After the credits rolled on Pokémon Violet last week, I was left with the task to revisit all the old gyms and give them a workout on official Pokémon league business. I went back through the eight gyms post-haste and didn't really have any troubles besting them once again in their more powerful forms.
It was pretty straight forward without a lot of surprises, and also pretty fun getting a little more insight into the trainers and their thoughts. Who knew that Katy from the Cortondo Gym was holding back because she realized she was the first gym along the path for new students? I just thought she was naturally a chump.
After the post-credit gym battles, it was back to the school grounds to participate in the Academy Ace Tournament, where you battled four randomized NPCs in a row to make it to the top and get awarded with a hat and a ton of cash for doing so. From what I can tell, if I wanted to do the Academy Ace Tournament again, I could? I haven't tried going back again to give it a second try.
After this, you're given a master ball and alerted that five-star rating Tera battles are popping up all over the Paldea Region, and that you'll want to check 'em out. NOW THIS is where the real challenge is in Pokemon Violet.
The Five-Star Tera battles seem to be the greatest skill check of them all. I've really only had a successful fight with one of them using an over level 80 Pokémon to fight, but the rewards for beating the Tera battles are pretty great. Rare candies, xp treats, and random items come gushing out of those little sparkling caves . . . not to mention interesting Pokémon that you might be missing from your Pokédex App.
And really the spirit of "gotta catch them all" has to be the true end game of Pokémon Violet. Catching all the 350+ Pokémon seems like the ultimate goal. The question I have is . . . why? Am I going to get something cool for catching them all? My gut is telling me that I won't, but just having a checklist is almost challenge enough.
As I was playing Pokémon Violet, I kept running into these weird spikes in the ground randomly and not knowing what they were. I also was running into these covered mystical manholes randomly, and I remember thinking . . . huh . . . guess those are something to do with some future DLC? No no no . . . the spikes and the manholes are related. You find all the spikes, pull them out, and it allows you to open the magical manholes.
The magical manholes are actually "ruinous shrines" where the legendary Pokémon live in Paldea. There are four of these ruinous Pokémon in the game, and catching them is definitely on my agenda before calling it quits with Pokémon Violet. They seem to be the crowning jewels in your Pokédex App.
So, there you go, this is what Pokémon Violet has been like for me post-credits. It's been a fun game, but mostly what it's done is made me want to play through Pokémon Legends: Arceus next, which I haven't done before. My kids played it, we own it, but I haven't touched its gameplay myself. It might be a fun Christmas Break activity for me!
Happy Dueling!
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