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)

Justice League #4 (August 1987)

Back in October of 2023, I looked at Justice League #3 (July 1987) as a tribute the late, great Keith Giffen, who had passed away then. I felt that Justice League International was some of his finest works in the comic industry. I am a big fan of that era of the Justice League. As such, when I wanted to look at a comic this week, I thought "Well, I don't think I've looked at a comic from the JLI era for a while, so why not go back there?" 

Last time we saw this group, they had battled the Champions of Angor, a group of superheroes from an alternate reality that were basically a pastiche/homage to the Avengers. They were trying to prevent the DCU from being destroyed by a nuclear war, much like their world was. Unfortunately, their coming to the then-USSR (remember, this was the 1980s) threatened to spark that very event in the DCU. Thankfully, the Justice League were able to prevent the tragedy, at the cost of what seemed like one of the lives of the Champions. That story ended with them discovering that Maxwell Lord had managed to make their way into their headquarters with another superhero he wanted in the League's ranks: Booster Gold. So, where do we go from here? Let's find out in Justice League #4!

The cover is a Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon piece. It's really well-drawn. We see Booster standing around the defeated Justice League, and he then spots the perpetrator. The shot reminds me of the For Your Eyes Only film poster.

It's a very unique shot for a comic book cover. A good way to hide the identity of the villain, while showing the last hero standing being shocked and unsure what to do. I love it.

"Winning Hand"
Writers: Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Penciler: Kevin Maguire
Inker: Al Gordon
Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
Letterer: Bob Lappan
Editor: Andrew Helfer
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins with the newly-formed Justice League [Batman (Bruce Wayne), Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel (Billy Batson), Mister Miracle (Scott Free), and Green Lantern (Guy Gardner)] meeting at a table. Batman is, as is typical for the Dark Knight, not a happy rodent cosplaying crimefighter. He wants to know how Maxwell Lord got into their headquarters, how he duplicated their signal devices, and even why he thinks he could put Booster Gold on the team. 

Guy Gardner, being Guy Gardner, is more interested in usurping Batman as leader. Meanwhile, we look in Maxwell Lord, Doctor Light, and Booster Gold. 

"Couldn't be bothered to provide a Keurig, Max?!"

Kimiyo Hoshi is none too happy with the bogus signal device she was given. Lord tries to mollify her by pointing out he has a plan for her and the League. However, Hoshi is furious about being used, so she quits.

I can understand why she quit. But I do wish she still stayed. I mean, say what you will about the Detroit-era JLA, but at least there was more than one female member in the group!

Booster Gold tries to get her to stay, but she's not hearing him. Lord assures him that if he needs her, he'll get her back in the fold. Lord is then confronted by Batman, Mr. Miracle, and J'onn. Lord tries to convince Batman the League needs Booster Gold, but Michael Jon Carter just tells Max to shut up.

He yells that he's doing fine on his own, and he's got no need to beg to join the League. As he leaves, he wishes Max luck with his plan, which leads the League to demand answers. Captain Marvel thinks that it is sad that Booster left, as he had a neat costume.

Outside, Booster kicks himself over his outburst and sees the press outside. He could fly off and not say a word to them, but that's not his style. Booster loves the spotlight, so he goes to talk to the reporters. A group of people notice this and think he'll be the perfect distraction. They disrupt the League's electric fence. Booster sees this and goes to check it out. 

The League's HQ has got power back, but they're vulnerable now (Mister Miracle hadn't finished the new HQ's security system yet). Canary pulls up an image of Booster, and wonders if he's trying to prove something. Booster finds the perpetrators.

"Uh...we're cosplayers looking for directions to the Comic-Con?"

Yes, it's the Royal Flush Gang! And of course, a fight breaks out.

Canary is wondering what the Gang is doing here. Batman asks if Mr. Miracle has the base's new energy shield ready. It is, and he turns it on. Unfortunately, it traps Booster with the Gang.

Booster tries to keep fighting, but a reporter snaps a photo, the camera's flash blinding him.

You'd think his costume's visor would be polarized in case of such a thing. Ten gives Booster a rock to the face, and Queen also lets him see what her boot tastes like. Jack tries to blast Booster but ends up hitting Queen. Fortunately for her, Jack's laser gun has a stun setting. That would have been awkward if he did accidentally blast a hole in her.

Jack then tries to blast Booster (his gun is set to kill this time)...and he fails. Yeah, Booster's suit also has its own forcefield. Since Jack's gun is useless against the future-born hero, Booster easily sends Jack to dreamland. He then taunts Ten by telling her he can see her. She asks him if he'd hit a woman. And the answer is...

"There's also the fact that you're a supervillain and all..."

...yes, he would. The League give Booster some applause. Well, except for Batman. Batman does not clap for people. He does give Booster a smirk. That is very high praise from the Dark Knight right there. He also warns Booster there is someone behind him. Oh, Bats must love him. Well...also because he has a good reason for Booster to be concerned.

"ME ACE SMASH PUNY GOLD MAN."

Evidently, gamma radiation steroids are a thing in the DCU. Who knew?

But seriously, this Ace is not a human like the other members of the Gang. He's not even a metahuman. He's actually a big robot. A very big, and very annoyed robot that easily swats Booster aside like he was a fly. Forcefield or not, that has to hurt.

The rest of the League jump into action. This Ace has many useful gadgets that allow him to counter the League. He's got flamethrowers to counter the Martian Manhunter. He's stronger than Captain Marvel. He can turn himself yellow to counter Green Lantern. He presumably is unaffected by Black Canary's sonic scream. It's almost as if he was deliberately modified to fight the League. Maybe somebody provided information about the League to the Gang to ensure that Ace was modified to nullify them...

Despite Ace being the supposed "perfect weapon" against our heroes, there's one factor that even whoever modified him to nullify the League can't defend against: the power of quick thinking and inspiration. Booster grabs Ace and takes him into the sky. You see, he and Blue Beetle have cooked up a plan.

Booster tells Beetle to push the League HQ's energy shield to critical. Ted obeys, and their plan works beautifully.

The rest of the Gang are not going to get that deposit back.

Force shield cut the robot in half, baby!

As Booster hoots and celebrates the big win, J'onn notes that the future-born fame-seeker would make a fine Leaguer after all. He just needs some energy and enthusiasm. Batman says they'll get him to work on that. 

Later, the League lick their wounds. They fully welcome Booster to the League. Captain Marvel calls their attention to the TV, as it shows Maxwell Lord holding a press conference. He calls himself the official press liaison to the League and talks about how happy the superhero team is to welcome Booster to "our" group, like he's involved with them. The story ends with Batman saying that Lord is going to be dealt with, and the man is not going to like it...

I enjoyed this comic. We get some really good intrigue with Maxwell Lord muscling his way onto the League in his own slick corporate manner, and it can be implied that he hired the Royal Flush Gang to fight the League. Notice how Ace didn't have a counter for Booster Gold? We also get to see some of the humor that would later fully define the JLI era, mainly in the interplay between Guy Gardner and Batman. Honestly, their interplay is a lot of fun to read. The Dark Knight is a great straight man. 

We also get to see the very beginnings of the Blue and Gold team, the friendship between Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. It's also nice showing that for all his faults, Booster is truly a capable hero at heart. His interplay with the Royal Flush Gang is hilarious. I do wish that Kimiyo Hoshi/Dr. Light did stick around. Yeah, from a story and character perspective, I do get why she'd quit. 

Thing is, the character only recently debuted in Crisis on Infinite Earths. So, including her on the team does make sense. But I do wish she stayed because as I said earlier, this League could use another woman on the team. Not to mention her scientific skills would be a boon. And it could continue her story of becoming humbler after the Crisis. I get the feeling the creative team did intend for her to return, but as they say in pro wrestling, "Card Subject to Change". I would have had her bond with Ted Kord, both being brilliant minds and all that. 

Kevin Maguire's art is very good. I especially love the way he draws faces. He is a master of facial expressions. You can see the emotions on the characters' faces very well, which also helps with the drama and humor. He also draws costumes very well. They look almost exactly like real clothes. 

I love this era so much, and if you ever get the chance to read it, do so! And if you do want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2008 trade paperback Justice League International Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! if you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you liked what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!