Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw region! This is the fifteenth entry in my Text Play of Pokémon Xenoverse!
Now, as is tradition, I am going to warn you that I will be spoiling this game.
As such, I suggest you play this game through for yourself before reading these Text Plays. You can download the game here.
Last time, we prepared to travel through Mt. Starburst. I stopped at the Pokémon Center to resupply. I picked up some healing items, PokéBalls, and some Super Potions. After all, always good to make sure you have plenty of supplies when going through a mountain. You never know what could happen.
Anyway, Mt. Starburst is described as the "beating heart" of Eldiw, and the sign is not kidding.
I can't help but feel that the sign was supposed to say the burning heart of Eldiw. I mean, look at this! Puddles of smoking hot lava and a thin path is the only way to pass through! I'm surprised we haven't been vaporized from the sheer heat of this place! When you walk through the path, we meet up with an old friend.
Hey, it's Taraxo! How you been, man?! We haven't seen you in a very long time! We tell him we're here to see Cardinal Abraham, and he points out he man usually trains at the very top of the mountain. Taraxo himself is here for science reasons. In his own words, "when science calls, the scientist answers!" He warns us that this volcano is crawling with Fire-type Pokemon, and they can be...aggressive. And violent. Funny enough, the Turtonators are the opposite. They actually will help Trainers cross lava flows. And that's a good thing, because to get to the top of the mountain, we're going to need their help.
He also gives us one final warning: If you start the journey through the mountain, be prepared to see it through to the end, as there will be no way to go back. Even Escape Ropes will be useless. Yeah, so make absolutely certain you have plenty of supplies before you start your trip through this mountain.
One of the first things I did when I entered this cave. Why? Well, you may remember in the last entry that there's a house on Route 12 that is the home of a Hiker who wants a Geodude. Well, there are Geodudes here. I caught one to trade to the hiker. So, that was fun.
We go upwards from here to find a fork in the road.
No, not that one!
Yeah, that one. So, do we go left or right? Well, let's go left first. Why not? We go leftwards, and we end up here.
And just like Taraxo said, there's a Turtonator swimming in the lava. We can literally just hop on his shell to cross. You have to face the Turtonator and press "Enter" to jump. It's kind of like Mario jumping on Koopas, only without the Koopa death. We're led to a box hidden behind a pair of rocks. Rocks that have no chance against our Perseum H. The box contains a Heat Rock. A Heat Rock extends the duration of the move Sunny Day. There's also a nearby Hiker named Miles we have to battle to go forward.
1st Pokemon: Madieval (Lv. 29) - Defeated by Phantump with a Leech Seed/Phantom Force/Horn Leech combo. Horn Leech is super-effective on it.
From there, we head upwards, jumping on some more Turtonators on the way, until we find this guy.
It's one of those Team Dimension goons. He mumbles about something not moving. Well, no sympathy from me, you wannabe Daft Punk member. If we go back down and to the right, we battle a backpacker named Pollard.
1st Pokemon: Charmeleon (Lv. 27). Defeated by Pelipper.
2nd Pokemon: Torkoal (Lv. 28) - Defeated by Pelipper.
We got a little extra cash thanks to defeating those two Trainers. So, let's go back to where we met Miles and go through the cave entrance that was across from him.
There's a box behind that pool of lava. Thankfully, there's a Turtonator on the pool we can use to cross it. It contains a Fire Gem. If we continue on, we encounter a Black Belt named Pakuro. We can't avoid him. We have to battle him.
1st Pokemon: Kungfur (Lv. 29). Defeated by Masgot with Brick Break/Infestation combo.
The path here ends with a Merchant.
Like with previous Merchants, you can buy certain items. Like those bitter powders.
You can also battle the Merchant to go towards one of the game's Achievements.
1st Pokemon: Meowth (Lv. 34) - Defeated by Sandygast.
2nd Pokemon: Kecleon (Lv. 36) - Defeated by Pelipper.
The Merchant gives you a Rare Candy for beating him. There's nothing else to see here as far as I can tell. So, we have to head back. We go to the right and enter the cave across from the Backpacker we battled.
As you can see, there's another fork in the road.
Oh, for Pete's sake!
Yeah, like that. We can go downwards, or to the right. Since I'm feeling lazy, let's go to the right. When we do that, we find a lava pool with a Turtonator in it.
You can use it to jump over the pool to get to that box on the other end. The box contains a Fire Stone. You can catch Vulpix here, so there's something you can use to evolve it into a Ninetales. The path ends here.
We can go downwards, but we have to battle this Hiker. His name is Timmy, and he screams at me to help him put out this fire. ...what fire? You okay, pal? Are you drunk?
We have to fight this addled man to move forward. So, yeah.
1st Pokemon: Chubiburny (Lv. 28) - Defeated by Phantump and Masgot
2nd Pokemon: Nosepass (Lv. 28) - Defeated by Phantump.
The battle seems to knock him back to his senses, as he suddenly realizes he's in a volcano.
Well, with that egregious example of stupidity out of the way, let's move forward. The path leads to this ladder.
I still am amazed that we're not dying from the heat of this place. I was tempted to go up this ladder right away, but there was still an area of this chamber to explore. Remember that fork when we first entered? Well, we could go right, or down. I went back to it and went the downward path. And it ended here.
Not much to see, really. Just this guy staring at a lava pool, and a box. Hey, buddy. You shouldn't do that. You may go blind. Or poison yourself from the gases. The box contains a Max Revive. A handy item. The man is a fisherman named Derek. Derek is not a very bright fisherman, as he has just realized that a lava pool is not the best place to catch fish.
Anyway, we can battle him.
1st Pokémon: Turtonator (Lv. 29) - Defeated by Pelipper.
I have to admit, I was caught a bit off-guard by his choice of Pokémon. I did expect him to have some water-type Pokémon. Which would make sense. Having Water-type Pokémon would be handy here in a volcano full of Fire, Rock, and Ground-types. With this area explore, let's go back to that ladder and climb up it! On the way there, we passed by this lava pool we've seen before. I just noticed now that we can cross thanks to the Turtonator.
The box there contains a Fire Stone. With that done, let's climb! That! Ladder!
When we climb it, we arrive here.
We have to battle this Ranger named Christie to go forward. Funny enough, she says that she shares a commonality with the volcano: She does not sleep.
1st Pokémon: Ninetales (Lv. 30) - Defeated by Pelipper.
When she loses, she says that maybe she should rest. That would be a good idea, Christie. Can't battle at your best without regular rest.
From here, we go downwards and to the right. The end of the path leads to an exit, and also to this lava pool.
The box there can be accessed by jumping on the Turtonator and using Perseum H. It contains TM43 (Flame Charge). It's a useful attack for a Fire-Type. Exiting the cave takes us here.
BOY, IT SURE GOT COLD QUICK!
Seriously, it's kind of hilarious that after we spent all this time in a hot volcano, we suddenly find ourselves on a snow-covered mountainside. I would say it's weird, but it can be argued that we may actually be pretty high up on the mountain. Anyway, let's go along the path. We find a box here.
The box contains an Ice Stone. It's an evolutionary stone. From here, we can go upwards. There's a Fighter walking around you can battle if you wish.
I think there's a guy hiding under that snowpile. I can see your glasses, buddy.
You don't have to battle that person if you don't want to. As you can see on the far right of the screenshot, there's what looks like a little iceberg. It's actually a level 20 Bergmite. You have to battle it to continue on the path it's blocking. You can try to catch it if you want, or defeat it to get some XP. i already caught a Bergmite, so I'm going for the XP.
After beating the Bergmite (or catching it if you prefer), you find yourself on a fork in the road. You can go right or up. If you go up briefly, you can find a cave entrance and a box.
The box contains a Razor Claw. Going further to the right leads us to...another cave entrance and another box.
This box contains an Iron Ball. What I noticed about this cave entrance was that it looked like it was closed off by electrified bars. I wonder if this is related to that Team Dimension member we saw in the volcano earlier...
Interacting with the cave entrance reveals an Electric-type Pokemon could get us through it. So, we're going to need a specific Pokemon to go inside. So, for now, we can't go in. Okay, then. Hopefully, we'll find the Pokemon we need in the future.
Backtracking to the fork, we head into the cave on the upwards route. Entereing the cave, we find ourselves suddenly hit with the heat of the volcano.
Man, I can imagine the thermal shock one would feel when going from the cold outdoors of the volcano back inside to the burning heat. To go forward, we have to fight this fighter. So, let's do this.
1st Pokemon: Kungfur (Lv. 30) - Defeated by Harrowk.
After taking care of the Black Belt, we find ourselves here.
The box in the screenshot contains Charcoal. Nearby the box is a ladder. Going down leads you to a short pathway that veers to the left. The pathway leads to a TM box.
The box contains TM38 (Fire Blast). It's a powerful Fire-type attack, but it can only be done a few times. We can't go any further from here, because well, lava. Lots of lava. Hot, burning lava. So, we have to backtrack. I know, I find it annoying too, but that's a necessary evil when you explore in games like this. We head back up the ladder and across the lava lake on the Turtonator. If we go upwards, we find an entrance that is blocked by a strange rock.
The rock flashes red and blue like it was a siren. Further to the left, as shown in the screenshot, there is another ladder. If we go up it, we find ourselves in another chamber. If we go to the left, we end up here.
It may not be obvious, but this area is a crossroads. The rock in front of the box can be broken with Perseum H. The box contains a Full Heal. The crossroads goes left, down, and up. If we go to the left, we find a Porygon Center.
You all have no idea how grateful I am to see this here. Yes, you should always get plenty of supplies, but just having this here really is handy if you need to change up your team, or give your Pokemon the full healing experience. And considering all the Trainers and wild Pokemon in this volcano, having this here feels like we finally found an oasis after traveling the desert. And this one is free!
Anyway, as the screenshot shows, there's a cave entrance nearby. Going inside leads to a corridor that goes to the left. We follow it and it leads to a trio of staircases. Going up them leads to a gate...and passing through it leads to this man.
He's just...staring at the lava. I hope he's not planning to swim in it. I mean, never underestimate human stupidity. We did see a fisherman try to fish in it, after all.
Anyway, the dude reveals that he's busy meditating. Yeah. In a volcano. What, is he hoping he'll discover some truth about the universe from the volcano fumes? Anyway, he and his Scaleon are training. Presumably mental training. And if you keep trying to talk to him, he gets angry. Until it's revealed to him that we were sent by Queen Nuphar. Yes, this is Abraham, Queen Nuphar's grandfather. Remember, she told us about him and sent us to find him back in entry #13.
He remarks that we must be quite strong if we made it through this volcano to deliver the Miracle Water she gave us. Well, volcanoes are quite as dangerous in the Pokemon world as they are in the real world, so...yeah. He lets us have some Miracle Water as well, figuring that our Pokemon went through the ringer to get to him. Well, we already had that handled thanks to the Porygon Center, but thanks anyway.
Here, we learn a bit more about Abraham himself. He's one of the "Four Cardinals" of Eldiw, describing himself as the protector of the ground we stand on. It led me to think that this is a reference to the four classical elements of Greek mythology, and Abraham represents Earth. He states that Mt. Starburst is powerful enough to destroy its own ecosystem without something to balance it. It's why he's here. He's here to help maintain that balance, and as a bonus, he can strengthen his spirit here through meditation. That's why he and his Scaleon were here. He knows all the old legends, and he even claims that he may be very long-lived, joking that 500 is not far from the truth of his age.
Pokémon characters being potentially immortal is not that strange. Look up AZ sometime. It turns out that he also knew Versil, our player character's dad. He describes Versil as a great man and a real asset to Eldiw. Wow, the old man must have been something really special. He thinks that we're here to get answers about his disappearance. Abraham does know something about that, but the story does not end well.
Versil was a man who loved science and progress. He and his friend Victor set up a lab in Hadwarf City, intending it to be the biggest lab in the region. Victor was not much of a Pokemon trainer, but his brilliant mind more than made up for it. The lab would be successful, with employees from all over the region. Among them was a teenage Aster. Things seemed to be going wonderfully. But all good times always come to an end.
Abraham points out our Earth Core earring. He also points out the recent attacks by X Pokemon. We're aware of them. We caught a few of them. They were actually discovered a long time ago. By Victor and Versil.
Versil wanted to learn more about these extradimensional critters, including breeding them. But Victor was against it. The two evidently had a falling out, and the lab suffered for it. I think. That's what I'm surmising from the dialogue. Victor decided to create his own group dedicated to sealing the X Pokemon away from this dimension forever. Yeah, remember the Team Dimension guys that we've seen around? Victor was the man that formed this team. Abraham believes that Victor is behind Versil's vanishing. Presumably to prevent further research into X Pokemon. But Aster has continued it on, obviously. His Xeno Balls allowed us to catch most of the X Pokémon we encountered. Abraham wants to show us something. Just follow him!
And I'm afraid that's where we have to stop for now. I wasn't able to work on this as much as I wanted to, but hopefully I can push further next month. Wish me luck! Thank you for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!
Pokemon Obtained:
(Mt. Starburst)
- Vulpix (75th Pokemon! Whooooo! You can also encounter wild Ninetales here)
- Torkoal
- Alolan Geodude (traded a Geodude for it)
- Koffing
- Houndour
