Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen May 12, 2025
To keep my promise about uploading sooner, a new chapter!
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #7 - Grinding My Gears[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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The first Repel we've gotten in a long time. Let this be a sign of how generous the game actually is.
Pfft - are you joking, faceless goon? I won't stop until this game winds up in the trash.
: ("I have nothing for this one. It was a little abstract but still very delectable.")
: "What, are you kidding? I love you guys. Well, I love tearing you apart, anyway."
Looks like shit's hitting the fan down there. I'd say I want to be part of what's happening, but this game has not convinced me that anything that happens here is fun.
You can find Sandiles here. I guess they'd be a good substitute if you never got the Garchomp line, but why do that?
This is easily the laziest reason to fight someone that I've seen yet.
I don't know what's up with this dude - he wants to look for Charmander yet he has a perfectly good Torkoal on his side.
A Revive out of nowhere would be a nice surprise if it weren't for every shop in the game having them.
Take note of what she says, because I had ran into a Phanpy immediately before fighting her. Basically, if you mention it, I'll find it in a sheer stroke of luck.
: ("Heh heh heh... I'd like to have your beautiful dream.")
Oh god. Lumis, don't diddle the duck. It won't end well.
: ("That was weird. Never talk like that again.")
: ("But he had such a boyish charm...")
What Monica says to this poor girl is easily the best thing she'll ever say in this story. Take it away:
: "Zombies."
: "Eeek!"
That's not something that Let's Play Monica said, either - that is actually in the game and it is glorious.
: "WHY ARE WE YELLING?!"
: "We're right next to each other, come on."
: "Love you too~
"
A goon? Does this mean SomethingAwful works for Darugis?!
Oh, they're just recolored Magma grunts. Still, who would call themselves a goon and consider that an upgrade?
Okay, she wasn't kidding when she said she was stronger than the normal grunts. The best part about this is that the Goons don't immediately replace the Dark Thugs, so you'll have fights like this level 37 Houndoom at one point and then have to fight baby Croagunk and Houndours again.
Houndoom here tries to be scary, but Sigurd shuts her down immediately.
: ("It's funny how they think they're stronger when I can still do that to them.")
There was another Goon on the top path, so you'd have to fight them no matter what.
I still can't get over the name Goon being used as the Admin codifier for this group.
That said, he's not threatening in the slightest, especially with Wave and Sigurd being a thing.
Monica's already done it to your two buddies beforehand. What makes you so special?
Ah, you poisoned Sigurd. That's about the only thing that's different here.
Oh cool. If Corin didn't know Dig, this would have been slightly useful.
Would you look at that, it's a -
it's a
IT'S A CHARMANDER!
Welcome to the team, buddy!
The timing couldn't be any more perfect. Sure, we have to grind to get him to be good, but this is still incredible.
Sorry, Cinder. You've been replaced.
Nice. Now she can eat dreams while having doll protection.
The legendary Baton Pass?! How the hell does Lumis have this in her learnable moveset?
I pass it up because she doesn't know Calm Mind, but still!
We've done it like a million times before we came here. Get with the times, buddy.
I like to imagine that Monica is going down the stairs all nice and calm, but all of a sudden this Dark Thug lady runs up to her from behind screaming "INTRUDER ALERT" at the top of her lungs.
Scared shitless, Monica just decks her in the face and runs away.
What, are you kidding? Monica still has a heart attack after the "INTRUDER ALERT" incident.
Stone Edge would be cool if anybody could learn it, though.
Oh what? Icy Wind? That's... the only
thing we have on our entire team.
I'm definitely keeping this, especially since it's guaranteed to lower speed each time.
Believe it or not, despite how much I diss these guys for both their name and how easy they are to get rid of, the fighting actually wore us down a bit.
: [Happily sticks out tongue as she walks away]
A new member of the Too-Good-To-Use Club? Welcome aboard.
[One fight later]
: ("Even I don't have confidence in you.")
I'm just gonna take a break in the "action" for a little bit to buy some stuff and heal up.
Turns out we were rich after all, so we'd better get to using it.
If you were two Goons, then I might be worried.
[One inconsequential fight later]
I don't understand how this game's difficulty works.
Spoiler warning: He allows me to reach Entei.
This Houndoom is about to regret all of his life decisions.
Who are you, Homer Simpson? Come on.
Believe it or not, with logic that defies reason, he's actually right. Just watch what's going to happen.
Little side-note: If you approach the lady Dark Thug at a certain spot, the Goon there can leave an easy-to-walk-into space where you can skip this entire plot sequence. That is how lazily programmed this entire thing is.
It would have been more beneficial to do this instead:
: "Haha! Your Charizard is no match for the power of Dark Entei!"
Ash: "Monica, you have to defeat Entei so that Brock can come back to his senses! He is not going easy in our battle here."
How does defeating Entei turn Brock back to... oh whatever, I don't care.
[Entei jumps in front of Monica]
: "Whoa! How'd he get here so fast?!"
: "Okay, let me just break character here: how the hell do you expect this poor girl to beat Entei? Oh wait, I mean - HAHA! This poor excuse of a trainer has no chance to defeat Dark Entei!"
Ash: "Brock, snap out of it!"
Now, the story has been pretty blase this entire time but at least it tried a bit. What comes up here is just bad.
Ash: "This isn't you. You're the best Pokemon Breeder in the world. You'd never control a Pokemon for evil purposes! I know you're somewhere inside there! FIGHT IT!"
Christ on a fucking pogo stick, how non-existent is your creativity if you say "I know you're in there somewhere fight" verbatim? It's so cliche that I can't help but choke on it.
This is ignoring all of the other problems I have with this game (palette swap characters, glorified Kanto paint job, etc.) and as much as I hate to say this, Snakewood was infinitely more creative and even then it was still a mediocre game.
: "Haha! Foolish people... shall die!"
[A Crisis]
HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THIS WITHOUT GRINDING?! High levels do not constitute good difficulty!
There's so much going wrong here. The opponents immediately before this were at late 30s but then you throw this monster at me? Did you even playtest your game?
I'd give this a break if you at least threw him in at late-game, but why now?
Wait a minute. Did... Did Wave just beat up Entei - a legendary - despite being 14 levels lower than him?
Sure, she got her ass kicked left and right earlier, but this was definitely her brightest moment.
: ("Ain't no legendary that can keep me down.")
: [Claps] ("I'm impressed. The fact you managed to beat up that overpowered beast gives me hope that you'll be a worthy opponent. Again, don't disappoint me or I'll make sure you'll catch hell for it.")
[Darugis disappears from Brock's body]
: "Wh-what happened? Who are you?"
Ash: "It's alright, Brock."
: "What? You can talk?! Did you guys hear that?!"
How is this a surprise? You talk to the crew all of the time! This is a staple for my Pokemon let's play characters! Ah, whatever.
("I am communicating with you through telepathy.")
: "Woah, no way! ... It's not like I do it all of the time with my Pokemon, but still whoa!"
: ("You are indeed strong, if a bit of a wiseass. The evil controlling me was very powerful. However, if you can reawaken the god of all Pokemon, Arceus, then you can defeat it.")
: "Tell me how... I just got dragged into all of this after I got my first Pokemon. All I wanted to do was become the best trainer in the world, challenge the league and meet rivals from all across the world. That's my passion, you know?"
Despite everything that happens, Monica is still just a normal girl. She just had to get caught up with all of this stupid shit.
: ("That's exactly why you were chosen. Your determination and ambition is stronger than any trainer Arceus has ever known.")
: "Oh, stop."
: ("The Jewel of Life... It's hidden somewhere in the Core Region. You must find it and use its power to save Arceus from the evil chains that sealed him away.")
: "Okay, got it. Thanks for the information."
Charizard has the best color commentary out of everyone here.
[Ash and Brock run over to Charizard - he returns him to his Pokeball]
"I know you'll find your dad and I'll do my best to help you."
Hey thanks, man. You're not so bad after all.
: "Thanks, Ash."
Ash: "Hey, it's no problem. I know we'll have to battle each other some day."
: "I'm looking forward to that."
Ash: "Brock will stay here to treat Entei's wounds. I have more important things to do so I guess I'll be going now. Let's go, Pikachu!"
: ("Of course.")
[Ash and Pikachu walk off screen]
Well, no wonder. It's not like Wave beat the daylights out of him or anything, no.
[Monica shoots a death glare at the Dark Thug]
: "Call me that again and it will be more than your Pokemon that you lose."
Dark Thug: "Y-yes, ma'am..."
: "No problem. By the way, how did you get under control?"
: "You know, I don't remember a thing. One minute I was checking out this hottie - she had a sick Pokemon with her. They had this really bad energy out of them, so I tried to help them the best I could. After that, I woke up and wound up here."
So even in the canon of the game itself, Darugis possessed Brock because he was a pervert. Sure, he may have had good intentions helping out the Pokemon but he was ultimately after dat trainer ass. Just sayin'.
I didn't post this screenshot out of order - this grunt doesn't stop you or say anything in response. I guess the spectacle with Entei was so impressive that every remaining grunt decided it was a bad idea to attack Monica.
Which is how it should be, to be honest.
... Did I really screencap it when the lightning came up? Wow, that's bad timing.
Thank god there's Pokecenters scattered around this place, otherwise this would be a serious pain in the ass. This, along with the items you get in shops, are some of the few saving graces regarding the gameplay.
"I'm supposed to be doing a school newspaper article on Waters Cavern. But I'm too lazy to do it..."
This is a pretty accurate summary of me with everything, unfortunately. But wait, I thought that place was so dangerous that people died in it.
Why would they send a kid to do a newspaper article on the place? Edginess is a hell of a drug.
Anyway, time to train Ignell. You're gonna have to stay behind for a bit, Sathala.
: ("Sure. Have fun, new guy.")
These are some of the new Pokemon you can find around here, although you probably won't have the time or patience to train them up.
Why is there a burn heal he-
Oh my god, don't tell me this is supposed to be your reward for defeating Entei. It makes too much sense for it not to be.
Ignell gets some very impressive moves.
At this rate, he could act as an effective replacement for Cinder, Vera and even Corin. (As he can learn Dragon Pulse later on)
: ("I'm impressed you've gotten me this strong in such a short amount of time! Thank you, Monica! My thanks to you too, red Riolu.")
While I was at it, I got Cinder to evolve too.
: ("AWESOME! I'm not just a puppy anymore!")
When you have to announce out loud that they're awesome, they're guaranteed to be the opposite.
"It's the creation to all things good."
What the hell is this guy talking about? Is he part of a cult?
Confirmed. There's definitely something wrong with this kid.
Oooh, a present! Get out of the way!
If Ignell didn't get Thunder Punch, this would be a much different story. Like god damn, he slaughtered it.
Aerial Ace is a good reward for beating up two random trainers, I suppose.
Excuse me, is that Thundurus?
"Is this the Pokemon that attacked me before? Time for some payback!"
As I've said before, Monica needs to aim for the trainer that manipulated Tornadus... not the actual Pokemon themselves. Besides, this isn't even Tornadus, despite the Kami Trioall looking very similar in their Incarnate forms.
(wow, thank you lightning effect - i love you too)
Thankfully, Thundurus makes the logical choice and runs away from Monica and her team of killdozers.
: "Aaargh! It got away. That Pokemon looked a little different than the one I battled before. Well, I'm going to have my payback some day!"
In-Game Monica has some weird motivations when you really analyze them long enough. Anyway, let's go into the cave it was blocking.
[Warning beeps, followed by intense heat]
What the -
... The Asshole-o-meter exploded. Whatever's down here is way out of our league, so I'm not even going to bother.
So watch Ignell steamroll through a poor Bug Catcher and his Scolipede instead!
... I actually really like Scolipede, by the way. It's vicious enough to be threatening but not ugly enough to be unappealing.
He's not laughing at us, by the way. He has something stuck in his throat.
The emptiness of this post makes me very nervous for some reason.
Oh hey, a new town! Aroma is a good name for a Grass type town, actually. It's certainly a big step up from Flamen.
Also, say hello to Pete again.
"Guess what, guess what?!"
: "Hey Pete, what's up?"
: "I've defeated both Fiery and Typhoon!"
Wow, seriously? Then again, we spent a ton of time grinding so the time gap might be reasonable there.
: "My dad allows me to challenge gym leaders now as long as he's around."
[Disinterested tone]: "That's awesome."
: "You look down. What's wrong?"
Pete is a good kid.
Atlantic City Monica: "I can't tell them about what happened or they'll freak out."
Now: "I'm going to spill every piece of relevant information to them regarding my dad and how he was captured."
It's a complete 180 from the last time they were around. If you're going to put in NPC text that doesn't need to be read, at least keep it consistent to what you're going to put in later on.
: "I know what'll cheer you up."
no pete, i'm afraid that won't help at all
Why do we get interrupted by rival fights so often in this game? Is it to pad out the length of the game because Dark Rising Girl can't think of anything?
Pete says that his dad showed him some moves and that he's hundreds of times stronger than before. But is this enough for us?
[Difficult Fight]
Oh well, it doesn't matter. Despite using the same theme as the fight with Noah, this one isn't hard at all. Especially with Ignell the Beast over here.
I'm noticing a pattern: Every time I evolve someone, they usually get this giant crowning moment / exhibition of their skills that wipe the floor with whatever this game has to offer. I like it and I hope it doesn't stop soon.
Meanwhile, Lumis dominates his Feraligatr without even taking a scratch.
: ("I'm satisfied at the very least.")
Oh hell yeah. That's actually really good for her, even if she still can't do much to Dark types.
Vibrava is the least threatening of all the Dragon starters. Sure, he was painful when he was a Trapinch, but Corin's stepped up her game since then.
[Corin used Dragon Claw!]
When Shelgon is the opponent that comes directly before you, you're nowhere near as scary by comparison.
Arguably the most difficult mon that Pete has is this Scrafty. Gale and Lumis had to work together to take him down, as Scrafty are known for their bulk and I'd rather not take any chances.
Like so. Now I can finally take a break from battles before the game throws a million of them at me again.
Poor Pete must be losing his mind over this. He spent so much time grinding levels only to get swatted aside by the main character.
... An accurate statement for how I feel with the game, by the way.
: "Hehe... Thanks."
: "Oh, I just remembered something. There's this mysterious house here. It seems like no one is able to notice it but me. Can you check it out?"
: "... Sure! I'll do just that."
Is he talking about the house right next to us? I'll keep that in mind for later.
That's all the time we have for this one, though. Next time on Dark Rising, we get a few new friends, some new evolutions and tear this game apart at the molecules.
See you then.
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Team setup:
(Corin, level 40, has Dragon Fang,
,
/
) - "I like this new Ignell guy. He seems like a fun person to be around."
(Sigurd, level 38,
,
/
) - [Is off smelling some flowers with Sathala]
(Ignell, level 38,
,
/
) - "Hah! A giant walks among you! It's certainly a good time to be a Charizard and I have Monica to thank for that."
(Gale, level 38,
,
/
) - "... You're my kind of guy."
(Lumis, level 37,
,
) - "Psst. Wave. Have you noticed anything... strange going on around here? Doesn't it seem like reality is warping apart at the seams?"
(Wave, level 38,
,
) - "Now that you mention it... I get dizzy sometimes when I stand near certain places. Do you think we could be getting ourselves into something we'll regret?"
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Back up team:
(Arthur, level 22,
,
) - "Huh. Everybody's training with Sigurd and they... still didn't bring me. The new Charizard guy looks fun too. Man..."
(Sathala, level 25,
,
) - "Ah! Aren't they pretty, Sigurd? Here's one that looks like your hair buns!"
(Vera, level 27,
,
) - "The team looks like they're having fun. I wish I could join them for a bit."
(Cinder, level 18,
,
) - [Pounces on Sigurd and Sathala - he affectionately licks both of their faces]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #7 - Grinding My Gears[/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Spoiler:
The first Repel we've gotten in a long time. Let this be a sign of how generous the game actually is.
Pfft - are you joking, faceless goon? I won't stop until this game winds up in the trash.
Looks like shit's hitting the fan down there. I'd say I want to be part of what's happening, but this game has not convinced me that anything that happens here is fun.
You can find Sandiles here. I guess they'd be a good substitute if you never got the Garchomp line, but why do that?
This is easily the laziest reason to fight someone that I've seen yet.
I don't know what's up with this dude - he wants to look for Charmander yet he has a perfectly good Torkoal on his side.
A Revive out of nowhere would be a nice surprise if it weren't for every shop in the game having them.
Take note of what she says, because I had ran into a Phanpy immediately before fighting her. Basically, if you mention it, I'll find it in a sheer stroke of luck.
Oh god. Lumis, don't diddle the duck. It won't end well.
What Monica says to this poor girl is easily the best thing she'll ever say in this story. Take it away:
That's not something that Let's Play Monica said, either - that is actually in the game and it is glorious.
A goon? Does this mean SomethingAwful works for Darugis?!
Oh, they're just recolored Magma grunts. Still, who would call themselves a goon and consider that an upgrade?
Okay, she wasn't kidding when she said she was stronger than the normal grunts. The best part about this is that the Goons don't immediately replace the Dark Thugs, so you'll have fights like this level 37 Houndoom at one point and then have to fight baby Croagunk and Houndours again.
Houndoom here tries to be scary, but Sigurd shuts her down immediately.
There was another Goon on the top path, so you'd have to fight them no matter what.
I still can't get over the name Goon being used as the Admin codifier for this group.
That said, he's not threatening in the slightest, especially with Wave and Sigurd being a thing.
Monica's already done it to your two buddies beforehand. What makes you so special?
Ah, you poisoned Sigurd. That's about the only thing that's different here.
Oh cool. If Corin didn't know Dig, this would have been slightly useful.
Would you look at that, it's a -
it's a
IT'S A CHARMANDER!
Welcome to the team, buddy!
The timing couldn't be any more perfect. Sure, we have to grind to get him to be good, but this is still incredible.
Sorry, Cinder. You've been replaced.
Nice. Now she can eat dreams while having doll protection.
The legendary Baton Pass?! How the hell does Lumis have this in her learnable moveset?
I pass it up because she doesn't know Calm Mind, but still!
We've done it like a million times before we came here. Get with the times, buddy.
I like to imagine that Monica is going down the stairs all nice and calm, but all of a sudden this Dark Thug lady runs up to her from behind screaming "INTRUDER ALERT" at the top of her lungs.
Scared shitless, Monica just decks her in the face and runs away.
What, are you kidding? Monica still has a heart attack after the "INTRUDER ALERT" incident.
Stone Edge would be cool if anybody could learn it, though.
Oh what? Icy Wind? That's... the only
I'm definitely keeping this, especially since it's guaranteed to lower speed each time.
Believe it or not, despite how much I diss these guys for both their name and how easy they are to get rid of, the fighting actually wore us down a bit.
A new member of the Too-Good-To-Use Club? Welcome aboard.
[One fight later]
I'm just gonna take a break in the "action" for a little bit to buy some stuff and heal up.
Turns out we were rich after all, so we'd better get to using it.
If you were two Goons, then I might be worried.
[One inconsequential fight later]
I don't understand how this game's difficulty works.
Spoiler warning: He allows me to reach Entei.
This Houndoom is about to regret all of his life decisions.
Who are you, Homer Simpson? Come on.
Believe it or not, with logic that defies reason, he's actually right. Just watch what's going to happen.
Little side-note: If you approach the lady Dark Thug at a certain spot, the Goon there can leave an easy-to-walk-into space where you can skip this entire plot sequence. That is how lazily programmed this entire thing is.
It would have been more beneficial to do this instead:
Ash: "Monica, you have to defeat Entei so that Brock can come back to his senses! He is not going easy in our battle here."
How does defeating Entei turn Brock back to... oh whatever, I don't care.
[Entei jumps in front of Monica]
Ash: "Brock, snap out of it!"
Now, the story has been pretty blase this entire time but at least it tried a bit. What comes up here is just bad.
Ash: "This isn't you. You're the best Pokemon Breeder in the world. You'd never control a Pokemon for evil purposes! I know you're somewhere inside there! FIGHT IT!"
Christ on a fucking pogo stick, how non-existent is your creativity if you say "I know you're in there somewhere fight" verbatim? It's so cliche that I can't help but choke on it.
This is ignoring all of the other problems I have with this game (palette swap characters, glorified Kanto paint job, etc.) and as much as I hate to say this, Snakewood was infinitely more creative and even then it was still a mediocre game.
[A Crisis]
HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THIS WITHOUT GRINDING?! High levels do not constitute good difficulty!
There's so much going wrong here. The opponents immediately before this were at late 30s but then you throw this monster at me? Did you even playtest your game?
I'd give this a break if you at least threw him in at late-game, but why now?
Wait a minute. Did... Did Wave just beat up Entei - a legendary - despite being 14 levels lower than him?
Sure, she got her ass kicked left and right earlier, but this was definitely her brightest moment.
[Darugis disappears from Brock's body]
Ash: "It's alright, Brock."
How is this a surprise? You talk to the crew all of the time! This is a staple for my Pokemon let's play characters! Ah, whatever.
("I am communicating with you through telepathy.")
Despite everything that happens, Monica is still just a normal girl. She just had to get caught up with all of this stupid shit.
Charizard has the best color commentary out of everyone here.
[Ash and Brock run over to Charizard - he returns him to his Pokeball]
"I know you'll find your dad and I'll do my best to help you."
Hey thanks, man. You're not so bad after all.
Ash: "Hey, it's no problem. I know we'll have to battle each other some day."
Ash: "Brock will stay here to treat Entei's wounds. I have more important things to do so I guess I'll be going now. Let's go, Pikachu!"
[Ash and Pikachu walk off screen]
Well, no wonder. It's not like Wave beat the daylights out of him or anything, no.
[Monica shoots a death glare at the Dark Thug]
Dark Thug: "Y-yes, ma'am..."
So even in the canon of the game itself, Darugis possessed Brock because he was a pervert. Sure, he may have had good intentions helping out the Pokemon but he was ultimately after dat trainer ass. Just sayin'.
I didn't post this screenshot out of order - this grunt doesn't stop you or say anything in response. I guess the spectacle with Entei was so impressive that every remaining grunt decided it was a bad idea to attack Monica.
Which is how it should be, to be honest.
... Did I really screencap it when the lightning came up? Wow, that's bad timing.
Thank god there's Pokecenters scattered around this place, otherwise this would be a serious pain in the ass. This, along with the items you get in shops, are some of the few saving graces regarding the gameplay.
"I'm supposed to be doing a school newspaper article on Waters Cavern. But I'm too lazy to do it..."
This is a pretty accurate summary of me with everything, unfortunately. But wait, I thought that place was so dangerous that people died in it.
Why would they send a kid to do a newspaper article on the place? Edginess is a hell of a drug.
Anyway, time to train Ignell. You're gonna have to stay behind for a bit, Sathala.
These are some of the new Pokemon you can find around here, although you probably won't have the time or patience to train them up.
Why is there a burn heal he-
Oh my god, don't tell me this is supposed to be your reward for defeating Entei. It makes too much sense for it not to be.
Ignell gets some very impressive moves.
At this rate, he could act as an effective replacement for Cinder, Vera and even Corin. (As he can learn Dragon Pulse later on)
While I was at it, I got Cinder to evolve too.
When you have to announce out loud that they're awesome, they're guaranteed to be the opposite.
"It's the creation to all things good."
What the hell is this guy talking about? Is he part of a cult?
Confirmed. There's definitely something wrong with this kid.
Oooh, a present! Get out of the way!
If Ignell didn't get Thunder Punch, this would be a much different story. Like god damn, he slaughtered it.
Aerial Ace is a good reward for beating up two random trainers, I suppose.
Excuse me, is that Thundurus?
"Is this the Pokemon that attacked me before? Time for some payback!"
As I've said before, Monica needs to aim for the trainer that manipulated Tornadus... not the actual Pokemon themselves. Besides, this isn't even Tornadus, despite the Kami Trioall looking very similar in their Incarnate forms.
(wow, thank you lightning effect - i love you too)
Thankfully, Thundurus makes the logical choice and runs away from Monica and her team of killdozers.
In-Game Monica has some weird motivations when you really analyze them long enough. Anyway, let's go into the cave it was blocking.
[Warning beeps, followed by intense heat]
What the -
... The Asshole-o-meter exploded. Whatever's down here is way out of our league, so I'm not even going to bother.
So watch Ignell steamroll through a poor Bug Catcher and his Scolipede instead!
... I actually really like Scolipede, by the way. It's vicious enough to be threatening but not ugly enough to be unappealing.
He's not laughing at us, by the way. He has something stuck in his throat.
The emptiness of this post makes me very nervous for some reason.
Oh hey, a new town! Aroma is a good name for a Grass type town, actually. It's certainly a big step up from Flamen.
Also, say hello to Pete again.
"Guess what, guess what?!"
Wow, seriously? Then again, we spent a ton of time grinding so the time gap might be reasonable there.
Pete is a good kid.
Atlantic City Monica: "I can't tell them about what happened or they'll freak out."
Now: "I'm going to spill every piece of relevant information to them regarding my dad and how he was captured."
It's a complete 180 from the last time they were around. If you're going to put in NPC text that doesn't need to be read, at least keep it consistent to what you're going to put in later on.
no pete, i'm afraid that won't help at all
Why do we get interrupted by rival fights so often in this game? Is it to pad out the length of the game because Dark Rising Girl can't think of anything?
Pete says that his dad showed him some moves and that he's hundreds of times stronger than before. But is this enough for us?
[Difficult Fight]
Oh well, it doesn't matter. Despite using the same theme as the fight with Noah, this one isn't hard at all. Especially with Ignell the Beast over here.
I'm noticing a pattern: Every time I evolve someone, they usually get this giant crowning moment / exhibition of their skills that wipe the floor with whatever this game has to offer. I like it and I hope it doesn't stop soon.
Meanwhile, Lumis dominates his Feraligatr without even taking a scratch.
Oh hell yeah. That's actually really good for her, even if she still can't do much to Dark types.
Vibrava is the least threatening of all the Dragon starters. Sure, he was painful when he was a Trapinch, but Corin's stepped up her game since then.
[Corin used Dragon Claw!]
When Shelgon is the opponent that comes directly before you, you're nowhere near as scary by comparison.
Arguably the most difficult mon that Pete has is this Scrafty. Gale and Lumis had to work together to take him down, as Scrafty are known for their bulk and I'd rather not take any chances.
Like so. Now I can finally take a break from battles before the game throws a million of them at me again.
Poor Pete must be losing his mind over this. He spent so much time grinding levels only to get swatted aside by the main character.
... An accurate statement for how I feel with the game, by the way.
Is he talking about the house right next to us? I'll keep that in mind for later.
That's all the time we have for this one, though. Next time on Dark Rising, we get a few new friends, some new evolutions and tear this game apart at the molecules.
See you then.
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Team setup:
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Back up team: