Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 8
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen Apr 25, 2024
I've never been more excited to play a game I don't like. It's even gotten me to post three days in a row!
Let's do this.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #10 - Wrath of the Demon King[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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We're in a magic city and we're nearing the end game for Dark Rising 2. That's about all we need. (Also listen to this song while you read this bit because it's pretty damn sweet)
However, there's just a few things we have to do before we can really move forward...
This being one of them.
: "What?"
Lady: "Jalice, control yourself. Now."
: "No, Mother! I'm not taking orders from you. I never have and I never will!"
Well then. This got awkward quick.
Thankfully the mom is 100x more reasonable and rational than Jalice herself. That's good, at least.
: "How can I? This trainer is the one who killed my father! Your husband!"
: "What?!"
Don't tell me she's V's wife. I'll stop the LP right here if she is.
Lady: "Adrian's soul became one with the darkness of his own free will. The trainer before you is the chosen one. The one who has been selected to prevent any further harm to the universe."
Oh, she's the wife of that champion guy we beat at the end of Dark Rising 1. The one that was like ten feet tall and transparently evil. I don't understand how DRG can write V being passed off as sympathetic while this other guy is condemned to his fate via his own actions... and his wife is okay with it.
Like I don't see where the quality begins and where it ends.
: "There's nothing special about this person! I'll show you!"
Okay, if that's how you want to go about it.
So is this Aurorus actually hers or did she steal it? That alone would make Jalice a horrible person... and then you have the rest of her attitude. Good god.
Squishy dragon mama
Wave nearly got destroyed by Fennekin. I swear it's taking something because Wave has a type advantage and still only won by the skin of her teeth.
Lady: "You hate yourself, Jalice..."
Now that, my friends, is the sickest burn you could give a person... seeing as this is coming from her own mother.
Alright, backstory dump:
Jalice's brother practiced forbidden magic that didn't need equivalent exchange to work and died in the Arctic Mirage. Her mom is like "oh magic without equivalent exchange is evil" even though those are the rules of alchemy aka. are two different things. Jalice even says so herself.
Monica thinks of how Dray could make a Full Metal Alchemist reference (time and place, asshole) and Jalice blames her mother for letting Adrian die (no, he had to be stopped) and for making Jalice a screw-up herself. I dunno man, you're a pretty awful kid - given how your dad volunteered to be evil though, I can't imagine you were a happy family.
The mom is like "alright just meet me inside".
Game, now's not a good time to make me laugh.
: "How do you know my name?"
Lady: "My name is Alcina. I am a true master fortune teller and the gym leader of Alfheim City."
There's our contact. To be honest, it would have been a much more compelling tale with Jalice if she was a primary focus and downplayed her bitchiness just a bit. As it is, she's sorta irredeemable.
: "I was told to bring this to you."
Alcina: "As the future predicted... Darugis has shattered the Omni Megastone and given it to different individuals."
Good god, what's the point of all these things if they all get broken before him? Why does he even need minions if he's super uber godlike?
: "What's an Omni Mega Stone?"
Alcina: "A larger stone capable of mega-evolving a trainer's Pokemon without the need of a strong, positive bond. It instead uses their negative energy to transform their Pokemon. This is not good..."
But... Mega Evolution isn't inherently tied to a bond. You could catch a Pokemon off the street, slap a mega stone on them and it works just fine. The bond is what prevents them from going insane and attacking you... so I don't know what this is all about.
: "I need to free Arceus."
Nah fam, we've got something better than Arceus.
Alcina: "I shall grant you permission to the Hoia-Baciu. The sealed chamber is located at the very end... I shall be there to dispel the barrier for you."
So is the dungeon where Arceus is sealed or is Darugis sealed there? I don't know anymore.
Jalice confirms that she's the red girl from the final area in the first game and that she's been watching us fight her dad. She admits that she has a lot to learn but has the gall to give Monica a speech about how even though Monica's the chosen one, there's things she can never fix.
Yeah, okay. Too little too late, woman.
... That's sort of where she drops off from the story and I'm content with it because thank god we never have to see her again.
While we're here, we may as well challenge Alcina to get one final power boost for the road.
Why does one of the coolest characters personality-wise have to have one of the dopiest sprites yet? Like come on, this is a disservice to her.
Bird and Dragon combo takes all kinds. Also, there's the funhouse mirror Sigilyph again.
Poor Espeon didn't deserve a Sigurd beating.
(+121 BST!!)
That is a short Delphox. Also, good god what's with these boosts? Does Alcina's family just conduct some ungodly ritual to make their Fennekins super strong? That's the only real explanation I have.
My real problem with this, however, is that Fennekin isn't obtainable and that there's no Braixen. Of course Dark Rising Girl would have to leave my favorite evolution out of the game.
I mean, of course, everyone's practically an infant compared to Sigurd.
She gives us the Magic Badge and another psychic. Goodbye Alcina, you were like one of the coolest characters in the entire story. Way better than your daughter, at least.
Hi Dawn. We really needed your presence in this game, it seems.
I really don't get the point of these Pokemon anime character cameos. They're pretty pointless.
I don't even know what you're doing in this game, Dawn. But enough of that... we have a haunted forest to go through.
[Chaos Angel Act 2]
We're going in deep, boys and girls.
At first I was like "Oh god a flash dungeon" but the path is extremely linear so it wasn't that much of a problem.
Just imagine this for the next four minutes with a few random battles sprinkled in. I really should have invested in some repels...
Surprise Noah!
"I told you before - I can handle Darugis on my own. Do not get in the way."
: "Noah, you don't know what you're doing. This needs to stop right now. Yveltal's destructive nature has taken over you."
So that's the reason why he's been acting like such an edgelord?
: "You're wrong. I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm doing this for us! I'm doing this for you..."
Oh, is this the cliche where he can't just tell us why he's acting this way? At least with Ziyah, her village was in danger if she spoke or some shit.
: "We need to do this together, Noah. Like we planned."
"If you enter the Sealed Chamber, I will be there to stop you from freeing Arceus. I have Yveltal by my side... as well as others."
: "Others?"
who though
: "You've been warned, Monica! Go back before it's too late and I have to destroy you."
But doesn't that run counter to wanting her alive? Idiot.
Oh well, that's yet another fight we don't participate in... seriously, just what is he saving up for us?
If our characters somehow live through this adventure, we're going to be rich.
Dray asks us if there's been any anime references since we last met. Monica tells him about the Full Metal Alchemist one and they yuk it up.
"Free it and Darugis will have met its match."
: ("I doubt that!")
"I've set up a meeting location in Harmony Town. Good luck, Monica. I know you'll succeed. Remember, you have the Master Ball from the Core Region and the Jewel of Life. If you forgot them, the Celcius is docked at Arkaios Harbor."
If we had to be reminded to get those two extremely important things this late into the game, then you really should have made it mandatory to get them.
Alcina just tells us about catching Arceus. Everyone around here needs to chill.
[The Depths]
So this place is where Arceus is supposed to be sealed, huh?
Then why are there Darugis minions all around the place? What, did he manage to sneak them past the seal too? That's silly.
I would greatly appreciate it if we could get more of these.
Yeah. Sure. Whatever you say, buddy.
Thank you kindly.
Why did this make me chuckle so hard?
God, this place is a treasure trove of goodies. It's nice that they're prepping us up for one of the biggest fights in the game.
I guess it's time for two best friends to throw down. Just what does Noah have up his sleeve?
: "Noah... This ends right now!"
: "You were always the naive and foolish one between the two of us. I'm just as powerful as you, Monica. The difference between us is... I've obtained my chosen god."
It's funny that you say we're equals.
: "What's wrong with you?! Can't you see this isn't about gods, or Pokemon in general? It's about US! The bond we've had since we were kids. Heck, we still are kids!"
... What? Also, I thought Monica was like a 20 year old at this point. Well she is in my canon, anyway.
"Let's see how strong our bond really is."
Noah brings up Benga as our friend (no, he's not) and that if we fight him, we'll feel the pain of our Pokemon getting attacked. Monica gives an extremely cheesy speech about how her friendship will give her the strength to fight and shut the hell up already!
Anyway, this is the real... wait, Rival?
[Current OST: Fat Chocobo theme]
What.
What.
You have to be pulling my leg.
: "Noah, are you actually trying?"
A LEVEL 5 LICKILICKY
Alright, no. He doesn't even have Yveltal for what is effectively the final time we'll ever fight him? What is DRG trying to pull here?
Let me check the game data and see what -
... So apparently if you put the level above 100, it gets messed up and it doesn't count, hence why the Torchic is only level 10.
Still, what the fuck happened? Did DRG simply forget to give Noah a proper team? She went through all the effort to put Yveltal in yet we never get to see them because of how incompetent/lazy her crew is.
Honestly, for a character that's been around since the first Dark Rising, I have to admit this is pretty disrespectful to Noah. So I made some modifications.
Bam. He gets all the Swords of Justice, his starter and Yveltal. Now that's a better send off.
... I actually feel kind of bad that I cared more about Noah than the person who originally made him.
[Let's try that again: X Vs. Zero]
I also fixed his name because come on.
Signe takes out Cobalion while Arthur smashes Terrakion. The latter one was really tricky because they hit hard - two Stone Edges and that would have been it for my irish bug knight.
Sigurd and Siegfried tag team Keldeo and Virizion. The Musketeer Pokemon are down, so that only leaves us...
The Best Dragon competition.
Operation Whupass is a go.
... That was not very smart of you, Noah.
[Corin used Dragon Claw!]
Damn, that's good.
To think we would have never gotten to see Yveltal if we just played the game like we were meant to.
... Anyway, Yveltal is horrifying. He has a move called Demon Wing that hits like a truck and paralyzes you if you get hit, on top of having legendary stats. Oh, and guess what?
YUP. Shadow Tag.
Looks like Beatrice is biting the dust.
... Or not!
Goddamn, she's like the most powerful non-Sigurd, non-Corin member on the entire team and she's been around since Snakewood! I love it.
(I had to retry the fight a few times, not gonna lie.)
I'm not sure if their silence is because of how close of a match it was or how stupid the original fight was.
: "Noah, this is over."
: "Monica!!"
[He grabs her by the shirt]
: "DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT THE HELL'S GONNA HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU CONTINUE DOWN THIS PATH?! YOU'LL DIE, YOU HEAR ME! YOU'LL FREAKIN' DIE!"
Whoa, that's the most emotional I've ever seen anyone get in Dark Rising.
: "I'm not going to die. I'm win and survive for all of us."
: "You don't get it... I was going to sacrifice myself so that you can live, you idiot!"
: "What?"
: "Your dad is waiting for you... But I'll tell you in case he doesn't. Monica, Darugis can never die. But, you can seal it in Pandora's Box forever after it's defeated. But only if you..."
: "... Why?"
: "You're not strong enough to make a dent in him. Not even Arceus can do enough damage to stop the regeneration effect he has going on in this region."
: "... Won't stop me from trying."
: "... Go on. There's nothing I can do anymore."
That's quite the plot twist.
I'll save the rest of my frustration for when it's appropriate.
Oh? Who could this possibly be?
Jean Blake: "Monica...?"
Oh shit.
[Theme for this bit]
[He checks his watch]
Jean Blake: "Let's see... you're about a couple hours late, but I expected you would show up and rescue your old man soon enough. Heh... yes, Monica. It's me, your old man."
: "Dad!!"
JB: "Look at you, all grown up. I've missed you and your mother so much... but there was nothing I could do. Darugis's power may be stronger than ever before. Oh... and I see you've brought a familiar face."
: ("You're still alive, sir?! But... how?")
: "You and Sigurd fought together? Why didn't you tell me about any of this?!"
JB: "Keeping you uninformed was the best way. I wanted you safe so that you could have a better life."
Noble, but look at what that wound up doing.
: "Dad..."
JB: "As good as it would feel to kick some evil ass with my own child and Sigurd one more time, I'm too weak at the moment to help you. Besides, this is your story now. You got the Jewel of Life, right?
: "Yeah, right here."
JB: "Good. Break the seal on Arceus and them to defeat Darugis. You've come this far all alone without me - you could do the rest on your own as well. I've always been tough on you and it seems to have paid off. Look at you, Monica."
I take back what I said about Alcina - Jean Blake is the coolest character in the game now that we've actually gotten to meet him.
JB: "Good to hear. I'm going home to see your mother. I can make it. You are the chosen one now, my child... fulfill your destiny."
: "... Dad, I think I know why Darugis came back. You didn't fulfill YOUR destiny... right?"
[Sigurd turns away]
JB: "... So you do know. We'll discuss this later."
: "... When?"
JB: "Don't question me, Monica. Arceus is waiting... I will see you soon."
He got real defensive towards the end there, huh? But yeah... If what Noah said is true, then he must have chickened out of sacrificing himself to stop Darugis from coming back. I... can't really blame him.
: "So you're the real deal, huh? That Reshiram I used to have told me you were an impostor."
: ("I see... She was right about there being an impostor, but trust me when I say that I'm no fake.")
: "Show me proof."
: ("Very well then.")
There's god, everyone. Arceus has been buffed to have 150 in every stat and learns a ???-type Judgement when you get them to level 100... but honestly? Given the difficulty of Dark Rising, you should have either toned it down or given us something overpowered like this for the entire adventure.
Like Sigurd, for example.
We also get to put the Master Ball to use because why the hell not?
: ("I see no reason to call me by any other name.")
[The Jewel of Life shimmers]
: "... Well then, that's good enough for me."
Incoming plot in three, two, one...
[God of Decadence]
: "Who're you? Wait, is that you, Mason?!"
Mason: "Heheheh! It is I, indeed. Hello again, Monica. May I?! May I?!"
: "May you what?"
Mason: "Not you, you silly person! I'm talking to my god!"
: "Your... god?"
: "More like... for the first time in a long time."
Mason: "Hahaha! The ritual is complete! Allow me to introduce to you... the true god!! Master Darugis!!"
(Dialogue from here will change wildly from the in-game text - this is technically the first time you're ever supposed to meet Darugis in person, but LP-wise he's messed around with us since chapter 3 of the first DR let's play.)
: "So this is your true form!"
: ("Not necessarily; I did have to make myself presentable to you in a short amount of time. You broke Arceus's seal, I see. Your father would be proud.")
: ("God, his aura is overwhelming. I can barely stand!")
In-Game Darugis taunts Monica by saying he'll only use 25 percent of his power to create a duplicate of himself. That uh... no. We're not doing that.
: "I've waited too long to finally defeat you! This ends now!"
"Wait, that's that other guy's thing. Heheh... Let the match begin!"
(please)
: ("You know, Monica... you're special. Not even your father pushed me this far. I've been planning something fun just for you.")
: "L-like what?"
: ("Behold.")
[Five shadowy figures manifest behind Darugis]
[Monica gasps]
: "N... no way..."
: ("I've decided that I should pay you a proper tribute... by killing you with better versions of your own Pokemon. You should feel honored.")
: "Bastard!"
[Battle Against A True Hero]
The demon king stands before us... and he's a red Hugh from Black and White 2.
Thank you, but I'd rather just imagine him being a Darkrai. But yes, I edited the shit out of this fight because it was originally just Darugis and a Pokemon resembling himself(??).
In this version, it's Darkrai-ified Pokemon that are all based off of Monica's team from the first Dark Rising.
: ("I'll defeat myself!")
[Corin and her dark counterpart clash]
: ("Sorry Darugis, but you need to try harder than that.")
As amazing as it would be to have the counterparts clash, we're fighting to win here. D-Wave gets drained away by Beatrice because I love our big dumb Roserade.
100 / 150 / 100 / 110 / 66 / 140 (666 Total)
Explosive first impressions, huh? Evil Gale is a
/
type with Intimidate - she's lightning fast and hits like a battleship. To balance it out, she has weak Special Defense... allowing Siegfried to be a perfect match for her.
She's very much a Sigurd-killer, hence why he didn't get sent out to deal with her.
: ("Y-yeah! How'd you like that...?") [Strained breath]
100 / 155 / 135 / 105 / 105 / 66 (666 Total)
Evil Arthur is a
/
type with Shell Armor... who is also his evil sister, apparently. Whoops. Anyway, this is by far the easiest counterpart battle due to two things.
Evil Arthur doesn't have any outstanding attribute as opposed to the real Arthur who has a type advantage thanks to his evil counterpart's weakness to Bug.
: ("Impressive work, but you lacked the finer details.")
100 / 100 / 100 / 126 / 120 / 120 (666 Total)
Oh boy.
Evil Siegfried is a
/
type with Serene Grace and is the most balanced of the Darkmons. He has Devil Flame to act as a dark counterpart to Triple Soul, but that shouldn't be much to worry about.
: ("H-how dare you, Alberich...")
: ("What? You can't even bear to strike down an image of Siegfried? Hahahaha!")
: ("Don't let him get to you, sis!")
: ("I'll make sure you pay for this!")
[She slices the evil copy in half]
: ("See, you can do it!")
: ("I'm impressed... perhaps I should have broken you some more while we were still together.")
: ("... You don't scare me.")
: ("We meet again, Alberich...")
: ("Let's see who draws their last breath first.")
205 / 205 / 205 / 205 / 205 / 205 (1,230 Total)
what the shit are these stats oh my god
All bets are off - Darugis is an obscenely overpowered villain that didn't need to do half of this. This is reaching Aizen Sosuke levels of ridiculous because he's already powerful enough to destroy the other legendaries without having to limit our choices like removing the Fairy type, destroying the Super Mega Stone or whatever and so on.
I thought Arceus was supposed to be one of the most powerful Pokemon in the universe (that's how it's like in Ubers, anyway) yet this guy manages to not only top that but also come with a whole set of extra abilities like possessing people and so on.
Plus, in-game Darugis has the gall to say that this is only twenty five percent of his power? Are you fucked?
Oh, and for the curious, this is what Darugis looked like before I inserted my friend's sprites. Yuck.
I can finally see why he's called Darugis - he's literally Darkrai Lugia. The ultimate villain of Dark Rising are two pre-existing legendaries that have been mashed together.
Give me a break, man...
[Sigurd emerges with a few gashes]
: ("... You're mine.")
: ("Still, you can't touch me! I'm part ghost, remember?")
[Sigurd diagonally slices his body]
: ("Wh-what?!")
: ("Me and Signe have been training to defeat you ever since we left. Our blades are keener than whatever trick you have up your sleeve. Come on, Signe!")
(aka. i removed his ghost typing when they weren't looking)
: ("Right!")
[Sigurd and Signe charge at the weakened Darugis with their aura sabers]
: ("It's over...")
: ("Hopefully he's dead for real now.")
: ("What?!")
Oh shut up, we kicked his ass.
Monica mentions that this is only a fraction of Darugis's power and it's like - no.
"It seems you have not awakened Arceus's power, Judgment. That move might actually hurt me a little if I were to use a mere thirty percent of my power. If I used one hundred percent of my power, I could destroy the world in a mere six seconds."
What is the point of this sequence if we're literally just told "lol nope didn't count"? This isn't Dragon Ball Z, DRG - there's a limit to the kind of power we can throw around in Pokemon! (In-Game Darugis/Mason even makes a Dragon Ball Z reference to be extra cheeky)
Also, tough guy, if you were really that fucking empowered from the start, then why bother with any of this? There's making a villain competent, but this is just going too far.
... God, I'm starting to get a headache from all of this. My version of this lunacy is as follows:
: ("... I thought I was a goner there. But then I remembered this entire region is my personal healing ground. No matter what kind of attack you throw at me, I'll just regenerate.")
: "So that means..."
: ("That's right. You can't beat me no matter how hard you try. That final attack left quite the impression on me, though... so it'll take a bit to get back to that level of strength.")
(see? no ripping off of frieza here)
: ("Are you running away again?")
: ("Correct. I'll be waiting for you ahead... Maybe you can think of a way to get rid of me by then. Come, Mason!")
[They fade into the shadows]
That's how that part ends! Our friends aren't there anymore, so you know what that means...
Sidequest time!
No, not really.
I just came to check up on Manaphy before we had to move on... and I can't even get them.
How about no.
Anyway, you get on this path by going north from Alfheim City. "Path to Harmony" would sound really cheesy even if it weren't for the town actually named Harmony not too far ahead.
Oh, and Nathan's here. He wants to battle us now that we're not "held back by negativity" or some garbage.
He's a blue... Actually, I don't think he's based off of anybody. Or at least nobody I can remember.
I think he's a brand new character sprite with splices of old.
Cool stuff but utterly useless against a team that just went 6-0 against Darugis's second form.
Sigurd beats up another Lucario (teehee) along with the return of the Quality Talonflame.
How many dragons has Corin beat up in the past few chapters? I'm too lazy to count them all.
That was easy! Why are you worried after defeating a Pokemon with a 1200+ base stat total average?
"I couldn't help but notice you were a little nervous. We'll battle again."
[Nathan walks off]
... And that's the last we'll ever see of him, folks! No, seriously.
He was here just to insult Monica, chase after her championship title and fight her. He had no other purpose in this story aside from that and I doubt any of you will remember he even existed... which begs the question of why he was even here in the first place.
The guys talk about Jean Blake's survival for a bit before discussing about the town they're in right now. Noah relays the info that Darugis destroyed Harmony Town due to Ziyah's loss, although I'm not sure it matters that much. Knowing how he's like, he would have done if even if she won.
Oh well. They plan to meet up afterwards, so that leaves me to check the town.
That is a meme, I'm sure of it.
No, not the precious Full Restores...
But wait! This guy still has a shop up. Please tell me you have -
Oh, you're scum.
Any shop that makes me pay for vendor trash is officially the worst.
Anyway, we're taking a small break before we move on.
Pretty crazy stuff, I have to say.
Next time on Dark Rising 2, we regroup our efforts so we can have a rematch with the Demon King. See you then.
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Team setup:
(Corin, level 88,
,
/
) - "I still can't believe that I beat my evil self!"
(Sigurd, level 96,
,
/
) - "The Omni Region's his personal healing ground... If his regeneration allowed him to take a dual Aura Saber strike then I'm at a loss of how to stop him."
(Signe, level 88,
,
/
) - "We can beat him, Sigurd. I hope. But... if there's any good side, Monica's father is still alive."
(Siegfried, level 87,
,
/
) - "Yeah! We just have to stay positive." [Hugs the Lucario siblings]
(Wave, level 89,
,
) - "Man... how do you guys stay so strong under pressure? I can't even wrap my mind around it."
(Beatrice, level 87,
,
/
) - "Well, Wave, all you have to do is be confident. Look at how much damage they did. There's still a way to stop Darugis no matter how many times he regenerates."
(Arceus, level 70,
) - "I'll finally get you back for this, Alberich."
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Back-up Team:
(Arthur, level 86,
,
/
) - "Haha, that feels good."
(Gale, level 84,
,
/
) - "... On the other hand, I'm glad Siegfried took my spot. My dark counterpart looked really diesel."
(Quote, level 81,
,
/
) - "Oh nice, they came back alive! Welcome back, guys!"
(Ambes, level 81,
,
) - "You're safe! Good job on beating him back... I think?"
(Johnny, level 47,
,
) - "Maybe it's too early to celebrate?"
(Shadow, level 60,
,
/
) - "Hmmm..." [Hides under a table]
(Bellamine, level 84,
,
) - "I'm afraid we didn't... really stop him. He's weakened, for sure, but he's still out there."
(Rubus, level 25,
,
) - [Hops into Bellamine's arms immediately]
(Ignell, level 82,
,
/
) - "He... wasn't stopped?"
(Candelabra, level 82,
,
/
) - "Wow! This Darugis guy is pretty scary. I wonder if they'll make an evil copy of me next..."
(Beowulf, level 56,
,
) - "At least they came back..."
(Linoura, level 60,
,
/
) - "What kind of scum is this Darugis person? Why would he do all of this?"
(Iris, level 60,
,
) - "I know, right? Ooh, he gets my blood boiling!"
(Lucera, level 60,
,
) - "Ugh, I wish I could do something to help at least."
Let's do this.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #10 - Wrath of the Demon King[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Spoiler:
We're in a magic city and we're nearing the end game for Dark Rising 2. That's about all we need. (Also listen to this song while you read this bit because it's pretty damn sweet)
However, there's just a few things we have to do before we can really move forward...
This being one of them.
Lady: "Jalice, control yourself. Now."
Well then. This got awkward quick.
Thankfully the mom is 100x more reasonable and rational than Jalice herself. That's good, at least.
Don't tell me she's V's wife. I'll stop the LP right here if she is.
Lady: "Adrian's soul became one with the darkness of his own free will. The trainer before you is the chosen one. The one who has been selected to prevent any further harm to the universe."
Oh, she's the wife of that champion guy we beat at the end of Dark Rising 1. The one that was like ten feet tall and transparently evil. I don't understand how DRG can write V being passed off as sympathetic while this other guy is condemned to his fate via his own actions... and his wife is okay with it.
Like I don't see where the quality begins and where it ends.
Okay, if that's how you want to go about it.
So is this Aurorus actually hers or did she steal it? That alone would make Jalice a horrible person... and then you have the rest of her attitude. Good god.
Wave nearly got destroyed by Fennekin. I swear it's taking something because Wave has a type advantage and still only won by the skin of her teeth.
Lady: "You hate yourself, Jalice..."
Now that, my friends, is the sickest burn you could give a person... seeing as this is coming from her own mother.
Alright, backstory dump:
Jalice's brother practiced forbidden magic that didn't need equivalent exchange to work and died in the Arctic Mirage. Her mom is like "oh magic without equivalent exchange is evil" even though those are the rules of alchemy aka. are two different things. Jalice even says so herself.
Monica thinks of how Dray could make a Full Metal Alchemist reference (time and place, asshole) and Jalice blames her mother for letting Adrian die (no, he had to be stopped) and for making Jalice a screw-up herself. I dunno man, you're a pretty awful kid - given how your dad volunteered to be evil though, I can't imagine you were a happy family.
The mom is like "alright just meet me inside".
Game, now's not a good time to make me laugh.
Lady: "My name is Alcina. I am a true master fortune teller and the gym leader of Alfheim City."
There's our contact. To be honest, it would have been a much more compelling tale with Jalice if she was a primary focus and downplayed her bitchiness just a bit. As it is, she's sorta irredeemable.
Alcina: "As the future predicted... Darugis has shattered the Omni Megastone and given it to different individuals."
Good god, what's the point of all these things if they all get broken before him? Why does he even need minions if he's super uber godlike?
Alcina: "A larger stone capable of mega-evolving a trainer's Pokemon without the need of a strong, positive bond. It instead uses their negative energy to transform their Pokemon. This is not good..."
But... Mega Evolution isn't inherently tied to a bond. You could catch a Pokemon off the street, slap a mega stone on them and it works just fine. The bond is what prevents them from going insane and attacking you... so I don't know what this is all about.
Nah fam, we've got something better than Arceus.
Alcina: "I shall grant you permission to the Hoia-Baciu. The sealed chamber is located at the very end... I shall be there to dispel the barrier for you."
So is the dungeon where Arceus is sealed or is Darugis sealed there? I don't know anymore.
Jalice confirms that she's the red girl from the final area in the first game and that she's been watching us fight her dad. She admits that she has a lot to learn but has the gall to give Monica a speech about how even though Monica's the chosen one, there's things she can never fix.
Yeah, okay. Too little too late, woman.
... That's sort of where she drops off from the story and I'm content with it because thank god we never have to see her again.
While we're here, we may as well challenge Alcina to get one final power boost for the road.
Why does one of the coolest characters personality-wise have to have one of the dopiest sprites yet? Like come on, this is a disservice to her.
Bird and Dragon combo takes all kinds. Also, there's the funhouse mirror Sigilyph again.
Poor Espeon didn't deserve a Sigurd beating.
(+121 BST!!)
That is a short Delphox. Also, good god what's with these boosts? Does Alcina's family just conduct some ungodly ritual to make their Fennekins super strong? That's the only real explanation I have.
My real problem with this, however, is that Fennekin isn't obtainable and that there's no Braixen. Of course Dark Rising Girl would have to leave my favorite evolution out of the game.
I mean, of course, everyone's practically an infant compared to Sigurd.
She gives us the Magic Badge and another psychic. Goodbye Alcina, you were like one of the coolest characters in the entire story. Way better than your daughter, at least.
Hi Dawn. We really needed your presence in this game, it seems.
I really don't get the point of these Pokemon anime character cameos. They're pretty pointless.
I don't even know what you're doing in this game, Dawn. But enough of that... we have a haunted forest to go through.
[Chaos Angel Act 2]
We're going in deep, boys and girls.
At first I was like "Oh god a flash dungeon" but the path is extremely linear so it wasn't that much of a problem.
Just imagine this for the next four minutes with a few random battles sprinkled in. I really should have invested in some repels...
Surprise Noah!
"I told you before - I can handle Darugis on my own. Do not get in the way."
So that's the reason why he's been acting like such an edgelord?
Oh, is this the cliche where he can't just tell us why he's acting this way? At least with Ziyah, her village was in danger if she spoke or some shit.
"If you enter the Sealed Chamber, I will be there to stop you from freeing Arceus. I have Yveltal by my side... as well as others."
But doesn't that run counter to wanting her alive? Idiot.
Oh well, that's yet another fight we don't participate in... seriously, just what is he saving up for us?
If our characters somehow live through this adventure, we're going to be rich.
Dray asks us if there's been any anime references since we last met. Monica tells him about the Full Metal Alchemist one and they yuk it up.
"Free it and Darugis will have met its match."
"I've set up a meeting location in Harmony Town. Good luck, Monica. I know you'll succeed. Remember, you have the Master Ball from the Core Region and the Jewel of Life. If you forgot them, the Celcius is docked at Arkaios Harbor."
If we had to be reminded to get those two extremely important things this late into the game, then you really should have made it mandatory to get them.
Alcina just tells us about catching Arceus. Everyone around here needs to chill.
[The Depths]
So this place is where Arceus is supposed to be sealed, huh?
Then why are there Darugis minions all around the place? What, did he manage to sneak them past the seal too? That's silly.
I would greatly appreciate it if we could get more of these.
Yeah. Sure. Whatever you say, buddy.
Thank you kindly.
Why did this make me chuckle so hard?
God, this place is a treasure trove of goodies. It's nice that they're prepping us up for one of the biggest fights in the game.
I guess it's time for two best friends to throw down. Just what does Noah have up his sleeve?
It's funny that you say we're equals.
... What? Also, I thought Monica was like a 20 year old at this point. Well she is in my canon, anyway.
"Let's see how strong our bond really is."
Noah brings up Benga as our friend (no, he's not) and that if we fight him, we'll feel the pain of our Pokemon getting attacked. Monica gives an extremely cheesy speech about how her friendship will give her the strength to fight and shut the hell up already!
Anyway, this is the real... wait, Rival?
[Current OST: Fat Chocobo theme]
What.
What.
You have to be pulling my leg.
A LEVEL 5 LICKILICKY
Alright, no. He doesn't even have Yveltal for what is effectively the final time we'll ever fight him? What is DRG trying to pull here?
Let me check the game data and see what -
... So apparently if you put the level above 100, it gets messed up and it doesn't count, hence why the Torchic is only level 10.
Still, what the fuck happened? Did DRG simply forget to give Noah a proper team? She went through all the effort to put Yveltal in yet we never get to see them because of how incompetent/lazy her crew is.
Honestly, for a character that's been around since the first Dark Rising, I have to admit this is pretty disrespectful to Noah. So I made some modifications.
Bam. He gets all the Swords of Justice, his starter and Yveltal. Now that's a better send off.
... I actually feel kind of bad that I cared more about Noah than the person who originally made him.
[Let's try that again: X Vs. Zero]
I also fixed his name because come on.
Signe takes out Cobalion while Arthur smashes Terrakion. The latter one was really tricky because they hit hard - two Stone Edges and that would have been it for my irish bug knight.
Sigurd and Siegfried tag team Keldeo and Virizion. The Musketeer Pokemon are down, so that only leaves us...
The Best Dragon competition.
Operation Whupass is a go.
... That was not very smart of you, Noah.
[Corin used Dragon Claw!]
Damn, that's good.
To think we would have never gotten to see Yveltal if we just played the game like we were meant to.
... Anyway, Yveltal is horrifying. He has a move called Demon Wing that hits like a truck and paralyzes you if you get hit, on top of having legendary stats. Oh, and guess what?
YUP. Shadow Tag.
Looks like Beatrice is biting the dust.
... Or not!
Goddamn, she's like the most powerful non-Sigurd, non-Corin member on the entire team and she's been around since Snakewood! I love it.
(I had to retry the fight a few times, not gonna lie.)
I'm not sure if their silence is because of how close of a match it was or how stupid the original fight was.
[He grabs her by the shirt]
Whoa, that's the most emotional I've ever seen anyone get in Dark Rising.
That's quite the plot twist.
I'll save the rest of my frustration for when it's appropriate.
Oh? Who could this possibly be?
Jean Blake: "Monica...?"
Oh shit.
[Theme for this bit]
[He checks his watch]
Jean Blake: "Let's see... you're about a couple hours late, but I expected you would show up and rescue your old man soon enough. Heh... yes, Monica. It's me, your old man."
JB: "Look at you, all grown up. I've missed you and your mother so much... but there was nothing I could do. Darugis's power may be stronger than ever before. Oh... and I see you've brought a familiar face."
JB: "Keeping you uninformed was the best way. I wanted you safe so that you could have a better life."
Noble, but look at what that wound up doing.
JB: "As good as it would feel to kick some evil ass with my own child and Sigurd one more time, I'm too weak at the moment to help you. Besides, this is your story now. You got the Jewel of Life, right?
JB: "Good. Break the seal on Arceus and them to defeat Darugis. You've come this far all alone without me - you could do the rest on your own as well. I've always been tough on you and it seems to have paid off. Look at you, Monica."
I take back what I said about Alcina - Jean Blake is the coolest character in the game now that we've actually gotten to meet him.
JB: "Good to hear. I'm going home to see your mother. I can make it. You are the chosen one now, my child... fulfill your destiny."
[Sigurd turns away]
JB: "... So you do know. We'll discuss this later."
JB: "Don't question me, Monica. Arceus is waiting... I will see you soon."
He got real defensive towards the end there, huh? But yeah... If what Noah said is true, then he must have chickened out of sacrificing himself to stop Darugis from coming back. I... can't really blame him.
There's god, everyone. Arceus has been buffed to have 150 in every stat and learns a ???-type Judgement when you get them to level 100... but honestly? Given the difficulty of Dark Rising, you should have either toned it down or given us something overpowered like this for the entire adventure.
Like Sigurd, for example.
We also get to put the Master Ball to use because why the hell not?
[The Jewel of Life shimmers]
Incoming plot in three, two, one...
[God of Decadence]
Mason: "Heheheh! It is I, indeed. Hello again, Monica. May I?! May I?!"
Mason: "Not you, you silly person! I'm talking to my god!"
Mason: "Hahaha! The ritual is complete! Allow me to introduce to you... the true god!! Master Darugis!!"
(Dialogue from here will change wildly from the in-game text - this is technically the first time you're ever supposed to meet Darugis in person, but LP-wise he's messed around with us since chapter 3 of the first DR let's play.)
In-Game Darugis taunts Monica by saying he'll only use 25 percent of his power to create a duplicate of himself. That uh... no. We're not doing that.
"Wait, that's that other guy's thing. Heheh... Let the match begin!"
(please)
[Five shadowy figures manifest behind Darugis]
[Monica gasps]
[Battle Against A True Hero]
The demon king stands before us... and he's a red Hugh from Black and White 2.
Thank you, but I'd rather just imagine him being a Darkrai. But yes, I edited the shit out of this fight because it was originally just Darugis and a Pokemon resembling himself(??).
In this version, it's Darkrai-ified Pokemon that are all based off of Monica's team from the first Dark Rising.
[Corin and her dark counterpart clash]
As amazing as it would be to have the counterparts clash, we're fighting to win here. D-Wave gets drained away by Beatrice because I love our big dumb Roserade.
100 / 150 / 100 / 110 / 66 / 140 (666 Total)
Explosive first impressions, huh? Evil Gale is a
She's very much a Sigurd-killer, hence why he didn't get sent out to deal with her.
100 / 155 / 135 / 105 / 105 / 66 (666 Total)
Evil Arthur is a
Evil Arthur doesn't have any outstanding attribute as opposed to the real Arthur who has a type advantage thanks to his evil counterpart's weakness to Bug.
100 / 100 / 100 / 126 / 120 / 120 (666 Total)
Oh boy.
Evil Siegfried is a
[She slices the evil copy in half]
205 / 205 / 205 / 205 / 205 / 205 (1,230 Total)
what the shit are these stats oh my god
All bets are off - Darugis is an obscenely overpowered villain that didn't need to do half of this. This is reaching Aizen Sosuke levels of ridiculous because he's already powerful enough to destroy the other legendaries without having to limit our choices like removing the Fairy type, destroying the Super Mega Stone or whatever and so on.
I thought Arceus was supposed to be one of the most powerful Pokemon in the universe (that's how it's like in Ubers, anyway) yet this guy manages to not only top that but also come with a whole set of extra abilities like possessing people and so on.
Plus, in-game Darugis has the gall to say that this is only twenty five percent of his power? Are you fucked?
Oh, and for the curious, this is what Darugis looked like before I inserted my friend's sprites. Yuck.
I can finally see why he's called Darugis - he's literally Darkrai Lugia. The ultimate villain of Dark Rising are two pre-existing legendaries that have been mashed together.
Give me a break, man...
[Sigurd emerges with a few gashes]
[Sigurd diagonally slices his body]
[Sigurd and Signe charge at the weakened Darugis with their aura sabers]
Oh shut up, we kicked his ass.
Monica mentions that this is only a fraction of Darugis's power and it's like - no.
"It seems you have not awakened Arceus's power, Judgment. That move might actually hurt me a little if I were to use a mere thirty percent of my power. If I used one hundred percent of my power, I could destroy the world in a mere six seconds."
What is the point of this sequence if we're literally just told "lol nope didn't count"? This isn't Dragon Ball Z, DRG - there's a limit to the kind of power we can throw around in Pokemon! (In-Game Darugis/Mason even makes a Dragon Ball Z reference to be extra cheeky)
Also, tough guy, if you were really that fucking empowered from the start, then why bother with any of this? There's making a villain competent, but this is just going too far.
... God, I'm starting to get a headache from all of this. My version of this lunacy is as follows:
[They fade into the shadows]
That's how that part ends! Our friends aren't there anymore, so you know what that means...
Sidequest time!
No, not really.
I just came to check up on Manaphy before we had to move on... and I can't even get them.
How about no.
Anyway, you get on this path by going north from Alfheim City. "Path to Harmony" would sound really cheesy even if it weren't for the town actually named Harmony not too far ahead.
Oh, and Nathan's here. He wants to battle us now that we're not "held back by negativity" or some garbage.
He's a blue... Actually, I don't think he's based off of anybody. Or at least nobody I can remember.
I think he's a brand new character sprite with splices of old.
Cool stuff but utterly useless against a team that just went 6-0 against Darugis's second form.
Sigurd beats up another Lucario (teehee) along with the return of the Quality Talonflame.
How many dragons has Corin beat up in the past few chapters? I'm too lazy to count them all.
That was easy! Why are you worried after defeating a Pokemon with a 1200+ base stat total average?
"I couldn't help but notice you were a little nervous. We'll battle again."
[Nathan walks off]
... And that's the last we'll ever see of him, folks! No, seriously.
He was here just to insult Monica, chase after her championship title and fight her. He had no other purpose in this story aside from that and I doubt any of you will remember he even existed... which begs the question of why he was even here in the first place.
The guys talk about Jean Blake's survival for a bit before discussing about the town they're in right now. Noah relays the info that Darugis destroyed Harmony Town due to Ziyah's loss, although I'm not sure it matters that much. Knowing how he's like, he would have done if even if she won.
Oh well. They plan to meet up afterwards, so that leaves me to check the town.
That is a meme, I'm sure of it.
No, not the precious Full Restores...
But wait! This guy still has a shop up. Please tell me you have -
Oh, you're scum.
Any shop that makes me pay for vendor trash is officially the worst.
Anyway, we're taking a small break before we move on.
Pretty crazy stuff, I have to say.
Next time on Dark Rising 2, we regroup our efforts so we can have a rematch with the Demon King. See you then.
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Team setup:
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Back-up Team: