Summer is the ideal time to play Pokemon as far as I'm concerned. Never mind the fact that I spent two months glued to Sun and Moon just a couple of weeks ago; the gaming instinct wants what it wants, and it wanted some furry action. And so I dug up my still unplayed cartridge of White 2 from my precious collection and started yet another solo run. My initial plan involved an Flareon solo run, since both Eevee and the Fire Stone can be obtained quite early on in White 2; but destiny and my ever- dependable gaming instinct had other plans in store for me. See, I chose Tepig as my starter as a half-joke, naming him "Bacon" to understrike the humorous charge of that move; but as I played the game, I became unexpectedly attached to the piglet. He doesn't look half as bad as rumour has it, and he certainly packs a punch and rocks on the battlefield. When time came to recruit an Eevee and get the Fire Stone, I was so enamoured with the porcine starter that I couldn't bear the though of dropping him; and that's how my Eevee solo run was shelved and became a de facto Tepig solo run.
And my, what a great run it was. The pacing was amazing, brisk and sharp without feeling rushed; and the leveling-up speed was out of this world. I reached Lv. 30 after barely 3 hours of play, folks! Now that's how I love my Pokemon solo runs to be: fast-paced and with lightning-fast leveling-up. Clocking at 14:30 hours, my Tepig solo run was probably one of my shortest Pokemon solo runs ever; but there was still plenty to do during that time. I loved the fact that I got to tackle Unova in a completely different order from the one that was imposed in Black and White; that gave me a totally new and fresh vision of the region and make me feel like I was playing a different game that still felt pleasantly familiar. It was also a great idea to leave some towns out of the mandatory path, to be explored at leisure during postgame; it made the game more compact and the pacing swifter. All in all, I felt like I was cruising a brand-new Unova, glossier and shinier than the original, like a fresh doughnut covered with glaze. (Look at me, trying to sneak in an all-American metaphor to square with the Unova setting. This has totally nothing to do with the fact that I've been introduced to the heavenly Original Glazed Doughnut by Krispy Kreme lately and have been obsessed with it ever since, oh no.)
My lovely little Bacon did a great job in all things fighting, one-shooting his way to the Elite Four and generally treating all other 'Mons like insignificant obstructions. He was Lv. 91 when I finally reached the Champion; and suffice it to say that the whole Elite Four showdown was a mere formality. Bacon managed to one-shot most of his opponents, including the Champion's six 'Mons. Poor girl didn't even get to use a Max Potion or a Full Restore! But hey, my Tepig-turned-Emboar was just too formidable. For the record, my move pool during the second half of the game was Arm Thrust (Fighting), Return (Normal), Bulldoze (Ground) and Flamethrower (Fire); an efficient and varied quartet that allowed me to take care of pretty much all battle situations. I didn't bother taking Nature into account this time around — heck, I didn't even bother checking my Tepig's Nature. Experience has taught me that as far as Starters in older generations are concerned, Nature doesn't matter that much; these guys will always get an overwhelming edge in solo runs regardless of their Nature.
And the infamy doesn't stop here, oh nooo. Professor Juniper doesn't even have the decency to invite me to her lab and treat me to pats on the back and words of encouragement like basically every other Pokemon professor since the dawn of the series; instead, she sends her assistant Bianca to boss me around. Erm, could you actually care less about my endeavours? I met Professor Juniper once throughout the whole game, only to have her throw a few vague words of praise at my face and then run away like she couldn't bear the thought of being seen with me. Then Hugh bossed me around some more, always sending me on the front line while he stayed safely on the rear, only to pop up as I was about to polish off a dungeon and claim all the glory for himself. Oh, and don't even think of tackling the Elite Four before Hugh allows you to do so: never mind the fact that you have reaped all eight Badges, you have to help him reach his goal first. Because, you know, he's apparently the bloody Hero here, not you. Cherry on the humiliation cake, people routinely compare you to 'that great Trainer from two years ago', who is none other that the Black/White Trainer. A Trainer who got the privilege to be the Hero of their own game, unlike you. Looks like the '2' in the game's title refers to my Trainer's station in life just as much as to the fact that this game is a sequel, indeed! Seriously, I felt more like a bellboy than like a Pokemon Trainer in White 2, and I didn't like it one bit. That game didn't revolve around my heroic personal quest like all other Pokemon entries; it revolved entirely around the stories and endeavours of NPCs, with me at their beck and call, slaving away to serve their objectives. Sheesh, I guess I should be glad this bunch of bullies even allowed me to tackle the Gyms and the Elite Four at all instead of keeping me on a leash or something.
Playing second fiddle aside, this was a jolly good solo run that helped me reassess the fifth generation as a whole and its Starters in particular. I dismissed them as first glance; but as time goes on, I find them more and more interesting. I was already quite fond of Oshawott, and Tepig has become a new favourite over the course of that solo run; and I have to admit that I'm now genuinely interested in tackling a Snivy solo run. Oh, and my initially planned Eevee solo run is not forsaken, obviously. I still crave some Pokemon action after this delectable Tepig solo run and I have yet to play Black 2, so expect at least one more run report very soon. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!