Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen May 12, 2025
As much as I'd like to promise "no more delays", we're working pretty hard behind the scenes. Figured I should be straight up about it.
That said, let's have some fun.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #5 - Looming Evil[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Last time on Dark Rising, we entered a ~spooky scary~ forest called Misty Trees. Is it gonna be as bad as I think? Probably. The game hasn't really impressed me so far outside of the brief beginning.
(Also, good god the game is being self-aware. We should put it down now before it becomes sentient.)
WILD SHEDINJA.
Sure, Shedinja is really bad outside of its ability and its only purpose here is to be a spooky ghost for the forest, but I must have it.
Ghost bug ninja friend. I doubt he'll do much, but writing another message at the end-of-chapter team set-up will be fun.
Either this was a wild Pokemon or a trainer's... Still, I've always found Rotom-Fan to be useless compared to its other appliances. It's Electric/Flying with friggin' Levitate as an ability - the redundancy blows my mind.
"Am I the only girl like that?"
Doubtful, but I'm glad you're in your element. I'm quite the connoisseur for spooks myself.
This initiates a fight, by the way. Why? I don't fuckin' know. You'd think the distressed mom in the middle of a forbidden, haunted forest would do something more productive than fight some random stranger.
This guy makes me giggle just because of how silly he sounds.
I should mention (if I haven't already) that the custom forest music in Dark Rising 2 is pretty damn annoying, so I just mute the game anyway. It doesn't help that the trainer battle theme isn't that good either and is used for every single fight in the game... even the ones where it should be replaced with something more intense.
Now that's just ridiculous. If anything, the more evil something is, the more interesting it is to study. That's sort of why villains tend to get more popular than the heroes (as long as they're written well, anyway).
Speaking of evil... if you try to use an Escape Rope here, you'll actually get teleported past the forest, skip an entire town and land in the one after it. So... yeah, that's one of the first major bugs we've encountered yet. I'd rather have this than the first major bug appearing in chapter 1, though.
But wait!
"He's pure evil... Not even Heatran could stop him."
... What did you expect? Heatran is a legendary, sure, but there's still the everything else that would put Noah at an advantage, especially if he has the Swords of Justice on his side. Idiot.
: "Oh nothing, Monica. Only that I've finally awakened my true potential!"
Aw jeez, he really is losing it. Although... I'm not surprised. I did sort of see this coming since the first game.
: "Ugh... this guy isn't normal. I felt every attack whenever my Pokemon were hit."
... Now that is a terrifying prospect, given the existence of OHKO moves.
: "I have unlocked the ability that was held dormant inside of me for so long. I now understand everything."
: "Noah, you don't normally talk like this. Why would you intentionally hurt another trainer?"
Monica, despite being the voice of reason, is met with:
: "... Shut up..."
: "What?!"
: "I was put on this hopeless planet so that I can destroy it and create a new one. You see, Monica... you have the ability to bond with legendary Pokemon, to understand them and connect with them emotionally. The other guy, Light, has the power to create Pokemon, even monsters if he so desires."
... Noah, did you have a bad day or something? Like come on, this is getting a bit too edgy even for you. That said, "has the power to create Pokemon, even monsters" is especially stupid when you remember Pokemon is short for pocket monster.
: "Looks like you got the short end of the stick when it comes to abilities, Monica. If what I felt in this battle was any indication of his ability, then his pwns yours as well."
God damn it with this game. It was bad enough when Diamond and Pearl did the whole internet speak thing, but it's especially frustrating here seeing as this is plot-related. In fact, one of the iffier aspects of Dark Rising is its mood swing problems.
I could give Snakewood a pass mostly because Cutlerine was pulling everyone's legs, but when you're having a 100% serious scene... maybe the best thing isn't to have random internet speak in your dialogue. Just sayin'.
"Stay out of this, seriously."
You know, just because Dray uses it doesn't mean it's any better... though I will give him credit for being comic relief in this game full of misery. (Mostly for me.)
: "I have unlocked the power of destruction! With this power, I can destroy the evil that stands in way and the world as well."
: "Do you hear yourself?! Snap out of it, Noah. This is the type of mentality Darugis feeds on! You're only making him stronger by destroying things. It feeds off of negative energy, remember?"
Yeah, what the hell? I know I should honestly stop paying attention and finish the game already, but DRG made this game because she wanted to make a story. Why did Noah's entire personality change just because he learned about his new power thing?
: "Good. I want it to consume as much negative energy as possible... so that it can pose a challenge to me after my ultimate plan is complete!"
What the fuck is wrong with you, dude? Have you seen in-game Darugis's power? Where did this sudden arrogance come from? He can't even beat Monica and it still took multiple Aura Sabers to take down Darugis's first form, so how in the world does this raving lunatic expect to beat what is effectively the Superdevil?
Also, ultimate plan? Ugh, I'll just let Monica sum it up:
: "You've... lost it."
Never have I agreed with a fictional character more.
[A shadowy figure hovers over Monica's shoulder]
: ("Oh excuse me. I didn't mean to intrude, but I heard someone speak my name. So this little man thinks he can beat me at my best?")
: "Wh- what are you-"
: ("Oh hush, it's not like he can tell I'm here.")
: "Lost it? Oh no, best friend, I've only just obtained it."
: ("... He isn't serious, right?")
[Noah releases the Swords of Justice from their Pokeballs]
: "No way!"
[Benga screams and vows to chase them down. Darugis breaks into laughter]
: ("Oh good god he's serious. Damn, I knew I made the right choice making you my arch-nemesis because this is priceless.")
: ("He plans on using Yveltal to kill me. Yveltal. Allow me to laugh even harder.")
: "What are you - get out of here!"
: ("Oooh, pushy.")
[Everyone but Monica disappears in the fade to black]
... Well, that was a thing. Noah's gone down the path of edgelord and I swear the only way to snap him out of it is to smack him with a two by four.
Sydney's here and offers to hand you an Axew. She also tells us about the new location of the Dark Rising headquarters, so that's cool I guess.
Alright we've made it to the spooky section of the game, everyone. I'm just praying it's not as bad as Salem from the first game.
[Theme I would use here: Dark Alley]
Long story short, this lady used to be the gym leader before she had to retire from old age. She offers to have a friendly match, so being the gentleman that I am, we do it.
True to her title as a former gym leader, she's tougher than your normal trainer.
That said, it's pretty unfair when I have a Sun Goddess fox on my side.
Her other two Pokemon were smashed in record time, although I will give Beatrice brownie points for fighting a Gengar while burned and at half health.
She has to be the nicest non-helpful NPC in the entire game because she's pretty much "gg" and doesn't complain. I'm just wondering how cool she must have been if she was still the gym leader.
The fancy tiling hides a horrible secret - the ground will eat you if you go to the wrong place. (I don't think this is that hard to fix, either.)
We get the Psychic TM for our troubles. Better than nothing, I suppose.
Everyone is gaga over the new gym leader in this town because they always cite how hot she is. I'll be the judge of that, thank you very much.
"Sure, it's spooky, but who cares?"
Me and this girl are synchronized. If nobody's getting hurt then I don't see any reason to complain.
Thank god for Pokemarts. We made so much money just from fighting random people that we have over 240,000 Pokedollars... and we must use every penny.
... One of our best Pokemon is a ghost type, you twat. Hell, even if a ghost hand appeared over Monica's shoulder, she wouldn't bat an eye.
"No one ever steps over it. It's said to be a cursed mark on this city, and whoever touches or steps on the grass will die a painful death."
Comforting. You can't step on it though, so you can't get yourself "cursed". What a shame.
Oh, so this is where the Omni region Name Rater is. Good to know. I'd say this place is the Not-Lavender Town, but they're actually way different aside from the ghost typing.
"The lady in there may be hot, but she's friends with ghost!"
Don't you mean ghosts? I don't see why being friends with ghosts is a problem in the same world where ghost Pokemon are a thing.
Plus, goth chicks are the best.
Oh goodie, it's murder time.
There's so much cheese going around that I might become lactose intolerant.
You can't go south because these spookboys will block your way.
This is gonna be fun. Who's this crazy guy?
(He's speaking in tongues. This is really scary now.)
"Did you come here to watch the murder of my sister, Morgana? Which Pokemon do you think I should use?!"
I don't like where this is heading.
: "What? Who are you people?"
???: "Booo! This trainer's no fun. Hmm... should I go with Cofa'grigus suffocating her inside its coffin? Or should I let Banette kill her with its nasty little tricks? Banette's my favorite!"
Dude, is this nutjob and Morgana lost members of the Addams Family or something? This is totally the kind of shit they would do to each other.
That said, this is a vast step up from the otherwise boring or insultingly dumb characters we've seen so far.
: "Look, I don't know what's going on here, but it sounds dangerous."
???: "... Get this trainer away from me! Grunt, do your job!"
Hot damn, that is a nice sprite. I refuse to believe this was made just for Dark Rising because it's way better than anything we've seen so far.
The only question I have is whether he's standing or he's kneeling. If he's standing, he has teeny legs.
True to the Gastly next to his trainer sprite, he has one that's at level 50. Not sure why you would even have a level 50 Gastly instead of a Haunter but you do you.
He had other members of the Gengar family but they went down without much of a hassle anyway.
What he lacks in soul he makes up for in style because even Mr. Loco's grunts are more visually appealing than 90% of the people we've encountered on this journey... including our main protagonists. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"I just remembered my favorite show is about to come on. I'll come back and kill my sister later. Not like she has much to do anyway! Hahahaha, goodbye in my best AOL voice! Remember? Remember AOL?"
: "What is wrong with you? You're psychotic."
I agree with Monica, but this is making me smile like a moron due to how silly this is all getting.
???: "Me... psychotic... hahaha! I love it! See ya, Monica!"
: "Wait, how do you -"
[Crazy Guy and his grunts vanish]
... Now that was an experience. I want to see that guy again just to see what kind of wacky shit he'll say next.
Oh god is this a flash dungeon mixed with Sabrina's teleporting gym?
Oh, that is so much nope. I'm using walk through walls to skip to her and there is nothing you can do to stop me.
"A young, fresh challenger ready to be devoured in fear of my Ghost Pokemon."
: "Lady, I've faced much worse. Let's do this!"
Morgana: "Mwahahaha! Yes! Yes! I love it! But tell me... How will you defeat what you cannot attack?"
Now that's a truckload of bull. There's like a ton of ways you can hurt a ghost Pokemon. In fact, I had to make sure Candelabra doesn't get smashed by rocks or spooked by other ghosts all of the time.
The way she talks makes her brother/sister relationship with Mr. Nutso more obvious, although she doesn't seem to be as much of a psycho as he is.
rude crude dudes alert
Oh. Oh, that looks amazing.
It's literally as if they squished her and stretched her out afterward, because yikes that resize is not good looking. For those of you who aren't aware, this is Sabrina's character from Pokestar Studios (Black and White 2) where she played an evil queen called Belleba. That said:
Yowza, now I know what everyone else was talking about earlier. You can't fool me though.
Sigurd evaporates this Mismagius from the face of the earth. For those of you at home, imagine being trapped in a bubble of inverted colors where all life as you know it suddenly stops in one giant explosion of black dust.
That's how intense his critical hits are.
Jellicent is a Pokemon I always found interesting due to how they look and what they're capable of, but in here they're just gonna be a hassle due to Giga Drain's reduced PP and the fact it doesn't go down in one shot due to their bulk.
Beatrice tagged out and put this Spiritomb to sleep so Candelabra can roast it without worries. Good thing too because Candelabra will be in extremely dire straits once her substitute runs out.
Trevenant is another interesting one, although I don't really know of any interesting ways it can be used aside from the good old Harvest spam. (Sitrus + Recycle)
... Uh. Apparently enemy Chandelures are invisible. Believe it or not, this is because they're wayyy up in the sky due to their Y positioning being something crazy like 102+.
I don't know why DRG had it like that.
That said, I had to swap out to Sigurd because Candelabra can't stand up against another member of her species by herself.
Ooooh, Gourgeist. They're like one of my favorite ghost Pokemon behind Mimikyu and Chandelure due to their different sizes and their cute looks, but I will admit they're not that good for fighting. What can you do?
Not-Sabrina of the Addams Family hands us the badge and we go on our merry way.
Does it actually raise the defense of the team or is that just a line that they kept over from the original Red and Blue? I don't see much of a difference. We can also use surf out of battle, so
Morgana is also sweet enough to hand us a Shadow Ball TM.
Thanks to the working Physical/Special split in this game, we slap it onto Candy without a second thought. She sort of deserves it for carrying us this far.
God bless you random trainers.
Sure we're in the middle of nowhere and I have more important things to do, but it's all in good fun I suppose.
I cannot say the same for what Sigurd does to this poor Houndoom. All he does is prick them with the edge of the blade and they go flying into space.
More vendor trash! Good for me.
Skill Swap is the epitome of cool but situational because it involves outplaying your opponent... not that you can really do that with all of the DBZ shenanigans in Dark Rising.
What building in particular? There's a lot of them.
"Please enter the Dark Rising base."
... This is the new base? We're on top of a lake. I guess I can't really complain if it works.
This dude gives you the Itemfinder. Thank you, but no.
This guy, on the other hand, hands us the VS. Seeker which I doubt will actually help. I don't really trust DRG with the finer details of changing random trainer teams up for rematches.
Oh boy, the loser gang's all here now that Noah's flipped his alliances. Sydney said something about wanting to fight us earlier.
"This is the room where we'll have our battle."
: "Alright..."
: "Monica! Shake it off! You won't be able to help Noah if you're not at your best. I will not be holding back!"
: "Yeah, Monica! Don't pull a Naruto on us!"
God damn it Dray, can you not.
You know, at the very least, everyone is trying to actively help Monica by making sure she's prepared for the road ahead. That's a huge step forward from the mess they were like in the first Dark Rising... which I will forever hold in spite as Rival Battle Simulator.
: "Ah, nevermind. Let's get this battle started!"
: "Alright, let's do this!"
[Theme I would use here: Last Surprise]
Sydney is a blue Jupiter now and I kind of like how she looks. It's better than the first game, at least.
Despite being paralyzed and below half of her health, Candy is still a force to be reckoned with.
(Ooops I forgot to give Sigurd 4 moves.)
: ("We finally meet after so long! I'll get you after all the times you and your friends beat me up! How are you even so strong?")
[Sigurd makes a slight frown and gets up in the other Lucario's face]
: ("Imagine roaming the earth for over three thousand years, cursed with some ungodly power that puts even the legendaries to shame. Everyone you meet is afraid of you and all of your close friends have either died or turned against you, including your sister and the trainer that loved you. I don't even know how I made it this far.")
: ("O-oh. I'm sorry to have asked.")
: ("... Sorry, I went a little overboard. Let's just get this over with already.")
: ("Maybe I shouldn't hold a grudge against the guy that can beat up Darugis.")
Haxorus was here too, but that fight was like:
Kyurem is cool now that it doesn't have two clones that are also fused with Reshiram and Zekrom (seriously, that was one of the dumbest plot elements in the first game - two ripoffs of Hilbert and Hilda just had Black and White Kyurem while it took Sydney an entire adventure to find the real one)
Beatrice wrestles with a Kingdra for a bit and slams them with a Sludge Bomb. You know, it's funny.
She did nothing in the game she debuted in (Snakewood) as she was only a Roselia then. She re-appeared towards the end of Dark Rising 1 but didn't accomplish much beyond just being a cameo.
Then we get to Dark Rising 2 where she's not only really strong, she's a damn-near permanent team member. Imagine how much easier Snakewood would have been with this kind of firepower under my belt.
Damn skippy we did.
Monica shrugs it off with all of the finesse of
and vows to save Noah and her father one more time.
Dray volunteers to chill and watch some anime (the dork), but Florina points out that the next place to go is Aster Prairie due to the strong concentration of negative energy coming from there.
Nice. Florina says something about a friend in the next room, so I wonder who it is?
It's Pete! He made a miraculous recovery from his edgelord phase.
???
Really? This again? Oi.
But hey, at least there's a nurse to heal our wounds after what we did just to get here.
The TV exploded from the sheer amount of chili dogs we just witnessed.
He's doing great ever since he broke out of Darugis's spell and mentions that Monica can break Noah out of whatever fix he's in. Only problem with that is that Noah genuinely seems to be up his ass on this one, so that might complicate things.
Pete mentions that he brought another friend along from Dr. Ivan. You're not gonna believe who it is:
UH
: "Wait a minute, something's not right here"
: ("But... but I'm right here.")
As it turns out, it was actually just a plush toy that Dr. Ivan confused for Siegfried. Ooops.
(The Victini is supposed to be the same one you obtained halfway through the first game, but seeing as Siegfried already fills out that spot and he's been with us since the game started... yeah, having a second Siegfried wouldn't make much sense.)
This dude fights you because he decided to take his anger of not finding rare Pokemon on you.
There's not any rare Pokemon that I really care to get anyway... so go ahead, mister Rage Machine.
They're a necessary healing item for stone wall types, but a lot of the Pokemon I use tend to be on the "lean and mean" side of fighting anyway.
Not gonna stop me from getting the Leftovers here, though.
Yeah, people tend to like other people that aren't douches.
So... we're here. You know, despite everything else that's happened in this game, the town areas are well made. They're a far cry from the mere copy and pasting from the original game... although I wish the same could be said for the interiors/dungeon areas.
This dude hands us a bike in exchange for a voucher I spontaneously had. I don't remember when I got a voucher, but I'll take that bike, thank you.
Okay, stop. We get to the Flying gym and the name of the gym leader is friggin' Feather. Man, that's not even trying.
You could have named her Heather or Grace just so you can have a little bit of subtlety or something.
There's our target, but let's not go there just yet. We have a city to explore!
Interesting. We'll have to check up on these later, because for now?
Monica pays a visit to the local bar.
Next time on Pokemon Dark Rising, we deal with more shenanigans and start our new life of crime. See you then.
[Monica orders a drink]
[Current OST: Midas River]
: "After all the junk we had to do since this started, I need a b-break."
: ("Oh no, I know where this is going!")
: ("Monica, please, I just want to go to bed. We're all tired.")
: "Man, whooo needs a bed when you can just - hic - take another shot?"
: ("I don't like this. Monica, you need to stop before -")
: "Taaaaaake on me to the moooon~! hic"
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Team setup:
(Corin, level 43,
,
/
) - "Oh... jeez. She's really killing it with the drinks there. How's she supposed to find Noah when she's buzzed to hell and back?"
(Sigurd, level 53,
,
/
) -"Didn't you say this happened before?"
(Bellamine, level 49,
,
) - "Good lord, imagine if her and Jack started drinking together. They'd be unstoppable."
(Candelabra, level 51,
,
/
) - "She's pretty funny like this, though."
(Beatrice, level 51,
,
/
) - "It's a good laugh until she breaks her liver. We should stop her."
(Siegfried, level 42,
,
/
) - [Hugs the Victini plush doll]
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Back-up Team:
(Signe, level 51,
,
/
) - "So who is this Jack you guys keep talking about?"
(Jeanne, level 39,
,
) - "Oh... hmm~ Since you brought him up, he's our trainer. He's a great man that's guided us through a difficult time, not unlike you and Monica."
(Arthur, level 43,
,
/
) - "Ah. Wasn't it the same man who fought the undead with you?"
(Gale, level 36,
,
/
) - "I still can't believe zombies are a thing in the world we live in. Sure, ghosts because of the obvious, but... I don't know, the thought never occurred to me."
(Wave, level 44,
,
) - "I don't think my heart can take having to deal with something like that. I'm scared of the corpses that don't move as it is."
(Quote, level 34,
,
/
) - "Hey guys, maybe we should go after Noah or... something? No? Alright then."
(Ambes, level 36,
,
) - "Monica drinks too? Oh boy, we're in trouble now."
(Johnny, level 25,
,
) - "I agree with Quote. I never met Noah before but he doesn't seem to be in his right mind?"
(Shadow, level 45,
,
/
) - "... I'm a ninja." [Shadow hides behind a table]
(Ignell, level 22,
,
/
) - "She can really hold her own with a can of beer, wahaha!"
(Iris, level 6,
,
) - "... Dude. Maybe we should hurry up or something? I don't think the big evil guy is gonna let this happen."
(Lucera, level 5,
,
) - "Granted, we're goofing off and nothing bad seems to be happening. But I see what you mean, Iris."
That said, let's have some fun.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #5 - Looming Evil[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Spoiler:
Last time on Dark Rising, we entered a ~spooky scary~ forest called Misty Trees. Is it gonna be as bad as I think? Probably. The game hasn't really impressed me so far outside of the brief beginning.
(Also, good god the game is being self-aware. We should put it down now before it becomes sentient.)
WILD SHEDINJA.
Sure, Shedinja is really bad outside of its ability and its only purpose here is to be a spooky ghost for the forest, but I must have it.
Ghost bug ninja friend. I doubt he'll do much, but writing another message at the end-of-chapter team set-up will be fun.
Either this was a wild Pokemon or a trainer's... Still, I've always found Rotom-Fan to be useless compared to its other appliances. It's Electric/Flying with friggin' Levitate as an ability - the redundancy blows my mind.
"Am I the only girl like that?"
Doubtful, but I'm glad you're in your element. I'm quite the connoisseur for spooks myself.
This initiates a fight, by the way. Why? I don't fuckin' know. You'd think the distressed mom in the middle of a forbidden, haunted forest would do something more productive than fight some random stranger.
This guy makes me giggle just because of how silly he sounds.
I should mention (if I haven't already) that the custom forest music in Dark Rising 2 is pretty damn annoying, so I just mute the game anyway. It doesn't help that the trainer battle theme isn't that good either and is used for every single fight in the game... even the ones where it should be replaced with something more intense.
Now that's just ridiculous. If anything, the more evil something is, the more interesting it is to study. That's sort of why villains tend to get more popular than the heroes (as long as they're written well, anyway).
Speaking of evil... if you try to use an Escape Rope here, you'll actually get teleported past the forest, skip an entire town and land in the one after it. So... yeah, that's one of the first major bugs we've encountered yet. I'd rather have this than the first major bug appearing in chapter 1, though.
But wait!
"He's pure evil... Not even Heatran could stop him."
... What did you expect? Heatran is a legendary, sure, but there's still the everything else that would put Noah at an advantage, especially if he has the Swords of Justice on his side. Idiot.
Aw jeez, he really is losing it. Although... I'm not surprised. I did sort of see this coming since the first game.
... Now that is a terrifying prospect, given the existence of OHKO moves.
Monica, despite being the voice of reason, is met with:
... Noah, did you have a bad day or something? Like come on, this is getting a bit too edgy even for you. That said, "has the power to create Pokemon, even monsters" is especially stupid when you remember Pokemon is short for pocket monster.
God damn it with this game. It was bad enough when Diamond and Pearl did the whole internet speak thing, but it's especially frustrating here seeing as this is plot-related. In fact, one of the iffier aspects of Dark Rising is its mood swing problems.
I could give Snakewood a pass mostly because Cutlerine was pulling everyone's legs, but when you're having a 100% serious scene... maybe the best thing isn't to have random internet speak in your dialogue. Just sayin'.
"Stay out of this, seriously."
You know, just because Dray uses it doesn't mean it's any better... though I will give him credit for being comic relief in this game full of misery. (Mostly for me.)
Yeah, what the hell? I know I should honestly stop paying attention and finish the game already, but DRG made this game because she wanted to make a story. Why did Noah's entire personality change just because he learned about his new power thing?
What the fuck is wrong with you, dude? Have you seen in-game Darugis's power? Where did this sudden arrogance come from? He can't even beat Monica and it still took multiple Aura Sabers to take down Darugis's first form, so how in the world does this raving lunatic expect to beat what is effectively the Superdevil?
Also, ultimate plan? Ugh, I'll just let Monica sum it up:
Never have I agreed with a fictional character more.
[A shadowy figure hovers over Monica's shoulder]
[Noah releases the Swords of Justice from their Pokeballs]
[Benga screams and vows to chase them down. Darugis breaks into laughter]
[Everyone but Monica disappears in the fade to black]
... Well, that was a thing. Noah's gone down the path of edgelord and I swear the only way to snap him out of it is to smack him with a two by four.
Sydney's here and offers to hand you an Axew. She also tells us about the new location of the Dark Rising headquarters, so that's cool I guess.
Alright we've made it to the spooky section of the game, everyone. I'm just praying it's not as bad as Salem from the first game.
[Theme I would use here: Dark Alley]
Long story short, this lady used to be the gym leader before she had to retire from old age. She offers to have a friendly match, so being the gentleman that I am, we do it.
True to her title as a former gym leader, she's tougher than your normal trainer.
That said, it's pretty unfair when I have a Sun Goddess fox on my side.
Her other two Pokemon were smashed in record time, although I will give Beatrice brownie points for fighting a Gengar while burned and at half health.
She has to be the nicest non-helpful NPC in the entire game because she's pretty much "gg" and doesn't complain. I'm just wondering how cool she must have been if she was still the gym leader.
The fancy tiling hides a horrible secret - the ground will eat you if you go to the wrong place. (I don't think this is that hard to fix, either.)
We get the Psychic TM for our troubles. Better than nothing, I suppose.
Everyone is gaga over the new gym leader in this town because they always cite how hot she is. I'll be the judge of that, thank you very much.
"Sure, it's spooky, but who cares?"
Me and this girl are synchronized. If nobody's getting hurt then I don't see any reason to complain.
Thank god for Pokemarts. We made so much money just from fighting random people that we have over 240,000 Pokedollars... and we must use every penny.
... One of our best Pokemon is a ghost type, you twat. Hell, even if a ghost hand appeared over Monica's shoulder, she wouldn't bat an eye.
"No one ever steps over it. It's said to be a cursed mark on this city, and whoever touches or steps on the grass will die a painful death."
Comforting. You can't step on it though, so you can't get yourself "cursed". What a shame.
Oh, so this is where the Omni region Name Rater is. Good to know. I'd say this place is the Not-Lavender Town, but they're actually way different aside from the ghost typing.
"The lady in there may be hot, but she's friends with ghost!"
Don't you mean ghosts? I don't see why being friends with ghosts is a problem in the same world where ghost Pokemon are a thing.
Oh goodie, it's murder time.
There's so much cheese going around that I might become lactose intolerant.
You can't go south because these spookboys will block your way.
This is gonna be fun. Who's this crazy guy?
(He's speaking in tongues. This is really scary now.)
"Did you come here to watch the murder of my sister, Morgana? Which Pokemon do you think I should use?!"
I don't like where this is heading.
???: "Booo! This trainer's no fun. Hmm... should I go with Cofa'grigus suffocating her inside its coffin? Or should I let Banette kill her with its nasty little tricks? Banette's my favorite!"
Dude, is this nutjob and Morgana lost members of the Addams Family or something? This is totally the kind of shit they would do to each other.
That said, this is a vast step up from the otherwise boring or insultingly dumb characters we've seen so far.
???: "... Get this trainer away from me! Grunt, do your job!"
Hot damn, that is a nice sprite. I refuse to believe this was made just for Dark Rising because it's way better than anything we've seen so far.
The only question I have is whether he's standing or he's kneeling. If he's standing, he has teeny legs.
True to the Gastly next to his trainer sprite, he has one that's at level 50. Not sure why you would even have a level 50 Gastly instead of a Haunter but you do you.
He had other members of the Gengar family but they went down without much of a hassle anyway.
What he lacks in soul he makes up for in style because even Mr. Loco's grunts are more visually appealing than 90% of the people we've encountered on this journey... including our main protagonists. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"I just remembered my favorite show is about to come on. I'll come back and kill my sister later. Not like she has much to do anyway! Hahahaha, goodbye in my best AOL voice! Remember? Remember AOL?"
I agree with Monica, but this is making me smile like a moron due to how silly this is all getting.
???: "Me... psychotic... hahaha! I love it! See ya, Monica!"
[Crazy Guy and his grunts vanish]
... Now that was an experience. I want to see that guy again just to see what kind of wacky shit he'll say next.
Oh god is this a flash dungeon mixed with Sabrina's teleporting gym?
Oh, that is so much nope. I'm using walk through walls to skip to her and there is nothing you can do to stop me.
"A young, fresh challenger ready to be devoured in fear of my Ghost Pokemon."
Morgana: "Mwahahaha! Yes! Yes! I love it! But tell me... How will you defeat what you cannot attack?"
Now that's a truckload of bull. There's like a ton of ways you can hurt a ghost Pokemon. In fact, I had to make sure Candelabra doesn't get smashed by rocks or spooked by other ghosts all of the time.
The way she talks makes her brother/sister relationship with Mr. Nutso more obvious, although she doesn't seem to be as much of a psycho as he is.
Oh. Oh, that looks amazing.
It's literally as if they squished her and stretched her out afterward, because yikes that resize is not good looking. For those of you who aren't aware, this is Sabrina's character from Pokestar Studios (Black and White 2) where she played an evil queen called Belleba. That said:
Yowza, now I know what everyone else was talking about earlier. You can't fool me though.
Sigurd evaporates this Mismagius from the face of the earth. For those of you at home, imagine being trapped in a bubble of inverted colors where all life as you know it suddenly stops in one giant explosion of black dust.
That's how intense his critical hits are.
Jellicent is a Pokemon I always found interesting due to how they look and what they're capable of, but in here they're just gonna be a hassle due to Giga Drain's reduced PP and the fact it doesn't go down in one shot due to their bulk.
Beatrice tagged out and put this Spiritomb to sleep so Candelabra can roast it without worries. Good thing too because Candelabra will be in extremely dire straits once her substitute runs out.
Trevenant is another interesting one, although I don't really know of any interesting ways it can be used aside from the good old Harvest spam. (Sitrus + Recycle)
... Uh. Apparently enemy Chandelures are invisible. Believe it or not, this is because they're wayyy up in the sky due to their Y positioning being something crazy like 102+.
I don't know why DRG had it like that.
That said, I had to swap out to Sigurd because Candelabra can't stand up against another member of her species by herself.
Ooooh, Gourgeist. They're like one of my favorite ghost Pokemon behind Mimikyu and Chandelure due to their different sizes and their cute looks, but I will admit they're not that good for fighting. What can you do?
Not-Sabrina of the Addams Family hands us the badge and we go on our merry way.
Does it actually raise the defense of the team or is that just a line that they kept over from the original Red and Blue? I don't see much of a difference. We can also use surf out of battle, so
Morgana is also sweet enough to hand us a Shadow Ball TM.
Thanks to the working Physical/Special split in this game, we slap it onto Candy without a second thought. She sort of deserves it for carrying us this far.
God bless you random trainers.
Sure we're in the middle of nowhere and I have more important things to do, but it's all in good fun I suppose.
I cannot say the same for what Sigurd does to this poor Houndoom. All he does is prick them with the edge of the blade and they go flying into space.
More vendor trash! Good for me.
Skill Swap is the epitome of cool but situational because it involves outplaying your opponent... not that you can really do that with all of the DBZ shenanigans in Dark Rising.
What building in particular? There's a lot of them.
"Please enter the Dark Rising base."
... This is the new base? We're on top of a lake. I guess I can't really complain if it works.
This dude gives you the Itemfinder. Thank you, but no.
This guy, on the other hand, hands us the VS. Seeker which I doubt will actually help. I don't really trust DRG with the finer details of changing random trainer teams up for rematches.
Oh boy, the loser gang's all here now that Noah's flipped his alliances. Sydney said something about wanting to fight us earlier.
"This is the room where we'll have our battle."
God damn it Dray, can you not.
You know, at the very least, everyone is trying to actively help Monica by making sure she's prepared for the road ahead. That's a huge step forward from the mess they were like in the first Dark Rising... which I will forever hold in spite as Rival Battle Simulator.
[Theme I would use here: Last Surprise]
Sydney is a blue Jupiter now and I kind of like how she looks. It's better than the first game, at least.
Despite being paralyzed and below half of her health, Candy is still a force to be reckoned with.
(Ooops I forgot to give Sigurd 4 moves.)
[Sigurd makes a slight frown and gets up in the other Lucario's face]
Haxorus was here too, but that fight was like:
Kyurem is cool now that it doesn't have two clones that are also fused with Reshiram and Zekrom (seriously, that was one of the dumbest plot elements in the first game - two ripoffs of Hilbert and Hilda just had Black and White Kyurem while it took Sydney an entire adventure to find the real one)
Beatrice wrestles with a Kingdra for a bit and slams them with a Sludge Bomb. You know, it's funny.
She did nothing in the game she debuted in (Snakewood) as she was only a Roselia then. She re-appeared towards the end of Dark Rising 1 but didn't accomplish much beyond just being a cameo.
Then we get to Dark Rising 2 where she's not only really strong, she's a damn-near permanent team member. Imagine how much easier Snakewood would have been with this kind of firepower under my belt.
Damn skippy we did.
Monica shrugs it off with all of the finesse of
Dray volunteers to chill and watch some anime (the dork), but Florina points out that the next place to go is Aster Prairie due to the strong concentration of negative energy coming from there.
Nice. Florina says something about a friend in the next room, so I wonder who it is?
It's Pete! He made a miraculous recovery from his edgelord phase.
???
Really? This again? Oi.
But hey, at least there's a nurse to heal our wounds after what we did just to get here.
The TV exploded from the sheer amount of chili dogs we just witnessed.
He's doing great ever since he broke out of Darugis's spell and mentions that Monica can break Noah out of whatever fix he's in. Only problem with that is that Noah genuinely seems to be up his ass on this one, so that might complicate things.
Pete mentions that he brought another friend along from Dr. Ivan. You're not gonna believe who it is:
UH
As it turns out, it was actually just a plush toy that Dr. Ivan confused for Siegfried. Ooops.
(The Victini is supposed to be the same one you obtained halfway through the first game, but seeing as Siegfried already fills out that spot and he's been with us since the game started... yeah, having a second Siegfried wouldn't make much sense.)
This dude fights you because he decided to take his anger of not finding rare Pokemon on you.
There's not any rare Pokemon that I really care to get anyway... so go ahead, mister Rage Machine.
They're a necessary healing item for stone wall types, but a lot of the Pokemon I use tend to be on the "lean and mean" side of fighting anyway.
Not gonna stop me from getting the Leftovers here, though.
Yeah, people tend to like other people that aren't douches.
So... we're here. You know, despite everything else that's happened in this game, the town areas are well made. They're a far cry from the mere copy and pasting from the original game... although I wish the same could be said for the interiors/dungeon areas.
This dude hands us a bike in exchange for a voucher I spontaneously had. I don't remember when I got a voucher, but I'll take that bike, thank you.
Okay, stop. We get to the Flying gym and the name of the gym leader is friggin' Feather. Man, that's not even trying.
You could have named her Heather or Grace just so you can have a little bit of subtlety or something.
There's our target, but let's not go there just yet. We have a city to explore!
Interesting. We'll have to check up on these later, because for now?
Monica pays a visit to the local bar.
Next time on Pokemon Dark Rising, we deal with more shenanigans and start our new life of crime. See you then.
[Monica orders a drink]
[Current OST: Midas River]
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Team setup:
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Back-up Team: