This takes place a year (at least) after Snakewood ended, so Jack's been living at Fort Draco for quite some time now.

: [Stretches arms] "Man, I still can't believe the region was full of zombies a year ago."

: ("I know you don't want to accept a straight compliment, but we couldn't have done it without you. It was your leadership that kept us going.")

: "Leadership, huh? Still can't get over the fact my dumb ass managed to do anything of value around here, or that people actually listen to me for anything."

: ("Well, of course! It's not surprising that the people of Hoenn see you as a hero after what happened. I've always believed in you, but it's nice to see other people see that in you as well.")

: "... How do you always know the right thing to say to me? Genuine question."

: ("It's simple: You're honest.")

[A dragon's voice calls out for Jack]



: "Master Jack! We have a problem!"

: "Just when we were having a moment, too. What's the deal?"

: "King Meteor will explain the rest."

: "... Oh, this ought to be good."



: "So what's the problem, Dragon King?"

: "We've received word of powerful malicious energy in certain parts of Hoenn. The sensations are so overpowering that people get sick just passing by these areas."

: "Wow, that bad?"

: "We're positive that Senex has returned... but Izumii says that these are different forces than anything we've seen before. Regardless, you're our strongest Knight, Jack. Will you help us?"

: "Of course! In fact, I've been waiting for another chance like this - I hate to admit it, but doing rescue relief and attending all of those meetings was legitimately boring me to death."

: "I can sympathize. Anyway, prepare yourself before you leave - we don't know what sort of plan the Dark Lord has in store for you."



: "So, everyone's fine? Is Menti* okay? I have to ask so I can leave without getting worried."

(*: A zombified Azumarill that we picked up during the course of Snakewood.)

: "Yes. She's resting right now but she's fine. Still... It's amazing that strange deer-shaped Pokemon * was able to reverse the zombification process."

(*2: Hello, early-bird cameo.)

: "Yeah, no kidding... I'm kinda pissed that Xerneas wasn't here earlier, though. That would have solved our problems a lot faster... Then again, she did say she couldn't stay for long or someone would find her? I don't remember the details. Anyway, I'm going. Take good care of the back-up team while I'm gone."

: "Good luck, Master Jack."

Oh yes, by the way: I had to download a new copy of Snakewood just to do this because I deleted it after I originally finished the let's play. As such, I had to recreate the team from scratch. Ooops.



: "So... the first disturbance is at Meteor Falls. Please god don't let this suck."



: "... There's nothing here."



: "Damn it, this better not be a prank like that one time. 'Oh hey, let's send Jack on a fake errand and surprise him when he gets home'. I swear -"

[The area briefly goes pitch black. An enormous pressure overwhelms the area, followed by a creature appearing behind Jack]



: ("Jack...")

[Jack gains a cold sweat and slowly turns around]



: "HOLY MOTHER OF ARCEUS! So this is what they meant!"

: ("... Kill you...")



[Song for this bit: Amalgam - Dual Mix]

well psyduck

That's definitely not normal.

I also love it when a series does the whole "fighting an enemy you're not supposed to encounter until later" thing - the best example of this I can think of is when you fight the final boss of Kingdom Hearts 2 as a bonus boss in the HD re-release of Kingdom Hearts 1.

Anyway, this... thing is / with Intimidate. Here's her stats:

120 / 81 / 120 / 130 / 130 / 85 (666 Total)

I mean, yeesh.



Bellamine gained Hypnosis during the timeskip and puts it to good use. Unfortunately, this weird Darkrai Cresselia thing is also very powerful and could easily slaughter most of Jack's team due to her typing.



[The Cresselia's form collapses into black dust]

: ("Wow, that evil Cresselia was super strong... I can't imagine if we had to fight more than one.")

It took all of the team just to kill her! That's... uh... telling.



: "Jeez... if this is what they were talking about then no wonder they sent me to go deal with it."

[A voice rings through the Pokephone]

[Song for this bit: X Invasion]

: "Jack! There's a disturbance at Mount Chimney! Sage Izumii needs your help!"

: "Crap, another one? Whatever these things are, they're fast."



: "Ah, Jack! I was tending to this lost Zigzagoon when this vile force showed up and disoriented my senses. It's taking all of my strength to stay seated on the mountain, so please hurry."

: "Oh wow. I'm on it!"



: "So here's the other one... Some kinda weird Lucario?"

: ("... All hail the demon king.")

: "What? What are you -"

[The black Lucario charges at Jack but gets deflected by Valor's blade]

: ("Not so fast, tough guy!")



[Amalgam - Dual Mix]

That thing looks siiiiick. I wish we had one to keep for ourselves, but oh well. (The sprite was not actually made by The Composer but instead another one of our friends, Zangbite. It's an old sprite from 2007 or so but it fit so much that I just had to use it.)

He is / type with Intimidate and comes with a bevy of powerful physical moves like Aerial Ace, Faint Attack and, last but not least, Aura Sphere.

Yeah, he means business, and I'll be shocked if anybody can take him out with ease. Here are his stats:

110 / 160 / 100 /150 / 100 / 120 (740 Total)

I mean jesus christ. To compare, Senex only has 690 BST and he's the main villain of Snakewood!



: ("One wrong move and that could be it...!")

Out of all the Pokemon I had to bring back, Juno is probably the best one. Her / type makes her able to stand up against this monstrosity without getting curb-stomped. Will-O-Wisp is also an incredible boon because this thing is way too strong.

: ("Too close!")

: ("This might have been messy if you weren't here, Juno. Anyway...") [Cracks knuckles]

[Valor used Brick Break!]





:("Don't mess with The Crew.")

: "We did it! I hope, anyway."

[The Pokephone rings]

: "... I knew it."

: "Jack, are you there? We've pin-pointed Senex's location! He's at Mt. Pyre. No doubt he plans on repeating the zombie apocalypse bit... please, stop him!"

: "Oh no, not this again. I'll get him for sure this time!"



[Song for this bit: Magic Flute]

: "Deep breaths... it's only the same guy you beat a year ago. You can do this."



: ("Wait... Jack, I feel something else here.")

: "Huh? Like what, Bellamine?"

: ("It's like my entire body is being crushed by two conflicting forces... Perhaps he has an accomplice.")

: "Well... there was that one Darkrai Lucario that said 'all hail the demon king'. I guess he has those guys under his control too."

: ("Whatever it is, we have to be on guard.")



[Theme for this bit: Stealthy Shadow]

: "So you came, Jack. Excellent timing."

: "You nearly kept us waiting."

: "How did I know you would do this? Also, Gleis? You brought him too?"

: "Of course I did. I'm astonished that you didn't expect me to escape that wretched Pokeball. I hope you've made peace with your god, because I'm going to pay you back for all of the humiliation you've caused me."

: "Of course the necromancer of all people is stubborn enough to beat a dead horse. By the way, what's with the screwed up Darkrai Pokemon you've put around the place? I thought your thing was zombies."

: "... Darkrai Pokemon? I have no idea what you are talking about. But you are correct about my preferences!"

[Senex snaps his fingers and summons some corpses]



: "I've made the playing field a little more even."

: "Oh, not this bullmuk again!"

: "What was it you said...? Death is too good for you? Let's start by giving you a good belt whipping."



[Theme for this bit: Dark Boy's Revenge]

Let's do this.



His first Pokemon up is a Shinigami because I thought they were one of the coolest Fakemon in Snakewood.

: ("Oh no. Bellamine, I think I found your 'boyfriend'.")

: ("Him again?!")

: ("Oh, miss Bellamine~ Your lover boy Nero is back and ready to pick out a coffin for us to -")

[Bellamine and Jeanne blast him with Flamethrower, Confuse Ray and Psychic]



: ("Oh come on!!")

: ("Maybe I should dump the puns and pick-up lines...")

[Nero fades away again]

: ("That'd be a good start.")



Senex also had a Headdoom for some reason. They were equipped with Flamethrower and Bright Idea (Nasty Plot) but Valor stomps them out before they can even do anything. Oh well.



Ahahahaha.

This one's easy.



It always feels good to stack like 50 Calm Minds and then obliterate everything in sight (that's not a Dark type).



They can try all they want, but there's no stopping the pain train.







Faceleech was here too I guess.



oH MUK waddup

I made Gleis a fightable character in this! He is / with the following stats:

70 / 60 / 60 /125 / 80 / 120 (515 Total)

He comes with Psychic, Thunderbolt, Hypnosis and Dream Eater as his moves. Hypnosis and Dream Eater in particular are based off of the segment where he messes with the protagonist's head and chucks them into the Necropolis's prison pit.

I figured I should do this because he kept making a big fuss about how his magic could make Jack into his cosmic plaything, so... why not actually fight him?

It's payback time.

: "Time to pay you back for interrupting my act, Gardevoir."

: ("Let's dance.")



He's trying to do to Bellamine what he did to Jack.

[Bellamine fell asleep!]

: ("Wh-what?")

: "Ooh, what is this?"

: ("R-Rubus...? Where are you?")

: "Haha... I've got you now!"

: ("... No! This is a trap!")

[Bellamine wakes up and uses Calm Mind!]



: "Damn, so close..."

: ("Did you really think an amateur trick like that would work on me?")

[They trade Psychic attacks and shoot thunderbolts everywhere]



: "Im... impossible! How can something like you..."

: ("You're the one who made it personal by going into my head. Allow me to repay the favor.")

[Bellamine used Psychic!]





[Gleis has a soulless look on his face and drools from his mouth]

Don't mess with her, christ.



: "Enough of this! I'm going to get rid of you myself!"

There he is. Senex would normally be the toughest opponent yet due to his blistering strength and the fact he's a Karate Grandpa, but...



: ("Nyah, nyah, nyah!")

Nothing he does can hit Juno. No, seriously.

The Dark Lord can't do anything to hurt even a simple Banette.





This is proof that I should have brought Juno more often in the normal game.



: "How does this keep happening to me!?"

: "Easy - you're old and stubborn. Get with the times."

: "Arrggh! This is but a taste of what I have planned for you. The corpse army shall -"

[The area briefly goes pitch black]



[The two Darkmons eviscerate the zombies in the area]



: "How in the -- but I thought I killed them already!"

: "What?! What are these beasts, and how did they destroy my puppets so quickly!?"

: ("I assume it's my turn to make an entrance.")



[Theme for this bit: Demon King Odio]

: "Who are you?!"

: ("Oh, I have many names, but the one I'm using right now is Darugis.")

: ("The Demon King.")

: "N-no... It can't be. I thought you were merely a legend. But here you are, standing before me... why are you here!?"

: ("You only have yourself to blame - you did a lot of damage for some no name necromancer. Pulping Hoenn with the zombies you made wound up being the perfect vehicle for my resurrection: there's a lot of angry souls who want your head, and my followers converted them into energy for me.")

: ("I'd ask you to come over to my side so we can rule this place together, but that never goes well with you tyrannical overlord types.")

: "You're said to be the master of evil, hatred incarnate... Interesting. I serve no master but myself... but if I were to defeat you, then I would become the true Demon King. "

: ("Ah, there it is. This dandy really thinks he can beat me? It'd be hilarious if it wasn't pathetic. Am I right?")

[He slaps the shoulder of the white Lucario next to him. She gives them a nervous grin]

: ("Haha... yes...")

: "So you're the one who's been making the Darkrai Pokemon?! No wonder they were stronger than anything I've fought before! And just when I thought madness and cake was the worst of my problems."

: ("Yes, that's right. What are you going to do about it, little man? You could barely stand up to just two. Not only that, you had a hard time against the necromancer and he's practically a child compared to me. I'd tell you to run, but it'd be disingenuous to offer you the illusion of choice.")

: "Arrogant 'on high' douchebags like you just piss me off! I'll save this region no matter what comes in here!"

: ("Feisty. You remind me of one of my old adversaries... But are you as good as them?")



[Theme for this bit: Illusion]

Holy Hell here we go

Darugis is the main villain of Dark Rising, so... spoilers?

I don't think it really matters considering they tell you about him as soon as the first game starts.



Yeah, Darugis can just make an army of these guys? That, uh... is a bit terrifying considering how much effort it took just to get rid of two. They're definitely no easy zombies.





Thankfully, Juno manages to crack this one's skull open with her fearsome jump kicks.



Ditto for Valor. They're a battle couple now, don't you know?



: ("It's not a smart idea to defy Master, you know. Give up and we'll go easy on you.")

: ("Interesting offer, but we'll have to decline.")

This, my friends, is Fafnir. She is a Lugia/Lucario fusion and is /.

She'll be more relevant later on and that's all I'm going to say about her. For now?



She gets tag-teamed by Bellamine and Jeanne.

: ("You're practically walking to your deaths...")

: "What now? We beat your underlings. They weren't that hard, big guy."

: ("Really? Let's see how well you can eat your words.")



: ("Provided I'm generous enough to leave a body for people to mourn afterwards.")



We're basically fighting Dark Rising's main villain... as Jack. Keep in mind, he has the following stats:

205 / 205 / 205 / 205 / 205 / 205 (1,230 Total)

I'm not kidding. For those of you wondering: Yes, he REALLY IS that god damn strong in the game he comes from.

The sprite, however, was made by my friend, The Composer. She's great. )

The worst part about it is that I also brought in all of his moves (Dark Chaos - a 200 power Dark move that also poisons 100% of the time)... and again, we're fighting him with Jack. The same Jack that used (relatively) normal Pokemon.

You can already tell how this is gonna go.





I mean, what can you do against something that strong? You'd have to like... hack in your own super uber mon just to stand a chance.



: "Wh... but how am I supposed to do this?!"

Psyduckin' bodied.

: "You useless delinquent. Stand back and watch how a TRUE master does it!"

: "Senex, you...?"

: "Spare me the commentary - when I take over as the Demon King, your corpse and those of your Pokemon will adorn my throne room. However, it seems I have to gain my title..."

: ("Hahaha, this is rich. You're serious? You lost to him! How do you expect to beat me? It's simple math at this point.")



: "Watch and learn, you false king."

Ooooh boy, we're playing as Senex!

I should have shown this off in the actual LP, honestly. His backsprite is great.



: "You can't stop me with this!"

Amazingly, despite this being super-effective, this doesn't one-shot Senex!

They're more badass than I gave them credit.



[Darugis recoils]

: ("Damn, good shot. That one actually stung a bit.")

Senex got a hit in. Yowza.



He got more than one! Wow, I'm impressed.

: "Your crown is mine, Demon King!"

: ("Unfortunately for you...")

[Darugis used Demon Wing!]



: ("It seems you were never meant to wear it. Not enough blood on your hands.")



: "Wh-what...? This can't be how things end for me... The world cannot go on without me! I will --!"

[Senex turns to dust and blows away in the wind]

: "... Oh muk."



[Darugis clutches the various wounds Senex inflicted on him]

: ("Damn... that crusty old idiot hit me harder than I realized. Maybe I woke up too soon? Regardless, a regeneration spot for something like this is embarrassing.")

: "Hey! You're not getting away!"

[Fafnir blocks him]

: ("Oh right, I nearly forgot about the ant in the room. I have more important things to worry about than you... but I may as well reward you too.")

[Darugis shoots Bellamine with a black lightning bolt. She falls to her knees]

[Song for this bit: Long Shadow]



: ("Ah! Jack! I... I can't move!")

: "What'd you do to her?!"

: ("I'm no longer in any condition to fight after what that dandy did to me, so let's play a game instead. Your little Gardevoir friend will be teleported to my region... she'll go mad with fear as she'll have to constantly run away from my forces hunting her down - Have fun.")

: "You sick bastard!"

: ("Jack, I know you can find me. We won't be gone for long, I pro--")

[Everyone but Jack vanishes]



: "Damn it! Bellamine! I swear I won't rest until we find you!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonus team setup:

(Ambes, , Level 70, ) - "Miss Bellamine!! No!!"
(Jeanne, , Level 80, ) - "They'll pay for this! I'll burn Darugis to the bone!"
(Juno, , Level 75, /) - "What?! No! We have to get her back!"
(Valor, , Level 80, has Plus Band, /) - "Yo... That didn't actually just happen, did it?"
(Ballin, , level 71, /) - "Oh snap."

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Back-up Team:

(Reggie, , Level 65, has Leftovers, /) - "Just when you think it's all over - bam! They pull you right back in, mon."
(Zagon, , Level 63, /) - "No idea, but this is horrible!"
(Alice, , level 63, ) - "Noooo, Miss Bellamine!!"
(Ace, , Level 65, has Anadrin Talon, /) - "Jack, get on my back! We have to move fast!"
(Gauss, , Level 70, /) - "What!? No! We're not going to let this happen! I'm coming with ya!"
(Umbra, , Level 62, ) - "... Darkrai Pokemon? I'm surprised that only two were that much of a problem!"
(Tohru, , Level 60, /) - "I'm curious as to what would happen if I fought a Darkrai version of myself, honestly..."
(Pumbloom, , level 56, ) - "WHAT."
(Wagner, , Level 60, /) - "Someone that's even worse than Senex... I would have never dreamed such a thing was true."
(Chloris, , level 61, /) - [Stares slack-jawed at what happened]
(Beatrice, , Level 60, /) - "Make room for me, boys! No way I'm sitting this one out!"
(Spark, , level 32, ) - "Yo, lemme at that demon king guy. He deserves a punch in the face for stealing Bellamine!"
(Shine, , level 33, ) - "... Somehow I don't think that would be a wise idea, Spark."
(Alpha, level 55, /) - [Is serving as Jack's computer]
(Letro, level 50, /) - "CALCULATING... ERROR! CANNOT DETERMINE THE STRENGTH OF THE DEMON KING!"
(Menti, , level 57, ) - "One of the first things I hear about after getting revived and it's miss Bellamine getting kidnapped?! Are you kidding me?!"
(Cherry, , level 60, ) - "No! This can't be happening!"

(Ivory has long since passed on)

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Portrait Credits: