Screenshot Commentary [Generation 9 Spoilers!] Sightless Scarlet - A Blind Screenshot run of Pokemon Scarlet (Update 15 - 11/4/23)

[RubyClaw]

[This is a run of Pokemon Scarlet so obviously - Generation 9 spoilers ahead!]

Sightless Scarlet - A Blind Screenshot Nuzlocke of Pokemon Scarlet

Welcome to yet another RubyClaw blind run! My favorite kind of runs, boy I missed those. It's been a while since Pokemon Sword and Shield were released (and BDSP weren't really that blind to me so I'm not counting them) and I've been extremely eager and excited to once more get to enjoy Nuzlocking a totally new game without any prior knowledge about it or the pokemon in it (mostly, see below for more details). And now that day had finally come once more! In case you are unfamiliar with my blind runs and are interested in checking out my previous ones, you can find them all in my signature and hall of fame post. Also, if you are less into all my usual introductory yapping, feel free to skip right ahead into the run itself in Part 1 below!

First of all, this will be a screenshot run, and unlike some of my recent ones I'll be far less cheap and use lots of screenshots like I used to do in the past as this game just begs doing so. The style of the run will be the one I often used in my previous runs - A Game Experience Journal meets a Game Review, in which I'll share my thoughts as I play about the game experience, game play, game design, pokemon design, worldbuilding etc, and sometimes even rank them using my 5/5 Claws system. Still, besides me over analyzing everything which I'll try not to overdo, the main goal of this run is to allow you guys to enjoy my initial blind experience through my notes, so I will be posting the run as I go and never play more than one update ahead of the last post, so you can get my authentic reaction to everything and see me embarrass myself in real time.

So as usual the first question - How blind is this run? Well, I'm proud to say, pretty blind! I couldn't resist myself and watched some of the trailers, though not all of them. However, I managed to avoid every leak and post-release information so far, and am more or less aware of a few characters, a few pokemon, and that's about it! Oh, and I know about the main new gimmick I guess, though I'm not even totally sure how it works. I have no knowledge of any evolution, specific teams, moves, etc. Therefore, I'll kindly ask of you guys to avoid spoilers in the comments so we can keep the experience as blind as we can. However, do feel to share your thoughts, hint to me things if you want to ("this pokemon is more than it appears, keep it around" e.g.), explain things to me that I got wrong ("actually this mechanism works X and not Y like you thought), etc. And feel highly encouraged to take part in this, comment, share your thoughts, criticize, etc - as I wrote above my desire here is for us to enjoy this adventure as a team, that's why I'm posting it here and as I go.

This run will have no clear schedule as my life is just too busy and unpredictable to allow me to stick to one, but I'll do my best to keep the updates frequent as I play (an update once every week to three weeks, sounds like something I could probably stick to). Hi, I managed to post an update just a day after release, you have to admit that's impressive right? (and shows how much I'm enjoying this damn game I just couldn't control myself). I'm playing on my switch. Umm what else? I have no idea why I picked Scarlet over Violet to be honest as I changed my mind over this several times (I bought them both). I think that in the end I connect more to the aesthetics of the past than the future, or perhaps it is because I saw a lot of people were into Violet and wanted to be special, who knows 😋 .

Oh, yeah, those of you who follow my runs know that one thing that posting as you go can cause as well, is me losing the game as I post! So I hope you guys are ready for that option, and appreciate the fact it makes the run both hopefully more exciting and possibly more tragic 😬. I won't tell you my statistics for winning posted runs, but let's just say that if I'll sadly lose, this won't be a first, and that I can theoretically lose at any point. Still, we are here for the win and accept no excuses!

Finally, here are the rules for the run. I won't be using anything too crazy unlike some of my runs as playing blindly and not knowing what you'll face tends to be deadly enough. Still, I'll keep things challenging with a few extra limitations:

Spoiler: The Rules

> Basic Nuzlocke Rules (Faint is dead. 1 catch per route. Nicknames are a must).

> I'm not exactly sure how routes work in this game, but I'll do my best to stick to route names as my way to identify ones. Also, I'll mostly use the "close your eyes and run like a madman" method in order to determine my encounter in every new route, but I might play around with that later according to how pokemon seem to be distributed in this game, we'll see. This is all uncharted territory for me (but I'm open for suggestions).

> Play on Set (well, technically I just click B everytime I'm offered to switch as you can't change the game to Set for some reason).

> Can't use more than 3 items per battle. I'll do my best to only use 1 item per battle, and keep the option for more just for emergencies. I'll in fact even try not using that 1 item in battle too often, but again I don't want to limit myself too much in advance without knowing what I'll face in this game.

> Limited dupe clause: I can retry my catch twice if I get a pokemon I already have or had. If I will still get one in my third attempt, I lose the catch for this route.

> Bad memories: can't use or catch any pokemon I already have or had or any of its evolutionary line. Too many bad memories.

> No Legendries. (Unless forced by the game).

> Attachment shiny clause: I can catch and keep any shiny no matter when I caught it, but if I choose not to use it or want to box it, I must kill it. No such thing as a free meal, you must earn them and learn to love your shinnies or not use them at all.

Extra rules added throughout the run (this is a blind run after all):

> Tera Raid Crystals are considered to be an encounter in the location in which they are found, therefore you get one per area and instead the regular one. I'm only allowed to have 3 Tera Raid encounters throughout the game, and I have to declare they are my encounter before I enter the area.

> I'm only allowed to keep the first picnic egg I get (And I'll do my best to hatch it inside a city to count it as an encounter from that place).

Spoiler: Table of Content

Part 1 - Once upon a time (down here!).
Part 2 - A Classy Beginning
Part 3 - Untangling the Cobweb
Part 4 - Let's Catch some Sun
Part 5 - Bringing Down Evil
Part 6 - Short Fuse
Part 7 - Sludge and Steel
Part 8 - Sir, you got my order wrong!
Part 9 - From the Ground Up
Part 10 - Brain Freeze
Part 11 - The Stars Align
Part 12 - Biting more than you can chew
Part 13 - Welcome to the Big League!
Part 14 - End of the Road(s)?
Part 15 - Sightless Scarlet

And at last, let's begin!

Spoiler: Part 1

Part 1 - Once Upon a Time

(Once more, just for the sake of making sure - Generation 9 spoilers ahead!).

The game begins, and I'm genuinely excited. Immediately I'm offered an option to choose my appearance, and even though at first it seems like my options are limited to a few basic ones, I'm then offered quite a lot of customization options ranging from hair to facial features. Sadly, none of them include a beard 😛. I toy around with the options, pick my appearance and am ready to begin the game (Oh and 5/5 Claws for Customization! You can definitely add more options, but that's quite an improvement from previous games, and I love how early you get access to all this, and how you are not limited to a gender with your options).

Naranja academy, I wonder why they didn't name the games Orange and Violet, but perhaps Scarlet had a more traditional connotation to it. I love how even the scissors look like a pokeball, people in this world are sure obsessed about them. But I guess it makes sense as it is the sort of invention that probably revolutionized their world dramatically, a bit like inventing advanced transportation and the gunpowder at the same time if you think about it. But we are not even one minute into the game and I'm already over-analyzing things! Let's just sit back and enjoy the magic a little.

We get to watch a short cutscene that shows us our new school, based on "tradition" as we chose Scarlet I assume. I can't say the graphics are particularly good (and we'll return to this subject later more than once), still there is something extremely appealing in all the fine details they put into it.

So immersive I can imagine myself studying in one of these classes, and it looks quite amazing.

The classic professor (well, director I believe, but you get my point) with a local pokemon scene.

And wait a minute, what's that?! A regional form for Tauros?! Already a pokemon I wasn't aware of and am highly curious about. What type is it? Dark?

And leaving us to wonder, the game begins. Great logo by the way.

And already as we zoom into our house, we get to see two more Paldean pokemon I never seen before, some kind of flamingo and a parrot. Exciting! Yet none of them are very appealing to be honest. I wonder how many new pokemon were introduced in this generation (have we reached a 1000 pokemon yet?), and how many new regional forms/evolutions. I do know Wooper and Diglett have regional forms. No wait, that Diglett one was supposedly not a form but a new pokemon I think. Guess we'll find out!

And this is our house, no doubt the houses of the protagonists in this franchise are getting fancier every time. Still, I think I personally prefer the Galarian one, though the weather here looks great (And makes me feel far more at home coming from a Mediterranean sunbathed country myself).

We then enter our beautiful room. No PC though, kids these days with their damn consoles... And that's weird, I thought the Switch was supposed to look like the one you have? Mine is the classic red and blue. Either way I love the design of this room, though a door could have been nice for some privacy, mom...

Being the fanatic completionist I am, I of course click on every damn thing in the house, and I'll spare you all the details but here's a great example for the sort of lore sprinkle I love and a great design choice that really costs you nothing. By adding a short text box, you can tell so much to the player, and both increase the realism and hint about the different relationships in their character's lives.

Ominous (love the Tauros on the side).

Ok... I won't ask why.

And here our obligatory mom sitting at the kitchen scene! I want to see a game where the player has a single dad, not for any agenda or anything (though dads deserve more public love I tell you!), just to keep things fresh. A sibling could also be pretty cool come to think of it. Anyway, she tells us we are still waiting for some school documents to arrive before we can enroll.

And then the director of the school comes in and apologizes for the delay. A classy man without a doubt, that keeps calling me Master RubyClaw. If he was a tiny bit more arrogant, I'd say he has evil team leader vibes like similar characters in other games, but he is just too sweet to take this role so he seems more like a classic tutorial guide instead.

We are then sent upstairs to bring our hat and bag (what's with pokemon games and these particular scenes repeating again and again? Is it supposed to be extra symbolic? Are hats and bags really important in Japan?), while the director and our mom get to gossip about us without interference.

And we are then given a first glimpse at the three possible starter pokemon:

And I've got to tell you, this isn't an easy choice by no means. Sprigatito is a cat, and I love cats. It's as simple as that. Also, it is objectively adorable. Quaxly has basic vibes to it reminding me of the other rather boring Water Flying pokemon out there (And no, I don't mean Gyarados) however it just looks so feisty and has Don Quixote vibes to it so I have a feeling it will evolve into a great warrior. Also, when I asked my wife which one she prefers she chose him. Still, after a lot of thought my final pick is going to be Fuecoco. It is just so weird, so goofy, and so extremely cute and loveable. I also love the fact I'm not entirely sure I know what it is based on. Is it a pepper? Is it a crocodile? Is it a Yoshi knockoff? Why does it have hair? Who knows! All I know is that I want this happy fire breathing blob by my side. And I can't wait to find out what it evolves into.

To my surprise we are not yet given a starter but instead get to spend some time with all of them together, which de facto means they start running in semi-random directions around me. In theory - this is a pretty cute idea as you'll get to see them all before you choose. In practice - it just feels silly as I don't really get to interact with them all that much.

And as I walk around, we get to witness once more how unpolished this game is (see where my foot is e.g.). Now I'm sure I'll talk a lot more about the graphics and similar issues in future updates after I'll get to experience it a bit more, but I just want to note that it is very clear from the very beginning that this game was released not completely baked, which is a shame. The game has major latency issues in certain locations (and I can only imagine how it will be once we'll get to actually crowded places), my character got stuck twice and the game sort of forced me out of it in a very crude manner using a black screen for a moment, and as you can see characters tend to bleed into each other a lot. The graphics themselves seem to be an improvement to SwSh and PLA but not by much, and there are still issues with lighting and scenery details and textures (sometimes things just over sparkle or shades appear and disappear without notice). I won't give a final official rating for this, but let's say my initial impression is very much 3/5 Claws, and I'm being generous. But hi, don't get me wrong, I don't play pokemon for the graphics. And the game itself is still really beautiful to watch, putting all these issues aside.

We are also given a smartphone-Rotom which gives us access to the map. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how it works, but overall it seems very convenient as you can change orientation, travel instantly between locations you visited, and get to see the different mission you have on the map as well as have a mini map that you can see while you are playing and seems to be showing you some of the local pokemon you can catch (a feature which I think was lacking in PLA where you constantly had to open the map to find your way). So again, just first impression ranking so far, but 5/5 Claws for the map interface! You can really see the improvement and how they learned from the generation 8 games, and in an open world game this is essential.

This is how the items look in the overworld by the way. At first I found it a bit distracting, but when you actually see them semi hidden in the wild it makes a lot of sense and makes finding them challenging but not too hard.

We meet this guy of course, as it wouldn't be a pokemon game without him. This time he talks about the option of playing together, and I believe he is referring to the feature that I saw in one of the trailers that talked about playing in a group of 4. The only shared playing I ever did of pokemon was Soul-lockes so I have no experience with this, but I guess it sounds nice, might try it eventually.

And at last, we arrive at the director's house, or perhaps I should say mansion. As I said, the dude has style.

We are then introduced to our rival, or perhaps mentor would be a better term in this case. An interesting choice changing the classic formula of your rival being someone equal to you more or less in level and experience.

Especially as they introduce her as a "Champion-ranked trainer", which if I understood correctly is the title you'll get once you win this game? If that's the case it feels rather weird that the most we can aspire to is to be her equal. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the more realistic approach to a pokemon journey where you don't have to be the "very best" and save the world from a freaking world-eating monster as a 10 year old, but give me the opportunity to show my worth and thrive to improve. Though perhaps I'm reading all of this wrong, and the post-game for example gives you an opportunity to battle other champion-ranked trainers to show you are the top one? Or maybe I'm just wrong about this in general, who knows.

And her personality seems to be a combination of an over-positive tutor and a very eager battler, which is fine I guess. I've met far less appealing and more annoying rivals in other games, but so far I can't say she left much of an impression on me. Either way, she does have style, can't take that away from her.

And finally, we are given the option to pick our starter, and we go with Fuecoco as promised.

You can't deny that is one extremely adorable baby over here.

And it is female! That's neat. Now what should I name her...

On blind runs I usually don't use nickname themes, unlike all my other runs. Meet Gamba, which is a Hebrew semi-slang word for sweet/bell peppers, usually the red kind. It seems to have come from a specific strain of sweet peppers called Gambo that was imported from Italy and became really popular here. Either way she's sweet, she's a pepper (maybe?), I think it fits her well!

And she seems to be Bashdful so I'm not complaining (not sure what her main attacking stat is going to be, but I assume Special). Plus, she has a Tera type, which is Fire which I assume is the default. I don't know a whole lot about this mechanism but from what I understand you can transform one of your pokemon once per battle to its Terrastalized form and the gain extra STAB if it is their main type, and change type if it is another type. How much extra damage does it do? How long does it last? Does the extra type replace the current types? I have no idea, so I guess we'll find out!

Gamba, I'm a notorious starter killer, especially in blind runs, so... please don't die, ok?

I very much agree! Also, you are slightly freaking me out with the way you reacted, not sure why. Maybe I'm just an old cynic.

Nemona is being greedy and somehow convinces the director to give her an extra starter pokemon even though she already has a team of her own. Though to be honest that's actually a pretty great idea for how an experienced trainer can connect to a new trainer like me.

She goes for Sprigatito, easy mode for us I guess, oh how much I miss Blue. It does make me wonder of course, will we ever see Quaxly again. The director is the final boss perhaps and will be using it? Who knows.

Nemona then tells us she'll be waiting for us by the beach for our first battle, I do like her battle-oriented attitude.

We are then told about yet another feature, auto heal. Your pokemon will automatically be healed using your healing items, and it can be toggled on and off (unlike some other features, ahem exp share, ahem...). I must say that's a fantastic idea, 5/5 Claws for a much-needed feature I didn't even know I needed. Lots of quality-of-life additions so far.

We of course sneak into the director's mansion next to see if there's anything of value there we can take, yet we find nothing other than this pretty cool painting of Greninja.

Kind of reminds me of one of those randomized fakemons, like the one from the site @mewstein found.

We head to fight Nemona, but before that I try my luck and run straight into the ocean. RubyClaw, intentionally drowning his characters ever since The Sims 1 came out! Borders are meant to be tested I say!

Sadly, avatar RubyClaw is much tougher than he appears and swims out to safety.

We then finally begin the battle against our rival, and as you can assume it goes well. I burn the poor grass kitty to the ground, and Nemona is impressed by the fact I know my type chart. Super Effective moves are easy to remember lady, next time test my memory about resistances, I couldn't tell you what resists Steel type attacks even under torture (which isn't a very good quality for a blind runner...).

We are given our Pokedex apps, and are sent on our marry way. Nemona officially takes me under her wing, and my cynicism is slowly starting to melt down as I'm beginning to see the beauty in this relationship. I do wonder what ages our characters are supposed to be. We look about 12 I assume? A bit older than your average protagonist, though not as old as the Gen 5 ones sadly. Nemona looks 16 I guess?

Hi, you up there, come here! Guess I'll get access to you later...

I'm not entirely sure what it is but something about our mom really scares me... Perhaps she is the evil team leader? (I've been playing too much SwSh haven't I?).

But then she gives us a Sandwich and wins over my heart.

And at last, finally, we can enter the first route! Though we are still under tutorial mode. Nemona shows us how to catch pokemon, gives us a few pokeball, and it is time for our very first encounter! (I'm not counting a forced encounter with a Lechonk in which we are taught how to catch pokemon, even though that pig is adorable and I wouldn't mind having one).

I close my eyes, run around without looking, and our encounter is...

A Tarountula, the early game bug I assume! A pokemon I never seen before, and it is quite cute. Wonder if it is the sort that evolves into a cocoon pokemon first. We throw a pokeball...

And caught her! I love this Pokedex entry by the way. Pokedex entries are notorious for often being rather silly, but it shows how a good one can be a great introduction for a pokemon you never met and help you imagine it in its natural habitat. I especially like it when these entries refer to other pokemon and how their ecosystem functions.

Meet Clew! (Which is totally a word I knew and didn't have to google up). Jolly nature, sure. And notice how the location is a different path. I sure hope that most of the game will have these clear different locations in the pokemon description to make it easier to determine where we get new encounters (unlike Alola which had so many different areas as part of "Route 1"). Either that or we'll get that big text pop-up when we enter a new area (or both hopefully). I love its design, and am super curious about what it evolves into. Honestly seeing pokemon I never saw before and getting to use them, and not knowing when/how/and into what they'll evolve is one of my favorite parts of doing a blind run.

And now, it is time for your favorite game show which I'm sure all of you dearly missed:

Which, other, encounter, Ruby, could have, gotten!!! *crowd cheers wildly

From what I've seen - a Hoppip, which is hardly an exciting pokemon, though you can never know if it has some amazing regional form evolution I'm not aware of I guess. Scatterbug, again, not a big miss. Lechonk, the adorable normal type pig. And this adorable Pikaclone:

So overall I'd say I'm pretty happy with my encounter. Pawmi could have been cooler, Lechonk makes me quite curious, but I have no regrets.

I also later notice that once I catch or defeat pokemon I get these ingredients, which seem to be used for creating new TMs. This highly suggest single use TMs as well as some sort of crafting mechanism, both of which are things I'm realty excited for! I shall rank them once I know more of course, but I'll just say these are both steps in the right direction in my opinion.

Also, a general note - I'm really enjoying the battle menu and how the camera functions, again very much like PLA as you don't move to a new screen for the battle itself. They did a good job and deserve credit for this. It really shows how PLA was a relatively safe way for them to take risks, and how it paid off.

We catch up to Nemona, and then hear the roar of a wounded pokemon.

And it seems the box legend (I think I knew its name, though I can't recall) has crushed on the beach. Another reason why I picked Scarlet over Violet is that I simply love the design of this mighty reptile. True, the wheel in its chest is a bit awkward looking but it serves a purpose, and overall it is a great design especially when you see it actually being animated, 4.5/5 Claws for me.

And I believe it is wounded, I guess we are supposed to heal it?

Though I do wonder, what will happen if I'll offer it a Sandwich?

Well I'll be damned, it actually worked! Nothing like a slice of bread with a few vegetables in it to awaken your inner legend it seems.

(Not my best screenshot I admit, but do remember I'm taking them live, not knowing what will happen next - it says Inlet Grotto).

I then follow it into a nearby cave, as Nemona is waiting for us on top on the other side. And this is technically a new area, so I guess if I'll run into a pokemon...

And so I did. Weird, usually these story events don't allow you to catch pokemon midway, but hi these are the rules of the Nuzlocke! So, a level 2 Yungoos? Hmm, can't say I'm too excited about him. But oh well, a pokemon is a pokemon, and these early game Normal types are solid pokemon for the beginning of the game with some useful STAB moves, so let's catch him! Who knows, perhaps it has some unique split regional evolution (not counting on it).

Meet Ramidreju! (Named after a mythological weasel from Iberia, thought it was fitting).

And from what I've seen the only other pokemon I could have run into at that point was a Diglett, so not a major loss.

We continue following the legendary pokemon (I assume it is legendary, though when I think about it, I actually don't really know).

We are then attacked by a horde of angry Houndours, the Reptile-Bike fends them off, until a deadly Houndoom appears.

And just before it Crunchs Clew to shreds costing us our first death of the run...

We are saved by Reptile-Bike who strikes the big doggy down and takes us to safety. Overall, I'll rank this experience as an interesting combination of silly and epic 😄. As I mentioned before Reptile-Bike has some pretty awesome animations, you can easily see they put far more effort into it than most of the other pokemon.

Then, the poor thing falls down, drained from all its powers.

And this dude shows up, who seems to be the semi-obligatory asshole/arrogant, sort of the Bede of this game if you will.

The Humanities track in a trainers' school? Now I'm intrigued! Do you guys write poems about pokemon or... maybe fan-fics?

Ok...

Right, that's how it is called.

Sure, always up for the challenge.

Especially if all you have is a level 5 Skwovet. Didn't pose much of a challenge.

He then gives us Koraidon's pokeball, which means he was its owner all along? Interesting. I can't seem to do much with it at this point though.

My thoughts exactly.

We then both go up the tower to enjoy the view, and gaze over out new school.

As I wrote before I'm doing my best to avoid spoilers, but I've seen this meme before and I can't deny it is funny. I think this scene speaks for itself.

Still once more I'm putting my cynicism aside, and I'm honestly quite excited.

Roger that!

South Province (Area One) you say? Interesting, this seems to be a good sign that hopefully the wild area, aka most of the map I assume, will be divided this way making it clear where we are allowed to get a new encounter. Let's hope that's the case.

Look at that group of Hoppips next to me. I love how the pokemon roam around and have different behaviors, very much like in PLA again. It is not perfect and still feels a bit mechanic at times, but is such an improvement compared to Gen 8's wild area and does make it feel more natural overall.

Well, a new area means a new encounter. I'm closing my eyes and running without looking, and my encounter is...

A Psyduck! Not the most powerful pokemon out there, but one I personally really like and always feel like I don't give it enough love. And Water types always make for a good core in a Nuzlocke team. Let's catch her!

Meet Nebula (Cloud Nine + Psychic type, I don't know, that's what came into my head). Calm is a fine nature for a Psyduck. Also notice it even says Area One in the location caught which will make this even easier to manage. Sorry I'm so obsessed with this, I'm trying to figure out how to Nuzlocke this game as I go without reading stuff online. Also makes you wonder if Game Freak actually takes Nuzlocking in mind when making these choices - Random: The Pokémon Company Has No Issues With Nuzlocke Runs

And now the usual question I always love discussing - What other encounters Ruby could have gotten?

Floatzel, not a big miss to be honest. Azurill, hmm, yeah depends but overall a great pokemon especially with Huge power, though I used it to death so perhaps this is for the best. Fletchling, I already have a fine Fire type, so no thank you. Lechonk, oh well. Fidough and Galarian Wooper could have both been pretty awesome I won't lie. So overall, I got a pretty below average encounter. Could have been better, but could have been worst. Oh and I'm starting to notice pokemon are scattered very unevenly which makes me a bit worried about my randomization method. Still, this is a blind run so I don't think I have a lot of choice other than closing my eyes and running as randomly as I can. However, for future runs I will consider the method I saw suggested by @Spectacles before of checking the encounters table and randomizing according to odds.

We continue moving forward through this route, and I'm really enjoying how open it feels even in this tiny patch, and I have a feeling future areas will be far more open as we are still in a sense in the tutorial. You can find semi-hidden berries, pokeball items scattered all around, and have motivation fighting the pokemon to get their ingredients.

Oh and we also run into these things:

It seems to be some coins and are given to us by a tiny pokemon. I have no idea what they are used for, but yet another hidden thing to look for. I love it that there's a reason to actually explore the world.

Oh and another change seems to be that you now initiate battles with trainers only by talking to them instead of them catching you with their glance (or perhaps these were just the first trainers I met?). I'm not sure what I feel about it as I did enjoy having to dodge the deadly stare of some trainers (and let's face it, being the completionist I am I fought them all anyway eventually) but perhaps it makes less sense in a 3D open world like this where avoiding them would be rather easy anyway.

And apologies for talking so much about so many different features in the same update, but another thing I noticed:

Yep! It seems you can skip cutscene if you want - fans, Game Freak is listening. I usually don't mind cutscenes and I of course enjoy them on my first playthrough, but after playing any Alola game for more than once, or playing the first part of Galar, you start developing a deep hatred for some of the characters because of how much you are forced to listen to them again and again and again... So yeah, great job Game Freak! Again, I wish more of your features were toggle on and off.

We fight a few more wild pokemon (again, love it that you don't phase into a different battle location, it feels so organic), find a few more items, and at last, we reach our destination.

I'm just now noticing the commercials, and I love them. A Qwilfish as a mascot for extra resistant tires is brilliant.

And this seems to be the classic new format of all in one place. A pokemon center, a store, and a TM making machine?

And we are introduced to a new resource called LP (League Points) that exists in addition to regular pokeyen and can be used to buy items and mainly to craft new TMs. And if I understand things correctly you get this resource by melting you spare pokemon materials (the stuff we got when fighting/catching wild pokemon) into it.

And this seems like a good place to end this update (and of course where my gameplay has ended). I hoped it wasn't too long or over-detailed. We'll leave exploring the TM machine and what it offers me and learning about the Let's Go auto battle feature to next time.

Here's the team:

See you next time when we explore Los Platos, and I assume get to enroll into school at last. The adventure has officially begun!

Spoiler: Current Team

Gamba the Fuecoco (F), Clew the Tarountula (F), Nebula the Psyduck (F), Ramidreju the Yungoos (M).

Spoiler: Graveyard

None yet!

 

[Time Master Eon]

I got Violet, so I'm looking forward to see how they're different. I will say that I love the way the Pokédex is presented in this game, visually.

 

[Trollkitten]

Meet Nebula (Cloud Nine + Psychic type, I don't know, that's what came into my head).

Psyduck, for some riduckulous reason, isn't actually a Psychic type. Unless they finally bit the bullet and gave it a regional evolution of that type in this game.

However, for future runs I will consider the method I saw suggested by @Spectacles before of checking the encounters table and randomizing according to odds.

I had that exact idea! Although I haven't tested it yet because I didn't want to nuzlocke Violet blind... which as it turns out was an entirely rational decision because if I had, I would have almost certainly wiped to a certain NPC trainer that does not mess around. Namely, the boss trainer with the Jigglypuff and Skiddo. That fight was HECK to figure out.

 

[estralita]

Always love these. 5/5 claws. And since I won't get a copy of my own for about a month, I can live vicariously through you!

Although, I regret to say the skip cutscene feature existed in SS, only it seemed to consider almost nothing a cutscene. Hope this one works better.

 

[mewstein]

Seconding @estralita , great to see another Ruby Run so soon after the last one - 5/5 claws for continuity!

And here our obligatory mom sitting at the kitchen scene!

We had a 'Mum' in Galar, so why not 'Mamá' in this region...?

A classy man without a doubt, that keeps calling me Master RubyClaw.

Okay forget Turo, I'm here for the Classy Man!

All I know is that I want this happy fire breathing blob by my side.

Agreed, I'd break from tradition and pick the Fire Type starter given these choices.

Though I do wonder, what will happen if I'll offer it a Sandwich?

Thank Mamá's secret ingredient, which she cultivates behind that closed door you came across earlier...

The NuzGods have blessed you with a nice, diverse team - go kick some trasero!

 

[Dustox]

Play on Set

Set, unfortunately, doesn't exist anymore! You just have to press B during the choice, I suppose.

Pokedex entries are notorious for often being rather silly, but it shows how a good one can be a great introduction for a pokemon you never met and help you imagine it in its natural habitat.

I'm not sure if you notice this but you can actually see Tarountula up in the trees in that route and I love that little touch. Makes the world so alive.

And Tarountula! It's so friend-shaped Im love it. I'll save my thoughts on its evolution if you get to evolve it.

Good luck on this run! I love being able to see a Nuzlocke of this before I actually figure out how to do my own.

 

[RubyClaw]

@Dustox - Wait a minute, what? There's no Set mode? Oh Game Freak... I didn't even check yet as I was planning to toggle it on and honestly, just forgot to. So at least you can still click B right? And what about competitive, how does it work there?

 

[Dustox]

@Dustox - Wait a minute, what? There's no Set mode? Oh Game Freak... I didn't even check yet as I was planning to toggle it on and honestly, just forgot to. So at least you can still click B right? And what about competitive, how does it work there?

Yeah, you can still click B. As for competitive, I think it still functions as Set from the video I just watched. Not sure why they removed the option to change it in-game.

They also removed the option to turn off move animations for whatever reason.

 

[MortificationPersonified]

Woo, another blind run! I've really enjoyed reading these in my spare time, excited to see one in Gen 9. Since I won't be able to get the new games myself (no switch unfortunately) I'm really looking forward to seeing this run and absorbing a little of the experience via osmosis. I do agree that from what I've seen of the new games the encounter method isn't kind to nuzlockers, though it seems very natural and immersive. It's always one step forwards, one step back with Game Freak; for every good feature they add (skippable cutscenes, open world), they take one away (toggleable Exp. Share and battle style). Still, very excited for this run and the new generation!

 

[Skarmizard]

I see what you meant when you said you had a great title for a Scarlet run!

Sadly, none of them include a beard 😛.

I need that...and to make my character chubby 😔

though a door could have been nice for some privacy, mom...

😬

I want to see a game where the player has a single dad, not for any agenda or anything (though dads deserve more public love I tell you!), just to keep things fresh

Same, especially since we've only ever had one dad in the games. Plus I spent a good five years largely being raised by a single dad, so it would be nice for personal reasons.

If he was a tiny bit more arrogant, I'd say he has evil team leader vibes like similar characters in other games

Maybe he is though? 👀
If not, that could make great story fuel~
😬 at the graphics/clipping, but like you said, I don't really play for the graphics.
The fact that Nemona is apparently as strong as a champion makes me hopeful that she's way better/less annoying than Hau or Hop, so that's a huge relief. And the starter cutscene is adorable 🥺
Our characters don't drown after three seconds? Stronger than the Legends characters!

I'm not entirely sure what it is but something about our mom really scares me... Perhaps she is the evil team leader?

Also great story fuel!

But then she gives us a Sandwich and wins over my heart.

😆
Both the box legends have great designs. And the fact that a simple sandwich is enough to revitalize them is both cute and funny.
I wish skipping cutscenes had been an option in Gen 7 😔. But at least it's a thing now (and in Gen 8, but they aren't as bad there).

I bought Violet first, and ngl I'm kinda tempted to do a blind run alongside you, but I don't think I can juggle two runs (and I'm too much of a weenie for a blindlocke). I'm excited to see your thoughts on everything!

 

[RubyClaw]

Spoiler: The Team Assembles!

@Time Master Eon - Happy can you could enjoy seeing Scarlet through this run, I got them both as I'm a fanatic. I really agree about the Pokedex, feels like a living codex full of details and great art. Sort of like a study journal.

@Trollkitten - Ah yes, Psyduck not being a Psychic type - a fact I know, act based on in battle, yet choose to deny as it defies logic . I'd love a regional version that would fix that, even an evolution. Well, I'm going blindly so I might as well be totally wiped in surprise, but hi, let's hope (and I'll do my very best) that this won't happen. I did talk to a few folks and asked for non-spoiler opinions about a few things regarding the encounters, and hope my method of going by the "location:" text would be fitting, combined with running blindly when I enter a new area, at least for my first run.

@estralita - Thanks so much! I'll do my very best to make this presentable and I hope you'll enjoy. Really? There was such a feature in SS as well? I wasn't aware of that. I do plan on one day doing a Wonderlocke of Sword/Shield so I'll check it when I do.

@mewstein - Ha! It is indeed not very common that I post two runs so shortly one after the other, happy you are enjoying them. I had the exact same thought about the non-Mum Mom! (Perhaps due to your similar response on my posted Galar run over here in the forums, you are getting into my mind!). We'll get to see more of "Classy Man" I promise you 😏. Muchas gracias amiga!

@Dustox - Great having you onboard Dusty! Man I'm still shocked by the fact they canceled Set, especially as they are keeping it in competitive (thank god for that). And I even noticed they are now telling you what pokemon the opponent will switch in? Why do Game Freak insist on making the game easier? At least you can always press B as you said. I did notice the Tarountula hanging by threads from the trees, and I very much agree it adds so much life to the game. It isn't perfect, but the game feels much more alive compared to the Galarian Wild Area.

@MortificationPersonified - Hi there, thanks a lot! I hope you are enjoying them even half as much as I enjoy making them as they are by far my favorite kind of runs to play and share. Well, I'll see it as my duty to show you guys as much of the game as I can, not every detail of course but the general sense of it all and all the features it includes. Yeah, Game Freak have some very weird policies. I'll try and be an optimist and say it is for every three steps forward they go two back, but I agree.

@Skarmizard - Welcome to the run! Ha, well the credit for the name goes for mewstein who I consulted with before starting it, though I had an even better name for a Violet run! But changed my mind and decided to go with Scarlet first in the end. Second to chubby bearded avatars, one day perhaps 😁. Dads, and single dads specifically, deserve more love from culture, perhaps Gen 10 can fix that. My opinion on Nemona is going to become much more solid in this update as you'll soon see, no spoilers of course. Blind runs are really fun, and hi worst case you lose (believe me, I'm saying that from experience :P), but if my run can sort of act as a replacement for that for you that's also great, welcome to the team 🙂

Spoiler: Part 2

Part 2 - A Classy Beginning

Warning: this update will be both a bit longer than I planned and rather action-light. I hope you'll enjoy learning about other aspects of the game such as the story and many new features as well as my commentary and thoughts about it all, and I promise that future updates will (most probably) be far more Nuzlocke gameplay oriented as the rest of the world will open to us. Still, I don't completely feel bad about this as A) there's so much to discuss about this game and I want to talk about and show as much of it as I can! And B) It seems quite a lot of you who are following are interested in experiencing this game mainly through my run at this point, so I feel obliged to give you a sense of the full adventure, and not only the battle/pokemon catching stuff.

Anyway, let's begin! Now where were we?

(I'm playing around with the image size, I want it to be big enough so you can easily read and see the details, but not too big to make it take up too much space).

Ah yes, visiting our very first pokecenter in the very first town - and learning about the new TM crafting feature.

So, as I wrote last time it seems there's a new feature that allows us to craft TMs in Pokemon Centers using both "TM materials" (not the most original name) that each pokemon leave behind (Lechonk Hair, Ralts Dust, Wooper Slime, etc) and a new currency called LP that you get mostly from breaking apart these components. This in my opinion, is purely genius and the best solution they made so far for the concept of TMs as it checks all the important points and combines them in an elegant way.

TMs are single use, yet you can gain access to more than one with some reasonable effort, making them a semi-finite resource - far better than both the approach of the early gens and of Gens 5-7. You don't get immediate access to every TM plan allowing the game to be scalable and making certain TMs feel rarer and making sure your entire team doesn't get the best TM moves immediately and making many level-up moves irrelevant (e.g. a TM for Psybeam for Psyduck that requires a bit of effort looking for resources at this point is perfect, a TM for Psychic would have made using any other move almost irrelevant), as well as making you work hard to find new TMs (I assume that only once you find them in the wild you get them as that's what I saw for the ones I got so far, I hope I'm not wrong. Perhaps they'll be unlocked in other ways as well). And generally crafting systems are something I really enjoy, and once more you can see how they experimented with it for the first time in PLA and found ways to use what they learned in their main games. It also adds so much flavor to the game the way you use components from pokemon, making it feel far more like a classic fantasy game. Well done, 5/5 Claws. I can think of other ways to improve it in the future like requiring a combination of many unique resources for really special moves, or even crafting other things with it like held items, but for mechanism just introduced that's pretty perfect.

I teach Psybeam and Swift to Nebula the Psyduck (which requires me to go fight a few more wild Psyducks to get the needed ingredients), and Disarming Voice to Gamba the Fuecoco.

We are then introduced to yet another feature, sending your pokemon to do battles without you and pick items for you. Again, partly based on how you could send your pokemon in PLA, but here they can even auto-battle. I'm not sure what I think about it yet as I haven't tried it enough. Is it a good method for exp grinding? Item grinding? I'm usually not a big fan of auto-anything, but if it saves time on any specific kind of grinding I guess it might make sense. We'll try it in the future and find out, though I'm still a bit worried about over/under-leveling so I'll have to see how exp works in this game before overdoing any of it. I'm also a bit worried as I heard that you can tackle the gyms in any order but they do not scale, so I just hope the game will hint me about a general route that would make sense and make sure it won't be too easy/hard.

But we'll have time to worry about that later. We arrived at a new city, time to explore and loot it!

I find a dude selling Ice Cream, yet I have no idea what some of these effects do so I keep that for later.

I get a closer look at the regional form of Tauros. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the color Black, but I have to say this bull looks awfully like the original. More of a reskin rather than a regional form. But who knows, maybe it can evolve? Still wonder what type it is.

I try to catch a few Surskits I come across inside Los Platos using the Let's Go feature, but I think they are just a decoration as Clew can't interact with them.

And in general, it seems this town is pretty fake, just an empty set. You can't get into any of the houses (don't get me wrong, intruding into the houses of strangers isn't an obligatory feature, but let me experience at least some of the local cultures from within the buildings), people barely tell you anything other than basic boring game related stuff, and it just feels pretty from the outside and empty from within. I'm getting some major flashbacks to the towns of Galar... Disappointing, I admit. So much so that this town gets 1/5 Claws.

I do find some useful TMs in the nearby area (which is technically outside of town) such as Stored Power (does anyone ever use these moves?) and Rest.

Onward!

To Mesagoza!

As you can see the graphics, well, they speak for themselves (god, look at the grass). The game especially has problems when you are very close to stuff and for things in the far distance, as this picture shows perfectly for both 😋. When they are seen from a reasonable distance, things actually look decent.

But we are not here for the graphics, we are here for the journey and adventure! Sadly, we are still in a route we had an encounter in, so no new catches for us. There are however quite a few trainers to fight on the way. None are obligatory, but I of course fight them all.

We fight trainers such as the school janitor and a local delivery man, which I simply love. Pokemon really makes you feel how everyday people use pokemon in their lives and some of them see pokemon battles as just another fun hobby, which makes the world feel much more complete.

(I love the logo! Wait, Dolphin pokemon confirmed?).

We also fight a trainer with two pokemon, where we see the horror that @Dustox warned me about - this game is stuck on Switch mode, you can't change it to Set. To make things worst you are even told what pokemon your opponent is going to switch into, making this a very obvious rock-paper-scissors game of type advantage. Luckily, I can always click B to de facto play on Set (this is what I do), but once more I'm disappointed by how Game Freaks keeps taking away features from us for no good reason... make Switch the default and changing to Set something you have to look for deep in the settings, why cancel it?

We are given the Thunder Wave TM by some dude from the league as a reward for fighting so many trainers, and at last we arrive at the city itself.

Where we meet Nemona who offers us to battle, and we of course can't say no. Hope we are ready, we didn't have that much time to train and improve.

She opens with Sprigatito and luckily we have Clew out. I'm disappointed though that even with the super effective Struggle Bug it takes a few hits to take the cat down, and in the process Clew is seriously wounded, still she comes out on top. Nemona then sends her second pokemon, Pawmi, the Pikaclone. I switch to Ramidreju and then...

Dear gods, so soon?!

That thing hits us like a truck! Unlike Z-Moves I think it can attack more than once using this form, and unlike Dynamax I think this has no time limit? Which means we are in serious trouble...

I switch to Gamba the Fuecoco hoping for the best, and she indeed tanks it better.

We trade a few shots, Gamba using Ember and Pawmi using Thunder Shocks, and even though we get it pretty low we get to a point where we can't afford to take even one more hit. Luckily, I am allowing myself the usage of items in battle (aiming for max 1, and in emergency cases max 3, but in no case no more than this). If that wasn't the case... well, honestly I think we would have wiped here or at least had to sac a few pokemon to give myself a chance even. So good thing we are allowing them as I have a feeling that things will be challenging enough as is. I heal Gamba once, and luckily it seems Nemona has no potions herself. And so at low health and after risking a crit, we manage to win the battle! Go Gamba!

Yeah, piece of cake, I totally didn't almost lose.

Gee, you think?

The classic Nuzlocke prize 😋 . Well, at least I can always sell them. Thanks!

And so, we finally enter the city itself, and I admit it looks very impressive. A classic early access to the biggest city in the game and main hub of it all (I just hope there isn't a blackout locking most of the city away from me...).

From these options, tasty food for sure (who am I kidding, from any options that would be my pick 😁, no batter way to learn about culture than from its cuisine).

Time to do some exploring, let's see what the biggest city in Paldea has to offer!

First thing I find is a store for held items, very useful, and it seems to have quite a variety of good ones. I buy Charcoal for Gamba and Mystic Water for Nebula (using the LP by mistake). There are a few more items I'd love to buy but I don't want to spend all my money yet. By the way for some reason, I just couldn't find any way to sell my own items, someone has any idea what I'm missing?

Another cool thing you can purchase are smartphone cases. This might sound pretty useless at first, and well it technically is, but you'd be surprised by the number of occasions you get to see your phone. Every time you talk to someone and exchange contacts it appears, and even when you fall off of tall places you hang on to it in order to slow your fall. Still, I'll save my money for now for other things.

Another type of store that is very common in this city, and I mean VERY common, are food stores. There are at least ten of those spread around if not more, and they all sell either ingredients or full meals that seem to have various effects on raids, catches, making sandwiches and other things. I'll also save those for later until I'll actually understand what they do.

There's the salon (not a lot of hair is going to be left on these heads it seems!). Just like any other salon in any other game since Gen 6. I'm fine with the way I look for now, and again would rather save my money for a rainy day.

And, that's about it... You can't enter any of the building and can't talk to most of the people.

The city itself is quite beautiful. It is big, filled with large plazas, small streets and pretty little corners, and has a vibe of a classic European city which I really enjoy. You can even find a few hidden items if you look hard enough. But it all feels empty and lifeless. Again, major flashbacks to Sword and Shield, fancy yet without content. People don't talk about the city and how living in it is actually like (they don't talk about anything honestly), you don't find many interesting folks around or anything unique (think of Castelia City and how many things you could do and see in it, and how alive it felt). Even the endless food stores aren't really stores, you "enter the door" and immediately just see a menu, you can't even get it. It feels like the perfect set for a great play, with none of the actors showing up. Hmm, sadly I'm giving this town 2.5/5 Claws. It is quite possible they put far more effort into the open world and didn't expect you to spend a lot of time in the cities, but honestly that's hardly an excuse and feels more like something they planned to do in the future but never got to it. Especially when you walk into a small hidden street expecting to see anything unique in its end, and just find yet another dead end.

This has nothing to do with anything, but just made me laugh.

See what I'm saying? Such deep thoughts (it does sound a bit like you plan on eating them though, should I inform the authorities?).

Umm, to be honest I'm still not sure what I think about it. As I said in the last update, I'm torn between the fact I like the realism of it (much like I preferred Galar's version of the league to the regular E4 in concept), with the fact it feels far less epic if any random kid can do it and therefore less satisfying. Makes you wonder how many Champion class trainers there are in this region.

We are even introduced to the tunnel where the final league tests take place. The locals tell us that you need to go through some kind of interview to get in, again I'll be waiting to learn more details but so far, I'm quite confused by it all.

After exploring every corner of the city (at least I tried, might have missed some, it is indeed very big), I head to school, and meet this couple.

Evil team time, and I already like their design.

Wonder what would happen if I'd "walk away", will the game actually allow me? But I can't take that risk, gotta help this kid. If only because she has an adorable bag.

Dear gods what is this horrible looking critter? Looks like a cross between a Gulpin and a... well, and something not very pleasant looking!

Two options seem likely, Dark type or Posion type. As we have Clew out let's try Struggle Bug first and see what happens.

"Not very effective", ok this fits the second theory, return Clew, go Nebula. Psybeam!

"Super effective", and it is annihilated in one hit. Well done ducky!

I mean, you don't have to, you can just walk away...

And then Nemona shows up, thinking we are just challenging random kids for fun and wanting in on the action. I admit, she is growing on me. We explain to her that it was they who started, and she gives us this item to make us better prepared for next battle.

Oh my god, our very own Mega Ring, Z-Ring, Dynamax Band, Ultrasonic Tie, Tera Orb!

No offense Game Freak but what a garbage name. Rolls horribly on your tongue, and feels so forced. Tera crystallization?

But hi, we can finally get to try it ourselves. Team Star Grunt B, hope you are ready!

(For those of you unaware from what I understand Terastillizing changes your type to your Tera type instead of your current one, and if it was the same as your original type which is usually the case you get extra STAB. If it is a different type, you now get STAB from the new type. I also think you still get STAB from your original type in that case, but I'm not sure).

A bit over sparkly in my opinion, but I do like those silly little crystal hats they get to wear.

And it did some impressive damage to the opponent Yungoos, but not as much as I was hoping. In fact, embarrassingly for our beloved Clew, it wasn't even enough to finish it in two blows which meant I had to switch her out and let our Yungoos, Ramidreju, finish the job.

Embarrassing yet amusing, I'm getting some major Team Skull vibes from these guys, and I mean this in a good way.

I like the concept, again much more down to earth, relatable and relevant than teams like Galactic or Flare.

You are far too stylish to be a random NPC, so guess I'll see you around!

Academy time!

It is easy to see they put far more graphical effort on the school than on some of the other parts of the game.

Oh wow, and it is quite impressive looking on the inside too.

Oh... Champion-ranked student council president you say... ok, I'm starting to understand the dynamics here.

And she immediately tells me him about the Team Star kids. Ok my initial opinion of Nemona was very wrong, she is far from basic. She is full of character and you can already feel it. An over achiever perfectionist, yet does it from true passion. Very friendly and kind, yet wants to keep others under her influence. A good person who helps those in need, yet also does it to get recognition from authorities. I'm not sure what I think about her as a person (in total, positive things), but as a character I really like her design and how it is shown to us, well done! I also like how she chooses us as sort of a pet project of hers - again, both because she is a carrying person and wants to help the new kid and sees potential in us, and to sort of prove a point and show how benevolent she is while connecting our fame to hers.

Director Clavell however seems less keen on our behavior, though I am sensing a message between the lines that he doesn't really disapprove of it. Another character I'm learning to like more and more.

We then head to our very first class.

We meet Jacq the biology teacher (being a pokemon biologist is without a doubt my dream job 😁), and are introduced to the class.

And after being asked a few questions about what we want to do and what sort of trainer we are, we are finally let to roam around the campus freely.

And let me tell you, the school is far more detailed than any part of the city. You get access to many different places, tons of books, talk to lots of kids, and there seems to be so mini side quests and things to learn, and I'm loving it all. I'll try and give you a taste of it, but I just can't honestly show you every single entry I read, person I talked to or cool thing I found. It seems the developers left the city empty, but put all of the effort into the academy instead. I'm not entirely sure what I think about this fact, but unlike the city the academy by itself gets 5/5 Claws.

On the school cafeteria we meet Arven again, who is nicer to us this time.

Though he seems to have a grudge against Nemona, which I can appreciate, from a story perspective I mean.

He tells us he rarely shows to school, and only came here to see us and ask for our help.

Oh, ok. I also heard about this thing. I think the game is divided into three main stories. One is the league challenge, which I guess Nemona is our guide to. One are those magical herbs which are guarded by Titan pokemon, and I guess he is our guide to. And the third, which I don't remember 😛.

He then goes on to explain pretty much what I just said about the magical herbs and titans, and tell us there are five of those Titan pokemon we need to defeat.

Oooh! Tales about adventurers fighting pokemon and becoming mortally wounded? And tons of yummy-yummy lore?

Monsters? Ancient books? Alternate form giant Donphan?! Count me in!!!

My main goal remains finishing the league challenge, but sure I'd try defeating as many of these as I can while at it.

And he evens shows me their locations. Look at those awesome names, I have no idea what fighting them would actually be like, and whether I should really try it in a Nuzlocke or not, but Game Freak did a great job in getting me excited about a possible adventure!

Path of Legends, cool name! (And look at his phone, that's objectively cute).

We explore the place, and then we get a call...

Well hello to you too!

I like your name (stay away from Titan pokemon though!), go on (My character is not looking very pleased about all this).

Oh ok, now I remember, this is the third path, fighting the evil team. Well, again, won't be my highest priority, but sure I'll give it a try. I'm very curious about the way they decided to divide the game into three supposedly unrelated paths, guess we'll find out if it was a good idea or not after we'll get to experience them some more. Also, another great way to introduce us to a new quest and make me invested, far better than most pokemon games I've ever played, well done.

I then continue exploring other parts of the school, and again as I said before there's just too much details to show it all here, but I'll do my best to give some examples.

One place I really enjoyed was the library in the main hall. First of all, it is pretty and has tons of style. It is your classic pokemon game library where you can only click on certain shelves to get to read specific entries from specific books, still there are an impressive amount of those, and they find ways to show you so much lore (and useful game details, which is precious information in a blind run).

For example, this entry about an ancient savage Jigglypuff. Perhaps one of the Titans? Or maybe a regional evolution?

And then there's this cool feature we get to try next: You can choose to take classes in different subjects: Math, Biology, History, Home Ec, etc. In these you are told about specific bits of information, either game related or lore related, in bite size portions. A perfect way to explain things in a way that doesn't feel forced like classic tutorials, and is honestly pretty brilliant. You also get to meet the different teachers through them and see the different parts of the school you can visit. 5/5 Claws. As you know I'm a fanatic completionist so I go to all of them (and they seem to be unlocked over time, so to all of them I was allowed at this point at least), but I assume many players would choose to skip them, which is also totally fine. Again, giving players choices is a good thing, and in many ways this game has fully implemented this.

Anther cool character we get to meet is the battle instruction teacher, Dendra, like most of the teachers she is quite a colorful character. Wonder if she is related to Kabu (my all time favorite gym leader that is).

Amusingly, all of her lessons end in the exact same way. Just before we get to try some of the battle techniques ourselves supposedly, the bell rings and classes ends.

After taking some classes we continue our exploration of the academy and head to the staff room next.

I was sure she was a pokemon when I saw her from behind, that's one impressive mane of hair.

Calling it now - she is the champion, or whatever equivalent this game has for a final boss.

That's what I'm here for.

Sounds familiar overall.

😬

That sounds both amazing and a recipe for a complete disaster in real life. One kid falling into a hole, and they'll close the whole damn program, and knowing teenagers that's the best-case scenario of what can happen... (Can you sense I'm 33 from this sentence?). But hi, travelling around and studying the world through your own experience? Sounds amazing.

And she even shows us the location of all the gyms, and their types, oh wow. Now let's analyze this for a moment. I have no idea in what direction I should fight these trainers. I do know however that the Grass gym is an early one, and that both it and the bug one seem to be nearby. Plus, I recognize the Electric one from the trailers so I think it is also rather early. Three types that Gamba is good against, and one she isn't, overall looks good to me. And why is the Normal gym leader not looking at the camera? Interesting...

Cool, path number two (confusing name though, we already have a Victory Road).

We then use this opportunity of being in the staff room to talk to some more of the teachers, as I said before, a very colorful bunch each with their own story.

For example, the math teacher used to be a gym leader it seems.

There's also seem to be a feature where you can become closer to the teachers in time, I assume to unlock more dialog from them (which really reminds me of Mass Effect, wonder if they were indeed the first to use something like it). Either way, another layer of depth which makes you more invested in these people.

And this random guy, who is probably my favorite teacher of them all. I feel you dude, I also don't have the time and patience to pick fancy clothes and accessories for an hour every morning and usually just take a random piece of clothing and put it on before I leave the house. And living in this world where every random person has at least three exotic shades in their hair and 5 random pokemon related accessories on them as well as ridiculously hard to wear outfit, you must feel extra pressured you poor thing!

Oh no... If I learned anything from Alola I have a major battle coming up! Possibly with a Magnemite.

But nope, he just wants to talk to me about more story related things. I admit this is starting to be a bit overwhelming even for me (but hi, the game doesn't assume you go and talk to every single person you can right away, so I guess the fault is on me).

And it is finally time to meet the professor!

She tells us that she is currently researching the great crater in the middle of Paldea, known as area zero. We are again and again told to stay away from it, yet are told it is very mysterious, so I assume this is a late game region where a major plot event will happen (What, you figured out the huge crater in the middle of the region is important? Ruby, you are a genius!).

A nice touch in my opinion.

Oh? Oh right, Arven is her son and he gave us the pokeball right?

Not the best excuse why we can only ride it and not use it for battle, but at least you are referring to this bizarre fact in some way. Yeah sure, a free ride pokemon who also happens to be a very powerful pokemon that will unlock its power over time? Sounds good to me. I'd be happy to help.

We are then taken by Nemona to our dorms, and we seem to have our very own room which is pretty nice (not sure yet if we can customize it or not, guess we'll find out in time).

Days going by in a pokemon game? Now that's something you don't see every day! Tasty, tasty realism. I'm very pleased.

Again, I'll be skipping a few scenes, but it is announced that the treasure hunt is about to begin, and we go with Nemona to the opening ceremony.

The director gives a big, dare I say even a bit inspiring, speech about how this is an opportunity to learn and follow our unique paths and explore the region ourselves.

We leave school, and then immediately Arven and Nemona start fighting about which path we should follow, the gym challenge as Nemona suggests or finding those magical herbs as Arven wants.

And then Cassiopeia joins in on the fun trying to convince me to use my treasure hunt to hunt down the different Team Star crews, and even shares a map with me of them all.

Wait a minute, 5 types of crews, 5 types of titans, and 8 gyms? So all 18 types get representation? That's pretty cool!

We hop on Koraidon, and are finally, FINALLLY, ready to begin and set on our grand new adventure!

Next update that is 😏. So, join me next time, when we finally - catch new pokemon (I hope), fight new trainers (I guess), and well, just go on an adventure and see where our feet take us!

Spoiler: Current Team

Gamba the Fuecoco (F), Clew the Tarountula (F), Nebula the Psyduck (F), Ramidreju the Yungoos (M).

Spoiler: Graveyard

None yet!

 

[Trollkitten]

Wait a minute, 5 types of crews, 5 types of titans, and 8 gyms? So all 18 types get representation? That's pretty cool!

...how and why did I not catch that yet?

 

[mewstein]

I get a closer look at the regional form of Tauros.

Funny, I always imagined Tauros to be bigger than it's shown as here. Although according to Bulbapedia it's... only 1.4m tall?

Evil team time, and I already like their design.

Same! I like that the characters are gradually looking less cartoony/manga-y and more realistic with each generation.

You are far too stylish to be a random NPC, so guess I'll see you around!

I'd hardly call the skinny leggings and two-toned hair stylish... but my money's on this dweeb being the mysterious Cassiopia

It seems the developers left the city empty, but put all of the effort into the academy instead.

I could convince myself that Gamefreak have done this to capture a childhood-type feel to the game. Think about how clear your own memories of being in school are, compared to wandering around the surrounding suburbs..?

Good luck with your mission - whichever you choose to pursue first!

 

[MortificationPersonified]

It's nice to see TMs finally reaching a state of proper balance-reusable TMs were certainly an improvement over one-time-use, but I think a combination of both works perfectly. The flavor of the academy is definitely excellent I agree, it's a pity they didn't really put as much effort into the city itself. I'm gonna have to disagree with you about Team Star-they just seem very silly to me. I haven't been a fan of the last few 'evil' teams, but I suppose that's a matter of personal preference. Looking forward to seeing what you get encounter-wise next time!

 

[Spectacles]

Woo! Pumped to see this and get a little sneak peek of Scarlet before I get it myself.

Being the fanatic completionist I am, I of course click on every damn thing in the house, and I'll spare you all the details but here's a great example for the sort of lore sprinkle I love and a great design choice that really costs you nothing.

oooh me too! I'm glad there's some of that in this game, at least in the player's house!

I want to see a game where the player has a single dad, not for any agenda or anything (though dads deserve more public love I tell you!), just to keep things fresh.

Good point! I wonder why it's always a single mom. Even having two parents living in the house would be interesting.

You can't deny that is one extremely adorable baby over here.

That is such a cute screenshot!

And it is female! That's neat. Now what should I name her...

Oooh and female starter for your first playthrough?! Awesome luck!

Meet Gamba, which is a Hebrew semi-slang word for sweet/bell peppers, usually the red kind.

And a good name too! She better not fall prey to your curse!

And just before it Crunchs Clew to shreds costing us our first death of the run...

Omg I misread this completely and thought Clew actually got Crunched to death. I was gonna tell you not to count that!

As you can see the graphics, well, they speak for themselves (god, look at the grass)

Oof, you're right. Gamecube grass looked better.

Luckily, I can always click B to de facto play on Set (this is what I do), but once more I'm disappointed by how Game Freaks keeps taking away features from us for no good reason...

That's what I'm gonna have to do too. Really baffling that they keep doing this kind of thing.

We meet Jacq the biology teacher (being a pokemon biologist is without a doubt my dream job 😁),

Ah I can totally see that being your Pokemon life!

 

[Skarmizard]

Yeah, the TM mechanic is pretty solid. Not busted like infinite TMs were, but far less limiting than single-use ones-it's a great compromise IMO.
Auto-battling is a plus too, although you don't get nearly as much EXP from it as you do regular battles. Good way to grind for TM materials though, and a safe way to get a low-level 'mon caught up.
I was really bummed that you can't go in all the houses though :c. I always loved going in everywhere and talking to all the NPCs, although I guess it is essentially breaking in...it got extra disappointing in Mesagoza, especially since it's mainly just repeating food shops. But the academy makes up for it somewhat.
I haven't fully decided how I feel about Terastallizing, but I do agree that the crystal hats are hilarious, and I like that it's not as busted as the last few gens' mechanics.

That sounds both amazing and a recipe for a complete disaster in real life. One kid falling into a hole, and they'll close the whole damn program, and knowing teenagers that's the best-case scenario of what can happen... (Can you sense I'm 33 from this sentence?).

I had the exact same thought

I feel you dude, I also don't have the time and patience to pick fancy clothes and accessories for an hour every morning and usually just take a random piece of clothing and put it on before I leave the house.

Same

 

[RubyClaw]

Spoiler: Who doesn't like Replies!

@Trollkitten - Oh I only realized it myself when I went over the screenshots so don't feel bad! But you have to admit that's pretty cool.

@mewstein - Yeah, far too many pokemon are much smaller than you'd imagine (Charizard, Blastoise, Nidoking e,g). Good point about the more realistic style, I agree. Oh my, damn you I think you are right about Cassiopia as it makes a lot of sense, nice catch! I wonder how I missed that myself. I like your excuse for why Game Freak chose to do that, and even though I doubt it was the case it does make a lot of sense, so sure let's go with that 😬.

@MortificationPersonified - Yep, I agree, they really found the perfect balance when it comes to the TM mechanics. Yeah, I was starting to get really worried when I saw the city, but the academy sort of made up for that. Hmm I'm not a huge fan of Team Yell as they hardly feel like an evil team, but I must say that I do really like Team Skull (probably second place after Team Rocket) for their relative realism and just silly humor. But when it comes to Team Star it is too early to judge. Thanks a lot, and thanks for your support! You'll find out soon enough 🙂.

@Spectacles - Hi there! Happy to be your initial (blind) guide to the region, just follow me into the... well, I don't know! Gamba is indeed adorable, hope she'll stay with us for long... Oh I wasn't making the Crunch moment dramatic for no good reason, it was indeed in the format of battle when it happened and I was sure I'm going to have my first causality already (though as I was seeing this I already started wondering if I should count it or not as it was forced upon me). But luckily Koraidon's intervention is also scripted. Yeah, the graphics are really disappointing at times, especially the latency. But the game makes up for it by just being fun and immersive, so you don't often think about it. Ah, the life of a Pokemon Biologist, if only.

@Skarmizard - Interesting, I'll try giving auto battling more of a chance, the fact they give less exp might be an upside as I'm always afraid of over leveling (I should really cut myself some slack and just accept that it will happen in a blind run and things can be hard enough as is). I agree, I also love creeping into strangers' houses 😛 (in games that is!), and Mesagoza was quite disappointing in this sense. At least make all those restaurants places you can actually enter and talk to people in instead. Same about Tersatillizing, still trying to make my mind. So far feels like a pretty random gimmick to be honest.

Spoiler: Part 3

Part 3 - Untangling the Cobweb

Hi all, welcome back to my blind journey through the realm of Paldea!

Let me just pat myself on the shoulder again, this is the third update I've uploaded after only a week, I doubt I could continue posting at this rate for much longer, but it just shows you how much I enjoy playing this game that I'm so motivated to keep posting as fast as I can so I could continue playing 🙂.

We've been introduced to the school, and set free on our Treasure Hunt with three different paths we can follow. Time for the classic question which I have a feeling we are going to ask ourselves a lot in this run - where should we head next?

Here's the map, which I find myself looking at quite a lot in this game. I'm still trying to decide my final opinion about it (I gave my first impression before), but in general it is both very useful and well made, and still requires a bit of tinkering and has some annoying aspects to it. The upside - It has everything you need and more. It shows the location of just about anything in small convenient icons, and when you hover over them or click you get all the details you need. The downside - when you move around and try to change orientation it easily gets confusing. I can't really explain it well and I guess you just have to try it yourself, but the map just keeps changing orientation so fast I find it hard to find a frame of reference. Also, when you zoom in and out you lose some of the details (which makes sense of course) but it always feels like you needed them to keep just a bit more details for the next level of zoom. For example, if I want to see a reasonable number of cities around me to examine the two gyms at both sides of the main city and read about them, I can't do that and be able to hover over them. So, my current, semi-final score for the map: 4/5 Claws. Great direction, very useful and even crucial tool in an open world game, work a bit on some of the details and the annoying parts and it will be perfect.

I then start exploring the map, and find myself spending quite a lot of time reading all the details and trying to fish for as many clues on each city and location as I can, as information is crucial in a blind run. It seems the map is divided into East, West, South and North Provinces and each are divided into numbered areas. This both gives me a clue about the number of locations where I have encounters (not as much as I hoped) and also on a possible order in which I'm supposed to tackle them. The gym description seems to tell you more or less how hard they are relative to one another. The two on each side of the main city (Bug and Grass) seem to be lowest level, then I think I can guess the two gyms which are early-mid tier, then mid-late tier, and finally the two hardest ones. I'm not sure about the inner order though, and I also might be wrong in general about some of them. When it comes to Team Star crews, I think I can guess the order in which I'm supposed to fight them more or less, but I have no idea what level I'm supposed to be when I do that, which is a bit worrying. Finally, the Titans give me very little information and I honestly have no clue what order to tackle them and how hard they are. Again, perhaps I'm over thinking it, but I'm trying to find the right balance between enjoying this game blind and keep a reasonable challenge (As I can always just over level to ridiculous levels and then challenge whatever I want I guess).

I was also made aware by one of your great folks (well, actually by two of you) that my approach of focusing on only the gym challenge is practically impossible as I'll have to face all these path challenges at some point. I was even offered a spoiler-free map that will only tell me the recommended levels of every challenge which I do find very tempting and strongly consider using later, but for now, I won't.

So my final verdict about this issue - I'll start by playing blindly and try to go by the clues the game gives me. However whenever feel I have no idea where to go or am specifically worried about something like being dramatically under-leveled or going into a totally wrong challenge I'll consult you guys for spoiler-free tips of where I should go next (either here or on discord). Sounds good? For example, I'm already asking you this for the next update on a specific issue (and again, please avoid spoilers) - which Titan should I tackle first, and what levels more or less I should be when I tackle it? Feel free to answer vaguely 😛. I'll share that I think the one closest to the main city and to the west is probably the right one, as Arven said I should head that way.

Anyway, as I was playing this part (a week ago, in case you are curious, that's about the delay I have between game play and finding the time to write/edit/post usually) I had no idea about all these things I'm currently writing about! And so, I decided to listen to Nemona's advice and head west and choose the Bug gym as the first I'll tackle!

However, before I did that, I went to the academy again first to see if they are offering any new classes. I know what you are thinking, and I promise this chapter will mostly include pokemon catching and battles and not only me exploring every single thing this game has to offer. I just feel like the game intends for you visit the school once in a while to catch up on things and let your relationships inside the school with the different characters grow naturally, so that's exactly my plan.

As before, I won't go into all the details but just give a few fun and interesting examples.

We meet the history teacher (look at that blackboard, I love that pokeball and the pictures of the old cities), who is a really interesting character which I have a feeling might be related to the main story? Not really sure about it. One reason for this is that she is a great source of information about the great crater that everyone important keeps mentioning.

As a history nerd I couldn't agree with you more, beautiful way to put it.

That's freaking hilarious. Don't go in there students! There is a super ancient treasure there, but it is very dangerous and only really talented kids can find it... what a way to send little kids into the abyss.

We are also told about how this region was once ruled by a powerful emperor, ruling a great empire, and that he also tried to find this treasure and failed.

I mean, can you blame them? You live in a world of fantastical magical beasts who spit fire and ice, actual psychics that can lift things with their thoughts, and ghosts. I think magic is a pretty good description to all of this.

And then after telling a bit more about the age of exploration and her desire to know more, she casually says this. Now as we know this game deals with past and present, so there's a good chance this is some foreshadowing. Should we expect Time travel at some point? Guess we'll find out in time (*ba dum tss).

Another very colorful and amusing character we get to meet is Mr. Saguaro, who teaches home economics and takes it so seriously to the point of admiration.

After going to classes, we spend a bit more time around campus, just looking around.

I almost always forget these mini-quests but I'll do my best to remember and get back to you Jacq! If only to win your affection and get that position as a pokemon lab worker I've been dreaming about.

This is the art class, and look at those drawings, you have to admit this is extremely cute.

Another amusing moment is when the director calls us and asks for our help to know the meaning of some slang word (which I totally heard of before, and totally knew the answer for and didn't have to google up). As we help him, we get closer to him as well.

And lastly, we meet the school nurse, who seems to be mostly bored by her job as she doesn't have much to do and therefore asks us to tell her tales from our adventures. Such a relatable character, love it. Of course by the way, you can't be a nurse without having an overall complex hairstyle, it is just the basic requirements, otherwise pokemon can't trust you to heal them.

And finally finishing our current visit to school, we are heading west in search of GOLD!!! adventure!

That's exactly my plan Nemona (I keep calling her pneumonia in my head *face palm, I should really check the origin or meaning of her name but I'm afraid of spoilers, so if anyone could tell that would be highly appreciated). Thanks! I sure hope so, especially after last time I fought you I was dangerously close to losing, I'll do my best to be extra careful.

Ah, the great outdoors, I admit the fact this game has no clear routes makes leaving a city far more exciting and gives you a true sense of freedom and entering into the unknown. This is our first time in South Province Area Two (Yeah, this game could use a little help with coming up with better names), which means a new encounter at last!

However, if I understand this map correctly, I believe this is also our first opportunity to get a Tera Raid encounter, which I think works sort of like the Dyanamax dens? Now comes the question, how should I treat those? Again, I talked about this with others (@Dustox , thanks again 🙂 ) and my conclusion is that a Tera Den encounter is considered like getting any other encounter in that specific area, so you can get one per area if you want, and if you do it is instead of your regular encounter in that area. And to balance this out and keep to the spirit of playing blind, I think I'll decide that I'm only allowed 3 Tera Den encounters in the entire game, and I have to declare in advance that I'm going to get the den in that area instead of the regular encounter when I enter the route. Sounds fair to you guys?

For this area though, I'll stick to the good old way - and just hop on Koraidon and run around blindly until I hit something. It takes me far more time than I expected (which might be good as it means I don't automatically get the first pokemon in this area), and my encounter is...

A Hoppip. Well, hmm, ok I won't deny I was hoping for something a bit cooler, and possibly more useful. But we don't yet have a Grass type so that's great for diversity, and it is part Flying type so that might be useful for our next gym. Let's catch this little guy!

And, caught! Meet Catsear. Again, not the most exciting pokemon out there, but we'll learn to love it. And hi, if I remember correctly Hoppip learns some pretty useful status moves early on.

Oh and this of course brings me to our usual little game, What Other Catches Ruby Could have Gotten?! (Nearby catches that is, as in this game every route has tons of pokemon that are found in specific parts of a route so getting them as a first encounter in this method isn't very probable).

Mareep, damn that could have been amazing, I love this line. Fletchling, well ok, that's a nice pokemon but I already have a fine Fire Type so that's ok. Starly, useful but I used it quite a lot. Happiny, I always feel cheesy using the Chansey line as it is so ridiculously defensive, so not a bit loss. And some adorable Smolivs! (what a brilliantly silly name). Damn, that could have been really cool. So, a bit below average I'd say, oh well.

We continue traveling throughout this area, fight a few trainers, find some useful TMs like Agility. And we are then introduced to yet another new feature, well, semi-new I'd say, picnics!

Well, that's pretty nice. Like in SwSh you get to see your pokemon walk around and play with them, and what I simply love is that like many other features in this game such as battle this actually happens exactly where you camped and it all organically connects. We hang around a bit with our little team, until I decide it is time to try the sandwich making gimmick.

Oh wow, that's a lot of different effects, and explains all the things I saw in town before when looking at different meals. Two things I'm not sure about - Eggs, there was this short explanation and it seems there is some likelihood of an egg appearing in our picnic baskets? How common is it, and what affects what sort of egg you get? Anyway, if that's the case I think I'll go ahead and make another rule - I'm allowing 1 picnic egg for the entire game just to see what it is like, and I'll do my best to hatch it inside a town so I could count it as this town's encounter (otherwise, well, we'll see how I'd count it).

Another thing is, what in the world are "pokemon with titles". Now I'm really curious. Is it like "Sir Pikachu the Third Duke of Paldea" or more like "The Mysterious Red Hoppip"? Either way, I want to know more 😁.

We then get to make a sandwich (not a very epic sentence I must say). I admit, I've seen prettier sandwiches, but I'll try not to be too harsh with myself. This mini-game is, well, barely a mini-game. You just put items inside a piece of bread. I won't be too quick to judge as perhaps this was sort of a tutorial and the complexity will increase in time, but I can't say I am particularly excited about all this. Making sandwiches is hardly my choice of escapism.

My pokemon team however do seem rather pleased 😛.

And we get some bonuses which seem very random to me, but sure why not. We also get some free exp for the entire team. Hooray for a good Cheese Sandwich!

I think it is too early to rank, but the picnic feature in its entirety feels fun yet not really novel. I admit I'm also not the sort to hang around for a long time with their pokemon in these ways (had a nice time with pokemon amie in Gens 6-7 and camping in Galar, but didn't do that all that much). But I know quite a few people who do really love these features, so overall I think Game Freak did a relatively good job with picnics just nothing too unique, but I'd love to hear your thoughts about it as well.

We leave the picnic and continue our journey through this area, and again I'm conflicted by the below mediocre graphics and the true sense of a grand living pokemon open world, and I admit that in total it is mostly the feelings of awe and joy that wins the battle for my heart. I mean, a pokemon open world game, how long have I been waiting for this to come? I'm ashamed to even answer this question. Again, far from perfect, but still sort of a dream coming true.

We fight a few more pokemon, and Catsear levels up and learns some great powder moves.

And we then arrive at the location of one of these Tera Dens. I haven't mentioned it before, but even though I'm allowing 3 encounters from these dens (or rather Crystals is their names?) I am of course allowing myself free access into them for non-catching purposes, as I'm both curious to see what's in, and I want to see what rewards I can get! If this is anything like the Dyanamx dens there might be some very powerful almost crucial items inside.

Cool, again sounds pretty much like Dynamax raids to me, only with the addition of getting pokemon with unique Tera types.

Ok so if I understand this correctly, we are going to fight a Flabebe with Psychic Tera type. This means that the icon we saw on the map indicates the Tera type, not the type of the pokemon. Again, for blind reasons that means I'll choose which route I want to use to catch a pokemon in a Tera Raid without looking at the Tera den type that is currently active (at least I'll try to). I'm a bit afraid of how powerful this pokemon will be, and I wonder if my pokemon dies in these dens should I count it as a regular death? As I'm not entirely sure how to answer this, I'll just do my best to not let my pokemon die here to make it simpler! Gamba is my most hardy pokemon, so good luck gal!

Oh ok, so you can also cheer in these battles instead of using moves, which is actually a pretty cool idea (especially as you can do it even if your pokemon is knocked out, which makes fighting as a group more interesting as you don't just sit idly when your pokemon faints while your friends play). For us though it means we have a better chance of not losing our pokemon as one of the cheers increases the defense and the other increases heals.

Wow, look at that Flabebe with that massive Psychic eye above its head and all its reflections everywhere, there's something quite creepy about these Tera Raids, and I actually really like it! Feels like you entered a magical parallel world. It did feel like the AI likes targeting us more than the rest of the pokemon, but perhaps that's just my bias and is not really the case.

The battle takes some time, but eventually we make it without fainting, yay!

And these are our rewards. Unlike Galar I got no TRs/TMs, which makes sense as instead we get material to craft those. We also get some other useful items like exp candy, sellable items, and some useful berries. Overall, a pretty nice prize. Nothing you can't do without, but very helpful stuff. I'll be extra careful when tackling these crystal dens, but I do plan to continue doing so in the future. Overall initial impression - Much like the picnics: fun! Yet not that novel. Still, I'm pleased. Game Freak has a tendency to add so many new gimmicks and unneeded features that will never be used again in other games, at least they are taking old ones and polishing them now, which is a far better approach in my opinion,

Onward! This supposedly small region which is only a fraction of the entire map is impressively big, which makes me wonder how big the entire map is and how it compares to different regions.

We then meet this guy who looks far more like the backpackers I know from real life 😋. The classic look of "I haven't showered in two weeks and I'm totally fine with it". He has two pokemon, a Growlithe and a Sableye, both level 12, and they actually make me sweat for a moment, but Nebula manages to take out the Growlithe, and Ramidreju totally saves us from that goblin ghost. I really need to remember that in blind runs any random trainer can be a potential threat, and indeed so far, I'd say about half the random trainer were barely a threat, while the other half were surprisingly challenging, a pretty good mix.

And our team is really starting to take shape with our pokemon learning some useful moves. I'm starting to like this bunch of early mons!

Oh wow, that's rather early to get such a move. Interesting, I honestly never used it before (other than a side effect of Dynamaxing), might give it a chance later on.

Again, I find it hard to describe how vast and full of little treasures the open area is. So many hidden TMs, berries, and cool pokemon that are only found in certain locations, the game really does a great job in encouraging you to explore.

One such pokemon we meet is this guy, who seems to be the local early route Dark type. It has Intimidate, and I'm extremely bummed we didn't get one as our encounter, but fingers crossed that perhaps we'll get one later.

Again, we come across these little coin pixies, I'm still not sure what treasures we'll get if we'll actually collect enough of them / all of them, but it is yet another fun little hidden thing to look around for.

Ooh, what's this glowy thing?

Ha?! (The fact the indicator for Tera Flying type are balloons is both ridiculous and very amusing).

Ooh, ok, so that's also a thing I see. Well again for blind run purposes I guess I'll only get one of these if I'll encounter it randomly. Also, they seem to be quite overleveled compared to the rest of the pokemon around as that little kitty almost murders Gamba is cold blood.

Yet we barely manage to escape for our lives.

Sounds intriguing, can't wait to see it, as well as the other 9 sights. I'm a huge fan of monuments and natural wonders (though my favorites are without a doubt man made ones, especially grand ancient buildings).

The exploration continues as we find a tall tower, we go up it, find a useful TM.

Nice. As well as this thing:

Ok, interesting! So that's another form of it I assume as it has the same name. I love it that you only find certain pokemon in certain locations. Again, makes it problematic for Nuzlockers, but makes the world far more immersive!

Look at that view. Again, I admit, the graphics damage the experience a bit, but if you put that aside - I love the little olive tree groves, the mountains, the canyons, the roads, and how you can actually go to all these places. And the city in the distance is our destination of course. It all feels so alive. Let's continue.

Just an extremely charming group of Hoppips, nothing more to say about that.

Mew, are you here? (He was, in fact, not there. But I did find a Berry so that's something).

We fight this awesome guy, my dream is to be like you when I'm 60, deciding to start again, become a student and learn how to train pokemon. It is never too late.

And look at that adorable little thing! I love the way you encounter new pokemon you never met in their natural habitat, just hanging around in the wild. Really feels like those field trips we used to have as kids where one of the kids finds a turtle or some other animals and everyone gathers around to see the poor confused critter.

And the fact the pokedex gives you some, yet not all of, the information also adds a lot to this sense of exploring and finding something new. Like going into nature with a field guide. I'm wondering about its name by the way, might be a reference to NaCl and this little critter being some sort of salt pokemon? Or perhaps my scientist senses are confusing me.

And look it is a wild Vespiquen (and a few Combeese behind her that hide behind the tree), again much like in PLA. I love it when you can meet evolved forms in the wild. And this gang of Smolivs following that Kricketot, such a great scene! I might be over enthusiastic about these simple little details, but I truly enjoy how natural it all feels.

And it was all idealic fun and games, until I met this guy.

Now sadly I didn't keep an exact record of the battle, but that was without a doubt the closest I was so far to losing a pokemon, and possibly losing the entire run. All of his pokemon were level 14 while mine were around level 12. He opened with a Psyduck that was quite tough, but I managed to overcome it using Terastillized Catsear.

He then sent out his Maschiff and that thing started howling like there was no tomorrow. I barely managed to take it down, risking a crit more than once, and only surviving thanks to being allowed to use two potions, which isn't against my rules (of up to 3 healing items), but is against my desire to use potions as least as I can. It also helped that the AI didn't go for the kill at a certain crucial point, as I fear that if it would have, it would have probably cost me a pokemon.

His last pokemon was a Mudbray that Nebula the Psyduck took down, but again with a bit of bad luck I'm pretty sure this battle could have been my doom. Luckily the team managed to pull through.

Once more the lesson here for me is to stop being so worried about over leveling. I'm way too conscious about this, and this is making me face enemies unprepared. I just have to accept the fact I'll sometimes be over leveled, and that's ok, especially if I don't want this run to end in a wipe against some random delivery guy.

We fight a few more trainers, none of them pose half the threat this guy did. And at last, we arrive at our destination.

The town of Cortondo!

I'm rrrrrolling it on my tongue as we speak!

We meet another one of these guys, I have a feeling they'll be found in every city or important route, a nice way to motivate me to actually fight the trainers I meet. He gives us this fine TM, and I decide to teach it to Catsear for a possible Flying STAB move against the coming Bug gym.

The town of Cortondo is a fine place overall. Again, like the rest of the cities we visited so far you can't really get inside any buildings. All the houses are just empty facades, as well as all of the other supposedly interesting places. Still, compared to the other towns this one actually has some personality to it. There's a sweets store that is run by the gym leader, who apparently specializes in baking tasty sugary treats.

The local folks are mostly involved in the local olive industry of this town, whose orchards we've seen on our ways here. And this perfectly and naturally connects to the pokemon you see around town, either Smolivs, or pokemon such Heracross that fit both the Bug theme and can be used as laborers. The town puts a lot of emphasis on their connection to olives and seem to make it part of their touristic appeal, as you would expect from a small town like this.

You can really imagine this being a real place. Again, a bit disappointing when it comes to the town lacking unique content or inside to buildings, but at least the NPCs and general vibe sort of made up for that. I'm giving this town 3.5/5 Claws. Not impressive I guess, but not that bad either, and far better than the two we've visited before.

And I guess we are all ready to face them next gym, yet honestly, I'm a bit afraid and I really want to be able to face it at least with a full team of 6.

At first, I try to look south for any other area that is within the South Province but they all appear to require traveling through some bridges and mountains, and are further away than they first appeared.

But West-North of town there's West Province (Area One), and this is an open world after all, so why not just go there instead? I hope I won't meet pokemon that are too overleveled, but there's only one way to find out. With these confusing area names, I better keep a good record of where I caught every pokemon or else I'm very likely to make mistakes.

Anyway, we travel a relatively short distance away from town, and then we arrive at the new area.

I close my eyes, run like a madman, and our first encounter is...

What the hell is this tiny thing?! Well, it is a Gen 9 pokemon so first of all I'm pleased! But what am I even looking at? I think it is some sort of small bird with an eggshell on its head?

Oh... maybe it is the pre-evolution of that parrot pokemon we saw in the beginning? Hmm, a bit disappointing if that's the case, but oh well. Can't leave Clew in, in that case. I can switch to Nebula, or maybe Gamba? Let's go Gamba.

Holy cow, that thing used Razor Leaf on me and got a crit, if I would have switched to Nebula I might have lost her. It is also good to know as I was planning on using Ember and I could have killed her. Well, I guess it is a Flying Grass type? It is green after all so it makes sense. I have a few risky moments, I throw a Great Ball that miss which is far from ideal, and now I have to switch.

I switch to Catsear, but that thing does exactly half it life worth of damage. Now I have two options. I can run away, switch to some other poor pokemon who would be at risk, or I can throw a ball and hope for the best. I take the risk, throw the ball...

And caught, phew! Even catching pokemon can be scary in blind runs. I'm guessing this area is a bit over my level, but honestly not by that much (also Gamba levels up and learns Incinerate, nice!).

What, pure Grass type? So, it's not a bird? Wait Capsakid? If I remember correctly capsicum is the scientific name of pepper, so maybe this pokemon is related to peppers in some way? Oh, it literally says so in its description, the "Spicy Pepper" pokemon. Well, that's interesting in many ways! A) We have a pure Grass type, which I know simply nothing about B) Now I suspect that it is unlikely that our beloved Gamba is based on peppers, right? I mean how many pepper inspired pokemon can you have in one region 😋?

Anyway, meet Pilpeltte (the official Hebrew name for bell peppers this time, and also it has a cute sound to it). I'm super curious to know what you evolve into. Now that I'm looking at your details, maybe you are supposed to be a bit reptilian? I'm just not sure what that beak/face is supposed to be. And I guess that cap I thought was an egg shell is like the cap of some fruits where the flower used to be?

Anyway, now that we have a full team and caught our encounter here, it is time for the classic question – What other nearby catches Ruby could have gotten?


Mankey, Mudbray, Phanpy, Gogoat, and this thing:

All good pokemon I would have been happy to have, but I think I got the coolest most unique one (And I think it is relatively rare as I haven't seen any more of her kind) so I'm pretty pleased. Sadly, it won't be of much help against the Bug gym. Time to head back and face the challenge!

Before I do so I decided to do two things. First, fly back to the main city to buy some useful held items for my team like Sharp Beak for Catsear, and Silver Powder for Clew. And second, while I was there, I decided to give a few exp candies to my pokemon who were left behind level-wise, especially Clew and Nebula. And then...

Oooh!!! Already? I live for these moments in blind runs. What will she evolve into?

Ah... what? I mean, what? It is pretty cool I guess, but it looks nothing like its pre-evolved form.

Ok, I think I get the flavor, sort of a special operations spider that silently defeats its foe, that's pretty cool. I like those arms.

And she has some nice stats for such an early evolution, I'll give her that.

I do wonder if she evolves again or if that's her final form...

Luckily I have my pokedex, that sometimes can answer this question, like this time! And sadly, the answer is that this is the final form (Pokedexes can be super useful in blind runs).

Well, hmm. Time for a verdict. I like the design, like the concept, and it is great to have such an early powerful pokemon. However, the fact is has so little to do with its adorable early form bothers me, and I feel like there was so much more potential to keep with its original theme. I think I'm going to give it a 3/5 Claws, sorry Clew, I still love you! Might change my mind in time, who knows.

I return to town by flight, but before I head to fight the gym I decide to give my beloved Gamba one more level just in case. I go fight a random trainer, and once I defeat her...

Another evolution?! And it is my beloved Gamba? Ok, now I'm really excited! I have no idea what's coming next. I guess the pepper theory is out so... Let's find out!

WHAT?! I mean, what?! And I thought Clew's evolution was bizarre. What the hell are you supposed to be? You are becoming more croc/reptilian like, that's for sure, and I actually like that. However, what's with the egg-fireball sombrero? And that snapper front tooth? And all those rhombuses/diamonds? I'll summarize my feeling right now as 5% excited, 15% disappointed, and 80% confused. For now, I refuse to rank you (as let's be honest, you'll get an embarrassingly low number of claws), at least until I'll see you in action. Now I'm even more curious about your final evolution! What are you supposed to be gal, answer me!

Still, an evolution just before the gym plus learning a new Fire type move, this is all pretty great. Well, I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's go!

These are the levels of my team in case you were wondering.

I guess Gym Tests are back (well, they were honestly never really novel, just another form of the Gym Puzzle). And this one sounds awfully similar to the Wooloo challenge, let's go check it out.

And it is pretty amusing I admit, you get to shove around a giant olive-shaped ball (something that I seriously doubt will work in real life, but works well in 3D engines and third person view). You also get to fight trainers on the way if you want for shortcuts (that you really don't need).

(Why do I look so angry?). I fight one, skip another, and pretty easily I complete the test.

Hooray! Love it how, once more, they are doing their best to get everything related to their touristy theme. Nothing that a tourist loves more than taking part in local festival (and don't you think that I'm any different by the way). I also like how the nets look like spider webs, again trying to promote the Bug theme. Makes you wonder if once there was a Grass type gym in this town that used Smolivs, as that would make a lot more sense don't you think?

Ready as I'll ever be. I'm starting to get a bit nervous.

Love the arena. I also love how it is located near the café part of her shop, where spectators can come and watch, makes a lot of sense.

I'm sorry for being so obsessed with such things, but I just love her appearance. Baker meets bug lady is done so perfectly well. The apron, the hair, and especially her hat. *chef's kiss, well done!

Superb hand gestures.

Enough chit chat, let the battle begin!






...






...

Spoiler: Battle vs Katy

Three pokemon, not bad for a first gym. First one is Nymble.

Well, I see no good reason why not to Terastillize right away right? Gamba, burn that thing to the ground!

First bug exterminated, who's next?

Katy sends out Tarountula.

Gamba, use Incinerate!

Second bug down, down to your last pokemon, who will that be?

Ha! A Terastilized Bug Teddiursa. Now that's not what I expected at all. Well, I guess it is still a Bug type right? Gamba, BURN IT DOWN!!!

One shot, and it is down!

...





...

What can I say, that was easier than I expected. Still, no complains! This is the first gym after all, and I guess I picked the ideal starter against it. I love the concept of the gym leader's ace being a pokemon that is usually not of its type! Though the fact it de facto becomes mono type makes it a bit easy to deal with using the regular counters you would bring into such a gym. Still, I'm very intrigued by this, and can't wait to see how it will work with other gym leaders. I'm always a fan of gym leaders mixing their types a bit.

Hooray! First gym badge!

Cool, is that a new move? 50 damage physical move that decreases speed, interesting.

And this seems like the perfect place to end this update!

Here's our current team:

I love em' all!

And see you next time, when we... as usual, I'm not sure! But I assume we'll head east towards the town with the Grass Gym as that's probably the next one we are supposed to tackle, and perhaps even go for the Titan on the way? Who knows .

Spoiler: Current Team

Gamba the Crocalor (F), Clew the Spidops (F), Nebula the Psyduck (F), Ramidreju the Yungoos (M), Catsear the Hoppip (M), Pilpelette the Capsakid (F).

Spoiler: Graveyard

None yet!

 

[Dustox]

which Titan should I tackle first, and what levels more or less I should be when I tackle it? Feel free to answer vaguely

You're right on the money on which Titan to do next. 🙂

And to balance this out and keep to the spirit of playing blind, I think I'll decide that I'm only allowed 3 Tera Den encounters in the entire game, and I have to declare in advance that I'm going to get the den in that area instead of the regular encounter when I enter the route. Sounds fair to you guys?

I still think you can do a Tera Den encounter per route instead of a normal encounter but of course, your run, your rules!

Two things I'm not sure about - Eggs, there was this short explanation and it seems there is some likelihood of an egg appearing in our picnic baskets? How common is it, and what affects what sort of egg you get?

I think the chances are the same as any day care area. Whatever is in your party affects the egg in the basket so you just have to adjust your party if you want to breed something specific.

I'm a bit afraid of how powerful this pokemon will be, and I wonder if my pokemon dies in these dens should I count it as a regular death?

I usually don't consider raid den deaths a thing, for the record. You don't really gain exp from what I've read from other Nuzlockers and too much RNG that can happen.

I love it that you only find certain pokemon in certain locations. Again, makes it problematic for Nuzlockers, but makes the world far more immersive!

Yeah, I've been watching some hardcore monotype nuzlockes on YT and the way they treat the encounter rule has been flexible enough. I'd say we might have to adjust the encounter rules maybe one day.

And look at that adorable little thing! I love the way you encounter new pokemon you never met in their natural habitat, just hanging around in the wild.

Same! They definitely add to the immersion.

I'm wondering about its name by the way, might be a reference to NaCl and this little critter being some sort of salt pokemon? Or perhaps my scientist senses are confusing me.

No, you're definitely right on the money. Once you see its evolutions, it'll make more sense.

Once more the lesson here for me is to stop being so worried about over leveling. I'm way too conscious about this, and this is making me face enemies unprepared.

Yeah, I definitely second this. You're doing it blind so over-levelling really isn't a concern imo and the open-world aspect of this is pretty intimidating since you won't really know where to go exactly. I will say in case you want some way to find out if you're comfortably levelled or not, try to lock-on a Pokemon and it should tell you the level so you can estimate if you're in the right area.

 

[Trollkitten]

One thing to know about triggering Capsakid's evolution (tagged for spoilers) is that it's a Leaf Stone evo, so you'll need one to get it.

 

[Dustox]

One thing to know about triggering Capsakid's evolution (tagged for spoilers) is that it's a Leaf Stone evo, so you'll need one to get it.

Actually, it's a Fire Stone evo!