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Mission 2: Where Are You, Sunkern?

Check out WarriorGallade's post on this Mission for more specific tips.

Overview

• Difficulty: Half-star
• Recommended level: 2+
• Time limit: 6:30 min
• Goal: Capture three Sunkern

Rank Rewards

Wild Pokémon

Wild Pokémon in this Mission do not drop Slates.

Pokémon		Quantity	Group	Friendship Gauge	AP
	Bulbasaur	1	Grass	180	1
	Pidgey	3	Flying	64	1
	Sunkern	3	Grass	48	1

Boss

Pokémon		Group	Friendship Gauge	Agitated Gauge	AP
	Sandslash	Ground	420	50	3

Strategy and Map

Text of this section & map image are taken from WarriorGallade's post on the subject, supplemented with information from the official Prima guide book, and condensed/reorganized slightly. Used with permission.

Map

Legend:

• Blue tile: The player's start point.
• Red tile: Takes the player to the boss room, once the condition has been met.
• Green tile: Teleports the player to another specific location on the map.
• Orange circle (around a Pokémon): This Pokémon is angry and will chase the player on sight.

This has a similar layout to the last mission, but introduces teleporters for the first time. There are exactly three Sunkern, all of which need to be captured: one in the central chamber and one in each of the west and east teleporter destinations. This is the first encounter with angry Pokémon (Pidgey in this mission), which will either chase you and force you to capture them if they catch you, costing time, or attack you with projectiles. In this mission, the angry Pidgey will chase you. Although they are easy to avoid, later angry Pokémon will not be.
Note that there is no reason to go to the top teleporter unless you want to grind AP on this mission.

Boss

A step up in difficulty from the last boss. Sandslash slowly regenerates HP if you go 4+ seconds without looping around it. Regeneration is uncapped, so hesitation can wipe out all your progress. Every future boss shares this trait, and it's brutal on some of them. Like Drapion, Sandslash becomes agitated at ~50% HP.

Sandslash's attacks are:

• Sand clump (!): Medium-sized, fades after a few seconds. 2 damage per hit. Possible to loop around.
• Split the ground (!!): Extends full-screen in the direction Sandslash faces. 2 damage per hit. Impossible to loop around.
• Split the ground (!!!): 6 small rocks surround Sandslash. 2 damage per hit. Possible to loop around.
• Split the ground (!!!!): Rocks in 4 diagonal directions (not always a straight line). 2 damage per hit. Impossible to loop around.

S-Rank Tips

Somewhat tough on your first attempt, but Piplup's type advantage and slowing effect help a lot. Save assists for when Sandslash is agitated, and protect Piplup from attacks: without upgraded recovery time, any hit can cost you the rank. A few extra levels make this considerably easier.

Partner Choice

Stick with Piplup. Totodile and Chikorita may be available but aren't worth using: Totodile requires precise aim and lacks a secondary effect (generally avoid Poké Assists without a secondary effect or good range, regardless of raw power), while Chikorita's slow effect is close-range, making it both harder to land and riskier to use. Piplup's long-range bubbles and slowing effect remain the better choice.