Starting the part off RIGHT with Benji hiding behind a tree. Which tree? I don’t remember I did this gameplay like two weeks ago. Back to the business of finding more criminals!
This is the middle tunnel; unfortunately, that’s hard to convey while still keeping a manageable number of screenshots. Alas.
There are a couple of splits in this mineshaft, but it isn’t difficult to navigate. In fact… we’ve got a red dot! Okay, time to see what criminal is buried in the dirt THIS time..!
OH C’MON I THOUGHT THE GAME WAS OVER THIS
Third tunnel’s the charm!
It’s fun to poison an enemy that can’t go to the EZ, especially when your team is not threatened by their attacks.
There’s a VMM, so we must be getting close. And sure enough, I see a red dot…
>:|
The other way, then. It’s better because it has prebby crystals (Johto confirmed).
That’s more like it! For a BB, this guy is actually mildly threatening. But it’s all good, we have Fluffy.
hehehe
Rude! But ultimately not an issue. Pachy is a terrifying strong Vivosaur, though.
Firework grows..! She’s only three ranks off of max, dang! (Max rank is 12 in this game. I don’t expect any of my Vivosaurs to hit it, if only because the max you can reasonably expect to get off of fossils is around 9 and I don’t intend to go out of my way and grind battle points)
Time to deliver the tools to McJunker! Soon, we’ll get that sweet sweet U-Raptor chance…
Gotta clean the tools! I did not get adequate screenshots of them, I apologize. But they are now… clen.
Oh, looks like there’s one more thing that the cart needs to function. Hopefully that won’t be too difficult to grab…
And THAT is why I benched Star instead of Tox last time. Well, that, and Tox has some pretty rad status moves that I want to have. Time to go talk to this mysterious apprentice! Hmm, I wonder who it could possibly be…
Actually no, we’re doing this first. Coathanger is now stronger!
And Fluffy got some TLC, too!
As long as Benji is in the Guild Area, he may as well sell some things and talk to this random child. The Junk Depot, as you can see, is to the south.
Aww yeah, it’s Holt! Holt is great.
You have to bring a V-Raptor to Holt here, so I’m just glad that Tox hasn’t died yet. That, uh, happened to my last V-Raptor. It was an awkward few minutes.
Fight time! We finally get to see what Holt has, and it’s a fun pair of Vivosaurs! Won’t be a problem for the ones I’m bringing, though I DO have to actually fight him using Tox or he won’t hand over the goods.
Woah, the AI used strategy again! I’m impressed. Not that it matters much, though.
Yeah girl, swing that [googles*] thagomizer!
*I was going to google what the tail spikes were called for the purposes of this joke but then I realized that I actually did remember the term. I’m not sure how to feel about this.
THIS IS FINE EVERYTHING IS FINE.
See? Told you.
One fast travel later…
Pfft, Holt definitely wasn’t supposed to battle us. We won in the end, though, and that’s what matters.
U-Raptor U-Raptor U-Raptor--
(You only get this cutscene once, that’s the excuse I’m using for the screenshots being bad)
Uh oh. Looks like we aren’t alone in the tunnel after all… the BB Bandits are back! As competent as ever (this is a dig at how incompetent they are, you see).
Hello, friends.
This entire sequence is fantastic tbh. Fossil Fighters is hilarious.
Benji’s a child in a video game, it’s his JOB to interfere in your business. Sorry not sorry, Viv.
Hhhhhhhhello there, Zino, welcome to the party. Zino is. Um. Well, its description says it all, really. Zino absolutely CAN be threatening, but it relies HEAVILY on support effects that Rex’s other Vivosaur cannot (currently) provide. Won’t be too long until then, though… I live in fear.
Welcome back to this installment of “I gravely mispredict the opponent’s lead”
Don’t worry Fluffy is fine. My setup, on the other hand, is not terribly ideal.
You know, I really should have seen this one coming. I’m so used to AI not switching, but I really ought to remember that this isn’t Pokemon.
Thankfully, Zino cannot hit for beans.
Thought about putting it to sleep, but I can’t afford it and it’s a risky strategy. Opted for a nice, reliable chomp instead.
It proceeded to miss again, so Fluffy came out to whack it.
And Garret just barely gets the kill! Perfect, this saves me some switching nonsense for the next Vivosaur.
Oh of COURSE it confused Gray. Confusion in Fossil Fighters is… fun. Confused Vivosaurs act randomly--they may not attack at all, they may attack with a random move on a random opponent, they may even attack their ALLIES, or…
… they can force a swap. This is ideal, honestly.
A bit more back-and-forth paired with a lucky crit gets us the win! I am very happy that Garret didn’t choose to go for Fluffy out of confusion, that could have been bad.
Tox even got a rank out of that!
Oh right, this was TWO battles… Snivels is easily the more threatening of the two, at least right now. But I did correctly predict his lead!
Ha, he didn’t even go for Garret! Maybe I gave the AI too much credit before.
Firework, darling, I appreciate the enthusiasm but save it for when it matters, please.
SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN
Again with the unnecessary crits, my goodness.
No Vivian fight today, which I’m perfectly fine with. My team doesn’t need another fight, they need treats and pats.
Oh, is this what the bandits were searching for? Weird, I wonder why…
It’s mine now! I can’t say no to that goofy face… and now that the plot is out of the way, Benji can FINALLY grab an encounter! U-Raptor please,,,
Aw. That isn’t a U-Raptor, that’s… something else.
Also, the only way to leave this room is through a random hole, which I find hysterical. I just want to know why.
That wraps up the chapter’s plot! Just level-up battles to go. We’ll do that (and see what Benji’s new catch is) next time!