Veterans Day

 Today is Veterans' Day.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has ever served or is serving now. You are appreciated and loved. Thank you very much.

Nova #1 (September 1976)

For Halloween, I looked at an adventure that set up the Frankenstein's Monster to face off against the evil Dracula, Lord of the Vampires. With a new month upon us, I thought I'd take a look at something a little different. The fun of the Marvel Universe is that it can encompass a variety of genres. Last week was horror, so I thought this week, I'd look at something a little more science fiction. A little bit more cosmic. And of course, I'd give some spotlight to a character we've never seen on this blog before: Richard Rider, aka Nova. 

Nova is a character that has a very interesting origin. Originally created by Marv Wolfman in 1966 for a fanzine, he was originally a doctor called Denteen who got powers every five minutes from special pills. Later, he and Len Wein would revamp this Nova into a prisoner called Kraken Roo, who became the superhero Black Nova. Later on, working at Marvel Comics, Wolfman would revamp the idea further alongside artist John Romita Sr., giving birth to the Nova we know today.

The comic we're looking at here is the first issue of his solo series, technically called The Man Called Nova. This series would be his second longest-lasting series, going 25 issues. He would get further series in 1994 and 1999. He would get a fourth series in 2007, that one lasting 36 issues. However, this incarnation of Nova is arguably more known for being part of the original New Warriors, being a stalwart member through many of its incarnations. And in more recent years, his ties with the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe were strengthened thanks to his involvement in the Annihilation event. 

Yeah, Nova has become quite the stalwart hero over the decades. But even he had a starting point. Let's look at Nova #1!

The cover is a Rich Buckler, Joe Sinnott, and Danny Crespi piece. It's really neat, in my opinion. It depicts our man streaking in front and center, and around him are scenes of him being blasted by a beam and him fighting an alien. I would say that it has the vibe of a movie poster, but it needed more heads of his supporting cast on it.

"Nova"
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: John Buscema
Inker: Joe Sinnott
Colorist: Michele Wolfman
Letterers: Joe Rosen, Gaspar Saladino
Editor: Marv Wolfman
Editor-in-Chief: Len Wein

The story begins at Harry S. Truman High School. Richard Rider playing some basketball with a team of boys. They're playing against a team of girls. Rich flubs a block, allowing the girls' team to win the game. The boys are none too happy with this whole thing, one even lamenting that Truman will never make the finals now. One other boy, Michael Burley, even threatens to knock the future New Warrior into the next century.

Wow. Fellas, I think this was just an exhibition game. You guys need to calm down.

Thankfully, Rich still has one person on his side: Ginger Jaye. She comforts Rich and invites him to talk about it over at Uncle Fudge's. Meanwhile, up in the stars, something else is going down.

"Oh ZARK, I left the space stove on!"

A spaceship cuts through the night sky. The pilot of the ship is a dead man walking. The man's name is Rhomann Dey. He's a member of the Nova Corps. He witnessed a criminal named Zorr commit a planetary genocide on his world, the victims including his family. He is dying as a result of that and needs someone to avenge them. The dying Centurion fires an energy beam on Earth, hoping it empowers someone with a good heart.

We next go to Uncle Fudge's, which is an ice cream parlor. Ginger tells Rich he takes himself too seriously, and he should lighten up a bit. It's not that easy, though. You see, Rich has a bit of a big ol' inferiority complex. He feels like he can't achieve anything. He struggles in school, he struggles in sports. It's like he's destined to be in everyone else's shadow. And things are not made any better when Burley shows his mug.

Being the jerkoff that he is, Burley knocks the future superhero to the ground. He claims he's doing it because he likes him. Yeah, that don't sound like behavior you pull towards someone you like. And then suddenly, the beam of light hits Richard.

"OH GOD, RICH HAS A MINT GREEN FLAVOR!"

Ginger screams for some help, and a confused Mike Burley wonders if he's stronger than he thinks. You're an idiot, Mike.

Thankfully, Rich has been brought to a hospital. It's there he's visited by his family: his parents Gloria and Charles and his younger brother Robert. Ginger is also with them. The doctor tells them that Rich is in a coma, and he's not sure why. One positive is that is vitals are normal, so the doctor is optimistic he'll wake up. You know, since Ginger is there, why didn't she say that he was hit by a funny laser beam? It's the Marvel Universe, it's perfectly plausible. 

As Rich lies in the coma, he is also going on a long strange trip...

Not that kind of trip, but that would be darkly funny. No, he's getting a message from the dying Rhomann Dey, who basically informs him about Zorr, the destroyer of his world coming to Earth. Based on the dialogue, the dying Dey also gives Rich a crash course on his new powers as a Nova Centurion. It's then that Rich wakes up.

Rich wakes up explosively, blowing out the door of his hospital room. Human Rocket, indeed. A short time passes, and Rich recovers enough to return to school. Naturally, Mike Burley taunts him about it alongside his main squeeze alongside his girlfriend Donna-Lee Dover. However, it's here we meet two other members of Nova's supporting cast: Bernie Dillon and Roger "Caps" Cooper. Roger got his nickname thanks to his love of wearing baseball caps. Bernie and Caps tell Mike to go soak his head, and he leaves. 

As he sits in math class, Richard can't help but think about that contact with the dying Dey he had in his coma. The teacher notices him daydreaming and tries to trick him by making him answer a math question. Richard not only answers it...he gets it right. 

Richard is very confused about it. Remember, he was not a good student academically. Gloria waves it off as just him being lucky. That night, Rich wonders if something happened to him as a result of that coma. Maybe that contact was real, and he was chosen to help stop a great threat. It leads him to wonder why he was chosen? After all, he's not something special. And he doesn't feel like he got some cool new powers. But then, he changes. 

"...wow. I look GOOD!"

Not only does he have powers, he has a snazzy new suit. Rich decides to test out what he can do, and he can fly. He discovers that not can he fly, he can fly fast. Fast enough to come to a city that was forty miles away from his home in minutes. He goes to a junkyard to test himself out. He discovers that he's also very strong and durable. Kid is now a powerhouse. He considers using his new power to get back at people who've bothered him but quickly dismisses that. After all, that's not why Dey gave him his powers. He has to use that power in the service of others. It's almost as if with great power...must also come great responsibility...

Nova gets a chance to use his new power in the service of others for the first time when his helmet picks up the police radio band. He goes to check it out. As he flies by, he's spotted by Mike, Donna-Lee, and Ginger, who follow him.

...I don't have a "Follow that Nova" gif. Nova gets to the source of the police call, and...

"No, he can't have this car! I wrecked it first!"

It's Zorr himself. Unaware that the mantle of Nova has been passed, he's like "Wait a minute, I killed that guy!" He blasts at our hero, unaware it's a new man in that suit. Thankfully, Rich was able to dodge it.

Rich is able to hit Zorr hard with a Mighty Punch to the face.

However, the Punch was not Mighty enough. Zorr fights back, ranting that Galactus destroyed his own world. He was one of the few survivors as he was off-world at the time. And he's come to Earth because he wants to use it to "replenish his world's power". Yeah, I'm assuming that Zorr means that he's somehow going to use the life forces of Earth to make his own live again. Or more likely, he's nuts. Zorr attempts to use a building as a weapon against our hero. It causes a man to nearly fall out, but Nova saves him. This gives Zorr a chance to blast him. He then spots Mike, Donna-Lee and Ginger Jaye. He screams at them to get away from here.

Zorr then tosses Nova into another building...and it about to fall on top of the three.

Nova manages to get it together enough (that's why you always wear helmets, kids) to hold the falling building up. The three manage to flee.

Nova goes to re-engage Zorr, but the battle comes to a sudden end.

"AGH, I'M BEING MURDERED OFFSCREEN!"

Later, at his home, Richard thinks about Zorr's mysterious disappearance. He figures that Rhomann Dey somehow saved. We then look in on his ship, revealing the empty chair of Dey...and the clothes of Zorr the Conqueror. The story ends with Richard vowing to use his new power for good, for that is the Destiny...of Nova.

I enjoyed this issue, personally. When Nova had been brought to Marvel, Wolfman clearly wanted him to be in the vein of Peter Parker, and it shows. Rich and his supporting cast are clearly meant to be based on Spider-Man's supporting cast. Unlike Peter, Nova is shown to have some friends of his own in Bernie and Caps. Their characterization is a bit basic, but there's room for further development. I will admit, how exactly Zorr died at the end was confusing to me. Did Rhomann Dey's ghost take him out? I mean, an alien ghost isn't implausible in the Marvel Universe. All in all, it's a first issue that does what it's supposed to do: Introduce our hero, give us his origin. I wish it set up more storylines, though. It was still enjoyable.

It's funny that two weeks in a row, I'm looking at a comic drawn by John Buscema. And yeah, I've heard him described as being able to draw anything, and it fits here.  

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2013 trade paperback Nova Classic Vol. 1. 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 Jellyfish Day

 Today is World Jellyfish Day!

Jellyfish are invertebrate marine animals. Most of them are free-swimming critters, but some do get anchored to the seabed by stalks. Jellyfish are known for their body shapes. Their main bodies resemble an open umbrella (it's called a bell), and their trailing tentacles. 

Jellyfish can be found in waters all over the world. Most of them live in saltwater environments, but there are some that live in fresh water. 

Jellyfish are among the oldest multi-organed animals. Fossil records have indicated that they have been around for 500 million years, possibly 700 million. Speaking of fossilization, jellyfish fossils are rare because they have no hard body parts like bones or teeth. 

Jellyfish's bodies are comprised mainly of water, and most species have no brain, lungs, heart, or central nervous system. Well, they don't really need them. Jellyfish breathe by oxygen diffusing through their epidermis, which also contains their non-centralized "nerve nets".

Do jellyfish eat? Of course they do! They're carnivorous, believe it or not. Their diets include plankton, small fish, crustaceans, fish eggs, larva, and some jellyfish even eat other jellyfish. There are omnivorous jellyfish, like the Aglaura hemistoma. The Lion's Mane Jellyfish is arguably the longest animal on Earth, as their tentacles can reach up to 120 feet in length, but that is actually pretty rare.

Jellyfish reproduction is actually rather unique among the animal kingdom as they involve a mix of sexual and asexual reproduction. Adult jellyfish release reproductive materials into the water, where it's fertilized and collected by the female. These eggs become larvae that eventually became polyps. The polyp eventually buds out the jellyfish, which then enters the medusa stage, aka the form that most think of when they see a jellyfish. 

Jellyfish lifespans aren't completely known, but one species may be effectively immortal as it can revert to a polyp stage, a phenomenon that only has been observed in a lab setting. 

Jellyfish tend to be preyed on the most by...other jellyfish. However, sharks, tuna, and swordfish, sea turtles, and penguins have been known to feed on them. Certain land animals like birds can feed on washed-up jellyfish as well. People also can eat jellyfish. In fact, they're delicacies in some Asian countries like Japan, Korea, and China. 

Jellyfish are also known for their stings. That's because their tentacles have lots of nematocysts, special cells dedicated to injecting venom into anything that touches them.  However, most species' stings are not fatal to humans. Some are, so be careful around them. Some species of fish live among jellyfish tentacles and help lure prey into them. 

Jellyfish can be nuisances in other ways. They're capable of overcoming an oceanic ecosystem, and they can damage fishing nets in large numbers. They've even been known to disrupt power plants. 

So yeah, jellyfish are pretty fascinating critters! 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!

The Frankenstein Monster #7 (November 1973)

In the Marvel Universe, monsters roam among us. And I'm not just talking about human beings who do horrible things, I'm talking actual monsters. I'm talking vampires, werewolves, living mummies, and even monsters that can be called kaiju like Fin Fang Foom. Among the monsters running around in the Marvel Universe is the being called Adam, but we most know...as Frankenstein's Monster, or just Frankenstein (a common misconception).

Created by Mary Shelley for her 1818 novel (originally published then anonymously, a revised version would be republished under her name in 1831) Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, the Monster was a man created by Victor Frankenstein from body parts that came from various corpses. Victor would go on to lament his actions as the monster wants to basically destroy him for creating him. Victor is often portrayed as a "mad scientist" in adaptations of the book, but the man himself in the actual book is more of a tragic figure.

While the book would be given mixed reviews by critics (one criticism from the British Critic outright said that the book was flawed because a woman wrote it), it was a massive success.  

The book would be massively influential, even seen as one of the first, if not the first, science fiction novel. It's considered one of the great works of English literature. As such, the book would be adapted into film (most notably the 1931 Universal Pictures movie) and other media, including comic books.

In the 1970s, monster-mania was in full swing at Marvel Comics. They were not just putting out color comics focused on tales of its superheroes, they were also publishing black and white magazines focusing on tales of monsters. They had already incorporated Dracula into the Marvel Universe, and then editor-in-chief Roy Thomas wanted to do an adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel in comic form, and then eventually bring the monster to the then-present. He was eager to work with artist Mike Ploog on the adaptation, but he couldn't find the time. As such, he turned the writing duty over to Gary Friedrich. 

Considering it's Halloween today, I thought I'd look at a comic with ol' Adam in it. The comic book we're looking at here is an issue from the Monster's first ongoing in the Marvel Universe. It started with an adaptation of the novel and then went on from there. Victor Frankenstein would leave a long shadow over the Marvel Universe, as his descendants would end up causing havoc over the years...well, except for Victoria and Veronica. The series lasted 18 issues, being cancelled due to low sales, although according to Roy Thomas, the book did sell rather well at first. Funny enough, the first time the Monster appeared in the Marvel Universe was in Menace #7 (September 1953) by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely. With that out of the way, let's look at The Frankenstein Monster #7!

The cover is a John Buscema, Frank Giacoia, and Danni Crespi piece. It depicts the titular Monster standing over a fallen woman and angrily holding up a boulder. He's about to throw it at some people at the behest of an old woman. The cover also implies that this is a second volley, as we see another rock land near some fleeing people. It's a cool cover, and it gives the impression that the Monster is going to be used as some kind of weapon by the old woman.

"The Fury of a Fiend!"
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Penciler: John Buscema
Inker: John Verpoorten
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterers: Charlotte Jetter, Gaspar Saladino
Editor: Roy Thomas
Editor-in-Chief: Roy Thomas

The story begins with a young lady taking a bath in the river. Nearby, the Frankenstein Monster emerges from the water. He notices the woman bathing. Frank may have been an artificial man made from a bunch of corpses, but even he is not immune to the effects of feminine beauty. 

He then hears a twig snap and spots someone else eyeing the lady.

"Wow, her back is jacked, my goodness!"

Unlike the Monster, this hunchbacked man, Drako by name, has much less innocent things in mind for the young lady. Drako attacks the woman. Frank feels he should not get involved, but even he can't stand to see someone get attacked like this. He grabs Drako and tosses him into the river. Drako angrily attacks Frank, and the two of them tussle.

As the hunchback and the Monster tussle, an old Roma woman watches them. The fight ends with Frank killing Drako, lamenting that he had to take a life again. The young lady fears that he's going to kill her next. However, an old lady jumps to the Monster's defense, being all "This big ugly lug just saved you from that perverted hunchback, you show some friggin' gratitude!" The young lady apologizes, and the old lady invites him to join them at their camp. Frankie accepts. And off to camp they go!

They did the Monster Mash...

Turns out the two ladies (the younger one is Carmen, and the elder is named Marguerita) were part of a band of Romani travelers. Frank is actually grateful for the hospitality, as he hasn't had any warm food in a while. But hey, much like the Monster himself, the Romani are outcasts, so they can relate to him. It's actually kind of nice.

Marguerita helps Frank locate the last of the Frankensteins with her crystal ball. As Frank dozes away, we learn that ol' Margie has a secret of her own.

Turns out Marguerita was the original Batwoman.

Ohhhh, this is not going to end well. Weeks pass. Despite his desire to hunt down the last of the Frankenstein family, ol' Adam has found himself growing to enjoy his time with this band of wandering Romani. During his time with them, he became a part of their performing troupe. It's a rare, happy time for the artificial man. He finds friends here, and he and Carmen also start to grow close. Despite this, Frankie knows his time with the troupe must end. After all, he's got some revenging to do.

He goes to Marguerita, and she has some news for our monster. The last of the Frankensteins...is dead. 

Yeah. He's been dead for many years. But Marguerita knows where his tomb is, and she offers to take Frank there. Despite the fact that he can't kill the man...Frank actually feels...relieved. As much as Frank has killed, it's not something he enjoys doing. Even though his revenge was denied, he can live with it as it means that his hands aren't any bloodier than they already are. After the show, the two will go visit the tomb. As Frank leaves, Marguerita turns into a bat and flies off. 

Out in the town, a lone constable is patrolling. He's having a miserable time as thanks to the Roma performing troupe, the town is freakin' quiet. The bat transforms into a young woman who meets up with the constable. She pretends to seduce the young man and then attacks.

"Augh, his blood tasted like onions! I hate onions!"

Don't feel too bad for that constable. He was boring anyway. The moral of the story here? Be careful what you wish for...because you just may get it. Yup, Marguerita is a vampire. The discovery of the constable's body causes a panic. The village believes the Roma brought vampires here, because it's 18th century Europe, and Roma are blamed for everything. Bad crop yield? The Roma's fault. Horse went missing? The Roma's fault? Stubbed your toe? That's the Roma's fault, too.

Naturally, the camp decides to flee. 

Marguerita tells Frankie to push away a boulder to distract the mob and buy her fellow Roma time to flee. However, unknown to our anti-hero, the boulder also covers a tomb. According to Marguerita, it's the tomb of the last Frankenstein. Our Monster is suspicious, but follows her. He opens the tomb and finds a skeleton in it. Unusually, the skeleton has a stake where the heart would be if it was alive. Marguerita runs in and removes it. And if you're a savvy sort, you can guess who this was actually the tomb of.

"Did someone tape my shows! I don't want to miss my stories!"

Indeed, it's the tomb of the world's most famous vampire himself: the Lord of the Vampires, the Dapper Deathbringer, the Fanged Fearbringer, Dracula! 

This was a good issue. What I really liked about this comic was that we got to see Frankenstein's Monster enjoy a bit of peace and acceptance. Yes, if you've read these old stories, it's going to end tragically for Adam, but it is nice to see him have a brief bit of happiness. I enjoyed Marguerita calling out Carmen for being freaked out by Adam saving her life. Yeah, Adam's ugly, but he's no Drako, that's for sure. Of course, it is tainted by her being a vampire. And of course, the set-up to him facing off against Dracula. It looks like it'll be an epic fight. I do wonder how the dead Dracula got in contact with Marguerite, though. Was she a contingency plan in case he got staked? And how was she able to keep her vampirism hidden from the other Roma? A bit more exploration of that would have been nice. 

I also liked that we showed that as much as Adam hates the Frankensteins for creating him, he's really not into putting any more blood on his hands than he already hands. It helps him show that he is very much an anti-hero and well, not quite the monster people like to paint him as.

As for the art, well...it's great. But then again, it's John Buscema. How can it not be? I think it brings a wonderfully moody quality to the story. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2015 trade paperback The Monster of Frankenstein. 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, and have a happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween

 As the title says, Happy Halloween, everyone!

Ah, Halloween! the time of year when the barrier between the living and the dead is at its weakest. When the monsters and creatures of the night roam amongst the world of men. Nothing is what it seems, and if you do hear a bump in the night... it is something out there. It's the night where your worst fears can come to life.

So sit back, and enjoy the day as the zombies are shuffling, the werewolves are howling, the vampires are partying, and the ghosts are haunting. Enjoy some candy, a good horror movie, and be glad this day only comes once a year. Because you never know what's out there in the shadows this Halloween, and there is no guarantee you may survive to see November...

Text Play: Pokémon Insurgence (Detergent Mod) #10

 Hello, and welcome back to the Torren Region! This is entry #10 in my Text Play of Pokémon Insurgence! With the Detergent Mod!

Yes, this is the big 1-0! I also learned that this is the 100th Text Play entry I have ever written! How numerically serendipitous! My 10th Text Play on this fangame being the 100th one I have written. I love that. I want to thank everyone who has ever supported me through my journeys through various Pokémon fangames. I have had a lot of fun writing them, and I hope you had just as much fun reading them. I may have never been able to fully complete a game, but I still had fun traveling through those unique regions. I do sincerely hope that you will continue to join me on continued journeys through these fangames, as I do have more I want to do after this one. Mainly Dark Rising Reborn. That one has been pretty fun. 

Last time, we...didn't really do much. Just made our way to Helios City, home of the Augur. The man gives me the creeps. He really does. Our friend Damian had been working to try and find a way into the Jade Tower, a prominent building in the city. He's there with a bunch of Sky Cultists, and he fears something bad will happen to the Augur. I have a similar fear, but it's that the Augur and these guys are in cahoots. And that's basically it. now, as is tradition, I will be warning you, I will be spoiling this game. 

If you want to download the game and play it for yourself, you can do so here. And now, on with the show!

Before we go look for the Jade Tower, I wanted to fit in a bit more exploration of the city. Not to mention admittedly, I want to avoid being around the Augur as much as possible. I've said it before, and I will say it again. Man gives me the creeps. If we leave the PokeMall, and go slightly to the left and upwards, we find this lady here. And she's very impressed with us.

Well, I'm not one to brag, but yeah, I guess we are pretty handsome, heh heh.😏 She feels we're the exact kind of people to appreciate her jewelry. I'm guessing she runs a jewelry store. As such, she gives us a Psychic Gem. A Psychic Gem is a one-use item. It strengthens the power of a Psychic-type move. Would be handy for a non-Psychic Pokémon that has a move of that type. I imagine that lady would sell those kinds of Gems at her jewelry store. 

There's also a PikaTaxi located to the right of the Pokémon Center. 

So, yeah. It's handy if you want to revisit places you went to before. But one of the places I'd love to visit is the famous Department Store. Thankfully, it's located right upwards from the PikaTaxi.

Wow. Look at that statue there. I'm surprised Jaern didn't have it built much taller. I also like the look of the Department Store building. It stands out.

A Ryu cosplayer hanging out around the store says that Helios has a massive sewer system underneath the city. Which makes sense, Helios is a big city after all. It is the home to a lot of Garbodor. Again, makes sense. It's a sewer system. I can also imagine you find lots of Grimers and Muks there, too. 

Anyway let's go inside the store.

Yeah, not much here. Just a front desk, and a pair of escalators. You know, there should be an elevator here, for people with mobility issues, like wheelchair users. Torren needs a version of the American Disabilities Act. 

The nice lady at the desk will tell us about the floors. There are three floors and a basement. The first floor has your standard stuff you find at any other PokeMart: Potions, Balls, Repels, that kind of thing. They also sell incenses and can groom your Furfrou if you got one. The second floor sells Technical Machines and equipment for EV training. Thing is, some of their best TMs are often sold out. That's not a problem for us, thanks to Debug Mode!

The third floor is where one can purchase items for Pokémon evolution. For example, if you got an Eevee and want to evolve it into a Flareon, you can get a Fire Stone for that here. They also sell certain items for competitions like Air Balloons. Finally, there's the basement.

The lady insists it's off-limits. I can see why she'd say that. There'd be no reason for civilian customers to go there, but if that Ryu cosplayer we talked to outside is right, it's likely they're trying to keep a lid on the Garbador infestation down there. Uh, lady? We're a Pokémon Trainer! We can handle some Garbador! We got two badges to prove it!

Anyway, hilariously, she claims that not only there was nothing but storage down there, there's totally no black market down there. So, there totally is a black market down there. The basement is found by going down the escalator to the left. She doesn't even try to stop us. I think she knows we can see right through her. So, let's go downstairs and see that black market, shall we?

At first, the lady seems to be telling the truth. I mean, look at this place! Nothing but boxes presumably filled with stock to sell. However, if we explore the room, we find this hole in the ground.

Yeah, that is totally not the entrance to the sewers and the black market. Let's go in!

Welcome to the sewers of Helios! As expected of sewers, it's dark and smells terrible. I wish we had a flashlight or something that could help us navigate this place. Luckily, thanks to the game's wiki, we have something helpful: a map!

Yay for maps! I love maps! Maps are so handy!

We may now be in possession of a map, but it's still pretty dark here. We can't see where we're going. And none of this team we got knows Flash. But that's not a problem, either. You see, the Sewers have an item that can help us navigate this place. All we have to do is this: first, go straight upwards, hugging the right side wall until we end up here.

Next, we go to the right (still staying at the wall until we go here.

Yeah, I decided to have my Zapdos Thunderwing take lead as it doesn't drop items it picks up, and it needs some action in case we encounter wild Pokémon here, being the lowest-leveled member of my team (Lv. 42 as of this writing). This place is supposedly full of Garbador, remember? Haven't encountered any yet, though. Maybe we have to go deeper. Afterwards, we go downwards until we end up here. It's a short walk.

Finally, we go to the left. Remember, keep hugging the wall. Keep going until we find this diamond-looking thing on the ground.

Go past it, it's nothing. Keep going to the left, hugging the wall. Get to the end, then go downwards until you're blocked by a big metal panel. Slightly to the right is an object on the ground.

It's a Flashlight! Now we can finally light our way through this place! 

Well, not completely. But we can see better, and it does make sense. We're working with a flashlight, not ceiling-mounted light fixtures. Walking around here doesn't reveal much. Just the occasional gear and barrel. I wonder what those gears are for? And what's in the barrels? Is there some machinery around here? And I'm evidently not the only Trainer wandering around here, as I found a Great Ball wandering around here.

Again, it makes sense there'd be signs of other Trainers wandering around here. There are wild Pokémon here, and the Black Market is around here somewhere. I kept wandering around this maze of sewers, until I found myself here, with another Item lying around.

It's an Elixir! Elixirs are good to have around, as one Elixir restored ten Power Points of all of a Pokémon's moves. I continued wandering around the sewers, until I found a Dusk Ball.

Technically, we don't need to pick up this here Dusk Ball as thanks to this game's Debug Mode, I can pick up as many Dusk Balls as I want or need, but still. I continued wandering around the sewers, until I found this.

Oh geez, another green puddle! What is this stuff?! And why is it here? I hope this stuff isn't radioactive. Because it can get people radioactive, and that can't be any good!

I kept wandering around the sewers, fighting Trubbishes, Foonguses, Koffings, Grimers, Gulpins, and a Yamask once. I kept wandering around the sewers and I could not find the entrance to the blasted Black Market. Ah, well. Maybe I'll try another time. It's not a complete loss. We can still look around the Department Store. 

1st Floor! Pokémon Trainer Supplies! Everything a Trainer needs out in the wild! Balls, berries, Potions, Repels, healing items! You can get it all on this very floor! I bought a bunch of Escape Ropes here. As well as Persim Berries. They heal Confusion, and they are dirt cheap here. Let's move upwards!

Second floor! The lady on the left sells Technical Machines, and the lady on the right sells items that help with Pokemon's stats, like Iron, Carbos, Protein, etc. And it's dirt cheap! At least in the case of the Carbos, Protein, Iron, Calcium, and Zinc. I loaded up on those to power up my Pokémon's stats (Protein raises Attack, Iron raises Defense, Calcium raises Special Attack, Zinc raises Special Defense, and Carbos raises Speed), as well as HP Ups...which are obvious as to what they do. 

Third Floor! This floor is where you can buy Items that help Pokémon evolve, like the various Evolution stones. You can also grab the Item on the upper right corner of the screenshot. It's an Amulet Coin. And that's pretty much it for the Department Store. Yup. I'll try again to find the Black Market at a later time. Right now, let's explore Helios some more. And honestly, I'm not in any real rush to help save the Augur. I've said this before, but Jaern gives me the creeps.

Walking around the big park in the center of the city, we found this dude hiding among the trees of the northern end. If we talk to him, he'll ask us if we want to be in on a secret. Answer "Yes", and we get TM123 (Secret Power).

The park is surprisingly small for such a big city. The center of it has a lake and a bench in front of it. And that's really it. But we do have another surprise. If we go into this house right here...

Yeah, the house on the middle top of the screenshot. If we go in the top floor (the house has stairs on the side allowing you to go straight in, as shown in the screenshot), a man will try to scare us. It...doesn't work.

We've seen scarier Delta Pokémon than this guy. Remember the Delta Pidgey that turned people to statues? He says he never scares anyone and give us TM05 (Roar).

The other person will tell us a bit of history. It turns out that Helios was once a base of operations when Torren and Kanto were at war. It was a long time ago, even before the Augur came along. I'm assuming it was not the Augur before Jaren, because the guy says that was a "long time ago", and unless the original Augur was somehow immortal (why not, it's a Pokémon world, after all), that means there were Augurs before Jaern and his predecessor that he totally did not likely take out. When we go downstairs, one of the occupants tells us that in a place called Utira Town, they have a library with all kinds of books, from ancient history to the latest fiction novels. Hey, there's something to look forward to! I love libraries!

The other pokes a bit of fun at Psychic-types having only one weakness once upon a time. After all, one of the big flaws of the original Red and Blue that Psychic was quite overpowered as there were few Bug-type or Ghost-type moves that could be used to really hurt them. I distinctly remember having to evolve my Eevee to Jolteon because it knew Pin Missile, one of the only Bug-type moves that could be used on offense. Yeah, I am not kidding. It was freakin' annoying. And considering that you only got one Eevee, and there was no way to breed more...yeah. It's been a while since I played LeafGreen, but I think that remake addressed it. Anyway, in the house to the left of this one, we reunite with an old friend.

Hey, it's Xavier! How have you been, man? Remember him? He was the Vipik Gym Leader. We defeated his team and earned the Stinger Badge (our second badge) in entry #6. It turns out that he actually lives here in Helios. He just works at the Vipik Gym. I can see that being a thing, although personally, I always figured that Gym Leaders made their homes in the places their Gyms are at. Although in Xavier's case, I don't blame him for wanting to live in Vipik. Remember, that place had a dump that made the place smell awful. 

He tells us to come by when we get the badge here. He'll give us a special gift. We'll have to remember this.

If we go to the third house, the one to the right of Xavier's and that first house we went to, we end up here.

One of the residents tells us some interesting info: that if a Poison-type uses the move "Toxic", they can't miss with it. Something to keep in mind for the future...

The other resident tells us that according to something they read, certain Pokémon like Manaphy, Mew, and Celebi used to be incredibly common. They were everywhere. But their numbers have dwindled, and now it's believed there's one specimen of each of these "Legendary" Pokemon left. Personally, I can imagine that from an in-universe perspective, 

Behind the houses stand a Hiker. If we talk to him, we get a history lesson.

60 years ago, this city was founded by a King Vesryn. Huh, so Torren is a monarchy? That's new. Well, according to the Hiker, Vesryn would leave the kingdom to discover new lands...which left Torren leaderless. So, Torren is not a constitutional monarchy. But recently, the First Augur stepped up. This raises some questions about the timeline.

If we go upwards, we end up in front of the Helios City Gym.

I thought this was the Jade Tower at first because it's green, and jade is a shade of green. Shows what I know.

As you can see in the screenshot, you can find a Dusk Ball right near the tower. There's another item at the other side of the Gym. 

It's a Burn Heal. Quite handy when you had a bad encounter with a Fire-type, ha ha. That means I now have 41 Burn Heals. Well, as long as we're here, we should get a look inside. After all, it's good to see what kind of competition we'll face here. The Leader is a man known only as "East". He specializes in Dragon and Flying-type Pokémon. If a trainer beats him, we get the Summit Badge. But once we go inside, we find that the place has some...unwelcome guests.

So, this place is the Jade Tower. I was right!

And as for the talk they're having with Jaern, yeah. I know that the Cultist is trying to imply they're threatening the Augur, but I think they're just having a nice conversation. The man gives me the creeps, and I can see them colluding. Why? Because they're all evil jerks. So...what do we do? Well, talking to those Cultists standing in a line doesn't result in a battle or anything, just them telling us to buzz off.

Well, we can't go further in that way. I mean, there is the chance that Jearn is in genuine danger (even if it's remote in my opinion), so we can't just stand by and do nothing. Damian did say that he'd try to enter the tower through the sewers, so we're going to have to go back and try to make our way through them again.

This is going to be funnnnnnnn. But if there is one thing that is interesting about these fangames, it's that there's going to be some unique places we're going to visit. I don't remember having to go through a sewer system in the "official" games. And don't forget to use your Flashlight! It'll help you see further ahead!

Walking around the sewers, I found another item.

It's a Hyper Potion! This could come in handy! Walking around further in this mind-boggling maze results in us encountering this guy!

Who is he and what is he doing here? I have no idea, people are crazy. Well, it turns out that he's a Move Trainer. He can teach a Pokémon Gunk Shot or Acid. Well, a Pokémon that can learn those moves. I personally don't really need it, as I am playing with a Debug Mode, but if you're not, you can certainly use this man's services if you wish. Although I do find it rather funny that he's offering this service in a sewer...

Right, right. Above this man is a Great Ball lying on the ground.

You can pick it up if you wish. I would strongly recommend handling it with gloves and cleaning it thoroughly. Very thoroughly. Thankfully, we find the fan that'll take us to the Black Market if we keep going upwards.

Man, it feels so good to find that entrance.

Let's go shopping at the Black Market!

Welcome to the Black Market, everyone! Illicit items at prices that are criminal, ha ha!

Yeah, I apologize. So, where do we go from here? Well, you see that pipe/rail on the left side of the screenshot? We have to climb it to go forward. And Damian is here, waiting for us.

He points out that this place is creepy. Yeah. It's supposed to be, Damian. We're not in an area that has a legitimate business. It's not going to be welcoming. He tells us that there's a passage here that will take us into the Jade Tower, allowing us to bypass the Sky Cultists we saw earlier. He rushes off, saying the Augur could be in great danger. Yeah, right.

Still, as I said earlier, there's a chance this is legit, even if it's very remote. Following the rail, we encounter a fork in the road.

No, a metaphorical one!

Yeah, like this. It's actually a fork in the pipe, if we're being accurate...yeah, seriously, we have to walk on a pipe. I get this is an illicit area, but why can't we just walk on a path? I think it would be so much easier. And the fork is kind of a trick, anyway. You see, the right and downward paths lead us to the same area. And that's where we're going to have to stop for the month. I apologize for it, but I don't have the time to play this game like I used to. I hope you understand. We'll explore the black market some more next time. 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!

Pokémon Obtained:
(Helios Sewers)
- Koffing
- Trubbish (encountered, didn't catch)
- Grimer (encountered, didn't catch)
- Foongus
- Yamask
- Piplup (obtinaed by Debug Mode)