Playthroughs Unovia's Galar "Gym Leader Ace" Run

[Unovia]

Vs. Gordie I was very worried about this fight, especially since the last time (my first Playthrough) I had to do a Rematch. In that Playthrough, I had to get to Level 48 to actually win. With that in mind, I took on Gordie! He opened with Barbaracle (Level 40) and I opened with Eldegoss. Barbaracle set up with Shell Smash, but fell quickly to Leaf Tornado. Next came Shuckle (Level 40), which, due to its typing is always a wild card. I switched to Copperajah, which took a Struggle Bug, then hit with an Iron Head, ending Shuckle. Last time, Shuckle was where my Team lost momentum. Next for Gordie was Stonjourner (Level 41). I thought about keeping Copperajah in. I probably should have. Instead, I changed to Slowpoke. I did a Surf, which didn't do much as Stonejourner set up Stealth Rocks. Wanting to increase the power, I set up Rain Dance against Wonder Room. Things went back and forth for a while, trying to get the upper hand on each other, and Stonejourner almost defeated Slowpoke with Body Slam. I switched to Eldegoss, who still struggled. Who would think this monster who is a pure Rock Type would give so much challenge? After a time, Eldegoss was paralyzed, and I switched to Copperajah, who finally took down Stonejourner. Lastly for Gordie was Coalossal (Level 42) and I switched to Drednaw. Stealth Rocks ended, we went big. I thought about using Water Moves, but instead we fought using Rock Walls. In the end, Drednaw defeated Coalossal, giving me the win on the first try. 6 badges down. Turns out, Hop can't beat him yet. Sonia wanted me to meet up with her at the restaurant. I am going to go train everyone up to Level 46 since my Eldegoss got up there during the Gym fight. Then I will go meet up with Sonia. In the next Log, we will go onto Route 9, where we will catch a Lapras hopefully. Until the next time, we will see you! End of Season 2!

 

[Unovia]

Welcome To Season 3! Before I took on Route 9, I defeated Hop. Honestly, the battle did not take long, considering I was significantly higher than him. Route 9 This Route is another very long one, running from Circhester to the entrance of Spikemuth. It took me a while to beat all of the trainers. By the end, my Pokemon were all Level 47. Unfortunately, I could not find a Lapras. It's in one specific area for fishing, and super rare, so I was not going to worry about it. Spikemuth Gate I battled Marnie with just Hatterene, who I was training at the time. Her Team fell surprisingly easy. This allowed me to have secret access to Spikemuth. I felt bad for the other Gym challenger who was still waiting outside. Galar Route 2 & North Lake Miloch I decided to try to find a Lapras that I could catch. Unfortunately, the one in Lake Miloch is Level 56, and I can't catch it until after Raihan.

For now, I have decided I am going to train up to Level 50 using the various Grappoloct you can find in Circhester Bay. One of them OHKOed Urshifu! I want to be able to defeat the Grappoloct with no problem before I take on Piers. In the next Log, we will discuss our training with the Grappoloct, and our storming of Spikemuth. It is nice to have the Rotom Water Bike. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

Circhester Bay & Route 9 It took me a few days, but I managed to train my Box using the Grappoloct. The Grappoloct were actually more powerful than Urshifu, surprisingly. Reversal hit really hard! Tired of training, I used some rare candies to finish Copperajah. The best, most effective Pokemon to use against Grappoloct was Alcemie by far. Sometimes I had to use Wailmer to train as well. Once I got to Level 50, I prepared a Team to take on Spikemuth. Alcremie Grimmsnarl Hatterene Copperajah I thought seriously about bringing Urshifu to the fight, but I decided against it. I don't really like using Legendaries for Gyms. In the next Log, we will take on Spikemuth. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

Spikemuth Spikemuth is the city that Team Yell runs. Turns out, Team Yell really isn't an "evil Team" in the pure sense. It is actually just the fan club for Marnie and her brother, Piers. Piers is also the Spikemuth Gym Leader. It took a bit to clear out the entire group of grunts/fans, but we managed to do so. Alcremie and Grmmsnarl got to Level 51, and I put Hatterene at the top of the Team list. In the next Log, we will take on Piers. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

Vs. Piers This battle was not hard at all, surprisingly. He opened with Scrafty (Level 44) and I opened with Hatterene. Scrafty hit with Fake Out and Payback, and Hatterene struck with Dazzling Gleam. OHKO. Next for Piers was Obstagoon (Level 46) and I kept Hatterene in. Obstagoon stayed on the attack with Shadow Claw while Hatterene struck with Dazzling Gleam. Hatterene was very weak, so I sent out Alcremie to take on Malamar (Level 45). Alcremie opened with Attract and Misty Terrain, then used Draining Kiss to win the fight. Finally was Skunktank (Level 45), which I changed to Copperajah for. I thought I would get hit with Flamethrower, but the Skunktank didn't have it in the moveset. One Iron Head and Skunktank fell, winning the fight. Piers wanted Marnie to take over for him. She said no, then battled for the badge. In the next Log, we will explore the waters of the Isle of Armor. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

Isle of Armor Through exploring the water around the Isle of Armor, I eventually discovered the little island where Galarian Cuffs are made. This allowed me to finally have a Galarian Slowbro. At the same time, I battled the Wailord who is way off in the distance. Turns out, that thing is Level 80. Luckily Henry could beat it. I also battled quite a few Sharpedoes. My Main Team was now at Level 54. I am planning to get the other Pokemon in the Boxes to the same level before really moving on. In the next Log, we will take on Route 9 Tunnel & Route 7. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

Route 9 Tunnel & Route 7 I had to push through the crowd to pass through here, but I met up with Hop, who was excited to see Leon in the news, helping to defeat Dynamax Pokemon. I battled a few trainers on the way to Hammerlocke. In the next Log, we will talk about our third visit to Hammerlocke. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

Hammerlocke Not much happened here. Sonia and Professor Magnolia talked about the Darkest Day then went off to do research. Hop went back to Spikemuth to challenge Piers. Apparently, he had to rematch him. As for me, I ended this post, standing before Hammerlocke Castle, building my nerve to go face Raihan. In my first Playthrough against him, I was Level 48 when I first faced him and Level 60 when I went to defeat him. I hope that being Level 54 will allow me to defeat him on the first try, but we will see. In the next Log, we will face Raihan for our last Gym Badge. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Nicolas721]

You make me want to play SWSH again. Good luck on the final gym!

 

[Unovia]

You make me want to play SWSH again. Good luck on the final gym!

Thanks. You should play Galar again. Honestly, one of the most incredible Regions. Very much underrated.

 

[Unovia]

Let me apologize Folks! Originally, I had said that my Team was Level 54. Actually, they were Level 52. Hammerlocke Gym The Hammerlocke Gym was very challenging. The Gym Challenge featured three different weathers. The first weather was Rain. The next was Sun. The last one was Hail. I used my Main Team to clear this. Vs. Raihan Against Raihan, I used Copperajah, Drednaw, Coalossal, and Hatterene. I thought if I didn't get challenged by the Sandstorm, I would be okay. On this attempt, Coalossal was my Dynamax. I got all the way to the last hit on Duraludon (Level 48) and I was defeated. I was so frustrated! Possibly the Team was a mistake, since Duraludon was far more durable than I expected. I should have anticipated that I would end up with a Rematch, and I should have guessed it would be Raihan. I will prepare, then try again. I might have to bring out the big monster of Urshifu. Might train up some more. There might be a crazy end with the Rematch. So close, yet so far! Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

Raihan Rematch With the sting of defeat, I trained my Team up to Level 53. I figured that, since I was very close on the first time, it would not take much to win. Against Raihan, I put the following Team together. Drednaw, Copperajah, Coalossal, & Urshifu I opened with Drednaw and Copperajah. The pair managed to defeat Flygon and Gigalith. When both of them fell, I considered keeping them in to face Duraludon and Sandaconda. Sandaconda was causing issues, so I switched out Copperajah for Urshifu. Urshifu was my Dynamax, and so it managed to defeat Duraludon with Max Knuckle and used its final Max Knuckle to put an end to Sandaconda. That snake is a tricky monster! Having won my final badge, I met Sonia, who was elevated to Professor Sonia. Soon, I will be working to upgrade my Team. In the next Log, we will do an old favorite of these series, Gym Leaders In Review. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

	Milo This battle was not that difficult. I had Carkol and Sizzlepede in this fight, so it was very smooth. I am glad I had Carkol and not Rolycoly, due to Carkol being a Fire and Rock Type. Very easy battle.
	Nessa This Gym was the first time that I used only Grass Types for a Water Gym. Even though Nessa was fast, once we got moving, she wasn't much of a challenge.
	Kabu This was the first Gym where I could have ended up with a Rematch. Carkol effectively stalled out Ninetales, though Arcanine was much more challenging than I expected. Slowpoke was my 3rd Pokemon, though I didn't use it because of how slow it was, so I was effectively fighting with two vs his three. Once I got past Arcanine, I was able to beat his Centiskorch, but there were a few moments where I was definitely concerned. Kabu put up a definite challenge.
	Bea This was another Gym where I was running at a bit of a disadvantage. My Team was not in a good place. The most tricky Pokemon was actually Sirfetch'd and not Machamp. Hattrem was slower than I expected, and I was hopeful that I would not have to rely on Alcremie to end the fight. I expected that Machamp would have a Steel Type move. Surprisingly it didn't, otherwise I probably would have lost. Alcremie was a strong Fairy.
	Opal Opal was actually pretty challenging. Going after Galarian Weezing and Alcremie was why I went after getting a Cufant and evolving to Copperajah. Her other fairies were more trivial, and I had a few more options. I suspect that if I didn't answer the questions correctly on her quiz, I might have actually lost the battle.
	Gordie I was very worried with Gordie, considering that, in my first Playthrough, I couldn't beat him on the first try. Stonjourner was the very tough battle of the four. It took a combination of Slowpoke, Eldegoss, and Copperajah to take it out, mainly because how much of a stall out the wall was. His other 3 Pokemon were trivial by comparison.
	Piers It was nice to have an easy Gym fight. Hatterene was able to sweep his first two Pokemon. I thought Obstagoon would be much more annoying than it was. I was a bit disappointed that his Skunktank didn't have Flamethrower. That would have made him more of a threat. I thought I would have to use Ground moves to take it out, but Steel moves was all I needed. He could have been a bigger threat.
	Raihan Raihan was...well...Raihan. The only Gym that required a Rematch. I was a bit frustrated with my first loss, since I was only one hit away from winning. Sandaconda and Duraludon made for a strong pair. I think that Raihan is the strongest 8th Gym Leader of any game with a Gym system. The fact I had to resort to Urshifu to win meant that I needed some more power than I thought I would need to. The combination of sandstorm weather and Dragon Typing made for a very tough experience. In the next Log, we will talk about some Team Upgrades. Until the next time, we will see you!

 

[Unovia]

Having beat Raihan, I now had the opportunity to capture anything I wanted. It was time to work to upgrade the Team. Originally, I wanted to catch Gengar, Lapras, and Machamp I managed to get Gengar (Level 60) and Lapras (Level 56). Unfortunately, I was not able to find Machamp, and frankly, I don't need it for my planned Team. My regular Team is Level 53. Once I get to Level 60, I will go to Route 10 and there, hopefully catch and train a Duraludon. At least I can keep Haunter in the box now, and frankly, I won't have to do much Box Switch Training after this. Until the next time, we will see you!