Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw Region! This is entry number two in my Text Play of Pokémon Xenoverse!
Before we begin, I do want to warn you that I will be spoiling the heck out of this game.
As such, if you want to play this game for yourself, you can download it here. A word of warning, the site is in Italian, but the game is playable in English. Which is good for me, as I only know like, a couple words of Italian.
I need to raise a bit of money. I do have some Stardust, a Star Piece and a Pearl to sell. The Star Piece I can sell for 4900...whatever the currency of Pokémon games is called. According to Bulbapedia, the currency is called "Pokémon Dollar", so I'm going with "PokéDollars". I can net a nice bit of cash with the Star Piece and Stardust.
But there is also another way to raise some extra money very quickly. You see, in the grassy areas of Stardust beach, you can fight Yemins, Dwebbles, and Bremands. These Pokémon can carry items. Yemins can carry Black Belts. Black Belts raise the power of any Fighting-type moves a Pokémon knows. Dwebbles can carry Hard Stones. Hard Stones are basically do the same thing as Black Belts, only with Rock-type moves. Finally, Bremands can carry Metronomes. Metronomes boost the power of a move that is used consecutively. For example, if you hit a Pokémon with Tackle once, it hits with the base power of 40. But if you have the Pokémon use Tackle again, the power increases to 50.
If you do some grinding, you can pick up quite a lot of these items (In my experience, Black Belts seem to be the most common). At the PokéMart in Hadwarf City, you can sell these extra Black Belts, Hard Stones, and Metronomes for 1000 PokéDollars each. That means with a little time, you could raise quite a nice sum of money.
Trust me, you're going to need that extra cash. There are also Taillows in the Beach's grassy areas. They do provide Charti Berries, but I'd hang on to those. If you give one to a Pokémon that is weak to Rock-type moves, the Charti Berry reduces the damage those moves can do. Anyway, I have to make a bit of an admission. I had been holding back and grinding for quite some time as I am a bit nervous as to what to do next. I don't like going ahead on these games without some idea of what's ahead, but the game's wiki isn't exactly...the most informative.
I decided to make an adjustment to my team, switching out my Beedrill for my Sandygast. I needed a Ground-type for my team, and I already had a Bug-type on board with Masgot. Masgot is a fascinating little original Pokémon. I kind of like him, he's a little beast. And besides, I want to know what he can do.
Anyway, thanks to all the extra money I got from selling my tons of items, I decided to get some supplies for what's coming next. The Pokémon Center in Hadwarf City has a PokéMart, which is a great place to supply up. I bought a bunch of PokéBalls (Buy ten, get a Premier Ball free), a bunch of Antidotes, Potions, Awakenings, and Paralyze Heals. The store also offered Burn and Ice Heals, but in my experience playing Pokémon games, those status effects happened rather rarely. Well, burns happened more often than freezing, but you get what I mean. With supplies obtained, it's time for us to head up to the S.S. Comet, the ship we saw in the last entry.
With Basil defeated, we can finally board this vessel. We're going to sail the seven seas!
Good thing I packed my Dramamine. The S.S. Comet is basically a big ol' luxury liner, much like the S.S. Anne from Pokémon Red and Blue. The ship is going to take us to a place called Newtron City. I'm assuming the city's name is a pun on "neutron", a subatomic particle. Considering the "stellar" theme of this game, it could also be a reference to neutron stars.
Anyway, when you first enter the ship, there are three doors. The first door has an empty room, but there is a Room Key in one of the trash bins in there. You can use this to open up the middle door. Inside is what looks like the ship's library.
I like that the ship has a library. I'm someone who enjoys reading books, but regular and graphic, so having a library always makes me happy. Books are great!
You may have noticed the three chests in the room. Inside those three chests are from left to right, a Super Potion, a Damp Rock, and a Pearl. A Damp Rock is an item you give to a Pokémon that knows the move Rain Dance. The item extends the amount of time the effects of Rain Dance last. And the Pearl can be sold for some extra money. Yeah, I would definitely recommend hanging on to the Pearl.
The door on the right has a small shop.
Not much there, just PokéBalls and berries. The berries can be useful, though. The berries the merchant sells are the kind that can heal status conditions. Unfortunately, I don't remember seeing any Berry Patches anywhere on this journey so far. A shame, as I could just buy a few Berries here and grow more.
Ah well, maybe that will change the further ahead we go. It's here where you can do something rather...new for this series. You see that little box that looks like a PokéBall in the screenshot? Well, you can try to open it, and the merchant will challenge you to a battle. In fact, one of the achievements in this game is obtainable by battling merchants. Battle 11 to earn it, and I think this was the first. The merchant has a little surprise. He packs this region's variant of a Meowth. I'm not sure if this game was made before Sun and Moon, but...yeah. That's pretty neat.
Elsewhere on this floor is what looks like an old computer lab.
This takes me back. I remember the old computer labs from my old school days. Played SimCity a lot. You can battle the trainers in here if you want some extra experience for your Pokémon and a little extra money. I recommend doing so myself. Anyway, from this floor, you can go downstairs or upstairs. If we go downstairs, we'll have to go through a hall. There's a man there, just trying not to give in to his seasickness. Should've packed your Dramamine, buddy.
Just keep going right, and we'll be in the ship's kitchen.
The trash can in the kitchen contains a Lum Berry. If you try and talk to one of the chefs, he'll ask you if you're a fan of Octo Risotto. If you answer yes, you get some. Octo Risotto will restore 50 HP to any Pokemon that is given it. So, what is Octo Risotto? Well, risotto is a rice dish from northern Italy. Octo Risotto is a rice dish, but instead of using broth, it's cooked with ink from the Octillery. Yummy.
Going upstairs leads to, like the downstairs stairway, a hallway. We just go right, but then we get interrupted by...this guy.
Who is this guy?
Anyway, this...vegetable-headed guy recognizes me. He seems to think I'm famous.
Yeah, a bit early to lay the fame on, huh game? I mean, I did beat one Gym Leader, and I did catch an X Pokémon, but that's not much. Does he think I helped stop that fire back in Hadwarf City? Because there was a lot of people there, and they clearly saw it was Aster with his freakin' Suicune (How did he catch that thing?!). And when I caught that X Elekid, there weren't any witnesses. So, I don't see why he thinks I'm such a big deal. Anyway, he asks me to give something to the Captain.
I would not be surprised if this "Secret Potion" is in reality some form of...enhancement product.
Actually, it's something to help the captain with his seasickness. Huh. You'd think a cruise line would hire someone who can handle rough waves to be the captain of a boat.
He tells me to tell the captain that it's from a man named Taraxo. I can't help but think that name is a reference to something. And that his parents really hated him. I also can't help but think I've been made into a drug mule. Ah well, nothing I can do about that now. Heading upwards, we go to the right and enter the captain's office.
Talking to him, we learned that he's a bit sick from the Octo Risotto. Glad I didn't eat it. And I don't think I'll give it to my Pokémon anytime soon. I don't want them to end up vomiting all over the battlefield.
The captain asks me how my cruise is going, only to get alerted by a sailor that a school of Sharpedo has attacked the ship and damaged the engines. Who knows why? The room shakes like the bridge on the Enterprise-D when something hits it, and everything goes black.
Welcome to Darkhole Island. We must have washed up here. Who knows what happened to the S.S. Comet, but it's likely...not in great shape. There's a merchant here so we can buy some Berries and Pokeballs if we need them. Also, considering the "stellar" theme of this game, I can imagine that "Darkhole" is a pun on black holes. There's really nowhere to go and nothing to do here...except go into that gate there. Welp, let's do this.
It turns out to not be so bad. There's a forest here.
Looks rather...quiet and peaceful. See that Porygon-looking thing there? We've seen one of those back in Aster's lab in the last entry. This gadget here is basically a Pokémon Center. Naturally, it's called a Porygon Center. Your Pokémon are banged up? You take them here to get healed up. You can also use the PC Storage System if you want to make adjustments to your team. There is a caveat to it, though. You have to pay a little fee to use it. This is why I suggested you grind and get lots of items to sell at Stardust Beach. We might be here a while, and we may need to use this thing multiple times, so having a lot of extra cash on hand will be needed here. Also, that little treasure box nearby contains a Repel. Get that, you might need it.
This area is a fork. We can go to the left, or to the right. On the right-side entrance, a little girl asks if we're lost here. Well, we just entered this forest, so...maybe?
She tells us to just go straight to the exit...and then vanishes. Yeah, that's totally not a red flag or anything. Let's go to the left-hand side. We end up in an area with a pair of lakes in it.
And we end up with another fork in the road. This one has three choices: Left, right, or straight ahead. Hmmm, quite a choice here. I noticed quite a few of these statues on this island. What are they, some kind of lion people? Anyway, let's go to the left.
By the way, there's another Repel in that box in the screenshot. From here, we go downwards, and we end up at a beach.
Even here, there's no respite from the thunderstorm. Not that I'm complaining, I like thunderstorms. But I am curious as to how those giant torches are able to still burn in this rain. Greek fire, perhaps? Anyway, if we got to the far right, we find a box.
It contains Stardust. We can sell that to the merchant at the entry point of this forest for some extra cash. If we go to the left and go upwards, we'll find...a rock.
The rock has a Water Stone. Also on this beach is a Lapras.
I wonder what this Lapras is doing here? Well, it likely came from the S.S. Comet...as evidenced by the bite marks all over it. My guess this belonged to a passenger or one of the crew, and was used to try and fight off the Sharpedo If you use Taraxo's secret potion on it, you'll heal it right up. Afterwards, it will want you to ride it, but you don't have to do that right away. I want to explore this island some more. I backtracked to that one area with the three-way fork and went upwards. It led me into this..."room" for lack of a better word.
The centerpiece of this room is a large lake with a pair of wooden bridges on it. The bridges take you to this box here. You can barely see the box in that last screenshot. Here's a better view of it.
The box contains a Potion. This room has another path upwards. Nearby it is this clearing.
There's a Super Potion in this clearing. We go upwards, and we end up in this room.
I get the feeling something significant is supposed to happen here. I'll call this area the Altar Room. Ah well, there's nothing here, let's go back to that chamber with the three paths, and go to the right this time. We follow the path until we get to yet another fork in the road.
I admit, I do wish I had a map right now. Anyway, we're going to the right, might as well continue forwards. The path leads to a bridge.
The sign warns that it's rather unstable, so let's not walk on it.
Besides, if you do try, something blocks you.
There's another box nearby. It contains a Revive. That's handy. You never know when you'll need a Revive. I wish they weren't so expensive in shops. Also, it might just be me, but I did experience weird lag when here. I don't know why it's happening here. I don't remember seeing this slowdown anywhere else on the island so far.
Maybe it's a bug? Anyway, let's backtrack a bit and head downwards. It leads to a room with another fork. Luckily, the paths are short this time. The right-hand path leads to a small grassy area with a box.
The box contains a Kelpsy Berry. It can make a Pokémon friendlier but lowers its base Attack stat. And like the right-hand path, the left-hand path leads to a grassy area with a box.
The box contains an Oran Berry. This berry can restore 10 HP to a Pokémon that is given it. Let's head back. Remember when we first entered the right-hand path with the two lakes? Well, near that entrance is a downward-pointing path. It's a grassy area.
That box down there (just at the edge of the screenshot) contains a Great Ball. This path just takes you to the downward-pointing path on the second fork. Yeah, sorry if this comes off as confusing. I can't describe this stuff very well. Backtracking to the room with the three-pronged fork path, I found a little clearing that leads to another box.
The box contains a Repel. Anyway, with the left-hand side of the island explored, we'll head back to the main area. You know, the room with the Porygon Center and the treasure box that had a Repel in it. It's here at this right-side area we encounter a little girl.
Hey kid, what're you doing here? Where are your parents? Are you the only person on this island? She asks us if we're lost. I wouldn't say that, as I've been exploring the island. I can imagine why someone would get lost around here. Lots of trees and lakes, not many real landmarks. Yeah, this place can get you confused if you're not careful.
Well, the girl tells me that if I'm lost...I should just head for the exit...and then she vanishes.
Yup. She just disappears, like a ninja.
Well, we're still stuck here, so might as well continue looking around. The first chamber looks like this.
The box there contains a PokéBall. Funny you find one in a box here when there's a merchant right on the beach of the island that does sell them. Going up a little further, we find what looks like a long vine hanging over a ledge.
...why do we need a Pokémon to climb this? Can't trainers climb? We meet the little girl again nearby, just...staring out at the trees.
What is she looking at? Talking to her makes her vanish again. She doesn't say anything this time. My thoughts keep going back to that vine. Is that the "exit" that strange girl was talking about earlier? What kind of Grass-type would we need to climb that thing? I mean, I can imagine using the Pansage line to climb it. Or maybe the Treecko line. But I don't think I have any Grass-type Pokemon that could help me climb that vine. Ah, well. Might as well head...somewhere. Maybe back to that Lapras we healed up. So, I decide to head back there, when the little girl appears again.
Where did you come from?
She asks if we want to play with her. Look, kid. We're shipwrecked here. I have to see if there are any other survivors. I have been exploring this island, and you and that merchant are seemingly the only other people here. And then she vanishes again. I get the feeling that girl isn't...human, for lack of better words. We'd better find her. Maybe she'd have an idea what happened to the other passengers. We find her next in the area below the room before the rickety bridge.
Yeah, this girl is not human. She talks about water's ability to erode, how it can even carve away rock very slowly over very long periods of time. And then she vanishes again.
This is getting insane. We next find her in the Altar Room.
Yeah, I got a bad feeling about this. She apologizes to her mother, saying that the water was calling her...was she a mermaid? And she vanishes...again. I am getting really annoyed with this. I searched everywhere on the island, and I can't find her. I still can't cross that bridge, so I'm going to head to that Lapras. When you nurse that Lapras back to health and talk to it again, it will want you to ride it. And it takes you to the wreckage of the Comet...or not.
Yup, the ship has seen better days. The ship is called the S.S. Meteor. Where did this ship come from? It's clearly a rather old ship, based on the state of it. I highly doubt there is anyone still alive on this wreck. Is this ship connected to that girl we've been running after on Darkhole Island?
And if they are connected...what is the connection? Could it be that she was a passenger on the Meteor when the ship crashed? And if she was, based on old the ship looks...maybe she was...a GHOST?!
It still does leave some questions. Why is she haunting the island if she is a ghost of a Meteor passenger? Was she trying to lead me to something? What happened to the other passengers? I mean, a ship like this had to have a large complement of passengers and crew. It's not like there were a lot of signs of human occupation of Darkhole Island from what I could find. Boy, this is some mystery. Ahhh, I can worry about that later! There's some stairs and a door. The door leads to a room.
Was this room some kind of storage area? I wonder what its purpose was. Anyway, there's a Porygon Center here if you need one. And the box contains another Repel. Next, we go up the stairs. They lead us to a hall shaped like a sideways U. Following the hall takes you down to the door to another room.
Holy Toledo!
As the screenshot points out, these Sharpedo are likely the culprits of the destruction of the Comet. And they likely were the cause of the Meteor being in the state that it's in. And that's clearly another X Pokemon leading this shiver (A group of sharks is called a shiver).
You know, in the last entry, the X Elekid we caught was starting fires at Stardust Beach, and now this X Sharpedo is leading a shiver of Sharpedo in attacks on ships. I think it can be implied from this that X Pokemon are more aggressive than their regular counterparts. Maybe they're naturally like this? Or it could be a side effect of them somehow being brought into this dimension? Either is certainly plausible. And if that's the case...it can be implied that the X Sharpedo is not just the reason why the Meteor is in the shape its in...but also why Darkhole Island is all but completely unoccupied.
Well, we gotta take care of this thing.
Based on its looks, this here Sharpedo may be of the Ghost or Dark type. It certainly does look scary enough to be either of those types. Grass can really hurt it, so it's likely also Water like its regular variant.
And yep! It's Water/Ghost!
With the X Pokémon captured, the other Sharpedo vanish underwater. I'm guessing that without their leader, the Shiver has basically fallen apart. I wonder if it will have any effect on their behavior? When I leave the room, Taraxo makes his return.
How did he get here? How did he know I was here? He implies he saw the Lapras nearby. He figured that an X Pokémon was behind this whole mess. He explains that Sharpedo are known to attack ships so they can make dens out of them. He also explains that he had his Alakazam teleport the crew off. What about the passengers?
He takes us to what is presumably his home. He heals our Pokémon up and reveals we are in Polaris Town. Taraxo is a scholar at heart. He studies various things, but his real passion is technology. He's the inventor of the Porygon Center. He has some business to take care of, but he lets us make ourselves at home. That's awful nice of him. He gives us a little gift.
It's a Pokémon Transfer! Taraxo's latest invention, it's another add-on for the PokéDex. But it also needs this.
Yeah, Day One patches are a thing in the Pokémon universe, too. Well, not exactly. The Virtual Update is a gizmo that'll allow you to evolve a Pokémon that requires trading to evolve without any actual trading. For example, take Graveler. With this, you can evolve it into Golem without trading it away. That's convenient.
Taraxo's home contains a small lab, complete with a Porygon Center.
I have no idea why there's a Porygon Center here. We're in a town, so there's likely a Pokémon Center here already.
Well, we leave the house, and notice one thing right away: Polaris Town is snowy. It actually makes sense. Keeping with the "stellar" theme, Polaris Town is named after the star that is part of the Ursa Minor constellation. The star is also known as the "Pole Star" or the "North Star", hence Polaris Town being very cold and snowy.
Anyway, we see Taraxo talking to this kid. The kid, named Wolfey, needs a hand. Taraxo himself would, but he can't as he presumably has other things to do. But he does suggest I may be able to help out.
Well, I don't see why not? The kid was having a fun little snowball fight with his Hikiloo (another new Pokémon native to this game) in a place called the Zero Cave, when a pair of jerks made off with it. Looks like this game has a Team Rocket-esque evil organization after all.
Actually, I can imagine such an organization would be responsible for Versil's vanishing. So, I agree to see what I can do. Wolfey also says that Taraxo gave him a special item to give to me when I get back his Hikiloo. Yeah, there's a bit of additional incentive for you. Zero Cave itself is actually not too far away from here, just a short walk south. From first glance, it does seem that Polaris is a ridiculously small town. However, there's a nice little surprise here.
You see, at the left, there's the entrance to the Zero Cave. To the right, there's more of the town. Yup. Don't worry about that guy there, he's not going to battle you. He just remarks how there aren't a lot of people here because it's cold. According to a woman in the town's Pokémon Center, the Center itself is the only warm place in Polaris Town...do people in this town not have any central heating? Eh, she's likely exaggerating.
I can personally understand why people may not like living in cold places. I don't mind cold weather myself, but snow? Yeah, I don't like tons of snow. Pain to walk in. And ice. Ice is slippery.
We head right from the Zero Cave, and that's where the rest of the town can be found. But just before it, there is a fork in the road. If we go upwards, we can see a kid on what looks like a snowboard.
But it's not a snowboard. It's a Pokéboard. Based on the kid's dialogue, this little device is meant to be a replacement for the Bicycle you usually get in mainstream Pokemon games. It seems to be a hoverboard, which as a fan of Back to the Future II, I find really awesome.
 |
| I so want one of these so badly... |
Just above him is what looks like a frozen lake with a bunch of icebergs on it. This is a puzzle. How do you solve it? Well, easy. If you step on the ice, you'll slip and keep moving until you hit an obstacle, whether it's the fence or the icebergs. First, you step on the ice, and you'll go upwards until you hit the mountain. Don't worry, it won't hurt you.
From there, turn left.
Then we go down.
Next, we go right.
We go a short way up, then left.
From there, we go up.
Finally, we go left, and we're at the treasure on the frozen lake!
And for all that slipping and sliding and nearly getting ankles and tailbone broken, what do we get? An Ice Heal. An Ice Heal.
Really? Not something like a Water Stone? A truly hard to get item? Why? Why have this as the reward for solving the ice puzzle? You can buy Ice Heals in stores! Why not a TM? A TM for a powerful and very useful attack? At least it would feel like going through the puzzle was worth the time! Ugh! Anyway, to leave, we go right, then down, then left, then down again. We head to the right on the path near the frozen lake until we reach the rest of the town.
The house in the screenshot is interesting, as if you go inside, you find a big rock.
If all my years of playing Pokémon has taught me anything, I'll have to come back to this place when I get the game's equivalent of the Strength HM.
Why is that rock there? Well, the backyard has a little gift.
I think that yellow-topped treasure chest contains a TM. You can reach the red-topped treasure chest by going on the frozen bridge to the right of the house. The chest contains an Ice Gem. A one-use item, it powers up an Ice-type move. The lady in the screenshot will give you this Cheri Berry that she found on her daily run. Running in this snow. That's dedication to staying in shape. Very admirable.
Nearby, there's another frozen lake.
I wonder if there's ever a period of thaw at any point. I'd love to try fishing in this lake. Anyway, like the last frozen lake, there's another item here and another slipping and sliding puzzle. I just hope the item here is better than at the last lake. This puzzle is much simpler. First, we go down...
Then right...
Then down again!
And here we are! Hopefully, this item is a special one...
...and it's another Ice Heal.
Seriously. To get out of here, one just has to go left, then up, then right, and finally up. There's nothing else much to do around here, so we might as well head down to the Zero Cave...but not before we get some supplies first. Want to make sure we're prepared for anything.
I picked up some extra Potions, healing items (The PokeMart here sells Ice Heals, showing that having them be prizes for doing the ice sliding puzzles here is absolutely pointless), and Pokeballs for the trip. I have no idea how big this cave is or what we'll encounter here, so I wanted to be ready. And I think that's where we'll stop for right now. Next time, we'll make our way through the Zero Cave! Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!
Pokemon Obtained:
(Darkhole Island)
- Gastly
- Puppillon
- Zubat
(S.S. Meteor)
- Grimer
- X Sharpedo
(Zero Cave)
- Bergmite
- Spheal
- Blingrimm
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