July 2019: Weather is a nightmare

hi 

GOOGLE: how to start a blog post without sounding too happy 

It's the end of the month again, so time for me to recap what I've been doing!

So, this month!
It was a monthy month. (there's a lot of them around, isn't there)

I'm not in college now (by which I mean since the 5th of July) until the 9th of September, so I've been using this time to mess around on my computer, doing things like (attempting badly) making a Pokémon game, playing a (properly-made) Pokémon fangame, and... not much else on the computer front.

Also they revealed a new Pokémon that is almost 100 feet tall, so, uhh... good for you, Gigantamax Alcremie?

So let's begin with those reveals. On the 8th, they released a new trailer for Pokémon Sword & Shield. The Pokémon they revealed:

Alcremie | Fairy-type
Rolycoly | Rock-type
Duraludon | Steel/Dragon (say goodbye to your typing being unique, Dialga)

They also revealed Gigantamax, which is like Dynamax, except:
a) It's unique to specific individuals of specific species
b) They change both their size and appearance
c) They gain access to a species-specific G-Max Move
d) They turn FLIPPING ENORMOUS, because we all need a 100-foot-tall cake Pokémon in our lives

Also, people are still whinging about the National Dex issue on the Internet. Never mind that the developers would have literally nothing to gain by lying, all that matters is not being able to bring in, say, Tropius.

But then, the next day, my relatives Brenda and Eugene, and their daughters Gráinne, Molly and Isabelle, came over from Ireland to stay with us for a week!

On Wednesday, the 10th, we went to Windsor Castle! We (with the exception of Dad, because he didn't have enough free tickets and had already been inside) had a good look around, and even (with the exception of Mum, because she took care of Isabelle, because buggies aren't allowed in this section) looked around the State Apartments!

...There were a lot of guns on the walls. Not so much that they're the defining feature, but they were used as decoration in many rooms.

I have a few photos from the trip:

After seeing the castle, we then went home.

Brenda, Eugene and the girls headed back at about 6.30 am on the next Wednesday, the 17th.

I've been doing basically the same things many days since then. I managed to complete the Alola Pokédex on Pokémon Ultra Sun:

I had also started playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild again, but this time on Master Mode.

They actually managed to make the beginning of the game the hardest part!
Mainly because the Tree Branches you get can deal about 10 HP damage before they break and are thus not suitable for a 72 HP enemy that begins to regenerate its health if not attacked -- the two main points of Master Mode are:

a) Most (not all) enemies have their 'rank' (colour & difficulty) increased by one level. Those at Silver level (the highest) are raised to a new highest level, Golden tier.

b) If an enemy is not attacked for about 5 or so seconds, it begins to slowly regenerate its health. I think it's capped at 1/3 of max health, but it resets if hit (so it can regenerate another 1/3 of max health.)

Also, I was killing Guardians in Hyrule Castle, using my nigh-invulnerable shield (the Hylian Shield), when THIS happened:

The worst part is that it didn't even display a message saying it was highly damaged!
It probably didn't help that I hadn't even started the sidequest to let me buy it back, either.

But everything's fine now, 'cause I have another Hylian Shield. So if I break this one, I'll just go back and buy another one for another 2000 Rupees. (I was actually expecting it to be 3000-4000, but if it's cheaper than that, I'm not complaining!)

Anyway, a Community Day on Pokémon GO about Mudkip took place on Sunday, the 21st, so now I have a pink Swampert with the move Hydro Cannon!

They also tried to launch Pokéstop invasions by Team Rocket, but they were incredibly buggy and were pulled. (Not sure if it was the bugs that made them pull invasions, or if it was planned.)

Also, there was that massive heatwave that hit last week. They actually managed to break the all-time temperature record, setting the new one at 38.7 °C!
Temperatures like that... really make me want to either a) stop existing, or b) go to Antarctica.

Anyway, they managed to iron out the Team Rocket bugs long enough to do a worldwide event where all Pokéstops were invaded from 4-5pm local time on Sunday the 28th - which was good, because beating Team Rocket grunts is the only way to get Shadow Pokémon, which are necessary for a Special Research quest -- which is the first thing on the game in AGES I managed to complete before Mum!

Also, it was WAY cooler on Sunday than the rest of the week, so that really helped in making the event more accessible.

So, looking ahead:

• It's Gráinne's birthday tomorrow!
• Maia's coming home on Friday!
• And it's both Ralts Community Day in Pokémon GO and my parents' wedding anniversary on Saturday!
  

So that's all from me for now. See you at the end of next month for a recap on that!