On my way west to Pinwheel Forest I was given TM94 (Rock Smash) by a girl on the path to the forest, and I was surprised to see a former HM reduced to TM status. I remember this happening with Flash, which was an HM in Sapphire, but in Gen 4 starting with Pokemon Pearl it was another TM. I wonder how many other former HMs will be changed to TM status?
I found Burgh nearby, and he told me that if Team Plasma manage to sneak off through the forest then we might have trouble. I got into a battle before I entered the forest, and Mason grew to Level 18. The Nurse I fought healed him up, and I grabbed a nearby Ether before I wandered south a short distance to get into a pair of battles.
Through the battles, Madelyn grew to Level 18 and learned Roost in place of Growl, and Purrloin and Arthur got a bit banged up by another Trainer, but the Nurse healed my team again. I continued on into the forest, and I quickly found Burgh on the path. He told me there were two ways out of Pinwheel Forest, the road that goes straight through the forest, and the road that winds through it.
Burgh took the straight road, with the intention to block the exit if he didn't find them, and I took the winding path to look for them. I quickly got into a Double Battle, and Purrloin went down to a previously unknown weakness to Bug-Type Pokemon, but I sent Madelyn in to take them down. I went back to the Nurse to heal my team, then I continued on through the winding path.
I quickly found one of the Team Plasma Grunts, hoping to beat me and help the others escape. The Grunt sent out Sandile and I sent out Purrloin, but then I switched over to Arthur who got stuck by Sand Tomb which did minor damage. Arthur's Leech Seed was avoided by Sandile, then it used Torment to stop Arthur from using Leech Seed again, but then he struck with Vine Whip for massive damage, and got hit by Assurance for good damage. Arthur used Leech Seed to regain some health to balance out Rock Tomb, then another Vine Whip was avoided, and then Sandile knocked out Arthur.
Finally the Grunt's Sandile was knocked out by Purrloin's Fury Swipes, and the Plasma Grunt told me he didn't have anything, telling me I'd just have to look for his friends through the forest to get the skull back. I had to get back to the Nurse to heal my team and revive Arthur before I could continue searching.
I decided to look for new Pokemon in the tall grass nearby, and I caught a Venipede (Bug/Poison, Male, Lv. 15), a Cottonee (Grass, Male, Lv. 14), and a Sewaddle (Bug/Grass, Female, Lv. 15) before I had to go back to town to heal my team at the Pokemon Center. I started to wonder about the strength of my team, and of how their stats had all grown so slowly, so evenly as I trained, wondering if perhaps they would be too weak for the battles ahead?
I also found a Tympole (Water, Female, Lv. 12) in the grass outside of Pinwheel Forest, who I named Nora, and she would be the sixth member of my team. I kept looking through the grass after I healed my team again, and I also found a Timburr (Fighting, Female, Lv. 13), and a Sawk (Fighting, Male, Lv. 15) and through all the battles Arthur also grew to Level 18, while Madelyn grew to Level 19.
I went back into the forest and fought against another Team Plasma Grunt, and she sent out Purrloin against Mason. Mason used Shock Wave for massive damage, and then Purrloin missed an attack before another Shock Wave knocked it out and won the battle. She was also empty-handed, and I had to continue looking through the forest for the rest of Team Plasma.
I found out that there were Trainers outside of Pinwheel Forest that I missed, so I went back to battle them, and through the fighting Nora grew to Level 14, but try as I might Purrloin just couldn't get much experience. With a weakness to both Bug-Type Pokemon and Fighting-Type Pokemon, I knew I wouldn't be able to get much if any training done for Purrloin except to have him switch out for every single battle, a slow and tedious process.
It was night when I went back into Pinwheel Forest, and I got into a battle with a Pokemon Ranger. By the end of it Nora grew to Level 15, and Purrloin grew to Level 18. I got into another battle with a Youngster, and then I got past him to fight another Pokemon Ranger. Purrloin was knocked out by the Pokemon Ranger, but Mason got revenge. Without a Revive, I had to continue on without Purrloin's strength.
I got stopped by yet another Pokemon Ranger as I made my way toward another Plasma Grunt, and I was starting to get angry with them. These people were supposed to protect Pokemon and the habitats that they live in, why were they stopping me from fighting Team Plasma? Did they have nothing better to do with their time?
Arthur knocked out her Panpour in a single Vine Whip, and Nora grew to Level 16 and learned Mud Shot in place of Round, then I made my way to the Plasma Grunt. The Plasma Grunt sent out Patrat, then Nora went out to face it. After a prolonged battle, Nora came out on top with the win, and I had to run past him to try catching his friends.
I found myself confronted by yet ANOTHER Pokemon Ranger, and I felt like telling him to go do his fucking job instead of harassing me with a Pokemon battle! Nora took out his Pansear with just a couple Bubble Beam attacks, and she grew to Level 17, then I had to rush past him hoping that Team Plasma hadn't gotten away when he and his friends had held me back.
I found another Team Plasma Grunt, another one who proved to be prepared for a Trainer like myself with three Pokemon. Nora took out his Patrat, then Mason took out another Patrat, and then Arthur took out his last Pokemon, a Sandile. When I beat the Plasma Grunt, he handed over the Dragon Skull! The Grunt lamented that the dream that the king and his grunts share wouldn't come true.
Suddenly someone came up from behind me, and they asked the Grunt how he was doing. The Grunt revealed that the man is Gorm of the Seven Sages, I'm assuming a powerful group within Team Plasma. The Plasma Grunt admitted that the Dragon Skull they worked so hard to get had been stolen from them by me, but he said it wasn't important, that they could afford to abandon it. It seems the Dragon Skull wasn't the Legendary Pokemon they were looking for.
Gorm suddenly confronted me, telling me that they couldn't allow anyone to get away with disrupting their plans. He threatened to stop me from ever interfering again, but before I could start a fight Burgh came up from behind, telling me he had found us because of the bug Pokemon getting worked up. Burgh was interested in Gorm, asking if he was there to help his fellow Plasma Grunts, and suddenly Lenora came by as well, empty handed after beating her own slew of Plasma Grunts.
Lenora asked Gorm who he was, if he was the big boss, and he would only say that he was one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma. Gorm said that Ghetsis, another of the Seven Sages, would liberate Pokemon with words alone. He also told us the remainder of the Seven Sages have ordered their Grunts to take Pokemon with force, but realized that the odds were against them, faced with an Ace Trainer like myself AND two Gym Leaders.
Gorm told us "Know your enemies, know yourself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles..." which was rather cryptic. Gorm retreated with the Grunt, telling us once again that they would liberate Pokemon by stealing them from Trainers, and he said that even with them being Gym Leaders that they would not tolerate any more obstruction from them.
Burgh and Lenora talked amongst themselves, and decided not to chase the pair. Burgh went back to Castelia City, looking forward to battling with me when I was ready to take on the Castelia Gym. I gave Lenora the Dragon Skull to return to the museum, and she thanked me for my effort and the care I gave my Pokemon. Lenora handed over a Moon Stone before he left the forest to return to the museum.
With all that behind me, I decided that it was best to hurry out of the Forest and to Castelia City. I gave Arthur a Miracle Seed I had found on a ledge, and I got to the main path before I left the forest. I found myself standing before the Skyarrow Bridge, with the Castelia City skyline in the distance. I got a Quick Claw from a Hiker before I went across the bridge, watching trucks passing below me while I walked a path above them, and soon I found myself in Castelia City.
I healed my team, and I knew I would have to do a lot of training back in Pinwheel Forest before my team would be ready for the challenges ahead. I wondered how Purrloin would fare, how long it would take him to really build his strength with so many different Pokemon strong against his Dark-Type.
Current Team:
Nora (Tympole, Water, Lv. 17)
Mason (Blitzle, Electric, Lv. 18)
Cole (Pignite, Fire/Fighting, Lv. 21)
Madelyn (Pidove, Normal/Flying, Lv. 19)
Purrloin (Dark, Male, Lv. 18)
Arthur (Pansage, Grass, Lv. 18)
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