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Let's Play! Let's Catch 'em All in PMD Explorers of Sky! (Part 38: Zero Isles & Kecleon)
- Thread starter Altissimo
- Start date
Yeah there's a couple right at the beginning of Igglybuff 2 and a few other places.
If any images are broken, let me know. They weren't on the preview window, but who knows what might happen.
Oh. Hey. I guess this is finally coming back to the forefront.
I guess Uxie must have said something.
Aaaaaand here it is.
ray u dun goofed
Oh hey I forgot you were here.
And his face is revealed.
Music: Rising Fear
OH GOD NO STOP TALKING WIGGLYTUFF IS UPSET
what you can't see is that the guild has started to shake because wigglytuff is about to explode the place again
HER HIM
Oh hey!!! With Dusknoir on our side there's no way we can fail. He knows so much
When we return, it is time for a meeting.
of course its a desert level
Soooo the land nobody has been to. Ever. And we're looking for Time Gears. Great
oh rip
So we all head off.
Before we leave, though...
Wait how do you know this if WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT'S A DESERT OR NOT
it is Time!!
This already looks like desert terrain as it is now.
Music: Northern Desert
Recruits: Baltoy, Cubone, Aron, Cacnea, Larvitar, Sandshrew, Trapinch, Carnivine, Rhyhorn, Lairon, Cacturne
Now if only you could find Larvitar at around level 20 in the normal Pokémon games. (I mean, as you're playing, not as late as Mt. Silver.)
Named Savannah.
She's level 22, and Alti and Ray are 20 and 21, respectively. Look at that! We're underleveled again!! Hooray!
In this game you can just find Grimy Food in dungeons at time. A nice touch – I doubt there would have been fresh Apples in the middle of a desert anyhow lol
That doesn't really explain why there are Gummis here though.
Named Simon by the bf. Simon is level 23 so we are still below the level curve and I appreciate that
man im just getting all the recruits today. named Cake because something something Just So Stories
I decide not to take it because Scratch has more PP and is not so situational.
After 15 floors we wind up at the end of the dungeon.
Also Ray what do you mean “deepest part” of the desert, how can there be a deepest part. Is it just like the pole of inaccessibility except for the desert? How would you even judge that though?? and would it even be the best place to hide a Time Gear just because it's the center, was there not like a cave or something somewhere else you could have used??
I'm overthinking this
… then again I guess it might have been in that one forest location
fiiiiiiiine
oh good I guess we know there's a desert there now?? helpful lmao
Think about it. It's a video game.
So they all head off. Alti and Ray, however, need to figure out what to do.
Finally, we may have figured out that the fact that Alti knows the place is probably relevant, as it was with Foggy Forest!
But first, diary snooping
Looks like I've got two entries to catch up on.
Bidoof's diary!
I like that, it's a nice little bonus touch.
All right dungeon time!
Well, first we get this.
I skipped the textbox immediately before this, but it said “Huh? There's something written on the bottom of the glass you just drained.”
So yeah, this is part of how you unlock new dungeons here: by random luck when drinking in Spinda's Café. That's why I do it so often.
lol ok what is
lets go!!!!
Music: In the Depths of the Pit
WHAT???
welp they're dead
or not???
it Go time
Music: Quicksand Cave
As you can see I have Savannah and Simon here. Since this dungeon basically picks up where Northern Desert left off I always like to bring my recruits from Northern Desert into Quicksand Cave. Just a personal quirk, I guess. It doesn't really change much because of the improved recruit mechanics, so I don't need to worry about this preventing me from recruiting anything else.
Recruit options: Sandshrew, Nincada, Vibrava, Pupitar, Skorupi, Sandslash, Mawile, Tyranitar, Hippopotas, Ninjask
I take this Nincada (nicknamed Illinois even though I think I used that one last time) over Simon.
I opt to take it over Counter for boss fights.
After 10 floors we reach the midpoint. Let's continue!
Music: Quicksand Pit
Aaaaand the Pit has Tyranitar which make sandstorms appear and are generally a pain in the ass!! Fantastic.
Despite being listed above as a recruit option they have -12% recruit rate so we can't recruit them at our current level, meaning we can't get them on our side which is sad
lolol false swipe. Unlike in regular Pokémon where it's incredibly useful for catching Pokémon it is completely worthless in Mystery Dungeon since you need to kill everything anyway!
no illinois :(
yes i know he stays on our team but it's still sad.
oh nooo
this is the first Monster House we've seen in this game! In Rescue Team they came in Uproar Forest, which I guess was a similar level to this but much further along in the story.
Can't say I was entirely expecting this!
but i'm smart and bring Petrify Orbs :p
oh
rip :(
let's go again
lolol I guess being underleveled is finally catching up to me.
oh my god hahahahaa
petrify orb time
or I could die
This is actually the first thing that has wanted to join my team in all of this pit so far.
Named Duke.
dat level difference
After ten floors we finally make it!
whoaaaa wtf we're under a desert what is This
this makes absolute sense and isnt at all going to cause problems
oh okay
but you're not giving us a chance to go
Oh hey.
Now we definitely know this is a Time Gear! :V
And fight time!
I set Duke and Savannah to go after foes so they'll approach Mesprit, while Ray moves closer to Alti.
So we end up like this.
Ray uses Screech as Alti leads with Bite and Savannah and Duke continue to close in on Mesprit.
oh my god mesprit didn't even get an attack in, it cringed the first turn and missed its attack the second and then died because of three Pokémon using Bite into -2 defense lmao
despite being “underleveled” that was Not hard
This seems like an egregious oversight. Thanks, Uxie. Thanks for making our job harder.
Oh. Look who it is! Looks like the thief is here after all anyway :B
He attacked us and we went flying. Our teammates are sitting ducks it appears
Whoever appointed Uxie and Mesprit guardians of these Time Gears seems to have done a shit-tier job picking their guardians. Mesprit got BTFO by a team of kids and then lacked the strength to stand up to the outlaw Grovyle. Amazing.
But I guess the two randos from the guild can protect the Time Gear better than Mesprit.
Oh okay I stand corrected
… he can swim??
Well. All right then.
The ground starts shaking.
The cave is freezing in time as we speak that's why
So we start to leave... incredibly slowly.
Oh, hey. I guess there was more to uncover.
Anyway, it's been a while since I updated so I'm going to go ahead and cut it here, saving the upcoming exposition for next time.
Upcoming recruits: Graveler, Seviper, Beldum, Wormadam-Sandy, Riolu (after credits), Cranidos, Donphan (after credits), Shieldon, Golem, Floatzel, Wormadam-Plant, Bagon, Glameow, Absol, Glalie, Froslass
Oh. Hey. I guess this is finally coming back to the forefront.
The guild isn't that faaaaar...
We're here now!
Oh.
I guess Uxie must have said something.
aaand here it comes
Answer that question for yourself Bidoof.
Aaaaaand here it is.
Just because we were the only ones who knew of it doesn't mean someone else couldn't find it, though.
ray u dun goofed
its not a matter of trust it's a matter of dumbassery at times tho
I mean, clearly Alti wasn't the only one who figured out the secret of the Groudon statue, because she had a vision of someone else figuring it out, so it's clearly not impossible for other Pokémon to get there.
True I guess???
Oh hey I forgot you were here.
Yeah I mean we kind of outright lied to him about it so
<chicago>what are you gonna believe, what you see or what i tell ya?
Who knows? Maybe he would have stolen the Time Gear!!!
I'm glad for your concern but uxie is a legendary i'm sure he fine.
yes because i trust magnezone and friends to protect A LEGENDARY from further harm
I guess the game is finally catching up with what we the players know.
That was fast. Where y'all print these things anyhow?
And his face is revealed.
Music: Rising Fear
Grovyle is like a really good Pokémon to have chosen for this thief persona but also the fact that Treecko is a starter/partner option can be weird sometimes if you're using one lol
from where
Except they didn't seem to be going anywhere???
well what is it???
And we didn't! Probably!
tbh I'm surprised uxie allowed the treasure town police force to help him out after he thought it was our fault grovyle found the lake
this is true :(((
OH GOD NO STOP TALKING WIGGLYTUFF IS UPSET
what you can't see is that the guild has started to shake because wigglytuff is about to explode the place again
oh okay he just screamed loudly
Music: Wigglytuff's Guild
AWWWWWW YEAAAAAAAH ITS OUTLAW HUNTIN TIME
its time to Plot!!!
by arceus we will!!!!
DO IT FOR
Oh yeah I forgot you were here. Again.
Oh hey!!! With Dusknoir on our side there's no way we can fail. He knows so much
yes indeedy!
aww yissss new dungeon time!
Everyone heads off to prepare, and so do we.
When we return, it is time for a meeting.
… yes, that seems to be his modus operandi, yes.
that's the question of the day now isnt it
Well he does know a lot. Even though he didn't (seem to) know there was a Time Gear at Fogbound Lake so can we really trust him to help?!
new dungeons new dungeons!!
REALLY. THANKS
no fair i want to go to a place called crystal cave that sounds rad
i'm sure you won't find them because we the protagonists aren't there but have fun!
of course its a desert level
Soooo the land nobody has been to. Ever. And we're looking for Time Gears. Great
… and has nobody, like, seen it? has nobody gone to the edge of this dry terrain and LOOKED and SAW that a desert stretches from there on???? Ok
I'm not sure how exactly it could well be hidden in a desert but all right
oh rip
what about you and wigglytuff tho
but do you guys ever go on explorations :C
it time to go!!!
So we all head off.
Before we leave, though...
Wait how do you know this if WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT'S A DESERT OR NOT
it is Time!!
This already looks like desert terrain as it is now.
is it gonna be Fight Time!!!
YEAH
Music: Northern Desert
Recruits: Baltoy, Cubone, Aron, Cacnea, Larvitar, Sandshrew, Trapinch, Carnivine, Rhyhorn, Lairon, Cacturne
Now if only you could find Larvitar at around level 20 in the normal Pokémon games. (I mean, as you're playing, not as late as Mt. Silver.)
Named Savannah.
She's level 22, and Alti and Ray are 20 and 21, respectively. Look at that! We're underleveled again!! Hooray!
In this game you can just find Grimy Food in dungeons at time. A nice touch – I doubt there would have been fresh Apples in the middle of a desert anyhow lol
That doesn't really explain why there are Gummis here though.
Named Simon by the bf. Simon is level 23 so we are still below the level curve and I appreciate that
man im just getting all the recruits today. named Cake because something something Just So Stories
I decide not to take it because Scratch has more PP and is not so situational.
After 15 floors we wind up at the end of the dungeon.
Also Ray what do you mean “deepest part” of the desert, how can there be a deepest part. Is it just like the pole of inaccessibility except for the desert? How would you even judge that though?? and would it even be the best place to hide a Time Gear just because it's the center, was there not like a cave or something somewhere else you could have used??
I'm overthinking this
the quicksand is like several feet away
So don't get close. Not terribly hard
lol you think it'd just be sitting out in the open??
… then again I guess it might have been in that one forest location
Well either way you also thought you knew Foggy Forest and there turned out to be a Time Gear at Fogbound Lake so maybe that means there's one here too
dude i was trying to puzzle out THE SECRET OF THIS PLACE do u really need to be mean about it
did you even TRY to look??? some explorer
tch
fiiiiiiiine
oh good I guess we know there's a desert there now?? helpful lmao
… welp I guess we are screwed
Well, do you really expect there to be Time Gears in two separate forests??
Think about it. It's a video game.
… that's what you were focusing on. Not the Time Gear???
Hey man crystals are cool don't be mean
who can blame him :c
Maybe we're all just shit at exploring mang
buddy ur locations are better than anything we could have come up with thats for damn sure
the plan FAILED so whats that say about YOU dusknoir huh
fair enough i guess
lookin forward to it
So we go to bed with no more fanfare. The next day...
what about Wigglytuff though!!
So they all head off. Alti and Ray, however, need to figure out what to do.
does bidoofs crystal count
Finally, we may have figured out that the fact that Alti knows the place is probably relevant, as it was with Foggy Forest!
ffs stop this and let me THINK without you INTERRUPTING ALL OF THE TIME
we barely TRIED to find anything!
lets do it!!!
But first, diary snooping
Looks like I've got two entries to catch up on.
i thought we were looking for time gears not necessarily grovyle himself
how terrifying!
… lmao
Bidoof's diary!
but why tho
thats just plain creepy ngl
nice
I'm sure we all are tho
… but it's ok to peek into ours??????????
bidoof
He is a bird.
I like that, it's a nice little bonus touch.
lol rip
All right dungeon time!
Well, first we get this.
I skipped the textbox immediately before this, but it said “Huh? There's something written on the bottom of the glass you just drained.”
… okay but who wrote its name on this glass then??
So yeah, this is part of how you unlock new dungeons here: by random luck when drinking in Spinda's Café. That's why I do it so often.
lol ok what is
Oh, that's all. All right. I was hoping for a new location :c
lets go!!!!
Music: In the Depths of the Pit
u just arent Trying hard enough!!
Obviously.
I dunno, but is there nothing past the pits?
spoopy
Again. Maybe what you're looking for isn't here.
… what?
WHAT???
we gonna die!
tbh I'm not sure you should but ok
Flashback to Waterfall Cave. Except that time Alti had a Dimensional Scream that revealed the secret and this time uhhhhhh we're about to blindly jump into quicksand
how about dont
welp they're dead
or not???
I'm as amazed as you!
it Go time
Music: Quicksand Cave
As you can see I have Savannah and Simon here. Since this dungeon basically picks up where Northern Desert left off I always like to bring my recruits from Northern Desert into Quicksand Cave. Just a personal quirk, I guess. It doesn't really change much because of the improved recruit mechanics, so I don't need to worry about this preventing me from recruiting anything else.
Recruit options: Sandshrew, Nincada, Vibrava, Pupitar, Skorupi, Sandslash, Mawile, Tyranitar, Hippopotas, Ninjask
I take this Nincada (nicknamed Illinois even though I think I used that one last time) over Simon.
I opt to take it over Counter for boss fights.
After 10 floors we reach the midpoint. Let's continue!
Music: Quicksand Pit
Aaaaand the Pit has Tyranitar which make sandstorms appear and are generally a pain in the ass!! Fantastic.
Despite being listed above as a recruit option they have -12% recruit rate so we can't recruit them at our current level, meaning we can't get them on our side which is sad
lolol false swipe. Unlike in regular Pokémon where it's incredibly useful for catching Pokémon it is completely worthless in Mystery Dungeon since you need to kill everything anyway!
no illinois :(
yes i know he stays on our team but it's still sad.
oh nooo
this is the first Monster House we've seen in this game! In Rescue Team they came in Uproar Forest, which I guess was a similar level to this but much further along in the story.
Can't say I was entirely expecting this!
but i'm smart and bring Petrify Orbs :p
oh
rip :(
let's go again
lolol I guess being underleveled is finally catching up to me.
oh my god hahahahaa
petrify orb time
or I could die
This is actually the first thing that has wanted to join my team in all of this pit so far.
Named Duke.
dat level difference
After ten floors we finally make it!
whoaaaa wtf we're under a desert what is This
Could it be?!
If that's the case...
lets go steal it before grovyle can
this makes absolute sense and isnt at all going to cause problems
on it, im a water type just let me swim out there and
oh okay
ffs we EXPLORE that is what we DO what do you mean WHY
Ray I think that is the worst thing you could have possibly said
but
but you're not giving us a chance to go
Oh hey.
Now we definitely know this is a Time Gear! :V
… were you expecting anything else?
And fight time!
I set Duke and Savannah to go after foes so they'll approach Mesprit, while Ray moves closer to Alti.
So we end up like this.
Ray uses Screech as Alti leads with Bite and Savannah and Duke continue to close in on Mesprit.
oh my god mesprit didn't even get an attack in, it cringed the first turn and missed its attack the second and then died because of three Pokémon using Bite into -2 defense lmao
despite being “underleveled” that was Not hard
that is NOT WHAT WE ARE HERE FOR ok!!!!
… and Uxie didn't bother telling you who was responsible? Just that someone did it.
This seems like an egregious oversight. Thanks, Uxie. Thanks for making our job harder.
how about u use that telepathy power of yours to Ask Uxie Right Now whether it was a riolu and a totodile and find out
Oh. Look who it is! Looks like the thief is here after all anyway :B
who are you apologizing too though
He attacked us and we went flying. Our teammates are sitting ducks it appears
Whoever appointed Uxie and Mesprit guardians of these Time Gears seems to have done a shit-tier job picking their guardians. Mesprit got BTFO by a team of kids and then lacked the strength to stand up to the outlaw Grovyle. Amazing.
Grovyle knows the score
But I guess the two randos from the guild can protect the Time Gear better than Mesprit.
Oh okay I stand corrected
… he can swim??
Well. All right then.
… you don't say!!!
Just blame Uxie and be done with it
The ground starts shaking.
The cave is freezing in time as we speak that's why
Well shit. That's. That's unfortunate.
… THAT SOUNDS HORRENDOUS
So we start to leave... incredibly slowly.
Oh, hey. I guess there was more to uncover.
Anyway, it's been a while since I updated so I'm going to go ahead and cut it here, saving the upcoming exposition for next time.
Upcoming recruits: Graveler, Seviper, Beldum, Wormadam-Sandy, Riolu (after credits), Cranidos, Donphan (after credits), Shieldon, Golem, Floatzel, Wormadam-Plant, Bagon, Glameow, Absol, Glalie, Froslass
21/525: 4%
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Barboach (Dojo)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Barboach (Dojo)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Well, said author has started Ward now, so let's give that to a Shieldon.
So according to this game, if you're in an area when time stops you're trapped in time. Fair enough, that makes sense. And yet if you enter an area with stopped time, you can apparently still move, as if time is stopped for everything except you?
Also, apparently time only stops relative to the location itself, since clearly the cave (lake, forest...) still stays on the Earth while it's moving through space.
Eh, screw it, I'll just call it a bunch of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.
Also, apparently time only stops relative to the location itself, since clearly the cave (lake, forest...) still stays on the Earth while it's moving through space.
Eh, screw it, I'll just call it a bunch of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.
Mowtom: Will do, thanks!
pika pal: Yeah Uxie didn't really think this one through did he. Also thanks for the nickname!
lucariomaster2: The time stuff doesn't make any sense. I haven't been able to find any way to justify it. It's cool as hell but unrealistic so yeah wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff is the best explanation lmao
pika pal: Yeah Uxie didn't really think this one through did he. Also thanks for the nickname!
lucariomaster2: The time stuff doesn't make any sense. I haven't been able to find any way to justify it. It's cool as hell but unrealistic so yeah wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff is the best explanation lmao
Sorry this is so late! I was rather busy with schoolwork and then since last Tuesday I've been visiting the boyfriend and have had no time to do anything with this LP. We should be back to regular-ish updates now though!
Well. That's a little frightening.
all right now can we warn Azelf and protect the other time gear
cmon man azelf is totally guarding the other one
lol nah we gonna take all the glory for solving this. GO TEAM
ok bye
trust me we are as surprised as you
… it got stolen. Don't we all know this already?
no we Found grovyle doesn't that count!!!!!! sorta
maybe we could
ASK MESPRIT
WHERE THE OTHER TIME GEAR IS
SO WE CAN PROTECT IT.
just a thought
MESPRIT
MESPRIT IS THE HINT
stop or else Ray is going to feel even worse about himself
oh hey I forgot you were here
Music: I Saw Something Again...
yes and y'all are doing a piss-poor job with general communication. Fix this
… have you guys never met a Psychic-type?
What is Chimecho, chopped liver?
mesprit certainly seemed to be extremely emotional during our fight tbh
I remember when I first played this I was really impressed/pleased they decided to have Dusknoir be aware of the lake trio being a trio instead of forcing the players to discover it by themselves. It was a good moment.
YES
LOGIC
I AM GLAD IT EXISTS IN THIS UNIVERSE
hey wouldja look at that it Makes Sense
hey
hey
hey
hey
you think Mesprit
one of the trio
knows where another member of the trio is???????
I also really liked this bit of lore too. They actually went above and beyond to make the Pokémon match the lore of the main series which was great for the authenticity of the game
I don't know if Fogbound Lake was in an unusual place so much as a probably impossible place but ok
… that seems. pretty hard to quantify. How do you expect to find something like that then
WHAT is a USUAL PLACE
I feel like that might be more knowledge than wisdom but ok
chatot we get it you are in love with him now Help Us Plan
lol chatot has started a cascade
and also eastern forest but there wasn't anything there HUH
or maybe yall just suck at exploring
oh hey
is dusknoir thinking what im thinking
or maybe it wont happen
whatever happened to your ridiculous amount of cash
awwwww yea Dusknoir had the same idea and I am glad that the game acknowledges the dimensional scream and we don't have to just like. stumble on it
I bet the rest of the guild is confused as hell right now lmao
lmao yep
I'll be surprised if the Guild believes tha-
oh
okay
inb4 bidoof says no again and we're just shit outta luck
well u Better or they won't believe you
Then Alti starts to have her dizzy spell things.
OH
HELLO
he beat up Uxie and Mesprit what makes you any different
YEP WE SAW THE PLOT.
“trying”
well did it LOOK like uxie and mesprit
answer: yes
verdict: azelf
again
“tried”
again. it looked like uxie and mesprit so
Alti nods.
well shit this is true
… :( it is possible...
(but we also might NOT be!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
EXACTLY
oh hey that is a point
Yeah I guess she didn't mention Azelf or Crystal Cave huh
does this count as bayesian evidence im not really sure how that works lol
>”maybe”
it looked like a crystal cave to me lmao
YEAH
is
is he
oh god no
is this happening A GAIN
… “ew”?
excuse u no he is amazing
lmao I sure hope not
it's too late for that bud sorry
if by “rouse him” you mean “freak the hell out at him” then sure
Wigglytuff's YOOM-TAH was so loud/powerful that it sent Chatot flying, yup.
rad
So they all head off.
Chatot however may or may not be suffering from sort of PTSD. Rip
So let's go! Crystal Cave time.
pretty
because progress is Always at the “deepest point”
YEAH
Music: Crystal Cave
Recruit options: Graveler, Seviper, Beldum, Wormadam-Sandy, Riolu (after credits), Cranidos, Donphan (after credits), Shieldon, Golem
This dungeon has a great aesthetic I love it.
great it still only knows Take Down
Named Nickel.
(Also notice the dungeon has become pink/purple! Amazing.)
After 11 floors we make it to the vague “depths”.
what does it Look like
how is there light here anyway
WELL THEN. Yes they are.
… indeed
I mean. Yes??? But only by video game logic
Then we get a flashback to the Groudon statue puzzle.
Ok but. Why. If you wanted to protect the Time Gears and prevent anyone from stealing them ever, why would you make it possible for someone to solve a puzzle and approach the Time Gear. They could have just. Not. Left a Groudon statue with fog-clearing capabilities. And that would have made it less likely to find the lake and the Time Gear.
I don't understand.
More flashbacks to jumping in quicksand pools.
well it is time to Find Out
nonsensically. but yes
what the hell
this is WEIRD
Well, it's the only way we can interact with these crystals, so probably.
yep it works
always three
Then the familiar dizziness of the Dimensional Scream begins.
… what does that even mean
this seems
bizarre
anyway Azelf is blue so that's the color right?
where did you even get that idea????
That's the end of the Dimensional Scream.
and both places were connected to Time Gears. cOiNciDeNcE?????
because raisins and plot
Ray you're really, really bad at reading people sorry
nothing
:B
… yes. obviously. that's. that's obviously what that means.
There's a lot of reaching going on in this train of logic but ok.
THAT'S NOT A COLOR
…
THAT'S ALSO NOT A COLOR
YES ray we have ESTABLISHED this
gud
After making all three blue, stuff starts to happen.
WHAT IS HAPPENING
And a giant crystal just emerges from the ground. Amazing!
WELL THEN
Glad you guys got out of the way lol
what Else would it do dude
Hopefully!!
So this is Crystal Crossing.
Music: Crystal Crossing
Recruit options: Floatzel, Wormadam-Plant, Bagon, Glameow, Absol, Glalie, Froslass
hello GIANT KECLEON SHOP with four items
good use of space
ONE PERSON MONSTER HOUSE this is Great
thank arceus for petrify orbs tho!!!!!
At least I can get a friend to help me fight the Monster House.
Nicknamed Smudge because something something warrior cats
>dat level difference
hello other giant kecleon shop
UPGRAAAAADE
After 13 floors we reach the lake.
what Is it!
… yes. Yes, it is.
This is pretty cool have to admit
It's a lake
in the place where we saw Azelf in the Dimensional Scream
so
yes??????????
THAT LOOKS LIKE A TIME GEAR GLOW TO ME
HOW
HOW DO YOU SEE SOMEONE
WE HAVE TO INTERFERE
WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST STANDING THERE RAY
Also wait. If Grovyle's already here then why did we still have to solve the crystal puzzle??? Did it just sink back into the ground after Grovyle finished it????
GO
RAY
MOVE
yes and IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IF YOU DONT MOVE
EVEN IF IT'S NOT AZELF IT'S STILL IN TROUBLE
FOR GOD'S SAKE RAY
lol no Azelf just knows his/her Pokémon species
You did
lol rekt
Azelf's eyes start glowing and the ground shakes.
the World is Ending that is all
And crystals pop up all around the lake.
get the time gear NOW
i hope it doesnt come to that tho i dont want azelf to die bc grovyle is an ass :(
“eliminating”
AZELF DEFENSE SQUAD GO
(also lmao we are ALL blue)
Music: Rising Fear
… yes?
GLADLY!
Azelf disappears and it's Fight Time!
and of course I misclick and walk Ray right into a Slam. Great
And in the effort to get us in a better fighting position I get Ray killed.
All right let's go again
OH WAIT SHIT I FORGOT THIS IS ONE OF THE BATTLES YOU CAN LOSE AND THE GAME STILL GOES ON JUST THE SAME. All right.
NO RAY GROVYLE MEANS TO KILL YOU WHAT ARE YOU DOING
Ray gets attacked, but...
It appears we are saved.
looks like Dusknoir is powerful enough to defeat Grovyle where we failed.
(For the record: The Grovyle fight is not at all difficult. I just screwed it up.)
wait
what
WHAT IS GOING ON
what the HELL is going on
this wHAT
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FI
oh
(They rushed at each other but Grovyle vanished/escaped.)
what is happening
no :(
wait what
SALVATION
clearly this is the most important development
So we end up back at the guild.
… unconscious.
“all this time” but since When
YOU'RE the one that was standing up to Grovyle ffs
(I guess Alti's okay)
why couldn't you to begin with though I never got that
but
that doesn't make sense Azelf definitely lost his battle but Ray and Alti could have won theirs
I guess we brought him back too. How did five guild Pokémon each manage to carry one Pokémon back (counting Smudge and Nickel)?
oh yeah probs :B
(chimecho also rang her bell for the record lol)
And then we get mobbed.
aw bab :c
dont be Mean!
oh Is there
they get to wait to have their questions answered though
well that's sure how it sounds eh?
who Know
they could be Anywhere by now!!!!
Oh hey
:o!
why not just go up and see what he wants
what could it Be...???
Corphish has brain
he has a secret????????
we have Arrived
We're also kind of the most important Pokémon living in this town though
Oh hey I guess Azelf is hanging out with us
If y'all can make the Time Gears unobtainable like this without needing to be physically present why the hell do you not just make them like that all time
are they breakable tho
oh hey he is here
Well... he's not here so
so we gathered
no
get ur face out of the middle of the screen
can you talk without ZZZTing everything please
… yes. Yes, it is.
shouldnt they ALL BE tho
MIGHTY
Tremendous!!!!!
it Speaks
YES no more Zs TO TYPE
Well. At least there's a definitive Time Gear location that we know about :V
and we'll STOP HIM IN HIS TRACKS
so do it
Shocking!
Music: Time Gear Remix
HMMMmmm ominous
WELL THEN. All righty.
…
WELL THAT WAS UNEXPECTED.
When I was playing this game for the first time, this is the point where it stopped being a good game and started being a fantastic game. I love time travel.
I love how they are confused by it. It's kind of terrific.
Well, apparently so...
but HOW tho. Where did he even get time travel capabilities from anyway
The world's destruction? Again?
wut
what does that
MEAN
Well. shit.
That
doesn't sound like how time or motion or life works but okay
what the hell is this post-apocalyptic wasteland
That is extremely worrisome holy shit
… uh, we kind of gathered that.
I don't want this life
again Corphish has a brain
… “normal circumstances”?
SO MUCH TIME TRAVEL
I CANT HANDLE
cant say I blame you
FUTURE BOUNTY HUNTER i LOVE IT
That's fantastic and I love that there's an explanation for it
… really???
fun fact this was my first exposure to the word “contrition”
lol we prolly would have thought he was delusional
exactly
… no instead EVERYONE KNEW YOU when you came to the guild. Makes sense
You kinda did a terrible job of that but ok
what Else are you hiding from us!!!
he has lied to us!!!!!!!!!!!
Eh, debatable
All right that's fair enough
Yeah it kinda. This whole paralyzed planet thing. We should probably prevent that.
chimecho's support will surely make or break it
the whole guild will be involved it will be a Party
Oh hey. We better have the guardians tasked with protecting the Time Gears on our side, that would. help
>”remain”
but you were only one once
questionable ellipses...
Music: Quicksand Cave (don't ask me why a dungeon track is being used here)
He kinda already did but I know what you mean
Couldn't you also like actually do that instead of just rumoring about it tho
Yeah prolly.
… as opposed to like... not baiting it and expecting him to fall for it anyway???
I think they've already committed to this.
… what she said.
i believe in u guys!!!!
it Time
jokes on u he already heard it!!!!!!!!
… I figured that was part of the plan??? considering Dusknoir ASKED THEM to be bait for the trap anyway
You are far too excited about that prospect.
and now they're fighting over who gets to catch him. Amazing
YEAH
wut
HERESY
he's the only one allowed to defeat grovyle duh
ok fair point :c
cant we at least like fight dusknoir for the opportunity or some shit
u can do it!
did you just try to imitate wigglytuff lmao
sounds like people aren't too happy about it sadly
ahahaha rip chatot
uh
okay
if you say so
I like how they must have had to get another recap about the situation. Despite the fact that the entire guild was attending that meeting.
ok but
where's the happy medium then???
… easier said than done dude
aight cool
whaaaaaaat
He just tells us to take jobs lol.
We get a new Special Episode unlocked in the process though.
I'll be doing that next time! We're done for now because this is a long update and it's been a while since I've updated too.
23/525: 4.4%
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
So a thought occurs to me: Wasn't Dusknoir making himself famous while he was in the past? How did Grovyle not know he was here if he became famous overnight? If the idea of spreading a rumor to bait the time gear trap works, he has to have some kind of exposure to the word in the grapevine. I could understand if it was more him being troubled at Dusknoir catching up with him, but he clearly doesn't seem to have been aware he was here at all.
Also, within the context of the world, if they had the ability to (hypothetically) seal up the Time Gear completely, doesn't it raise the question, whether for Grovyle (as a hypothetical) or in general (if actually possible) why they wouldn't have already done it given how important these things are?
Also, within the context of the world, if they had the ability to (hypothetically) seal up the Time Gear completely, doesn't it raise the question, whether for Grovyle (as a hypothetical) or in general (if actually possible) why they wouldn't have already done it given how important these things are?
pika pal: Yeah Dusknoir really dropped the ball on remaining hidden if EVERYONE EVER knew he was a famous explorer. There's no way Grovyle couldn't have known about him somehow. It's not super logical.
And yeah... the question of why the Time Gears are sitting out in the open if they could well... not be. The best explanation I heard was that they are like that in the event they needed to be taken. But that, uh, doesn't jive with the events of the game :x
And yeah... the question of why the Time Gears are sitting out in the open if they could well... not be. The best explanation I heard was that they are like that in the event they needed to be taken. But that, uh, doesn't jive with the events of the game :x
aight lets play as sunflora!!
a great introduction
it's beautiful Every night, it seems to just be full all the time. How do we know the moon isn't paralyzed?!
she's Busy!!!!!
how sunflora accomplishes this is beyond me, she has leaf hands
rip sunflora
it's not that strange!!!
a noble quest
WRITE LIKE THE WIND
oh
um
whoops
Sunflora has no chill
again
whoops
if i never hear “oh my gosh” again it will be too soon
… I guess technically??? but it just seems like we're not really apprenticed to the Guildmaster so much as like, the Guild as a whole and Chatot and the concept of explorations?? Or maybe I just can't get over the Warrior Cats usage of “apprentice”
I would hope so, that's kind of. The point. Of a training guild.
From Wigglytuff directly?!
amazing!!!
awww good :')
… that's a thing you can do? Just. Study with Wigglytufff.
lol fair they're pretty chill
how sweet!!!
:(?
somehow I'm not surprised
we heard u the first time
such a shame. Such a loss. Indeed
well that sounds like his failure.
is
is Loudred that weak
… what's the difference between that and being knocked out???
again. A Real shame
of course it is honey
are you surprised
Oh hi Chatot
lol
oh shit!!!
OH SHIT THEY FOUND OUT ABOUT SUNFLORA'S DIARY SHE'S GETTING ARRESTED
IM NOT TURNING MYSELF IN
yes and? What's new. Isn't this why the guild gets involved in outlaw missions?
and if Sunflora succeeds at this where the official police force fails what does that say about. Everything
what determines the ranking of the outlaws anyhow
well that dont bode well
lol ok
aw how sweet!
… you don't say
Amazing! Honestly though the others do seem younger. Maybe because most of them aren't evolved. I dunno.
I BELIEVE IN SUNFLORA
a Shame
… so in other words we're busy too. :v
he DEFEATED JIRACHI doesn't that count for anything???
do u not have teammates :c
escaped from where tho
where the hell is that
whaaaaaat
oh
um
well you see
… you didn't think this through huh. Sunflora might be the best explorer but like. Dugtrio or Corphish might be better suited. Like, a lot.
welp
What else
I wonder if like, this is a point of soreness for Pokémon
… fair enough
I BELIEVE IN SUNFLORA
toxic masculinity except sunflora is a girl
THAT'S THE SPIRIT
what are u waiting for
I think anyone would be lol
u Better beat that haunter!
how are you gonna cuff it tho its a ghost
So we get to go prep. Of course tho as per Ullar 's commands we're doing this itemless :B
LEGGO
smrt!
so Go! Hurry!
Music: Spring Cave
Sound familiar? It's Magma Cavern from Rescue Team.
Pokémon: Cubone, Baltoy, Snubbull, Meditite, Trapinch
… uh, where are the Fire-types?
Nice. I'm glad for this moveset. Bullet Seed is broken and Razor Leaf can hit from a distance.
Sunflora can have any of the following moves: Absorb, Pound, Growth, Mega Drain, Ingrain, Grasswhistle, Leech Seed, Bullet Seed, Worry Seed, and Razor Leaf. As you can see, all the damaging moves except Pound are Grass-type, and Pound would be close to worthless against Haunter anyhow. Time to fight an uphill battle!
I like how everything in the Kecleon Shop is Orbs
lol that might be useful against haunter.
Maybe
Probably not
After a small 4 floors of dungeon we end up at a more open area called Upper Spring Cave.
he's a Ghost do u really expect to See him
WAT WHO IS IT
uh
maybe?
Yes. See. Skoast.
so i can beat u up!!!!
That sure is a Haunter.
Yea I gathered
… what kind of leap of logic is that? If I'm looking for you shouldn't the logical assumption be that I'm a law enforcement officer not an explorer???
you probably shouldn't just announce your intentions but ok
are you having fun there
Because you're an overconfident jackass, dumb as hell, or both?
Well. Yes. That much is obvious.
IT WONT WORK ON SUNFLORA!!!!
Fight time and I will not misclick this time!
u gon get rekt
or not ok. AGAIN
Two more Bullet Seeds take it out.
how does it feel to be taken out by the mighty sunflora hey!!!!!
are you quite done
fuck yeah success
that was some weak shit
hurry and capture him!!!!
Yeah what she said
Haunter emits some sort of light though...
Aaaaand Haunter is back!
Music: Rising Fear
I don't understand it either sunflora it's okay
are you quite pleased with yourself
that
seems wrong
that's not how this works
that's not how any of this works
thats what he was called on the poster innit?
That's it? That's your only response? Just “Oh”. All righty fine give up
… yes. Yes, that's. The gimmick.
The rest of that is that same flashback.
YES
YEEEEEEEEEES
WHAT ELSE WERE YOU EXPECTING OH MY GOD
that seems fake but ok
… Yes. Like a regular Pokémon.
… you?
oh :(
YES NO NEED TO SCREAM
NO WE REFUSE
Then he turns, vanishes, and leaves.
that's the spirit!!
thats why sunflora is the best explorer
Arceus likes him more than you.
Anyway, we head on to the next bit of dungeon, Upper Spring Cave.
Music: Upper/Lower Spring Cave (the soundtrack calls it “lower” but the game says we're in “upper” Spring Cave)
Pokémon: Larvitar, Trapinch, Wormadam-Sandy, Aron, Cacnea, Onix
… Still not seeing any Fire-types. I've been lied to
After four more floors, we end up in Middle Spring Cave. How do we go from Upper to Middle tho???? I am confuse
I DO!!!! I BELIEVE IN SUNFLORA
that's the fun of it!!!
fuck yeah sunflora
what are you even wanted for anyway
EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF YOU DREAM
And it's fight time, again.
BULLET SEED SPAM GO
lol both shots of my first bullet seed missed rip
Doesn't matter though because Haunter is hardly a threat
serves u Right
u ded
hopefully this time for good
Yeah this looks familiar.
rip
Simple. He's just like all the other bosses in this game.
Then from out of nowhere two Slugma emerge from the ground. I guess there's our Fire-types?
… how though
couldn't you tell just by looking at them?
Well shit.
… yes, but isn't that true of nearly all Pokémon? Being weak to Fire doesn't mean you get burned more easily.
bye
oh okay
Haunter vanished, and then the Slugma approached.
oh
oh dear
So here she's just attempting to run desperately away from the Slugma.
oh dear
welp
This time I finally managed to capture that the Slugma attack Sunflora each time. Or attempt to, but she dodges.
RUN UP
OUT
WHATEVER
Or get yourself trapped, that works too
BULLET SEED!!! DO IT
The Slugma attack, but Sunflora is suddenly saved by a friend (?)
Music: One for All, All for One
fuckin Rekt
So they run off. Good riddance to bad trash!
Also awwww they're Friends
he kept running off what was she supposed to do!!!!!!
… did I? Sunflora took like 10 points of damage in the Haunter fight lmao
Well good for you, we're all So proud
everyone else was apparently too busy to accompany Sunflora so what Are you doing here
Hm. Sure.
If you say so.
Good job, Loudred, you pissed off Sunflora with that.
I DONT NEED YOU ANYWAY
YELLING
I CAN JOIN THE YELLING
bye
rip
I think he was happy to see you too bruh
why tho
why do we need a flashback this JUST HAPPENED
Anyway after the flashback...
how Sweet!
What what?
HMMMMMMMMM
u dun did solved it
Yeah well what else would it have been?
After this, we continue on to the 3rd part: Lower Spring Cave.
Music: Lower Spring Cave/Spring Cave Depths (the game is Lower Spring Cave but the soundtrack calls it Spring Cave Depths)
It's a re-remixed Magma Cavern, which wasn't in Rescue Team due to there only being two versions of Magma Cavern.
Pokémon: Paras, Beldum, Cranidos, Zubat, Onix, Baltoy
… where are the Fire-types again? Was it just those two Slugma that I didn't even fight?
2
WELP
ok
After four floors of not dying to Beldum we come to a save point. Why we have a save point after a mere 4 floors I couldn't tell you.
u figured out the Secret so yes!
wat
Bruh she said she was going to catch you
um
ok?????
And now we're actually in Spring Cave Depths. Man this dungeon is confusing.
Pokémon: Paras, Beldum, Cranidos, Zubat, Meditite, Baltoy, Ekans
where are the fire types
i mean yeah sure sunflora is still weak to Paras, Zubat, and Ekans but YOU SAID FIRE TYPES
After another 4 floors of dungeon we end up at the Pit.
ALL RIGHT WHY ARE WE SCREAMING
oh he is right there
… really. So everyone else gave up after 2 battles??? Have they never heard of 3rd time's the charm?????????
Oh shut up we both know that isn't true
or should i say
we All know
wat
thats not
proof
ah
she knows
THAT FACE DOES NOT HIDE THE SURPRISE AT BEING FOUND OUT!
You're terrible at bluffing
Sunflora attacks the Haunter and two more emerge.
rekt
i see i See!!!!
sunflora done Figured it Out
Oh shut up you're not that important.
The ground inexplicably begins to shake.
OH
ALL RIGHT THEN
How did you know though
BRING IT ON
They attack, but Sunflora is saved again by a familiar face.
yeah I thought you were done helping sunflora
Loudred is having trouble too though.
So we start the fight burned. Fantastic
And one of the Haunter gets the jump on us with Sucker Punch too which is. Terrific
Double-teaming one Haunter didn't work and now Loudred has 2 HP and Sunflora is Cursed. Fucking fantastic
Even an Oran Berry doesn't completely save him tho. Fuck dis shit
Aight lets try again.
This is a slightly better situation than before because I can hit 2 Haunter with Bullet Seed. Assuming it hits. I think its accuracy got nerfed after Rescue Team.
Well, I killed one, but I'm still not in the best of places. Loudred is confused and kinda low on health.
I don't know that I've ever had this much trouble before. What the hell is happening???
oh my god
OH MY GOD NO
I just ran the fuck away and look at this army of Pokémon chasing me
There is a divine force out there that doesn't want me to finish this
look at all those red dots on the top screen
Yep doesn't want me to finish.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Third time's the charm.
And fortunately for me, Loudred's revival means he's no longer burned!!! Fabulous.
YAS
Ullar I don't know if this technically counts as doing it since I died like 12 times but I did do it without any items from storage!!!!!!
good riddance to bad trash
I guess we're back at the guild?
oh okay
it's time to Celebrate
well what do u expect it's the great sunflora
we the Best
Shut up and let us take the praise asshole
THANK
YOU
you mean the Fire-types that weren't?
where yall get it anyway
byeeeeeeeeeee
I'm glad Chatot is still willing to praise me
Uh
Well
Um
Wait, didn't Loudred say Chatot told him to check on Sunflora...?
hopefully he'll do a better job than Team Hurricane
The exposition gets cut out for unknown reasons
I mean, yeah, but
Good, I guess?
Later...
Wait, we are? When???
you sound very non social sunflora
d'awwwwwwww
You look so pleased about that
I hope not, it's like midnight
Music: Goodnight
THEY ARE SO CUTE
…
oh
yeah I guess that makes more sense
That's it for this one. Next time: Will Dusknoir and the pixies succeed at capturing Grovyle?
23/525: 4.4%
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Last edited:
I don't get why they warned about Fire types in Spring Cave when Haunter's already given an advantage over Sunflora. Would have made the Slugma a better surprise if the idea was just to make the dungeon seem dangerous without actually putting in dangerous fire mons.
This does make me wonder, does the guild have procedures in place for severely mismatched Pokemon match ups? Like if they had to send Corphish to Amp Plains or something, would they have something prepared for him against Electric types? Or what if they needed to rescue a mon from a water dungeon but Corphish is away and they don't have any aquatic explorers?
This does make me wonder, does the guild have procedures in place for severely mismatched Pokemon match ups? Like if they had to send Corphish to Amp Plains or something, would they have something prepared for him against Electric types? Or what if they needed to rescue a mon from a water dungeon but Corphish is away and they don't have any aquatic explorers?
rewards for doing the special episodes soldier of fortune style
Great update as always! I'll admit I found this episode really forgettable, but it's not bad by any means, just overshadowed by the others. Your commentary of it was awesome, though.
Short update today because I specifically wanted to end this update at a certain point.
Also: I'm having some weird issues with some of the images in this update not showing up sometimes. Try refreshing the page if that's an issue. If some consistently aren't showing up, let me know!
We get another exploration spot while at Spinda's Café. Nice!
I go take a mission at Amp Plains and pick up this Minun while I'm there. Named Negative because I am the height of unoriginality
After the mission we go up a rank which is gr8 because it raises the storage cap which is fantastic.
That night...
Music: Goodnight
it seems a bit... i dunno, presumptuous?
especially since we lost to Grovyle before
its a wonder i was ever able to sleep with ur yapping!!!
The next day...
So we head off. Team Hurricane is tasked with dungeon missions, like usual.
I take a mission at Landslide Cave. I don't remember if I've been here before so whatever, you get a fresh picture of it.
Pokémon: Venomoth, Ampharos, Granbull, Shuckle, Dustox, Wormadam-Trash, Gible
Music is random dungeon themes from elsewhere in the game that change every floor.
So this is a Lookalike Item for the Doom Seed. Instead of lowering your level by 1 it... makes it more likely that you'll find money on the next floor. Interesting.
i didnt get any recruits :c ah well
Music: Goodnight
The next day...
ANY WORD?!
:(
WELL
osnap
!!!!!!!!! Hey!
Bidoof: By gosh! Grovyle's been caught!
Sunflora: Oh my gosh! They did it! Yippee!
Magnemite: Zzzt! There's more! Zzzt!
Zzzt! Grovyle was captured by the great Dusknoir. Zzzt![/quote]
Yeah makes sense
I mean. I guess that's the plausible next step. But it still seems a bit bizarre.
legGo
yes but also WHAT THE HELL IS THAT
Bidoof why would you try
Glad you noticed they're here.
I mean that's the assumption if Grovyle was successfully captured, no?
GROVYLE WAS CAPTURED, WASN'T HE???
Or now I guess
Oh, wow, they actually gave Grovyle a new sprite for it and everything. Cool!
hooray!
what do You want
Music: At the End of the Day
They shove Grovyle in and jump through after him.
… :(
…
what?
(The music abruptly fades to silence here.)
what
no
WHAT??
WHAT
WHAT THE HELL
WHAT IS THIS
OH MY GOD WHAT
Well. That. That just happened.
And then the dimensional hole vanishes. Wow. Okay then.
WHAT IN THE HEAVENS IS THIS
(We all fall into the center and disappear.)
Well. I guess we went through the dimensional hole.
Next time: Are we in the future?
Also: I'm having some weird issues with some of the images in this update not showing up sometimes. Try refreshing the page if that's an issue. If some consistently aren't showing up, let me know!
pika pal: I agree. Having the Slugma show up unannounced would probably have been more of a shocker and added to the idea that Sunflora is facing an uphill battle. But alas
I guess they just would put off missions that can only be handled by one apprentice until that apprentice gets back?? I dunno. As for the first part though I get the impression that the majority of the apprentices' missions are handled as a duo/trio, since Chatot says that everyone else is busy which is why they can't give Sunflora a partner.
lucariomaster2: That's basically how I feel about it. It doesn't help I'm not a huge fan of Sunflora as a character. It's a challenging episode as far as the actual dungeon quest goes, though, which is enjoyable.
Thanks for the compliment!
I guess they just would put off missions that can only be handled by one apprentice until that apprentice gets back?? I dunno. As for the first part though I get the impression that the majority of the apprentices' missions are handled as a duo/trio, since Chatot says that everyone else is busy which is why they can't give Sunflora a partner.
lucariomaster2: That's basically how I feel about it. It doesn't help I'm not a huge fan of Sunflora as a character. It's a challenging episode as far as the actual dungeon quest goes, though, which is enjoyable.
Thanks for the compliment!
We get another exploration spot while at Spinda's Café. Nice!
I go take a mission at Amp Plains and pick up this Minun while I'm there. Named Negative because I am the height of unoriginality
After the mission we go up a rank which is gr8 because it raises the storage cap which is fantastic.
That night...
Music: Goodnight
i am now >:(
Well yea. We found out a Pokémon – multiple in fact – were from the future. That's some heavy shit.
No kidding. I didn't expect time travel in a Pokémon game – even a gen 4 based one – either!
he's still wreaking havoc in our time tho why is it necessary we leave it to him when he's screwing up this time where we have our own law enforcement etc
it seems a bit... i dunno, presumptuous?
it's a video game, of course you do
Eh. We could have beaten Grovyle. We just... didn't.
If you say so
its a wonder i was ever able to sleep with ur yapping!!!
Great but unlikely I think. Dude's pretty slick.
night!!!
The next day...
:c
some head of intelligence u are
fiiiiiiiine
So we head off. Team Hurricane is tasked with dungeon missions, like usual.
I take a mission at Landslide Cave. I don't remember if I've been here before so whatever, you get a fresh picture of it.
Pokémon: Venomoth, Ampharos, Granbull, Shuckle, Dustox, Wormadam-Trash, Gible
Music is random dungeon themes from elsewhere in the game that change every floor.
So this is a Lookalike Item for the Doom Seed. Instead of lowering your level by 1 it... makes it more likely that you'll find money on the next floor. Interesting.
i didnt get any recruits :c ah well
Music: Goodnight
u woke me up. What
I mean. It's possible?
It won't resolve anything to contemplate this now though.
Yeah we've established that
Well, Celebi and Dialga exist, so yes.
… what, you mean you hadn't even questioned this before Ray pointed it out two seconds ago?
you sound shocked by the revelation that you find it hard to deal with
WHY
Well, Dusknoir is here to prevent the planet's paralysis, so I would assume yes.
I've found that never works in practice. Forcing yourself to sleep I mean
night ray
The next day...
ANY WORD?!
oh
:(
I mean it's not like we have any other choice
WELL
osnap
!!!!!!!!! Hey!
its only been like 2 days since dusknoir made his plan
Bidoof: By gosh! Grovyle's been caught!
Sunflora: Oh my gosh! They did it! Yippee!
Magnemite: Zzzt! There's more! Zzzt!
Zzzt! Grovyle was captured by the great Dusknoir. Zzzt![/quote]
Yeah makes sense
wait what
I mean. I guess that's the plausible next step. But it still seems a bit bizarre.
88 mph and 1.1 gigawatts
All right then.
What, just. Out in the open??? Are we sure people won't just fall into it??? This sounds like a disaster waiting to happen
How sweet!
legGo
yes but also WHAT THE HELL IS THAT
Yeah I guess “everyone” isn't here if Dusknoir isn't eh
Glad someone finally noticed.
It doesn't look so much like a tunnel as a portal of doom but all right.
Technically speaking. Existing anywhere takes you to the future. It just happens linearly.
Bidoof why would you try
Where does “it” begin tho.
Glad you noticed they're here.
I mean that's the assumption if Grovyle was successfully captured, no?
…
GROVYLE WAS CAPTURED, WASN'T HE???
Hooray!
Or now I guess
Oh, wow, they actually gave Grovyle a new sprite for it and everything. Cool!
Loudred you're also the one who decided we “don't seem to be bad” based on our footprints and I can't say I understand that.
lets get rid of the interloper
So we can see.
hooray!
More cheering.
How can we “see” that tho
Hot damn that's awesome.
what do You want
… yes, I gathered.
:c
Music: At the End of the Day
What, did you think Magnemite was just lying? Why do you think the dimensional hole is here??
Us too, Bidoof. Us too.
hey look, a proper use of “literally”
I dunno about everyone else but Team Hurricane certainly will!
They shove Grovyle in and jump through after him.
… :(
Who knows? Maybe we'll “catch up” to Dusknoir's future.
chatot :(
… us? But why tho
…
what?
(The music abruptly fades to silence here.)
what
no
WHAT??
WHAT
WHAT THE HELL
WHAT IS THIS
OH MY GOD WHAT
Well. That. That just happened.
And then the dimensional hole vanishes. Wow. Okay then.
WHAT IN THE HEAVENS IS THIS
(We all fall into the center and disappear.)
Well. I guess we went through the dimensional hole.
Next time: Are we in the future?
24/525: 4.6%
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Minun (Negative)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Minun (Negative)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
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Ullar: thx bae
pika pal: Here's your chance! :p
And yes this is where the game went from great to EVEN BETTER for me. I love time travel so much.
pika pal: Here's your chance! :p
And yes this is where the game went from great to EVEN BETTER for me. I love time travel so much.
… that's ominous.
The future. Probably.
Yeah I think y'all got kidnapped by Dusknoir
But why
Well dang
…
Wait a second
This looks oddly familiar...
What the hell is that and why is it floating
>master dialga
um
okay then???
but what about US what are WE doing here
WELL THEN
well
i mean
isn't that going a bit far?
ALSO WHAT ABOUT US WHAT DID WE EVER DO TO YOU
All right, now what
Oh, hey, back to us.
W O W this is. This sure is gray and imposing.
Music: In the Future
A good question.
The big iron-looking doors would seem to indicate that, yes.
Why do you sound so surprised, that seems to be the obvious conclusion.
I mean it's still questionable why we're here to begin with but
… yes. Yes, that would be the function of jail doors.
… yes. Yes, that would be the function of jail.
Easily missable: the map on the top screen. Where exactly are we? This doesn't look at all familiar.
… yeah, makes sense I wouldn't be able to open them either
Yyyyyup.
Yes, that is what happened, do you not remember it well?
Congrats! You figured it out.
why not, you believed that dusknoir and grovyle both traveled here from the future, but not that we went back?
YES
Ok that's a fair question.
… It looks like a cave with doors though
It's very gray then.
WHAT
That’s how it seems.
Well, we’re kind of trapped in a jail cell so I don’t know that there is much we can do.
Well, Grovyle and Dusknoir both did it somehow, right? But trapped in this jail cell we can’t do very much.
oh god oh no they are Here for us
OH GOD SO MANY
umm
what??
Music: Oh No!
They swarm us...
what the actual hell is happening
… yes, that is the function of blindfolds.
Who knows?
After a minute...
Well, whatever it is, you are absolutely tied to that post. Jeez. Overkill much?
It’s a question we all have...
Oh hey.
… I love how Alti’s sprite still has an open mouth just peeking out over the top of the ropes.
its even better from a side angle
I mean. Apart from the part where we’re tied up and this... doesn’t seem to be a good situation.
who there
… what is that supposed to mean
The other dark place in the room has someone in it? Color me surprised
Oh.
OH HEY. What are you doing here?
Music: In the Future
… the future?
WAIT
WHAT
what
what even
WHY?????? what did we DO
wow harsh
jeez he’s a bit of a negative nancy
who the hell are “they” though
calm down ray there’s no need to insult him even if he did fuck things up immensely
… they? Who
Jeez it’s bright in here. And... empty
I guess we found “them”
Sableye?
Yeah I guess I do remember seeing them before with Dusknoir when he brought Grovyle to Treasure Town but, uh
why
are we about to be MURDERED
or like
whatever is going to happen
by
DUSKNOIR
Oh... hi
… yes, he’s clearly aware of the fact that we’re here. But WHY. WHAT is happening.
Buddy
I’m sorry
I don’t think he cares
Yeah... he definitely wants to kill us for... some reason
Well. This is. Tremendous.
How the hell do we get out of this?
Clearly we must have screwed up somewhere along the line. I have no idea where.
They’re like five feet away. How could they not?
i know it’s difficult, ray has no inside voice
All right then. So Dusknoir wants to kill us and Grovyle is the only one willing to help us out.
This is bizarre.
Do we have a choice? Either Grovyle helps us live or Dusknoir kills us.
Grovyle knows the score
… me?
What is that supposed to mean? I’m tied up. Nothing???
… did you want a warning?
Oh, I see. Anyway, um, attack?
I guess he finally decided to go with Grovyle’s plan.
And somehow they didn’t hear any of that. Makes sense
If they’re attacking us why WOULD they
oh god this is so TENSE
That’s. Wow.
wat
I never thought Fury Swipes of all moves would be scary, but here we are.
Honestly it seems impossible that they wouldn’t.
Easier said than done I think but I’ll sure try!
I mean I guess it’s possible but...
Oh. Yeah, that’s very possible. They’re Ghost/Dark after all, if they are gonna kill us I’m sure they have... other methods.
oh god
eugh
Welp we are absolutely dead. Look at this
we are being MURDERED HERE augh
We must all be bleeding from twenty places at this point. God
Ray’s ropes have broken.
And Alti’s.
LET’S GO
Grovyle throws that on the ground and the screen goes white.
now u know how it feels
Oh hey look at that, items from the dungeon gameplay are actually relevant here in storyland
WHERE DID WE GO
What else were you expecting?
the chase begins
what
W O W okay so we were... underground? All right then
not more than 4 tho rite
I do like the little bit of flavor with that. Dig is, as you probably expect, a TM move for Grovyle, and I like that he just... has it.
so we’re gonna follow Dusknoir and co out
ok
What exit? What kind of building were we in anyway? I mean yeah there’s the execution room and the jail cells but what else is there
You know Quick Attack for god’s sake hurry up.
do u have a better idea ray
… I wouldn’t say it’s “fast” when we were dragged into a dimensional hole before this happened
Well Grovyle did it and so did Dusknoir so
rip ray
how big is this place anyway
hooray?
Yeah I’m sure this isn’t the most thrilling of first impressions.
Why are there floating rocks?
Looks familiar... again. But why?
Music: Planet’s Paralysis
It’s kind of a mess...
This is just a wasteland. It’s spectacular but that’s not a good thing.
Where have we heard that one before?
WELL NO TIME TO TALK ABOUT IT GOTTA GO
So they do.
Ray you really need to get into shape.
He capitulated quickly
So they stop outside this cave.
I would think they would have other methods of tracking us. Like smell or something.
Also considering we are the ONLY COLOR in this world, it might be easier to see us than you think
Ray... shut up. We need to get back home and Grovyle probably knows a way to do that. Stop being picky
It’s either him or Dusknoir
He tried to murder us soooo
Yea what he said.
Ok I guess that’s fair but again we literally have no leads except him and Dusknoir.
I mean I guess
do u regret ur decision now ray
oh
oh ray...
That’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard
And grayness.
:(
that’s so sad
If you hadn’t already guessed by this world matching up with Dusknoir’s description of it, here’s the truth bomb.
RAY we have been OVER this dusknoir EXPLAINED IT TO US
About time
So we get this flashback where Dusknoir explains it.
Except Dusknoir said this happens if all the Time Gears are stolen so uh
what is the deal
Really awkward and nonsensical metaphysics?
bye...?
Yeah that’s what I’m wondering.
I guess that isn’t always enough.
“Should have” being the operative phrase here.
Maybe someone else stole the Time Gears later on? I don’t know. How far in the future are we anyway?
(I have my own ideas but I’m curious about what people who are reading/have played the game think about this, too.)
BELIEVE IN THE ME WHO BELIEVES IN YOU
WELP time to go.
Sounds good.
YEAH
So this is Chasm Cave, the first of the future dungeons. (What, you didn’t think we were going to have this game’s ‘fugitive arc’ without dungeons, did you? For shame.) As you might expect, we can’t recruit here, but the Pokémon here are Drifloon, Magnemite, Skarmory, Ditto, Grumpig, Onix, Drifblim, and Magneton. They’re mostly levels 28-30, so we’re a little underleveled... for once
Music: Chasm Cave (One of the best dungeon tracks in the game. Give it a listen!)
This dungeon’s layouts are reminiscent of Sky Tower Summit. They suck.
Also this dungeon is interesting because it has air instead of walls. If we could fly, we could just pass right over the gaps and avoid the paths entirely. The floating Pokémon in this dungeon – Drifloon/Drifblim, and maybe Magnemite/Magneton too – can already do that. So sometimes you’ll get snuck up on by flying Pokémon. Kinda irritating but the floating platforms thing is hella cool imo
That Ditto just used Struggle. I know it’s a Ditto because it used Struggle. In this game Transform has 1 PP and Ditto do not take the movesets of the Pokémon they turn into, rendering Ditto even more useless than it already is.
i traversed the WHOLE FLOOR before finding the stairs
gr8
Halfway down the ground becomes blue. oooOOooo
After eight floors of exploding Drifblim (Aftermath sometimes causes the Pokémon to explode when defeated) we reach the end.
lol ok
I don’t know if this counts as an “exit” but we seem to be in a cave instead of floating platforms so maybe?
There’s no good places to rest here. Not like the alcove.
Also Ray you need to get fitter.
Not shown in screenshots: That water is not moving. At all.
that’s bizarre man wow
WICKED
… Well, waterfalls aren’t normally suspended in midair, are they? Got any other explanations, genius?
Looks can be deceiving. Or something. He tried to murder us and that was clearly not an accident.
HMMMMMMMMM
what do you mean ‘huh’ alti jeez
I like how Ray had to be the one to remind her she can see visions of things
Why that specifically though. What will it help us accomplish with regards to Dusknoir or Grovyle or the future or whatever
Yeah I mean there’s no real drawbacks to at least attempting it
At least we hear them coming I guess
ok but like
is it frozen like ice or frozen like just suspended? Like is it a liquid or a solid. If you touch it do you touch like ice or do your hands go through it like water.
This has bugged me for years.
these are some long ellipses
:c rip
Again. I’m not sure how the frozen water specifically would have been helpful but ok.
Yeah we might wanna go.
So we’re about to go to another dungeon. Slowly making our way across this giant rock island thing. (Where are we going, anyway...?)
Next time: More future dungeons!
24/525: 4.6%
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Minun (Negative)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Minun (Negative)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Last edited:
So this gets into my question, which even given a later spoiler doesn't make sense to me.
Dusknoir says you have to be eliminated for trying to change history, which is easy enough to understand for Grovyle, ignoring the obvious morality flip that's happened on sides. That said, why did Dusknoir grab and drag you back to the future as well? He had your full cooperation with capturing Grovyle and keeping history on course, you're not guilty of anything even indirectly with any of the information presented. At this point, the only thing Dusknoir has done is invited massive cause for suspicion for you and everyone who saw you dragged into the portal, while also basically confirming his story was a load if you make it back and prove history as is leads to the planet's paralysis.
Dusknoir says you have to be eliminated for trying to change history, which is easy enough to understand for Grovyle, ignoring the obvious morality flip that's happened on sides. That said, why did Dusknoir grab and drag you back to the future as well? He had your full cooperation with capturing Grovyle and keeping history on course, you're not guilty of anything even indirectly with any of the information presented. At this point, the only thing Dusknoir has done is invited massive cause for suspicion for you and everyone who saw you dragged into the portal, while also basically confirming his story was a load if you make it back and prove history as is leads to the planet's paralysis.
With regards to the planet's paralysis, it's odd that even though time isn't flowing, the doors can still open and the ropes can still be cut. This is, of course, combined with Pokemon seemingly not affected by stopped time at all. Great consistency, Chunsoft.
Sorry for the late update – I was out of town over the holidays and didn’t have much time to play. Updates should be a bit more regular now.
I don’t know where we’re going but sure?
So we go into a dungeon.
Specifically it’s called Dark Hill. It’s very... dark. And colorless. This is sad.
Music: Dark Hill
Pokémon found: Gastly, Banette, Misdreavus, Gliscor, Claydol, Haunter, Dusclops, Gengar
Lots of Ghost-types that can bother me through walls as you can see. Fantastic.
Ray killed it with Force Palm. Because you can hit things even through immunities in this game, it just does a lot less damage so Actually Effective things are superior. I had already weakened it so Ray finished it off.
See look the only way we can attack this is with Gravelerocks since we can’t attack into the wall. The only way to get out of this is to try to head away from it (while getting hit) until it comes out of the wall.
Like that.
… no thanks.
Also no thanks. The power difference doesn’t mean much in MD and Scratch has way more PP, which does matter.
we’re running from someone who might wanna kill us get over it
look at What
WHAT was true
What is it on/in anyway? That just looks like a pit.
I get it though. He was very nice.
Music: Time Gear Remix
I guess we’re not really in the best of situations right now, huh.
parallel universes time as a concept
:(
I don’t think Ray wants to find Grovyle. Let’s return to our world!
Let’s go home!!!
we fly, just like with the world’s balance in MD1
… I guess it all turns out the same no matter what.
These mean the same thing but I go with “I want to ask him something”.
He knows how to time travel.
I choose “I don’t know...”
How could I?
Got any better ideas?!
I see you understand.
How about Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf? Shouldn’t they be immortal or close to it?
… How about us?
Glad to see he has come around.
Music
For what?
That’s the spirit!
Yes!
It’s time to go!
Fortunately enough.
Posting this for top screen’s map.
Music: Sealed Ruin
I really like this music. It’s kinda subdued compared to the bombasticness of Dark Hill but it seems kinda fitting for the renewed hope our characters are feeling at this point. I don’t really know how to explain it.
Pokémon: Muk, Forretress, Shelgon, Metang, Tangrowth, Probopass
Quite a few Steel-types as you can see, fortunately we have the moves to deal with it.
They range from levels 27-32 so we are a bit underleveled.
awww yeah
… lol never mind, thanks Bug Bite
After a mere 8 floors of dungeon we reach a save point at the middle.
Leaving it...
Meanwhile...
Oh, hey.
why does he care...
wat
dats right call ‘em out
WHERE IS HERE
oh ok it isnt loudred
probably
And now we’re in Deep Sealed Ruin. Or Sealed Ruin Pit as the music calls it.
Pokémon: The same as Sealed Ruin.
After six floors (nothing interesting happened lol) we reach Sealed Ruin Pit and see... Grovyle?
That’s the only other thing here though.
It shook.
Yep, it’s that.
Hi.
Well maybe one of those spirits is Loudred?
Grovyle disappears and it’s boss battle time.
Alti leads off with a Geo Pebble and Ray uses Quick Attack, which does little damage but at least does a little.
Following this, Alti uses Water Gun as Ray uses Screech (which might be just a little broken in MD lmao). Spiritomb does nothing of importance.
Then Alti uses Crunch to take advantage of Screech as Ray uses... Screech again because I was dumb and forgot to set him to use Bite. Then Spiritomb puts him to sleep with Hypnosis. Well damn. Hopefully Alti can take it?
Or that could happen. Well shit
It manages to miss both of us with Ominous Wind (thankfully) and then fails to do anything significant before we wake up and kill it with a few more attacks.
Oh hey Grovyle you’re back
Uh
I guess Grovyle is cured now?
… bye?
I feel that
It seemed more bombastic than anything
now ray changes his mind
It is time for answers.
Music: In the Future
Another alcove? This one seems even more visible than the last one...
Primal Dialga in the main games when
Well that makes sense you did try to steal all the Time Gewait what
>If Temporal Tower collapses, there is a failsafe that can help prevent it from fucking up the time stream: Bring the Time Gears to Temporal Tower
>Dialga didn’t bother using his magic legendary powers to acquire them himself. Some rando (at least by Dialga’s reckoning) had to go retrieve them all from around the world.
>At least three of the Time Gears had ridiculous protections in place that would have made it all but impossible to find them if you didn’t have foreknowledge of their locations (as Grovyle presumably did) or have the Dimensional Scream (Alti and Ray): one requires discovering the path that leads to Fogbound Lake, which might require recognizing that rando red stone goes in the Groudon statue, and then you have to beat up Groudon and prevent Uxie from stealing your memories; one requires JUMPING INTO QUICKSAND PITS and beating up Mesprit; one requires discovering the secret to a crystal puzzle and beating up Azelf
>Presumably these three are meant to be guardians of the Time Gears. In other words, they’re meant to protect the Time Gears from evildoers. However, the fact that they were so quick to harass anyone who came to their dwelling means they have not so much as even considered that someone might be trying to take the Time Gears to save the world, which means they have no earthly idea the Time Gears have that function. They even said they were going to return the Time Gears to their “rightful places” even as, if what Grovyle said is true, that wouldn’t have helped the situation in the slightest.
>In which case, what is the point of hiding them around the world in the first place? Presumably it’s so that if something happens to Dialga or Temporal Tower there’s still a way to restore things. In which case why wouldn’t the guardians of the Time Gears know what that use is????? WHAT IS THE POINT OF GIVING THEM GUARDIANS IF THOSE SAME GUARDIANS DON’T KNOW THE ENTIRE REASON THEY’RE GUARDING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE IS TO PROTECT FROM APOCALYPSE???
And all right sure you could say “Grovyle didn’t exactly do a great job of endearing himself to them, what with fighting them at all and not explaining his side of the story” which is deffo true but at the same time you have Mesprit fighting Alti and Ray without a second thought, which more or less says “Mesprit thinks stealing the Time Gears = autobad”, and you have Azelf putting up the crystal barrier to physically prevent Grovyle from reaching the Time Gear, which both seem to indicate the guardians think their purpose is to protect the Time Gears at all costs.
Y’all kind of dropped the ball on this one.
Good job.
Now the world is a wasteland.
Back to the story.
People
Lie
Sometimes
Yeah I mean that makes sense with what has happened in the future thus far
TRIED
TO
KILL
US
oH mY gOd
Music: Time Gear
WHAT are you DOING
Ray, that is the worst possible idea you could have had.
Bye...
True. Regardless of who’s telling the truth, if we want to prevent this, we have to get back somehow.
Let’s go!
Meanwhile...
Music: Planet’s Paralysis
Bye...
Elsewhere...
… what does THAT mean
Next time: Dusk Forest!
pika pal: Presumably he figured there was a chance that you might figure out he was lying and go to fix things? Or do that considering later spoiler? I dunno I guess it was just a safety precaution but it, uh, didn’t turn out so well for him.
lucariomaster2: Yeah the way the time stopping is portrayed in this game... doesn’t make a lot of sense. If it’s stopped, it should be stopped for everything and everyone, not just inanimate objects. You shouldn’t be able to … exist.
lucariomaster2: Yeah the way the time stopping is portrayed in this game... doesn’t make a lot of sense. If it’s stopped, it should be stopped for everything and everyone, not just inanimate objects. You shouldn’t be able to … exist.
I don’t know where we’re going but sure?
So we go into a dungeon.
Specifically it’s called Dark Hill. It’s very... dark. And colorless. This is sad.
Music: Dark Hill
Pokémon found: Gastly, Banette, Misdreavus, Gliscor, Claydol, Haunter, Dusclops, Gengar
Lots of Ghost-types that can bother me through walls as you can see. Fantastic.
Ray killed it with Force Palm. Because you can hit things even through immunities in this game, it just does a lot less damage so Actually Effective things are superior. I had already weakened it so Ray finished it off.
See look the only way we can attack this is with Gravelerocks since we can’t attack into the wall. The only way to get out of this is to try to head away from it (while getting hit) until it comes out of the wall.
Like that.
… no thanks.
Also no thanks. The power difference doesn’t mean much in MD and Scratch has way more PP, which does matter.
we’re running from someone who might wanna kill us get over it
look at What
WHAT was true
Oh. Well yea.
the only light in such a dark world
What is it on/in anyway? That just looks like a pit.
Is it?
Yeah but then he tried to kill us. Actions speak louder than … actions...?
Did he actually? I mean there was some Time Gear stuff and I guess Amp Plains but it didn’t seem in the context of … teaching.
We all did, my friend. We all did.
He. Tried. To. Kill. Us.
Well that sounds like a personal issue, if you die not my problem.
I get it though. He was very nice.
:(
Music: Time Gear Remix
I guess we’re not really in the best of situations right now, huh.
Can we even? Grovyle and Dusknoir did it but that doesn’t mean we’ll be having success with that.
They’re not really... existing in the same temporal plane as us. They’re not “doing” anything, they’re probably all dead or scattered or something by now. Besides, if time travel works like it’s supposed to, if/when we return it won’t be long after we left and they won’t have “done” much of anything.
See above
Ray we really need to have a talk about
:(
That is true.
:(
Yeah, we kind of don’t have a choice.
Wow, Alti is really sensitive. I’m surprised considering she never talks
Yes?
I’m sure there are many options.
I don’t think Ray wants to find Grovyle. Let’s return to our world!
Let’s go home!!!
… I guess it all turns out the same no matter what.
These mean the same thing but I go with “I want to ask him something”.
… did I offend Ray
Whether he’s willing to help is a different matter but yes.
We’re asking him for help, not moral support, I think it will be okay
Okay yes but if he goes back he’s going to do that regardless of whether or not we are involved. We might as well tag along and then we can stop him when we get back.
Okay well yes but one thing is absolutely true.
He knows how to time travel.
I choose “I don’t know...”
How could I?
What else could we do?
I didn’t say that
Got any better ideas?!
THEN WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE GENIUS
but...
I see you understand.
Again. How far in the future does this take place? Are any of our guild friends still alive but old? Anyone?
How about Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf? Shouldn’t they be immortal or close to it?
… How about us?
Glad to see he has come around.
it’ll be an Adventure
Music
For what?
:( this is sweet
; ;
It’s okay. We do that sometimes.
Again, it’s okay. We’re together now.
That’s the spirit!
I believe in you.
Good!
Yes!
It’s time to go!
Fortunately enough.
it is Time!
Posting this for top screen’s map.
Music: Sealed Ruin
I really like this music. It’s kinda subdued compared to the bombasticness of Dark Hill but it seems kinda fitting for the renewed hope our characters are feeling at this point. I don’t really know how to explain it.
Pokémon: Muk, Forretress, Shelgon, Metang, Tangrowth, Probopass
Quite a few Steel-types as you can see, fortunately we have the moves to deal with it.
They range from levels 27-32 so we are a bit underleveled.
awww yeah
… lol never mind, thanks Bug Bite
After a mere 8 floors of dungeon we reach a save point at the middle.
Leaving it...
We’d better!!
So we head in.
Meanwhile...
Oh, hey.
“the forest” that is awful uh... specific?
Accurate.
why does he care...
be selfish and think about urself. Thats how to serve this future
there u go
does “making sacrifices” encompass “leaving us behind to die”
wat
… loudred?
where are they too
Not intentionally???
dats right call ‘em out
WHERE
WHERE IS HERE
oh ok it isnt loudred
probably
… and then his dialogue box fades out. Ominous...
And now we’re in Deep Sealed Ruin. Or Sealed Ruin Pit as the music calls it.
Pokémon: The same as Sealed Ruin.
After six floors (nothing interesting happened lol) we reach Sealed Ruin Pit and see... Grovyle?
… does he look all right? He’s glowing purple for God’s sake
ray dont question it just do it
where????
Yeah what he said
beside us?!
That’s the only other thing here though.
It shook.
Yep, it’s that.
Hi.
Oh, just let us pass already
We have no way of knowing so just answer the damn question
Well maybe one of those spirits is Loudred?
Grovyle disappears and it’s boss battle time.
Alti leads off with a Geo Pebble and Ray uses Quick Attack, which does little damage but at least does a little.
Following this, Alti uses Water Gun as Ray uses Screech (which might be just a little broken in MD lmao). Spiritomb does nothing of importance.
Then Alti uses Crunch to take advantage of Screech as Ray uses... Screech again because I was dumb and forgot to set him to use Bite. Then Spiritomb puts him to sleep with Hypnosis. Well damn. Hopefully Alti can take it?
Or that could happen. Well shit
It manages to miss both of us with Ominous Wind (thankfully) and then fails to do anything significant before we wake up and kill it with a few more attacks.
Oh hey Grovyle you’re back
The ground starts shaking inexplicably.
Uh
I guess Grovyle is cured now?
… bye?
I feel that
It seemed more bombastic than anything
Ew, geez
Music: Time Gear Remix
We beat its ass so
That’s sad :(
I mean, I would be too. The world is so... dull.
Me too Ray. Me too.
… maybe?
Ray shut UP
Eh. I guess?
now ray changes his mind
…????????? what
but you believe him????? I don’t understand
which part tho
it’s time to get some answers!
How about don’t lie?
… and that’s supposed to be reassuring?
It is time for answers.
Music: In the Future
Another alcove? This one seems even more visible than the last one...
If you say so
Makes sense, I mean all the Time Gear/time being screwed up shenanigans were then.
hey look at that, using 4th-gen mythology for this, I like it
… so shouldn’t he have been able to fix this mess
That doesn’t really explain it but ok.
That’s kind of, um, shitty, if Dialga can’t even control time properly without going insane
“almost” tho?
Primal Dialga in the main games when
That is massively fucked up but all right.
Well that makes sense you did try to steal all the Time Gewait what
NO EXCUSE ME WE ALREADY KNEW THIS. GO BACK. WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY
I mean. I guess it makes sense when you consider Dusknoir was trying to murder him and Dusknoir was talking to Dialga in that one scene???
Yeah, people lie sometimes...
Wow harsh much?
I mean. That part is true??
Wait what. HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE
Okay let’s reflect on this for a minute.
>If Temporal Tower collapses, there is a failsafe that can help prevent it from fucking up the time stream: Bring the Time Gears to Temporal Tower
>Dialga didn’t bother using his magic legendary powers to acquire them himself. Some rando (at least by Dialga’s reckoning) had to go retrieve them all from around the world.
>At least three of the Time Gears had ridiculous protections in place that would have made it all but impossible to find them if you didn’t have foreknowledge of their locations (as Grovyle presumably did) or have the Dimensional Scream (Alti and Ray): one requires discovering the path that leads to Fogbound Lake, which might require recognizing that rando red stone goes in the Groudon statue, and then you have to beat up Groudon and prevent Uxie from stealing your memories; one requires JUMPING INTO QUICKSAND PITS and beating up Mesprit; one requires discovering the secret to a crystal puzzle and beating up Azelf
>Presumably these three are meant to be guardians of the Time Gears. In other words, they’re meant to protect the Time Gears from evildoers. However, the fact that they were so quick to harass anyone who came to their dwelling means they have not so much as even considered that someone might be trying to take the Time Gears to save the world, which means they have no earthly idea the Time Gears have that function. They even said they were going to return the Time Gears to their “rightful places” even as, if what Grovyle said is true, that wouldn’t have helped the situation in the slightest.
>In which case, what is the point of hiding them around the world in the first place? Presumably it’s so that if something happens to Dialga or Temporal Tower there’s still a way to restore things. In which case why wouldn’t the guardians of the Time Gears know what that use is????? WHAT IS THE POINT OF GIVING THEM GUARDIANS IF THOSE SAME GUARDIANS DON’T KNOW THE ENTIRE REASON THEY’RE GUARDING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE IS TO PROTECT FROM APOCALYPSE???
And all right sure you could say “Grovyle didn’t exactly do a great job of endearing himself to them, what with fighting them at all and not explaining his side of the story” which is deffo true but at the same time you have Mesprit fighting Alti and Ray without a second thought, which more or less says “Mesprit thinks stealing the Time Gears = autobad”, and you have Azelf putting up the crystal barrier to physically prevent Grovyle from reaching the Time Gear, which both seem to indicate the guardians think their purpose is to protect the Time Gears at all costs.
Y’all kind of dropped the ball on this one.
Good job.
Now the world is a wasteland.
Back to the story.
Okay but what is the point of THIS. I mean no wonder they think it’s evil! How is anyone ever gonna get the Time Gears to Temporal Tower if this is what happens?!
People
Lie
Sometimes
I mean. If Dialga doesn’t want Grovyle to change anything. That technically does make him an outlaw. In the same way the Resistance in Star Wars are criminals.
Awful convoluted for an escape plan tho huh
DUSKNOIR TRIED TO KILL US WHAT PART OF THAT DON’T YOU GET
Yeah I mean that makes sense with what has happened in the future thus far
So wait why did he send a henchman at all instead of using magical legendary powers to just murder Grovyle
Seems a bit. I dunno. Unnecessary but ok
HE
TRIED
TO
KILL
US
oH mY gOd
<incomprehensible screeching noises>
stop
Music: Time Gear
glad Alti gets it
Wait what
Why?
WHAT are you DOING
…
Ray, that is the worst possible idea you could have had.
You will get murdered. This is not up for debate.
What he said.
I mean yeah. Ray is Fighting after all
Anything else?
Grovyle. I like him.
Grovyle. I like him a lot.
Oh, hey. I was pretty impressed when they incorporated Celebi into this too. In Rescue Team it didn’t seem like the Pokémon’s powers were as integrated, idk.
He’s kind of our only option tho.
Bye...
Yes, and if Dusknoir’s account is true, it shouldn’t be.
True. Regardless of who’s telling the truth, if we want to prevent this, we have to get back somehow.
I believe in you, Ray.
Let’s go!
Meanwhile...
Music: Planet’s Paralysis
… that doesn’t sound good.
Bye...
Elsewhere...
… what?
Huh. Wonder if it’s like, Foggy Forest in the future or something.
I guess that makes more sense than Grovyle being capable of time travel himself.
… what does THAT mean
What do you think?
A legendary defying another legendary’s wishes? Awesome.
All right.
Next time: Dusk Forest!
24/525: 4.6%
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Minun (Negative)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
Caterpie (Xander)
Butterfree (Papillon)
Weedle (Bean)
Beedrill (Bumble)
Sandshrew (Simon)
Machop (Jon)
Rhyhorn (Cake)
Tangela (DayumBoy)
Spinarak (Catallia)
Mareep (C3PO)
Hoppip (Alma)
Elekid (Firegg)
Larvitar (Savannah)
Lotad (Orchid)
Nincada (Illinois)
Electrike (Direction)
Minun (Negative)
Barboach (Dojo)
Beldum (Nickel)
Starly (Merel)
Budew (Sprout)
Combee (Hexa)
Glameow (Smudge)
Hippopotas (Duke)
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Okay, I know that this is a game for children, but the sheer stupidity of Ray baffles me. Like, which writer thought it to be a good idea to have him rambling on about trusting someone who tried to kill him. I have no idea in what world that would be a good example to set for children.
Anyhow, great update once again with spot-on commentary. I know that I don't post that often, but I always look forward to reading your next update. One thing I noticed, is that the music links do not really work for me. When I click on them "http://xn--https-sv3b" appears before the actual link. After deleting that part they always work as they should, but just thought I should let you know.
Anyhow, great update once again with spot-on commentary. I know that I don't post that often, but I always look forward to reading your next update. One thing I noticed, is that the music links do not really work for me. When I click on them "http://xn--https-sv3b" appears before the actual link. After deleting that part they always work as they should, but just thought I should let you know.
This probably has something to do with the way I format the updates when I'm typing them. I'll try to fix that in the future (and in these previous updates)
Edit: Fixed.
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I kind of get that Ray's supposed to be in denial, but the problem is that they don't really dwell on the matter long enough to make it seem like an internal conflict as opposed to Ray just taking way too long to have basic logical thinking. It wouldn't bother me so much if Dusknoir hadn't spent all this time doing literally nothing to hide the fact that he wants them dead and is outright commanding the plans to do so.
As for the Temporal Tower situation my interpretation was always as follows (will put a Spoiler tag since some of my theory includes to Post-Game story). Don't Read if you're following this playthrough blind
Now that that long theory is over, the game's got a couple more curveballs dropped on us, the future has a LOT of reveals going on. Also, regarding the Paralysis, maybe Celebi has something to do with why somethings work? Like Dialga governs the physical flow of time for the material world while Celebi influences it for living beings, which would also explain why Dialga himself can't go back in time or use Magic God power to just kill Grovyle: can't leave or time would stop being halted, and he can't physically influence Grovyle on any level as a living being, just track him down and then fight him like a normal (albeit extremely powerful) Pokemon.
As for the Temporal Tower situation my interpretation was always as follows (will put a Spoiler tag since some of my theory includes to Post-Game story). Don't Read if you're following this playthrough blind
I always interpreted the Time Gears as a failsafe that was put in place so long ago that no living Pokemon besides Dialga and the like would know their true purpose. The Lake Guardians were basically just "guard these with your life" since they need those things to be someplace they can be found rather than stolen by some random outlaw as they thought Grovyle to be. Special Episode 4 and some rumored locations from dialogue before this imply there are more Time Gears than we see or that are used to stop the plot, it's entirely possible this plot could have resolved without having to meet the Lake Trio if Grovyle had known where to look for others.
Grovyle doesn't mention that he's after the Gears to stop Temporal Tower collapsing, and odds are they wouldn't immediately believe him. Given what went wrong in the trip back and the odd sense I get that time travel seems to be at least somewhat imprecise, Grovyle probably thought better to punch first and apologize after rather than constantly explain the story to them and hope he could convince them in case he was too short on time.
As for the collapse itself, we find out later that the Culprit is Darkrai. Given what his powers include and that he's proven capable of influencing even Legendary Pokemon, I took the normal idea to be "Dialga alerts Lake Trio if tower is damaged, someone brings Time Gears," if this went wrong once every couple hundred/thousand years or something. Darkrai destabilized the tower, and then put Dialga into a nightmare which sped up his mental deterioration while also preventing him from calling for help. By the time he woke up, he's too far gone to think of the plan and is either in Primal preservation thought mode, or panicking and trying to maintain the tower without thinking of the gears. Lake trio don't hear from him, nothing to verify the gears are needed.
Grovyle doesn't mention that he's after the Gears to stop Temporal Tower collapsing, and odds are they wouldn't immediately believe him. Given what went wrong in the trip back and the odd sense I get that time travel seems to be at least somewhat imprecise, Grovyle probably thought better to punch first and apologize after rather than constantly explain the story to them and hope he could convince them in case he was too short on time.
As for the collapse itself, we find out later that the Culprit is Darkrai. Given what his powers include and that he's proven capable of influencing even Legendary Pokemon, I took the normal idea to be "Dialga alerts Lake Trio if tower is damaged, someone brings Time Gears," if this went wrong once every couple hundred/thousand years or something. Darkrai destabilized the tower, and then put Dialga into a nightmare which sped up his mental deterioration while also preventing him from calling for help. By the time he woke up, he's too far gone to think of the plan and is either in Primal preservation thought mode, or panicking and trying to maintain the tower without thinking of the gears. Lake trio don't hear from him, nothing to verify the gears are needed.
Now that that long theory is over, the game's got a couple more curveballs dropped on us, the future has a LOT of reveals going on. Also, regarding the Paralysis, maybe Celebi has something to do with why somethings work? Like Dialga governs the physical flow of time for the material world while Celebi influences it for living beings, which would also explain why Dialga himself can't go back in time or use Magic God power to just kill Grovyle: can't leave or time would stop being halted, and he can't physically influence Grovyle on any level as a living being, just track him down and then fight him like a normal (albeit extremely powerful) Pokemon.