Okay. Explored the Strange House last night, and it was... weird. If the plot continues later then maybe I'd change my mind, but for now this seems like a haunted house subplot done well. It doesn't tell me nothing like that place in Eterna Forest, but it also leaves some mysteries.
To put it simply, a girl - a lass, it looked - shows up three times. The first time to complain of an unending dark dream, and wondering where her family went; the second time to recall her father telling her to forget about the Lunar Wing, and the final time to tell me that since she can't, I should return the Lunar Wing to "the bridge". There are at least five bridges in this game, but I'm not about to be picky. I already have a Cresselia anyway, in Heart Gold.
Oh, and the basement had a bunch of bookshelves, all of which referenced something in the series relating to dreams... except the last one, which oddly instead of mentioning the attack Nightmare (which was otherwise absent), mentioned the ability Forewarn. I did get a Dusk Stone down there though.
Entering the cave of Reversal Mountain, I very quickly find a Max Repel lying in plain sight. Hint much, Gamefreak? Just slightly further in, I also find Bianca again, who decides she wants to come with me, including to heal the Pokemon regularly. I certainly won't complain about that. :P
...But unfortunately, she doesn't heal mid-battle, as Angkokear just got knocked out by a Golbat & Boldore before I could heal. >_> Switching in Lentil, the remainder of these trainers' pokemon are taken care of quickly.
A short time later, San Pedro is also knocked out, leaving me with four Pokemon weak to fighting. Awkward. At least I get healed after each battle though, which has really helped as I run back and forth in this oddly-shaped cave, trying to find every item so I don't have to come back here again.
When I go down to a place Bianca had indicated she wanted to go, it turns out that the Pokemon she was researching - Heatran - wasn't there, but probably was in the past. With no other leads, I figure I may as well leave via the easternmost door to outside, which I haven't been through yet.
...Hrm. Bianca still doesn't want to leave, which means there's still something to do before going that way. Probably. I guess I'll keep looking around. Maybe like in Sinnoh, somebody in the area currently has the Magma Stone? Worth looking into.
...
After going back to the previous town to swap out the deceased pokemon (I've brought in Necco and Tallow II, the latter of whom I'm probably just going to refer to as Tallow most of the time), it turns out that Bianca doesn't return to follow me after staying behind when I leave, and in fact just wanders around the east end of the cavern. The Strange House being on the west end meant that I needed to walk all the way across the cave again. At least it's a straight line. Even after talking to her, she shows no interest in continuing to follow me, and just keeps wandering. Guess I'll head to the next town...
In Undella Town (the music of which seems like it should be in some other game. Maybe Animal Crossing), I explore a bit, and go surfing by the beach to find a Jellicent. I'm not a fan of these things, but I hear they're somewhat useful. And they can learn Surf of course, and I need a second Pokemon which can. Thunder Wave, a few Sonic Booms... Oh right. Ghost type. Ugh. Maybe Zoroark's Dig won't kill it. I'm certainly not risking the closer-leveled Tallow in this fight, or the under-leveled Necco... Oh goody, it didn't kill it. It used Recover that turn, but didn't heal quite enough for me to be confident I wouldn't knock it out if I tried digging again. Net Ball catch~
Being a jellyfish, I name it the terribly unoriginal 'Jelly'. Hopefully I'll never need to use it... although I admit that Alomowhatsit isn't any better.
After seemingly exploring the entirety of the town, I leave to the north... only to have Hugh call out to me. How'd he get here anyway? The bridge to the south was closed off. That aside, he challenges me to a battle. Our main pokemon are around the same levels, and thankfully we have the same number of usable Pokemon. Let's see how this goes. For a start, it takes several turns to beat his Unfezant: Flinch, detect, miss, hit/heal, detect again... what a pain. Against Serperior I use Pica, who takes three turns but doesn't have any difficulty. Against Simisear I use Zoroark; digging twice wins that.
Ah, Lentil has evolved into Aggron. Useful. Afterward, Hugh says the same boring stuff he always does and leaves north. I go heal, then head south. Maybe that bridge that was closed earlier is open now. At the very least, there'll be at least one new Pokemon to get. Wanting another surfer, I hop in the water and find a Basculin. Took a few tries to catch despite being at 1/4 health though, oddly. I name it Ceviche, an old American* fish-based food.
And in case anybody sees this, I'm finishing for the night again, and will continue editing tomorrow. I might explore a bit in between though.
