Pokémon Sword Playthrough 25: March of the Falinks
0There is still ways left to get to Circhester, and the next area is Route 8, which looks like a ruins site with paths and ladders, and is filled with different kinds of Pokémon, including one that looks like an army of troopers.
As for the rest of the description, I recommend watching the full video before reading past this point of the description
Route 8 is really big, and this covers the ruins section, there are a lot of items, which include a Shiny Stone, which you can use to evolve Roselia and Togetic, a TM for Smart Strike, which not many Pokémon can learn, and one of few Pokémon to get STAB from that move is Excadrill. There is also a TM for Brick Break, which is really good on any Physical attacker, and a good move for the upcoming Gym.
I do try out some very unusual Pokémon in this part, like Greedent and Arctozolt, but then again I do want to try out most of the new Pokémon in this Playthrough, as I am rotating team members around.
There are a lot of new encounters, and starting things off is Golett, it is a good user of the Eviolite before it evolves, and I recommend Iron Fist if you plan on using a Golett. Once it evolves into Golurk, it will have a high Attack stat to make use of moves like Shadow Punch, High Horsepower, Phantom Force, Earthquake, Hammer Arm, and many others. It has a wide movepool, which includes the Elemental Punches, Close Combat, Heat Crash, Heavy Slam, Darkest Lariat, Zen Headbutt, and many others, so Golurk is a good Pokémon to make use of with it.
Unfortunately for Rufflet, which you can get in Sword, it evolves very late, and even though Braviary is a cool Pokémon, you can't get it until Level 54, so don't bother training up a Rufflet. Shield players get Vullaby, which isn't even that good, and its evolved form Mandibuzz is more defensive, and can't do any good damage, so there's no point in using them.
For more version exclusives, you get Solrock in Sword, and Lunatone in Shield. Solrock being the more physical out of the two, with nice moves like Rock Slide, Zen Headbutt, and Flare Blitz, while Lunatone is the special attacker, with moves like Psychic, Moonblast, Power Gem, and Ice Beam. They are decent options, so if you like them, go with them.
For a rarer encounter, Togedemaru is a decent Pokémon, it is an Electric/Steel-type, and I recommend Iron Barbs, it is one of few Pokémon to learn Zing Zap and Spiky Shield, and it can only get Iron Head through TR. Togedemaru is decently good, but there are better options.
You can also get Gurdurr and Boldore as overworld encounters, so chances are you will have likely trained up their pre-evolutions back in Galar Mine.
Now onto random encounters, and to start things off, Rhyhorn is an excellent Physical attacker that evolves into Rhydon, and when traded while holding a Protector, it can evolve again into Rhyperior. Rock Head becomes Solid Rock, and this is the Ability you will want on Rhyperior, it has an excellent Physical movepool that consists of Earthquake, Stone Edge, Poison Jab, Megahorn, Heavy Slam, Heat Crash, and Superpower. If you have a way to trade, Rhyperior is great, if you don't have a way to trade, Rhydon is still good with the Eviolite.
Since I never went over Gastly back in the Wild Area, you can find Haunter as a wild encounter, which can immediately be evolved into Gengar when traded. Gengar is a great Special attacker, with moves like Shadow Ball, Sludge Wave, Thunderbolt, Psychic, and many others, it's a great Pokémon to add to your team.
Bronzong is a very solid wall, and even though you can Bronzor back in the Wild Area, it's not too late to get a Bronzong, it's offensive capabilities aren't too bad, as it can make good use of moves like Psychic and Gyro Ball, and it can set up screens, so if you need something defensive, Bronzong fills in that role quite well.
Now for something interesting, Falinks is a 2% encounter, but you can encounter it as a special overworld encounter. The unique thing about Falinks is that it is the only Pokémon to learn No Retreat, which increases all of Falinks's stats, but it cannot switch out. It does get some nice moves like Close Combat, First Impression, Throat Chop, Megahorn, Poison Jab, and many others. Falinks is a Pokémon that requires skill and type coverage in moves, otherwise this is a great Pokémon to consider.
Other evolved Pokémon can be encountered on this route, including Sandaconda, the evolved form of Silicobra, along with Hippowdon, Drapion, and Dusclops. Another new encounter is Crustle, this is the only place you can get Crustle outside of the Wild Area, it is a defensive Bug/Rock-type with good Attack, and one of very few users of Shell Smash. Crustle does also get X-Scissor and Rock Slide as its main moves, and it has a good TM and TR movepool, which consists of Brick Break, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, and Body Press. If you can capture that Crustle, it will make a good team member.
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