Pokémon Sword Playthrough 12: Hop Across the Bridge
2After getting the Rotom Bike from the man, it is time to cross the bridge, but before that, Hop challenges me to a battle, and his starter has evolved since then. There is still the rest of Route 5 before entering Hulbury.
As for the rest of the description, I recommend watching the full video before reading past this point of the description
On the bridge, you can find feathers, which have appeared in Pokémon Black & White and they increase any EVs by 1 point, so they are good to collect now and then.
Now onto the battle with Hop, and he will lead with his Wooloo, and he does have some evolved Pokémon, including Corvisquire and his starter. Since I chose Sobble, he has Raboot. If you chose Grookey, he will have Drizzile, and if you picked Scorbunny, he uses Thwackey. Your starter should be able to counter Hop's starter, and this shouldn't be a tough fight, but once you beat Hop, you should be able to cross the bridge.
There is a special overworld encounter on this route, and that is Eldegoss, the evolved form of Gossifleur, so if you didn't want to train up Gossifleur, Eldegoss is a good option for the upcoming Gym, it will learn Leaf Tornado in the next level, otherwise you can knock it out for good experience, and another thing to note is that Cherubi will stop appearing in Berry Trees, so expect to encounter Skwovet in the next few Berry Trees.
Now to go over the random grass encounters, since I went over the overworld encounters in the previous part, and first up is Espurr, it will have Confusion and Disarming Voice when caught, and can learn Psybeam at Level 21. When Espurr evolves into Meowstic, it becomes a good Special Attacker with good Speed, and interesting thing about Meowstic is that males focus on support moves, while females learn offensive moves through level up. It is a decent addition if you are looking for a Psychic-type to add to your team.
You can find Dottler on this route, and this is the evolved form of Blipbug, Dottler is Bug/Psychic and can learn Reflect and Light Screen, and when evolved, it is an excellent supporter as it can set up screens when up against a tough opponent.
In Sword, you can find Nuzleaf, and in Shield, Lombre is a random encounter, and if you didn't train up Seedot or Lotad back in Route 2, they are not bad options, as you can immediately evolve them and reteach every level up move they can get. Shiftry or Ludicolo are great Pokémon for the upcoming Gym, as Shiftry can relearn Leaf Blade, and Ludicolo can relearn Giga Drain and Energy Ball.
Now for the rarer encounters, the Water/Bug-type Dewpider can be encountered here, and it can be evolved into Araquanid at Level 22. Araquanid has really good Special Defense and decent stats, and it has a unique Ability called Water Bubble, which increases the power of its Water-type moves by 100%, decreases damage from Fire-type moves by 50% and it cannot be burned, so when paired up with Liquidation, Araquanid can deal massive damage. It can also learn the TR moves Waterfall and Leech Life to give it some powerful moves at this point in the game, and it is not a bad choice, as Water/Bug is an interesting type combo.
Then we have Nincada, and this Pokémon has a unique evolution method, if you have a spare slot in your party after Nincada evolves into Ninjask, you can get another Pokémon called Shedinja. Starting with Ninjask, this is the fastest Pokémon in the game, and its Speed Boost Ability builds up its speed even further. Another nice thing about Ninjask is that you can reteach Aerial Ace to it, as it has really good Attack, and it does get Leech Life and X-Scissor through Technical Records, and can use Swords Dance to boost its Attack, Ninjask also benefits as a Baton Pass user, so you can set up a bunch of Swords Dance boosts, as well as Speed Boost, and then Baton Pass those boosts to another Pokémon and they can easily sweep entire teams. It's not a bad option, downside is that Ninjask is very frail.
Then onto Shedinja, this is a unique Pokémon, as Shedinja will only have 1 HP, and it has an Ability called Wonder Guard, which makes Shedinja immune to all attacks, and can only be damaged by super-effective moves, entry hazards, and weather effects. Using a Shedinja requires mindful tactics, while it can be fun to use, you have to be very careful about using it. X-Scissor and Shadow Claw are good move options to go with, and it can get Will-O-Wisp through TM. If you really want to have fun with Shedinja, go with it, it's not for serious players.
When you arrive at Hulbury, you will meet Chairman Rose and his secretary Oleana, as well as Bede, who we met back at Galar Mine.
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