PTD 2 Walkthrough: Story Mode: Violet City, Falkner Revisited and References to Retro Sweets

Ok, so it’s been a fair few weeks since the last story mode update from myself; this is due to the festive season, the disproportionally large celebration of what is effectively just the changing of the calendar year to the next one, and most relevantly, the fact that I thought it best to wait for more features in Violet City to be accessible (unless you want me to write about absolutely nothing, that is. Now that there are a few things to be done here in what must be the most sparsely populated city in the history of geography itself, we can go ahead and continue with the story mode and enjoy the fruits of Sam and Dan’s labour, which include a rematch with our old acquaintance Falkner (apparently not to be forgot in the wake of the new year), a trade with a gentleman that feels it appropriate to stand alone in the woods and a visit to ‘Bellsprout Tower’, where a posse of shadow Bellsprouts seem to be loitering like Chavs outside a corner shop.

Before I begin, I just want to remind anyone with a bad memory (or people who haven’t read my previous guide) that we are starting where we left off, and where we left off is the gate to Violet City in Route 31 which was previously blocked by Falkner, but is now free to be utilised for its purpose as a glorified door for the outdoors. Proceed through it and enter Violet City.

Damn, that Onix is Huge

Ok, let’s take care of the smallest business first, since it is business which leads to the most immediate benefit to ourselves which requires the least amount effort to be invested into it. Firstly, you must be possession of a Bellsprout: it doesn’t matter which level it is, since you are only going to trade it, and the trade doesn’t take the level of the Pokémon into account. If you don’t already have one knocking about in your collection, I suggest you capture one of the low-level Bellsprouts that love to hang around on Route 31 and return to Violet City post-haste (or at your leisure; there isn’t a time restriction on this).

Husky gentleman in the woods: Don’t call the police, just give the man a Bellsprout to receive an Onix. He’ll come in handy with the Falkner battle if you missed out on the Shiny Shinx giveaway or have an aversion to Geodude. 

There is a rather husky-looking gentleman loitering in the north of the city with nothing but a ridiculously gigantic Onix for company. Apparently this man prefers the company of more vine-laden Pokémon (though I’m sure neither Pokémon are ideal candidates for scintillating conversation) and wants to trade your Bellsprout for his Onix. The gentleman is hanging out in the woods in a suspicious manner, so head in a northerly direction to locate him. To commence with the trade you will need your Bellsprout at the front of your party, so have a fiddle about with your Pokéstorage and get this Bellsprout to leftmost position of the six Pokémon in your party. Approach the man and initiate the trade; sadly the Pokémon is at a measly level 4, so you may want to train him up if you want to use him for any battles of significance. Congratulations! You have basically received something for (almost) nothing, since Bellsprouts are in abundance and at this stage, an Onix is rather hard to come by. Let it learn the powerful ‘Rock Throw’ move, and it can’t hurt to have ‘Rage’ in your move-set either; Onix is a great substitute for Geodude and can hold his own in most battles.

A Horticulturalist’s Nightmare (Bellsprout Tower)

Seeing as you are already at the north end of Violet City, you might as well go and do some nosing around in the grand, purple-roofed building at the top of the designated path. Inside, you will find a panicky gentleman who is having what would otherwise have been a perfect day spoiled by the disruptive behaviour of some Bellsprout troublemakers (you can almost see the tracksuits, hoodies, they’re simply asking for an ASBO). These shadow Bellsprouts seem to be causing the man concern, and you seem to be the only fellow who has the ability to help. Step forward into one of the wandering Bellsprouts and you will be thrust into a mini boss-type battle, which is the perfect opportunity for you to gain some delicious experience points, which go extremely well with the Pokémon main course. 

Those Bellsprouts need some watering: The shadow Bellsprout battle is a nice little earner of experience points, particularly if you have a fire-type Pokémon to hand. 

The shadow Bellsprout battle is pretty straightforward: a Level 30 Bellsprout sits in the centre of the arena and intermittently engages in a rapid spin which temporarily traps whichever Pokémon you have deployed in their current position. Smaller, lower-level Bellsprouts will hover around the battle zone while small, spinning vine-like objects are propelled at you from all directions. This battle is easy to overcome with fire-type Pokémon; moves such as Ember will do the trick and have the battle over in no time. Try not to use Rock-type Pokémon, however, since grass-type moves are rather effective in the most super of ways when it comes to Rock types.

You can enter the battle repeatedly should you wish to continue training up your Pokémon and gaining some valuable experience points along the way. Unfortunately, experience points are your only reward for this little venture, so we now must move on to the main event of Violent City: the rematch with the lover of flying types known only as Falkner (it seems he just won’t go away).

Falkner the flying-type Falconer Fanatic

As if battling with his relatively-tough flying Pokémon the first time around wasn’t challenging enough, we now have to face the flying-type fan once more, only this time around it’s well, not personal, but it feels that way and it makes me want to defeat him more if I put it like that. You will find Falkner waiting with a vacant stare outside the Pokémon Gym, which is located just to the left of the centre of the city, and is apparently not actually used for fighting in, and is simply a building used to be waited outside of. Talk to him and the battle will commence in a wooded area (why can’t he just use the gym for its intended purpose?). Let’s just hope we get a gym badge for our efforts this time (spoiler: you do). 

Close encounters of the second kind: Your rematch follows the format of your previous encounter, only Pidgeotto and Pidgeot are simultaneously present from the very beginning.

The battle with Falkner is pretty similar to your first encounter with the trainer of aerial inclination, only this time it’s a little more difficult. The only practical difference is that instead of facing Pidgeotto first and then going on to do battle with Pidgeot, you are thrust straight into an encounter with them appearing simultaneously, forcing you to do battle with both right from the outset. This would be simple if their attacks weren’t so damn irritating, but because we play Pokémon for a challenge and not for a cheap, easy thrill, we are forced to use a little bit of tactical manoeuvring during this encounter. I have covered the Falkner strategy in my previous walkthrough, but seeing as this one is slightly different and you may not have/not want to have read my other guides, I’ll tender you with some light sprinklings of knowledge on how to go about the battle.

Battle Details

The battle takes place in an outdoor area with plenty of space for some unruly Pokémon action: the battle arena is comprised of multiple squares on which to place your Pokemon: Pidgeotto (level 25) sits at the right of the screen and Pidgeot (level 30) is hovering on the left side of the battle zone. Each of the birds emits a set of devastatingly powerful tornado gusts at regular intervals. Pidgeotto’s gusts are limited to one frequently-released tornado which seeks out the square which you were occupying on its moment of release; you can simply move your Pokémon to a square that is out of harm’s way and continue with your attacks. Pidgeot attacks in the same manner but fires three tornadoes simultaneously which proceed to travel across the screen, forcing you to move your Pokémon swiftly out of the way, lest it be taken out in only a few hits by the powerful nature of the assault. The trick is simply to keep your Pokémon moving and out of harm’s way whilst keeping it close enough to make its attacks on the two birds; take out Pidgeotto first, then Pidgeot. You will notice an abundance of low-level Pidgeys flying around amidst all the action; take some time to occasionally take these fellows out since they can get quite annoying and accumulate into an abundance of trouble quite quickly.

Electric and Rock-types are the sensible option

 Now, what kind of Pokémon should you be using for this whole kerfuffle? Ideally, you would want an electric Pokémon at this stage such as Shiny Shinx since electrical moves are supremely effective against flying types. The only way to have obtained this Pokémon however is to have been part of the Shiny Jirachi Mystery Gift giveaway, or failing that, to have received him in a trade. It’s ok though, since you can use rock Pokémon with equally successful results, it just takes a little longer to achieve them. Ok, it takes a lot longer: clear your day’s schedule if you don’t have an electric-type. It wouldn’t make too much sense to go up against Falkner with Pokémon of any level lower than 18, but ideally 20 should be the working minimum if you wish to beat Falkner on the same day which you started the battle. 

Beating Falkner with a Rock-type Pokémon is as simple as following the above tactic; continue dodging the gust attacks whilst using the powerful Rock Slide move to slowly wear their health down. Don’t under any circumstance allow your Pokémon to be hit by the gust attacks since the tornadoes repeatedly chip away at your health as they pass, dealing massive damage as a result of one little mistake. If you happen upon a Shiny Jirachi in a trade, it can’t hurt your progress either: its Confusion move will be sufficient to take down the two birds if you keep at it long enough.

After beating Falkner (for the second time), you will find yourself issued (finally) with your very first gym badge. You wouldn’t have to put up with this kind of technical administrative oversight in Pokémon Red!

Until Next Time

Once you have performed all of the above tasks, you have effectively fulfilled your end of the bargain with respect to your responsibility to play the game to its absolute limit; you cannot progress further until the next update from Sam and Dan, so sit tight and keep your eyes peeled for the next update, since shortly after I will be recording some helpful tactics and approaches to the new sections of the game in word form and popping them online for all to read. Until then, I wish you the best of new year’s tidings and a semi-sincere farewell. 

Back to Falkner, High Flyers and the Benefits of Rock | Continue on to Shadow Realms: Old Friends, Past Foes and Other Realms