Text Play: Pokémon Xenoverse #30

Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw region! This is entry number 30 in my Text Play of Pokémon Xenoverse!

That's right, the big 3-0. What a milestone! 🎉I wish to thank everyone who has ever read and enjoyed these Text Plays. I've been having fun making these, and I hope you have found just as much enjoyment reading them.

As usual, I wish to warn you, I will be spoiling this game.

As such, I strongly recommend you play this game for yourself before reading these Text Plays. You can download it here. With that out of the way, let's do this!

Last time, we started going through the Quasar Express, as Team Dimension had taken the train over. They wanted it to get to a temple...because for some reason, an organization that can turn people into cyborgs (if Trey is any indication) has no vehicles of their own.

Anyway, we ended up in the Dining Car, which has quite a few Team Dimension grunts in it. You'd think it funny a bunch of robots are eating, but remember Trey? It can be assumed these beings are not strictly robotic, they're partially human. And humans do need to eat. Again, Trey. There is a door at the end of the car, but it's locked up.

Hey, maybe one of the Team Dimension members is the key to opening it.

See that wastebasket in the screenshot? It has some Iron in it. Wait, why would anyone leave these nutrients in a wastebasket? Are they expired? God, I hope not. You may also notice that one of the Team Dimension hench bots has on a wig. That's pretty funny. 😂 Anyway, let's battle these clowns. I'll start with the one on the lower left of the screenshot: V3D3. Yeah, these Team Dimension grunts all are named in the style of Star Wars droids.

Team Dimension Grunt V3D3
1st Pokémon: Magnemite (Lv. 36) - Defeated by Trishout
2nd Pokémon: Metang (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Trishout
3rd Pokémon: Dusmee (Lv. 36) - Defeated by Harrowk

After defeating him, V3D3 remarks that they could get some spicy seeds from the Colonel's Scovile. Wait, a Pokémon called Scovile that can provide spicy hot seeds. Ohhhhh, I get it. Yeah. Anyway, see that there's another one ahead of V3D3. This one is called Z0N.

Team Dimension Grunt Z0N
1st Pokémon: Persage (Lv. 39) - Defeated by Trishout

Defeating this one opens the door. And then he grumbles about not getting the...brass sandwich he ordered. Oh-kay. Is this intentional? Anyway, let's take out the ones on the right side of the car, starting with the one on the lowest right: HJ6. He's in a fighting mood anyway, from drinking too much engine oil. 

Whatever.

Team Dimension Grunt HJ6
1st Pokémon: Puppillon (Lv. 35) - Defeated by Harrowk
2nd Pokémon: Lairon (Lv. 36) - Defeated by Trishout
3rd Pokémon: Toxicroak (Lv. 36) - Defeated by Palossand. Couldn't let Trishout and Harrowk do all the work.

Upon defeating him, he remarks that the train's OST comes off as a bit somber. He prefers Master of Shuppets himself, ha ha. Anyway, since the door was opened, I want to see what the next car is.

I'm guessing this is the sleeping car, where the bunks are. As you can see, there are six entryways. The middle one on the right is the one we're interested in. 

The lady is here is clearly a scientist in Team Dimension's employ. She was told to not help intruders, but she claims to have her own code of honor. As such, she'll let us rest on the bed here. I can imagine she was forced to work for them against their will and letting us rest here is her way of sticking it to Team Dimension. I mean, that does make sense. I can imagine that not all the people working for this bunch work are working for them willingly. 

The Item Box in the room contains a Full Heal. After resting up, we can further explore this train. Back in the hall, we tried the entrance across from the resting room, but it's locked up. In fact, all of the side entrances outside of the one to the resting room are locked. But remember those two doors we saw when we entered this car? 

Yeah, these ones. Those doors might be open. Let's start with the one on the left.

This is a nice little room. I'm guessing it's first-class. I do like the carpeting. There's a man in here, and I'm guessing he's a scientist like the woman in the resting room. Upon talking to him, he remarks that he knows who we are. We're the Trainer that's got Team Dimension on edge. Heh. Nice to hear we make these cyborg clowns nervous.

He has no desire to battle us, but he does have a riddle. Well, more like a question.

Before Team Dimension was even created, who followed the teachings of Victor?

Huh. I don't think we ever learned this.

I'm guessing this "Victor" fellow was an inspiration to the group. The choices are Dahlia, Trey, Aster, and Ginger. Well, I doubt it's Ginger or Trey. Ginger is a Gym Leader, and I don't remember seeing any hints he was involved with Team Dimension. Same with Aster. Trey is clearly rebelling from the group, so I'm going with Dahlia. That answer makes the most sense to me, as she clearly is a willing member of the group. And...

Yeah, it was wrong. Turns out the correct answer was...Aster. Yeah.

I'm confused, too. Anyway, since we answered his question correctly, he allows us access to one of the locked rooms in the car. We don't see him give us anything. I'm assuming he gives us a key or a keycard or something like that. We are able to access the upper left room. 

And there's another scientist here. Inside the wastebasket is a switch. I'd leave that alone for right now. Her name is Jasmine, and she has a quiz question for us.

Rank, from lowest to highest, the hierarchies within the Team Dimension.

Yes, that is exactly how it goes. I think I've said this before, but the English here could have used a bit more proofreading. I mean, the game was originally in Italian, so I can forgive a bit of fan translation goofiness. Anyway, the answer is Grunt, then Scientist, then Sergeant Duo A & B, then Colonel, and finally General. Huh. Sounds like Dahlia is rather high up, as I think she was a Colonel. As a reward, she grants us access to the last room. It's occupied by a man named Cooper. She warns us he's weird. Basically, he thinks in opposites. A "yes" is a "no" to him. We should remember this.

Cooper's room is on the upper right, above the resting room. 

Alright. Cooper states that Dahlia is a charming woman...which means she is a raging jackwagon. Which we can confirm, as we met her before. His quiz is about the Colonel herself. Remember, he thinks in opposites. If he asks you if you are ready, and you are, answer "No". He asks what her favorite drink is. It's Mental Herb tea. We learned this after defeating the Team Dimension goons in the dining car. Her favorite song? Master of Shuppet. Her strongest Pokemon? Scovile. He asks you if those are right. Answer "No." Remember, Cooper thinks in opposites. Doing this, the man is thrilled we saw through his trick. As such, he's happy to help us out. He also points out he's still her biggest fan, even though we answered his questions about her correctly. Trust me on this, Coop. We are not interested in competing with you over being her fan, bud. I hope she gets eaten by a rabid Gyarados. 

With that, we can go to the next car. But there is one thing to do first. Remember that switch in Jasmine's room? Well, let's go back to flip it. Once it does, it opens up the middle left room.

There's no one in here, just an Item Box containing a Max Elixir. I think everything is done here, let's move on.

This is just another standard car. And to go forward, we have to get past this grunt.

Team Dimension Grunt 920D
1st Pokemon: Tynamo (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Trishout
2nd Pokemon: Klink (Lv. 39) - Defeated by Trishout
3rd pokemon: Metang (Lv. 39) - Defeated by Trishout

Going further into the car, we also battle another Team Dimension grunt. And he's not happy about us going to barge in the General while they're relaxing.

Well, you clods shouldn't have taken the train, then!

Team Dimension Grunt E3
1st Pokemon: Metang (Lv. 36) - Defeated by Trishout
2nd Pokemon: Electabuzz (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Palossand
3rd Pokemon: Blingrimm (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Harrowk

Once he's beaten, we find that the door guarded by another Team Dimension flunky. And they're getting accosted by...Alice...and Aster. 

What, where was Alice the whole time? And where did Aster come from?! How did he know about the train being hijacked? 

Dimension Grunt FG45
1st Pokemon: Weezing (Lv. 40) - defeated by Xatu
2nd Pokemon: Muk (Lv. 40) - defeated by Xatu

I have to admit, it was surprising to see this Grunt use Poison-type Pokémon like Grimer and Muk. In a good way. 

I like seeing the grunts of the bad guy team use a variety of Pokémon. Not only is it a bit of challenge for the trainer, it's also a bit more realistic, in my opinion. After beating the grunt, Aster shows he is rather impressed with our growth and progress. That's nice to hear. 👍 He fears what's in the next car will be quite a challenge. His Pokémon sense an overwhelming power in that car, and it's got them spooked.

Aster believes we're finally going to learn the truth as to our dad's disappearance. He and Alice go ahead. If you looked at the above screenshot, you'll see a Porygon Center and an Item Box. The box contains a Lucky Punch. It's an item for a Chansey. If you equip a Chansey with one, their critical-hit ratio will be increased.

I admit, at first I didn't see the point of the Porygon Center here, as we can get our Pokemon healed up for free at Caroline's bunk in the sleeping car. But then I realized something. Porygon Centers allow allow you, for a small fee, to actually change your team up. Don't know why you'd do that here, as by this point, you've already defeated all the grunts. There's no way to grind them up. 

Anyway, let's go into the next car. Once we get there, we find ourselves in a hallway with lots of Team Dimension grunts standing at attention at the sides. They don't challenge you to battles, and they don't say anything if you talk to them. Just making buzzing noises. Buzzing like bees. Buzz buzz buzz buzz-

Sorry about that. If we go upwards, we'll meet Aster and Alice. They're facing this man.

You can tell they're going for the "wicked cultured villain" thing with this guy. The piano, the glass of wine. He asks what we think of his melody. Eh, 6 out of 10.

It's then he walks out from behind his piano...and he looks familiar.

The man is named Victor, and Aster is shocked by this. Ol' Vic is surprised to see us, as we're Versil's kid. He took over this train because he wanted a quick ride to Dorado Village. Yes, you heard that right.

Really? You couldn't use a helicopter or a plane or something?! You seem rich, you likely own a helicopter or a plane! And that is presumably faster than a train! Thanks to Versil's studies, Victor learned there's something in said Village that he wants. Something he wants badly. He also has something else.

That X Gengar we last encountered in Ishtar City, back in entry #12, and then we sent him packing all the way back in entry #13! He asks us to leave, but that's not happening, pal. I got no love for that Gengar, but it still deserves better than what you are planning, you silver-haired jerkoff. Then something strange happens. Trishout appears, but in its Xenoversal Form, not the Terrestrial one. Evidently our rage is building up, which gets Aster to try and calm us down. He thinks that we'll succumb to Xenoverse energy if we let our anger get out of control. Victor sees the lust for battle in our eyes, and he brings out a friend.

Yesh, it's a Tyranitar. Wait, that's likely the same Tyranitar that attacked us and Versil all the way back in entry #1! That did it! This dude is toast! We see some memories of Versil, including him shielding us from this Tyranitar's attack. I think it's meant to imply that Tyranitar killed Versil. And our apparance undergoes a transformation.

Yup, our Alter has taken over. Aster and Alice try to calm us down, but we ain't hearing it. This dude killed our dad! He needs to be brought downtown to Chinatown HARD. Thing is, ol' Viccy...seemingly isn't bothered by this. He tells us we're going to need to be a lot stronger to bring him down, basically. He hints that he's encountered Trey before, too. Maybe he was the one who turned him into a cyborg? 

But before we can comprehend that further, we generate a massive ball of purple-and-black Xenoverse energy. I can imagine the intent is to shove it down Victor's throat. The thing is, in our rage, we lack any real control. Aster tries to get us to stop before we end up destroying the train. But it falls on deaf ears. We make the train go up, the screen going white.

Thankfully, Aster was able to bring out his Mega Suicune to save his and Alice's butts. Sorry, guys. And we wrecked the train.

Ohhhhhhhh boy, we destroyed a landmark. We wrecked the Quasar Express. We are likely going to jail for this. Alice notices that Victor is gone. Did he manage to escape before the explosion? A pair of familiar faces show themselves.

Yup, A & B are back. Where did they come from? Anyway, they're not happy that we ruined their trip to Hypelion City. There was a concert there, and now they'll miss it thanks to us.

Oh, brother. Aster says he and Alice will take care of A & B, while we go after Victor. We can move again. Going upwards, we see that the barrier trapping the X Gengar is intact. Quite well made, I'll give it that. We head up a nearby ladder. It takes up to the roof of the train car. Just head upwards, and we find Victor and his Tyranitar waiting for us. He's happy we're up here, as we can go more all-out when it comes to battling here instead of the confined car. Dahlia then decides to show her stupid face GO AWAY DAHLIA.

She offers to battle us in Victor's place, as she wants payback against us after we whooped her back in entry #22. Victor could do the funniest thing ever right now by just throwing her off the train. At least, I'd laugh.

Dimension Colonel Dahlia.
1st Pokemon: Gloom (Lv. 42) - Withdrawn.
2nd Pokemon: Vespiquen (Lv. 42) - Defeated by Trishout. Vespiquen had Power Gem, which did heavy damage to Trishout.
3rd Pokemon: Scovile (Lv. 44) - Defeated by Harrowk. Dahlia next sent out Gloom, who got defeated by Harrowk.

Dahlia is heartbroken about losing in front of General Victor, and that makes me happy. Vic is quite impressed with our skills in battling, but it's not enough to stop him. At least, he thinks so. And he has a secret weapon.

...what...what is that?! Is this some form of Mega Evolution? Some kind of evolved form only available here, like with Meowth in Galar? Well, no. This Tyranitar has been enhanced by Victor's scientists. They used Xenoverse energy to give this beast this form. He will now demonstrate the power...of the X Gene. Yeah, expect the lawyers for a certain Mouse to come after you for that, pal. You know, I think it would be funny if this thing ate Dahlia. The screen goes white again, and we're now here, looking normal again.

Is this heaven? Are we dead? I hope not. There are things I wanted to do. Write a book, for one. Well, not exactly. We go upwards, and we find ourselves meeting...an old "friend".

Yup, it's our Xenoverse counterpart, our Alter. We're in a limbo dimension between our world and the Xenoverse. It can only be accessed by people who possess certain Energies...like us. So, we presumably passed through this limbo when we went to the Xenoverse in the past. The Alter already knows about Victor. He explains that after we stole his X Energy (presumably as a result of our defeating him in entry #16), he somehow became a part of us. Victor can't come into this dimension, and presumably as a result of that, he tried to replicate Xenoverse energy. The Alter implies that he was unsuccessful in that endeavor. The Alter does agree with Victor that we can't beat him...unless we let the Alter take over our body. 

We refuse, and he's fine with that. The Alter has no desire to challenge us, because at this point, even he can't fight Victor...then why did he say that we couldn't beat him unless he takes us over?

If we are that adamant about facing him, we should train ourselves to do that...so our hatred will free the Alter once more. The Alter states that weaklings are doomed to stay behind, while the merciless become invincible. Yeah, that may be how things work in the Xenoverse, but you're in our world now, pal. We don't do that here. He feels his power fading (probably because of our anger fading), but he warns we will meet again. The screen goes white again, and we find ourselves on Route 8.

Aster and Alice are with us, and apparently to them, we were somehow knocked out. As we were fighting Dahlia, there was another explosion. We tell Aster that his mutant Tyranitar caused the explosion. Aster doesn't like this. Alice reminds us that the X Gengar is still trapped. The Gengar has piqued Aster's scientific curiosity, and he wants to take it to his lab. However, we object to it for some reason, preferring to free it. I have no idea why. Aster isn't Victor. He likely won't do to it what he did to the Tyranitar. We free the X Gengar, who is understandably confused.

X Gengar is naturally unhappy to be freed. That's gratitude for you. Aster tells it that Team Dimension captured it hoping to learn about the Xenoverse from it. He wants the Gengar to help us stop Victor. X Genger is bit spooked by Victor as his Tyranitar was easily able to KO him with one hit. aster believes we freed this guy as a way to redeem ourselves for causing the train's destruction.

X Gengar finds it hard to believe a king should be grateful to a subordinate. Hey, you ain't king of anything here, pal! He's out of here, as our presences make him sick. He'll see us again, back at full power and ready to fight.

Aster points out that we're on a route leading to Hypelion City, where we can rest up. With that, Alice and Aster leave.

And I think that's where we'll stop for this month. Join me next time as we visit Hypelion, the City of Music! Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!