Text Play: Pokémon Xenoverse #14

Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw region! This is entry #14 in my Text Play of Pokémon Xenoverse!

Now, as is tradition, I wish to warn you all of something. I will be spoiling the heck out of this game.

I do recommend that you play the game yourself first before reading this. You can download the game here. Now then, let's do this!

Last time, we prepared to take the Gravity Tunnel on again because Queen Nuphar of Ishtar City sent us on a mission. Our mission, if we choose to accept it (which, well, we kind of had to accept to continue on) was to head to Fortbelt Town to get an old man to help us deal with another X Pokémon causing problems. 

Now that we're all caught up, let's make our way through the Tunnel again. I headed for the juncture between Ishtar and Fortbelt, when I found this scientist needing some help.

You know, I'll bet it has something to do with those Team Dimension/Daft Punk wannabes I saw back in entry #11, I believe. Well, it's on the way, so let's help this guy out. Below him is a man who sells special rocks that can extend the effects of various weather-changing moves like Sunny Day and Hail.

These rocks can be quite handy if you like using such moves in battle. It's not my style, but I'm glad the option is there. Something for everyone. Going further to the left takes us here.

Thanks to that new Herculeum H we got, we can move this rock!

After getting that rock out of the way (screw you, rock), we go straight upwards to another area with another one of those big rocks that were previously made it impossible to access what's behind it. Well, it's accessible now, ha ha ha!

We push the rock upwards (yeah, the Herculeum H remains active as long as you're in the cave from what I can see) and we end up here.

I think these lakes are artificial. Lakes with perfectly straight and right-angled edges? That does not happen in nature. You can fish in the lakes, if you want. As you can see, there's a cave exit between the lakes. This takes you to Route 12.

If you're wondering about the sign there, it's just advising you that you should not concentrate all your training efforts on one Pokémon. You have a team of six, try and work with all of them. Good thing in this game that if one Pokémon in your team gets experience points after winning a battle, they all get some, too. 

There are plenty of Trainers on this route, but they can be avoided, if you stay out of their line of sight. The route is generally straightforward, just go upwards...until we hit this fork in the road.

Darn it.

Well, may as well take the left fork. Near that backpack-holding trainer in the screenshot is a tree. Behind that tree is a box.

The box contains a Petaya Berry. If you give it to a Pokémon, it will raise its Special Attack level in a pinch. This road is also a bit of a dead end. So, we got to go back to the fork and take the right road. The road is straightforward. I did encounter a trainer whose dialogue felt...rather appropriate. 

Yeah, I get the feeling this area was originally intended to be an area that got plenty of bad weather. Thing is, at the time I was working on this blog entry, my home was dealing with some bad weather. It was very very very cold. 

Anyway, let's battle this trainer!

1st Pokemon: Dusmee (Lv. 26) - Switched out. Defeated by Trishout.
2nd Pokemon: Torkoal (Lv. 27) - Defeated by Pelipper.

After defeating that trainer, we head forward and find...these ruins here.

Looks like this was once a house a long time ago. There's also another box next to the ruins. It contains a Dragon Gem. It's one of those one-use items that I like to call Type Gems. In the case of the Dragon Gem, it allows the Pokémon that holds it to power up any Dragon-type moves it has. 

Near the ruins is a mountain path that takes us up to these gates.

I wonder if this means we're nearing Fortbelt Town. Luckily, a nearby sign answers my question.

Looks like we're well on our way there after all. The house isn't a rest area or anything like that. It belongs to a Hiker who wants a Geodude. I don't have a spare Geodude, so I'll have to remember to find one for him.

Nearby is another path, but it leads to basically a dead end.

We're blocked by this guy here who tells us we're not ready to face the volcano. Yeah, this path leads to Mt. Starburst, which is a volcano. And since he says it's not safe for us, it must be very dangerous. Possibly a live volcano.

Wait, what?! Why would you let kids run around in a live volcano?! I get this is the Pokémon world, but seriously. Why?! Why would you let kids explore a live volcano?!

I'm just saying, it seems...unsafe. Very unsafe. Anyway, to get to Fortbelt, we have to enter that cave.

As you can see, there's another entrance beyond that lake. But the thing is, we need the game's equivalent of the Surf HM to get across it. Because it's not like we can't just...swim across it. You can fish in it if you want to, though. I got a Shell Bell from it. 😁 As you can see in the screenshot, there's a box behind a rock. Luckily, it's one of the smashable rocks. Using Perseum H on it can break the rocks, which allows us to get to the box. It contains a Focus Sash.

Well, it looks like we're stuck, right?

If we go to the right, there is a pathway. It's blocked by a rock, but it can be broken up by Perseum H. The path leads us outside of the mountain and back on Route 12.

Just beyond this route is Fortbelt Town itself. It's a mountain town on the side of a volcano, always under the cover of clouds. The first thing I did when we arrived was hit the Pokémon Center, naturally. After all, when one goes through a mountain, one could always use rest. Especially if you're training little critters that like to fight each other. I have no idea why, but the Center gives me the vibe of an ancient Japanese home. 

Maybe it's because I've been playing Pokémon Arceus lately? I have no idea. Anyway, you see that girl with the backpack in the screenshot? She tells a little tale about the time she got chased by a Pepequeno. She tossed a Fire Stone at it in a desperate attempt at self-defense, and it ended up becoming a Scovile. Well, yeah. A Fire Stone is an evolution item. It causes certain Pokémon exposed to it to evolve. Pepequeno likely needs one to become a Scovile. Yeah. They really should issue manuals to Trainers.

The PokéMart here is very well-stocked. You can get more than just various Potions and PokéBalls. You can get Ethers and Elixirs (Items that restore the power points to Pokémon. Power Points to a Pokémon are essentially like mana to a wizard. If a Pokémon has no Power Points to perform a move, then they can't perform the move), Repels of various effectiveness, and various cures for status ailments. Very impressive.

Here, we also learn something interesting. Remember that Idol of Fire we got? Well, this old man in the Center tells us that some civilizations also worshipped an Idol of Grass, and an Idol of Water. That's interesting. This Idol of Fire is one of three.

Anyway, when we first come into town, there is a house with a yellow roof.

Inside, is a man who collects cans.

There is also a box here. It contains a Super Repel. When we talk to the can collector, he reveals something. Remember that Star Slider can we got back in entry #6? Well, it turns out the can is actually a rare can of Star Slider. The can design was out of print for years. So, yeah. We've been carrying a years-old can of a very old drink. Makes me glad we never tasted it. 

Well, he wants to take the can off our hands. As compensation, he gives us an object called an Idol of Fire. It's evidently famous, but he himself doesn't see what the big deal about it is. So, let me get this straight. You have an evidently famous item, but you have no idea why it's famous?!

...how does that work?! Well, according to the item's description in the Key Items section in my bag, it's a representation of a Pokémon that people in Fortbelt Town revere. It doesn't look like any Pokémon I've ever seen, but considering this game has tons of brand new Pokémon unique to this region...yeah. Anyway, near the can collector's house is another house with a purple roof that has a mailbox next to it.

Inside is a man with his Druddigon. The man basically tells us to not run from wild Pokémon, as if you catch or defeat them, you can get any items they are holding. Yeah. That's helpful to know now.

Seriously, why not just tell us this at the beginning of the game? Every Pokémon game is someone's first, after all. Anyway, there's also an item box in the house. It contains a Flame Orb. If you give it to a Pokémon to hold, the holder gets the burn status in battle. 

Yeah, why would you do that to your own Pokémon? What a weird item. Above this house is another purple-roofed house with a mailbox.

One of the men, the one with the sombrero, decides to channel his inner Clint Eastwood and points out there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who wield loaded guns, and those who dig. I assume he's talking about digging graves. He gives us an item that is prefect for digging: TM28 (Dig). I'm guessing he was the one who dug the graves. The other occupant doesn't give you any items, just that he's planning to cook some rice. And he plans to make it with Papqueno seeds for a little bit of spice. 

Above this house is yet another house with a yellow roof. This house is the home of the Move Tutor.  According to the old lady in front of the house says that only a few Pokemon can learn this move. It's been passed down her husband's family for generations. Must be one heck of a technique.

Aww, look at that cute little Eevee. The lone occupant is a kid named Shawn. Seems a bit...young to be a Move Tutor. He says that he needs to prove his worth on Mt. Starburst, so his Eevee can become a Scaleon. Huh. So, this game has an original Eeveelution, huh? Interesting.

It actually does make some sense. This game has tons of original Pokémon in it, so I can imagine the creators would want to take advantage of Eevee's rather unique ability to evolve into various forms to give it evolutions that cover types that the "official" games never got to. Scaleon sounds to me like it could be a Dragon-type Eeveelution. I'd love to see a Steel-type evolution for Eevee. Or maybe a Rock-type. Or a Ground-type. Or a Bug-type. Or a Poison-type. Or a Flying-type. Or a Ghost-type.

Sorry, sorry. I'm just saying, fangames like this one can pick up where the "official" games left off when it comes to Eevee and its evolutions. So, yeah. The Move Tutor does not seem to be here, so there's no real reason to stick around. Leave the house, and head out to the right. 

There are a couple more houses here. The green-haired girl there tells you on the other side of the bridge is a place called Cardinal's Palace. The entrance is guarded, though.

So, yeah. You may have to do something to be able to get into said palace. But let's not worry about that right now. Let's check out these two houses. First, the one house on the left with the purple roof.

The old man tells us that our Idol of Fire was worshipped by the people of Fortbelt. They believed it was an incarnation of the very volcano itself. So maybe the Idols of Water and Grass we learned about were worshipped by people in seaside and landlocked towns, respectively. The Idol of Fire resembles a Pokémon, but he has no idea who. Maybe it was a legendary Pokémon that ended up forgotten. Who knows?

The hiker guy remarks that he's too old now to hike in the mountains of the region. So, he gives me a Compressed Update. This helps Boldore evolve into Gigalith. The yellow house has a hiker in front of it who remarks how beautiful Mt. Starburst is from up here. Anyway, let's go inside!

It seems like a family home. The kid inside tells me that his father is a rapper who is presumably recording in Hypelion City. Okay, then. The man inside says he plans to get his mother a Litten on route 13 to keep his mom company. Awww, kitty. The old woman grumbles that kids these days are too lazy. Lady, you'd be surprised how motivated young people can be. 

Anyway, let's hit the bridge. Just before we step on it, there's a sign warning that you should make sure you have plenty of medicine and supplies. A nearby kid says that the Dragon-type Pokemon there all obey Cardinal like he's their king, or something...

It's scary, but we gotta move forward. Conquer your fears, and all that. The bridge leads to Cardinal's palace. And just like the green-haired girl said, it's guarded.

The guard is aware we were coming, though. Thanks, Queen Nuphar! Thing is, we still can't see Cardinal right now, as he's on top of the mountain. He was told by the Queen that we can still go up and see him. All we got to do is beat the guard in a Pokémon battle. Alright, let's do this!

1st Pokémon: Steelix (lv. 32) - Given the Leech Seed by Phantump. Defeated by Trishout.

Man, that was easy. The guard is shocked that we beat him, but he realizes he should not have been surprised. He honors the agreement. Since we beat him, he'll let us see the Cardinal...who happens to be Abraham, the man we're looking for.

Now, the guard seemingly won't move out of the way. That's not a problem with the game. The Cardinal's palace is not the entrance to the mountain. We passed it already on the way up here. We have to backtrack a bit. We have to head back to that purple-roofed house where the Hiker wanted a Geodude. There was a man nearby who told us we were not ready to travel through the mountain. With us defeating the guard, the man is no longer there. Which means we can go forward.

If we go westward a bit, one can find a Porygon Center nearby. It's handy, but I personally would recommend stocking up on supplies in Fortbelt, just in case. It's the smart thing to do.

The path takes us to a cave entrance.

The man nearby states that certain individuals with certain Pokémon are destined to challenge the volcano. And we have one of those Pokémon. It may just be some flavor text, but it got me thinking. Could he be referencing my Trishout? I mean, you can only get one in the game (without breeding). It's the one the Trainer is expected to keep throughout their journey. After all, it's the first Pokémon you start traveling alongside, the one that a trainer first starts the adventure with, the first Pokémon that you start to bond with. I may be talking out of my butt here.

And I think that's where we'll stop for now. Next time, we'll make our way through Mt. Starburst! 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 your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

Pokemon Obtained:
(Route 7)
- Kadabra
(Gravity Tunnel)
- Magikarp
(Route 12)
- Numel