Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen May 12, 2025
I'm going to be frank and say that I kinda miss Snakewood. At least the lunacy gave me some better material to work with. Weird, huh?
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #8 - Freezing Karma[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Last time on Dark Rising 2, a lotta shit happened. I'll leave it at that.
: "That depends. Does going on a mission to save the world against my will count as a good deed?"
We are so over-prepared for this next bit and I love it.
: "Oh, this ought to be interesting."
... Neat idea. How will DRG actually pull it off?
: "Bad touch."
Triple Soul is supposed to be a 200 power attack that combines the powers of Sigurd's family into one giant fuck-off fireball made out of aura. Seeing as this is only a measly Wigglytuff, Siegfried spares her and just goes for Zen Headbutt.
Fun fact: The trainer shoplifted before... what a rebel!
"Is afraid the Arctic Mirage will put an end to her life."
: "Why's that?"
Researcher: "The route beyond this... it's a nightmare. But only for some people. The route we are on is called the Meadow of Karma. When someone walks this path, they will be judged. If you have good karma, the route after this won't be a problem. However if you have bad karma, the next route will take your life with a slow, painful death of being frozen. We believe it is the work of the Order Pokemon."
Nice, but you lost me when you brought up the Order Pokemon. You know, this guy:
Why is this such an issue?
Zygarde is
/
, the same type as Corin. Anything
-related is basically their kryptonite, so please god tell me how Zygarde created a space where people who suffer from bad karma freeze to death? Like what the shit? That's even worse than the Fairy-type explanation from the last chapter because of how incompatible it is!
If anything, the Meadow of Karma would be Kyurem's territory. But no - Sydney had to catch it in the first game.
This is what happens when you don't properly plan out your stories.
(Not to mention that this is horribly edgy with no real purpose: How does this affect travel through the region? It starts to lose its impact when you really think about it...)
Good people see a little bit of snow, bad people get crushed by ice rocks. Riveting.
This lady is the one who everyone's talking about here. Do you remember that family from way earlier in the game with two kids and a dad that told us not to get involved? Well, this is the mom.
She had bad karma but she managed to survive the following route, amazingly enough. This wound up with her getting separated from her kids and husband... I'll admit, this is one of the better written sub-stories in the series yet because DRG's been building it up since the start of the game and it (sorta kinda) foreshadows this part of the game.
Future Dan: Oh my god you are in for a laugh when you realize what DRG did with this storyline.
Oh, and she gives us Fly too. Good shit.
"You will lose."
Ooooh boy, now we're getting synchronized. This is how I've felt about the trainers all game and honestly? It's 100% true what she's saying. If the world was currently in the amount of trouble it is now and Monica had to go and save it, the hordes of random trainers challenging her for no reason would ultimately slow her down.
Nice going, random NPC #50, you wound up destroying the world because you delayed Monica for a few minutes.
: "I dunno man, I'm not in a good mood and you shouldn't stick around for it."
: "Move out of my way, thief. I don't have time for your stupid games."
Monica the Savage.
: "That was a jerk thing to say. Guess you aren't as nice as you seem when you're not around your friends."
: "I don't care. All I care about is getting revenge for all the people Darugis has hurt."
I would normally be against Monica suddenly getting all angry and stuff, but this is one of the few times where that is completely justified.
Darugis has screwed up everyone's lives in one way or another, the protagonist in particular has had to go through an immense list of bullshit trials and, on top of everything else, one of her best friends turned against her for no reason.
Plus? Jalice has been a bitch from start to finish, so Monica doesn't really have a reason to appeal to her either.
: "So that's what drives you, huh? That's it? You'd do anything to get that?"
: "Yes, now move!"
: "With an attitude like that, I wouldn't be surprised if you did a ton of cruel things. I bet the Arctic Mirage won't let you live."
Oh, do go on.
: "Says the person who steals everything and lives on the streets. What's wrong? Scared to take another step because you know you'll be entering the Arctic Mirage grounds?"
I wouldn't put "lives on the streets" as something she should be held against, but yes the stealing part is accurate. I love that In-Game Monica finally grew a pair.
"I stole from Granite first!"
Childish tantrum, steals without remorse, hypocritical to a fault... Are you sure Monica's the bad one here, kid?
If this is the special Pokemon you stole from Granite, then I'm disappointed. It wouldn't have been a problem even if we didn't get the power boost last chapter.
Goodra looks like a plushie and I want it. Big snail dragon hug.
Super Fennekin falls to my own super cutie. As a side note, Jalice's devotion to protecting Fennekin seems to be her only positive trait. Honestly? She's pretty abhorrent past that, so there isn't really much to care about her if she gets captured or killed off or something.
Seviper is as predictable as ever and that caps it off.
Feeling's mutual, babe.
"But I can tell something's happened to you since the last time I saw you. You better get those demons out of you before you do something you regret and the Arctic Mirage takes your life. This place got its name from a group of travelers years ago. The people with good karma didn't see a thing -"
Basically, she repeats the same information as before but now it's plot-relevant.
: "You're not scaring me."
: "Hehe, we'll see. I hope you get a frozen death and then have your body crushed by an ice boulder! Just like... my brother..."
Hold up. You're serious.
I can't help but laugh at how ridiculous this is all getting.
You really expect the Arctic Mirage to do anything to Monica despite her being arguably the most good-hearted person in this story? Come on.
: "Hey buddy, do you mind if I test something on you?"
I have gone mad with power and it feels so good~
That poor Ferrothorn is deceased.
"I cannot feel my body! Please... I ask of one last battle before I die."
: "Whatever you want, dude."
[Ninja cutaway to the scene afterward]
"I will die here because of my actions in the past... It is all coming back to haunt me."
: ("Wait, Monica... I don't know about this.")
: "Huh? What's the matter, Sigurd?"
: ("It's just... if this judges us for our deeds in the past... then maybe I should stay behind.")
: "What?! Oh come on, she just said that to scare us. There's no snowstorm strong enough to hurt you anyway, so what are you worried about?"
: ("I'm not proud of what I've done.")
: "Sigurd, you're like the nicest person I've ever met. Chill. Wait, sorry, I didn't mean to--."
: ("... Alright, intentional or not, that was pretty bad. Okay, I trust you.")
: "Of course, dummy."
That is genuinely morbid, but imagine the kind of money those pictures would sell for if this guy isn't enough of a shitheel to freeze over himself.
When we go up, we meet this weirdo.
: "Yeah."
???: "Good. It's refreshing to see someone in this place who hasn't lost their mind."
I don't know why the game tried to build up that something bad is going to happen to Monica when it's obvious she'll be fine.
: "Where does the building behind you lead?"
???: "To the prince of the sea, Manaphy. My name is Zale, the leader of Hyetal City, otherwise known as the eighth gym leader of the Omni Region. The gateway behind me is off-limits to people like you, I'm afraid."
I know, right? Excuse you.
Zale: "You may not be suffering like the others here, but you're no saint."
Guilty.
: "No one is."
Zale: "Exactly... no one but me. The prince of the sea only graces those who are pure of heart. You still have negative emotions inside of you. Come back after you've relinquished them."
[Monica is speechless with an unamused grimace]
Alright, Mr. Aqua Jedi, I guess you know what you're talking about. Seeing as you're perfect and all.
"I'm kinda lost here."
Same, but it's for a lot of different reasons than just an invisible blizzard.
Why do we always have to fight even in places where people have died and stuff? There's such a thing as due to the dead.
Moral of the day: Be a good person or a horde of Bergmite will eat your frozen corpse.
This lady tells you about the three legendary birds and that's cool... but I don't see how they have anything to do with this place. It'd make sense if Articuno created this warped space where people with bad karma get turned into popsicles... but no, let's have Zygarde do it.
Wild Weavile and Zoroark, though. Two of my favorite Dark Pokemon in one spot? How could I not?
: ("Hold on there. You... you're the legendary Sigurd, aren't you?")
: ("I wouldn't say legendary, but...")
: ("Oh, don't be so modest. Me and my wife have been inspired by your heroic tales... Yours and Monica to be precise.")
: ("We were on our way to stop whatever's been going on in the town ahead, but we don't have a trainer to look after us... anymore, that is.")
: "... Anymore?"
: ("It's a long story, so we'll leave it at that. So... Monica. Would you allow us to help you?")
: "Hell yeah, dude. What's your names?"
: ("I'm Beowulf and this is my wife Linoura. Nice to meet you.")
: ("Likewise. You two and your team are the only ones that make sense in this awful region...")
: "Thanks. I can't help but agree, to be honest."
I wouldn't expect it to be a tropical adventure with a name like that. Also, is it just me or did she really not know how to pronounce Arctic? The first time might have been passed off as a typo, but she kept spelling it Artic instead.
Also, hi Benga.
Yadda yadda "I'm gonna kill Noah", the same spiel we've been through before.
OOOOH that's good
It's like a zombie Tyrantrum with how bootleg it looks, good god. Even Aurous didn't look this bad.
It and its companions bite the dust in no time flat thanks to our Thick Strength.
Heatran continues to have no chance and I continue to wonder how Benga managed to do anything.
"What's going on here?!"
Benga is denser than the ocean, my god.
"I got the wrong idea about these Pokemon. They're evil and I'm going to prove it!"
Man, go be stupid somewhere else. I don't have time for you.
At least it was brief. Mercy is all I can really ask for in a place like this.
Blue dude in a blue cave better be important.
: "I have to get by, excuse me."
Monica's not even being rude anymore.
Blue Cap Man: "Hmmm... no way, it is you. You're Monica, the Omni League Champion."
: "I'm not the champion. I merely defeated the champion, Adrian."
But... isn't that --
"You dethroned Adrian, one of the strongest trainers in the world."
Yeah. That's sort of how it works, Monica.
: "I'll be going now."
Blue Cap Man: "You don't seem like the Monica I've heard about. Your attitude, it's not like what I've heard."
Dude.
: "I don't care what you've heard."
Blue Cap Man: "No, you're not that trainer at all. Whatever you're going through that's created this negativity you're giving off, just remember that there are people out there going through stuff as well. The world doesn't revolve around only you."
Prick. She calmly asked you to step aside and, in your infinite wisdom, you decide to piss her off even more by getting on a higher moral ground because she didn't "act the way you wanted." Also, how do you know she has baggage going on right now? Are you a psychic or something?
: "Fine, it's a battle you want? Let's get this over with."
Blue Cap Man: "No, I don't want to battle someone like you. Not until you're the Monica that defeated Adrian again. But know this... my name is Nathan, and I'm the top contender for a title you don't even care to own. A lot of trainers like me work hard for something you have. I'll be sure to take it off your hands when you're back to yourself."
What, are you her number one stalker fan or something? Jesus fuckin' christ, this guy has barely been around for one screen and he's already worse than Jalice! Ugh. Let's just move on.
Cryogonal has always been a weird Pokemon to me. It's a giant, sentient crying snowflake monster... that's also a mirror.
You had to remind me of the Explorer games and how I could be playing them instead of this. Now I weep.
Avalugg is another weird Ice Pokemon that's like the physical counterpart to Cryogonal. I'm not particularly fond of it.
You can get some junk around here if you really want them. I can't really complain at a free revive though.
Remember the Big Pearl incident from the first Dark Rising? The glitch that involved an infinite amount of them spawning if you simply walked away from the treasure chest? That's fixed, unfortunately.
Although I will note that there's some funky shadows on the upper right corner there. That doesn't look quite right.
Isn't that a no-brainer for every patch of grass and cave in the Pokemon universe?
Monica gets swallowed by the ground again. Pesky layers are getting clever on me.
Ultra Balls are good, I guess. I've stopped catching Pokemon, so they're not that useful to me anymore.
Noah released the Swords of Justice from his party earlier, and they all wound up in different caves. You could get them if you want, but I'm personally not going to.
Contra? Please tell me we'll run into a pair of shirtless dudes wielding spreader guns. That'd make this game go from a zero to a perfect ten real quick.
Rest is great and all, but we're such powerhouses that it doesn't even matter.
The square jaws on these guys crack me up. They look so dopey.
I'm sorry to break this to you officer, but...
My eyes are reeling from all of this white with no other color in it but pitch-black outlines. That's simply hideous.
Oh no, the hooded guys are here and they're blocking our path. Whatever shall we do?
We'll get to these two in a bit.
"He's so dreamy, O-M-G!"
I met the man and I wanted to barf. You can have him if you want.
This guy says we can take his Rare Candy if we can move the boulder that's offscreen. Thanks for the offer, but we're already covered on that front.
Alfheim City, huh? Is there really another spook place in the Omni Region?
This is both the Pokemon Center and the Mart. Neat stuff.
"Snow on the ground, sun in the sky."
The sun's supposed to be out now? This place is so poorly colored that it looks cloudy 24/7.
They're pulling a Twinrova on us. I'd worry about that if it wasn't for the fact that Mr. Cuckoo is back!
"You know, between you and me, she's not as scary as she tries to be. I know you feel the same way! C'mon, I won't tell!"
: "Who are you and why is one of your mindless zombies in this city?"
???: "Now-now, no name calling! He is a part of a world full of wonders! He is only a minion worshipping his god!"
: "Oh yea, who's his god?"
[Citadel of the Bount]
WHAT
... well it wasn't a surprise at all, but still
: "You know about Darugis?!"
???: "No. I know about Darugis, though! Hehehehehe... My name's Mason. Nice to meet you again, Monica. I'm the leader of a cult. A cult that represents the true god!"
: "You're being controlled."
Mason: "Controlled? Wait, wait! I know what that is! Mind-Transfer Jutsu! Hahahaha!"
: "You have problems. Let's battle!"
Mason: "Battle me? Don't you think it'd be more smart of you to battle my minions near the Endless Garden? That's where those Gym Leaders are. I'd hurry too, my minions just love breaking those poor Cloyster shells and stabbing them in the eyes. They'd do competitions to see who'd kill the most Cloysters, you know?"
: "You're sick! I'll be back later to deal with you."
: ("Isn't he adorable, though? He's like some evil, mentally unstable cat.")
: "Darugis?! Don't tell me you're behind this!"
: ("Actually? I'm not. He decided to follow me of his own free will and he seemed to be a far more interesting case than most other people I come across. I had to take him along.")
: "Anything to get a thrill, huh?"
: ("Guilty.")
Oh my god, it's Paul from the Pokemon anime. That one rival that tortured his Chimchar to abuse Blaze's power even though that's a horrible idea.
We really needed a cameo from him of all people. Oh well, I can't argue with that.
We're beating him up for Ash, I suppose.
Despite Weavile being his go-to Pokemon, his Gastrodon wound up being more of a problem than I expected. Thank god for Beatrice - I wish Roserade existed in this hack by default.
"When that day comes, the results will be different."
: "Not to be mean, but nah."
Sadly, not even this pretty snow effect will make this area look better.
"It's so reassuring."
She says this after I had already knocked them out. You'd think there'd be a bigger reaction to that.
Sudowoodo can barely take a little bit of water... and here comes a buff Garchomp and a Superman Lucario ready to beat him up just because his trainer decided to throw him into the ring. What a miserable existence.
now that's spicy
Made worse by how he's acting.
Well, here's the big action set-piece for this chapter. Let's get it down. (Also say hello to the two little munchkins that totally aren't Tate and Liza with blue and red hair.)
"What are you doing here with these guys?! Unless..."
Hooded Kids: "All hail Darugis! All hail Darugis!"
: ("It's like music to my ears.")
Brandon: "The ritual is complete!"
Ritual? What is going on here?
Blaze: "Hey, whoever you are. If you're good at Pokemon battles, you mind giving us a hand?"
Isis: "You're asking for help, bro? That's usually my thing?"
I'll cut to the chase and just summarize:
Monica ponders that Darugis must be getting more powerful (now that's a terrifying thought given what he's already done) if someone like Frontier Brain Brandon got swayed to his side. Then Monica commits the ultimate faux pas and says she'll destroy Brandon and his Pokemon even though it's obvious the poor man is just being manipulated.
Then he taunts Monica about the promise from V's children, I puke a little bit in my mouth and we move on.
they're heeeeelping
Brandon is on the evil side now, and you know what that means.
v
Hilariously over-leveled first stage Pokemon. Granted, I don't know what's up and down with this game anymore. This Omanyte could have sekret kung fu arts... or it may even be Lord Helix himself. You can never take a chance.
Regigigas is a cool-looking legendary that is normally held back by Slow Start, but here it doesn't have such a thing.
Correction: It has motherfucking Huge Power to bolster a base 170 attack stat. For the crowd at home, that means he does over 270 points of damage even without a STAB boost.
I can't be the only person that sees a problem with this.
Case in point: Sigurd of all people got reamed.
Every time something like this happens, I remember that he's strong but not unstoppable.
Aura Saber whips Reggie into shape, though.
Brandon has the other Regis under his belt, with Registeel getting crushed in an Earthquake.
Regice stomachs a Triple Soul from Siegfried thanks to that insane 200 base Special Defense...
But it couldn't survive two. Yes, I am cheeky.
Brandon says it was too late and that the ritual is complete. He isn't freed of his possession... which leaves Monica wondering as to what the hell went wrong.
When you combine this with the whole Darkrai-ified Pokemon thing, this is starting to get a bit ludicrous. It's like Darugis has a personal army of not only criminals but spawns of himself and a fanatic cult. I would play the shit out of a real game that has a plot like that, especially if it's Pokemon.
Isis: "Agh... we beat them, but they won't shut up!"
Brandon: "We can retreat for now! Mission complete!"
The twins wonder what Brandon and his pack of goons are up to in the Endless Gardens. They mention that the gardens are the home of the Lati Twins, leaving me to wonder as to what Darugis would want with more legendaries.
Honestly, that would be really cool if the Lati Twins were plot relevant and tied into the themes of the two leaders in the Contra City, but nah.
As a reward for beating Brandon, you get Rain Dance and access to the garden. Hooray.
Oh what the heck, let's just take on the gym so we can say we did it.
Huh. More quizzes, only this time there's nothing exceptionally stupid this time around.
They give their banter and say they won't hold back just because we helped earlier.
Bring it, kiddos.
On one hand, I love it whenever stories do the whole Fire and Ice dynamic even if it's kind of overplayed. On the other, they're pretty basic and their names slay me. Blaze is obvious enough, but Isis? As in the Egyptian goddess?
Dude, Isis has nothing to do with cold or frost. That's reaching, but at the very least it's better than her brother.
True to their dynamic, the twins have Fridge and Oven Quotes. Rotom is very popular in the Omni Region, it seems.
There's those weird numbers again. I know that's our health in a different format, but it looks so weird.
Shame the Rotoms had to get beaten up Sigurd and Corin, though.
Everyone else suffers a Void Bomb + Stone Edge combo. Honestly with all the stuff we do to our opponents, you'd think we were the bad guys after all... cause this sure isn't fair, no sir.
Not that I'm complaining.
Oh please, kids. You're giving yourselves too much credit.
They hand us the Contra Badge and Fire Blast because this is still Blaine's gym from the original FireRed. It's the thought that counts.
They bicker about types some more and we leave. They're easily the most interesting gym leaders in the game yet they're still kinda meh. Oh well, better something than nothing.
We make our way over to the Endless Garden that is not covered in snow for once. (Thank god too because my eyes couldn't take much more of that.)
Good advice, Mr. Sign.
Next time on Dark Rising 2, we're gonna do some fun stuff before the real descent into madness begins. See you then.
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Team setup:
(Corin, level 85,
,
/
) - "I can't help but agree with Monica. All of this would get to me too if I were her."
(Sigurd, level 92,
,
/
) - "Well then. I didn't freeze to death after all. How about that."
(Siegfried, level 85,
,
/
) - "Of course you didn't, silly! You need to have more confidence in yourself."
(Wave, level 87,
,
) - "That Mason guy really freaked me out."
(Bellamine, level 84,
,
) - "He was certainly... off. I don't think I've ever seen someone that unhinged before."
(Beatrice, level 84,
,
/
) - "I'm glad we didn't have to fight him, but I'm worried that Monica and Sigurd couldn't free that Frontier Brain person."
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Back-up Team:
(Signe, level 87,
,
/
) - [Holds Rubus above her head with a smile]
(Arthur, level 86,
,
/
) - "Darugis has amassed quite the army. We might be a little outnumbered here..."
(Gale, level 84,
,
/
) - "They may have the advantage in numbers, but we beat them out in quality. I'd like to see them take me on."
(Quote, level 81,
,
/
) - "Monica looks pretty angry. What happenzzt?"
(Ambes, level 81,
,
) - "Not sure, but I can't help but sympathize with her. That Nathan guy didn't seem like the best person..."
(Johnny, level 47,
,
) - "She must have had it rough."
(Shadow, level 60,
,
/
) - [Looks around for intruders]
(Rubus, level 25,
,
) - "Aaa-a! Don't let me go!"
(Ignell, level 82,
,
/
) - "Hello, Beowulf and Linoura. What brings you to our happy group?"
(Candelabra, level 82,
,
/
) - "So when you say you're trainerless... Does that mean you had to leave or..."
(Beowulf, level 56,
,
) - "No, nothing like that, but..."
(Linoura, level 60,
,
/
) - "We did have to escape with our lives. I'm not sure if our trainers are even still alive, to be frank. That's why we do our part to help areas that are targeted by that vile force that everyone seems to be combating."
(Iris, level 60,
,
) - "Ouch. Well, good thing you found us, huh."
(Lucera, level 60,
,
) - "Hmmmm. Monica does seem to know what she's doing..."
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #8 - Freezing Karma[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Spoiler:
Last time on Dark Rising 2, a lotta shit happened. I'll leave it at that.
We are so over-prepared for this next bit and I love it.
... Neat idea. How will DRG actually pull it off?
Triple Soul is supposed to be a 200 power attack that combines the powers of Sigurd's family into one giant fuck-off fireball made out of aura. Seeing as this is only a measly Wigglytuff, Siegfried spares her and just goes for Zen Headbutt.
Fun fact: The trainer shoplifted before... what a rebel!
"Is afraid the Arctic Mirage will put an end to her life."
Researcher: "The route beyond this... it's a nightmare. But only for some people. The route we are on is called the Meadow of Karma. When someone walks this path, they will be judged. If you have good karma, the route after this won't be a problem. However if you have bad karma, the next route will take your life with a slow, painful death of being frozen. We believe it is the work of the Order Pokemon."
Nice, but you lost me when you brought up the Order Pokemon. You know, this guy:
Why is this such an issue?
Zygarde is
If anything, the Meadow of Karma would be Kyurem's territory. But no - Sydney had to catch it in the first game.
This is what happens when you don't properly plan out your stories.
(Not to mention that this is horribly edgy with no real purpose: How does this affect travel through the region? It starts to lose its impact when you really think about it...)
Good people see a little bit of snow, bad people get crushed by ice rocks. Riveting.
This lady is the one who everyone's talking about here. Do you remember that family from way earlier in the game with two kids and a dad that told us not to get involved? Well, this is the mom.
She had bad karma but she managed to survive the following route, amazingly enough. This wound up with her getting separated from her kids and husband... I'll admit, this is one of the better written sub-stories in the series yet because DRG's been building it up since the start of the game and it (sorta kinda) foreshadows this part of the game.
Future Dan: Oh my god you are in for a laugh when you realize what DRG did with this storyline.
Oh, and she gives us Fly too. Good shit.
"You will lose."
Ooooh boy, now we're getting synchronized. This is how I've felt about the trainers all game and honestly? It's 100% true what she's saying. If the world was currently in the amount of trouble it is now and Monica had to go and save it, the hordes of random trainers challenging her for no reason would ultimately slow her down.
Nice going, random NPC #50, you wound up destroying the world because you delayed Monica for a few minutes.
Monica the Savage.
I would normally be against Monica suddenly getting all angry and stuff, but this is one of the few times where that is completely justified.
Darugis has screwed up everyone's lives in one way or another, the protagonist in particular has had to go through an immense list of bullshit trials and, on top of everything else, one of her best friends turned against her for no reason.
Plus? Jalice has been a bitch from start to finish, so Monica doesn't really have a reason to appeal to her either.
Oh, do go on.
I wouldn't put "lives on the streets" as something she should be held against, but yes the stealing part is accurate. I love that In-Game Monica finally grew a pair.
"I stole from Granite first!"
Childish tantrum, steals without remorse, hypocritical to a fault... Are you sure Monica's the bad one here, kid?
If this is the special Pokemon you stole from Granite, then I'm disappointed. It wouldn't have been a problem even if we didn't get the power boost last chapter.
Goodra looks like a plushie and I want it. Big snail dragon hug.
Super Fennekin falls to my own super cutie. As a side note, Jalice's devotion to protecting Fennekin seems to be her only positive trait. Honestly? She's pretty abhorrent past that, so there isn't really much to care about her if she gets captured or killed off or something.
Seviper is as predictable as ever and that caps it off.
Feeling's mutual, babe.
"But I can tell something's happened to you since the last time I saw you. You better get those demons out of you before you do something you regret and the Arctic Mirage takes your life. This place got its name from a group of travelers years ago. The people with good karma didn't see a thing -"
Basically, she repeats the same information as before but now it's plot-relevant.
Hold up. You're serious.
I can't help but laugh at how ridiculous this is all getting.
You really expect the Arctic Mirage to do anything to Monica despite her being arguably the most good-hearted person in this story? Come on.
That poor Ferrothorn is deceased.
"I cannot feel my body! Please... I ask of one last battle before I die."
[Ninja cutaway to the scene afterward]
"I will die here because of my actions in the past... It is all coming back to haunt me."
That is genuinely morbid, but imagine the kind of money those pictures would sell for if this guy isn't enough of a shitheel to freeze over himself.
When we go up, we meet this weirdo.
???: "Good. It's refreshing to see someone in this place who hasn't lost their mind."
I don't know why the game tried to build up that something bad is going to happen to Monica when it's obvious she'll be fine.
???: "To the prince of the sea, Manaphy. My name is Zale, the leader of Hyetal City, otherwise known as the eighth gym leader of the Omni Region. The gateway behind me is off-limits to people like you, I'm afraid."
I know, right? Excuse you.
Zale: "You may not be suffering like the others here, but you're no saint."
Guilty.
Zale: "Exactly... no one but me. The prince of the sea only graces those who are pure of heart. You still have negative emotions inside of you. Come back after you've relinquished them."
[Monica is speechless with an unamused grimace]
Alright, Mr. Aqua Jedi, I guess you know what you're talking about. Seeing as you're perfect and all.
"I'm kinda lost here."
Same, but it's for a lot of different reasons than just an invisible blizzard.
Why do we always have to fight even in places where people have died and stuff? There's such a thing as due to the dead.
Moral of the day: Be a good person or a horde of Bergmite will eat your frozen corpse.
This lady tells you about the three legendary birds and that's cool... but I don't see how they have anything to do with this place. It'd make sense if Articuno created this warped space where people with bad karma get turned into popsicles... but no, let's have Zygarde do it.
Wild Weavile and Zoroark, though. Two of my favorite Dark Pokemon in one spot? How could I not?
I wouldn't expect it to be a tropical adventure with a name like that. Also, is it just me or did she really not know how to pronounce Arctic? The first time might have been passed off as a typo, but she kept spelling it Artic instead.
Also, hi Benga.
Yadda yadda "I'm gonna kill Noah", the same spiel we've been through before.
OOOOH that's good
It's like a zombie Tyrantrum with how bootleg it looks, good god. Even Aurous didn't look this bad.
It and its companions bite the dust in no time flat thanks to our Thick Strength.
Heatran continues to have no chance and I continue to wonder how Benga managed to do anything.
"What's going on here?!"
Benga is denser than the ocean, my god.
"I got the wrong idea about these Pokemon. They're evil and I'm going to prove it!"
Man, go be stupid somewhere else. I don't have time for you.
At least it was brief. Mercy is all I can really ask for in a place like this.
Blue dude in a blue cave better be important.
Monica's not even being rude anymore.
Blue Cap Man: "Hmmm... no way, it is you. You're Monica, the Omni League Champion."
But... isn't that --
"You dethroned Adrian, one of the strongest trainers in the world."
Yeah. That's sort of how it works, Monica.
Blue Cap Man: "You don't seem like the Monica I've heard about. Your attitude, it's not like what I've heard."
Dude.
Blue Cap Man: "No, you're not that trainer at all. Whatever you're going through that's created this negativity you're giving off, just remember that there are people out there going through stuff as well. The world doesn't revolve around only you."
Prick. She calmly asked you to step aside and, in your infinite wisdom, you decide to piss her off even more by getting on a higher moral ground because she didn't "act the way you wanted." Also, how do you know she has baggage going on right now? Are you a psychic or something?
Blue Cap Man: "No, I don't want to battle someone like you. Not until you're the Monica that defeated Adrian again. But know this... my name is Nathan, and I'm the top contender for a title you don't even care to own. A lot of trainers like me work hard for something you have. I'll be sure to take it off your hands when you're back to yourself."
What, are you her number one stalker fan or something? Jesus fuckin' christ, this guy has barely been around for one screen and he's already worse than Jalice! Ugh. Let's just move on.
Cryogonal has always been a weird Pokemon to me. It's a giant, sentient crying snowflake monster... that's also a mirror.
You had to remind me of the Explorer games and how I could be playing them instead of this. Now I weep.
Avalugg is another weird Ice Pokemon that's like the physical counterpart to Cryogonal. I'm not particularly fond of it.
You can get some junk around here if you really want them. I can't really complain at a free revive though.
Remember the Big Pearl incident from the first Dark Rising? The glitch that involved an infinite amount of them spawning if you simply walked away from the treasure chest? That's fixed, unfortunately.
Although I will note that there's some funky shadows on the upper right corner there. That doesn't look quite right.
Isn't that a no-brainer for every patch of grass and cave in the Pokemon universe?
Monica gets swallowed by the ground again. Pesky layers are getting clever on me.
Ultra Balls are good, I guess. I've stopped catching Pokemon, so they're not that useful to me anymore.
Noah released the Swords of Justice from his party earlier, and they all wound up in different caves. You could get them if you want, but I'm personally not going to.
Contra? Please tell me we'll run into a pair of shirtless dudes wielding spreader guns. That'd make this game go from a zero to a perfect ten real quick.
Rest is great and all, but we're such powerhouses that it doesn't even matter.
The square jaws on these guys crack me up. They look so dopey.
I'm sorry to break this to you officer, but...
My eyes are reeling from all of this white with no other color in it but pitch-black outlines. That's simply hideous.
Oh no, the hooded guys are here and they're blocking our path. Whatever shall we do?
We'll get to these two in a bit.
"He's so dreamy, O-M-G!"
I met the man and I wanted to barf. You can have him if you want.
This guy says we can take his Rare Candy if we can move the boulder that's offscreen. Thanks for the offer, but we're already covered on that front.
Alfheim City, huh? Is there really another spook place in the Omni Region?
This is both the Pokemon Center and the Mart. Neat stuff.
"Snow on the ground, sun in the sky."
The sun's supposed to be out now? This place is so poorly colored that it looks cloudy 24/7.
They're pulling a Twinrova on us. I'd worry about that if it wasn't for the fact that Mr. Cuckoo is back!
"You know, between you and me, she's not as scary as she tries to be. I know you feel the same way! C'mon, I won't tell!"
???: "Now-now, no name calling! He is a part of a world full of wonders! He is only a minion worshipping his god!"
[Citadel of the Bount]
WHAT
... well it wasn't a surprise at all, but still
???: "No. I know about Darugis, though! Hehehehehe... My name's Mason. Nice to meet you again, Monica. I'm the leader of a cult. A cult that represents the true god!"
Mason: "Controlled? Wait, wait! I know what that is! Mind-Transfer Jutsu! Hahahaha!"
Mason: "Battle me? Don't you think it'd be more smart of you to battle my minions near the Endless Garden? That's where those Gym Leaders are. I'd hurry too, my minions just love breaking those poor Cloyster shells and stabbing them in the eyes. They'd do competitions to see who'd kill the most Cloysters, you know?"
Oh my god, it's Paul from the Pokemon anime. That one rival that tortured his Chimchar to abuse Blaze's power even though that's a horrible idea.
We really needed a cameo from him of all people. Oh well, I can't argue with that.
We're beating him up for Ash, I suppose.
Despite Weavile being his go-to Pokemon, his Gastrodon wound up being more of a problem than I expected. Thank god for Beatrice - I wish Roserade existed in this hack by default.
"When that day comes, the results will be different."
Sadly, not even this pretty snow effect will make this area look better.
"It's so reassuring."
She says this after I had already knocked them out. You'd think there'd be a bigger reaction to that.
Sudowoodo can barely take a little bit of water... and here comes a buff Garchomp and a Superman Lucario ready to beat him up just because his trainer decided to throw him into the ring. What a miserable existence.
now that's spicy
Made worse by how he's acting.
Well, here's the big action set-piece for this chapter. Let's get it down. (Also say hello to the two little munchkins that totally aren't Tate and Liza with blue and red hair.)
"What are you doing here with these guys?! Unless..."
Hooded Kids: "All hail Darugis! All hail Darugis!"
Brandon: "The ritual is complete!"
Ritual? What is going on here?
Blaze: "Hey, whoever you are. If you're good at Pokemon battles, you mind giving us a hand?"
Isis: "You're asking for help, bro? That's usually my thing?"
I'll cut to the chase and just summarize:
Monica ponders that Darugis must be getting more powerful (now that's a terrifying thought given what he's already done) if someone like Frontier Brain Brandon got swayed to his side. Then Monica commits the ultimate faux pas and says she'll destroy Brandon and his Pokemon even though it's obvious the poor man is just being manipulated.
Then he taunts Monica about the promise from V's children, I puke a little bit in my mouth and we move on.
Brandon is on the evil side now, and you know what that means.
v
Hilariously over-leveled first stage Pokemon. Granted, I don't know what's up and down with this game anymore. This Omanyte could have sekret kung fu arts... or it may even be Lord Helix himself. You can never take a chance.
Regigigas is a cool-looking legendary that is normally held back by Slow Start, but here it doesn't have such a thing.
Correction: It has motherfucking Huge Power to bolster a base 170 attack stat. For the crowd at home, that means he does over 270 points of damage even without a STAB boost.
I can't be the only person that sees a problem with this.
Case in point: Sigurd of all people got reamed.
Every time something like this happens, I remember that he's strong but not unstoppable.
Aura Saber whips Reggie into shape, though.
Brandon has the other Regis under his belt, with Registeel getting crushed in an Earthquake.
Regice stomachs a Triple Soul from Siegfried thanks to that insane 200 base Special Defense...
But it couldn't survive two. Yes, I am cheeky.
Brandon says it was too late and that the ritual is complete. He isn't freed of his possession... which leaves Monica wondering as to what the hell went wrong.
When you combine this with the whole Darkrai-ified Pokemon thing, this is starting to get a bit ludicrous. It's like Darugis has a personal army of not only criminals but spawns of himself and a fanatic cult. I would play the shit out of a real game that has a plot like that, especially if it's Pokemon.
Isis: "Agh... we beat them, but they won't shut up!"
Brandon: "We can retreat for now! Mission complete!"
The twins wonder what Brandon and his pack of goons are up to in the Endless Gardens. They mention that the gardens are the home of the Lati Twins, leaving me to wonder as to what Darugis would want with more legendaries.
Honestly, that would be really cool if the Lati Twins were plot relevant and tied into the themes of the two leaders in the Contra City, but nah.
As a reward for beating Brandon, you get Rain Dance and access to the garden. Hooray.
Oh what the heck, let's just take on the gym so we can say we did it.
Huh. More quizzes, only this time there's nothing exceptionally stupid this time around.
They give their banter and say they won't hold back just because we helped earlier.
Bring it, kiddos.
On one hand, I love it whenever stories do the whole Fire and Ice dynamic even if it's kind of overplayed. On the other, they're pretty basic and their names slay me. Blaze is obvious enough, but Isis? As in the Egyptian goddess?
Dude, Isis has nothing to do with cold or frost. That's reaching, but at the very least it's better than her brother.
True to their dynamic, the twins have Fridge and Oven Quotes. Rotom is very popular in the Omni Region, it seems.
There's those weird numbers again. I know that's our health in a different format, but it looks so weird.
Shame the Rotoms had to get beaten up Sigurd and Corin, though.
Everyone else suffers a Void Bomb + Stone Edge combo. Honestly with all the stuff we do to our opponents, you'd think we were the bad guys after all... cause this sure isn't fair, no sir.
Not that I'm complaining.
Oh please, kids. You're giving yourselves too much credit.
They hand us the Contra Badge and Fire Blast because this is still Blaine's gym from the original FireRed. It's the thought that counts.
They bicker about types some more and we leave. They're easily the most interesting gym leaders in the game yet they're still kinda meh. Oh well, better something than nothing.
We make our way over to the Endless Garden that is not covered in snow for once. (Thank god too because my eyes couldn't take much more of that.)
Good advice, Mr. Sign.
Next time on Dark Rising 2, we're gonna do some fun stuff before the real descent into madness begins. See you then.
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Team setup:
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Back-up Team: