Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 8
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen Apr 25, 2024
We're almost at the end. (Also, it's a goddamn whopper of a chapter today. Grab your popcorn because it's gonna be storytime)
This chapter is more of the final exploration than anything else, as chapter 16 will be the Core League and the final boss. Trust me, it deserves its own individual chapter. With that said, let's watch things burn.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #15 - The Hero and the Demon[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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[Chaos Angel Map]
Yeah, no point hyping up this as the end if I've already told you that we're not going to the Core League yet.
That and Blitz was all like "GET THE DRACO STONES" even though we really don't have to. Blatant padding at its best, folks.
This guy has no script for some reason. He must be so focused on his job that he won't even stop to chat, so props to him.
(Why does this room exist, actually? Just to be a fancier intermission screen?)
Just in case you were curious, Draco Village is right here. Yes, right next to the main villain's lair.
How has Darugis not gotten to whatever's here yet? (By the way, the song playing here is the theme for Sevii Islands 6-7. Amazing song, by the way. That sort of gives me an indication of what this place was originally, compounded with the Trainer Tower being here)
... I know you guys can't hear or see it, but that's me pressing the A button. This man literally has no script.
You know, in most other games, you at least have to go out of your way using cheats to find something like this. In Dark Rising? Right there for the whole world to see.
This lady (who is practically guaranteed to be unedited) talks about Heracross despite this being the dragon town. She doesn't give you one or anything, so I fail to see the point.
Monica is being eaten by the ground. Oh, and you can walk through the sign because physics don't apply here.
No, this is not the cool Battle Dome from Pokemon Emerald. Instead, we have a ton of Sevii Island trainers who are only nominally different due to having more overpowered Pokemon.
Every time Sigurd uses Aura Saber on something that's 4x weak to
, you can feel the earth shake a little each time.
I'm not apologizing.
God, how many King's Rocks and Nuggets do we need? Are we destined to make our own kingdom with all of this?
... If so, I approve. Queen Monica and her fiefdoms have to make things right around here.
Swords Dance would be cool, but Aura Saber and Void Bomb are 150 and 125 Base Power respectively. That's all we need.
Also, the return of the talking present box. At this point, I have to wonder if Monica's journey isn't actually caused by some really heavy drug - like this is actually Kanto and Monica is in the middle of a really bad trip.
That said, the Trainer Tower is the same as the one from the real game. I don't think anybody's really covered the Trainer Tower for a let's play, but the short version is that you fight as quickly as possible in a given format. You have to keep climbing and your Pokemon don't get healed through battles, so it's sort of an endurance round sort of thing.
I wouldn't take time out to do this even in the real games, so why would I do so now when it's in the middle of a trainwreck like Dark Rising?
Oh, and by the way? The Nurse Joy here sells the same stuff as the guy from Pax Town.
... So I guess if you want to restock on Ethers and Heart Scales, you could always get them here?
Oh hey, it's snowing... Wait, why is it snowing in an area dedicated to dragons? Isn't
part of their weakness due to them being cold-blooded?
This man terrifies me. He just jumps out at you and says "FEED ME MORE" without any context. It's really weird.
Oh lordy lord, this part.
[See video version here - it really deserved it]
Alright, so... You see that karate man right there? This one part is home to one of the most destructive glitches I've ever seen in a game, Pokemon or not. Like... let's say you're playing Dark Rising for some odd reason I can't hope to comprehend (likely masochism or sheer morbid curiosity) and you get to here.
You expect to have a barely edited trainer battle with this man, you beat him up and we all go home happy. However, when you approach him...
This fucking happens. The game CRASHES.
He detects you despite not being in your line of sight and the game absolutely flips its shit, complete with distorted music straight from the bowels of hell. What's surprising is that me and Zor actually have an answer as to why this happened. See, it's invisible here, but there's a warp in the general area where Monica stood that leads you to nowhere.
I don't know how it correlates to the karate man, but that's some serious bad juju.
To get past it, you have to walk through the topmost grass tile and sneak past him. So I'm at least thankful that you can get around it without having to resort to Walk Through Walls.
By the way, guess what happens when you talk to the karate man directly?
It turns blood red instead. He has no script, but the game must scream.
Shit is spooky, my brother. I think the worst part about this is that DRG didn't have to leave it like this. This is a serious problem and it's insulting that she left it like this out of sheer laziness, because it's not hard to get rid of despite how wonky Advance Map is.
I'd make another rant about second best gameplay hack of 2012 but I think we all get it already.
Huh. Would you look at that - we actually have to use Strength now. If there's anything I'll compliment Dark Rising Girl on (and trust me, that's hard to do), she eliminates the need for HMs for the most part. Like I think this is the only time Strength is necessary to complete the plot, and Surf is a nice move to have in general.
I can't wait to actually buy these. It's gonna be great.
Level 5 wilds.
You've got to be pulling my leg over my goddamn head at this point. Like okay, they're baby dragons... But this exists in the same place where level 80+ wild Flygons and other such overpowered dragons roam about without consequence.
You can try to be realistic all you want, but -
Oh wow, something we could have bought by the fourth town. How worthwhile.
Yeah, it's nowhere near as dramatic as she's trying to make it. The left one teleports you to the start while the right one takes you to plot.
I'm not going to like this, am I?
(ﾉ◕◡◕)ﾉ ︵ ┻━┻
It's a giant N, everybody. This is what he says, too:
"You truly have an unremarkable amount endurance, hero. You sure live up to that title."
Also, he's the one who made it snow in Dragon Valley. How the fuck is that possible? Is he Mr. Freeze? Like what, does he have a giant snow machine with his face painted on the side of it?
That said, N blabs on what for seems like an eternity about how Reshiram and Zekrom have come to him so they can test Monica and-
So... yeah, we're fighting N. Why does this have to happen right as we're going to fight Darugis? Hell if I know.
He has both dragons and they're both at level 99 in case you had to be reminded about the obscene level curve this game has. I think the weirdest part about this is that both Reshiram, Zekrom and Kyurem exist in the same world as Kaiden and Sakura's Kyurem fusions... The trainers themselves blatantly being Hilbert and Hilda from the actual games.
So for the sake of reference, there are at least three Kyurems, two Reshirams and two Zekroms in this game alone. That seems like a bit too much for me. Oh, and to put the cherry on top of this travesty sundae?
They both have levitate. You know, as if they really needed that. This is a Double Battle too, so you have to bring out your best against two level 99 uber dragons that ignore a potent weakness just because DRG wanted things to have strategy. To compound this insult, they both know Earthquake despite that being illegal for both of them.
So you know what, Dark Rising?
The cheating game intensifies.
This is what I changed Levitate to for the sake of not only making things more fair, but also because it makes more sense this way. (This is the closest I could get to Turboblaze and Teravolt)
Killdozer Corin struts her stuff. This was a prime opportunity and I swear the game was not going to stop me from having it.
Yeah cool, whatever. The short version is that he's gonna let us get the dragons. With that, N has served his obligatory cameo purpose and returns to a much better game.
(No, seriously, why was he here?)
Well, since we're surrounded by unsurfable water, I guess the only place to go is forward.
[The stones drop down from the cliff]
Let's get some more dragons. By the way, it is not necessary to actually catch the dragons to proceed with plot - you can ignore them and the game will still act like you completed something important.
Yeah, even though the entire purpose of coming here was to get the dragons... you can go straight to Darugis's lair and skip this whole thing altogether. Like damn, this is silly.
Reshiram seems like a good choice, even though we have a lot of
types as it is (Siegfried, Cinder, Ignell, Candelabra...) Then again,
is one of my favorite types so I don't really care.
: ("Pleased to meet you.")
: "Same. You're like the only legendary I've actually caught aside from this one Giratina a few hours back. Welcome to the team."
: ("Wait. Before we go... I have to tell you something, Monica.")
: "Uh? What is it?"
: ("I've been watching your journey from afar and I've just got to say... Sigurd and the team is your only hope. The voice that spoke to you at the beginning of your journey? That's not Arceus. It is merely an imposter.")
: "What? No way!"
: ("It's the truth. As for their real identity... I'm not quite sure. Still, be mindful of what they say to you. Put your faith in the team... And stay vigilant for a Pokemon called Mani.")
: "Of course I will. Besides, they're about the only things I can trust in this godforsaken place anyway... But yeah, oof. I knew there was something wrong from the very beginning."
Excuse me? Who the hell are you and why do you have a unique sprite despite not contributing to the plot at all?
In-Game Monica detects that she's not some normal person due to having a dragon Pokemon, but at this point every single person you know has one.
(Future Dan: Oh wow, past Dan, you are in for a treat when you get to 2.)
[Replay Chaos Angel Map]
You know, the badge checks in the original game were cool. Instead, we fight a bunch of goons that have no hope of defeating the team... Which is really sad when you think about it.
You know, I'm at least glad the Dork Squad is here to distract all of these goons.
Oh, it's you. One sec.
There we go. G-Boss has a unique sprite, but he loses just like everyone else.
Jesus christ, those are a lot of goons
The sheer amount of them on screen lag the screen something fierce, so damn. Imagine if we had to deal with all of these idiots by ourselves? Sure, we'd definitely be able to do it, but I'd lose steam before I make it through half of them.
Also, Kayo is... helping us? What the hell is that all about? Let's see what he has to say:
"I knew you'd get here. It was only a matter of when and how."
: "Kayo... You're fighting against Darugis now? What happened to you back on Thunder Mountain?"
(You know, in hindsight, when there's a Disney ride that has the same name as your big climax area, maaaaybe you should come up with a new name.)
: "No time for small talk now. You're about to go against the most powerful trainer in the world. It's beyond anything you've faced so thus far. Items, levels, experience - it doesn't matter when facing Adrian and the Four Knights of Ebony's Round Table."
PFFFF, WHAT?
Ebony's Round Table? That's the name you went with for the final bad guy group? I'm tempted to make the obvious My Immortal reference here. (In fact, is it safe to say that Dark Rising is a G-rated, less hilarious Pokemon version of My Immortal? It would make too much sense not to be at this point.)
: "Their Pokemon ignore basic battle rules and know attacks that they shouldn't know."
Excuse me? Are you trying to justify the shit the game is going to do in the next chapter? Are you fucking kidding me? (ﾉ◕◡◕)ﾉ ︵ ┻━┻
Whatever. At least I don't have to kill Kayo thanks to his sudden change of heart.
Ash and his Pikachu? Why are they here of all times?
: "Ash... what are you doing here?"
Ash: "I know you're going to face off against a really strong trainer. To get you prepared, why don't you have a... practice battle with me?"
[In My Way]
[Ash and Pikachu give Monica a sharp glare]
: "Uh... what's with the look?"
Ash: "Don't act surprised. We knew we would face each other sooner or later... Why not now? Heh..."
: "... No, don't tell me! He got to you too?!"
Ash: "Shut up and fight - your life depends on it. Go, Pikachu."
: ("With pleasure.")
I wrote that bit of dialogue myself, but imagine if that's actually how it was. That would be a perfect explanation for why he fights you here.
[Theme I would use for this fight: Death License]
This is gonna be fun. Also, I'm surprised to see that she has brand new spritework here... then again, I doubt she got someone to do this for her.
Yes, it is PIKACHU!!! This is supposed to be the same one as in the anime, and man do I not care for him. You see, while he looks like a normal Pikachu, he's actually a vastly overpowered uber as demonstrated by this screencap:
490 more Base Stat Total. Ash, you cheating little piss.
Like are you real? Is this actually happening?
To add insult to injury, Ash's Pikachu has Light Ball and Volt Tackle to make him look like a real Pikachu even though he's not one at all. I get it, alright - Ash's Pikachu is somehow able to do all of this crazy shit in the anime and beat up legendaries despite not being fully evolved, but that's because of bad writing more than anything else. So you know what? Since he's cheating, we're gonna do this:
50 / 60 / 40 / 70 / 50 / 90
You've been debuffed, dumbass.
Now he's slightly stronger than a normal Pikachu, but no more than that.
: ("What the-- What happened to Master Darugis's power? I can't feel it anymore!")
: ("I pierced through the spell he cast on you. Now you're no stronger than a normal Pikachu.")
: ("That's not fair!")
: ("Corin, take him out.")
: ("With pleasure.")
That's my girl. Corin is the best~
How.
How the fuck did Ash (of all people!) get his hands on a legendary? Is this supposed to be a reference to the Ho-oh that he sees at the beginning of the anime? If so, that's really stupid. It gets better from here, because guess what?
(+200 BST)
It has a sudden boost for no reason too. I should remind everyone that Arceus, the god of Pokemon, has a base stat total of 720. Even if he were to Mega Evolve, he still wouldn't have as much as this ultra buffed Ho-oh. (Which I debuffed too, by the way. I did this for everything coming up)
What is this garbage?
Corin drops some rocks on them and we all get on with our lives.
... Oh right. See, in the original version of Dark Rising, the battle was supposed to end here because Ash said he was only going to use two of his Pokemon (which is infuriating, by the way). But since I have my hands on a trainer editor and I have a story going on here, Fafnir comes to fight instead.
Let's do this.
[Stop playing Death License and replace it with this]
: ("So it's finally come down to this.")
: ("Signe... I don't want to fight you. Trust me - I will destroy Darugis no matter the cost. You don't have to worry.")
: ("I've told you before - you don't understand what he's capable of. If you did, you would stop fighting. He'll kill you. He'll kill Monica. He'll grind everything that's dear to you into dust.")
: ("Then why do you stay with him? Do you really think he can be redeemed in the state he's in?")
: ("I want to say no, but... I still want to believe that he can. Please, Sigurd... just give up and come with us.")
: ("No. I want to end this. The pain and terror he's caused outweighs any benefit of our family reuniting. If I can't win you back... then I'm prepared to live with my mistakes.")
[Sigurd manifests an Aura Saber onto his arm]
: ("Sigurd, no...")
: ("... So that's how it's going to be. I was hoping you would say that.")
(Battle-wise, she's not that much different than before - but damn, does Aeroblast hurt.)
[Sigurd strikes her with Aura Saber. She falls to the ground and grasps her wound]
: ("Sigurd, you... Ha ha... HAHAHAHAHA!")
[The team stares at Fafnir with terrified looks on their faces]
: ("... Why are you laughing?")
: ("You can't do it, can you? You can't strike down your own sister no matter what you say! Master was right after all!")
: ("... Signe, you...")
[Sigurd flinches from the Aeroblast wound and falls to one knee]
: ("Sigurd!")
: ("I'm sorry it has to end like this, but nothing will get in the way of Master's plans. Not even you...")
[Fafnir looms over Sigurd and Siegfried - Monica looks away]
: ("I can still fight. I will cut you down if that's what it takes! I'm not afraid of what I'll lose!")
[Sigurd's entire body shakes]
: ("If you really mean that, then come on. I'm not the same Fafnir you've faced before... Master has given me a stronger form. Ironically enough, he took some inspiration from you.")
: ("What?")
[A black aura envelops Fafnir's body and floods the entire battlefield. The darkness disperses to reveal her new form]
: ("It's time to end this.")
[Fafnir manifests a red Aura Saber and glares at Sigurd. The team charges out in front as Siegfried drags Sigurd to safety]
[The Invasion From Within]
Holy shit, here we go. Fafnir-S is arguably the scariest thing the team will deal with, probably even more so than the final boss. I had to swap Sigurd out here and heal him up because it was getting too intense even for him.
Her stats are:
110 / 110 / 100 / 145 / 110 / 120
She's effectively a faster, more powerful and more durable version of him with all of the same powers and even some of his appearance. Shit is getting real.
Arthur gets to be an absolute boss and tanks the Void Bomb while Monica heals up Sigurd.
: "You okay, Sigurd?"
: ("Yeah, I should be now. She's nightmarishly powerful... I don't think I can do this alone.")
: "But you're not alone, dummy. You have the team to back you up."
: ("Of course! We'll be there to help you no matter what, Sigurd!")
: ("... You really are the best, guys. What would I do without you?")
: "I don't want to find out. Now come on, let's kick some ass!"
: ("Right!")
[Sigurd jumps back into the fight. He and Fafnir trade blows strong enough to shape the landscape around them]
[Fafnir gasps]
: ("I'm sorry, sis... It has to be like this.")
: ("You... But how...")
[Fafnir falls to the ground on her back]
: ("It's over...")
: ("Big sis...")
: "... Let's just leave, Sigurd. We don't have time to waste."
: ("The thought never crossed my mind. We have to keep going, no matter what...")
[As the team moves forward, Fafnir opens her eyes and stretches her arm toward them.]
: ("Wait... Stop.")
: "She's still alive?!"
: ("You still want to fight?")
: ("No... Please. I... just want to say something.")
[Cry A Live]
: ("I've... been terrified of Master's strength for so long that I've forgotten my own morality, it seems. Sigurd, I... it wasn't right to do this to you.")
: "Yeah, what the hell was that all about?"
: ("Monica, please. What made you snap out of it, big sis?")
: ("Even when I was boosted with Master's power, it still wasn't enough to stop you or your friends. I guess he... isn't as invincible as I thought after all. Plus, you were willing to save me despite how much I tried to hurt you... You really are a good brother, you know that? I just wish I could have realized that sooner.")
: ("Wait, what do you mean by s--")
[Parts of Fafnir's body break into cracks. She closes her eyes and smiles]
: ("I'm sorry...")
: ("N-no! Damn it! Just as I thought things were...!")
: ("Signe, don't go!")
[Monica pulls out a Full Restore and the Jewel of Life. The Jewel glows and envelops the Full Restore in a green aura]
: "Screw that!"
[She applies it to Fafnir's wounds and they close up immediately]
: ("M-Monica?!")
: ("Wh-what are you doing? Are you... really trying to help me despite everything I've done to you?")
: "Of course, idiot! Yes, you were scared for your life. Yes, you were vicious towards all of us - most importantly your own brother. But... I can tell you're not a bad person. You wouldn't do this if you had a real choice, right?"
: ("I... I suppose you're right. Monica... Now I see why Sigurd - no, the entire team values you so much.")
: "I just do what I think is right."
: ("I should take after you. Some big sister I am...")
: ("I'm just glad you're alive!")
[Siegfried embraces her in a tight hug]
: ("... You know, I should make it up to you. We should work together.")
[Schala's Theme]
: ("Are you sure? What about Darugis? Isn't that a big reason why you attacked us to begin with?")
: ("After what just happened... I've realized that I should be brave. This whole thing has taught me it would be better to die fighting alongside the people who love me instead of living in fear every day. Besides... I trust you guys. You can definitely defeat Darugis and I should be there to help you.")
: ("Signe... You have no idea how long I've waited to have you back.")
[Sigurd joins in on the hug and struggles to hold back tears]
: ("I knew you would come around, big sis! I've always had faith in you.")
: ("Monica, I don't know where to begin to thank you. You're one of the best trainers I've ever met.")
: "Oh stop." [Monica blushes heavily]
: ("But yes... If we're going to work together, I should start using my real name. Feel free to call me Signe as much as you want.")
: ("Welcome aboard then, Miss Signe.")
: "Kick-ass."
Yep. Not only is she joining the team, she's joining with her own Pokedex entry and comes in the super-powered form that Darugis gave her. Way to go, bad guy.
(Oh, and we kicked Ash and Pikachu out of the possession. Hooray.)
What's all this about?
Another Triangle of Power? (Also, these are the Tanoby Chambers - don't think for a second that I'm fooled by this anymore)
Now, at this point, the game throws a giant story dump on you about Darugis and where he came from. That would be really cool if it it wasn't completely underwhelming. I'll transcribe it here:
"Welcome to Pandora's Box. You are now in the mind of Darugis. I am... the voice. I have no physical form."
How... did we get into Darugis's mind to begin with - okay whatever. Here's a plot dump for you:
"Long ago... There was only darkness. Until Arceus, decided to make a new world... A world filled with Pokemon. It took Arceus seven days to complete the world. On the seventh day, he rested.
He began creating Pokemon of different types, natures, and species on the ground, air and sea. Arceus's followers, the legendary Pokemon, helped Arceus create the world. Each one had a designated job... One in particular was called Darugis."
I know this is trying to be epic and all, but there's a lot of things going on here that don't sit right with me. A lot of them are small (like how do you know it took seven days if there was no concept of space or time back then), but the biggest one is that this implies that there was a world before this.
I thought the Pokemon world we all know about was the only one that existed? Whatever.
More plot dump text: "Darugis's job was to create harmony through the Pokemon world. He was the highest in command and the other legendaries loved him. He soon began to feel superior... The recognition and sheer cockiness in him began to emit darkness, negativity, jealousy.
He soon challenged Arceus but evidently lost. Arceus sent him to the bowels of darkness, locking him inside Pandora's Box. The few legendaries did not like how Arceus banished Darugis and began to seperate, creating their own worlds."
What the hell is even going on at the end? Also, really? That's the reason Darugis is evil and trying to conquer the world and shit? That's about the weakest excuse I've ever heard for someone to become a villain and it only cements the in-game version of Darugis as a stupid one-dimensional overlord.
Next plot dump: "Darugis plotted, seeking revenge on Arceus. Darugis was still connected to Arceus in some way because Arceus cared for its followers. Arceus wanted to create friendship and love and thought Pokemon would be lonely.
He felt they needed... Thus, he created humans. However, Darugis saw the creation of humans as a plan. He tempted the first humans as they released it from its imprisonment. Negativity was now spread through Earth. Anger, jealousy, hatred, envy and so forth."
... Really. You're trying to go Adam and Eve on me now? How more pretentious can you get with this? Like seriously, nobody is ever really a bad guy because "oooh Darugis possessed me" or "lol i was betrayed in the past so go suck a dong". It's all stupid.
See, what Darugis is doing is effectively replacing Giratina as the Lucifer figure of Pokemon. That's insulting in of itself, but things get worse when you remember just how overpowered this son-of-a-bitch is.
We haven't gotten into actual battle stats and he's already ridiculously overpowered just from the story stuff alone. (Sadly, I couldn't fix this no matter how hard I tried unless I went in and reworked the entire plot - something I really don't want to do)
Final plot dump: "Darugis's plan was almost complete. Until a young trainer known as Jean Blake sealed it away inside Pandora's Box once again. But it was not sealed away completely... Extracting its revenge, Darugis trapped Jean Blake in an infinite void so he could not stop its plans ever again. Until now... You are in control of the story of Darugis. How it will unfold is all up to you. Go forth... into the gates of darkness."
Exactly. I am in control of this story now, and I can safely say that
I substitute your canon with my own.
[A Darkrai appears before Monica]
: ("What kind of garbage are they saying about me? That's not how it happened at all.")
: ("Darugis!")
: "It's really him?!"
: ("Hello, Monica. We finally meet in person... Oh, and you've somehow managed to get little Signe over to your side. I'm impressed.")
: ("I... I'm not afraid of you anymore!")
: ("Ahahaha! Excellent. His love for you overrode your fear of me. That's precious...")
: "Okay, seriously, what the actual hell is your problem? Why are you such an evil bastard?"
: ("You really want to know? I guess you deserve it for making it this far... I'm not going to attack you, so you may as well sit down for a bit.")
: "Uh... Okay."
[Have this theme playing in the background]
: ("First off, all of the stuff that the voice said? That's not the real story at all. See... It all happened three thousand years ago, back in the Kalos Region. I used to be a normal person just like you, Monica.")
: "... Wait, what?"
: ("That's right. The almighty Darugis was once a man... A man known as Alberich. Back in the brighter days of my youth, I was content just being with my Pokemon and my wife Selene. I'm sure Sigurd and Siegfried have already told you half of the story.")
: "H... holy crap."
: ("Yes, Monica. It's all true.")
: ("I refuse to call you Alberich after all you've done, monster.")
: ("I know. I understand why. You see, Monica... Back in those days, there was a war that consumed Kalos. Blood and turmoil seeped into every corner. The only reason we were even safe is because we isolated ourselves from all of the mayhem. But even then, it wasn't enough. The soldiers were running out of troops... and Sigurd of all people decided to volunteer for the war effort despite all of our attempts to stop him. He snuck out and fought... only to be brought back days later in a crude, Riolu-sized casket.")
: "That's... Oh my god."
: ("... I only did what I thought was right.")
: ("Even so, our family was devastated. Signe, Siegfried, Loki, Selene... and me. None of us could deal with the pain of having you gone. I had to make things right. I had to bring you back.")
[Demon King Odio]
: ("You see... While I lacked the powers of life and death that our king had used to end the war, I had another answer to bring Sigurd back: A forbidden variant of alchemy that spits on the very laws of nature itself. It required a Ditto as the catalyst along with something precious that I had to give up. I didn't care. I just wanted results.")
: "You had to give something up to bring Sigurd back to life... What was it?"
: ("I had to give up many things. Loki's sanity, my humanity... my soul. They were all stolen from us in exchange for Sigurd's rebirth. By the time I realized what happened, I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't feel happy that our efforts were successful. I felt hollow... I still do to this day. But I could still feel anger. The sheer chaos of the ritual and the Ditto that formed the catalyst wound up giving me the power to absorb the powers of other Pokemon - hence why I am able to create them on a whim now. It's also part of the reason why Sigurd and Signe look the way they do.")
: "That's insane. But why is Siegfried the only one that wasn't affected by any of this?"
: ("Signe told him to stay away because I ordered her to. I didn't want them to get caught up in this... Loki was the only other one that wanted to go through this with me. Time passed and I couldn't live with myself. I couldn't stop absorbing the powers of other Pokemon - even legendaries weren't safe from my grasp. I had grown so powerful and despondent that people began to fear me as a demon king. The master of evil... It didn't take long for that to become a reality. Even my own wife couldn't bear to look at me anymore.")
: ("Alberich...")
: ("Don't call him by that name, Big Sis. He's not the man we knew.")
: ("That's right. Even Siegfried understands.")
: ("So now you get it, Monica? I'm not asking for your pity. Even my own family has lost meaning to me now. I won't stop until this world is nothing but a wasteland. Be the hero and save them all... because if you don't, I'll come and tear apart everything that you love. I'll be waiting for you ahead.")
[Darugis vanishes]
: "... I... wow. I can't stop shaking. That's quite a lot to take in."
: ("Yeah, no kidding.")
: ("So now we know everything. What do we have to say about this?")
: ("Aye, it's pretty intense.")
: ("It's quite a tragedy. I'm amazed you're as determined as you are to be a good person, Sigurd. You and your family have gone through so much...")
[She hugs Sigurd - he blushes]
: ("I don't like to dwell on the past, but I'm at least glad you guys are here.")
: "So he used to be a nice guy. Not anymore. He's going to hurt more people if we don't stop him... so we're going back to the original plan: We're going to kill the demon king."
: ("I'm with you all the way.")
: ("Same.")
: ("I'm still scared but yes. I agree.")
: ("Well said, Monica.")
Jeeeeesus christ, that was a lot of plot. The Fafnir and Darugis stuff is big enough to be a chapter on its own. Oh well, at least it's better than me being like "oh this game sucks" even though we all know that already. I'm just glad to provide content that's not being aggressive towards the game 24/7.
Anyway, the Malice Dungeon is just the Victory Road with a different name. Nothing we haven't already seen.
Oh yes, every gym leader in the game is here and they want Monica's blood because they're all possessed by Darugis. Whoopde-doo.
V-Rebirth is also here - not that he's much harder than how he was before.
: ("So... you managed to get Miss Signe on your side.")
: ("Okay, can we end this? I'm really not in the mood to deal with small fry.")
: ("As you wish.")
That should be the last of him.
That moment when the burn left behind by Aura Saber is what kills you instead of the actual move itself.
GO HOME, VLAD
[One pimp-slap later]
Damn straight.
Oh hey, Pete's here. He tries to teach you Double-Edge to make up for not being that important to the plot anymore.
I guess if he wants to make himself feel important, then go ahead?
Fun fact - walking through the stairs instantly teleports you inside of the Pokemon League. I would assume this is because DRG messed up with the actual entrance, but guess what? Nothing is even wrong with the entrance.
In fact, it even has its own area name - the Malice Castle, yet it's completely inaccessible without cheats. Oh, by the way? In a certain corner of the Victory Road (cause you know, it's literally just the Victory Road without boulders), you can find a ton of sprites squished into one spot. It's really bizarre and I don't understand why it exists.
As tempting as it is to continue and fight the final opponents...
[The Winner is Me]
~SIDEQUEST TIME!~
Alright, so - remember this place from like Chapter 7 or so? This was the place where the Asshole-O-Meter exploded the first time due to the team being nowhere strong enough to deal with this guy.
Let's say hello, shall we?
The surprise is that he's Giovanni. You see, while the regular plot of the game was happening with Monica and pals fighting Darugis, Giovanni here had Team Rocket fall apart on him as Darugis convinced Mewtwo to... rule by their side?! That's pretty crazy.
So... Giovanni thought of a new plan - he's going to contact the other evil team leaders to form a new empire, one that should be strong enough to rival even Darugis's. Hah, he has no idea what the fuck he's trying to get himself into.
He also boasts that Darugis gave him mind control powers for some reason. Yeah, sure, I'll take your word on that.
Now, here's the thing about Giovanni and his plot. He's... ultimately nothing in the grand scheme of things. We don't need another villain figure in this story when we already have Darugis and his vastly overpowered moveset and army.
If anything, it would be hilarious to see him and the evil team desperately try to fight Darugis only to get completely destroyed.
Now I have this wonderful image in my head where the evil team leaders are trying to charge at Darugis with sharpened sticks... and he doesn't do anything to stop them. In fact, he feels bad that they're even trying so hard.
Battle-wise, Giovanni is a joke. He has a pitiful set-up of
types that even a level 60 Wave and Sigurd would be able to beat no problem. He's weak even by the standards of late-game, which is pathetic.
Blah blah, Monica is the hero, I'm going to make an evil empire muwahahaha, etc.
[He wriggles his fingers at Monica]
: "... What the hell are you doing?"
Giovanni: "I'm using my mind control powers!"
: "Yeah, it's not working."
Yeah, nobody's forgetting about this anytime soon. Sorry, pal.
Cheats on screen. I am not apologizing.
What the - oh my god, how.
You see, Gaea Cave is connected to Inferno Mountain, which is in the No Man's Land. The Inferno Mountain goes downward out towards the Montage Fortress, so logically we should not end up in Flamen Town.
This is a small thing after everything we've encountered throughout this adventure, but everything builds up after a while. It's actually getting really sad how people saw this as quality work.
Monica visits home and fuels up for the final battle.
[Awakening]
: "So. This is it, guys. The final battle... Can we really pull it off?"
: ("Of course. I had my doubts at first, but with how strong we've all become throughout this journey...")
: ("Yeah! We can do it!")
: ("Damn right we can. If anything, us all working together might just be what kills him. And I mean that as legitimately dead, not just being sealed away again.")
: ("I know I haven't been here for long, but I'm very proud of you, Monica. You've shown incredible promise and strength... in fact, you remind me of Jack. Perhaps we should get you two acquainted if... no, when we finish our journey.")
: "That'd be rad. Anyway... If you're all ready, we should probably get going."
Oh yes, while we're at it, I should show off Signe. She gets her own menu sprite and uh... Varik is Sheol before I changed his name. He was going to be named after the protagonist of an obscure game called Brandish (that somehow made it into Toby's Earthbound Halloween Hack), but I figured Sheol would be more appropriate.
I can understand why Varik/Sheol doesn't get a menu sprite due to being a limbo mon, but why doesn't Ammy? You are plot-required to capture her to (technically) proceed with the game, even if the game doesn't say you have to.
Also, Signe is 10 levels lower than when we fought her because... okay, I don't have a good reason beyond "I tried to cheat code her into the game". But still, that's pretty powerful for someone who's just joined the team.
DRG wishes us good luck, even though I'm doubtful she actually wanted someone to complete this with what's ahead.
Next time on Dark Rising, we round off the final fights and finish the game. About god damn time.
See you then.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team setup:
(Corin, level 97, has Dragon Fang,
,
/
) - "Let's kick some butt!"
(Sigurd, level 100,
,
/
) - "You know, there's two Aura Saber users in our team now. Perhaps we should start coming up with combination attacks."
(Siegfried, level 96,
,
/
) - "Whoa, Sigurd. That'd be really neat!"
(Signe, level 85,
,
/
) - "I agree. I'll make Master regret ever giving me this much power."
(Gale, level 93,
,
/
) - "... I'm ready."
(Arthur, level 91,
,
/
) - "I can't wait to bust some heads!"
(Wave, level 94,
,
) - "Well that all worked out nicely. Sigurd's reunited with his sister again."
(Bellamine, level 83, has Sand Cloak,
,
) - "Stay alert, everyone. Once we step through the door... We'll be in for the fight of our lives."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back up team:
(Candelabra, level 90,
,
/
) - "The whole Alberich story got me... a bit choked up. What are you all staring at?!"
(Hel, level 76,
,
/
) - "It was quite the tale. That poor family..."
(Lumis, level 72,
,
) - "To think I doubted him when we first met. How wrong I was..."
(Ignell, level 80,
,
/
) - "Miss Candelabra, it's nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, just know that you're not alone on this."
(Sathala, level 73,
,
) - "Aw, come on guys! It's no time to be sad. We have to root for Corin and the others! Beat that dumb Alberich!"
(Vera, level 76,
,
) - "Yes, what she said."
(Chloris, level 70,
,
/
) - "Yeah! Go, Monica!"
(Ace, level 65,
,
/
) - "Man, this is getting me all emotional and stuff. This is reminding me of how stuff was like back from the end of our first journey."
(Beatrice, level 75,
,
/
) - "Teehee. You're a big softy after all, Ace... I have faith in Monica and the rest of the team."
(Cinder, level 40,
,
) - "Yo, this is way too much excitement for me."
(Amaterasu, level 95,
,
/
) - "I'm sorry if I have to introduce myself so suddenly, but I've been watching you guys fight ever since your journey started. I'm positive they can finally get rid of Darugis for good."
(Sheol, level 98,
,
/
) -"... Interesting. Yes, very interesting."
This chapter is more of the final exploration than anything else, as chapter 16 will be the Core League and the final boss. Trust me, it deserves its own individual chapter. With that said, let's watch things burn.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #15 - The Hero and the Demon[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/FONT]
Spoiler:
[Chaos Angel Map]
Yeah, no point hyping up this as the end if I've already told you that we're not going to the Core League yet.
That and Blitz was all like "GET THE DRACO STONES" even though we really don't have to. Blatant padding at its best, folks.
This guy has no script for some reason. He must be so focused on his job that he won't even stop to chat, so props to him.
(Why does this room exist, actually? Just to be a fancier intermission screen?)
Just in case you were curious, Draco Village is right here. Yes, right next to the main villain's lair.
How has Darugis not gotten to whatever's here yet? (By the way, the song playing here is the theme for Sevii Islands 6-7. Amazing song, by the way. That sort of gives me an indication of what this place was originally, compounded with the Trainer Tower being here)
... I know you guys can't hear or see it, but that's me pressing the A button. This man literally has no script.
You know, in most other games, you at least have to go out of your way using cheats to find something like this. In Dark Rising? Right there for the whole world to see.
This lady (who is practically guaranteed to be unedited) talks about Heracross despite this being the dragon town. She doesn't give you one or anything, so I fail to see the point.
Monica is being eaten by the ground. Oh, and you can walk through the sign because physics don't apply here.
No, this is not the cool Battle Dome from Pokemon Emerald. Instead, we have a ton of Sevii Island trainers who are only nominally different due to having more overpowered Pokemon.
Every time Sigurd uses Aura Saber on something that's 4x weak to
I'm not apologizing.
God, how many King's Rocks and Nuggets do we need? Are we destined to make our own kingdom with all of this?
... If so, I approve. Queen Monica and her fiefdoms have to make things right around here.
Swords Dance would be cool, but Aura Saber and Void Bomb are 150 and 125 Base Power respectively. That's all we need.
Also, the return of the talking present box. At this point, I have to wonder if Monica's journey isn't actually caused by some really heavy drug - like this is actually Kanto and Monica is in the middle of a really bad trip.
That said, the Trainer Tower is the same as the one from the real game. I don't think anybody's really covered the Trainer Tower for a let's play, but the short version is that you fight as quickly as possible in a given format. You have to keep climbing and your Pokemon don't get healed through battles, so it's sort of an endurance round sort of thing.
I wouldn't take time out to do this even in the real games, so why would I do so now when it's in the middle of a trainwreck like Dark Rising?
Oh, and by the way? The Nurse Joy here sells the same stuff as the guy from Pax Town.
... So I guess if you want to restock on Ethers and Heart Scales, you could always get them here?
Oh hey, it's snowing... Wait, why is it snowing in an area dedicated to dragons? Isn't
This man terrifies me. He just jumps out at you and says "FEED ME MORE" without any context. It's really weird.
Oh lordy lord, this part.
[See video version here - it really deserved it]
Alright, so... You see that karate man right there? This one part is home to one of the most destructive glitches I've ever seen in a game, Pokemon or not. Like... let's say you're playing Dark Rising for some odd reason I can't hope to comprehend (likely masochism or sheer morbid curiosity) and you get to here.
You expect to have a barely edited trainer battle with this man, you beat him up and we all go home happy. However, when you approach him...
This fucking happens. The game CRASHES.
He detects you despite not being in your line of sight and the game absolutely flips its shit, complete with distorted music straight from the bowels of hell. What's surprising is that me and Zor actually have an answer as to why this happened. See, it's invisible here, but there's a warp in the general area where Monica stood that leads you to nowhere.
I don't know how it correlates to the karate man, but that's some serious bad juju.
To get past it, you have to walk through the topmost grass tile and sneak past him. So I'm at least thankful that you can get around it without having to resort to Walk Through Walls.
By the way, guess what happens when you talk to the karate man directly?
It turns blood red instead. He has no script, but the game must scream.
Shit is spooky, my brother. I think the worst part about this is that DRG didn't have to leave it like this. This is a serious problem and it's insulting that she left it like this out of sheer laziness, because it's not hard to get rid of despite how wonky Advance Map is.
I'd make another rant about second best gameplay hack of 2012 but I think we all get it already.
Huh. Would you look at that - we actually have to use Strength now. If there's anything I'll compliment Dark Rising Girl on (and trust me, that's hard to do), she eliminates the need for HMs for the most part. Like I think this is the only time Strength is necessary to complete the plot, and Surf is a nice move to have in general.
I can't wait to actually buy these. It's gonna be great.
Level 5 wilds.
You've got to be pulling my leg over my goddamn head at this point. Like okay, they're baby dragons... But this exists in the same place where level 80+ wild Flygons and other such overpowered dragons roam about without consequence.
You can try to be realistic all you want, but -
Oh wow, something we could have bought by the fourth town. How worthwhile.
Yeah, it's nowhere near as dramatic as she's trying to make it. The left one teleports you to the start while the right one takes you to plot.
I'm not going to like this, am I?
(ﾉ◕◡◕)ﾉ ︵ ┻━┻
It's a giant N, everybody. This is what he says, too:
"You truly have an unremarkable amount endurance, hero. You sure live up to that title."
Also, he's the one who made it snow in Dragon Valley. How the fuck is that possible? Is he Mr. Freeze? Like what, does he have a giant snow machine with his face painted on the side of it?
That said, N blabs on what for seems like an eternity about how Reshiram and Zekrom have come to him so they can test Monica and-
So... yeah, we're fighting N. Why does this have to happen right as we're going to fight Darugis? Hell if I know.
He has both dragons and they're both at level 99 in case you had to be reminded about the obscene level curve this game has. I think the weirdest part about this is that both Reshiram, Zekrom and Kyurem exist in the same world as Kaiden and Sakura's Kyurem fusions... The trainers themselves blatantly being Hilbert and Hilda from the actual games.
So for the sake of reference, there are at least three Kyurems, two Reshirams and two Zekroms in this game alone. That seems like a bit too much for me. Oh, and to put the cherry on top of this travesty sundae?
They both have levitate. You know, as if they really needed that. This is a Double Battle too, so you have to bring out your best against two level 99 uber dragons that ignore a potent weakness just because DRG wanted things to have strategy. To compound this insult, they both know Earthquake despite that being illegal for both of them.
So you know what, Dark Rising?
The cheating game intensifies.
This is what I changed Levitate to for the sake of not only making things more fair, but also because it makes more sense this way. (This is the closest I could get to Turboblaze and Teravolt)
Killdozer Corin struts her stuff. This was a prime opportunity and I swear the game was not going to stop me from having it.
Yeah cool, whatever. The short version is that he's gonna let us get the dragons. With that, N has served his obligatory cameo purpose and returns to a much better game.
(No, seriously, why was he here?)
Well, since we're surrounded by unsurfable water, I guess the only place to go is forward.
[The stones drop down from the cliff]
Let's get some more dragons. By the way, it is not necessary to actually catch the dragons to proceed with plot - you can ignore them and the game will still act like you completed something important.
Yeah, even though the entire purpose of coming here was to get the dragons... you can go straight to Darugis's lair and skip this whole thing altogether. Like damn, this is silly.
Reshiram seems like a good choice, even though we have a lot of
Excuse me? Who the hell are you and why do you have a unique sprite despite not contributing to the plot at all?
In-Game Monica detects that she's not some normal person due to having a dragon Pokemon, but at this point every single person you know has one.
(Future Dan: Oh wow, past Dan, you are in for a treat when you get to 2.)
[Replay Chaos Angel Map]
You know, the badge checks in the original game were cool. Instead, we fight a bunch of goons that have no hope of defeating the team... Which is really sad when you think about it.
You know, I'm at least glad the Dork Squad is here to distract all of these goons.
Oh, it's you. One sec.
There we go. G-Boss has a unique sprite, but he loses just like everyone else.
Jesus christ, those are a lot of goons
The sheer amount of them on screen lag the screen something fierce, so damn. Imagine if we had to deal with all of these idiots by ourselves? Sure, we'd definitely be able to do it, but I'd lose steam before I make it through half of them.
Also, Kayo is... helping us? What the hell is that all about? Let's see what he has to say:
"I knew you'd get here. It was only a matter of when and how."
(You know, in hindsight, when there's a Disney ride that has the same name as your big climax area, maaaaybe you should come up with a new name.)
PFFFF, WHAT?
Ebony's Round Table? That's the name you went with for the final bad guy group? I'm tempted to make the obvious My Immortal reference here. (In fact, is it safe to say that Dark Rising is a G-rated, less hilarious Pokemon version of My Immortal? It would make too much sense not to be at this point.)
Excuse me? Are you trying to justify the shit the game is going to do in the next chapter? Are you fucking kidding me? (ﾉ◕◡◕)ﾉ ︵ ┻━┻
Whatever. At least I don't have to kill Kayo thanks to his sudden change of heart.
Ash and his Pikachu? Why are they here of all times?
Ash: "I know you're going to face off against a really strong trainer. To get you prepared, why don't you have a... practice battle with me?"
[In My Way]
[Ash and Pikachu give Monica a sharp glare]
Ash: "Don't act surprised. We knew we would face each other sooner or later... Why not now? Heh..."
Ash: "Shut up and fight - your life depends on it. Go, Pikachu."
I wrote that bit of dialogue myself, but imagine if that's actually how it was. That would be a perfect explanation for why he fights you here.
[Theme I would use for this fight: Death License]
This is gonna be fun. Also, I'm surprised to see that she has brand new spritework here... then again, I doubt she got someone to do this for her.
Yes, it is PIKACHU!!! This is supposed to be the same one as in the anime, and man do I not care for him. You see, while he looks like a normal Pikachu, he's actually a vastly overpowered uber as demonstrated by this screencap:
490 more Base Stat Total. Ash, you cheating little piss.
Like are you real? Is this actually happening?
To add insult to injury, Ash's Pikachu has Light Ball and Volt Tackle to make him look like a real Pikachu even though he's not one at all. I get it, alright - Ash's Pikachu is somehow able to do all of this crazy shit in the anime and beat up legendaries despite not being fully evolved, but that's because of bad writing more than anything else. So you know what? Since he's cheating, we're gonna do this:
50 / 60 / 40 / 70 / 50 / 90
You've been debuffed, dumbass.
Now he's slightly stronger than a normal Pikachu, but no more than that.
That's my girl. Corin is the best~
How.
How the fuck did Ash (of all people!) get his hands on a legendary? Is this supposed to be a reference to the Ho-oh that he sees at the beginning of the anime? If so, that's really stupid. It gets better from here, because guess what?
(+200 BST)
It has a sudden boost for no reason too. I should remind everyone that Arceus, the god of Pokemon, has a base stat total of 720. Even if he were to Mega Evolve, he still wouldn't have as much as this ultra buffed Ho-oh. (Which I debuffed too, by the way. I did this for everything coming up)
What is this garbage?
Corin drops some rocks on them and we all get on with our lives.
... Oh right. See, in the original version of Dark Rising, the battle was supposed to end here because Ash said he was only going to use two of his Pokemon (which is infuriating, by the way). But since I have my hands on a trainer editor and I have a story going on here, Fafnir comes to fight instead.
Let's do this.
[Stop playing Death License and replace it with this]
[Sigurd manifests an Aura Saber onto his arm]
(Battle-wise, she's not that much different than before - but damn, does Aeroblast hurt.)
[Sigurd strikes her with Aura Saber. She falls to the ground and grasps her wound]
[The team stares at Fafnir with terrified looks on their faces]
[Sigurd flinches from the Aeroblast wound and falls to one knee]
[Fafnir looms over Sigurd and Siegfried - Monica looks away]
[Sigurd's entire body shakes]
[A black aura envelops Fafnir's body and floods the entire battlefield. The darkness disperses to reveal her new form]
[Fafnir manifests a red Aura Saber and glares at Sigurd. The team charges out in front as Siegfried drags Sigurd to safety]
[The Invasion From Within]
Holy shit, here we go. Fafnir-S is arguably the scariest thing the team will deal with, probably even more so than the final boss. I had to swap Sigurd out here and heal him up because it was getting too intense even for him.
Her stats are:
110 / 110 / 100 / 145 / 110 / 120
She's effectively a faster, more powerful and more durable version of him with all of the same powers and even some of his appearance. Shit is getting real.
Arthur gets to be an absolute boss and tanks the Void Bomb while Monica heals up Sigurd.
[Sigurd jumps back into the fight. He and Fafnir trade blows strong enough to shape the landscape around them]
[Fafnir gasps]
[Fafnir falls to the ground on her back]
[As the team moves forward, Fafnir opens her eyes and stretches her arm toward them.]
[Cry A Live]
[Parts of Fafnir's body break into cracks. She closes her eyes and smiles]
[Monica pulls out a Full Restore and the Jewel of Life. The Jewel glows and envelops the Full Restore in a green aura]
[She applies it to Fafnir's wounds and they close up immediately]
[Siegfried embraces her in a tight hug]
[Schala's Theme]
[Sigurd joins in on the hug and struggles to hold back tears]
Yep. Not only is she joining the team, she's joining with her own Pokedex entry and comes in the super-powered form that Darugis gave her. Way to go, bad guy.
(Oh, and we kicked Ash and Pikachu out of the possession. Hooray.)
What's all this about?
Another Triangle of Power? (Also, these are the Tanoby Chambers - don't think for a second that I'm fooled by this anymore)
Now, at this point, the game throws a giant story dump on you about Darugis and where he came from. That would be really cool if it it wasn't completely underwhelming. I'll transcribe it here:
"Welcome to Pandora's Box. You are now in the mind of Darugis. I am... the voice. I have no physical form."
How... did we get into Darugis's mind to begin with - okay whatever. Here's a plot dump for you:
"Long ago... There was only darkness. Until Arceus, decided to make a new world... A world filled with Pokemon. It took Arceus seven days to complete the world. On the seventh day, he rested.
He began creating Pokemon of different types, natures, and species on the ground, air and sea. Arceus's followers, the legendary Pokemon, helped Arceus create the world. Each one had a designated job... One in particular was called Darugis."
I know this is trying to be epic and all, but there's a lot of things going on here that don't sit right with me. A lot of them are small (like how do you know it took seven days if there was no concept of space or time back then), but the biggest one is that this implies that there was a world before this.
I thought the Pokemon world we all know about was the only one that existed? Whatever.
More plot dump text: "Darugis's job was to create harmony through the Pokemon world. He was the highest in command and the other legendaries loved him. He soon began to feel superior... The recognition and sheer cockiness in him began to emit darkness, negativity, jealousy.
He soon challenged Arceus but evidently lost. Arceus sent him to the bowels of darkness, locking him inside Pandora's Box. The few legendaries did not like how Arceus banished Darugis and began to seperate, creating their own worlds."
What the hell is even going on at the end? Also, really? That's the reason Darugis is evil and trying to conquer the world and shit? That's about the weakest excuse I've ever heard for someone to become a villain and it only cements the in-game version of Darugis as a stupid one-dimensional overlord.
Next plot dump: "Darugis plotted, seeking revenge on Arceus. Darugis was still connected to Arceus in some way because Arceus cared for its followers. Arceus wanted to create friendship and love and thought Pokemon would be lonely.
He felt they needed... Thus, he created humans. However, Darugis saw the creation of humans as a plan. He tempted the first humans as they released it from its imprisonment. Negativity was now spread through Earth. Anger, jealousy, hatred, envy and so forth."
... Really. You're trying to go Adam and Eve on me now? How more pretentious can you get with this? Like seriously, nobody is ever really a bad guy because "oooh Darugis possessed me" or "lol i was betrayed in the past so go suck a dong". It's all stupid.
See, what Darugis is doing is effectively replacing Giratina as the Lucifer figure of Pokemon. That's insulting in of itself, but things get worse when you remember just how overpowered this son-of-a-bitch is.
We haven't gotten into actual battle stats and he's already ridiculously overpowered just from the story stuff alone. (Sadly, I couldn't fix this no matter how hard I tried unless I went in and reworked the entire plot - something I really don't want to do)
Final plot dump: "Darugis's plan was almost complete. Until a young trainer known as Jean Blake sealed it away inside Pandora's Box once again. But it was not sealed away completely... Extracting its revenge, Darugis trapped Jean Blake in an infinite void so he could not stop its plans ever again. Until now... You are in control of the story of Darugis. How it will unfold is all up to you. Go forth... into the gates of darkness."
Exactly. I am in control of this story now, and I can safely say that
I substitute your canon with my own.
[A Darkrai appears before Monica]
[Have this theme playing in the background]
[Demon King Odio]
[Darugis vanishes]
[She hugs Sigurd - he blushes]
Jeeeeesus christ, that was a lot of plot. The Fafnir and Darugis stuff is big enough to be a chapter on its own. Oh well, at least it's better than me being like "oh this game sucks" even though we all know that already. I'm just glad to provide content that's not being aggressive towards the game 24/7.
Anyway, the Malice Dungeon is just the Victory Road with a different name. Nothing we haven't already seen.
Oh yes, every gym leader in the game is here and they want Monica's blood because they're all possessed by Darugis. Whoopde-doo.
V-Rebirth is also here - not that he's much harder than how he was before.
That should be the last of him.
That moment when the burn left behind by Aura Saber is what kills you instead of the actual move itself.
GO HOME, VLAD
[One pimp-slap later]
Damn straight.
Oh hey, Pete's here. He tries to teach you Double-Edge to make up for not being that important to the plot anymore.
I guess if he wants to make himself feel important, then go ahead?
Fun fact - walking through the stairs instantly teleports you inside of the Pokemon League. I would assume this is because DRG messed up with the actual entrance, but guess what? Nothing is even wrong with the entrance.
In fact, it even has its own area name - the Malice Castle, yet it's completely inaccessible without cheats. Oh, by the way? In a certain corner of the Victory Road (cause you know, it's literally just the Victory Road without boulders), you can find a ton of sprites squished into one spot. It's really bizarre and I don't understand why it exists.
As tempting as it is to continue and fight the final opponents...
[The Winner is Me]
~SIDEQUEST TIME!~
Alright, so - remember this place from like Chapter 7 or so? This was the place where the Asshole-O-Meter exploded the first time due to the team being nowhere strong enough to deal with this guy.
Let's say hello, shall we?
The surprise is that he's Giovanni. You see, while the regular plot of the game was happening with Monica and pals fighting Darugis, Giovanni here had Team Rocket fall apart on him as Darugis convinced Mewtwo to... rule by their side?! That's pretty crazy.
So... Giovanni thought of a new plan - he's going to contact the other evil team leaders to form a new empire, one that should be strong enough to rival even Darugis's. Hah, he has no idea what the fuck he's trying to get himself into.
He also boasts that Darugis gave him mind control powers for some reason. Yeah, sure, I'll take your word on that.
Now, here's the thing about Giovanni and his plot. He's... ultimately nothing in the grand scheme of things. We don't need another villain figure in this story when we already have Darugis and his vastly overpowered moveset and army.
If anything, it would be hilarious to see him and the evil team desperately try to fight Darugis only to get completely destroyed.
Now I have this wonderful image in my head where the evil team leaders are trying to charge at Darugis with sharpened sticks... and he doesn't do anything to stop them. In fact, he feels bad that they're even trying so hard.
Battle-wise, Giovanni is a joke. He has a pitiful set-up of
Blah blah, Monica is the hero, I'm going to make an evil empire muwahahaha, etc.
[He wriggles his fingers at Monica]
Giovanni: "I'm using my mind control powers!"
Yeah, nobody's forgetting about this anytime soon. Sorry, pal.
Cheats on screen. I am not apologizing.
What the - oh my god, how.
You see, Gaea Cave is connected to Inferno Mountain, which is in the No Man's Land. The Inferno Mountain goes downward out towards the Montage Fortress, so logically we should not end up in Flamen Town.
This is a small thing after everything we've encountered throughout this adventure, but everything builds up after a while. It's actually getting really sad how people saw this as quality work.
Monica visits home and fuels up for the final battle.
[Awakening]
Oh yes, while we're at it, I should show off Signe. She gets her own menu sprite and uh... Varik is Sheol before I changed his name. He was going to be named after the protagonist of an obscure game called Brandish (that somehow made it into Toby's Earthbound Halloween Hack), but I figured Sheol would be more appropriate.
I can understand why Varik/Sheol doesn't get a menu sprite due to being a limbo mon, but why doesn't Ammy? You are plot-required to capture her to (technically) proceed with the game, even if the game doesn't say you have to.
Also, Signe is 10 levels lower than when we fought her because... okay, I don't have a good reason beyond "I tried to cheat code her into the game". But still, that's pretty powerful for someone who's just joined the team.
DRG wishes us good luck, even though I'm doubtful she actually wanted someone to complete this with what's ahead.
Next time on Dark Rising, we round off the final fights and finish the game. About god damn time.
See you then.
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Team setup:
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Back up team: