Pokemon Platinum (Generation 4), Part 6 - Byron and Candice

Candice, master of Ice, is definitely one of the cuter gym leaders out there. Also featuring Byron, the FATHER OF ROARK. ...this never comes up again.

Who is the cutest gym leader? Candice is cute and all but I'd probably say the infamous Whitney is.

If we're talking about who the hottest gym leader is, well that's easy:

Sabrina, no question. Especially in her FireRed/LeafGreen outfit. Tight white jeans, midriff, pink tank top that's about two sizes too small? Is she a gym leader or a club-goer in Miami?

The next step of the game has us dealing with Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic. While his minions are a bunch of psychopaths, Cyrus himself is a calculated mastermind who wants to bring about the fall of the old world, or something.

Cyrus is the second-hardest boss in this game...and you have to take him on twice. This is the first one, and the later fight is even worse.

Ponyta (meh) continues to really pull his weight. Here he is surviving Cyrus' ace, Murkrow, and firing back.

RAPIDASH COUNTDOWN: Six, sigh, levels remaining

Bosses using potions is now a thing. At least it's limited and they can only do this a couple of times. In Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for example the bosses can use seemingly infinite heals on their 'mons so you have to be able to knock them clear into KO status from about 30% health.

.......yeah. Barely survived that. I was actually trying, too. I need to start getting some sort of a final party set up, because this party is very underpowered / lacking type coverages. This is the point in the game where relying on a couple of aces (the starter and the horse, mainly) is no longer cutting it.

That ruins jaunt gets me the Surf HM, which is critical for opening up more of the world. Next up: Canalave City.

This doofus hadn't shown up in a while, so it was time for him to make an appearance.

"WHY I OUGHTTA" he says while punching the air.

He now has a fully-evolved Staraptor. He always leads with this bird and Intimidate, probably the most memorable thing about him.

Gardevoir is getting some pretty impressive type coverage at this point, a full variety of elements, and probably qualifies as a third ace.

Nolan's final 'mon, as usual, isn't his starter...it's Rapidash. He knows what's up, going after the one real Fire-type in this generation. Wait a damn minute, how is his Rapidash level 35? I have to wait until 40 for mine!

Steel-type is a weird one. It wasn't in Gen 1 and was added later for balancing reasons, like Dark and Fairy, but unlike those I'm not really sure what the point of Steel is.

This gym is full of elevators. Wait, I'm forgetting something...

Iron Island is where you're supposed to train around this point, I think. It's like a mini Victory Road, a cavern full of trainers and stuff.

This gets us another HM (joy) and it's back to PHONE SCREENSHOTS for a bit.

Phone screenshots and HMs.

PUMPING IRON BROTHERR

This makes it an ideal place to finish grinding for the Rapidash Countdown:

OH MY GOD.

RAPIDASH COUNTDOWN: 0 Levels Left

One of the two Fire-types in Gen 4...just evolved into the other one.

No, I kid. ...it isn't quite that bad. There's definitely a third one, at least.

"I'll wait here as long as it takes!" says Riley, who is hoping Dawn decides to give love a chance.

Then he stands here for the next 2 years. Eventually he got eaten by a wild Onix.

This is a key item that I waited an age for. Use this on Roselia and...

This is one of the best Grass-types around. Not sure how much I actually need a Grass-type, but what I'm realizing lately is that type-coverage is more important than collecting the "most powerful" 'mons or the 'mons that I like. Having a little bit of everything, so any weaknesses can be hit, is paramount.

Back to the gym, time to take on Roark's Dad. This will probably have huge plot significance, and all kinds of ramifications to the overall stor... no it won't lol

Byron is basically Roark Sr, and contributes to how as a kid I always thought Steel was the upgrade to Rock. Still not really sure what the point of Steel is. No relation to Lord Byron of Highlander and poetry fame.

He breaks out the one 'mon that everyone thinks of when they think Steel. His ace 'mon is...

...this bulldozer. Fire pretty much OHKO's this entire lineup, so Rapidash got here just in time.

"Also, there's something else you should know. Fantina? You know, the gym leader? She was my roommate."

Well, it's good to see gym leaders finally get some deep lore!

The next part has our hero stopping Team Galactic from blowing up some lakes. Or in this case, not stopping them. What total assholes!

Here's Commander Saturn and his ridiculous cat-ear hair. I'm just getting this out of the way so we can get to my favorite part of Gen 4:

The snowy northern lands that lead to Snowpoint City. Considering how much I'm missing snow this year, I'll take any snowy areas in games. Always had a thing for them anyway.

Yeah, me too. Believe it or not, this is a lot of people's least favorite part of the Gen 4 games, though. And yes, the snowy lands can be tedious, with the game needing to let you know that snow is falling on every battle round.

The critical HM of Rock Climb is found behind a random house in the middle of nowhere out here. Some of these HMs are really easy to miss, another thing making them an incredibly annoying game mechanic.

Snowpoint City doesn't have much to it, unfortunately, besides a mysterious boat that I can't take yet.

This is the second gym in a row that's super-weak to Fire-types, so focusing on building up Rapidash was a good move. Having a good Fire-type by Gym 6 and 7 was crucial.

While I like all of these snowy areas, this might be my least-liked gym in this game. It's another puzzle dungeon, involving sliding down all these slopes to take out snowballs.

It's pretty much OHKO's across the board here, and the main problem is having to go back to the inn to regain move charges after blazing through everything. The snowballs reset when you leave, so that's annoying.

All of the sheer obliteration being wrought by Rapidash has it at level 50 already. This basically ended up being my second ace, besides the starter.

Uh...no?

"So, what are you doing after this?"

Here's Candice, and she has an important message: To succeed at all things in life requires focus and dedication!

"EAAGGGHH" says Candice, like a Body Snatcher. I don't know what her deal is. 

Oh damn, Frostlass? This is one of the deadliest Ice-types around!

BYYYYYYE.

Her "ace" is Abomasnow. It's strong, but slow.

BYYYYYYE.

"SO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING AFTER THIS?" says Candice before pointing and screeching into the night air while Dawn runs for it.

This guy finally evolves, but it's pretty late at this point, not sure if it's still needed for anything. Staraptor gets Close Combat (and is very good at it, consdering it's Flying-type) which might cover Fighting-type needs.

I made the trek back through Iron island to get the Egg from Riley. Not sure what this is going to turn into, but considering how long it takes for eggs to hatch, it better be something good. We'll find out...in the next episode!

While here, and speaking of Staraptor, I take the time to grind out some levels and get the last evolution tier for that guy.

Considering how early you get Starly, he's shockingly useful lategame. I probably wouldn't use a team spot for him in the remake because HMs are no longer a thing there, but in this version it's definitely worth having him. He's the world's most useful HM mule, covering the Fly HM (which someone needs to have) and also being useful in the endgame, covering both Flying and Fighting.

There we go, that's another one down, and one I'll probably stick with until the end. This thing hits so hard with Close Combat that I almost wonder if it has a hidden Fighting-type on it that we can't see. It sure looks like STAB damage to me, despite not being a listed type. It does more damage with Close Combat than it does with Brave Bird, its own STAB ultimate move (unless going against a Flying weakness, of course) and I haven't seen anything else break through another type like this.

Almost done, more later.

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