Pokemon Ultra Moon LP #3: Akala & Ula'ula Mop-up

So I've gone through a good chunk of Akala Island. I beat Kahuna Olivia, which wasn't super hard... she did have a different party, though, with a Lileep and Anorith instead of... whatever she had before. A Nosepass and something else, I think? She still has her Lycanroc, of course. The Lileep's a bit tough, but nothing my team can't handle. The encounters before this with Lumeria and Aether and Team Skull are all identical to Sun/Moon, I think.

At this point I just do a lot of exploration in both Melemele and Akala, going to capture stuff and explore and fill up the map. I explored the Seaward Cave and Hau'oli Bay, I got the Flynium Z (and the flying Elite Four golfer lady randomly shows up just to show me the dance) and I got a second Pikanium Z from the Pikachu celebrity (Master Chuuster!) in front of the Grand Hotel after rescuing him from the nasty paparazzi.

And there's this absolutely hilarious subplot in Olivia's town where apparently there is a gang of Ditto Brothers that are impersonating random NPCs like the cook in the restaurant and a herb seller, and it's... a fun little side-quest, for sure. I got to catch a Ditto out of it! It's these small side-quests that I wished was added more into the game.

Also, from totem stickers, I get a big fat larger-than-normal Araquanid that I'm using in my party now. A lot of my party members also evolved, with my Dartrix becoming a Decidueye, Stufful becoming a Bewear and my Inkay becoming a Malamar (complete with upside-down 3DS). And I decided to box Zoroark temporarily, because as much as I love Zoroark I have used her in a Generation V game before, and I have two more Dark types in Grimer and Malamar, both able to use other elements other than Dark. Sorry, Zoroark. I'm also boxing my Hat Pikachu because I forgot how quickly the bonus from a traded Pokemon is, although Pikachu's going to switch in and out every now and then. One of the more important things for the Pokemon experience IMO is raising Pokemon, and it's far more fun when you have one or two members of your team weaker and waiting to evolve. Plus, I've always wanted to use a non-Aerodactyl party member for forever.

In her stead, I decided to finally use a fossil Pokemon, because I've never actually had one in my party before... and I didn't see what I picked. I got a Kabuto, which is just fine because I have neither Water nor Rock in my party. So, yeah, I think that's about it for my party -- it's currently Decidueye, Malamar, Bewear, Grimer, Kabuto and Araquanid; with Pikachu and Zoroark as reserve members.

Other than that, though, it's mostly just exploration. A good chunk of the Aether Paradise subplot was identical, with the conversations with Faba and Wicke being lifted almost wholesale. We do get the revelation that Aether is working alongside the Ultra Recon Squad, I beat Nihilego because Malamar's Topsy-Turvy is the bane of all Ultra Beasts, and we get some exposition from the Ultra Reckon Squad about Ultra Megalopolis and Necrozma and whatnot. It's... okay? The plotline isn't as different as I wished it was from Sun/Moon, only with the Recon Squad being thrown in to expand on the Aether storyline.

I also wished that there was a bit more editing involved to make the Ultra Recon Squad a bit less wordy and a bit less cryptic, because a good chunk of their dialogue is honestly just skippable. We learn, more or less, that Necrozma, the Blinding One, is incomplete and broken due to their attempts to draw the light from him or whatever, but the constant crypticness of it all kinda made me shrug it off, mostly.

And finally, after a longer-than-necessary ferry cutscene, I arrive on Ula'ula. And boy, I forgot how much I like Ula'ula in comparison to Akala and Melemele, for the simple reason that after a big huge block of Hau and Lillie dithering about, and two reasonable chunks with the Professor on the garden (which isn't as obnoxious as every other forced cutscene), the plot-relevant backstory behind Lunala with Acerola in the library, I am absolutely free to explore Malie City, its many buildings and the routes that connect to it without being disturbed every two steps by Hau or Lillie or Kukui trying to tell me how a building works. See, game designers? More of this, please.

There's a weird subquest that involves markings on the Maile City streets that ended in me getting naught but Max Repels. That was dumb.

There's also a surprising 'Kantonian Gym' that mimics Lt. Surge's Viridian Gym, with all the trash cans and shit! Although thankfully I don't actually have to deal with the trash cans, and they're now just beer buckets or whatever you call those. It's a neat little thing, and I think they're kind of like the sports stadium in Black/White where you can return every day for a different challenge, with layouts that homage the Kanto gyms. Part of me is resenting the amount of attention that Kanto is getting compared to other regions, but the Kanto fanboy in me is happy. Oh, and my Grimer evolved into a Muk, which is nice.

What follows is a neat chunk of just simple exploration without any railroading. Sure, there's a confrontation with Team Skull before the bus, and Kukui and Maloyne (who I don't fight this time around?) have a bit of a dialogue in front of the observatory, but for a good chunk of the whole ordeal none of this feels railroady at all and I really get immersed in the Pokemon game. I don't think there's much that changed in this area, beyond the actual trial. Which is... bizarre.

I'm not really sure I really like it, because it makes Sophocles look like a goddamn moron as opposed to the scatterbrained genius that he was in Sun/Moon, and I'm not sure why we needed a random spin-the-grid puzzle when the Charjabug are established to be able to wiggle their way on their own. (I don't mind the 'find the Charjabug, they've escaped!' minigame because that makes more sense) But eh. But once more, the totem Pokemon is changed, with a totem Togedemaru showing up as the boss as opposed to a Vikavolt. Togedemaru is a lot less scary, although I suppose kudos for them giving Togedemaru more relevance. I had some trouble because I don't have Fire or Ground type moves in my party, but even then I just spammed special attacks and the Togedemaru didn't even take out a single member of my team.

After the Sophocles trial, there was a bit where it looked like I was going to be forced into a Battle Avenue tutorial, but Sophocles is cool enough to tell me it exists, teleports me there, before teleporting me back. Thanks, dude. Then I got the Mudsdale ride (getting ride Pokemon are side-quests I wouldn't mind to actually do) and got through the oasis all the way to Tapu Village, where the Ultra Recon Squad shows up again and tells Hau and me that the village wasn't apparently destroyed by Tapu Bulu throwing a tantrum (though everyone else still thinks that) but because Necrozma fought against Tapu Bulu there. Oh, and the icy Pokemon like Snorunt and Alolan Sandshrew are available a lot earlier due to a patch of snowy grass... and dang, that Sandslash does look cool....

Oh well. I then complete the Acerola trial, which is mostly the same -- although can I say how well-done the spooky atmosphere in the abandoned supermart is? And we even got an extra moment with a ghostly Acerola prior to the Mimikyu battle, which is pretty neatly creepy. Man, I miss my old Mimikyu.