Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen May 12, 2025
I don't even know where things will go from here.
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #2 - Fragile Border[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/FONT]
If I could accurately summarize the last chapter in a few words? There was a ton of fighting. This chapter will be more of the same with some key differences.
Who hides their store in the middle of a cave? Also, I thought this was a station, not a Pokemart.
"Here's Prof. Ivan's package!"
Those two sentences practically have nothing to do with each other without further context.
I would say something about how it's still called Oak's Parcel, but believe it or not they actually wrote around this.
Anyway, that's all well and good. Let's get out of this strange cave-mart.
... I knew something bad was going to happen when it started raining.
: "Whoa! What kind of Pokemon is that?"
: "I'll battle this guy to see how strong I've gotten."
Sweetie, I know you're eager but you should recognize that's definitely not a normal Pokemon.
: "I don't think that's a good idea, Monica. It looks really powerful..."
Sensible comment.
: "Nah, don't worry about it. Me & my partner Pokemon can handle this. We're always ready!"
Told right off.
: ("... Monica is going to get me killed.")
Woman, you are suicidally overconfident. Who looks at this:
And goes "Yeah, I can totally beat this up with the Gible that I just got."
It doesn't even make sense, either - Monica hasn't done anything outstanding at this point to warrant the arrogance. At least in Snakewood, Jack (or Wraith, as the default name apparently is) had done a ton of impressive feats before he even reached the bad guys. So you got me.
Oh well. It's Monica's funeral.
: "What?"
???: "Your agony will satisfy me. Prepare to fall!"
: ("In hindsight this was a horrendous idea. Why didn't I just run away?!")
Tornadus isn't even facing towards us due to sprite limitations, but I'm still impressed they got it in there.
Hello, Lance. Like no seriously, that's Lance - who are you fooling?
SWEET FUCKIN' JESUS!
[Theme I would use for this encounter: A Crisis]
I hate forced loss battles, but at the same time it makes perfect sense - in real life, you don't fight a ton of disposable mooks before fighting the really tough guy. So I'll give you that at least.
God, what do you want now?
The exchange is the exact same as when we fought Noah, by the way. Including this bit.
: ("Use strategy to overcome him.") [Snicker]
: "HOW?!"
I can't interpret that part in any other way. But then again, God isn't meant to be a troll here... so I'll laugh even harder.
[Tornadus used Hurricane!]
What did you expect to happen? A come from behind victory with a level 100 hack mon? Please.
(Yeah, you're telling me)
Oh wait, you're the bad guy. I'm supposed to disagree with you... Nah.
: ("Hm... How disappointing.)
"I will use some of my power to create a payment for your opponent. However, I will not always be able to do this. You are the Chosen One... I need you to be stronger in order to use my power."
Why pay him? Why are we even talking about money? I know I'm harping a bit on what's happening but damn, this is too silly.
In-Game Monica: "Oh shucky darns, my Pokemon just got atomized by a force of nature."
Let's Play Monica: [Immediate regret]
???: "You don't have the potential to stop us... I'll leave for now."
Classic Bond villain mindset - "If the main hero is severely incapacitated and I clearly have the upper hand, let's just leave instead of finishing the job."
: "Aargh..."
"Speak to me!"
: [Ellipses]
Your Pokemon was the one who got blown away, not you. What's with the drama queen act?
???: "HAHAHAHAHA! You can't even speak! Hahahaha!"
Does this guy get excited for everything like this? Because beating up a kid with a level 11 Gible is playground bully stuff.
: "What have you done to him?!"
...
The last time I checked, Monica was a girl.
???: "It's none of your business... We'll meet again, Monica..."
Pete is honestly the best character right now. He's reacting to all of this like a normal person would.
: "They disappeared right at the same time when the rain stopped... C'mon, Monica, I'll take you home."
You're the best, Pete.
So the Tornadus was causing all of the rain? That's a nice attention to detail, actually.
[Theme I would use for this scene: Kindertotenlied]
: ("Monica, you have many trials ahead of you. Some harder than others. But if there's anything I have to warn you about... It would have to be about an entity that threatens to turn your kindness against you.")
: ("What? What even is it?")
: ("They are a red Riolu with white hair and blue eyes. I consider them as much of a threat as Darugis. If you see them, kill them on sight. I have faith that you'll make the right choice.")
: ("A Riolu...? Wait, hold on!")
[Monica abruptly wakes up]
: "Ah. I passed out, it seems. A red Riolu with white hair... I don't think I could have the heart to do what he says, though. Who am I to trust some random voice in my dreams?"
This is all building up to something, I swear.
[Theme I would use for this & the scene after: Premonition of something to happen]
"You got beaten down by that strong Pokemon."
: "Where is it now?"
: "Don't worry, it's gone already..."
Mom: "Oh, sweetie, I was so worried when Pete brought you here hurt... Are you alright? No broken bones, no dizziness--"
Awwwww. Characters that actually care about our well being! This is already way better than Snakewood in that regard.
: "I'm alright, I just needed some rest."
Mom: "Oh, what a relief! Next time, take care of yourself, ok?"
"I'll be going now, then."
: "Okay, Pete, thanks for everything."
: "Heh, no prob! I'll be back in Douba Road if you need anything."
[Pete goes offscreen]
"Didn't you need to deliver that package to Dr. Ivan?"
Long story short, we say bye to Mom again and hope more bad things don't happen.
Oh yeah, one vital piece of information I forgot to include last chapter: Don't walk on the sides of the entrance here.
By some incredible glitch, you will instantly be frozen with no chance of escape if you move one space to the left or right. When I first discovered it, I had to reset the game.
"You're finally here. Did you get my package from the station?"
: "Yeah, it's right here. A lot of weird stuff is going on in the Core region... Anyways, here's your package."
[Monica delivers the package]
: "This package is from Prof. Oak of Kanto."
See, I told you there was a reason. Also, if we say package one more time, I'm going to scream.
: "Whoa! This is really from Prof. Oak? Amazing!"
Short little discussion break: You can already tell that Dark Rising Girl has genuine respect for the Pokemon franchise despite the wonkiness of the writing/gameplay. Contrast Cutlerine, who was arguably more talented in some respects but was like "lol my game is much better than the actual series i am such a genius".
(Future Dan: Oh my god I was blissfully unaware of what this series really had to offer at the start.)
Anyway, Noah is here.
Aaaand the text says he's Monica. It does this twice, by the way. Oooops.
"You're already here! Man, those woods were crazy! You'd hate it there!"
Guess where we're going.
: "Here's the ingredients, Dr. Ivan."
Is he a doctor or a professor? Make up your mind, dude.
: "Oh! Thank you both. This is really important."
Do we ever get to see what the ingredients are used for?
"The Core Region has been in such a disaster lately... I really wanted to give you these days ago. Take these, you two!"
: "You can't get detailed data on Pokemon by just seeing them. You must capture them in order to obtain complete data. So take these Poke Balls..."
Hell yeah. Now we're talking.
Be careful with these, though. There's no Pokemart around here, and the place in the Mainland Cave doesn't count.
: "You two have been studying on becoming a Pokemon Trainer since you were kids. So I'd expect you already know the basics. So get going! This is a great undertaking in Pokemon history!"
It's not that big of a deal, Prof. Then again, I somehow managed to complete the national dex in Omega Ruby - a great undertaking in of itself.
: "Okay, let's both have a contest! Whoever becomes the Champion first wins! Let's meet again somewhere..."
[Noah goes offscreen]
Yeah good luck, buddy.
Anyway, we have the Pokedex and some balls. I think we're good to go.
Remember these three from chapter 1? Now we're actually taking a shot at them.
The first one has a Minccino that Corin defeated just by slinging mud at her. Must have went straight into the eyes, jesus.
Second verse, same as the first. Except that really has to hurt, being part
.
Oh really?
Oh damn, you actually survived more than one hit. Still in the bag, though.
There is no way you're losing this even if you just got your starter, so rip 'em apart.
"You defeated the three of us in a row. Here's your reward!"
Free money everywhere. But seriously though, let's go use our brand new Poke Balls.
At this point, anything is good, so...
[A small, shadowy figure stares at Monica from a distance. It jumps out in front of her]
[Replay Kindertotenlied]
OH WHOA, THAT'S NOT NORMAL!
: "Wh-what in the world?! It's a red Riolu!"
: ("Oh man, I finally decide to go up to a human and I might have scared them instead...")
: ("U-uh, hi! I-I don't have a trainer to take care of me. Do you mind if I go with you?")
: "Awww, you poor little guy. You must be... Wait. A red Riolu with white hair... That's the same thing the voice in my dream warned me about."
: ("A... A voice in a dream? What's that all about?")
: "I don't know either. They said I had to kill you, but I don't--"
: ("What?!")
: ("M-Monica, what should we do?")
Oh boy, here we go. What's all this about, you might ask? Let's spare him first and then I'll tell you.
: ("Oof, dodged a giant bullet there...")
[Theme now: Wings That Don't Reach]
Yep. It's exactly what it seems.
I hacked this little guy into the game.
He is
/
type and has a stat spread of:
50 / 80 / 60 / 50 / 60 / 70
He's stronger, bulkier and faster than a normal Riolu. Not only that, he has a catch rate of 255 so there was absolutely no excuse for me to not get him. Despite this, he managed to resist being captured at least three times in practice. That doesn't even make sense storywise!
: "So what's your name?"
: ("Just call me Sigurd!")
Sigurd is the name of a hero from Norse mythology, by the way. A dragonslayer of sorts. So let that be a sign of what this little guy is going to be like.
... Oh wait, dragonslayer?
* looks at corin *
: [gulp]
Sigurd has Shadow Tag and starts off with a pretty poopy moveset.
Aura Sphere is good, but the other two are relatively worthless.
Aura Sphere has a functional animation, surprisingly enough. I feel it fits, despite this actually being Mist Ball.
Mist Ball is the signature move of Latias. Whereas Latios's Luster Purge is a
-type version of Dazzling Gleam, Mist Ball is a
-type rain ball that has a 50% chance to lower Special Attack. You got me.
I grinded for a bit and Sigurd has Shadow Claw now. I gave him better moves to balance out his crappy initial line-up, so that's good.
"You were hit pretty badly by that Pokemon. I searched the Pokemon in Google by the appearance, and I was able to identify it."
GOOGLE? SERIOUSLY?!
Way to break the immersion of the story there, dude.
: "What kind of Pokemon was it?"
: "It was a Tornadus - a strong Pokemon that controls the wind."
Who documented legendaries? Is this real life Google that he's using? Because if so, that's a major mind screw.
: "That makes it really strong, huh? I'm going to defeat that Pokemon someday..."
She is really determined to take down Tornadus after what happened, christ.
Monica should be gunning for the guy who controlled him, not the actual Pokemon.
"Blitz must have driven the disaster Pokemon away because the rain stopped! You can go through here from now."
I don't think we get to meet Blitz soon. Oh well.
Some more gorgeous sprite art...
Oh wait, this was the area that Noah never stopped complaining about.
Awwwww, it's one of my favorite Gen 5 Pokemon. Cottonee & Whimsicott are so cute.
She's definitely a new member of the crew.
Sathala is a pretty name, wouldn't you agree?
: ("Hi! You seem nice.")
Actually, before we do anything else, let's check the school here.
"It's one of my fine graduates, Monica. Please come with me."
... Monica actually has some form of education? Okay, now I can understand why she had an ego the size of the sun back there.
"I just happened to pass by, I'm on my way to challenge the Core League."
[The children erupt in a synchronized "Ooooh!"]
Ms. Weatherbell: "Settle down, class. That is wonderful news, Monica. I am very proud of you. My students today have been hard at work, so I have an exciting idea. Let's give them a Pokemon battle. Teacher versus student. What do you say?"
: "I never thought this day would come. Alright then, Ms. Weatherbell!"
Okay, this is actually kind of rad. You could argue that we didn't have to do this as there's no real reward waiting at the end of this, but the fact Dark Rising Girl put this in adds some more charm regarding our main character.
You can tell that she was trying to actually build a story and not just railroad us into doing random shit like a certain other game I know.
Being a teacher, she has a relatively strong Pokemon and another one of my favorites. Then again, if you beat Pete and the Mystery Lady from before then this should be no challenge to you.
^ What she said.
Aww, that's cute.
One thing I've always questioned - why do these kids use bug-catching nets when they have Pokeballs? I guess that's not important.
Sigurd's backsprite along with Shadow Claw's animation. Poor Caterpie got wrecked.
I'll admit, it was very tempting to make him completely busted with a ridiculous moveset - but I feel this is a better sequence of events. He's only a small boy anyway, so...
Oh. Well, this is a bit awkward.
One thing that I've always found hilarious about Pokemon: Someone could be asking an innocent question like "where is the bathroom", but the instant that exclamation mark balloon pops up?
Heads will fly.
Venipede is cool and all, but he is an absolute prick for this part of the game. See, due to the lack of a Pokemart, we have no way to heal from status conditions. So if this thing poisons you (which is practically guaranteed), it might as well be a death sentence.
The only way to get rid of that is to run back to your house and have your mom heal you, but by the time you get there, you're probably already dead due to how long the walk is. I pity the Nuzlockers who get to this point without a
Pokemon, really.
Oh, and Sigurd has been hit! Poor bastard.
But look on the bright side: Corin got to learn Dragonbreath!
Tangela is one of the Pokemon you can get here. They're not a good choice to keep, but I'd recommend you beat them like a pinata because the EXP they drop is absolutely delicious. (250+ a pop)
* laughs immaturely at the word boo boo *
I mean, ouch. Look at the scenery, by the way. This may as well be called the Wild Encounter Forest due to how many patches of grass there are. Could you tone it down just a bit?
Shroomish is a Pokemon I might never get. It's not because I don't want it...
Funnily enough, beating up that Shroomish leveled up Sigurd enough to get another move: Knock Off.
See, when I was editing the hack, I discreetly buffed up Knock Off to have 60 base power (which is close to how strong it is as of Gen 6) instead of a pitiful 20. So uh... Yeah, that's gonna be fun to use.
You might want to get something to disinfect that.
: "Nothing a little spit can't fix!"
... Yeah, have fun with that.
Oh? What would it be?
Ah, these two. Shelmet can shrug off physical hits pretty well due to having Acid Armor (2x increase in Defense per use) as a move, and Karrablast is... well, a bug.
This fellow says... absolutely nothing. I went over to talk to him, but no text box came up.
There's either something really spooky going on or he's a mute.
All of the trainers around here have Pokemon that you can catch in the grass, which is kind of neat. The Core Region has a good assortment of Pokemon to catch, even if none of them are brand new Fakemon.
"Like, is it an orange peel? Or a ringing bell?"
I don't know, man. But that does raise an interesting question...
Excuse me, what?
Who asks this question unironically?
Since Corin and Sigurd were stealing the show for a while there, how about we put Sathala to use?
She has Leech Seed, Growth and Absorb, along with Stun Spore. In her own way, she's pretty dangerous - especially if this were Gen 6 and she had access to Prankster. (+1 priority to support moves like Toxic, Substitute, etc.)
And you're blocking my way to solve the problem!
Sathala got to work on his Blitzle.
Oddly one of the most reasonable intros into a battle yet.
Oh my god, look at that dude's Mechachu. I want one.
FEEL THE WRATH OF THE MIGHTY LAND SHARK DRAGON
Sathala cleans up house. I got a good feeling about this team, guys.
But now for some more plot!
Guys in black... Well, this doesn't look good.
Pay attention to where we are in the map, though. We're directly to the left of the entrance to the Twist Woodlands, which implies that patch of trees behind us is the forest we just came out of. That is really bizarre when you think about it.
"Get lost or we'll make you pay!"
: "What? Who are you guys? I'm not going anywhere."
She's bringing the sass.
Grunt: "Ah! Making excuses, eh? Take this!"
Grunt 2: "Wait! You look familiar... Have I seen you before?"
Grunt: "I don't care if you know her! I'm gonna take her down!"
Wow, he got really salty from what Monica said.
[Theme I would use for the Dark Thugs: Chrono Trigger Battle Theme]
They're recolored Rockets, but they're a slightly cooler in my opinion. It's the green.
I think Croagunk and Toxicroak are cool. Not when they're used against me, mind you...
Corin shows him the door.
: "What?! You know my father?! Where is he?"
Grunt: "Why would I tell you? Hehehe..."
Our dad is important? I didn't know that.
* she
"Well, that changes everything! I'm gonna crush you!"
You know, when a kid with a level 4 Patrat says that before you, it's suddenly a lot less intimidating.
Skorupi here is a hassle as he has Pin Missile. That doesn't sound like much until you realize we have no healing items and every point of damage builds up after a while.
You see that damage? Corin got wrecked, and she's not even weak to it. Sigurd would probably get murdered and Sathala is dead on arrival.
I'm getting some serious deja vu flashbacks to Snakewood, because the same thing happened back then too.
: "Noah is in Tiki Village? Where is my father?"
Wait, how did Noah get here before we did? Oh right, he has Bagon.
: "What are you doing in this village?"
Grunt 3: "Master Darugis has sent us to conquer it. We obey whatever the Master says."
: ("That name... So it's time already!")
: "Sounds like a bunch of dogs to me."
DAMN. You just got roasted, son.
: ("Wow, I like her already!")
: ("I know, right?")
: "Let's finish this!"
The final opponent is a lady grunt who has an interesting mon. Frillish here isn't very powerful, but they are really bulky.
Their primary strategy is to use Confuse Ray, Absorb and Recover of all things. I guess they're trying to stall you out.
Funny thing - they expected me to attack them only to heal it off afterward... hilarious, but I'd rather not let this drag out.
: ("Okay, this shouldn't take long...")
[One fight later]
: "For the love of frick, that took forever! I think I hate jellyfish as a whole now."
To elaborate: Sigurd was confused for about three turns and I was losing my patience with this Frillish. If Sigurd actually knocked himself out from confusion, then I would have been like "WAY TO GO, HERO."
"Master Darugis is waiting for us."
Grunt 3: "You better stay out of our way, kid! Alright, move out!"
Ha ha ha. They're trying to sound tough, but they just got beaten up by two teens with
type Pokemon. That has to be embarrassing.
The exclamation point balloon pops up but nothing happens until you move forward. So... I dunno?
He feels the need to say her name twice.
"You hated those woods, huh?"
: "Yeah, you were right."
100% agreed. I wish we had some repels to ease the crowd of wild Pokemon in there.
: "Did you also have to deal with those grunts?"
: "Yeah, they were all pretty weak."
God, we're on fire today. I love these characters, ok.
: "They said they had my father somewhere."
: "What?!
: "Yeah, I don't know what's going on with these guys. They have been babbling about a 'Master Darugis'."
: ("Apparently Sigurd knows something about him too...")
: ("I only know the name and some bad feelings, though. Sorry I'm not much of a help.")
: ("Aww, it's okay. We're all clueless about this anyway.")
"Oh! Right, it was in a dream!"
: "What?! You too? I also heard it in a dream."
: "There was also something about a red Riolu with white hair..."
: [Gasp]
: "Instead of talking about dreams, let's focus on what's going on."
: "Okay then, up ahead is Lavaburn Path. You should be careful going there! I'm going to train my Pokemon in the Twist Woodlands before proceeding there."
Good idea, how about if I steal it?
: "Alright.."
: "Well, I'll be going now!"
Alright, cool. Next time on Pokemon Dark Rising, we're going to the very obvious hot place. See you then.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team setup:
(Corin, level 19,
,
/
) - "I'm up for some training. I really want to evolve into a Garchomp soon."
(Sigurd, level 15,
,
/
) - ("This could be bad...")
(Sathala, level 12,
,
) - "Sigurd seems bothered about something..."
(Read Chapter 2 first)
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #2.5 - No Mercy[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/FONT]
: "Awww, you poor little guy. You must be... Wait. A red Riolu with white hair... That's the same thing the voice in my dream warned me about."
[In My Way]
: ("A... A voice in a dream? What's that all about?")
: "I don't know either. They said I had to kill you, but I don't--"
: ("What?!")
: ("M-Monica, what should we do?")
: "Well... if you're really a threat like they said, then I guess we have no choice."
: ("N-no!")
That's not going to save you.
[At The Bottom of the Night]
:("That's how things are going to be? I... I understand.")
: ("It's still a savage world... after all...")
[His body fades into black dust that blows away in the wind]
...
: "... Let's just go, Corin."
: ("Of course, Monica...")
: ("I knew you would make the right choice.")
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #2 - Fragile Border[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/FONT]
Spoiler:
If I could accurately summarize the last chapter in a few words? There was a ton of fighting. This chapter will be more of the same with some key differences.
Who hides their store in the middle of a cave? Also, I thought this was a station, not a Pokemart.
"Here's Prof. Ivan's package!"
Those two sentences practically have nothing to do with each other without further context.
I would say something about how it's still called Oak's Parcel, but believe it or not they actually wrote around this.
Anyway, that's all well and good. Let's get out of this strange cave-mart.
... I knew something bad was going to happen when it started raining.
Sweetie, I know you're eager but you should recognize that's definitely not a normal Pokemon.
Sensible comment.
Told right off.
Woman, you are suicidally overconfident. Who looks at this:
And goes "Yeah, I can totally beat this up with the Gible that I just got."
It doesn't even make sense, either - Monica hasn't done anything outstanding at this point to warrant the arrogance. At least in Snakewood, Jack (or Wraith, as the default name apparently is) had done a ton of impressive feats before he even reached the bad guys. So you got me.
Oh well. It's Monica's funeral.
???: "Your agony will satisfy me. Prepare to fall!"
Tornadus isn't even facing towards us due to sprite limitations, but I'm still impressed they got it in there.
Hello, Lance. Like no seriously, that's Lance - who are you fooling?
SWEET FUCKIN' JESUS!
[Theme I would use for this encounter: A Crisis]
I hate forced loss battles, but at the same time it makes perfect sense - in real life, you don't fight a ton of disposable mooks before fighting the really tough guy. So I'll give you that at least.
God, what do you want now?
The exchange is the exact same as when we fought Noah, by the way. Including this bit.
I can't interpret that part in any other way. But then again, God isn't meant to be a troll here... so I'll laugh even harder.
[Tornadus used Hurricane!]
What did you expect to happen? A come from behind victory with a level 100 hack mon? Please.
(Yeah, you're telling me)
Oh wait, you're the bad guy. I'm supposed to disagree with you... Nah.
"I will use some of my power to create a payment for your opponent. However, I will not always be able to do this. You are the Chosen One... I need you to be stronger in order to use my power."
Why pay him? Why are we even talking about money? I know I'm harping a bit on what's happening but damn, this is too silly.
In-Game Monica: "Oh shucky darns, my Pokemon just got atomized by a force of nature."
Let's Play Monica: [Immediate regret]
???: "You don't have the potential to stop us... I'll leave for now."
Classic Bond villain mindset - "If the main hero is severely incapacitated and I clearly have the upper hand, let's just leave instead of finishing the job."
"Speak to me!"
Your Pokemon was the one who got blown away, not you. What's with the drama queen act?
???: "HAHAHAHAHA! You can't even speak! Hahahaha!"
Does this guy get excited for everything like this? Because beating up a kid with a level 11 Gible is playground bully stuff.
...
The last time I checked, Monica was a girl.
???: "It's none of your business... We'll meet again, Monica..."
Pete is honestly the best character right now. He's reacting to all of this like a normal person would.
You're the best, Pete.
So the Tornadus was causing all of the rain? That's a nice attention to detail, actually.
[Theme I would use for this scene: Kindertotenlied]
[Monica abruptly wakes up]
This is all building up to something, I swear.
[Theme I would use for this & the scene after: Premonition of something to happen]
"You got beaten down by that strong Pokemon."
Mom: "Oh, sweetie, I was so worried when Pete brought you here hurt... Are you alright? No broken bones, no dizziness--"
Awwwww. Characters that actually care about our well being! This is already way better than Snakewood in that regard.
Mom: "Oh, what a relief! Next time, take care of yourself, ok?"
"I'll be going now, then."
[Pete goes offscreen]
"Didn't you need to deliver that package to Dr. Ivan?"
Long story short, we say bye to Mom again and hope more bad things don't happen.
Oh yeah, one vital piece of information I forgot to include last chapter: Don't walk on the sides of the entrance here.
By some incredible glitch, you will instantly be frozen with no chance of escape if you move one space to the left or right. When I first discovered it, I had to reset the game.
"You're finally here. Did you get my package from the station?"
[Monica delivers the package]
See, I told you there was a reason. Also, if we say package one more time, I'm going to scream.
Short little discussion break: You can already tell that Dark Rising Girl has genuine respect for the Pokemon franchise despite the wonkiness of the writing/gameplay. Contrast Cutlerine, who was arguably more talented in some respects but was like "lol my game is much better than the actual series i am such a genius".
(Future Dan: Oh my god I was blissfully unaware of what this series really had to offer at the start.)
Anyway, Noah is here.
Aaaand the text says he's Monica. It does this twice, by the way. Oooops.
"You're already here! Man, those woods were crazy! You'd hate it there!"
Guess where we're going.
Is he a doctor or a professor? Make up your mind, dude.
Do we ever get to see what the ingredients are used for?
"The Core Region has been in such a disaster lately... I really wanted to give you these days ago. Take these, you two!"
Hell yeah. Now we're talking.
Be careful with these, though. There's no Pokemart around here, and the place in the Mainland Cave doesn't count.
It's not that big of a deal, Prof. Then again, I somehow managed to complete the national dex in Omega Ruby - a great undertaking in of itself.
[Noah goes offscreen]
Yeah good luck, buddy.
Anyway, we have the Pokedex and some balls. I think we're good to go.
Remember these three from chapter 1? Now we're actually taking a shot at them.
The first one has a Minccino that Corin defeated just by slinging mud at her. Must have went straight into the eyes, jesus.
Second verse, same as the first. Except that really has to hurt, being part
Oh really?
Oh damn, you actually survived more than one hit. Still in the bag, though.
There is no way you're losing this even if you just got your starter, so rip 'em apart.
"You defeated the three of us in a row. Here's your reward!"
Free money everywhere. But seriously though, let's go use our brand new Poke Balls.
At this point, anything is good, so...
[A small, shadowy figure stares at Monica from a distance. It jumps out in front of her]
[Replay Kindertotenlied]
OH WHOA, THAT'S NOT NORMAL!
Oh boy, here we go. What's all this about, you might ask? Let's spare him first and then I'll tell you.
[Theme now: Wings That Don't Reach]
Yep. It's exactly what it seems.
I hacked this little guy into the game.
He is
50 / 80 / 60 / 50 / 60 / 70
He's stronger, bulkier and faster than a normal Riolu. Not only that, he has a catch rate of 255 so there was absolutely no excuse for me to not get him. Despite this, he managed to resist being captured at least three times in practice. That doesn't even make sense storywise!
Sigurd is the name of a hero from Norse mythology, by the way. A dragonslayer of sorts. So let that be a sign of what this little guy is going to be like.
... Oh wait, dragonslayer?
* looks at corin *
Sigurd has Shadow Tag and starts off with a pretty poopy moveset.
Aura Sphere is good, but the other two are relatively worthless.
Aura Sphere has a functional animation, surprisingly enough. I feel it fits, despite this actually being Mist Ball.
Mist Ball is the signature move of Latias. Whereas Latios's Luster Purge is a
I grinded for a bit and Sigurd has Shadow Claw now. I gave him better moves to balance out his crappy initial line-up, so that's good.
"You were hit pretty badly by that Pokemon. I searched the Pokemon in Google by the appearance, and I was able to identify it."
GOOGLE? SERIOUSLY?!
Way to break the immersion of the story there, dude.
Who documented legendaries? Is this real life Google that he's using? Because if so, that's a major mind screw.
She is really determined to take down Tornadus after what happened, christ.
Monica should be gunning for the guy who controlled him, not the actual Pokemon.
"Blitz must have driven the disaster Pokemon away because the rain stopped! You can go through here from now."
I don't think we get to meet Blitz soon. Oh well.
Some more gorgeous sprite art...
Oh wait, this was the area that Noah never stopped complaining about.
Awwwww, it's one of my favorite Gen 5 Pokemon. Cottonee & Whimsicott are so cute.
She's definitely a new member of the crew.
Sathala is a pretty name, wouldn't you agree?
Actually, before we do anything else, let's check the school here.
"It's one of my fine graduates, Monica. Please come with me."
... Monica actually has some form of education? Okay, now I can understand why she had an ego the size of the sun back there.
"I just happened to pass by, I'm on my way to challenge the Core League."
[The children erupt in a synchronized "Ooooh!"]
Ms. Weatherbell: "Settle down, class. That is wonderful news, Monica. I am very proud of you. My students today have been hard at work, so I have an exciting idea. Let's give them a Pokemon battle. Teacher versus student. What do you say?"
Okay, this is actually kind of rad. You could argue that we didn't have to do this as there's no real reward waiting at the end of this, but the fact Dark Rising Girl put this in adds some more charm regarding our main character.
You can tell that she was trying to actually build a story and not just railroad us into doing random shit like a certain other game I know.
Being a teacher, she has a relatively strong Pokemon and another one of my favorites. Then again, if you beat Pete and the Mystery Lady from before then this should be no challenge to you.
^ What she said.
Aww, that's cute.
One thing I've always questioned - why do these kids use bug-catching nets when they have Pokeballs? I guess that's not important.
Sigurd's backsprite along with Shadow Claw's animation. Poor Caterpie got wrecked.
I'll admit, it was very tempting to make him completely busted with a ridiculous moveset - but I feel this is a better sequence of events. He's only a small boy anyway, so...
Oh. Well, this is a bit awkward.
One thing that I've always found hilarious about Pokemon: Someone could be asking an innocent question like "where is the bathroom", but the instant that exclamation mark balloon pops up?
Heads will fly.
Venipede is cool and all, but he is an absolute prick for this part of the game. See, due to the lack of a Pokemart, we have no way to heal from status conditions. So if this thing poisons you (which is practically guaranteed), it might as well be a death sentence.
The only way to get rid of that is to run back to your house and have your mom heal you, but by the time you get there, you're probably already dead due to how long the walk is. I pity the Nuzlockers who get to this point without a
Oh, and Sigurd has been hit! Poor bastard.
But look on the bright side: Corin got to learn Dragonbreath!
Tangela is one of the Pokemon you can get here. They're not a good choice to keep, but I'd recommend you beat them like a pinata because the EXP they drop is absolutely delicious. (250+ a pop)
* laughs immaturely at the word boo boo *
I mean, ouch. Look at the scenery, by the way. This may as well be called the Wild Encounter Forest due to how many patches of grass there are. Could you tone it down just a bit?
Shroomish is a Pokemon I might never get. It's not because I don't want it...
Funnily enough, beating up that Shroomish leveled up Sigurd enough to get another move: Knock Off.
See, when I was editing the hack, I discreetly buffed up Knock Off to have 60 base power (which is close to how strong it is as of Gen 6) instead of a pitiful 20. So uh... Yeah, that's gonna be fun to use.
You might want to get something to disinfect that.
... Yeah, have fun with that.
Oh? What would it be?
Ah, these two. Shelmet can shrug off physical hits pretty well due to having Acid Armor (2x increase in Defense per use) as a move, and Karrablast is... well, a bug.
This fellow says... absolutely nothing. I went over to talk to him, but no text box came up.
There's either something really spooky going on or he's a mute.
All of the trainers around here have Pokemon that you can catch in the grass, which is kind of neat. The Core Region has a good assortment of Pokemon to catch, even if none of them are brand new Fakemon.
"Like, is it an orange peel? Or a ringing bell?"
I don't know, man. But that does raise an interesting question...
Excuse me, what?
Who asks this question unironically?
Since Corin and Sigurd were stealing the show for a while there, how about we put Sathala to use?
She has Leech Seed, Growth and Absorb, along with Stun Spore. In her own way, she's pretty dangerous - especially if this were Gen 6 and she had access to Prankster. (+1 priority to support moves like Toxic, Substitute, etc.)
And you're blocking my way to solve the problem!
Sathala got to work on his Blitzle.
Oddly one of the most reasonable intros into a battle yet.
Oh my god, look at that dude's Mechachu. I want one.
FEEL THE WRATH OF THE MIGHTY LAND SHARK DRAGON
Sathala cleans up house. I got a good feeling about this team, guys.
But now for some more plot!
Guys in black... Well, this doesn't look good.
Pay attention to where we are in the map, though. We're directly to the left of the entrance to the Twist Woodlands, which implies that patch of trees behind us is the forest we just came out of. That is really bizarre when you think about it.
"Get lost or we'll make you pay!"
She's bringing the sass.
Grunt: "Ah! Making excuses, eh? Take this!"
Grunt 2: "Wait! You look familiar... Have I seen you before?"
Grunt: "I don't care if you know her! I'm gonna take her down!"
Wow, he got really salty from what Monica said.
[Theme I would use for the Dark Thugs: Chrono Trigger Battle Theme]
They're recolored Rockets, but they're a slightly cooler in my opinion. It's the green.
I think Croagunk and Toxicroak are cool. Not when they're used against me, mind you...
Corin shows him the door.
Grunt: "Why would I tell you? Hehehe..."
Our dad is important? I didn't know that.
* she
"Well, that changes everything! I'm gonna crush you!"
You know, when a kid with a level 4 Patrat says that before you, it's suddenly a lot less intimidating.
Skorupi here is a hassle as he has Pin Missile. That doesn't sound like much until you realize we have no healing items and every point of damage builds up after a while.
You see that damage? Corin got wrecked, and she's not even weak to it. Sigurd would probably get murdered and Sathala is dead on arrival.
I'm getting some serious deja vu flashbacks to Snakewood, because the same thing happened back then too.
Wait, how did Noah get here before we did? Oh right, he has Bagon.
Grunt 3: "Master Darugis has sent us to conquer it. We obey whatever the Master says."
DAMN. You just got roasted, son.
The final opponent is a lady grunt who has an interesting mon. Frillish here isn't very powerful, but they are really bulky.
Their primary strategy is to use Confuse Ray, Absorb and Recover of all things. I guess they're trying to stall you out.
Funny thing - they expected me to attack them only to heal it off afterward... hilarious, but I'd rather not let this drag out.
[One fight later]
To elaborate: Sigurd was confused for about three turns and I was losing my patience with this Frillish. If Sigurd actually knocked himself out from confusion, then I would have been like "WAY TO GO, HERO."
"Master Darugis is waiting for us."
Grunt 3: "You better stay out of our way, kid! Alright, move out!"
Ha ha ha. They're trying to sound tough, but they just got beaten up by two teens with
The exclamation point balloon pops up but nothing happens until you move forward. So... I dunno?
He feels the need to say her name twice.
"You hated those woods, huh?"
100% agreed. I wish we had some repels to ease the crowd of wild Pokemon in there.
God, we're on fire today. I love these characters, ok.
"Oh! Right, it was in a dream!"
Good idea, how about if I steal it?
Alright, cool. Next time on Pokemon Dark Rising, we're going to the very obvious hot place. See you then.
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Team setup:
(Read Chapter 2 first)
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #2.5 - No Mercy[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/FONT]
Spoiler:
[In My Way]
That's not going to save you.
[At The Bottom of the Night]
[His body fades into black dust that blows away in the wind]
...