Greetings Fanatics, and welcome to Jubilee & Christmas’s tandem walkthrough review of Pokemon White Version and Pokemon Black Version! In this article, we will embark on a journey throughout the Unova region, discovering new Pokemon all along the way! What will we catch? What mysteries lie beyond? What types will the Gym Leaders/Elite 4 use? What traps are set by the villainous organization? What new features are offered? All of these questions and more shall be addressed! So, without further ado, let’s do this!

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First and foremost Fanatics, make sure to download your Liberty Pass from the Nintendo Wi-Fi between March 6th and April 10th in order to obtain the legendary Pokemon Victini. This will likely be the only opportunity to obtain Victini for a very, very, long time, so make sure to take advantage of it! Plus, it only takes 3 minutes, if that!

Christmas here, and for future reference, all my comments will be italicized like this. For our European readers, you can get Victini via Wi-Fi until Aprill 22. Australia will be able to get it until April 28, with a few places nearby to get it at local stores instead. As I learned with the Shiny Beasts, you won’t be able to get two in such a manner. It only gets you the item anyway.

Victini

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We begin our journey with the usual lecture, this time from the Unova Region researcher, Professor Juniper. From here forth, however, she will be referred to as Professor Palin. After her spiel about how Pokemon inhabit the earth with you, (because at 10 years old, there is no way you could have comprehended that already), she asks you which gender you are. (You must be extremely androgynous for her to not be able to tell).

“Oh Hai Professor Palin”

After all that is done, this game throws us a curve ball. Professor Palin introduces us to our two “best” friends, (a.k.a: Rivals). The male one is named Cheren, and no that was not a typo…the male’s name is Cheren. The female is named Bianca, and she is an Ugly Hat Girl…but she is better than Dawn, so it is all good. Finally, after all the introductions are completed, we enter the actual game!

I don’t have much to say about the Professor, but let me take a minute to say that I HATE THESE TWO. Never before have I been so annoyed, and I thought Pearl/Barry was the worst rival. Cheren’s battle sprite pretty much sums up his attitude, which you find out for yourself, that he is just one huge know-it-all jerk. Have fun putting him in his place. Bianca is just a blond ditz. This chick is literally almost too dumb to live, let alone tame up to six creatures of mass destruction.

See what I meant by Ugly Hat Girl?

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Nuvema Town:

You enter game play on the second floor of your home…because all great Pokemon trainers grew up in two story houses. A present, wrapped up all nice and pretty with a bow, sits on the table in front of you. Your two “best” friends, (a.k.a: Rivals), are at your home with you. The three of you are eager, as today is the day Professor Palin will give you your first Pokemon!

Apparently, the Pokemon have been in the gift box this whole time… Whatever, your character gets the first pick. This was an easy choice, as starting with the Grass type is always the way to go…so, Smugleaf it is! With that done, it resulted in Cheren getting Tepig, and Bianca getting Oshawott. Naturally, Bianca challenges you to a battle…in your house. Somehow, the room miraculously explodes. Way to go ugly hat girl.

Kibs knows next to nothing about Pokemon, having not played a game since Gen 1 over 15 years ago. When I first described this scene to him, all he could say was, “That’s just silly. You’re going to mess up the whole room.” I was very surprised to find out that he was right.

After the battle, Cheren steps in and heals Smuggy. Ugly hat girl then has the BRILLIANT idea to recommend Cheren battle you. He agrees, thinking the room cannot get any messier…such great friends they are, no?

You then walk downstairs and talk to your mother, and your two “best” friends, (a.k.a: Rivals), apologize for the mess upstairs. Your mother is all like, “Nah, it is cool home dawgs. I’ll clean that beezoo up lata.” She then heals up your Pokemon, and hands you an Xtransceiver. I’m going to assume this is important…

This watch is less impressive than the last ones. Sure it has the video phone option, but that’s Gen 2 technology. I want my iWatch from Gen 4 back. This one doesn’t even have a map. Just the power of wireless communication. Laaaaame.

You then head over to Professor Palin’s laboratory, but ugly hat girl is nowhere to be found! Cheren suggests she may be at her house…great assumption buddy! Barging into her house, you see her father yelling at her. Obviously, she will not be a great trainer…as her dad still lives in the same house as her! Apparently, her father does not want her to journey, but she is defiant to be important in this story’s plot.

If you actually take the time to check out the competitions rooms (or take an inappropriate nap in Bianca’s bed, like you did with May in Gen 3) you can see that you’re the only one with a Wii. Clearly, you are superior in every way to these two fools already.

Heading back to Professor Palin’s lab, you can actually see Russia in the distance…

But seriously, she gives you and your “best” friends, (a.k.a: Rivals), a Pokedex. Woo! Walk outside, and your mama will give you a Town Map. Woo! She even gives one to your two “best” friends, (a.k.a: Home Dawgs). Your mother wishes you well on your journey, and you are off to Route 1!

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Route 1:

O Hai Professor Palin! She teaches you how to catch a Pokemon. Woo! Make sure your lower the target’s HP before you throw a Pokeball! Professor Palin catches the psychedelic badger beaver chipmunk thingy, Patrat…Hooray! (Can we go on our own now?) She then hands you specially Alaskan crafted Pokeballs…and reveals she will be awaiting our arrival in the next town.

Bianca has another brilliant idea for a competition. The person who has caught the most Pokemon by the time we get to the next town wins! Unfortunately, the only Pokemon on this route are psychedelic badger beaver chipmunk thingy, and Lillipup, which is a dog…I think.

You should at least grab a Patrat, since you need to use Cut like once. Other than that, just hold out for better stuff.

Patrat & Lillipup

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Accumula Town:

As we enter the town, we discover that the Xtransceiver is a phone. Professor Palin is calling…yay. She tells you to meet her at the Pokecenter…which, in this gen, is spruced up! The Pokecenter now contains a Pokemart inside it as well! All of the wireless battle/communications are upstairs, as usual. Neat!

Gone are the days of having to search out the blue-roofed shops, because now every town/city now has them. Each Pokecentermart has two counters, one for the usual stock and one with special things. Usually mail, but I know the Pokemon League one has all the special Pokeballs.

As Professor Palin leaves to head back to her lab, you leave the Pokecentermart to explore the town. Looks like something is going on in the Plaza! O Hai evil organization! The leader-esque person introduces himself to the crowd as Ghetsis. Sure, why not…Imma call him Jimbo though. Jimbo introduces the organization as Team Plasma, and he starts spewing insane words as do most evil Poke organizations. Jimbo and his goonies then make a dramatic exit…

Less impressive than Rocket, less organized than Magma and Aqua, but less silly than Galactic, we have the amazing Team Plasma! Plasma’s goal is to ‘free’ Pokemon from the captivity of us evil humans… by using Pokemon themselves. At least they’re very nicely choreographed.

After the crowd disperses, a boy with green hair and a cap comes over to introduce himself. His name is N. What a lovely name…Oh what is this?! He wants to battle you. O hai “best” friends, (a.k.a: Rival #3). He has a kitty…and its name is Purrloin. Sounds…tasty?

N. One letter. Not very easy to make fun of. No wait, I can compare him to L from Death Note. All is well. L here will show up quite a bit, but never with the same Pokemon twice. Wonder what he does with them after we kick his butt.

FINALLY, we can venture on our own…as N and Cheren go scurrying off. Let’s make our way to Route 2.

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Route 2:

As you take your first step… your phone thing with the long ridiculous name rings. O hai mommy! She hangs up the phone, and walks through the building to Route 2. She gives you the running shoes, (finally!), and wishes you luck again, then heads back home.

Now that we have learned how to run by putting on our new shoes, we have another issue I have with this game. HG/SS had one of the best new features ever in the history of the franchise: THE ABILITY TO ALWAYS RUN! It took me about 10 minutes to get adjusted to having to hold my B button down again.

This route is pretty straightforward, although, we will have our first group of trainers here…and they are eager to battle. As far as Pokemon go, we have:

Purrloin (Kitty!), & Audino (New Chansey)

Let me explain a little about the description of ‘New Chansey’. Audino are similar to Chansey in that they are normal type, have decent defense and heal other Pokemon. The main difference is that you can find them wherever there is grass. After about 200 steps, a patch of nearby grass will shake, similar to the Pokeradar in Gen 4. If you can make it to this patch without running into anything else (I recommend a repel) you will more often than not find an Audino. Audino give about 50% more experience than anything else. A level 50 Audion, with a Lucky Egg gives about 5000 exp.

Before you get to the next city, Ugly Hat Girl wants a rematch! Make sure you are prepared! (Although, she is pretty easy).

If you have your starter’s elemental attack, you should clean this one up.

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Striaton City:

As you enter Striaton, the three most important buildings are straight ahead. Heal up at the Pokecentermart, and go to the building on the left. Cheren is wanting a battle, and he is slightly tougher than Bianca. Well, unfortunately, Cheren can actually battle this time, (mostly due to the fact he has a super-effective move against your probably only Pokemon). Luckily, you can walk up to the forest “Dream” place in the right, and a nice lady will give you one of the 3 monkeys! She even gives you the one that will be super-effective against your “best” friend, (a.k.a: Rival). In my case, I got Panpour…and he was only used in this town…so, use him as you will.

The Elemonkeys are okay, but I didn’t use mine past the second gym. They all evolve via stones, but once they do, they stop learning new attacks, just like most everything else that evolves with a stone.

Panpour, Pansear, & Pansage

Anyways, head back to the trainers’ school, whoop some “best” friend, (a.k.a: Rival) butt, then heal up before we head to the Gym. The Gym is an interesting concept, focusing around super-effectiveness of the three starter types. Whichever type you chose, you will have to fight whichever one of the three Gym Leaders who has the super-effective type, (I picked Grass, I fought Fire Monkey). With the power of YOUR monkey, however, this Gym is cake. As the ancient prophecy states:

The 10-year old who can harness the power of the monkey he receives for free, and who hails from a home of his mother’s, will become the most powerful trainer in the world! (Until they enter Wi-Fi)

The puzzle for this gym is pretty simple. You just step on the tile that beats the type on the curtain. It should be noted that if the leader’s Elemonkey uses Work Up too many times, he WILL sweep you. Watch out for it, and don’t waste time.

Striaton City Gym Leaders: Cilan (Grass), Chili (Fire), & Cress (Water)

Also, don’t forget to grab your C-Gear from the sexy scientist lady Professor Palin mentioned!

By don’t forget, we mean that you won’t be allowed to leave until you do. First, you have to take a side trip to the Dream Yard again, use Cut, and fight some Plasma Grunts. While in the Dream Yard, feel free to hunt for a Munna, since I think it’s the only Psychic type you get for a while. When you pick up the C-Gear, talk to the other girl in the room to find out who the Someone’s PC is. I forget her name already.

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Route 3:

Now we are on our way to the next town! There is a preschool next to the Day Care as you first step onto Route 3, and you can battle the little kids and take their lunch money if you so desire. As you walk further down, Ugly Hat Girl comes crying about a little girl who had her Pokemon stolen by that darn Team Plasma! Being the main character, you will probably have to rescue it. Don’t fear though! Woman-named man will assist you! Go into the cave, beat up some grunts, and maybe catch a Woobat or two. WOOOOOOOObat!

WOObat, Roggenrola (facepalm), & Drilbur (Moley Moley Mole)!

Drilbur only shows up in a patch of Swirling Dust, similar to Audino and the Shaky Grass. Repels are even more recommended, and I suggest even more heavily that you grab one before you leave. I beat about 3 gyms in a row with this little guy. And Roggenrola is the stupidest name ever.

Head back and talk to Ugly Hat Girl. She is all like “Yay!” and stuff, then continue down the rest of the path battling trainers and picking up items until you reach Nacrene City. Prepare for a real Gym Battle.

New Pokemon on this Route:

Pidove &Blitzle

Grab a Blitzle, he’s cool. Also he’s an Electric type zebra that learns Flame Charge, and you won’t have many options to play with fire if you picked Smugleaf like us.

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Nacrene City:

Run around and explore a bit, as there are items scattered around in houses and such. When you are all ready, head up to the museum, and, OH SURPRISE, N walks out. Guess what? He wants to battle. Yay. Beat him swiftly, and continue into the museum. The nice man will give you a tour of the pixilated wonders they have collected, and eventually show you to the back door, which leads to the Gym. Yes, the Gym is in the museum.

This Gym focuses on Normal types, and as all Normal Type Gyms, it presents a challenge. Whitney & Miltank…Norman & Slaking…yeah. Luckily, you can catch a fighting type in the grass just left of town before you enter Pinwheel Forest. Makes this Gym pretty easy, too. You can choose from a lovely little…thing…with a clown nose carrying a piece of wood around, or Red/Blue Karate Man, (depending on your version. Blue is more common in Black, Red in White). There are also Trainers around to battle.

White gets Throh and Black gets Sawk. However, you can trigger Shaky Grass for a 5% chance to get the other. The other 95% is Audino, which is used for grinding, which I did before the gym… For a good few hours. I didn’t want to risk it. If you level Timburr a little, he gets Wake-Up Slap which is better than Low Kick since it doesn’t rely on your opponent’s weight.

Blue/Red Karate Man (Sawk & Throh), & Timburr

Whenever you are ready though, head back to the Gym and solve the little book puzzle. Tis pretty easy, and un-failable, so have at it. Eventually, the bookcase will slide over and reveal a secret staircase that leads to the Gym Leader, Lenora.

Not much of a puzzle, since the Gym trainers hold your hand through it, but still rather nice that they incorporated a puzzle like this.

Nacrene Gym Leader Lenora

Lenora’s Pokemon: Herdier & Watchog

She uses the little doggy’s evolved form, who has a nasty STAB Take Down…so watch out for that. She then uses Psychedelic Badger Beaver Chimpmunk Thingy’s evolved form, who has access to Hypnosis. If you can shut down the Hypnosis, you shouldn’t have much of an issue. Once you beat her, a distress signal happens, and Lenora runs upstairs to find Team Plasma stealing the Dragonite Skeleton’s skull. I smell a chase…

You can see where Plasma starts to make fools of themselves, in by not knowing that Dragonite isn’t even legendary, but they are clearly looking for remains of Reshiram/Zekrom.

As always in a time of crisis, your “best” friends, (a.k.a: Rivals), show up, along with Burgh, the Castelia City Gym Leader. You all decide to split up, and you are stuck with Burgh in exploring Pinwheel Forest. Yay, Grass-types!

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Pinwheel Forest:

So, head into this Gen’s forest and meet up with Mr. Super Feminine Bug Man. He will suggest you go look for the skull the long way, why he goes and checks the short…how considerate. No matter, we must train anyways! It is pretty straight forward, just follow the path of trainers and you will get to the goon holding the skull. Along the way, I recommend you catch a Petilil. Why you ask? Because it is one of Jubi’s favorite from this Gen.

I gave Jubi a lot of crap about Petilil and Lilligant, its evolved form. Then I watched one punch a hole through things like Garchomp and Metagross. Pick one up for yourself. Cotonee isn’t as good, but Whimsicott has access to Tailwind and Hurricane, so it’s decent I guess. I’ve also seen Scolipede’s give me trouble, so Venipede is a viable option.

Venipede, Sewaddle, & Petilil

Note: Those of you with Black version will encounter Cottonee in the forest…but if you are wanting a Petilil, (which is the superior Pokemon), there is a lady willing to trade back in Nacrene City.

Cottonee

Once you are done with all of that, Lenora and Burgh will catch up to you…and plot will happen. Stroll around and look for items if you wish, but once you are done head to the next route…and prepare to see the height of Pokemon Graphical Bridge Engineering.

Despite the graphical illusions this amazing bridge, just keep running straight. I think the data for the auto-run was used up by this Bridge and Castelia City.

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Castelia City:

After crossing the unnecessarily long Skyarrow Bridge, you will find yourself in the New York City of Pokemon…the unnecessarily large Castelia City! Take some time to explore every building, as most have people in them who will give you goodies. Once you have all of that done, you can take the boat to Liberty Garden, where you can catch the wittle Victini. He will only be level 15, so do not worry about a fierce battle; however, he does have a low catch rate…so do prepare for a 1 HP/Paralysis 50 Pokeball fest.

Or, if you have the genius that I have never before seen that my little brother used, you can kill Victini over and over to gain experience. Since every time you beat it, it just respawns, he leveled up his Pignite and Gurdurr rather well. Mostly just because he sucks at finding Audino.

When you are finally able to face Mr. Super Feminine Bug Man, head on over to his gym. Cheren the man will come out and say how he already beat him, (okay Gary Oak). Burgh will follow, and apparently Team Plasma is still up to their goony ways, (go figure). Follow Burgh around the city on the hunt for them, as they apparently have stolen Ugly Hat Girl’s gas bag Pokemon, Munna, whom we encountered back in the Dreamyard. Through this little chase, you will also meet the character Iris, or as I like to call her, Gligar Hair Girl Who Has A Spoiler That You All Probably Already Know But I Will Still Not Spoil It For Those Who Don’t. The main thing is, she will be important later.

ANYWAYS, after this little Ducklett Hunt, Mr. Super Feminine Bug Man will return to his Gym for you to challenge him. If it wasn’t obvious, Burgh’s Gym focuses on the Bug type…and as so, the Gym is based on a honeycomb. You will have to force yourself through the honey walls, (just keep pressing “forward” on the D-Pad), and hit all the buttons to lower the gates blocking the way to Burgh. Depending on what your team is looking like, Burgh can provide a respectable challenge; however, if you are packing Fire, Flying, or Rock, he is pretty darn easy.

Another straightforward puzzle. Some buttons trigger trainers, so don’t be upset when they show up. I just pushed all the buttons, and swept the gym with my new Victini.

Burgh: Whirlipede, Dwebble, & Leavanny

D’aww, Dwebble is so friggin cute. I am sad we had to make it faint. *sad-face* Anyways, let’s blow this popsicle joint and head to Route 4! … I have an eerie feeling something is about to happen…

Before you leave, there are a few things to do. If you run down an alley, a man jumps out from behind a dumpster jumps out, yells at you and gives you the TM for Flash. Very handy. By talking to three dancing dudes, you can pick up the Amulet Coin in a little side quest. The Exp. Share is also here in the building near the Pokecentermart, so grab it too.

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Route 4:

Welcome to Route 4, A.k.a: The Desert. As is usual in Pokemon games, this route will force the Sandstorm weather effect into our battles here, which will hurt all types at the end of the turn except for Steel, Rock, and Ground. Anyways, when you cross from the city to the desert, who else but Ugly Hat Girl comes charging after you. “Hey, thanks for saving my Pokemon. Imma use it to cause yours bodily harm now! Kay, thanks!”

I just grabbed one of each Pokemon and then never went back into the battle sand. The Dig TM is in here though, which is a nice find that I need to go back and get.

Actually, she is pretty easy, much like the last time. She will go running off after you beat her, and as you finally head out to explore the desert!…Oh hi Cheren the man. What is one more battle?

This is a trend that I find annoying. In or after every Gym town/city, you will have a rival battle. Always. The music for Bianca and Cheren is less serious too, which means that it knows that it’s just annoying the heck out of you.

Again, as usual, Cheren is a bit tougher than Bianca, but shouldn’t be too bad. Once you beat Cheren, you will finally be able to explore the desert!…except your phone starts ringing and Professor Palin is waiting at the entrance to Nimbasa City. Are these people like, stalking us? What do they want! Yeesh!

Sandile, Ugly Jellybean (Darumaka), Scraggy, Maractus (<3), Sigilyph, Dwebble (<3), & Yamask

Anywho, take time to explore the desert in its entirety, as there are many trainers to battle for experience, and many items to be gathered. Up in the Northeastern part, there will be an entrance to the Desert Ruins, which you are free to explore, as there are more trainers and useful items, (namely, the fossils). Enter into the Ruins, and walk past the sand pits. (Note: you must walk. Do not run, or you will get sucked under). Talk to the backpack lady, and she will present two fossils to you as always, because teaching kids to make tough decisions is a valuable thing. To EagleEyes disagreeance, I highly suggest getting Holy Rock Raptor Jesus Bird (Archen) from the Plume Fossil. If you get the Cover Fossil, you will be stuck with Tirtouga, who just is not quite as cool. Once you get them, you can either make the trek all the way back to the Nacrene City Museum to resurrect them, or you can hold off if you do not plan on using them.

I wasn’t paying attention and grabbed Tirtouga by mistake. It does however, make a great HM slave, so if you need one, feel free. Jubi and I can breed them, so don’t worry about missing out.

Archen & Tirtouga

Whenever you are sick and tired of the desert, head up to the rendezvous with Professor Palin, and she will be kind enough to present you with a bunch of specially crafted Alaskan Ultra Balls. Yay!

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Nimbasa City:

As you enter Nimbasa City, you will see Team Plasma at it yet again; this time picking on an old man. Being the courageous 10-year old that you are, you jump in to save him, (more like he runs behind you). Once you dispatch the two goons, he reveals himself to be the Daycare Man, which means that you can now breed Pokemon back at the Daycare on Route 3. He also gives you a bicycle. How considerate.

I didn’t really use the bike. I guess I’m just used to running everywhere, since it was default in HG/SS. This bike only has one speed, and is a little harder to manage than most others, so it worked out for me.

Explore the town some. Ugly Hat Girl will barge in at some point and drag you to the Pokemon Musical, which is the contest place of this Gen. I actually have not tried it, but feel free to if that stuff pleasures you for some sick reason. I did give Petilil a top hat though…

I also have not bothered with the musical, but I did like making my Pokemon spiffy. I don’t normally do the minor side stuff right away. Maybe I’ll give it a shot soon, but I doubt it will be as fun as the Pokeathalon.

Nimbasa has a lot of stuff to do, from the Battle Subway, (which is the Battle Frontier for Black/White), to daily battles in the Sports Arenas, to an Amusement Park that is really a Pokemon Gym! Let’s go there!

Oh hey look, it is N, (a.k.a: Our 3rd Rival). For some reason we ride the Ferris Wheel…then we battle. Cool beans! The most sinister of our Rivals is actually our “best” friend. Oh, nope. He is evil. Oh well, battle him and then we will be able to enter the Gym.

I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU THAT I’M L. Did anyone else see that ridiculous scene in Death Note? This is about the same. The whole ferris wheel ride with him is kinda creepy too.

N, (a.k.a: Your “Best” Evil Friend Rival)

This puzzle is about as puzzling as the others. Push buttons, ride roller coaster. Fight Elesa. The end.

Nimbasa City’s Gym focuses on the Electric type, so unless you caught a Drilbur or a Sandile, type advantage is out the window. Don’t fret though, as this Gym is a friggin roller coaster. Coolest Gym yet? Most definitely. My best piece of advice for this Gym is:

Seriously. That thing is one of the most annoying Pokemon I had to fight throughout the story mode. Perhaps I should have caught a Rock type? … Nah. Anyways, Elesa, the Gym Leader, is SHOCKINGLY beautiful. She is also an ELECTRIFYING model. Watt? Don’t like my puns?

Elesa: Emolga (x2 (FFFFFUUU)) & Zebstrika

By this point, my Drilbur knew a Rock type move. If you grabbed one too, you should clean up like I did. Your only issue might be Volt Switch, which is an Electric type U-Turn.

After you LIGHT Elesa up, we will be able to continue our journey. Unfortunately, the Route to the right of Nimbasa is closed, as it leads us to Post-Elite 4 territory. So, we will head out to the left, on Route 5.

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Route 5:

This Route starts out about the same as all the others…with Cheren the man running in and demanding a battle. Once that is done, story happens. You meet Alder, the Unova Region Champion, and he teaches you stuff. He also makes you and Cheren the man battle a pair of Preschoolers. A grand Champion indeed!

Beating up kids, making them cry AND TAKING THEIR MONEY?! DON’T MIND IF I DO! This act of domestic child violence endorsed by Flame-headed Champions everywhere.

You can also talk to the hungry maid in the trailer and sell her mushrooms and such for a high price.

Trubbish (Eww), Minccino, Liepard (BIG Kitty!), & Solosis (Wittle Blob)

For those of you with Black version, you will find Gothita in the grass here instead of Wittle Blob.

Gothita

Once the story is all done being story-ish, head over to the drawbridge at the end of the Route. The Gym Leader in the next town has it drawn up to keep people out of town, (Anti-Social much? … Plus, since when did Gym Leaders become Kings of towns). Luckily, Elesa uses her VOLT-vacious charm to get the bridge lowered for Cheren the man and you…so let’s not waste any time getting to the next city!

I hadn’t read this before I started adding my comments. Jubi should be hit for that pun. I do like that the Leaders do actually make an impact in this game, instead of just sitting in one spot for all eternity.

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Driftveil Drawbridge:

This is pretty straightforward, literally, but a Pokemon can actually be caught here. As you cross the bridge, you may see little shadow spots on the ground. If you step in them, you will either get a feather or encounter a Ducklett, who is awesome. The feathers that you can get function much like minerals, (i.e. Calcium, Carbos, etc.).

If you need something to learn Surf, grab a Ducklett. You won’t get much else to pick from.

DUCKLETT!

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Driftveil City:

As we venture into Driftveil, we meet Clay, the Gym Leader. He is cosplaying Cowboy Marik very poorly. Some Team Plasma members snuck across into Driftveil when he lowered the bridge, so apparently his paranoia was somewhat justifiable. However, he blames you and Cheren the man for letting them across, and is wanting you to catch them before challenging him. Whatever, experience is experience. Run around talking to people, collecting items, same old, same old.

To the south of Driftveil is the Cold Storage, which is where the Plasma goons are thought to be hiding out at. If you look in the grass just outside, you can catch a Vanillite, which could be useful later (although, I think it is ugly).

I love the sno-cone, Jubi is crazy. Definitely grab one to waste some dragons near the end.

Vanillite

There are traditional ice-sliding puzzles inside the Cold Storage, so slide around collecting the useful items along the way. In the very back, a group of Team Plasma goons, as well as a Sage, are huddling for warmth. That is what you get for hiding in a friggin ice trailer. Cheren comes to help you beat up the baddies, and once you finish doing all the work, Clay the Crappy Cowboy Marik Cosplayer shows up to arrest them. Hey, that was my glory dude! He is at least willing to battle us now.

Yay for ice sliding puzzles. Plenty of sno-cones in here as well, so bring some fire with you. Other than sliding around like a moron, not too much to deal with here.

Surprise, surprise! Driftveil Gym likes to use the Ground type, so water and grass types will be your friends, (as usual). Ride the elevators up and down, and eventually you will get to the elevator that will take you unnecessarily deep into the earth to fight Clay the Crappy Cowboy Marik Cosplayer. If you have a half decent Water type, he is a total pushover.

I beat his Excadril with my Drilbur. He missed and I killed him with Dig. This gym was the most annoying for me. Took me a while to notice I could run on the steel beams. Just keep moving forward, and you’ll get it though.

Clay (Y’all): Krokorok (@_@), Paliptoad, & Excadrill

Excadrill is half Steel, so if you were planning to hit him with a Grass attack, it will only do neutral damage. Even then, it will still hit it pretty hard though if your Grass type is worth its salt…or should I say PEPPER! No? Okay. Well, anyways, let’s head up to the next Route since Clay is so graciously offering to clear the path to the cave that leads to the next city.

I have a feeling these bad puns are going to be a common occurrence. And here we have our next rival battle. Didn’t I warn you about these? Bianca is the easiest of the three though, so no issue here.

I smell an Ugly Hat…*Facepalm*. LEAVE US ALONE! Okay, fine. Battle her, and then we shall be on our merry way.

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Route 6:

There are tons of trainers lining the path on this Route, so get to work battling them all. There are several items laying as well, but beware! Many of them are Foongus, this Gen’s Voltorb. Anyways, follow the path up to the entrance of the Chargestone Cave, where Clay the Crappy Cowboy Marik Cosplayer is waiting to clear the path.

Karrablast (<3), Foongus, Deerling, Swadloon, & Tranquill (CHIKKIN!)

Deerling is also an interesting little Pokemon that appears on this route. Its appearance changes with the season, and there is actually a research institute on this Route dedicated to the study of this Pokemon. Plus, it is a Grass type. So by default, it is awesome.

Don’t bother heading back to any Pokecentermart, since there are plenty of places to heal up. This route has a house to rest up in. I don’t have much to say about the Pokemon on this route. I don’t care for many of them until right before the end.

Deerling-seseses. Is there a proper plural term for them?

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Chargestone Cave:

Ohhh, a magnet cave! As you venture into the cave, you will eventually encounter Professor Palin and Ugly Hat Girl. They are doing research over electricity, or something of the type. The important this is that Professor Palin gives you a Lucky Egg. What does this item do, you may ask? Well, the Pokemon holding it will get double the experience from battling…So it is really nifty for catching up all the Pokemon you have not been training. I’d say make sure it is held by whoever you are battling from here until the Elite 4.

Moving in deeper, we pass by quite a few rare Pokemon, namely Tynamo. This little guy is a pure Electric type with the ability Levitate, meaning he cannot be hit by Ground moves. Since Ground is Electric’s only weakness, this little guy joins the ranks of Spiritomb and Sableye in the “No Weaknesses” club. He is actually a bit better than those two stat wise in his final form, so catch one if you will. There are other nifty Pokemon in here as well, though.

Now that we’re in a cave for an extended period of time, I’d like to mention a point EagleEyes brings up a lot. The encounter rate for this game is INSANE. It’s like if Zubats were everywhere, all the time. Kinda annoying, and makes we want to use repels all the time. Might be why I was always so under-leveled

Joltik, Klink, Ferroseed (Grass/Steel?!?!), & Tynamo

As we are venturing along, minding out own business, we will eventually be surrounded by a group of ninjas. Apparently Team Plasma is upping its fighting force. Anyways, they basically kidnap you and escort you across a bridge at super speed, then poof away. Unnecessary ninjas are unnecessary? Beat the line of grunts as always, and just before we exit the cave guess who shows up! Oh hai N! Does your team suck less this time? Nope? Still as easy? Okay, cool.

Let’s head up to Mistralton Kick City!

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Mistralton City:

I almost forgot. By this point, I think you should have Surf. If not yet, you will very soon. Once you do, head back to Route 1 and Surf off to the left. With a free slot in your party, you can grab a Larvesta egg, which evolves at the staggeringly high level 59 into Volcarona, one of my favorites, and a very good team choice for this Gen

Welcome to Mistralton City! Apparently Professor Palin is from here, as you meet her father when you are first coming into the city. Also, this is the only city in Pokemon that has an airport! Is that a clue to which type the Gym here likes? Anyways, you will also meet Skyla (<3), this city’s Gym Leader. She reports that while she was FLYING around, she saw an injured Pokemon on top of Celestial Tower, just North of the city. It is apparently her duty to go check…which means you should follow and do it for her so you can challenge her.

Here we have a neat little concept. Similar to the bike things in Gen 3, these tightropes can only be walked on. If you stop moving, you fall off into the grass below. Same if you’re going to fast and run off the side of one.

Celestial Tower is pretty much the Pokemon Tower/Mt. Pyre/Lost Tower of Gen 5, and as such, is full of Ghost types. Actually, that is a lie. There is only one Ghost type here, but it is Litwick! Litwick evolves into Chandelure, a Ghost/Fire type who boasts a whopping 145 base Special Attack stat! I predict this will be a heavy hitter in competitive Pokemon battles, and it can be quite useful in the story mode as well, so I HIGHLY recommend at least catching one. Wild Elgyem can also be found here, but they are a bit rarer than the Litwicks. They are cool looking at least, although they do not have quite the stats Litwick does.

I also recommend grabbing a Litwick. Lampent needs a Dusk Stone to evolve, and those are in short supply here in White version, so make sure you have a good Lampent before you use yours. I singlehandedly took on the Ice gym with just Litwick.

Litwick & Elgyem

The path is pretty straightforward, just battle the trainers and pick up the items along the way as always. Eventually, you will reach Skyla, who has already cured the sick Pokemon at the top of the tower. She tells you to ring the bell, as the sound it rings portrays the trainer’s spirit, or some mumbo jumbo like that. She will then return to her Gym, so let’s go back and kick her booty, yeah?

The only issue I had in this gym was not noticing one of the cannons. They fire in any direction, so just walk right in. I also really like blasting off into a wall. Most fun gym in any generation.

The Mistralton City Gym uses the Flying type, (Surprise, Surprise). This was probably my favorite Gym out of Unova, mostly because you get to shoot yourself out of friggin CANNONS! You even splat against one of the walls! Flying Gyms are always the best!

Skyla is cool, but she doesn’t put up much of a fight. If you have a Rock, Electric, or Ice type, you should BREEZE through this Gym. (Okay, I promise that was the last one). When you beat her, she gives you the TM for Acrobatics, a Flying move that doubles in power if the user is not holding an item. Neat!

I doubt that was the last pun, we have two gyms and the E4 left. Acrobatics is okay, I guess. I don’t think I’ve used a Gym TM in quite some time.

Skyla: SWOObat, Swanna, & Unfezant

I think we should travel up Route 7 now to get to the next Gym.

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Route 7:

There isn’t much new on this Route. There is quite a bit of tall grass, but you should be able to bypass most of it by walking on the conveniently placed beams above it. Sadly, this Route only features one Pokemon we have not seen yet, and it only appears here in the Winter. Other than it, we have some more Foongus, Watchog, Zebstrika, Tranquill, and Deerlingseseses.

Again, there’s a house to rest up in, but other than that, not too much to say about this route. It’ll be more important later after the 8th badge.

Cubchoo, the Snot Bear.

As we approach the entrance to Twist Mountain, you can see on your lef-CRAP IT IS CHEREN! Time for another “best” friend, (a.k.a: Rival), battle. Beat him so hard that he won’t come back next time…then retreat to the Mountain.

Just when you thought you were safe from Cheren and his smugness, he appears. GOD I HATE YOU SO MUCH. Let’s make our way into the next cave, where we will find tons of Zubats and Gravelers. I mean Woobats and Boldores.

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Twist Mountain:

Welcome to the main mountain/cave of this Generation. This time, we get to explore a winding maze of rock, which is apparently being excavated as we travel. I recommend bringing repels here, (although, I carry some with me everywhere), just because of the ridiculous amount of Buldore and Gurdurr’s in here. Plus, running around to get all the items will often spark unnecessary random Pokemon battles, that by this point, I am sure you are sick of.

The most interesting, and rarest, Pokemon by far found here is Cryogonal. It basically a giant snowflake. Unfortunately, it only has a 1% chance to be found in Spring and Autumn, a 5% chance to be found in Winter, and a 0% chance to be found in Summer. So, if you are wanting one, be prepared to hunt.

Jubi was nice enough to give me a Cubchoo and a Cryogonal, and I am sure he would spare one for you guys too. Cryogonal, while silly, seems to have decent stats. If you have more patience than me, feel free to hunt for one, or wait until April, when the season switches.

Cryogonal

For a future reference, all you Eeveelution lovers will probably be returning here after you beat the main story mode, as this is the place where Eevee evolves into a Glaceon at in Gen. 5. I forgot to mention it earlier, but Leafeon will evolve back in the Pinwheel Forest. In addition to that, there is a fellow here who will give you a random fossil everyday once you beat the Elite 4 for the first time, so make sure to come pick it up!

It’s about time a game gave us the chance to get all the fossils. Much better than the Rock Smash method in HG/SS, these are right there for the taking.

When all that is said and done, let’s head up to the next town, shall we?

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Icirrus City:

This city is up on a cliff, as apparently it floods here often. Run around as always and explore the town’s shops and such. Whenever you are ready, let’s head to the Gym, (No, there is nothing to do beforehand for once!).

The Icirrus City Gym focuses on the Ice type, and as usual with Ice Gyms, we have slidey ice puzzles! This one is actually COOL though, because you get to slid onto spinny wheels that spin you in certain directions. Slide onto the buttons, and they will alter the angle at which the spinny wheel will spin you. Yay! Eventually you will make your way to Brycen. I hope you brought a Fire, Rock, or Steel type!

I do enjoy the slingshot method this gym uses. Much better than Candice’s gym. Like I said earlier, if you picked up a Litwick, this should be easy. My Litwick is still a Litwick and I beat this gym.

Brycen (Talk to the HAND!): Vanillish, Cryogonal, & Beartic

Once you are done bashing Brycen’s face in, ride the big ice slide back down to the entrance. Wheee! When you walk outside, your “best” friends, (a.k.a: Rivals) are there waiting for you. After talking for a bit and pretending you care what they have to say, Brycen walks out. He calls forth the Ninjas, who were preparing an ambush or something, probably. Apparently Brycen is one bad mama jamma to be able to sense those ninjas. Anyways, the Ninjas tell you of N and how he is awakening the legendary at the Dragonspiral Tower just North of the city. Looks like we have work to do!

These ninjas kinda creep me out, but it’s cool that Plasma has some stealth force at their back and call. Too bad they never do too much other than tell us where to go. For now anyway.

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Dragonspiral Tower:

The tower may look intimidating, but it is pretty straightforward. Unless you have a tough time dealing with Plasma goons, it should be a cake walk for you. On one floor you will encounter a Sage giving a pep talk to a squad of grunts, and will have to fight all four of them back to back. They are pretty easy, though. There are also several neat Pokemon to catch in here.

This place gives me a Golden Sun feel, with all the platforming. I use the word platforming loosely, since this place is rather small. I never grabbed a Mienfoo here, since I never ran into one, but Mienshao is the superior Fighting type this gen, IMO. If you miss out, there are more in Victory Road. Golurk is a nice Ghost, so grab a Golett if you so desire.

Golett, Druddigon, & Mienfoo

After making your way to N, I bet you were expecting a battle weren’t you? Well, this is the one time in the game we DON’T fight a Rival, (a.k.a: “Best” Friend). N and you will exchange words, and he will fly off on his new Big BA Dragon. I think he is headed to the Pokemon league…we might need to hurry up and get there too!

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Relic Castle:

For some reason, you take Ugly Hat Girl’s advice to go back and check out the Relic Castle. Remember that place in the desert where you got your fossil? We go there. Apparently we are able to go to the lower levels now because it is essential to the story…I mean, because they cleared out the sand. Doggarnit if Bianca wasn’t right. Team Plasma IS here! Beat them all while falling down the sandpits to the levels below. As far as Pokemon go, all we have here are evolved forms of Pokemon we have already seen, Cofagrigus and Krokorok.

If you want to destroy other people in competitive battles, grab Cofagrigus. Its Mummy ability makes anything that touches it have Mummy instead of their ability, which creates a vicious cycle. Just watch out it doesn’t backfire on you!

Eventually you will reach the bottom floor, and find Alder confronting Jimbo…I mean Ghetsis. Story will unfold, and you discover that Team Plasma was searching for the Black/White stone which will awaken the other Dragon, which is the opposite to N’s. After that, you will get a call from Professor Palin, and she will be all like, “Oh how ya doin there? Ya, I just shot a bull moose. It wasn’t just any bull moose, it was in the top percentile of bull moose, don’tcha know? Can ya meet me at Nacrene City Gym? Great! Beep Beep Beep.”

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Nacrene City, Route 8, Tubeline Bridge & Route 9:

Nothing but story happens here, as Lenora will give you the stone, (depending on your version), that will awaken the Dragon later on. After that, Lenora and Alder suggest you head to the 8th Gym in Opelucid City and speak with the Gym leaders about the lore of the two dragons. Great idea, can I get my last badge now please?

Head back to Icirrus City and follow Route 8 to the Tubeline Bridge. Also, I smell an Ugly Hat approaching the bridge…

While I have your attention, I would like to draw your attention to these puddles. I don’t know if they are around all the time, like in Winter, but I hate them. Back when Gen 3 had the puddles, I thought they were a nice touch. You could see clouds float by in the reflections. NOW THERE ARE PALPITOADS EVERYWHERE IN THEM. It’s more of the earlier point I had about the encounter rate, but just be warned. There are also Stunfisk if you want one, but they look stupid and I hate them.

After battling her, you will encounter Ghetsis and his ninja posse on the Tubeline Bridge. They will uncover more plot, so I will try not to spoil to much of it for you. Proceed to Route 9.

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Route 9 is infested with Bikers and Cue Balls. Apparently, they like to hang out around the Pokemall. Real manly men, obviously. Other than that, there are a few Pokemon you can catch here, (although it is pretty late to be adding them to your team).

Again, Jubi is crazy. Now is a perfect time to be replacing the crap you have. Also Pawniard looks cool. A lot of people say he’s a reject Megaman boss, and while they may be right, he is still cool.

Garbodor, Duosion (W), Gothorita (B), & Pawniard

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Opelucid City:

Here we are finally, Opelucid City! Explore the town as always, as there are a few neat things around, like the Battle House, where you can experience 3v3 battling. Once you are ready, and done visiting with Drayden and Iris, (remember her?), make your way to battle them. (Those of you with Black will battle Drayden, and those of you with White will battle Iris).

If you feel left out for not battling the other, they have the same Pokemon. The only difference is that Drayden’s are all male and Iris’s are all female.

Well, since we already know the Gym Leaders of this town are experts on the dragon legend, I wonder what types of Pokemon they use? Dragon of course! Make sure you are packing Ice, although, I was able to beat down the Dragons in here with my Holy Rock Raptor Jesus Bird. Whatever works for you. Iris can be tough, but I didn’t have to much of an issue with her.

Just like I said, if you’ve been keeping your sno-cone up to speed, you’ll have no problem. The gym is cool, but not too difficult to figure out.

Iris: Fraxure, Druddigon, & Haxorus (for serious.)

Also, this Gym has a rather unique set up, doesn’t it? I guess if you have ever wanted to run on the backs of dragons, this is the place for you! Anyways, once you beat Iris/Drayden and head outside, Professor Palin will be waiting there to congratulate you. As a reward, she gives you a specially Alaskan Crafted Master Ball! Yay! She then escorts you to the entrance to Route 10, which will lead us to Victory Road!

Before we head on, the gate lady stops us and tells you about a weird storm on Route 7. This is the neat thing I talked about earlier. If you head over there and talk to an old lady in the house, she’ll tell you about Thundurus (W) or Tornadus (B). These are your roaming legends. Where they are is dependent on the time of day, but you can find where they are by looking at the electronic signs in each gate. If they don’t show up right away, leave and come back. You can tell from the random thunderstorm that happens.

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Route 10:

We are almost there! Make sure you battle all the trainers here, as they will offer a last little boost of experience before Victory Road. There are several nifty items around here as well, like a Dusk Stone which can be used if you caught a Litwick to evolve it from a Lampent into a Chandelure.

I think this is the best place to train before the E4, since the first patch of grass here is perfect for Audino grinding. I waited to get through Victory Road first, since half my team is in there.

Litwick Evolutionary Line

In addition to all of that, there are two new Pokemon available to capture on this Route; a pair of version exclusive birds, (Rufflet for White, and Vullaby for Black), and Tauros with an afro (Bouffalant).

Rufflet (W), Vullaby (B), & Bouffalant

As was to be expected right before Victory Road, your “best” friends, (a.k.a: Rivals), show up one last time. Guess what? Cheren the man thinks he can still beat you! Prove him wrong, and after you beat him Ugly Hat Girl will give you a few Max Revives, which will be useful for the Elite 4. They then run off to do fail things as always, cause they just aren’t as good as you.

The gates to Victory Road are reminiscent of Gen 1. Each gate will have a guard, and will ask to see the badges in order. Each little section will have something to do with the Gym’s type, as well, (i.e. For Skyla’s you get to walk on air). It was a nice little feature…It makes you feel like you have actually accomplished something to be there.

There’s also a patch of grass where I ran into a Bouffalant. Dunno what else is there. Once you clear the gates, you can fly back to the start of Victory Road at any time, which makes healing easier.

Onto Victory Road!

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Victory Road:

The trainers and Pokemon here are tough, so make sure you have a couple Potions on hand just in case. This Victory Road is a giant maze UP the mountain. You will have to slide down the mountain to get to the entrances you need to, so take time to explore the road fully and collect as many items as you can! Also, there is a room with a Doctor trainer about midway through, who will heal your team after you beat him…so that is nifty! (There is a staircase that can get you around that room right next to him as well…it can be difficult to see).

Yeah… I missed the staircase the first time and got lost for about an hour. But I found all the new teammates I wanted so I was training them anyway.

There are several new Pokemon on Victory Road, including a pair of rivals, (a.k.a: “Best” Friends). Heatmor is a Fire Pokemon who resembles an anteater, and Durant is, well, an ant! Durant is of the Bug/Steel type, which is notorious for only have one weakness, Fire. There are also wild Deino around here, who evolve into this Generation’s Pseudo-Legendary, Hydreigon.

Deino is my choice here to grab, as well as Rufflet outside and Mienfoo if you haven’t yet. Good stats all around, and high level Mienfoo/Mienshao have Drain Punch, which is very handy.

Heatmor, Durant, & Deino

When you make your way to the summit, you will be able to follow the path forward into the Pokemon League. Prepare for the toughest battles in the game!

I don’t recommend even trying the E4 until you have a team of at least low-mid 50s. Seriously.

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Pokemon League/Elite 4:

Before we begin the Elite 4 challenge, there is a Pokecentermart over to the left to heal up at and buy some more Hyper Potions, (which you will likely need). Whenever you are all stocked up and ready, step into the room with the giant statue in the middle…

Real men don’t buy anything through the whole game and then stock up on Revives and Full Restores right now. True story.

I really love what they did with the Elite 4 in the Gen. Basically, there are four paths leading out from the main room, and each leads to one of the Elite 4. This means that you get to challenge them in whichever order you please! Level wise, each Elite 4 member will have Pokemon from level 48-50ish. Each member also has four Pokemon in their party, but they will be able to put up a fight. So, let’s just do this in a clockwise fashion, shall we?

I like the pick and choose system, but my choices are usually which staircase takes the longest. I end up fighting Caitlin last usually.

First up, (down the left path), is Shauntal. The room is filled with books, and you are transported up to Shauntal via spirit power! Apparently it is always nighttime in this room. If you couldn’t tell by her interesting choice in decoration, Shauntal is a Ghost Pokemon expert, so prepare your Dark types, as well as your own Ghosts (Chandelure, anyone?).

Shauntal is an author, and likes to draw inspiration from her challengers. Let’s give her an exciting story, shall we?

The second time I battled her, she said something about Volkner from Sinnoh. Nice crossover there.

Shauntal: Cofagrigus, Jellicent, Golurk, & Chandelure

Shauntal will start with Cofagrigus, who is a pure Ghost type. It has a pretty high Defense, so try to beat it down with a Special Attacker, (Chandelure works great if you have one). Jellicent is a Water/Ghost type who is the opposite, boasting a higher Special Defense. Golurk is a Ground/Ghost type who has a pretty respectable Attack stat. Chandelure, her final Pokemon, is a Fire/Ghost who is the opposite of Golurk, boasting a higher Special Attack stat. Shauntal really isn’t too hard to beat, especially if you have something that can resist Ghost. Another thing to watch out for is Burns, as Cofagrigus carries Will-o-Wisp, and Chandelure has Flame Body…which will burn you if you make contact.

Like I said earlier, Cofagrigus can wreck your team if you focus on abilities. Just don’t make contact, and it should be okay. Golurk has Iron Fist, so watch out for hard hits form him. For best results, use a good Dark type, or a faster Ghost of your own.

Once you beat her, you can step on the green spot over to the side of Shauntal to be teleported back to the statue room. Heal up with Potions, and let’s venture into the next room, (Upper Left-Hand).

As we enter the next room, there is a convenient elevator that will carry us up to the next trainer. Torches will be lit as we pass them, and this room is really, REALLY, gold. Oh hai next Elite 4 guy!

I usually take this one first, since the ESCALATOR takes the longest. Shauntal’s stairs are nice and quick, which is why I like her more than this guy.

This is Grimsley, and he specializes in the Dark type. This means that Bug and Fighting types will be your best friends here. Not really sure what his back story is, so I am just going to assume he is a vampire from Mars.

Grimsley’s schtick seems to be that he talks about fate and stuff. He actually says something about fate that I agree with, so give his words a listen the second time around. I’m not sure if the dialogue is close to this encounter or not.

Grimsley: Scrafty, Krookodile, Liepard, Bisharp

Grimsley will lead with Scrafty, a Dark/Fighting type. Be careful of its ability, Moxie. If he defeats one of your Pokemon, it will up his Attack by 1 stage. So, kill it quickly. Grimsley also has a Krookodile, which is the evolved form of Sandile. Be careful of its Earthquake, and hit it with a Water attack and you should be good. Liepard is pretty quick, and it is carrying Attract. Bisharp is Grimsley’s best Pokemon, and is Dark/Steel. If you have a Fighting type, it can probably one shot Bisharp.

This is the main reason I grabbed a Mienshao. Even if you get hit, which you probably will by Liepard’s Fake Out, you can just Drain Punch yourself healthy. Very handy, especially on Bisharp.

Like Shauntal, Grimsley isn’t too terribly tough. When you have defeated him, step on the green dot to go back to the statue room.

Continuing in our progression, next up is the Upper-Right Hand path. As we enter this room, it is filled with stars with a celestial-esque path up to the next member. When we get to the top, the Elite 4 member steps out of her bed, and warns you she does not like to be awoken.

Caitlin should be a familiar face. That is right. Remember the Battle Castle from Heart Gold/Soul Silver? Same chick. Anyways, she specializes in the Psychic type, so Bugs, Ghosts, and Dark types will be greatly advantageous.

I’m no Pokemon time line expert, but the fact that Caitlin is here means that this is after Platinum and HG/SS. Rather interesting. It has in fact been confirmed that this is the same Caitlin, and I like her style of Pokemon. Mostly anyway. Okay, just the Reuniclus.

Caitlin: Reuniclus, Musharna, Sigilyph, & Gothitelle

Caitlin is the most difficult of the Elite 4, in my opinion. She will lead with Reuniclus, who is a pure Psychic type with a pretty good Special Attack. He is carrying Grass, Fighting, Electric, and Psychic attacks, so watch out for those! Musharna will probably be a familiar face from your battles with Ugly Hat Girl, but Caitlin’s is much stronger. Its defenses are good, and it has the ability Synchronize, so DO NOT AFFLICT IT WITH STATUSES! Sigilyph can be annoying as well, as its Flying/Psychic typing neutralizes Bug moves. It is also packing Ice Beam, so be careful. Caitlin’s strongest Pokemon is Gothitelle, who has good Defenses, but is rather slow.

The thing you should be careful of is that everything except Sigilyph has Thunderbolt. Water and Flying types beware. Sigilyph makes up for its no lightning policy by using Tailwind, which boosts Caitlin’s whole team’s speed for 5 turns. Take it down quick if you can. Zweilous or Bisharp are good picks here.

As with the past battles, step on the green dot once you are done with Caitlin. She probably needs a nap.

Finally, we can head into the last room, (Right Hand side). Initally, this room looks like a factory. However, as we climb up the pillar, it leads to a Boxing Ring-esque battle area. Here we meet Marshal, the last Elite 4 member, and a master of Fighting type Pokemon. Time to bust out the Psychics and the Birds!

Marshal is Alder’s student, and my only issue with him is his colored mouth guard and HIS STUPID STURDY SAWK. GAAAAHHHHHH!.

Marshal: Throh, Sawk, Conkeldurr, & Mienshao

All of Marshal’s Pokemon are pure Fighting type. If you have trained up an Unfezant or have Holy Rock Raptor Jesus Bird, he shouldn’t be horrible difficult. He leads with Red Karate Man, (a.k.a: Throh), who is very slow, but will hit you hard. Blue Karate Man, (a.k.a: Sawk), is Marshal’s most annoying Pokemon, (and perhaps the most annoying in the whole Elite 4), due to his Sturdy ability. Basically, this prevents him from being one shotted while at full health. Also, if you hit him hard and knock him down to 1 HP, Marshal will heal him back to full the next turn, which will give him effectively two free hits on you. He hits hard too. Try to hit him with a light attack, and then a heavier one so you only have to take one shot from it. Conkeldurr is much like Throh, but can hit a bit harder. Mienshao is extremely fast, and can hit hard, so try and beat it down with something a little more durable.

I tossed out my Braviary here, the evolved Rufflet. Since Sawk has Sturdy, watch out for its counter hit, which will probably be Stone Edge. Not too much else to worry about I think. Like with my Mienshao, Marshal’s also has Drain Punch, but if you take it down, no harm done.

Once all that is said and done, teleport back to the statue room one last time. This time, however, walk up to the statue and it will take you down to the Champion’s lair.

As you descend down to the lair, and then climb up the unnecessarily long staircase, you will discover that N has already defeated Alder. Apparently this makes you some sort of high ruler of the region or something. It also gives N the power to instantly erect a large castle to surround the Pokemon League. (All I ever got for beating the Champion was my name input into a PC…). A staircase will come crash down in front of you. Looks like we are going in after N!

Well this is a new thing. Guess there’s no Champion battle for us, instead we have to SAVE THE WORLD FROM ITS NEW KING WHO WILL TELL EVERYONE TO RELEASE THEIR POKEMON OR ELSE HE WILL DESTROY THEM WITH FIRE/ELECTRICITY!

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N’s Castle:

As you enter, you are confronted by the 6 Sages! Luckily, all of the Unova Gym Leaders, (minus the first three), come to battle the Sages back while you move forward to stop N. Nice to see the Leaders get some more screen time!

Later, we find that Bianca actually went to get them, but ran out of time. Just throwing that out there.

Make sure you explore every room in here, as many of them have items in them. In one room, there will actually be an NPC who will heal you before your battle with N. Kids these days…getting healed before the final fight…

One of these rooms has a Grunt that mentions Rocket and Galactic. He says they were too conspicuous, and that’s why they were shut down by a little kid. Conspicuous like a giant castle coming out of the ground, and a little kid just like us?

Eventually you will reach N’s room. N will walk down his unnecessarily long walkway to talk to you and summon his Dragon. In response to this, the stone in your bag will activate, revealing itself to be the other Dragon! Well, looks like we will have to catch it really quick!

Reshiram & Zekrom

You can either take the low HP + Paralysis road, or you can blow your Master Ball. N will heal you after this fight, so feel free to save your Master Ball if you feel it necessary. (However, you can obtain another Master Ball in this game by trading with 50+ people over Wi-fi). Either way, I highly recommend catching him, as he will make the next fight much easier.

There is no recommend here, actually. It is written into the game that not only do you HAVE to catch Zekrom/Reshiram, even if your party is full, it has you switch it to first in your party before you fight N.

As I just stated, N will heal up your team before you battle him. He means business this time, so he won’t be as much of a pushover as he has been before!

Reshiram (Or Zekrom), Carracosta, Vanilluxe, Archeops, Zoroark, & Klinklang

N will send out Reshiram first, and Zekrom will be automatically placed at the front of your party. Seeing as how you are fighting a Dragon type, hit it with a Dragon move! Honestly, you could probably sweep N’s whole team with your new legendary, but that is no fun is it?

I didn’t even really bother using Zekrom to be honest. N isn’t much of a threat.

Carracosta has excellent defenses, as well as that pesky Sturdy ability. However, it is very slow, so it shouldn’t be too hard to deal with. Vanilluxe is also slow, however it has a very good Special Attack, and a nasty Blizzard. GET DOWN HE’S GOT A HOLY ROCK RAPTOR JESUS BIRD! Hopefully yours can outspeed it, because it if can, it can be one shotted with a Rock move. Zoroark can be tricky, as its ability allows it to disguise as another Pokemon. In my game, it was concealed as N’s Klinklang. Zoroark is quick and can do some serious Special Damage, so hit it with a Bug or Fighting attack for a one shot. Klinklang is pretty quick as well, but hopefully you have a fire attack that can make quick work of it.

Since Most of N’s team is weak to Fighting, I suggest making high use of that Mienshao I keep talking about. Even when Zoroark comes as Klinklang, he’ll be dead before either of you know it.

Congratulations! You have not beaten the game yet! Ghetsis comes charging into the room, complaining about how he has been filling N’s mind with dribble since his childhood, trying to form him to his own sick wishes. Looks like Jimbo has been the big baddie this whole time! I think you know what is coming next… luckily your Pokemon miraculously heal between your battle with N and this one.

There is no heal animation or flash between the battles, but like Jubi said it does happen. I was almost very upset. Well more upset than when Ghestis swept me like a pile of dust.

Ghetsis: Cofagrigus, Bouffalant, Seismitoad, Bisharp, Eelektross, & Hydreigon

You thought N was tough? Ghetsis is twice as bad. He will lead with his Cofagrigus, but his is much more powerful than Shauntal’s was. It likes to use Toxic, poisoning your Pokemon, and the Protect, causing it to be safe while your Pokemon is hurt by Poison. Bouffalant is a Normal type, and with such it has a very powerful STAB move in Head Charge. It is also pretty tough to one shot, so you might want to put something that can take a hit in to fight it. Seismitoad is nothing special, as a Grass type can easily one shot it. Bisharp is about the same as before, but it can still dent quite a few things, so be careful with its typing. Remember Tynamo? Eelektross is its final form. It has no weaknesses due to its ability, however, it is rather slow. Hit it with your strongest attack, and hope it gets one shotted. If it isn’t, it will most likely hit you with a Wild Charge, which will do quite a bit of damage with its STAB. Finally, we have Hydreigon. If you have lived up to this point, congrats. Hydreigon is the most difficult Pokemon to beat in the story mode. It is likely faster than most of your team, and as such, you will have to hope you can survive a hit from it before you can actually hit it back. It knows Dragon Pulse, Surf, Fire Blast, and Focus Blast, all of which will likely one shot anything weak to those types. Hydreigon is also only weak to Dragon, Bug, and Fighting moves, so hopefully you can hit it with something. (I actually used Zekrom with Dragonbreath, and was lucky enough to Paralyze Hydreigon).

I was beaten to a pulp, and had to come back after some training. If you do lose, all you have to do is talk to the Grunt in the Pokecentermart, and he’ll take you back to the castle, instead of fighting the whole E4 again. Watch out for Hydreigon. He is your worst enemy.

Once all that fun is over, CONGRATULATIONS! Now you have beaten the game! End of the game festivities happen, and the credits roll! Now you can finally explore Unova in its entirety with Team Plasma out of the way and you Champion! Also, you will gain access to the National Dex, meaning you can transfer Pokemon forward and such! I will let you all explore and fine all the Post-game things!

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Now for Jubi’s Pros & Cons!

Pros:

• TM’s are REUSABLE!
• The Unova region looks really nice. The Bridges add a nice touch.
The Gyms have decent puzzles.
• There is a guy who can determine what type Hidden Power will be on Pokemon.
• They kept the IV judge.
• Feels like a good fit into the Pokeverse!
• You can choose what order to battle the Elite 4.
• Items galore!
• Team Plasma is insane. To a believable degree, unlike Team Galactic was.
• Gym Leaders have personalities!
• Only new Pokemon can be used until Post-Story mode. It really lets (forces) us explore them more.
• Lilligant.
• Holy Rock Raptor Jesus Bird

Now for mine

• Most of what Jubi already said.
• A more plot oriented story. It feels like they tried hard with this one.
• Shaky Grass and Swirling Dust.
• Hydreigon is the best pseudo-legendary.
• I actually like the Musketeer Trio.
• Random Wi-Fi battles. Your prayers have been answered.
• GTS negotiations are kinda cool. If you get someone who isn’t a jerk, you might actually get something you want. Me and this other guy traded Boldores, got Gigaliths, and I swept most of the story with its help.
• The Battle Subway. While it can’t replace the coolness that either Gen 3 or 4 had with the Battle Frontiers, I FREAKING LOVE TRAINS. The Super Trains are actually quite the challenge, so come prepared.

Cons:

• The starter Pokemon are not anywhere near my favorites.
• The first few Routes are infested with Pokemon who just are not that awesome, making it hard to have a Pokemon you use throughout the game.
• Many of the Gym TM’s are not the most useful moves.
• Bouffalant is Tauros with an afro.
• The Elite 4 are not as challenging as past Generations.
• It seems wild Pokemon encounter rates have been increased. 1 step and another battle!
• Chatot is banned from the Wi-fi Random Battle feature, which is no fair to Jubilee’s team! I may be the only person who uses one, but how dare they ban MrTweetums!
• Black City seems to be a bit more advantageous than White Forest due to the limited number of Evolutionary Stones available in White.
• I do not care for Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, or the Musketeer trio as the legendaries.
• Volcarona is broken.
• Garbador.
• Also, that dammned Squirrel!

And my cons

• Volcarona is not broken, it is awesome. If you have trouble, just throw rocks at it. Not everyone’s team is weak to Fire and Bug like you Jubi.
• Kyurem is rather stupid.
• The encounter rate. Dear god, I need to buy more repels.
• The gym puzzles were more just there than puzzling. Not that I want Candice or Wallace level puzzles, but still.
• Too many stupid names. Roggenrola. Honestly.
• The GTS still has its problems of impossible trades. Level 1 Zekroms for an Oshawott and the like.
• The GTS has this lovely error all for itself. Error code 13274. This means that while you may have been in there 10 minutes ago, you can’t get in now, because there are too many people.
• The GTS negotiations have their drawback as well. Most people are either n00bs with less than 20 Pokemon to their names, or jerks in Japan who are just showing off their Virizion or something.
• The rivals are made of annoying and dumb.
• Not just the rivals themselves, but I felt their battle music was lacking. Nothing can top Silver’s music from Gen 2, but even Pearl/Barry had upbeat music that made me like him a little more.

Mr. Tweetums Is Not Pleased With This Change!

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And with all of that, this review walkthrough is proclaimed finish! Both Jubi and Christmas would like to thank all of you for reading, and we hoped you either enjoyed reading, or found something useful in this big mess of words! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or you would like to put your true skills at Pokemon to test against either of us, post below in the comments section! After reading all of this, you have to be in the mood for a real battle, don’t you! We are your “best” friends after all!

Hopefully this is a decent replacement for news, since we worked hard on this. If you need any further tips, or help on post-game stuff, feel free to ask. Just a notice here though, don’t go too far after the E4 and everything else is done. Trainers are packing mid 60 stuff, and the E4 and Alder have even stronger stuff than that.