Hey there folks, and welcome back to my Pokémon Sun Nuzlocke Challenge. Apologies for not getting round to this last weekend, but real life managed to get in the way and prevent me from playing enough of the latest Pokémon game to warrant an entire blog's worth of content. Luckily that hasn't been the case this week, and I'm back with another chapter of my journey across the Alola region on the Island Challenge. As always, if this is your first time reading one of these blogs, I'd recommend that you back up and start from the beginning. There's a continuous narrative going on here, so not doing so would be akin to picking up a book and starting at a random page somewhere in the middle. I've provided the links to all previous chapters in the table below:

This instalment of the Nuzlocke Challenge sees us traverse Diglett's Tunnel, visit Konikoni City, and battle the Kahuna of Akala Island in our second Grand Trial. What captures, perils, and victories await? Read on to find out...

Chapter Seven - Get Your Rocks Off

Alola, Diary! Things are moving on quickly now - I've moved to the very south of Akala Island on my Island Challenge, and met some very interesting people and Pokémon along the way. Let's start where I left off last time, shall we? I believe I'd just beaten Mallow's trial at Lush Jungle, and was on my way to the Dimensional Research Lab in Heahea City...

After resting up at the Pokémon Center on Route 8, I made my way south on Route 5, passing by Paniola Ranch and eventually linking up with Route 6. Around here I ran into Hau, who'd just come from taking on Mallow's trial himself. We had a chat about the delicious Mallow Specials we'd had to whip up, and let Scorch and his Dartrix play together while we ate lunch on Royal Avenue. Afterward Hau packed up and ran ahead towards Heahea City, leaving me to clear up our campsite before I could move on. By the time I eventually arrived at the Dimensional Research Lab, it was early afternoon. I was surprised to see Lillie standing outside with Nebby. She healed my Pokémon with some Potions from her bag, and we caught up on each other's adventures while we waited for Professor Kukui to arrive. After almost half an hour, the professor appeared at the door and ushered us into the laboratory.

Upstairs in the Dimensional Research Lab, Kukui introduced us to his wife and fellow Pokémon researcher, Professor Burnet. She seems like a real live-wire, and I can understand why she and Kukui are together - they bounce off each other brilliantly. Burnet told us that she's been doing some research on inter-dimensional travel, and specifically "tears" in space-time that allowed powerful Pokémon known as Ultra Beasts to invade Alola in the past. Apparently the Tapu guardians were able to drive them out of our dimension and keep the region safe. At least, that's what I think she was saying - the high science of it all started to go over my head a bit. I was brought back to reality by Kukui clapping me on the shoulder, and telling me that I should be heading even further south, through Diglett's Tunnel and onto Konikoni City, where the Kahuna Olivia hosts Akala Island's Grand Trial.

The sun was starting to set as I left the laboratory, and the blue sky was beginning to turn a warm shade of orange. As I looked up, I thought I saw a green flash in the sky above, but I think it must have just been my mind playing tricks on me in light of Professor Burnet's stories. Even though it was getting pretty late, I was determined to press on to Konikoni City before the end of the day. There's only one land-based route to Konikoni from Heahea, and since Kiawe's Charizard stubbornly refuses to fly me anywhere I haven't already been, I was forced to take it. Just inside the entrance to Diglett's Tunnel I ran into Olivia, who wanted to make sure I was ready to take her on. She checked my progress and asked to see my Z Crystals from Lana, Kiawe and Mallow before she would let me pass and move deeper into the cave. Satisfied, she waved farewell and disappeared into the darkness. With only Scorch's flames to light the way, I followed.

Diglett's Tunnel was tough to traverse, not because of the darkness or the strength of the wild Pokémon there, but because every single Diglett that popped out of the ground brought back the pain of losing L'Oréal at Wela Volcano Park. Apart from all those Diglett and the occasional Zubat, I didn't see anything new worth trying to catch in that cave. A little way inside I ran into two white-suited people. They introduced themselves as members of the Aether Foundation, a conservationist group dedicated to preserving the lives and habitats of Pokémon throughout Alola. Apparently Team Skull had been spotted in the tunnel, stirring up trouble and upsetting the Diglett. Sure enough, it wasn't long before I ran into two grunts giving the native Pokémon a hard time. Just then Hau showed up alongside me, and together we battled the thugs and sent them packing. It was reassuring meeting Hau in the dark cave, and together we made our way to the exit.

When we emerged out into the open air, night had well and truly fallen and the stars were out in full force. Hau left me behind on Route 9, eager to get down into Konikoni City and sample some of its delights before the shops all closed. I stayed out on the route for a while, exploring in search of new Pokémon to capture. Unfortunately, there isn't any long grass on Route 9. Even more unfortunately, my attempts at fishing yielded only a single Luvdisc. I still caught her, and I've named her Aphrodite, but I highly doubt I'll be making use of her in battle. At least Leviathan evolved from a lowly Magikarp into a powerful Gyarados. A Luvdisc is... well... just a Luvdisc. When it became apparent that the fish weren't going to bite, I packed up my rod and made my way down into the lights of the city.

Although Konikoni City was still lit up like a beacon when I arrived, there was nothing open and nothing to do but head for the Pokémon Center. I booked my team in and claimed my bed for the night, resolving to explore more thoroughly in the morning. When I woke up the next morning and retrieved my Poké Balls from the nurse, that's exactly what I did. I checked out the promenade of shops on the east side of town and picked up a cool new pair of shorts and some nice sneakers. There's a guy here peddling Technical Machines and while I don't want to part with five-figure sums for any of them right now, I'll definitely be coming back to snaffle some of his stock in future. Finally, I made my way to Olivia's shop, a jewellery store in the northwest quarter. Olivia wasn't there, but her Probopass was. It handed me a hastily-scrawled note instructing me to meet Olivia at the Ruins of Life as soon as possible. Hoping there wasn't any trouble up at the ruins, I set off to the south once more.

My journey to the Ruins of Life took me back to Route 9 and out east to Memorial Hill, a graveyard for both people and their Pokémon. I fought a few trainers here, swapping stories about our departed partners. Feathers evolved into a Toucannon following one battle, and I even managed to catch a cute little Phantump in the long grass (I've named him Treebeard and sent him to my rapidly-filling PC box). On the far side of Memorial Hill I ran once more into both the Aether Foundation and Team Skull. The latter were trying to make off with a confused Slowpoke, while the former were trying to stop them. I stepped in and battled the Team Skull grunts, forcing them to abandon the Slowpoke and take off down the hill. The representatives from the Aether Foundation thanked me, with one strangely-dressed man (who I assumed to be their leader) telling me that I should visit the Hano Grand Resort once I've completed my Grand Trial here on Akala Island.

From Memorial Hill I followed the cliffs to the northeast, reaching an area known by locals as the Akala Outskirts. Here I was able to catch another new Pokémon in the form of a Wingull. It's a bit of a lacklustre capture, but hey, it's better than another Luvdisc I guess. I've named her Peeko, after another Wingull that I met when Mom and I vacationed in the Hoenn region a couple of years back. As you've probably guessed, she's in the PC box too - there's no place for her on the team with Leviathan and Feathers putting in so much hard work. From here it wasn't far to the entrance to the Ruins of Life, but I was stopped at the gate by a woman dressed in black with outlandish make-up and even more outlandish hair. She called herself Plumeria, and seemed to be connected with Team Skull in some way (she mentioned both them and Gladion in passing). She challenged me to a battle, sending out first her Golbat, then her Salandit. The Golbat was tough to deal with due to its constant use of Confuse Ray, but The Ooze managed to break through confusion and hit it with Bite in the end. The Salandit was much easier to subdue, a single Scald from Leviathan proving enough to put it down. Plumeria gathered up her fainted Pokémon and left without saying a word.

I finally reached the summit of the ruins in the early afternoon. I was just about to sit down to lunch when two familiar faces appeared - Lillie and Professor Burnet had come up to the ruins too. Lillie said that she'd had to bring Nebby here because, just like the Ruins of Conflict back on Melemele, there was some kind of energy here that the little Cosmog was being drawn to. Burnet had brought Lillie here to make sure she arrived safely. She found the whole thing fascinating, and seemed to be speculating whether Nebby had some kind of significant link with the Tapu guardians as she wandered back down the hill towards Konikoni. Just as she left, another familiar face emerged from the ruins themselves. Olivia had been summoned by Tapu Lele to clean up the ruins, and she was keen to get my Grand Trial underway there and then. I quickly healed up my Pokémon with my stock of Potions, and accepted her invitation to battle.

Someone down in Konikoni had warned me that Olivia uses Rock-type Pokémon, so I went into battle prepared with my best chance - Troy, the Mudbray who'd only recently joined the team after we lost L'Oréal. His Ground typing made him perfectly suited to deal with whatever Olivia might have to throw at us. First up was her Nosepass. I began the battle by using an X Attack to raise Troy's strength, then threw out a powerful High Horsepower attack hoping to take the Nosepass down in a single hit. Unfortunately I hadn't banked on the Compass Pokémon's Sturdy Ability protecting it from an instant knock-out. Olivia then healed it with a Full Restore, putting us almost back to square one. My next gambit was to use Double Kick, which negated the Sturdy Ability and took down the Nosepass in two swift hits. Olivia's next Pokémon was a Boldore. Knowing from personal experience that the Roggenrola evolutionary line can be Sturdy as well, I stuck with Double Kick and whittled its HP slowly down to nothing. All the while Troy was shrugging off incoming attacks with his own Stamina Ability, his defences growing stronger with every hit.

I threw out a Potion to Troy as Olivia brought out her final Pokémon, a Midnight form Lycanroc. As far as I'm aware, this isn't a Pokémon with access to Sturdy, so I had Troy throw all his strength into one last High Horsepower attack. It felled the Lycanroc in a single hit, defeating Olivia and earning me my second Grand Trial victory. As a reward, Olivia stamped my Trainer Passport and presented me with another Z Crystal to add to my growing collection - a Rockium Z this time. Just as she handed me the crystal, Hau sprinted onto the scene. He was gutted to have missed the battle, but very keen to have one of his own, and Olivia seemed more than happy to oblige. I wished Hau the best of luck and turned to Lillie, asking if she wanted to come to the Hano Grand Resort with me. She seemed to grow distant at my mention of the Aether Foundation for some reason, and resolved to stay behind and watch Hau's trial. That's weird, not like her at all, since she usually hates seeing any Pokémon get hurt in battle. Whatever her reasons, I guess they're probably good ones.

So that's where things currently stand. I'm now back in Heahea City, resting up at the Pokémon Center after beating my second Grand Trial. I guess I'll be moving on to pastures new very soon, but not before I link up with the Aether Foundation at the Hano Grand Resort tomorrow. I get the feeling not everything is as it seems with them, judging by Lillie's reaction when I mentioned them earlier. At least Team Skull make no bones about being the bad guys. Whatever tomorrow has in store, you can be sure I'll write about it in these pages when I get the chance. Until next time Diary, Alola!

So to summarise, we are (I assume) around halfway through the game's main story. That's based on my party's current levels, and where we stand on our Island Challenge - two Grand Trials down, presumably two more to go. Once again I'm a little disappointed with my captures this episode - Phantump is a pretty cool pick-up, but I would happily have done without Luvdisc or Wingull in favour of something new or more exciting. I'm very happy with how the current team is shaping up though, there's a nice mix of types and some reliable stopping power in its ranks. I'm hoping that now my work schedule is settled again, I'll be able to continue pushing these things out once a week alongside the Backlogbook (the latest instalment of which you can find here, if you missed it). Until next time, thanks very much for reading duders. Take care, and I'll see you around.

Daniel

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Currently playing - Pokémon Sun (3DS)