Pokémon Sun and Moon: Now in Ultra Flavour!

...skulking around his base of operations.  It's genuinely creepy, with the music and the rain.  But Grunts will be Grunts, and this lot still have Zubats up the wazoo.

And to be fair, he's not much better, swept him with a Pokémon weak to bug attacks.

It's a nerd trying to be cool, and I love it!

the part where you need to use your newly acquired Waterium-Z to eradicate some Sudowoodos blocking the path forward. The only Water 'mon I have is Magikarp, whose evolution is quite good, I'm told. Making it happen is a bit slow, though.

You don't even have to fight the Sudowoodos, the mere sight of your Pokémon equipped with Waterium Z will spook them.

it gave me hope. Then I learned that Gyarados doesn't learn a Water move until it hits Level 30. Level 30. That's me levelling it up by fighting increasingly worthless Lillipups for the rest of the month, then.

...and would you look at that, the Aether Foundation's a giant stinking ****-show.

On the last episode of Nuzlocke Zero, our hero was facing the dismal prospect of having to raise his newly-evolved Gyarados from Level 20 to Level 30 in order to get a Water move to equip the Waterium Z necessary to progress. Searching for a loophole, Zero took to the Internet for guidance. Success! A TM containing Scald was to be found on Route 5! After several minutes of fruitless searching, Zero decided to head for Brooklet Hill... and found it there. Maggan the Gyarados learned said move and the Sudowoodos scarpered. Route 6 was open for business. After a Pikipek - rejected on Dupes Clause; thanks, Athers - the next 'mon to pounce from the undergrowth was... EEVEE! After a long and epic battle, during which the blighter called a buddy - twice! - he fell into my second Great Ball. Erland the Eevee will become Erland the Jolteon, if I have anything to do with it.

Dat interlude though.  Strangely Guzma gave me more trouble than Lumi-wotsername.  Four strong bugs can overwhelm your bug checks-and-counters, whereas I had a pretty hard counter to each of witch-from-hell's team.

Jeez the ghost totem was brutal.  That monster almost swept my entire team thanks to its partner spamming hypnosis!  Being the genius I am I sent in my level 39 Magnamite Orb'o Steel (no, I shall never be evolving it!  NEVAR!) to devastate it with its Z power....


Completely forgetting the totem's ability nulls damage from the first attack it gets hit by, even if that attack should be from a drill piercing the heavens themselves.  Whoops.  


Fortunately tough times brought out the best in the hero of the team, the last fish school swimming, I've been proclaiming it as the best Pokemon of Alola, and I.  WAS.  RIGHT!




Single finnedly this little guy and its cohorts joined together, GATTAI'D if you will, and brought about swift justice upon the tricky ghosts!  

Haunter realising the blasphemy it would be committing by putting it to sleep instead tried punches that only suckers use, and thus the match was brought to a very quick finish as Tuna Submarine God crushed its would-be oppressors with extreme prejudice.

And finally, at level forty-chuffing-six, it has learned Play Rough!  It's taken that long to get a fairy move.

...the whole 'final confrontation'?  (At this point in time I've only taken down Gladion, I should stress - dat character arc!)

I'll be honest: I thought the pacing went a bit funny.  I expected some fights to build up to the final Lusamine battle.  Or something afterwards, a trial/kahuna fight before the E4.  But no: Lusamine, monster, E4, job done.  With the Ultra Beasts still wandering around outside.  With 'Nebby' being your mate, there didn't even feel like there was any danger from her.

Edgeworth the Decidueye
Cykes the Alolan Raichu (deserved better than being named after an electrocuted ex-boyfriend)
Misham the Mimikyu
S. Samurai the Golisopod
Vasquez the Salazzle
Dhurke the Kommo-o

I do wish they'd move to something different from the 'animal, bit bigger animal, bloke' mould, though.

Lv. 41 Golisopod - good moves and some good stats, but really a bit rubbish with it's Emergency Exit ability.
Lv. 42 Pikachu - still looking for a Thunderstone so I can evolve it into the physic Alohan Riachu.
Lv. 43 Decidueye - quality. Grass, Ghost, Flying and Steel moves - an absolute beast.
Lv. 43 Crabrawler - good punching moves, but easily my least used Pokémon thus far.
Lv. 44 Incineroar - another quality starter evolution. Fire, Dark and Ground moves -
Lv. 44 Bewear - really good attack and defense...not to be sniffed at.

You fight a legendary Pokémon, in the middle of the sequence.  Not once between facing the E4 Champion and this do you get to save, and the cut-scene before them's pretty long.  And to regenerate the presence of the Pokémon, you need to beat the whole E4 again - with elevated levels.  

I ran from it by accident, activating Golisopod's Emergency Exit.  But it's got the stupidly low catch rate of most legendaries, so no guarantees I'd have caught it even had I survived.  An all-round bad idea.