PAS^3, Episode 4: Clever Title
As I step out of the forest and into Rustboro, a girl version of the skateboarder from earlier steps out of hiding somewhere off to he right of the screen, phoning someone called "Mr. Matt" and apologizing that her mission has failed, and that she would continue investigating the weird energy. Hanging up, she laments someone who had a lot of promise as a trainer.
Poking around Rustboro, I get TM49: Echoed Voice from a passing klauzomaniac. There's the usual gauntlet of Pokemon trainers, though with a twist! Sometimes they team up on you now! Fortunately you get to match them Mon for Mon when they do, or it'd be kinda unfair. While doing this, Blitz the Zigzagoon learns a debuff called Baby-Doll Eyes, which involves lowering your opponents attack value because you're too gosh-darn cute to hit. Congrats Pokemon, you've named a debuff move properly! I also find a fisherman who sics his Magikarp on me. Unfortunately for him, he'd have better luck if he flung the Magikarp instead. Turns out he has three of them, so what they lack in usefulness, they make up for in uselessness.
On the south end of Rustboro is a flower shop with a couple Berry bushes in front. Making sure nobody's looking, Cody pillages those bushes for all he can get. Inside, he is given a plea on behalf of Berry Bushes, making sure he knows how to use them and that he should replant them when he picks them. A little girl runs up to Cody and assures him that she's "Growing Flowers too!", which she could prevent by washing her hair more often. But she also gives him a Chesto berry, which is currently our only anti-sleep item, so hey.
As Cody walks around Rustboro, he finds Brendan walking out of the Pokemart. Brendan marvels at how big Rustboro is compared to his tiny villaige of Littleroot, and points out how there's even a Gym! He points out the gym to Cody, but it looks like it's about the size of one of those little coffee kiosks you find in a parking lot. (Note: I was originally going to say it's the size of a Fox Photo kiosk in a parking lot, then I realized that nobody knows what that is anymore, and that I am An Old.)
Brendan runs off to put the final touches on his Gym team, and Cody decides to do a little trespassing in local residences. "Pokemon are mysterious creatures!" one lady gushes "I've lived with them for years and I still learn something new every day!". Well, maybe she has dinosaur DNA and can only see things when they move? Cody decides to help her by giving her a book on how to increase your basic perception. In another house is an old man who insists that the nicknames he gives his Mon are all perfectly suited and original, while his wife suggests that maybe "Pekachu" is not the best name for a Shroomish.
Elsewhere, I find a rack of Pokemon magazines, such as Pokemon Pal, Pokemon Handbook, Adorable Pokemon, PokeBeat, Popular Technical Machines, Cosmopokemon, Rolling Cubone, Delcatty Fancier, and of course, Barely Legal Servines.
I stumble upon the Pokemon school, and wander in to see what they can teach me. I'm immediatly accosted by a tall balding man who insists that he's not weird, he's the head of the school. Oooooh-kay buddy. No, sure I believe you... I'm just... gonna... run to the door and start calling for a cop for unrelated reasons. I find the teacher and try to inform him about the weirdo hanging out in the entryway, and he informs me that students who do not study get a taste of his Quick Claw. Pokemon schools are hardcore, yo. Don't turn in your homework on time and you get cut! He shows me his Quick Claw for proof, and Cody silently slips it into his bag before anyone gets hurt.
Speaking of Cut, a fatherly type in another house is so in awe of the powerful figure demanding respect that our preteen bunny in a skirt cuts that he gives us HM01-Cut! Useful for getting through obsticles in our way. While checking out the Pokemart, a man gives us a sales pitch for TM54-False Swipe, and then forgets to charge us for it when he gives it to us. Coffee is for closers, sucker.
The last building in town aside from the Gym is owned by The Devon Corporation; "For all your living needs, we make it all." Wasn't that the slogan for the Umbrella Corporation? There better not be any zombies in here. The lobby is nice, but we're not allowed past that yet, so I guess it's time to go hit the gym?
No, not yet. Next time, we challenge the Stone Gym!
Mon's captured this session: Myco (Shroomish)