the mons' in-game names.

SAF · Jul 28, 2023

Soleil's Journey part 6: Valerie arc

As soon as Soleil got out from the gym, Professor Sycamore wanted to meet her in the Lysandre Cafe. Y'know, that red cafe. Turned out it's just Lysandre rambling about... stuff. Oh well, at least she got a King's Rock for all the trouble.

Trevor then called Sunny to meet up at Route 14 where they compared their Pokédex progresses... and Calem challenged her to a battle. Just like that. At least Alvin and Forrest were up to snuff if the way they tag-teamed against his three mons were anything to go by. Plus, Forrest's Mega Evolution helped.

You don't say.

Apparently Calem needed some quality time with his mons after that. The other four moved on, though Soleil's friends wanted to visit a haunted house in Route 14 for some reason. It's not like she had anything better to do before reaching Laverre, so why not?

Yep, very scary.

Long story short, she's now at Laverre with two more friends:

Kaede the Goomy at Route 14 and

Josson the Blue-Striped Basculin at Laverre City.

Having nothing else to do in the city, she went straight to the local gym. It's part of a big tree like Coumarine Gym but with more of a dollhouse vibe. Very fitting because it's full of fairy-type specialists led by Valerie -- the one who paved the way for more fairy-type specialists later on: Mina, Lillie, Opal, Bede, and Ortega as of now (re: at the time I wrote this). Too bad Kalino had to kick the bucket when he'd been doing so well, though.

One death and a lot of close calls later, Soleil managed to reach the gym leader. Valerie's Mawile and Meru kickstarted the match with Iron Defense and Bulldoze respectively, though Meru quickly switched to Bubble Beam once the Mawile's defense got too high for her Bulldoze's liking. Her Mr. Mime was no match against a Mega Evolved Blacky (was contemplating between him, Pepe, or Forrest but too scared of Mr. Mime's Psychic to be honest). And as for the gym leader's Sylveon, Blacky seemed to be a little more susceptible to their Dazzling Gleam, so a switch to Forrest was in order. And good thing they did switch because not even Sylveon's Charm could deter the Rafflesia frog dude from utilizing his Toxic-Venoshock combo.

Yeah, I hope so.

Sixth badge acquired. Time to-- why is there something amiss north from Laverre?

Current team

Name: Meru
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Thick Fat
Moves: Bubble Beam, Bulldoze, Aqua Ring, Strength

Name: Kenji
Nature: Hardy
Ability: Thick Fat
Moves: Chip Away, Rollout, Body Slam, Bulldoze

Name: Pepe
Nature: Mild
Ability: Natural Cure
Moves: Cut, Giga Drain, Venoshock, Toxic

Name: Marissa
Nature: Impish
Ability: Pickup
Moves: Strength, Double Kick, Dig, Quick Attack

Name: Forrest
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Overgrow
Moves: Venoshock, Toxic, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf

Name: Blacky
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Steadfast
Moves: Aura Sphere, Swords Dance, Poison Jab, Bone Rush

PS: Names on the spoiler titles are the mons' in-game names.

SAF · Jul 31, 2023

Last chapter for the actual Summer Scramble, yay~

Soleil's Journey part 7: Olympia arc

So now Shauna and Trevor wanted to tour the Pokéball Factory north from Laverre. But first, Pepe needs evolving.

Missed opportunity: naming this guy Raizel because rose. But then again, I don't have any OCs named Raizel.

Second, a Team Flare grunt was blocking the way and now chasing Shauna and Trevor. Tierno went to help them, leaving Soleil and Calem to actually tour-- er, infiltrate the factory. Yet another grunt got in the way, forcing Calem to deal with her and let Soleil run rampant in the factory.

This totally doesn't look good...

Long story short, by the time Soleil reached the President's office, a Flare admin was trying to convince him to work for them. Said admin gloated about extinguishing his little glimmer of hope, though she ended up biting much more than she could chew when all she had was a couple dark-type mons with Natsu and Brenna steamrolling them big time. And when the two scientists accompanying her, Celosia and Bryony, wanted to gang up on Soleil, Calem evened the odds with his Meowstic assisting Natsu against their Manectric and Liepard. All the Liepard got was a Slash on Natsu before he OHKO-ed them with a Force Palm. And as for the Manectric, while they managed to paralyze Natsu, Calem's Meowstic managed to finish the job.

Are scientists always that bad at battling, though?

Soleil got more friends on her way to Dendemille:

Raymond the Skorupi at Route 15

Juno the Klefki in the Lost Hotel,

Rio the Foongus at Route 16, and

Altale the Bergmite in the Frost Cavern.

Plus one more enemy in the form of another scientist, Mable. She had a Houndoom who was merely two rounds of Meru's Surf away from utter knockout.

So what?

One Mamoswine ride (and a Snover capture who was nicknamed Snowy) later, Soleil arrived at Anistar with Calem challenging her in front of its gym. Again. However, after Blacky (in his Mega form) took his Meowstic out, Calem revealed a new addition to his team: a Flareon whom Hideki took out with a Rock Tomb. His trusty Greninja came out afterwards only to be taken out by Pepe's Giga Drain. And his Absol? Blacky's Aura Sphere sealed the deal.

And I wonder why.

Moving on, the gym here at Anistar is... one hell of a mindscape. It looked like a humble abode at first, but standing at the center of its carpet causes it to burst into its true form: a maze-like, layered sphere of glowing pathways under a night sky riddled with galaxies and a comet and with constellations of various Pokémon hanging in between. Then again, it's a psychic gym, so getting to its leader, Olympia, gave Soleil quite a headache. While a Thunderbolt from Nagisa could easily take her Sigilyph out, her Slowking was quite a pain in the neck with their Yawn. Why, Marissa and Nagisa were taken out of commission, so Hideki had to avenge them both by landing multiple Crunches on both Olympia's Slowking and Meowstic.

As you wish, ma'am.

So... yeah. What's next?

Current team

Name: Nagisa
Nature: Lonely
Ability: Static
Moves: Spark, Thunderbolt, Pursuit, Acrobatics

Name: Hideki
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Strong Jaw
Moves: Rock Tomb, Dragon Claw, Crunch, Bulldoze

Name: Alvin
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Compound Eyes
Moves: Acrobatics, Bug Buzz, Draining Kiss, Psybeam

Name: Marissa
Nature: Impish
Ability: Pickup
Moves: Strength, Double Kick, Dig, Thief

Name: Raymond
Nature: Bashful
Ability: Battle Armor
Moves: Poison Fang, X-Scissor, Hone Claws, Toxic Spikes

Name: Blacky
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Steadfast
Moves: Aura Sphere, Shadow Claw, Poison Jab, Bone Rush

PS: Names on the spoiler titles are the mons' in-game names.

SAF · Aug 31, 2023

Surprise!!! This is my first post-Scramble update. I know the scoring for SS is already over at this point, but I just wanna see this run through to the end. Just one more badge, man!

Soleil's Journey part 8: Lysandre arc

As soon as Soleil got out from the messed up gym, Calem eagerly challenged her to a rematch without even giving her a chance to give Marissa and Nagisa their proper burials. However...

Duh duh duh dum~

Turned out Lysandre was the one leading Team Flare all this time. Calem suggested heading back to Lumiose and some random grunts near the gym mentioned Lysandre Cafe, so that's where Soleil's going for now. And oh, more evolutions ensued~

Back to the red cafe, only the waiters were there which was kinda... sus. Turned out they're also grunts who spouted something about a secret door when Juno's Dazzling Gleam blinded them big time (or rather, Soleil interrogated them but the game would rather skirt around that). And one round of scouring later...

Open sesame!

It's the Lysandre Labs gauntlet, starting from Lysandre himself. His Mienfoo was no match to Juno's Dazzling Gleam despite being underleveled and Meru the water bunny pretty much Surfed over his Pyroar big time. His Gyarados was a little trickier to the point of having to waste a lot of Moomoo Milk on Sherry and switch to Meru when Outrage kicked in -- and said Gyarados managed to hurt themself to death with the confusion aftereffect. And as for his Murkrow, Hideki's Rock Tomb sealed the deal.

...is that a compliment?

Round 2: Aliana. The early route bug mon dealt with her Mightyena nicely and our little keychain managed to overpower the spiky dragon that was her Druddigon.

I mean, they're grunts. What did you expect?

Round 3: Celosia. Considering both her Manectric and Drapion were weak to ground-types, it should make sense for the resident rocky T-Rex to rely on Earthquake here.

Yeah. Wow.

Round 4: Bryony. Hideki needed a break, so it was up to Blacky to deal with her Liepard and Bisharp instead.

Youth, friendship, and sheer stubbornness. Sounds cliché, but really.

Round 5: Mable. Hideki wrecked her Houndoom big time and so did Juno on her Weavile.

Yeah, so what?

Intermezzo: story time by the giant man from before. It's a tale about -- as the giant man worded it -- a man and his Pokémon.

Round 6: a male scientist (and probably the only one in Team Flare) named Xerosic. Hideki immediately took his Crobat out, then switched to Juno only for him to fall to Xerosic's Malamar. Not without weakening the Malamar enough, however, so that Alvin could take them down with a Bug Buzz.

Again, is that a compliment?

Xerosic then offered a chance to stop the ultimate weapon by choosing one of two buttons -- red and blue -- as one would activate the device. Sounded sus, but okay. Soleil pushed the blue button which was the correct button only for the scientist to activate the weapon anyway. Dangit, Xerosic!

Hidden in the dark, an evil flower blooms
Lovely petals faintly dripping with doom
Even though its beauty is enchantingly demure
The thorns all hiding underneath are anything but pure

So now Soleil had to train Juno's replacement on her way to the ultimate weapon. Had several options to choose from and eventually settled with Kai. He soon evolved into Heliolisk once his moveset became... satisfactory enough. Also trained Kaede too who evolved into Sliggoo after a good while of grinding. I forgot to take a screenshot when they both evolved, though.

Back at Geosenge, the ultimate weapon -- which apparently took the form of a flower -- bloomed in all its glory.

What a massive flower.

If such an evil flower bloomed here, its thorns must be hiding somewhere nearby...

Like... here?

Here, Soleil faced Lysandre again, this time with his Mienfoo and Murkrow already evolved. One critical hit from Sherry's Extrasensory took his Mienfoo Mienshao out. Meru then Surfed over his Pyroar just like last time. His Gyarados unleashed an Earthquake only to be trolled by Sherry's Levitate. From there, the two of them wasted a bunch of Moomoo Milk (Sherry) and Aqua Tail (Lysandre's Gyarados) until Sherry managed to avoid an attack (I didn't see what it was). And as for his Murkrow Honchkrow, Blacky (in his Mega form) OHKO'd the bird with an Aura Sphere.

"But what are you really protecting? A tomorrow that will only end up being worse than today?"
Or a tomorrow that will end up being better than today?

And then Lysandre challenged Soleil to travel deeper into the secret HQ to stop the weapon despite his belief that it's already too late.

You mean, go down there to meet... that???

Off she went along with Calem. He'd been tagging along since entering the secret HQ earlier. The pair tore through more goons getting in their way with Shauna tagging along midway -- and helped dealing with the locked door straight to the legendary room while at it. But then Shauna got chased (again) and Calem had to help her, so it was up to Soleil to break Xerneas out from the machine.

Gameplay-wise, this was an obligatory capture which should count as a Team Flare Secret HQ encounter if not a Geosenge one. Story-wise, Xerneas awakened and took back most of the energy that had been absorbed by the ultimate weapon. The capture itself was basically Xerneas wanting to lend their power to someone -- and Soleil was that someone.

Soleil, along with Calem and Shauna who just came back from distracting the Flare admins, was soon confronted by Lysandre in a weird... contraption thingy? He seemed rather peeved that Xerneas, now nicknamed Nymiera, just had to break free like that. Lysandre had his Mienshao and Honchkrow to attack only for Nymiera themself to retaliate (yes, Nymiera's taking Hideki's spot here). Meru also helped dealing with his Pyroar. And then there's Mega Gyarados who managed to kill Alvin after a round of Bug Buzz. Oh well, at least they're weak to Nymiera's Moonblast now.

"Fools with no vision will continue to befoul this beautiful world. They will go on until the only thing left to do is squabble over the remaining scraps of hope..."
Yep, dude's going nuts.

Still quite peeved that his efforts became null and void, Lysandre fired the ultimate weapon using what little power still remained only for it to backfire big time. The only thing it managed to hit was the budding flower itself and this is what's left of it:

A giant hole filled with rubbles.

Apparently, while Sunny and co. were busy dealing with Team Flare's big boss, Tierno and Trevor focused on freeing the Pokémon held captive at Route 10 menhirs. It's not just them -- they were also assisted by... Sina? Dexio? Is that you? Oh well, whatever.

Current team

Name: Sherry
Nature: Lax
Ability: Levitate
Moves: Charge Beam, Dazzling Gleam, Extrasensory, Echoed Voice

Name: Nymiera
Nature: Calm
Ability: Fairy Aura
Moves: Gravity, Geomancy, Moonblast, Megahorn

Name: Meru
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Thick Fat
Moves: Surf, Bulldoze, Play Rough, Strength

Name: Alvin
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Compound Eyes
Moves: Acrobatics, Bug Buzz, Draining Kiss, Psybeam

Name: Kai
Nature: Impish
Ability: Sand Veil
Moves: Quick Attack, Parabolic Charge, Thunderbolt, Bulldoze

Name: Blacky
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Steadfast
Moves: Aura Sphere, Shadow Claw, Poison Jab, Bone Rush

PS: Names on the spoiler titles are the mons' in-game names.