Labor Day

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

What is Labor Day, you ask? Well, the American Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September, which is when Canada also celebrates their own Labor Day. It marks the end of the summer, and it's a federal holiday here. It also means a three-day weekend.

What is Labor Day? Well, it's basically to honor and celebrate the working person, the people who work hard to build, to heal, to create, and to feed. A day to express gratitude to the worker and remember their contributions to the country.

So, how did Labor Day get started? Well, in the late 19th century, the growth of trade unions and labor movements led to a call to celebrate the working person. In 1887, Oregon became the first U.S. State to declare Labor Day a public holiday. 29 other states would do the same by the time 1894 rolled around, in which Labor Day became a federal holiday, signed into law by President Grover Cleveland. You can learn more about the history of Labor Day here.

The labor movement is the reason we have a minimum wage, Social Security, a 40-hour work week, Medicare, and even family leave. So when you celebrate this day, think about this...and thank a working person. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! Thanks for reading!

Marvel: The Lost Generation #4 (November 2000)

It's that time again! It's time to rejoin the First Line as we see their history from their death to their birth. Last time, we saw the Line deal with an old enemy of the Black Fox's, alongside the Mighty Thor, before the humbling he got in the Marvel Age. As we go further back in the Line's history, we end up seeing the First Line, and the United States, suffer a horrific tragedy. You'll see what I mean as we look at Marvel: The Lost Generation #4!

The cover is a John Byrne and Al Milgrom piece. It's pretty neat, if a bit basic. The "main event" of the cover is what appears to be a pair of monsters fighting it out. And we also got members of the First Line staring at this in confusion. I think. I mean, I admit, I'm confused, too. Who are these monsters? Why are they fighting each other? Well, only one way to find out! Read the comic!

"Lightning in The Day"
Writers: Roger Stern and John Byrne
Penciller: John Byrne
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story starts in 1947. A spaceship has crashed on Earth. In particular, the American Southwest. Inside the small ship are a pair of Skrulls.

"Ohh, this is the last time we drink Contraxian ale before flying..."

Meet Velmax and his commander, Zuhn. You may know Velmax as the First Line member Effigy. But this is some years before he helped found the group, and decades before he'd embrace Earth as his home. 

The Skrulls got shot down trying to silence an Earth aircraft that spotted them. When they leave the craft to examine it, Zuhn gets shot by another Terran.

"Holy smokes! ...y'all ain't gonna probe me, are ya?"

Velmax tries to scare him off by taking the form of a monster. It does work, as the human flees in his truck. Velmax witnesses the man's truck crash into a...rock or something? I don't know. The Skrull soldier goes to investigate and finds the man dead...and based on the smell of alcohol, he was also dead drunk.

Yeah, this is why you don't drink and drive, kids. Especially when you're fleeing from aliens. Velmax learns about the man by checking his wallet. The man served in the Army (presumably during World War II) and was cited for distinguished service. The Skrull then goes to bury him, presumably to help hide any evidence. His name? Jacob "Jake" Scott.

Yeah, there was a "real" Jake Scott. It was not an identity created by Velmax from whole cloth. He literally took the identity of a dead man. But that was in the past.

We next jump ahead to the First Line's base. The time? 10:15 AM, Rocky Mountain Time. The date? November 21, 1963. Nightingale senses that something very bad is about to happen. Beverly, aka Liberty Girl, asks if one of the voices in the healer's head ha4s become precognitive. It's not a premonition or anything like that. It's more like the mysterious healer feels strange resonances, feelings of imminent danger and loss. Basically, this day is giving her a LOT of bad vibes. Gee I wonder why...

Liberty Girl, being the savvy sort here, decides tell "the boys" about this. Who are said "boys"? Why, the Carney Boys, of course! Patrick Carney, the Yankee Clipper, and his younger brother Timothy, aka Kid Justice.

"I am the KING of the pommel horse!"

Yes, this is a younger Tim, long before he became the more serious Mr. Justice. He's a cocky teenager, thinking he can take on the world. He and Patrick are taking on a training robot created by the Black Fox. The robot is able to toss around Pat, despite his power belt giving him superhuman strength. Tim tries to sneak up on the Fox, but true to the Batman pastiche that he is, he magically saw it coming. 

"MY NOSE! MY BEAUTIFUL PERFECT NOSE!"

Fox tells him experience taught him this, and Tim will learn as well...if he lives long enough. Tim angrily storms out of the training room. He's about as fed up of Black Fox's Mary Sue nature as we all are.

 

It's here that Liberty Girl and Nightingale enter. Black Fox questions Yankee Clipper's decision to make Kid Justice a member of the First Line considering his attitude. But that'll have to be tabled for now. After all, there's some dark clouds coming. It's here we go next to the Northwest Territories of Canada, in particular a Chipewyan reservation outside of Yellowknife. A young man is lifting a large log by himself, showing that his strength matches his size.

🎵"Doo doo doo, carrying a log, doo doo doo..."🎵

Tired of the men's taunts, the powerhouse swings around the big log and slams it on the ground, scaring them off. He the finds himself in the company of Pixie. She's not just impressed by his strength, but the extraordinary self-control he showed with it. She's been watching this man for a few months now, and she believes that he is ready...and she just flies off with him. 

"You got nice muscles! PIXIE WANT SNU-SNU!"

This young man turned out to be one Sam Matonabbe, aka the future Oxbow. Yeah, this is how they met. I am not joking. This is one of the funniest moments of the whole maxiseries. 

Meanwhile, back in the First Line's HQ, the team at this time are gathered up (Black Fox, Yankee Clipper, Liberty Girl, Effigy, and Kid Justice) to hear about Nightingale's little bad feeling. She believes some great tragedy will hit within the next 24 hours...in Dallas, Texas. 

Yeah, if you're a bit of a history buff like I am, and you've been following this story so far...November 1963? Dallas? Yeah, alarm bells should be going off in your head, too. Effigy puts it together as well.

In Irving, Texas, a man named Lee is preparing a rifle to go hunting. He is caught by a woman named Marina. The two have an argument, and he angrily leaves, slamming the door.

The scene goes to an industrial plant east of Dallas. This plant is part of an aerospace company called  Winget. A man named Winget, presumably the head and founder of the company, has hired a man named Luke Garrow for a job. But first, Winget has a special device that he wants to show Mr. Garrow. It's a device that transforms him into a monster.

"I liked this shirt, man!"

Yup, this man is Howler. You may remember him from issue #6, where he was involved (and seemingly killed) battling the First Line on the Moon in 1969. You may also notice that his fur is white, whereas in his last appearance, it was yellow. Yeah, according to Howler's entry in the Marvel Appendix, this was because Marvel dumped shoddy production on the maxiseries, seeing it likely as an afterthought. I imagine his fur color was changed to yellow to make him more distinct in appearance from the First Liner Yeti, who was a white-furred monster-man himself. From an in-universe perspective, it can be theorized that Garrow regularly used this device after the events of this issue, and it changed his fur's color. That's what the Appendix theorized, and I'll go with it because it does make sense.

Yeah, sorry. Just wanted to give a bit of clarification. Anyway, Winget reveals that much like Mr. Garrow, he himself has the power to change shape. He is a supervillain known as Chimera, and he uses his own shapeshifting power to get one up on his corporate competitors when legit tactics fail. He proposes a partnership, which Garrow is all too happy to agree to.

That night, the two shapeshifters head towards another building. They find a guard sitting at a station. Garrow thinks this will be easy. One guard? Not a problem for a man with his power. He swats the guard away, only to find said guard is a dummy. Not "dummy" as in a stupid person, but a dummy like an actual mannequin. You know, the ones you see in windows of clothing stores.

Turns out the First Line saw this coming and set the two shapeshifters up.

Indeed it is. Chimera is understandably confused and decides, "Welp, time for me to hit the ol' dusty trail!"

During the fight, Black Fox explains that Garrow, being a fugitive wanted in several states (presumably for his activities as Howler), and that's why the First Line is there. He was spotted in the area, and the FBI called the Line in. Chimera realized the FBI are in Dallas because of the President's visit. The Line pursue the green shapeshifter. Liberty Girl tries to lure him in her direction using her cape like a bullfighter. Thing is, she's no Bugs Bunny, and Chimera is no Toro the Bull. 

Yeah, that's going to leave a mark. Liberty Girl is badly wounded, Nightingale going to do all they can to save her. Effigy continues the pursuit, wondering if this was the tragedy that the super-healer foresaw. He battles Chimera, the two shapeshifters using their powers to assume a variety of monstrous forms. Effigy is forced to impale Chimera, only to learn something shocking...

"I always knew you'd get me killed one day, Velmax..."

Yeah, Chimera was Zuhn, Effigy's old commanding officer. 

It's here we learn what happened to him after he was shot by the real Jake Scott. Velmax placed the injured Zuhn in a healing pod to keep him safe until it could fix him up from his gunshot wound. But then, the Army showed up. Velmax assumed the form of Jake Scott and gave them a story about evil aliens that he shot, and they dissolved like sugar in coffee. From there, Velmax maintained his cover, using Scott's lack of immediate family and good military record to start a career in politics. It took years, but he eventually got high enough federal clearance to find the craft they crashed to the Earth in. 

He had discovered that it had been taken apart and sent to various facilities. Velmax had also discovered that the healing pod that Zuhn was lying in was seemingly destroyed in a lab fire. Zuhn reveals that was obviously not the case. He had managed to get healed up and set that fire deliberately to cover his escape. A dying Zuhn's final question to Velmax is this: Why become Effigy and play superhero with the First Line? What as the point? Velmax tries to explain that he himself is not sure. Perhaps his years of living here has had an effect... 

It's at this point that Cassandra Locke arrives. Yeah, remember her? She's been doing a bit of time-jumping throughout this whole thing. She looks in on the First line mourning Liberty Girl. The Yankee Clipper goes to warn her about something, but her time-travel belt reacts to his power belt...

"Oh no, we triggered the Skittle Effect! We're all going to taste the rainbow!"

Both Cassandra and Patrick Carney vanish, and Nightingale is left rambling about circuits, death...and destiny. Timothy Carney is left confused. Where's Patrick? Is he dead, as well? Thing is, folks...we'll learn where Pat ended up in the future. I promise. Effigy assures the cops and FBI that Chimera won't be a problem ever again, which is true. Unlike many villains who return from the grave in stories, Chimera will stay dead, dead, dead. Forever.

The First Line head back to their headquarters with Liberty Girl's body. Effigy whispers that he never expected her to be their first casualty. Ever the optimist, he Black Fox expected it to be Kid Justice. The two discuss what to tell the press, as they'll be all over this...

...well, except for one thing. The date is November 22nd. The time is 7:50 AM. The man we saw earlier, Lee Harvey Oswald, walks into a Dallas book depository, and his actions will heavily shadow the Line's first major tragedy...

I did enjoy this comic. The theme of tragedy is prevalent in this issue, considering the historical event coming in the foreground, the death of Liberty Girl, and the disappearance of the Yankee Clipper. 

Stern and Byrne cleverly used real-life history to pull a tragic twist. We expected the big tragedy to be the First Line failing to prevent the Kennedy assassination, but it tuned out the tragedy was not only the Yankee Clipper vanishing, but Liberty Girl also being the first member of the Line to die in battle.

Yeah, the death of Liberty Girl can be seen as a bit of another "Women in Fridges" moment, much like with Miriam in issue #, but at least Beverly here got to have some dialogue, some interaction with the other First Liners, and also some idea of her personality, if it was just basic stuff. She was a brave and fearless young woman who clearly loved being a hero. I could also imagine that she and Nightingale were friends. So, her death, combined with her encounter with Cassandra Locke in this issue...yeah, it would affect her mentally. We also get the idea that she and the Carney brothers were close, this being the catalyst for Kid Justice to become the more serious Mr. Justice we saw in earlier issues.   

Also, I can imagine that some would find it a bit iffy about using the Kennedy assassination as the background to this story. But it does make sense. In general, the Marvel Universe's history is very similar to real world (Issue # not withstanding), so it makes some sense that the Line would have witnessed Kennedy's death. It makes sense they would have tried to prevent it...if they could. This story is clearly an excuse for the Line to not prevent it. Yeah.

My opinion on John Byrne's art here hasn't changed. Still better than the Liefeld imitators. 

If you want to read this for yourself, you'll have to find the back issues somewhere. This maxiseries was never collected into a standalone trade. It was collected in a 2018 omnibus: The Marvel Universe by John Byrne, Vol. 2. So, yeah. I would like a trade collection of this maxiseries myself. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

World Coconut Day

 Happy World Coconut Day, everyone! 

When you think of the coconut, you likely think "Oh, those big brown fuzzy nuts", right? Well, coconuts are not nuts. They are actually fruits. Yeah, what we think of as coconuts are actually fruits. In particular, they are drupes. Coconuts originally, well, possibly originally came from the Central Indo-Pacific region, but they have made their way to various tropical regions throughout the world thanks to domestication. 

The origins of the coconut are actually somewhat unclear. While they could possibly have come from the aforementioned Central Indo-Pacific region, they may also have their origins in South America. Fossils of coconut tree-like plants have been found in various places in those areas, like Colombia and New Zealand.

What is known is that the coconut was first domesticated by the Austronesian peoples of Southeast Asia. It's believed they would bring coconuts with them on their voyages at sea to places as far as Madagascar and the Pacific Islands. Coconuts were very useful to them as they could not only be used as a source of food and water, but they can also be used to construct boats. The fruit would be spread further by sailors from other places. 

Coconuts are not just food, various peoples have used them for other things. They are used in Hindu rituals in Southeast Asia, the Hindu goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and well-being) often being depicted holding a coconut. Various cultures in the Pacific and Southeast Asia have creation myths centered around the coconut. The flowers of coconut trees are used in Cambodian weddings. 

So yeah, the coconut is quite a fascinating little fruit. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Street Fighter Trailer #2, My Thoughts

Back in April, I took a look at the first trailer for the upcoming live-action Street Fighter movie. And back in December of 2025, I took a look at the teaser. And now, a second trailer has arrived! Let's take a look!

Oh, man. Hinting at the Satsui No Hado. Makes sense, as Akuma in this movie. For those not in the know, it's basically an evil energy that martial artists can access, at the cost of their humanity.

This scene gives the impression that Ken and Ryu are given the main focus here. After all, they are practically brothers, even if Ken doesn't like saying so here.

Again, I like that the Hadouken looks like it takes a lot of effort to pull off. You have to be a darn good martial artist to do something like that. It's a good touch.

Another classic cliche, the great fighter at a low point. It's not a bad thing, tropes exist for a reason.

Getting knocked around by the Strongest Woman in the World. That's got to hurt.

Heh. Count on Chun-Li to get down to business.

I get the feeling that Ken will finally be able to do the Shoryuken at the end of the movie. 

Yes, you get the impression here that Ken is driven by an obsession with trying to outdo Ryu as a fighter. That'll be his arc, his realizing that he is a great fighter in his own right.

Yup, Chun-Li wants Bison dead. Just like the games. And what a throw!

Ryu's back, baby! 

Heh heh, Ryu's in danger.

Oh man, that Hundred Hand Slap looks so cool!

Again, where did they find this lad?!

I love the little look Ryu shoots Guile. "You think he looks ridiculous?!"

I can't help but think that bit with Chun-Li and Vega (or Claw outside the US. It's a thing) was a nod to the animated movie.

"CAMMY YOU MOTHERFUUUUUUU-"

I admit, I am still hyped to see this movie. Will it be a deep complex film that explores the flaws and foibles of humanity? No. Will it a be a fun time focusing on wacky characters beating the tar out of each other? Yes. And that's perfectly okay. Sometimes, a film just needs to be a fun watch, and I think this will be exactly that, especially if you're a fan of the games. But I get the feeling even non-gamers will like it. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Ginger Cat Appreciation Day

 Today is Ginger Cat Appreciation Day!

This day is about celebrating ginger-colored cats. It's also about raising awareness about finding homes for cats that don't have one. 

This day was started by software developer-turned-animal rights activist Chris Roy. In 1997, he found a little stray cat and took it in, hoping to find it a permanent home. That little cat ended up finding such a home with Roy. Roy would name the cat Doobert, and for the next 17 years, Doobert lived with Roy. 

Roy fell into a deep grief at Doobert's passing, but it also inspired him to create an app named after Doobert. This app allowed animal shelters and rescue homes to connect with volunteers all over the world. since 2014, over 20,000 pet lovers have connected with over 1,200 organizations across North America to help house pets that need a home. All out of love for a cat. The love of a cat is mighty indeed.

So, hug a ginger today. I know I will! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Text Play: Pokémon Insurgence (Detergent Mod) #8

Hello, and welcome back to the Torren Region! This is entry number 8 in my Text Play of Pokémon Insurgence...with the Detergent mod!

Last time, we traveled through the Samsara Cave and caught a Delta Pidgey, the bird with the petrifying gaze. We also traveled to Koril Town and joined the Scientists' Club. When then made our way through the Rezzai Desert where we encountered the Sky Cult. Yes, it's Torren, there's a load of cults here. We ended our journey with encountering Damian. He challenged us to a battle...and we got wrecked. 

Yeah. His Delta Charizard is no joke. So, I had to do a bit of grinding up to get my team ready to face him. Now, as is tradition, I wish to warn you, I will be spoiling this game.

I highly recommend you play through this game yourself first before reading these Text Plays. You can download the game here. Now, as they say, on with the show!

As I said earlier, after Damian handed us our rear ends, we had to train up our team some more. So, we hit the gym, adjusted our diets, and now we're ready to face Damian again.

Indeed it is.

1st Pokémon: Crawdaunt (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Grotle.
2nd Pokémon: Metang (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Shiro the Charizard with one hit of Fire Blast.
3rd Pokémon: Luxray (Lv. 42) - Defeated by Grotle.
4th Pokémon: Delta Charizard (Lv. 44) - Defeated Seismitoad and Thunderwing the Zapdos with Shadow Ball. Defeated by Gabite with Dragon Claw, which was super-effective. Yeah, Dragon hurts Dragon.
5th Pokémon: Shaymin (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Shiro.

I accidentally sent Seismitoad against Damian's Delta Charizard. Why did I do that? He has a Delta Charizard, it's Ghost/Dragon, not Fire/Flying like Shiro is!

Anyway, after we win, Damian asks why he always loses to us. It's nothing personal, pal. You're just not the player character here. But it does feel good that we brought down his Delta Charizard.

Damian felt he was finally improving. Well, I can't say he wasn't. His Delta Charizard wrecked two of my team. He was the hardest Trainer I think we fought so far. He should be proud of that. Especially because his Pokémon were higher-leveled than they should be at this point in the game, even on the Hard difficulty. Not much, but still higher-leveled. 

He's here because he heard a loud noise coming from the cave. My guess it was the Sky Cult interrogating that man in the last entry. We tell him this, and he warns us that the Sky Cult is not a joke. Yeah, no kidding. Basically, they want to summon Rayquaza at the Jade Tower. Damian wants to warn the Augur, as the Jade Tower is the new Augur's home. Personally, I'm reluctant. The man gives me bad vibes. He might likely be in on this whole thing. Damian asks us to follow him to Helios City. Sure, why not? I have to go there anyway.

Once we leave the Cavern, we're back in the desert, ready to get sand in the face.

Hey, there's a little Trapinch up on top of the entryway! That's cute. There's also a handy Ultra Ball in the sand that we could potentially use. Man, this sandstorm is intense! I doubt a pair of goggles would help protect our eyes here.

Also, there's another Ultra Ball on the other side of the ridge.

Yeah, right here. It's way in the bottom of the screenshot. If we go upwards from here, we meet this Hiker.

Before he battles us, he remarks that the sandstorm is a nightmare to travel through. Yeah, no kidding.

(Hiker) Donatello
1st Pokémon: Aerodactyl (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Torterra.

...how on Earth did that man get an Aerodactyl? I mean, I can get one (and did thanks to Debug Mode), so I'm wondering how he pulled it off. Maybe he had some Old Amber. 

I mean, in this world, you can revive Pokémon from fossils and DNA samples like it's Jurassic Park or something like that. You know, that would make a fun fangame, building a ranch/theme park with ancient Pokémon? I'm sure somebody has already made it or is working on it. Anyway, we go upwards from the Hiker, and slightly to the left. And lo and behold, someone dropped another item on the ground.

It's a Super Repel. This had better not be used up or expired. Although wild encounters aren't crazy here (only the darker parts of the sands have wild Pokémon in them), having a bad Super Repel would be a pain in a place like a forest. Anyway, if we keep going to the left, we find another Hiker. He's eager to battle, as he wants to get some practice in. Sure, why not?

(Hiker) Dorothy (Yes, that's his name)
1st Pokémon: Scrafty (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Torterra with Earthquake. Its Hi-Jump Kick was able to hit Torterra hard.
2nd Pokémon: Stantler (Lv. 42) - Defeated by Gabite.
3rd Pokémon: Gigalith (Lv. 42) - Defeated by Seismitoad.

After we win, he says his parents wanted a girl. That explains so much. Going upwards and to the right reveals a cavern entrance.

I'm guessing this is the way forward. Only one way to find out!

Welcome to Roggan Town! I wonder how this place got its name. My theory was it was named in honor of Roggenrola. The blond dude on the left laments that he's here. After all, Roggan Town is no place fora Rich Boy like him. Hey, there may be a business opportunity here. You never know. The Hiker on the right has a Delta Minun. He's willing to part with it for a Plusle. So, yeah. We have another Delta for our collection, ha ha.

Once that business is taken care of, we can explore the town a bit! If we go upwards from the Rich Boy in the screenshot, we find ourselves here.

This is a nice-looking building. I wonder what it is.

It's a Game Corner! For those not in the know, a Game Corner is essentially the Pokémon game's version of a casino. I mean, those are clearly slot machines. But you know, you got to remember mainline Pokémon games are for kids.

As the screenshot shows, once we enter said Corner, we are met by a man calling himself Clyde the Guide. He gives us a Coin Case to store our winnings from the slots. He also gives us some coins and tells us to play responsibly. After all, you have to give a good message to the kids.

I admit, I've never really messed around in the Game Corners. They've never really appealed to me for some reason. And you can tell this is clearly a casino. They have a roulette table here. 

The idea is to gamble to win coins and then trade them for prizes. The three people on the upper right of the screenshot are the ones you go to if you want prizes. The lady in green on the left is named Tamara, and she'll sell you Coins to help get started. The man in the middle is named Nathan, and he'll sell you rare TMs. The girl in pink on the right is named Alison. She'll offer you some rare Pokémon for coins, including an Eevee.

The lady on the upper right is not a nurse. Her name is Felicity. She does a game in which she matches a daily lucky number against your Pokémon's ID numbers. This screams scam to me. Despite this, I gave it a shot. On the day I did it, the lucky number was 16394. And as luck had it, my Torterra had that number...sort of. It had a 4 at the end, so I got 4th place. And the prize was an Ultra Ball. Better than nothing.

So, what about the lady in the middle? The one in front of the doorway? Well, she'll ask us to play a game of Triple Triad...but we don't have a deck. Which is something she finds unbelievable. 

Yeah, for those not in the know, Triple Triad is a mini-game from Final Fantasy VIII. Yeah, I've never played the game, so I am not familiar with it. The lady is shocked that we don't have a deck. As such, she gives us one. Well, we can choose from three decks: a Fire Deck, a Water Deck, a Grass Deck, and an Electric Deck. I chose Fire because why not? To be honest, I've never really been interested in playing this game. If you do like it, more power to you. 

I do want to give a round a try, but I would rather explore the town first. But at least I have a Triple Triad deck now. If we leave the Game Corner, go down and to the right, we find this house, and a lady standing in front of it who is dealing with some issues.

I think it's pretty cool we see an LGBTQ+ character in this game, even if it is an NPC. Anyway, as her dialogue box points out, her missus gambled away all her money at the Game Corner. Yup, it's a casino. Sounds to me like your wife has...a bit of a problem.

She says that despite this, the lady is not calling for the Game Corner to be shut down. After all, unlike Hoenn, Roggan Town wants the Game Corner to stay open.

Now, I can imagine some of you readers are thinking, "Wait, the Game Corner is the reason that lady's wife lost her money!" Thing is, the Game Corner didn't force said woman to gamble her money away. She chose to do that of her own free will. Also, I can imagine that the Game Corner brings a lot of money into Roggan Town. 

You know, I think there was a missed opportunity here to make this place the equivalent of Las Vegas. Think about it. Las Vegas is known for its numerous casinos, and it's in a desert. It would have been really cool to see neon lights and lots of themed casino-hotels.

Would have been cool. I once stayed in one such place when I went to Vegas. It was the Luxor. It was nice. Went to a party there. Drank so much orange juice... Anyway, let's go inside the house, shall we?

Yes, it's pretty funny seeing Sharpedo floating around in the overworld outside of water. And there's a Sky Cultist in here. He rumbles that just because he's a Cultist doesn't mean he can't own a house. I mean, he's not wrong, but...it's kind of funny. Anwyay, if we leave and go upwards from this house, we find...two more houses!

The man in the gi says that he heard that every Gym Leader except for Orion has a Mega Evolution on their team. I mean, when we took on Orion in entry #4, he didn't have a Mega Evolution on his team. And when we battled Xavier in entry #6, he did have a Mega Beedrill. That doesn't mean that Karate Man may be accurate about this, though. Although to be fair, nothing saying that he couldn't be wrong, either. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, let's enter the house on the left.

This seems rather normal, Magmar aside. The guy on the left claims he's descended from Pryce (The leader of the Mahogany Town gym in Gold and Silver and its remakes), and he wants to follow in the man's footsteps. Pryce certainly looked old enough to have a grandkid. The little girl said they were actually descended from a famous economist named Price. Yeah, Price as in "the cost of something". Appropriate a financial expert have that name. 

Well, after that little comedy of error, let's look at the house on the right. 

It turns out that this man sells Berries, the kind that can weaken super-effective attacks. Yeah, selling berries...out of your house. There is totally nothing shady about that. Nope. Nothing shady about that at all. Next to this house is a black-haired guy who remarks that food in Roggan is scarce. Which makes sense, it's a desert. Food comes to them from Helios City. Despite that, it is rather hard to stay fed. He wonders if there was a way to get food from the desert. I don't know, how does Vegas keep its buffets filled?

Anyway, if we go upwards, there's another pair of houses.

These are nice-looking houses, I will admit that. The Pokémon Center is just to the left of these two houses, by the way. There's also an old lady who states that she saw some Sky Cult grunts head into the desert. I wonder if they were the same ones we saw in the last entry?

She's understandably worried about what they're up to. Can't blame her, really. But there is nothing we can do about them right now, so let's just explore the houses. Starting with the one on the left.

If we talk to the kid in the red hat on the right, they're feeling excited. For the first time in 20 years, the Battle Frontier is back! And it will be coming to Roggan Town!

They want to participate in it. Good for them, I hope they get to participate and do well. The lady suggests we check out the Game Corner if we like games. Yeah, we've been there. The Hiker loves rare Pokémon. If we show him one, we get a prize. Evidently, he saw our Zapdos, and gives us a Diancite. It's a Mega Stone than can be used to Mega Evolve a Diancie.

Let's go to the house on the right.

If we talk to the spiky-haired guy on the left, he puts out superlatives about the Augur. I'm assuming he's talking about Jaern. He claims the Augur's Pokémon were so powerful, they always hit Super Effective attacks. I think what he means to say is that his Pokémon's moves always do a lot of damage as they are at a presumably very high level. Either way, he's happy the Augur is on the job, protecting Torren. If you say so, pal. Man gives me the creeps.

The man in the green hat (a very nice hat by the way) says he went spelunking in the Samsara Cave a few weeks earlier. He found a strange stone there, but had no idea what it was. He gives it to us, and it's an IV Stone. 

The lady gives us a bit of history of Roggan. It was originally founded by nomads that decided to settle down. The nomads had to work together to build this town, and it's very much a principle of the town. That's really cool. If we leave this house and go upwards a bit, we met a bald man who claims that he only uses the toughest Pokémon, like Druddigon! Gyarados! Garchamp! And the mightiest of them all...Wigglytuff. I mean, it has "tuff" in its name, so it counts. He gives us a Moon Stone.

Technically, we don't need it, as thanks to Debug Mode, I can give myself some Evolution Stones if I need one, but it's the thought that counts. And it's a nice thought. If we keep going upwards, we run into this redheaded guy. 

He says that he's a part-time worker at the Game Corner, and it helped put Roggan on the map. He's excited the Battle Frontier is coming here as it will help increase the fame of this town. I can also imagine it'll bring in some tourism money.

There's also an Ultra Ball in the sand on the top left corner in the screenshot. And there's one more place to check out. It can be found on the right side of the town.

This, ladies, gentlemen, or whatever you choose to identify as, will be where the Battle Frontier will be located. Unfortunately, we can't go inside yet, as it's not finished. I imagine we'll see it completed later in the game. As you can see in the screenshot, there's also an Ice Heal lying on the ground. Below this area is a PikaTaxi. 

And that's pretty much it for Roggan Town. Not much, but it's clearly a town on the rise, thanks to its Game Corner and being the future site of the Battle Frontier. I can imagine we'll get to take on the Frontier later in the game, if not the post-game. Let's move on. We head upwards, and the area transitions into a greener zone.

Behind those trees is TM27 (Return). Talking to the dude in the buzzcut at the bottom of the screenshot just results in him warning us to be careful in the sandstorm, as it makes visibility very low. Yeah, that's actually very sensical, but we're leaving anyway. Keep going upwards...

And welcome to Route 6. I'm afraid that's where we'll have to stop for now. Yeah, I got a new job, and settling in there was the priority. Next time, we'll continue on our way to Helios City! Wish me luck! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and wish to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Pokémon Obtained:
(Rezzai Cavern)
- Teddiursa (obtained by Debug Mode)
- Tangela (obtained by Debug Mode)
- Combee (obtained by Debug Mode)
(Rezzai Desert)
- Aerodactyl (Obtained by Debug Mode)
(Roggan Town)
- Plusle (Obtained by Debug Mode)
- Delta Minun (Obtained by trading Plusle)