Pokemon Pearl - Hearthome City

I went through the gate to Hearthome City, and right when I got there I was met by a running Buneary, followed closely by it's Trainer, who sent it back into it's Pokeball. She introduced herself as Keira, a Pokemon Contest Judge, and she was grateful to me for stopping her Buneary before it could run any further. She wanted me to come to the Contest Hall to receive a proper thanks before she left.

I went into the city and met with someone visiting from Hoenn, and he was kind enough to show me where the Contest Hall is. I saw someone at the door and talked with them, she turned out to be Fantina, the Gym Leader of Hearthome Gym, and she told me I needed to become much stronger before I could challenge her. Fantina left and I went into the Contest Hall, where I met up with the kid's mother and Keira. It turns out Mom was on a little vacation, and Keira gave me Glitter Powder for Contests. Mom also gave me a Tuxedo to wear to Contests, because apparently Trainers need to dress up just as much as Pokemon do.

I decided to go exploring the city since I couldn't take on the Gym Leader, and I found myself at the Poffin House. Here, they have a machine I can use to turn Berries into things called Poffins, which apparently are special food for Pokemon. I remember hearing at the Contest Hall that Poffins are needed to win Contests, but I have no idea what they're supposed to do. I wanted to try my hand at making Poffins, but the lady at the machine said that I needed a Poffin Case. I had no idea how I was going to find a Poffin Case, so I decided to leave for later.

I found a Pokemon Fan Club in the city, and went inside. I encountered a TV Reporter who wanted an interview about Alexander, and I used "Power" to describe him, though I wish I could have said "Powerful" instead. I went further in and talked with the old man running the club, the Fan Club Chairman, and he explained how feeding Poffins to Pokemon could build their attributes like "cuteness" and "toughness" for Contests. After the explanation of Poffins, he gave me a Poffin Case and encouraged me to make lots of Poffins and feed them to all my Pokemon.

Poffin Case in hand, I headed for the Poffin House to make my own. I decided to use a Cheri Berry for my first Poffin. To make a Poffin, it involves tossing your Berry into some batter, and then stirring it as it heats up in a pot. While it's cooking, you're told to stir it in one direction or the other, and the direction changes as you cook. The trick is to stir it at just the right speed; too fast and it starts to spill over, too slow and it starts to burn. I had a shaky start, but I kept at it and got a Lv. 9 Spicy Poffin for my efforts. I continued on with a few more Poffins before continuing on my way.

I explored the city more, encountering a woman named Bebe who runs the Pokemon PC System, and then I went into an apartment complex and talked to the people inside. I soon left the apartment and continued on, finding the east gate to Amity Square, where I could walk around with my Pokemon. I went in and found out that they would only let cute Pokemon walk around, and that covered less than a dozen different Pokemon. None of the Pokemon in my party matched, so I left the square.

I decided to head south and continue on my way, seeing as I couldn't do anything more in the city, and I encountered Simon again. He didn't want to talk, he only wanted to battle. I sent out Alexander and he sent out Starly, but then I switched out to Maximus to take advantage of it's advantage against Flying-Type Pokemon. I had Maximus use Spark, and the critical hit knocked out Starly. Simon sent out a Buizel to fight, and I kept Maximus out to fight it. One hit from Spark took out the Buizel, then Simon sent out his Monferno, met by Alexander. His Monferno used Fury Swipes, and while it didn't do much damage, Alexander's Revenge took the damaged received and doled it out in spades, bringing Monferno to the red. Monferno used Mach Punch and brought Alexander to the red, but a Karate Chop took it out, and Alexander grew to Level 23. Simon sent out Roselia, and I sent out Lucius, and an Ember attack did quite a bit of damage AND caused a burn. Roselia countered the attack with Poison Sting and caused Lucius to be Poisoned. A good Stomp took out Roselia and I won the battle, and Lucius grew to Level 23.

Simon complained about being beaten again, and handed over $2100 before talking about beating the Veilstone Gym, then he ran off again. I headed over to the Poke' Mart to grab some healing items and Pokeballs (and sell some valuables I've built up), then I started my way to the southern gates to grab a Berry (Tamato Berry) for the day from the Berry Master, before continuing east. Before the gate, I talked to a Hiker who gave me a Pokemon Egg. I put away the Egg for now, and then headed east for Solaceon Town.

Current Team:

Annabelle (Grotle, Grass, Lv. 23)
Maria (Shellos, Water, Lv. 23)
Lucius (Ponyta, Fire, Lv. 23)
Maximus (Luxio, Electric, Lv. 22)
Marcus (Staravia, Normal/Flying, Lv. 23)
Alexander (Machop, Fighting, Lv. 23)