Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen May 12, 2025
This is going to be an exercise in frustration.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter 2 - Your Thieving Heart[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Unlike the last few Pokemon let's plays, I'm actively switching out Pokemon so everyone can get some screentime.
With a name like that, this place is bound to be sunshine and rainbows.
Yep, just what I expected.
I know I'm cheating to even have Arthur and the rest of the crew here, but I can't help but laugh when I see a level 10 Escavalier smash a Rattata with his forehead.
Jeanne is incredibly busted this time around because Ninetales in this game have Drought as a primary ability...
This is a vast step-up from her appearance in Snakewood and she was already the team carrier in that game so yeeesh.
Ah yes, something cool I should mention - DRG litters certain areas with rare starter encounter chances - she did this even in the first game. It's a nice concept, but unfortunately when you actually do find one, they're at level 10... In a game where you are forced to grind to level 99 to beat the game.
If someone else is a trainer, even something as innocent as saying hi will end up with blood flowing through the streets.
I show off how cruel I am by atomizing a poor Sewaddle. There is nothing left of it, christ!
You can find Carnivine around here, but aside from their kooky faces and existence as a flying venus fly trap... not much else going for them.
For context, Beatrice is a Pokemon that goes as far back as the Snakewood let's play but never had her full potential realized due to Roserades not existing in that game. She returned around the end of the first Dark Rising, but at that point I had already super-grinded and had a solidified team, so she couldn't really do anything there.
... Until this game, that is. She's not only an early team member with great moves and stats, but you're not even supposed to get a Roserade in the first place.
♫I love cheating, I love breakin' things ~♫
You know, it would have been really appreciated if you sold these in the mart that we just went to.
: "I don't even know you, but okay."
[Jeanne roasts every Pokemon of his indiscriminately]
There's just... Hoothoot everywhere. I think they're there for creepy(?) effect, but okay.
Small question - why is there a monk in the middle of the woods? He's just... there. Also, let it be said that DRG has not fixed her recolor problem, because yeesh those black robes.
Oh good let's make the death god fox even more powerful - Dan is totally fair
You see, since Jeanne comes with a free Sunny Day every fight now, I replaced the move with something far more insidious... In fact, just watch.
This is a real thing Ninetales can do, and it's glorious.
Have I talked about Gale yet? She's Monica's personal pilotwing, but is also easily the most powerful bird yet due to Staraptor's incredible 120 base attack stat.
Oh yes, there's also Kricketune - a Pokemon I like due to them being a conductor cricket with a big doofy moustache, but that's about all they have going for them.
... Is he wearing a Rasta hat or is that hair?
"You're one of them losers causing trouble in Tabula Rasa, aren't you?!"
: "You got the wrong idea. Me and my friends are actually pursuing those guys right now."
???: "Yeah, right! Who do you think you're foolin'? No one messes with the people of my hometown. You're going down, sucka!"
: "I don't have time for this, back off!"
This is the most reasonable line anybody has said in this series yet.
???: "No way, pal! My name's Benga and I'm the protector of the people!"
Wait, what?
Why does this guy appear in every fangame now? Although if I'm gonna be real with you, this is arguably his worst appearance yet not just because of the level curse but also because of plot complications. You'll see what I mean in a sec...
His first Pokemon isn't much of a problem - it's just a Nidoran... One that should be a Nidorino by now (they evolve at level 16) but I'm not complaining.
Arthur drills into the poor son of a bitch with his candy cane lances.
Larvesta's up next and to be honest, they're not that bad. I'd be much more worried if it were Volcarona because Volcarona is a beast, but right now?
Yeah, they're mince-meat. The most incredible thing that I've learned recently is that there is a functioning Physical/Special split working in this hack, which explains why Earth Power was doing relatively little damage earlier. Good on this hack.
Zen Headbutt has also been changed to be less game-breaking as it can no longer stunlock opponents into oblivion. In fact, it can't induce flinching at all anymore. It's really bizarre how hot and cold the mechanics for this one move have been as time passed.
Zangoose is easily the biggest threat out of Benga's team due to them having an impeccable attack stat and being level 22 (naturally). I swear, this game would be infinitely more accessible if you didn't have to do forced grinding.
These two duke it out for a bit before both of them get down to dangerously low levels of health. Then this happened:
Like damn, that was a close shave. Anything less and I would have been out a Staraptor.
"There's no way you're one of them losers then, they wouldn't be this strong. Who the heck are you?"
: ("This guy... he battles so aggressively. What's his deal?")
(Gale got burned in between frames because I had to keep retrying this fight multiple times just because of how unnecessarily difficult it was.)
: "My name's Monica. I just came to the Omni Region not too long ago to seek out a monster named Darugis. He's trying to destroy the world and has an organization working with him to destroy all Pokemon."
: "Uh-huh... The first part sounds like I need to investigate. But the second part... I could care less. Actually, the world would be better off without Pokemon. Deep down they're evil and just waiting for the right moment to strike all of us."
I can't. This guy cannot be serious.
Benga, you unbelievable hypocrite, what did you just use to fight Monica's team?
This has to be one of the stupidest plot threads I've seen in a game yet, because Benga hates every Pokemon out there despite having a team of his own and his beef primarily revolving around only four Pokemon in particular. It makes no goddamn sense no matter which way you look at it.
: "What are you saying? Pokemon are living creatures and our friends. (Hell, you even used some right now to fight me.)"
: "You're a fool. I'm out of here. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you again soon."
[Benga leaves]
Why, you little donkey. I imagine Monica and the team just staring at him with the biggest "what the fuck" faces they could make just due to how this guy's logic works.
This guy tells you to pick up the Pokedex or your Pokemon won't be able to evolve... To be brutally honest, if you have to put a person here to remind your players to pick up the Pokedex, then I'm pretty sure you're doing game design wrong.
Second town in the game and it's a Grass place.
: "Smells nice, though."
: "Uh... not necessarily."
Imagine actually having to take care of over 800+ Pokemon. You'd be so overwhelmed that you'd need a small country's worth of resources to satisfy them, and that's just for starters.
Unedited dialogue...
Complete with the Drowzee guy being exactly the same. Not very slick, huh?
"Ivy, is passionate about Pokemon battles just as much as she's into making our city smell beautiful. Don't get on her bad side, though, or you'll feel the wrath of her thorns."
Oh, I'm so intimidated. Then again, given where the levels in this game go, I probably should be intimidated.
(Makes a Spearow noise)
Well, uh... I'll leave you to that.
"Do not talk to my children either."
: ("What's his problem?")
You know, aside from entering his house as a stranger. I was gonna leave it at that, but as it turns out... this is actually building up to something interesting...
I hope, anyway.
You can get a Makuhita here, but neither choice is particularly useful. Now, if Mega Beedrill were in this game, that'd be an entirely different story.
Certain towns sell specific evolutionary stones. That's neat, but I don't really care for the Pokemon that utilize them here. (That, and I've got a team of fully-evolved Pokemon that I've already cheated in.)
Walked in and out of the city only to see... this. It's the same lady who tells you about Ivy, but she's been displaced behind the house for some reason.
... To be fair, it's at least a different layout from Erika's gym from the original Firered.
: "Cool. I'm a real big fan of battling."
: "As you can probably tell."
: ("Monica is quite the vixen - no wonder why Jack took a liking to her.")
These girls have never seen a real lady, apparently.
Especially when I swap out to Siegfried to give them a small fighting chance and to spread out the experience.
"I can tell you're no stranger to gym battles. But I'm sorry to say that you've never faced a gym leader like me before. I gracefully use my Pokemon's ability to cause status effects upon my opponent. You will fall to my venom!"
: "We'll see about that. I'm always ready for a battle!"
Hello, Cheryl. So this is what you've been doing after the Sinnoh games.
Cheryl was my second favorite of the partners you could get in the Sinnoh games, with Marley being first due to my crippling fascination with goth girls.
If I were higher-leveled, this would be a massacre... but instead it's merely a slaughter.
Ivysaur is bulky enough to survive a Drought-powered Flamethrower, but I attribute that primarily to the lack of levels.
Tropius also had a ton of health, but thanks to the sun influence, Siegfried punches her out in a flash.
(Future Dan: I've just realized. How can there be strong sunlight indoors? Are they using skylights?)
Meet Not-Cheryl's ace in the hole and a Pokemon that would otherwise be unobtainable if I didn't hack in Beatrice for myself. Roserade is just as tough as you think she is, and comes with a nasty assortment of moves that you've already seen Beatrice do.
Extrasensory and Sludge Bomb are the biggest problems here thanks to a crazy 125 Special Attack stat and being able to outspeed everyone due to the level gap. I swear Not-Cheryl is one of the most annoying Gym Leaders in the game just for Roserade alone.
And you. Well, I just plain don't like you.
Amoonguss isn't hard, especially compared to what came before them, but they're an eyesore to me anyway.
"As proof of your victory, I confer on you this... the official Pokemon League Thornbadge."
Nice. We can use Flash now (
) and...
We can also learn Giga Drain - an excellent move, but it's hindered by it only having 5 PP. I'm not even kidding. Giga Drain was boosted to have 10 PP and have 75 power after Gen 5, but what can you do? (You know, aside from changing it so that's not the case... laziness will be the death of me one day.)
You can meet the Fishing Guru in the route ahead and get a rod from him. That's cool and all, but your friend is a bit more interesting.
That Clauncher sprite is pretty good, although I attribute that more to the base that DRG used for this game. It's not even necessarily a surprise that this is built on a base either, because she lists it on the Pokecommunity page for Dark Rising 2.
Also, that poor Tympole had to suffer for our amusement.
I can give this one a break because they're not selling Paralyze Heals in stores... but it's still a problem because paralysis was being more of an issue than poison.
"Oh no, I'm running late! I should get into a Pokemon fight with this random girl, aaaaaaa!"
Like come on, dude.
Oh, so you meant like an X-Games guy, not a terrorist. Okay, that's easier to take in.
I do like how DRG switches up the fights by making them Double Battles sometimes... That, and you get to see both members of the Nido family. You know, I still can't get over how they're essentially poisonous monster bunnies.
Before we get the plot train going, there's some stuff I have to get first.
(Also, that weird tomato bird is supposed to be a Fletchling. It looks strikingly similar to a fakemon from Snakewood called Cinderco, though...)
You have this big pedestal with stairs... for a simple Ether. This is super underwhelming when compared to the Max Ethers/Elixirs that we got earlier.
: "I know you have a Dragon Pokemon. Let's see it!"
: "For the last time, no, I don't have any Dragon Pokemon!"
: "... Wait, I remember you. You're the girl I saw standing around the Malice Courtyard entrance in the Core Region. Are you following us?"
So that random girl back at the end of the first game did have a purpose.
: "I also saw you stealing from the Pokemart in Eden City. You're hiding something."
: "Hmph. So what? I steal, it's what I do, it's the only way I know how to survive. It's none of your business!"
For some reason I can't entirely get behind this girl despite the fact she steals just to survive. There's an underlying layer of "bitch" to it that I can't exactly pin down.
: "We're wasting time here. Dray and Florina already went on ahead to Volton City. We believe Darugis has a hidden base set up around there."
(Oh yeah, I played ahead and saw how these guys acted. They deserve portraits now.)
: "Hey, you. Let's have a battle. If I win, you return the goods you stole from the mart and we'll leave you alone for good. If I lose, you're free to go with the goods in hand."
: "What?! Monica, are you not listening? She has a Dragon Pokemon with some intense energy! She might be the third chosen one, not Light."
A refresher for who Light is: He's some prick that was raised to protect Arceus, but grew tired of it and joined Darugis because he didn't want to be a slave to god or something.
Noah is making the most sense, though. You'll see what I mean when we get to fighting this mystery girl.
Her sprite isn't half bad, although I'm concerned as to why she has fire coming out of her hand. Doesn't that hurt?
Much like Benga, she has a member of the Nido family... that goes down in a snap thanks to Earth Power.
Her Seviper is one of the easier Pokemon to deal with thanks to it being a straight-forward Poison type with no real surprises.
Then we have... Fennekin. Alright, it's a member of one of my favorite starter trios in the series, but feast your eyes on this madness:
+213 BST! (A normal Fennekin has: 40 / 45 / 40 /62 / 60 / 60)
That's insane. What, is this Super-Fennekin? This is almost enough to give Delphox a run for its money! I'll admit though, aside from their big head, the sprite looks great.
There's even a shiny programmed in, but given how you can't encounter Fennekin anywhere... I attribute this to the base that DRG used.
To add insult to injury, they nearly beat Corin (a pseudo-legendary with a type advantage). God damn, that's stupid. However, this isn't the worst that Bandanna Girl has up her sleeve. You know how Noah kept bringing up that she had a Dragon Pokemon?
Yeah, this is what he meant.
A level 30 Noivern?! A level 30 anything would be a huge obstacle, but a pseudo-legendary of all things? Someone really needed to step in when it came to the level scaling, jeez.
Oh, and to top it off? THEY HAVE SHADOW TAG.
Yes, a level 30 pseudo-legendary that you can't run from. That's pure evil and I hate every part of the thought process that went into it.
Wave has Ice Beam to clip their wings, but nearly died in the process. I'll give Bandanna Girl this - she stole a damn fine Pokemon to kick our ass with.
Raking in the moola~
"I cannot have Fennekin go hungry another night!"
Poor little super baby.
: ("That was a powerful Dragon alright, a unique one too. She has Pokemon I've never heard of before... Who is she?")
"But a deal's a deal, return the stuff you stole and come with us. We have some questions for you."
: "You sound like a policeman bringing a thief into custody."
: "Never knew you had jokes, Sydney."
In all seriousness, though... Huh.
: "No! Just leave me alone!"
: "H-hey! She's trying to get away! Monica, meet up with Dray and Florina at Volton City. We'll get the girl!"
: "Alright..."
[All three of them escape into the cave]
Well, that was fun. The level curve is still outrageous, but things seem to be taking a better turn than the last game.
The Lunar Cave, huh? Is it gonna be -
Huh. The name confused me there for a second because it doesn't seem to be a ripoff of Mount Moon at all. The layout is completely different and there's even a custom tileset (I think, anyway).
This water isn't animated and I don't think you can even surf on it. Peculiar.
True to its name, you can find Lunatones around here. Man, you'd expect the actual Sun and Moon games to do more with Lunatone and Solrock, but... nope. Just a cameo (by name) in the desert that nobody goes into except to get Tapu Bulu.
If there's any more moon stuff in the Lunar Cave, I'm going to bust a nut.
Hikers in this game wear all white and well... yeah. I'll let the screenshot speak for itself.
There was a bug guy around here, and lemme just say that I wish Leavanny was more powerful. I adore their design but their horrendous typing (Bug/Grass) makes them vulnerable to so many things that it's not even funny.
Maybe they'll continue Mega Evolutions by the Sinnoh remakes or something.
Escape Ropes are a necessity for dungeons, especially when they get all long and labyrinthine.
Oh no, I guess we should respect his property and le--
Psych! It's mine now, buddy boy.
You get all these cool things, but there's no real fight waiting for you at the end. The pace is certainly better at the very least.
Next time on Pokemon Dark Rising 2... Actually, I'm not at liberty to reveal what comes next. It's that much of a surprise.
See you then.
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Team setup:
(Corin, level 23,
,
/
) - "Does it feel... weird to anyone else here? Like there's something in the air?"
(Gale, level 22,
,
/
) - "Yeah... It's kind of a familiar feeling."
(Wave, level 24,
,
) - "I can't believe I actually shot down that super dragon! I didn't know I had it in me."
(Arthur, level 23,
,
/
) - "Well, of course Wave. You're quite the strong lass, you know..."
(Bellamine, level 24,
,
) - "Hmm? This feeling... This aura... It's almost as if the person who's emitting it is right next to us. It's that powerful!"
(Beatrice, level 24,
,
/
) - [Stretches] "Aah! It's been a long time since I've really gotten to work. This is great exercise."
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Back-up Team:
(Jeanne, level 20,
,
) - "Mmmhmm. Yes, we're gonna have a lot of fun this time around."
(Ambes, level 23,
,
) - "Whoa. Did anyone else feel that? That was like the worst chill I've gotten in a while!"
(Ignell, level 17,
,
/
) - "I'll be fine if I don't go to fight, really. Whatever the rest of the team is dealing is far too much for my blood now."
(Siegfried, level 21,
,
/
) - "Oh, so you can detect it too, Ambes? That's pretty good. It's been a long time, but I can never mistake those auras."
(Candelabra, level 22,
,
/
) - "Wait, what? You can't be serious! Is it really..."
(Iris, level 6,
,
) - "So is anybody going to fill us in on what's happening here?"
(Lucera, level 5,
,
) - "That would be appreciated, yes."
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter 2 - Your Thieving Heart[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Spoiler:
Unlike the last few Pokemon let's plays, I'm actively switching out Pokemon so everyone can get some screentime.
With a name like that, this place is bound to be sunshine and rainbows.
Yep, just what I expected.
I know I'm cheating to even have Arthur and the rest of the crew here, but I can't help but laugh when I see a level 10 Escavalier smash a Rattata with his forehead.
Jeanne is incredibly busted this time around because Ninetales in this game have Drought as a primary ability...
This is a vast step-up from her appearance in Snakewood and she was already the team carrier in that game so yeeesh.
Ah yes, something cool I should mention - DRG litters certain areas with rare starter encounter chances - she did this even in the first game. It's a nice concept, but unfortunately when you actually do find one, they're at level 10... In a game where you are forced to grind to level 99 to beat the game.
If someone else is a trainer, even something as innocent as saying hi will end up with blood flowing through the streets.
I show off how cruel I am by atomizing a poor Sewaddle. There is nothing left of it, christ!
You can find Carnivine around here, but aside from their kooky faces and existence as a flying venus fly trap... not much else going for them.
For context, Beatrice is a Pokemon that goes as far back as the Snakewood let's play but never had her full potential realized due to Roserades not existing in that game. She returned around the end of the first Dark Rising, but at that point I had already super-grinded and had a solidified team, so she couldn't really do anything there.
... Until this game, that is. She's not only an early team member with great moves and stats, but you're not even supposed to get a Roserade in the first place.
♫I love cheating, I love breakin' things ~♫
You know, it would have been really appreciated if you sold these in the mart that we just went to.
[Jeanne roasts every Pokemon of his indiscriminately]
There's just... Hoothoot everywhere. I think they're there for creepy(?) effect, but okay.
Small question - why is there a monk in the middle of the woods? He's just... there. Also, let it be said that DRG has not fixed her recolor problem, because yeesh those black robes.
Oh good let's make the death god fox even more powerful - Dan is totally fair
You see, since Jeanne comes with a free Sunny Day every fight now, I replaced the move with something far more insidious... In fact, just watch.
This is a real thing Ninetales can do, and it's glorious.
Have I talked about Gale yet? She's Monica's personal pilotwing, but is also easily the most powerful bird yet due to Staraptor's incredible 120 base attack stat.
Oh yes, there's also Kricketune - a Pokemon I like due to them being a conductor cricket with a big doofy moustache, but that's about all they have going for them.
... Is he wearing a Rasta hat or is that hair?
"You're one of them losers causing trouble in Tabula Rasa, aren't you?!"
???: "Yeah, right! Who do you think you're foolin'? No one messes with the people of my hometown. You're going down, sucka!"
This is the most reasonable line anybody has said in this series yet.
???: "No way, pal! My name's Benga and I'm the protector of the people!"
Wait, what?
Why does this guy appear in every fangame now? Although if I'm gonna be real with you, this is arguably his worst appearance yet not just because of the level curse but also because of plot complications. You'll see what I mean in a sec...
His first Pokemon isn't much of a problem - it's just a Nidoran... One that should be a Nidorino by now (they evolve at level 16) but I'm not complaining.
Arthur drills into the poor son of a bitch with his candy cane lances.
Larvesta's up next and to be honest, they're not that bad. I'd be much more worried if it were Volcarona because Volcarona is a beast, but right now?
Yeah, they're mince-meat. The most incredible thing that I've learned recently is that there is a functioning Physical/Special split working in this hack, which explains why Earth Power was doing relatively little damage earlier. Good on this hack.
Zen Headbutt has also been changed to be less game-breaking as it can no longer stunlock opponents into oblivion. In fact, it can't induce flinching at all anymore. It's really bizarre how hot and cold the mechanics for this one move have been as time passed.
Zangoose is easily the biggest threat out of Benga's team due to them having an impeccable attack stat and being level 22 (naturally). I swear, this game would be infinitely more accessible if you didn't have to do forced grinding.
These two duke it out for a bit before both of them get down to dangerously low levels of health. Then this happened:
Like damn, that was a close shave. Anything less and I would have been out a Staraptor.
"There's no way you're one of them losers then, they wouldn't be this strong. Who the heck are you?"
(Gale got burned in between frames because I had to keep retrying this fight multiple times just because of how unnecessarily difficult it was.)
I can't. This guy cannot be serious.
Benga, you unbelievable hypocrite, what did you just use to fight Monica's team?
This has to be one of the stupidest plot threads I've seen in a game yet, because Benga hates every Pokemon out there despite having a team of his own and his beef primarily revolving around only four Pokemon in particular. It makes no goddamn sense no matter which way you look at it.
[Benga leaves]
Why, you little donkey. I imagine Monica and the team just staring at him with the biggest "what the fuck" faces they could make just due to how this guy's logic works.
This guy tells you to pick up the Pokedex or your Pokemon won't be able to evolve... To be brutally honest, if you have to put a person here to remind your players to pick up the Pokedex, then I'm pretty sure you're doing game design wrong.
Second town in the game and it's a Grass place.
Imagine actually having to take care of over 800+ Pokemon. You'd be so overwhelmed that you'd need a small country's worth of resources to satisfy them, and that's just for starters.
Unedited dialogue...
Complete with the Drowzee guy being exactly the same. Not very slick, huh?
"Ivy, is passionate about Pokemon battles just as much as she's into making our city smell beautiful. Don't get on her bad side, though, or you'll feel the wrath of her thorns."
Oh, I'm so intimidated. Then again, given where the levels in this game go, I probably should be intimidated.
(Makes a Spearow noise)
Well, uh... I'll leave you to that.
"Do not talk to my children either."
You know, aside from entering his house as a stranger. I was gonna leave it at that, but as it turns out... this is actually building up to something interesting...
I hope, anyway.
You can get a Makuhita here, but neither choice is particularly useful. Now, if Mega Beedrill were in this game, that'd be an entirely different story.
Certain towns sell specific evolutionary stones. That's neat, but I don't really care for the Pokemon that utilize them here. (That, and I've got a team of fully-evolved Pokemon that I've already cheated in.)
Walked in and out of the city only to see... this. It's the same lady who tells you about Ivy, but she's been displaced behind the house for some reason.
... To be fair, it's at least a different layout from Erika's gym from the original Firered.
These girls have never seen a real lady, apparently.
Especially when I swap out to Siegfried to give them a small fighting chance and to spread out the experience.
"I can tell you're no stranger to gym battles. But I'm sorry to say that you've never faced a gym leader like me before. I gracefully use my Pokemon's ability to cause status effects upon my opponent. You will fall to my venom!"
Hello, Cheryl. So this is what you've been doing after the Sinnoh games.
Cheryl was my second favorite of the partners you could get in the Sinnoh games, with Marley being first due to my crippling fascination with goth girls.
If I were higher-leveled, this would be a massacre... but instead it's merely a slaughter.
Ivysaur is bulky enough to survive a Drought-powered Flamethrower, but I attribute that primarily to the lack of levels.
Tropius also had a ton of health, but thanks to the sun influence, Siegfried punches her out in a flash.
(Future Dan: I've just realized. How can there be strong sunlight indoors? Are they using skylights?)
Meet Not-Cheryl's ace in the hole and a Pokemon that would otherwise be unobtainable if I didn't hack in Beatrice for myself. Roserade is just as tough as you think she is, and comes with a nasty assortment of moves that you've already seen Beatrice do.
Extrasensory and Sludge Bomb are the biggest problems here thanks to a crazy 125 Special Attack stat and being able to outspeed everyone due to the level gap. I swear Not-Cheryl is one of the most annoying Gym Leaders in the game just for Roserade alone.
And you. Well, I just plain don't like you.
Amoonguss isn't hard, especially compared to what came before them, but they're an eyesore to me anyway.
"As proof of your victory, I confer on you this... the official Pokemon League Thornbadge."
Nice. We can use Flash now (
We can also learn Giga Drain - an excellent move, but it's hindered by it only having 5 PP. I'm not even kidding. Giga Drain was boosted to have 10 PP and have 75 power after Gen 5, but what can you do? (You know, aside from changing it so that's not the case... laziness will be the death of me one day.)
You can meet the Fishing Guru in the route ahead and get a rod from him. That's cool and all, but your friend is a bit more interesting.
That Clauncher sprite is pretty good, although I attribute that more to the base that DRG used for this game. It's not even necessarily a surprise that this is built on a base either, because she lists it on the Pokecommunity page for Dark Rising 2.
Also, that poor Tympole had to suffer for our amusement.
I can give this one a break because they're not selling Paralyze Heals in stores... but it's still a problem because paralysis was being more of an issue than poison.
"Oh no, I'm running late! I should get into a Pokemon fight with this random girl, aaaaaaa!"
Like come on, dude.
Oh, so you meant like an X-Games guy, not a terrorist. Okay, that's easier to take in.
I do like how DRG switches up the fights by making them Double Battles sometimes... That, and you get to see both members of the Nido family. You know, I still can't get over how they're essentially poisonous monster bunnies.
Before we get the plot train going, there's some stuff I have to get first.
(Also, that weird tomato bird is supposed to be a Fletchling. It looks strikingly similar to a fakemon from Snakewood called Cinderco, though...)
You have this big pedestal with stairs... for a simple Ether. This is super underwhelming when compared to the Max Ethers/Elixirs that we got earlier.
So that random girl back at the end of the first game did have a purpose.
For some reason I can't entirely get behind this girl despite the fact she steals just to survive. There's an underlying layer of "bitch" to it that I can't exactly pin down.
(Oh yeah, I played ahead and saw how these guys acted. They deserve portraits now.)
A refresher for who Light is: He's some prick that was raised to protect Arceus, but grew tired of it and joined Darugis because he didn't want to be a slave to god or something.
Noah is making the most sense, though. You'll see what I mean when we get to fighting this mystery girl.
Her sprite isn't half bad, although I'm concerned as to why she has fire coming out of her hand. Doesn't that hurt?
Much like Benga, she has a member of the Nido family... that goes down in a snap thanks to Earth Power.
Her Seviper is one of the easier Pokemon to deal with thanks to it being a straight-forward Poison type with no real surprises.
Then we have... Fennekin. Alright, it's a member of one of my favorite starter trios in the series, but feast your eyes on this madness:
+213 BST! (A normal Fennekin has: 40 / 45 / 40 /62 / 60 / 60)
That's insane. What, is this Super-Fennekin? This is almost enough to give Delphox a run for its money! I'll admit though, aside from their big head, the sprite looks great.
There's even a shiny programmed in, but given how you can't encounter Fennekin anywhere... I attribute this to the base that DRG used.
To add insult to injury, they nearly beat Corin (a pseudo-legendary with a type advantage). God damn, that's stupid. However, this isn't the worst that Bandanna Girl has up her sleeve. You know how Noah kept bringing up that she had a Dragon Pokemon?
A level 30 Noivern?! A level 30 anything would be a huge obstacle, but a pseudo-legendary of all things? Someone really needed to step in when it came to the level scaling, jeez.
Oh, and to top it off? THEY HAVE SHADOW TAG.
Yes, a level 30 pseudo-legendary that you can't run from. That's pure evil and I hate every part of the thought process that went into it.
Wave has Ice Beam to clip their wings, but nearly died in the process. I'll give Bandanna Girl this - she stole a damn fine Pokemon to kick our ass with.
Raking in the moola~
"I cannot have Fennekin go hungry another night!"
Poor little super baby.
"But a deal's a deal, return the stuff you stole and come with us. We have some questions for you."
In all seriousness, though... Huh.
[All three of them escape into the cave]
Well, that was fun. The level curve is still outrageous, but things seem to be taking a better turn than the last game.
The Lunar Cave, huh? Is it gonna be -
Huh. The name confused me there for a second because it doesn't seem to be a ripoff of Mount Moon at all. The layout is completely different and there's even a custom tileset (I think, anyway).
This water isn't animated and I don't think you can even surf on it. Peculiar.
True to its name, you can find Lunatones around here. Man, you'd expect the actual Sun and Moon games to do more with Lunatone and Solrock, but... nope. Just a cameo (by name) in the desert that nobody goes into except to get Tapu Bulu.
If there's any more moon stuff in the Lunar Cave, I'm going to bust a nut.
Hikers in this game wear all white and well... yeah. I'll let the screenshot speak for itself.
There was a bug guy around here, and lemme just say that I wish Leavanny was more powerful. I adore their design but their horrendous typing (Bug/Grass) makes them vulnerable to so many things that it's not even funny.
Maybe they'll continue Mega Evolutions by the Sinnoh remakes or something.
Escape Ropes are a necessity for dungeons, especially when they get all long and labyrinthine.
Oh no, I guess we should respect his property and le--
Psych! It's mine now, buddy boy.
You get all these cool things, but there's no real fight waiting for you at the end. The pace is certainly better at the very least.
Next time on Pokemon Dark Rising 2... Actually, I'm not at liberty to reveal what comes next. It's that much of a surprise.
See you then.
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Team setup:
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Back-up Team: