HOENN CONFIRMED

[Heather]

OH MY GOD. THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL.

[Missingno. Master]

So I decided to restart Alpha Sapphire to pass the time before tomorrow's Direct. I did trade in an Egg, but other than that, I'm catching my entire team in-game. Here's the team so far, see if you can guess the general theme I'm going for:

Noibat (male) lv. 11
Timid nature
Infiltrator
~Gust
~Echoed Voice
~Supersonic
~Screech

Lotad (female) lv. 11
Lonely nature
Swift Swim
~Razor Leaf
~Bubble
~Absorb
~Echoed Voice

Lotad (male) lv. 11
Hardy nature
Swift Swim
~Bubble
~Absorb
~Echoed Voice
~Astonish

Lotad (male) lv. 11
Adamant nature
Rain Dish
~Astonish
~Bubble
~Absorb
~Echoed Voice

Lotad (female) lv. 11
Quiet nature
Rain Dish
~Bubble
~Absorb
~Echoed Voice
~Teeter Dance

Somehow, I'm liking my chances with Rustboro Gym.

[phoopes]

If your team is going to have four Ludicolo, it should be a requirement that the fifth Pokemon is Sudowoodo.

[Heather]

No, clearly it should be Dragonite.

[Missingno. Master]

Heh, I guess it wasn't hard to figure out. Even named my character Miror B. I actually have a full team now, having just caught a Voltorb. Also, all four of my Lotad evolved into Lombre. And then, after that, in a step I should perhaps have taken initially, I looked up the Lotad line's movepools. Turns out my Lombre miss out on Giga Drain and Rain Dance by level-up. >_< Well, I can wait until I get the TM for Rain Dance, but for Giga Drain, I'm actually considering transferring them to Omega Ruby to teach them the move via move tutor. It's not like I'm not already making use of other games- traded in the Noibat Egg from Omega Ruby, and four Water Stones from Y, after all.

Oh, yeah, beat Brawly. Noibat made quick work of him.

[phoopes]

If ORAS isn't challenging you enough, try this.

[Missingno. Master]

So I just caught a Spinda in Omega Ruby with spots directly over his eyes. I named him Goggles.

[Link]

I can beat anyone in OR/AS. Any takers?

[Missingno. Master]

Here's Goggles kicking ass in a Smart Contest.

[Talon87]

Hey, all! It's me! Guess who's back to playing Omega Ruby after an unintentional six-month hiatus? ^^;;

Spoiler: show

Where we left off last time, you guys informed me about Lati@s and how it's foisted on you pretty early on in the story, after you head east on Route 118 towards the grassy area south of Fortree. While I had only just beaten Wattson at this point in time, I decided it was a good stopping point to head back on over to Pokémon Y, where all of my Gen 6 breeding equipment is, and to breed myself some 5V Synchronizers with the natures Adamant, Jolly, Modest, and of course Timid.

But Pokémon Y proved to be too much to resist. I adore Kalos; like I said, all of my breeding equipment is over there; I still had a lot of planned breeding projects that had been placed on hold when I got Omega Ruby; and I specifically had a Parasect breeding project that was 90% complete but just needed the final push to get fully perfected. So what started as, "Well let me just finish this Parasect breeding project ... " quickly became a ten-creature breeding spree that saw me make:

• Parasect
• another Togekiss
• three Starmie
• Samurott
• three Tyranitar

Somewhere in there the Festive Feud came up, distracting me further. I was in the middle of the Tyranitar breeding project when the Kanto Classic fell on my doorstep, delaying the completion of that project as I was siderailed into breeding:

• two Charizard
• two Venusaur
• one Blastoise
• one Raichu
• three Snorlax
• one Lapras

Even those didn't get fully finished in time for the Kanto Classic. So after that event ended I had to circle back around to finish them, then circle back around to finish the Tyranitar project, and then--

I stopped myself and said, "Hey wait a minute. What about Omega Ruby? " I was missing the game, finally, and the announcement that Pokémon Sun and Moon would be coming out in about eight months lit a fire under my ass to get ORAS beaten before SM come out.

So here we are. I'm back, playing Omega Ruby's Story Mode for the first time once more.

Picking up from last time, I ...

• headed north to the base of Mt. Chimney
• went through the underbelly of the mountain
• came out the other side and visited Fallarbor Town
• went to Meteor Falls where I rescued Prof. Cozmo
• went back to Mt. Chimney and this time went to the summit
• battled Maxie, retrieved the Meteorite, and partially learned of the existence of the orbs
• made it to Lavaridge
• battled Flannery
• got whisked off to Petalburg by May
• battled Norman
• got whisked off to Mauville by Wally
• made preparations for Latios
• saved on the eastern beach on Route 118
• went up to talk to Steven
• got taken to what the Internet tells me is still Southern Island

and that's where I am right now! The 2DS is in sleep mode and I haven't saved since the western beach on Route 118 (pre-talking to Steven). I'm going to go through the cutscenes once, and if I get a bad Latios I will probably take advantage of the fact that I saved so early and will level up my Synchronizer. (She's a Timid 5V Ralts at Level 1. I didn't think there would be a battle but the Internet just told me so, soooo ... I'll probably want to train her and level her up so that I can save closer to Latios when soft resetting.)

Question!

How close to Lati@s can you save and still soft reset for IVs?

Some people are scared like me and save on Route 118. Other people are a little bolder and save on Southern Island the moment you get there. Other people still are bold enough to save after you enter the forest clearing (which I haven't even done yet!). How close can you get and save while still not locking in your IVs?

After all the time I've spent breeding these past few months, I'm not looking to lose 40-60 hours on soft resets for a perfect 5V or 6V Latios. I'm perfectly happy to settle for 31 Speed, 31 SpAtk, and a 31 anywhere else besides Attack. ... So I say right now. Realistically, I might get greedy enough to shoot for the 4V, but definitely not the 5V. I could go for an ideal 4V whose missing defense is the less important of the two defense stats. That'll take some time though. :\ (Hopefully not!)

[phoopes]

After a bit of searching, it seems that you can save on Sourthern Island.

[Mercutio]

Yeah you can save right near to it. But I wouldn't worry it's preset to be good. Most you'll need to reset is twice.

[phoopes]

Yeah apparently it's guaranteed to have a 31 in at least 3 IVs, which is pretty convenient.

[Talon87]

That's true for all Gen 6 legendaries though, guys. Also, it means the odds are still only 1/20 that you get the ideal 3V on any given try:

• odds of 3/6 for the first freebie 31
• odds of 2/5 for the second freebie 31
• odds of 1/4 for the final freebie 31

Multiply these three together and you get 1/20. It's not bad, but it's not as quick and easy as you might think it is either.

Things get complicated once you get greedy for a 4V. By specifying you want the fourth 31 in exactly this one stat, you reduce the odds from 1/20 to 1/640, I think? I might be mistaken. The stats get more complicated here.

Going for the ideal 5V is just preposterous imv. It's easy to breed for, but with a stationary legendary that only guarantees you three free 31s, you're talking odds of 1/32 squared that a specific two of the remaining three stats randomly generate as 31s. (So that's odds of 1/1024.) And then you still have to couple that statistic with the 1/20 from the three freebies. (Though other maths happens, too, and I don't want to think too hard about this right now. @_@) Point is, the odds are worse than one in a thousand. I don't want to be sitting at my 2DS soft resetting for 100 hours just to get a 5V Latios. :\ I can live without the HP, Def, or SpDef stat being perfect. So long as all three are in the top 33% I'm content. (And of course one of the three will be one of my three freebie 31s, so that's that settled.)

Basically I'm shooting for something akin to (armchair math) 1/20 * 1/9. It's still pretty gross but it's not unfathomably gross. And I can always pray I get lucky and get it in the first few tries rather than on Try #243.

[Talon87]

Alright, status update.

Spoiler: show

Latios: I'm to Southern Island now, trying to get a Latios who is either:

• a 4V with the 31s in HP, SpAtk, Speed, and then one of either Def or SpDef
• a 3V with the 31s in HP, SpAtk, and Speed, and then 25+s in both Def and SpDef

I came pretty close last night in only my fifth attempt, getting a 3V who also had a SpDef stat of 28. But the Def stat was a 16, which while not terrible just left me feeling uncomfortable about accepting it. I went with my gut feeling and reset. I want to be happy with whatever I'm locked into.

Courtney: Hrnnnnnnngh! ^^; A villainous quiet "robot"-type is pretty fun when wrapped up in the skin of an attractive young woman, and it gets that much better when the writers throw in lines like "You. Target lock...completed. Commencing...experiment. You. Forever. Aha... ♪"

Though that line does illustrate a perceived problem with the translation. I can't know for certain without getting to see the original Japanese, but Courtney's dialogue in English sounds too artificial, too much like a robot. I'm guessing that in the original Japanese she speaks more like Nagato Yuki from Haruhi and it's a case of a lot of one-word replies that work in colloquial Japanese but not at all in colloquial English.

Still, it was fun to see her, she's super adorable (if evil!), and I look forward to seeing her again.

Dunno that I've really discussed the other two yet, so let's circle back around to them.

Tabitha: He's surprisingly "creepy devil child"-evil when he gets that menacing face. I always pictured him as being a jovial buffoon type. But those maroon eyes and twisted grin make him look like something out of a horror movie.

Maxie: I was surprised that you battle Maxie before battling Courtney. But the battle with Maxie was fun and interesting flavor-wise. (Difficulty-wise it was a disappointment, as is so much of ORAS. ^^; Difficulty-wise, I mean. I like a lot of ORAS, but man is it painfully easy even with Exp.Share disabled.)

Cinematics: The cinematics really bring this game to life in a big way. I remember the plot from playing Ruby in 2003 and Emerald in 2005, but I don't remember it feeling this grand or wonderful or well-written before, and it's all three of those things in ORAS just thanks to the simple touch of cinematics. I actually cared about Professor Cozmo this time around. I felt like Meteor Falls was a really big deal thanks to all of those impact craters they painted onto the ground this time. The dialogue between Maxie and Brendan feels so much more like it comes from a movie when you actually see Maxie answering his phone, or Archie marching up the mountain with his henchmen, etc. It's little things like this that help to elevate the games to a higher grade and that make replaying a really dated title feel fresh and exciting once more.

That's about all I've got time for right now. The next few days/weeks are going to see me trying for a Latios I am happy with. After that, I'll be able to resume playing the game proper.

[Ironthunder]

yeah. Maxie's a pushover in OR. He only has Camerupt up until like, the final battle, and a decently levelled Wingull can take it down, often in one hit.

[Talon87]

Confirmed (via Super Training) 31/0-3/10-13/31/31/31. A 4V with min Attack when you want it (so 5V?) and one disappointing shitstat.

Let's roll. I have a sneaking suspicion that Gen VII is going to overhaul IVs (because both of the two primary demographics for Pokémon, children and ootomos, are turned off by them) so I'm not going to waste the next two weeks trying for a better 4V or even a 5V when it may soon be about to become irrelevant. Also, I can always re-obtain Latios later.

Welcome to the team, my 4V Timid Latios!

[Ironthunder]

tbh, that's one of the most irritating things about Pokemon: Finding the IVs. I wish they had an option on the Pokemon information screen that gave you the exact IVs, EVs and happiness level.

[Talon87]

Status update on my ORAS adventure --

The brief version: I'm done with the coastal cave off the shore of Lilycove. I have not yet set out for Mossdeep.

The detailed version:

Spoiler: show

Courtney: So much Courtney love right now. <3 And I don't mean "omg waifu " love. I mean "I love this character so much," the same way one might "love" the characters of Darth Vader or Ganondorf without waifu'ing them. (Though you can totally waifu them if you want. I won't judge.) I just absolutely love what they've done with the character. They've reinvented her and she's so great and glorious and UGH I just love her so much. hahaha I love her ambiguous crushing on the protagonist. I love trying to discern whether she's insane or not, whether she's brilliant or not, whether she's wearing a mask or not ... She's an enigma, really, and I guess that's half of what makes her so great.

So the most recent Courtney scene we had was the one in the coastal cave, where Maxie has the Magmas refit Slate's submarine with a Camerupt-themed hull and a giant drill on the front. You find all three of their offices/bedrooms -- Courtney's, Tabitha's, and Maxie's -- and Courtney's is the first you find, and it's incredibly sparse -- which makes one of the very few things you do find in there all the more intriguing. It's a collection of photographs of Maxie, from different time periods in his life. It introduces the angle that maybe Maxie was another of Courtney's crushes, and that even if he's not he's at the very least someone special to her. Did they work together as scientists before Team Magma? Is Courtney perhaps a co-founding member of Team Magma, not a later recruit?

Anyway, you continue exploring the base, and then at the end of it you battle Courtney. We'll address the battle itself in a separate discussion, but the before and after with Courtney is really good. She seems determined to buy Maxie time but seems pained to not be able to accompany him on his grand mission. And after the battle she seems all the more interested in the protagonist. It's good stuff. Very simplistic, even shallow in its execution, but good stuff all the same. God I wish they'd give us something more substantive, but I'll take what I can get from Game Freak.

Boss Battles: ... Continue to be really underwhelming. orz I can handle Courtney having only one Pokémon in the 2v2 Doubles fight on Southern Island, but having only a Camerupt on Mt. Pyre was bad. Having only a Camerupt in the coastal cave is unacceptable. What were you thinking, Game Freak!?

Game Freak & Their Theory On Remakes: Game Freak seems to exhibit this really weird tendency to:

• have no problem changing plot or character details in their remakes
• have no problem changing trainer classes or available Pokémon in their remakes
• but really, really having a problem with changing any and all carried-over trainers' teams from how they were in the original games

And it's just ludicrous. I know, I know: I should expect some changes from the Elite Four. But up until now, I feel like the enemies I'm fighting (especially the Magmas) are 99% copy-pasted from RuSa. And it's dumb. Why can't you evolve those Numels into Camerupts at this point? We're already past the sixth gym badge, guys, I think we can handle a couple of adult camels. Why can't you make their levels a little higher? I get that you don't want to make the games too hard for kids, really, I do, but this is ridiculous. I have a Level 58 Swampert without even trying and I haven't even completed the final third to quarter of the game. Let's hurt my argument and say quarter. Fine. I haven't completed the final quarter, and already I have a Level 58. Wanna know what my lowest team level is? 43, on my Latios.

Courtney's Camerupt? Level 39. It's the only Pokémon she has, and it's Level 39.

This just isn't acceptable, Game Freak. This is really shitty level curve design that you botched in the first place with RuSa and that you consciously decided to re-botch with ORAS. Why? Why would you do this? To preserve the purity of the original games? Who do you think your audience was that wanted you to do this in this manner? 'Cause that's the thing I just don't get about you, Game Freak ...

• Everyone wanted the level curve changed and you didn't do it.
• No one wanted the story changed and you went and did it anyway.

Now granted, you changed the story for the better, and it's great, thank you ... but we all practically begged you to fix the level curve and the teams and you appear to have touched neither outside of the occasional Fairy Girl you snuck in there.

Dumbed-Down Open World-ness: One of the things I begrudgingly admire about Gen 3 is how open world it suddenly gets around the midpoint. I mean, it's a far cry from "open world", but it at least presents the player with the following all at once:

• You can go fight Norman and get your 5th gym badge.
• Or you can go explore Meteor Falls. Wouldn't that be cool?
• Or you can go check out that desert now that May's given you the goggles ...

Suddenly you have options. And the game isn't exactly clear about which of these you're supposed to do in what order. ORAS is a bit more hand-holdy, gently coercing the player to accompany May back to Petalburg where you have nothing better to do than to challenge your father. And after you beat Norman, it takes hold of your hand yet again and has Wally offer to escort you to Mauville. But even then, you have three options at Mauville: surf east, trek north and then east into the desert, or trek north and then west back to Meteor Falls. Which will it be?

But ORAS has dumbed down these alternate routes so as to make them non-routes for the Story Mode player. Meteor Falls used to have a waterfall section ... but now that's just about all it is. There's absolutely nothing to do here until you get HM Waterfall. What about the desert? In Emerald, the desert had a tower you could enter. And in that tower were the Root and Claw Fossils. Pick a fossil and the tower collapsed into the sand Atlantis-style. But now? They just toss the fossils out on the open sand at you. "You want a fossil? WELL HERE IT IS, YOU DUMB LITTLE SHIT!" You still pick one fossil and lose the other to sand, but now instead of an ancient tower epically tumbling into the sands below, you just ... have a surface-peeking fossil fall beneath the sand, inexplicably beyond your trainer's capability to retrieve. It's dumb. It's really, really dumb.

Apparently it's also how it was in Ruby and Sapphire. I don't remember it being like this, but if it was ... man. :\ All I can say is, it's really dumb to provide the illusion of branching exploration paths only to make all but one of them a functional dead end. Either do or don't give us options for exploration. Options which can sometimes be a cul-de-sac, sure, but not every time.

It's kind of hypocritical of me to say this, though, 'cause as a gamer I usually appreciate linearity in Story Mode. I get anxious when the game provides too many options for exploration and is vague about which ones you're supposed to do in what order. I remember with Diamond and Pearl, I honestly went south and fought Crasher Wake instead of heading north and fighting Maylene, without even trying to do things out of order. And when I found out later that I had defeated Gym 4 before even tackling Gym 3, I felt a little excitement, sure, but I also felt a lot of "Oh no! " at the prospect of having done things out of order. Now Maylene was going to be a total pushover. (Not like they aren't all pushovers ... ¬_¬) And how would this affect my adventure? Oh man oh man oh man. I mean, I don't get super anxious or anything over crap like this, it's not like ... medical-grade anxiety or something ... it's just, I like to do things in their proper order and branching paths usually shit all over that desire.

But that doesn't mean that I don't admire a game development team for doing proper branching when they do do it. And that's not what we have here in ORAS. :\ Here we have the illusion of branching paths that in reality is even more impotent than what we had in either Johto or Sinnoh.

Experience Share: I turned it back on because Swablu absolutely sucks and there was no way I was going to do the Exp.Share-less tactic of experience sharing, i.e. lead with Swablu every round and then call Swablu back for the real bruiser. No thank you. So I turned it back on, and because Swablu didn't evolve in what felt like forever, my team grew to gross proportions. Too gross to be fixed by turning Exp.Share off now. :\ My Swampert's at Level 58, which is already hilariously overpowered for the Groudon fight (especially since I plan to KO him to capture later) and is even too powerful for all remaining trainers save Steven the Champion. I've contemplated turning it back off anyway, just to have some challenge with my team's weaker members, but meh. May as well just plow through to the post-game content at this rate.

[dirkac]

>Meteor Falls
Actually, Meteor Falls never had a Surf section. The entirety of Meteor Falls was blocked by a Waterfall, unless you consider a small stream, a Waterfall you can go down but not up, and a tiny lake that connects to the bottom of those weird purple ledges Surf content.

>Desert
Yeah, same as in RS, which sucked tbh. I miss Mirage Tower and the Desert Underpass.

>Maylene/Crasher Wake
Uh
Why would Maylene be a pushover after Crasher Wake? They have the exact same Levels in DP and Maylene arguably has the better Movesets.



That said, I agree the handholding of ORAS sucks, if only because the way RSE was set up gave you natural progression.
Want to go back to Petalburg to fight Norman? You have to go back through the Desert anyway and on the way you get to return the Meteorite to Prof. Cosmo. You learn Briney's gone which sets you up for sea travel, and you get Surf.
You go through the Surf path on Route 103, do New Mauville which is en route to Route 121 anyway, and then you plot on to Fortree.

There never really was open world, as all the options merely lead back to the same place anyway, except that some options like taking Fiery Path again just flat out skips aome areas like the desert.
Its just that ORAS not only makes it obvious but actually makes them totally optional and pointless because loltransport.


In Emerald it went even further. After Sootopolis and the Undersea Cavern, you'd head to Ever Grande. Finish up there, and you'd head east to Pacifidlog. The amount of Diving done at that point should have gotten you a Relicanth and the Levelling should have provided a Wailord if you used a Wailmer. You get to Pacifidlog, head through the Currents, and get to Slateport, where the SS Aqua then takes you to the ladt area of the game; the Battle Frontier.

[Talon87]

I can't do New Mauville yet for some reason. (No spoilers. I'll rediscover how to do it eventually.) Wouldn't really say it's "en route" to anywhere either. It's very much out of the way, no one tells you to go there ... it's a lot like the power plant in RBY, honestly. You have to be in an explore-y mode to discover it. "I HAVE SURF NOW! LET ME EXPLORE ALL THE BODIES OF WATER I'VE EVER COME UPON!" ... You're not confusing New Mauville with Sea Mauville, are you?

Didn't realize Maylene and Wake were on the exact same level. I guess that pretty much confirms that they intended the split path there.

Never said Meteor Falls had an extensive Surf suction below the waterfalls, so I don't know where you pulled that correction from. I just said there was more to do there. More trainers, more things to explore on the bottom half of the main floor. I could still be wrong, but at least correct me about the right things if I am.

[dirkac]

Oh, in RSE it was, at least, I forgot ORAS was different.
Well, I mainly meant that you met Wattson en route to aFortree, and since he says its nearby I figured most would just do that before moving on. I mean, he gives you the key and all, and its blocked until you get that key anyway. (Which kinda sucks since you can only get Magnemite on the second floor, the first floor, where the blocked door is, only had Voltorb)
No, for Sea Mauville you'd need explorer mode since its literally a blink and you'll miss it thing on Briney's boat.

There isn't though.
The only area you can access in Meteor Falls before getting Waterfall is the starting room, which has no Trainers, and the only Items there are a Sun Stone, Super Repel, and whatever else was at the top-eastern ledge.
The stream, mini waterfall, and lake are all still a part of that main room, and they have literally no features, not even extremely different Encounterable Pokémon compared to just walking on land (I think just Marill or something gets added).

[Mercutio]

New Mauville definitely feels much more arbitrary in ORAS.

[Talon87]

Status update on my ORAS playthrough --

The brief version: I'm saved right in front of Groudon. I'm about to KO his sorry butt.

The detailed version:

Spoiler: show

The Plot: It feels a lot better in ORAS than it did in RuSa. And it was already good in RuSa. (For a Pokémon game.) It's almost entirely thanks to the cinematic cut scenes they now do. I'll also credit the minor changes they've made to the script, almost all of them better than what we had originally. Way to go, team!

Groudon: Just re-confirmed for like the tenth time that it is okay to KO Groudon here. This will be the first time I have ever KOed a legendary and then saved. >.< It goes against eighteen years of ingrained custom that now borders on the instinctual level. I'd liken it to where in sci-fi stories someone has to breathe while submerged, and their alien guide keeps telling them to do it, and they panic but finally do it and hey wow it works would you look at that. That's how I feel right now. ^^; I'm the guy underwater, and I'm being asked to inhale. It goes against everything I've ever known, every instinct in my body. HERE WE GO THOUGH! (After I write this post.)

Lack of challenge: I'm sad.

Tate and Liza: Totally remembered the twins being identical sisters, not fraternal a boy and a girl. Not really familiar with the name "Tate" and never give it much thought. I think Tate's boyness is more apparent in ORAS than it is in RSE.

Also they lost in Round 1 to my Gardevoir (OHKO'd Lunatone with Shadow Ball) and my Graveler (OHKO'd Solrock with a critical hit Stone Edge). orz ^^;

The Mossdeep Skitty: Pretty adorable. Quite a few "awwwwww "s during the various calamities (first the energy beam to the sky, then the heat wave) when you talk to Skitty and she goes, "Ski-i-i-i-i-i-ddy!" Poor Skitty.

Sea Mauville: Oh wow, we finally have our first really fucking awesome improvement/addition to the game that isn't a character. I remember the sunken ship from the original games, but Sea Mauville is 10x better. While I was initially kinda disappointed by the trade-off of a luxury liner for a platform at sea, what they did with this setting was unbelievable. Way to fucking go, Game Freak, giving us oodles of character development! It was very Mr. Fuji-esque in how they approached it. Lots of tongue-in-cheek censorships or omissions that aren't strong enough to prevent you from knowing who or what is being talked about. We learn that Professor Cozmo was previously an employee attached to Sea Mauville. (See below; I misunderstood!) We learn that Wattson was overseeing the project. We learn that Dock and Stern were involved. Then there's some intrigue with the introduction of Lisia's mother being attached to the project. And they tie these characters in to one another, and they make it tragic, and it's just great! I really loved this scene. Reading all those files in the filing cabinets, all those journals on the bookshelves ... looking at all the framed pictures and magazine covers ... it was just really, really great. The best of learning about Mew and the Mr. Fuji lore rolled into one.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE.

Also the bit about Infinity Energy ... how it's the ultimate energy but it requires harnessing from Pokémon ... it sounds an awful lot like what AZ might have used to power his death ray in XY. Lovin' the crossover.

Apparently I missed some of the letters (despite clicking on so much!), 'cause I was confused by the scene with Raizoh at the end and had no idea who Takao was ... just looked it up on Bulbapedia and MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN ... LOVIN' THIS! >.< It's so good! Totally gonna have to go back to Sea Mauville later and discover these letters on my own. Makes a lot more sense now out of the scene where Raizoh neglects all of the gold in the room in favor of one ornament ... a Skitty doll. ;~; (I was scared it was Diancite because of how it looked and wanted to make sure I didn't fuck something up by allowing Raizoh to take it instead of the worthless gold.)

Beedrillite: ... BUT WHY THE FUCK DID THEY PUT BEEDRILLITE HERE!? What were they thinking!? Everyone was so fucking stoked about Mega Beedrill. Why would you place his mega stone somewhere that you can't even access until after Gym 7? What a waste. That shit should've been placed in Petalburg Woods (if we're sticking with the Easy Mode theme of the past few games *sigh*) or else no later than Lavaridge (if you want to at least have anybody keep a Beedrill around for Story Mode).

Pidgeotite: I still don't have this one, I believe. If it hasn't come up yet, then you can chalk it up as another example of failed design. If it has, whoopsie, better circle back around later and go get it!

Secret Bases: Are there no Secret Bases bigger than the ones I always find? They're all so frickin' tiny. I've temporarily made my Secret Base be the one that is the on the island southwest of Sootopolis (because it seemed special/important), but man ... they're all so tiny. :\ I want one that's 2-3 stories tall and has at least 2x the floor space of the one I have now.

[dirkac]

All the Secret Bases are actually a 1:1 scale import from RSE, with a few Bases having disappeared entirely or replaced to those Secret Areas south of Sootopolis/eadt of Pacifidlog.