Text Play: Pokémon Xenoverse #12

Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw region! This is entry #12 in my Text Play of Pokemon Xenoverse! And this is the final Text Play entry of 2022!

As usual, I wish to warn you that this game will be spoiled here.

As such, I recommend you download the game and play it yourself before you read this entry. You can do so right here. Don't worry, the game is playable in English. I wouldn't be playing this game if it wasn't, ha ha. My Italian is...yeah. Anyway, let's get going!

Last time, we were making our way through the Gravity Tunnel. Last time, we decided to take the route that would send us to Fortbelt City. However, we found our path blocked by a bunch of..."old friends", aka the Daft Punk wannabes that we first encountered occupying Newtron City in entry #3. This likely means that A & B are not too far behind. I wonder why they're here.

I do remember being told that the Gravity Tunnel had lots of fossils. I haven't really seen any here myself, though. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong area? I mean, the fossils could be in the area that the Daft Punk wannabes are blocking off. Maybe they're hoping to find another Terrestrial Plate. They were after that one in Newtron City...

You know, considering that reviving ancient extinct Pokémon from fossils has been a thing since Red and Blue, I always thought it would be cool to have an area in a Pokémon game that was straight out of Jurassic Park, where people could see these reborn ancient critters in special habitats. Heck, that could make for a great subplot for a villainous team. Steal the ancient Pokémon to sell.

Since the way we went is completely blocked, let's go back to the ladder and head downwards. 

Since we did so, we find yet another one of these Daft Punk wannabes (seriously, who are these guys?!), and a box next to him.

The cyborg...person...alien whatever, is moving around, unlike the ones blocking the way, so he might be one we can battle. At least, I thought so.

Yeah, you don't battle him. He doesn't even talk to you. Jerk. I also think there's no way to access the box behind him. Why put that there?! 

We continue on until we reach another crossroads. We can go upwards or downwards here. Going downwards results in a dead end.

Blast it. I did find a ladder nearby. 

I do admit, I was a bit puzzled by this ladder. I thought to myself "This ladder looks familiar. Didn't I go down this ladder, before?" ...yeah, I can certainly see now why we were warned it was possible to get lost here.

I went up the ladder and found myself at a crossroads. 

Now, I could have sworn that we've been here before. I mean, there's an open box right there. And there's the way upwards was blocked by the big rock and the lump of cheese-lookin' rock. So, the only way is downwards.

It ended up being a good choice, as I ended up meeting this here Trainer. He's a proud Pokéboarder, and he likes the Gravity Tunnel because there's no speed limits!

It's fightin' time!

1st Pokémon: Riolu (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Phantump.
2nd Pokémon: Onix (Lv. 27) - Defeated by Phantump.

I continued to the right, and...yup. Those feelings of deja vu were valid.

...I JUST WENT IN A COMPLETE FREAKIN' CIRCLE!

Sigh...well, considering the way to Fortbelt City is a big fat dead end that makes us travel in a GIANT FREAKIN' CIRCLE, let's try going to the right and try to get to Ishtar City. On the way, we meet this Misty-looking trainer named Georgina.

Battle time!

1st Pokemon: Murkrow (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Shawkbird.
2nd Pokemon: Granbull (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Trishout.

After the battle, she remarks that she needs a Pokemon Center. Hey, there is a Porygon Center right nearby. Yeah, you have to pay to use it, but it's almost as good.

Maybe she doesn't have a lot of money at the moment. I mean, if that's the case, I don't blame her. Porygon Centers cost money to use, after all. We keep going to the right, and we meet a Pokémon.

Who's that Pokémon? It's a Hippopotas! You can talk to it, but you can't battle it. It's not that unusual seeing Pokémon wander around the overworld in this game, but I don't remember seeing any doing so here in the Tunnel beforehand. Also, what is a Hippopotas doing here? According to Bulbapedia, Hippopotas like hot, arid places like deserts. Why is it here? Is the Gravity Tunnel a hot, arid place?

There is also a box nearby, which can't be reached at this point as it's inaccessible thanks to that big block of cheese-looking rock in front of it. What is that rock, anyway? We head further to the right and...we're out!

That's right! We're out! We're free!

Welcome to Route 7! We continue on our way, and we meet this backpacking Trainer named Serena that we have to battle to continue forwards. She does ask us if we smell sulfur. Does that mean there's a volcano nearby? There is no way around her, we must battle her. At least, not yet.

Pepequeno (Lv. 26) - Defeated by Shawkbird.
Whimsicottt (Lv. 27) - Defeated by Trishout.

Her dialogue seems to hint there is, as if we talk to her after our victory, she says the volcano must be near. After we hand Serena's Pokémon their beating, we find a couple more people.

The blue-haired kid there next to the bundle of wood asks if we've seen his...Hippopotas...yeah, that must've been the Hippopotas that we saw in the Gravity Tunnel. Looks like it wandered off at best or was neglected at worst. The ninja-looking guy is blocking the path upwards, saying he's got to bring food to his master. Weird.

A little further to the right, we can go right or down. Going down reveals a dead end with a box.

The box contains Soft Sand. When you go further to the right, you fight a baseball player named Sawyer.

Let's do this.

Sneasel (Lv. 26) - Defeated by Trishout
Glaceon (Lv. 26) - Defeated by Trishout

Looks like the Baseball Ace...just struck out.

However, it's here that things get...weird. The "Baseball Ace" morphs into...this.

Yeah. Did I stumble into some kind of Naruto-style ninja village? The sign nearby points out that keeping your Starter Pokemon in a team allows you to unlock certain areas. What kind of areas? And why was I not told this back in entry #1?! 

Anyway, let's go through the tunnel and enter Ishtar City.

Ishtar City is an oasis town. The city's got a stereotypical desert theme going on, including an Ancient Egyptian-style pyramid located near the entrance. I do get the desert theme. After all, Ishtar was a Mesopotamian/Sumerian deity, and Mesopotamia was located in areas that comprise modern Iraq and Syria. However, shouldn't there be ziggurats here instead of pyramids? I mean, ziggurats were a thing in Mesopotamia, and they could be considered a forerunner of Ancient Egypt's famous pyramids. 

Anyway, things here are a bit...weird. There are piles of food everywhere. Every house's door is blocked by a ninja-looking person. And even weirder? The townsfolk all have blank white eyes, and they all say the same thing.

Just like that ninja dude in Route 7. It's creepy.

...I think we stumbled onto something big here. Exploring around the city, I found this guy trying to get people out of their trances.

Yeah, these people are clearly in some sort of weird trance. Joel the Ninja Knight here is seemingly the only one somehow free from the trance. Joel decides to get some help...which he finds in the form of... well, me. 

Am I the only one who finds it funny that this guy wearing this ninja knight armor is named "Joel"? I mean, it's not a name you would expect someone wearing that armor to have. Well, I admit, I do feel bad for the guy, so sure? Why not? Joel explains that he left the city to take care of some business and when he came back, he found the entire town under a trance. He believes a Pokémon is responsible for it. The gym leader here is trapped in her own gym and can't help out. We follow him and find this.

That's a lot of food.

I am not eating that. The perpetrator is sitting on top of the big ziggurat.

Yup, that's obviously an X Pokémon. It's a greedy gluttonous little critter, using its psychic powers to make the townsfolk hand over all their food. Huh. I would have expected an X Snorlax to do something like this. But then again, considering how X Pokémon work, I could imagine an X Snorlax being a Pokémon that's into fad diets.

And...it talks.

I think this is the first X Pokemon we've encountered that can talk. Maybe because of it likely being a Psychic-type? And also, dude! There are, like, several large piles of berries here! How many could you possibly eat?!

Evidently, when he came here, he was very hungry, presumably from using a lot of power to get here. He kept to the shadows at first, using his psychic powers to learn about the people here. He orders the guards to battle us. Double Battle time!

1sr Pokemon: Croconaw (Lv. 27) and Mareanie (Lv. 27). Croconaw defeated by Phantump.
2nd Pokemon: Birigiri (Lv. 28). Birigiri defeated by Phantump. Mareanie defeated by Phantump.

Double battles in this game are...weird. I don't know if it's just me, but I can't control which Pokémon I choose to attack. Is that a glitch or something?

The X Gengar is not happy about me beating his guards. So, he decides to step in and take care of this himself.

The X Gengar is no joke as a Pokémon. It can WRECK your team. I should know. It utterly destroyed my team easily. I think I'm going to have to do some grinding. 

And that's where I think we'll stop for this month. Join me next time when I hopefully get a rematch against the X Gengar and hopefully hand it its rear end. 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 your vaccine/booster! See you next time! 

Pokemon obtained:
(Route 7)
- Harrowk - Evolved from Shawkbird
- Hippopotas