Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw region! This is entry #4 in my Text Play of Pokémon Insurgence!
Last time, we...did quite a bit. We traveled through the Midna Mine, encountered our first Hidden Grotto, and mor importantly, met up with Nora, a battle prodigy. And it turns out that like us, she has a legendary Pokémon for a friend as well. In her case, it's a Celebi. Led me to wonder if the benefactor who sent the Mew to us in entry #1 also sent Celebi to her. We learned about a prophecy, some history of this universe, won a school tournament, fought some Abyssal Cult members in some ruins, and finally made our way through the Cyan Cavern to Suntouched City. As I said, we did a lot.
But as they say, there's no rest for the wicked. No rest for the good, either. We still have a ways to go through this game. So, let's press on! Now, as is tradition, I wish to warn you that I will be spoiling this game.
I strongly suggest that you download and play the game for yourself, which you can do right here. And with that out of the way, let's go!
Since we have now arrived in Suntouched City, let's give the place a bit of a look around, shall we? First of all, the name. I get why the city is named Suntouched. Part of the city is in the sky, where it gets touched by the sun. I get that. I really do. I just miss the theme naming of the traditional games, that's all. I do get that in real life, all the major towns and cities of a place would not have a theme when it comes to the names. But I just think the theme naming in Pokémon games is just a harmless bit of silly fun.
Yeah, I am done. Let's get to exploring. Because that's always fun. 👍 When we first leave the Pokémon Center, aka the Mall, we find these odd structures.
These appear to be columns that hold up the part of the city that's in the sky. No anti-gravity tech here. The man next to one of the columns warns us that Orion is a tricky sort. He hints at something I think we've heard before: the Orion is supposedly a specialist in Fire-types, but he has used other types of Pokémon. I think that makes...a bizarre bit of sense.
Allow me to explain. Orion can be a Fire-type specialist, but the thing is, there are plenty of dual-type Pokémon that have both Fire and another type. For example, Charizard is Fire/Flying. Emboar is Fire/Fighting. Incineroar is Fire/Dark. And those are just evolutions of starter Pokémon. Orion is likely not the type to have a team that'll easily be brought down by Water, Rock, or Ground-types. We'll have to be prepared for any surprises.
We go downwards and a city dweller also makes another remark about Orion: The man...talks to rocks. Yeah, he talks to rocks. The dweller is amazed that he actually is allowed to lead a gym. Well, to be fair, talking to rocks doesn't necessarily mean incompetence. And he could do it because he wants people to think he's a little cracked in the head. A bit of psychological warfare, if you know what I mean.
Going to the left reveals an old lady. She heard there was a man in Helios City that sold an item that would allow you to evolve Pokémon that normally evolved by trading. For example, this item would allow a trainer to evolve a Kadabra into an Alazakam. Such an item would be handy for me, as I have a Geodude, and I'd love to have a Golem. I love Golems. I think they're underrated Pokémon. Anyway, that got the old lady's attention, as she had a Haunter, and she wanted to evolve it into a Gengar. Unfortunately, she couldn't find the man. She theorizes he may be underground. This, kids, is called foreshadowing.
If we go down and to the left, we meet this guy.
The "Thermal Badge" is presumably what we'll win if we defeat Orion. The name does make sense. The man is presumably a Fire-type specialist, but people in the game have hinted that he doesn't just use that type. "Thermal" can imply temperature in general, not just hot ones. The man tells us that we need said Badge to cross water. This implies that we may have to do that soon, presumably a river as I can't imagine that we have to cross a whole ocean right now. It's still early in the game, after all.
Also, I wonder how needing the Thermal Badge to cross water works. Are Badges magical here? Yes, I get it from a gameplay perspective. This is to get us to confront the obstacle and a reward for overcoming it. That's fine. But I'm just wondering how this works from an in-universe perspective. I'm putting too much thought into this again, aren't I?
Yeah, yeah. So, we have some extra incentive to beat Orion. I'll have to build a team to counter him. But more on that later. I looked at the statue of Jaern nearby, and I admit, it creeps me out.
I wonder if he ordered these built. I can imagine the Augur position is a powerful one that is seen with lots of respect. Would be the perfect way for a demagogue to take over a region and crush it under an iron fist. Not to mention I clearly think Jaern ain't a good dude. Anyway, if we go upwards from that dude and statue, we find these two houses.
Maybe there's some nice people inside them that we can learn more about this city and Orion from. Inside the left house appears to be a nice little family with a Skitty. The man reveals he's been living in this city for about a couple years now, and he's loving it. Good on him. 👍If we talk to the Skitty, it gives us a Normal Gem. It's a one-use item that powers up a Normal-type move one time. So, use it carefully. Th lady tells us there's a bigger statue of Jaern in the north side of town. It's been there for a couple of months, and it was evidently erected rather quickly. The kid inside finds it sad that people make fun of Orion for seemingly having an imaginary friend, as he sees it as normal. Ah, the innocence of kids. It's sweet.
The bookshelf in the house has a book about Hoopa we can read. It tells us it's known as a "Pixie Legendary", and it has the ability to change into another form the book describes as "Djinn-based" with a special item. It can travel anywhere thanks to the ring it has...and it was the partner of the First Augur. Hmmmm. I wonder if Hoopa chose the First Augur like Celebi seemingly chose Nora. Or did the benefactor that sent Mew to us in entry #1 also send Hoopa to the First Augur? Certainly something to think about.
Well, no point in theorizing now. Too little evidence for one. The book goes on to say that Hoopa had brought in powerful Pokémon from other dimensions (Book doesn't say why) and is the only way to access extradimensional space.
And that's pretty much it for the left house. The house on the right has a Trainer with his Machop.
Like the left house, the right one has a bookshelf with another book we can read. This one is about PokeBalls. Mainly, how people caught Pokémon before the Pokeball as we know it came into existence. The book explains that different tribes used different methods of catching Pokémon. Before the existence of regions as we know them (the game implies they were originally feudal lord lands, which makes sense as the games are from Japan), tribes would catch Pokémon using sticks and nets. Of course, it wasn't perfect. Some Pokémon were nearly impossible to catch this way (the book gives Macargo as an example).
Historians believed that brainstorming new ways to catch Pokémon led to the technology advancing rather quickly. The "ancestor" of modern Pokeballs came about thanks to certain tribes discovering how to duplicate the effects of the move "Minimize" and apply it to crude balls made of coconuts. I actually like little stuff like this, subtle worldbuilding. It gives the idea that this world has some history to it, makes it feel more real and lived in.
I noticed the Machop was at the kitchen, and it looked really exhausted, like it had been worked too hard and not been allowed to rest. I found that odd. I talked to the trainer, and he bragged about how great it was that he had a Pokemon that would serve him no matter how tired they got. He asks us if we had a problem with that. And the answer is a resounding YES. You don't work a Pokémon like that! You should have the cops on you for that!
He says he'll teach us to mind our own business.
(Ace Trainer) Chad
1st Pokemon: Machop (Lv. 20) - Defeated by Krystal.
He yells at us to take his Machop and get out of his house! And you know what, gladly! At least in one of my Boxes, he can finally get some much-needed rest and sleep!
Hopefully the police will deal with him. We go back the way we came, and we stop back at the nice old lady that told us about her attempt to find something to evolve her Haunter. Going upwards from here, we find another pair of houses just like we saw earlier.
I get the feeling this is a popular design for houses around here. Inside the left house are a trio of presumably artistic sorts, at least based on the guy on the left.
...why does that woman have an umbrella opened in the house? What, is she afraid the roof will rain down on her?!
The artist on the left just talks about how it's his duty to capture "the different colors of life" in his portraits. Good for him, I guess. Keep it up. The woman says that her husband is a world-famous archaeologist. Good friends with Professor Sylvan, too. The man sitting across from her claims there was a song that was created a long time ago that could alter the very laws of the universe itself when played. Such a song was lost to time. He is an archaeologist, and in that capacity, he'd love to see the notes and hear it played. My guess is he's Umbrella Woman's wife. Also, I get the feeling we should be grateful such a song is lost to history. In the wrong hands, it can be...problematic.
Anyway, the bookshelf in the house has a book titled "New Moon". Reading it allows us to learn about a weather condition in Pokémon battles called...well, New Moon. It's like the opposite of Sunny Day. New Moon creates a completely dark area. This powers up Dark-type and Ghost-type moves, and in this game, there is a move called Lunar Cannon that needs two turns to charge up normally. Under New Moon, it only needs one. Good to know. It also has the additional effect of reducing the damage of Fairy-type moves. Certain Abilities are triggered under this condition as well: Shadow Dance and Absolution. It has only recently been discovered, so you may not encounter it very often. Still, it is good to know about because we just may encounter it.
And with that, this house is explored. The house on the right is occupied by a kid and his Gible.
Man, this makes me think back to my time playing Pokémon Mega Adventure. I had a Gible on my team there, and it was a beast. Maybe I should use one at some point in this game. I mean, Debug Mode would certainly allow that...
Right, right, sorry. This house, like all the others, also has a bookshelf with a readable book. In this case, the book is called "He who watches in the night". That's not a typo, that's how its written in the game. We read it, and I think this is an exerpt from a horror novel...one critics may not like.
"His cold eyes survey you as you wander the streets, alone. With a barely-audible giggle, he begins to creep towards you. When you turn to look, your eyes scan right through him. He is colorless, invisible. And he hunts you, forever."
On one hand, I was a bit sad we learned nothing more about Torren or its history from this. On the other, though, I did like this is it helps make this world feel a bit more real. After all, a place like this would have books that told fictional stories in it. And with that, these houses are explored. If we got to the left of them, we find this little girl.
She likes Jigglypuff, and she wants to see one. If she does, she'll give us something. Thank goodness this mod has Debug Mode. I used it to give myself a Jigglypuff, as well as a Gible, because if there's anything Mega Adventure taught me, it's a beast of a Pokémon. When we do, she gives us some Heart Scales. From what I understand, Heart Scales are like Nuggets and Pearls. You can sell them if you need some money.
If we keep going left, we will find a little lake and this guy.
He tells us something interesting about Suntouched City. Evidently, this place is supposedly like a mix of Hollywood and Burbank, California: The Media Capital of Torren. Lots of movies and TV shows are made here, and are broadcast all over the region. and presumably in other places, too. I found that odd, as I haven't seen any studios or anything like that here. Maybe they're in the part of the city that's in the sky? We'll know for sure when we get up there. For now, let's keep moving.
Going up will take us to another pair of houses. Yeah, this definitely is a popular architectural style around here. Inside the left house are a couple people and a Wynaut.
Another woman with her umbrella open inside the house. Is that a sort of strange fashion statement here in Torren? Yeah, I know, sprite limitations and all that, I just find it funny to look at. Anyway, the woman has been studying Pokémon breeding. In particular, the Togepi line. She'll give us something if we show her a Togepi. No problem, I got Debug Mode. Using it, I obtained a Togepi.
She is thrilled to see an actual Togepi in person. She gives us a Shiny Stone. It's an Evolution Stone, used to evolve certain species of Pokémon. The man tells us that he heard that someone in Metchi Town was selling Secret Bases. He would so get one if he could afford it. We should look into this when we get to Metchi Town. If there is such a person, we should get a Secret Base from them.
And like all the other houses, it has a bookshelf with a readable book: "Before Human Society". The book states that it's believed that before humans came, the true forms of Pokémon that we can revive from fossils roamed the planet. The book uses a Kabutops as an example. We know that Kabutops is a Rock/Water Pokémon. The book theorizes that it originally was Bug/Water. I mean, it's a reasonable theory.
Think about it. Kabutops does look like some kind of praying mantis. And thanks to Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, we do know Pokémon can change types. For example, Sandshrews in Alola are Ice-type because they moved to the snowy mountains, whereas standard Sandshrews are Ground. Pokémon's types can change from evolution. For example, the Normal-type Eevee can evolve into the Fire-type Flareon if you give it a Fire Stone.
The book explains that by the usage of carbon dating, scientists have theorized the mass extinction of many of these species has to do with the rise of humanity. But there's still one unexplained question: How? It's shown a lot of species all died out at once, and humanity back then could not pull that off. Scientists over at the Vesryn region have been looking into it, though. Huh.
The house on the right contains two people and a Goldeen.
I find it funny that the Goldeen is not in a tank. I mean, it's a fish. Letting it flop around on the ground can't be healthy for it. I know, I know. Magical battle monsters, I shouldn't think that hard, but I can't help it. The dark-haired lady just says that people shouldn't worry about things like whether a Pokémon is "strong" or "weak". Every Pokémon has a way to battle. I like the idea of this. Every Pokémon is someone's favorite. Even Dunsparce. Yeah, I said it. It's something that really speaks to the ultimate theme of the games. You bond and travel with your favorite Pokémon, and it brings out the best in them. That's nice to hear.
The guy with the pale green hair just tells us that unlike other regions, you don't need Hidden Machines to get around in Torren. I think I have talked about how much I hated the HM concept, so I won't delve into it here. In Torren, you can get special items, and certain regular moves can also be used as substitutes for Strength and Rock Smash. That I have always preferred. It makes more sense getting some scuba gear than forcing your Wailmer to learn Dive.
This house's bookshelf also has a book that can be read. This one is about the First Augur, Jaern's predecessor. Strangely...it's blank.
Yeah, it's blank. There's nothing in it about them. That's just bizarre. I mean, the previous Augur was presumably some very famous, respected figure from what I picked up. How on Earth can a book on such a figure be blank? Something stinks, and it's not garbage.
And that's those two houses explored. If we go down, right, up (past the girl who wanted to see a Jigglypuff), then up, there's a big statue of Jaern.
His humility never ceases to be admirable. Truly a humble egoless man. 😒 We head back downwards. Near the pair of houses we rescued Machop from is this guy.
As shown in the screenshot, he needs a hand with something. He's been trying to maintain a flower patch in the city's cloud area. But the problem is something keeps coming along and wrecking it. He needs a Trainer to check it out. Sure, why not? It's good to help people. He heads out to the upper area of the city, as he'll meet us there. Below him is a dude who will give us a Moon Stone.
If we keep going to the right, we pass by another statue of Jaern in front of a small lake. A man there indicates that before Jaern became the new Augur, people used this lake as a wishing well. Throw coins in the lake, that kind of thing. But since he did...nobody has done this. Yeah, it's kind of odd. This makes me wonder if Jaern has some kind of odd power over folks in this region. But if that's the case, why are we not affected?
But then again, the answer could just simply be that he's very charismatic. Sometimes the answer is a simple one. Anyway, if we keep going right, we pass by the southern exit of the city and end up at a train station.
Yeah, it's called the Subway, but the thing is, a subway is supposed to be underground. That's why it's called a subway. Oh yeah, we still have to go face Orion, right? Well, we know he's in the upper area of the city. So, how do we get there? The answer is a short walk upwards.
Hey, another PikaTaxi! That's handy! And that fan is how we get up there. This does not seem safe.
But it seems to be the only way to get up to the city's top layer, so...up we go! The ride up top is instantaneous. There's a martial artist nearby that mirrors my concern.
I have to agree with him. I am also amazed that this hasn't caused a lot of injuries and/or deaths. Not to mention...how do we get down? Yeah, there's that hole, but this place really couldn't spring for a proper elevator? Or multiple elevators?! That would be a lot more convenient, not to mention safer!
Ugh. Let's just move on. If we go to the left, we get a crossroad. The upward path takes us to the Gym itself. To the left, we find these houses.
As I said before, this clearly is a popular architectural style here. Let's look in on the left house, shall we?
The lady in white offers a Natu for a Butterfree. Sure, why not? The guy sitting with the lady points out that Orion is seen as weird for talking to a rock. Hey, at least he's not doing drugs. The old lady sitting by herself says she only talks to real Trainers. Well, up yours too, lady. The bookshelf has a book called "The Tragic Death of Steven Stone". Huh, so he's dead here. The book describes him as an archaeologist and collector who is most famous for his discovery of Metagrossite and his time as the Champion of the Hoenn region. That's true to the games and manga.
When the cults started their rise here in Torren several years earlier, he was among the heroes who tried to stop it. But he died in what the book describes as a "freak accident". Somehow, the Metagrossite was held by him, and the Key Stone used to Mega Evolve the Metagross ended up with the Metagross. This caused Steven to Mega Evolve, but he did manage to take some cultists with him. Quite a bit different from his death in the manga. You see, in the manga, he somehow died from exhaustion from supporting several Mega Evolved Pokémon for a very long period of time.
And that's this house explored. Let's take a look at the one on the right.
The redhead just remarks he finds Lucario creepy because it can supposedly read minds. Lucario can read auras, as far as I know, but I don't think that makes it truly telepathic. The brunet on the right asks if we have heard of the Pledge moves. They're a group of moves that have a special effect when used together. There are three of these special moves: Grass Pledge, Water Pledge, and the Fire Pledge.
Below the houses, there is a person wearing a red beret. They remark that the Director in the Broadcast Tower is looking for someone to do some fieldwork. He would appreciate someone doing that job. Hey, that sounds like fun. Maybe we can get on TV. I always wanted to be on TV.
It turns out my theory that the studios being in the cloud area was dead-on, as the Tower is just a walk down to the right.
Pretty big tower here. I'd love to help out here, but there was another thing we have to help out with. Remember that dude in the lower level that needed help with his garden? We should take care of that first. Just to check it off the list. How do we get there? Well, the right of a tower has a bridge that goes upwards. On that bridge is a dude that gives us a Lava Cookie.
A Lava Cookie is essentially a cure-all. It's a treat that can heal any status ailment of one Pokemon. Anyway, this bridge takes up right up to the hole that we got here. Seriously, how do we get back down? We go back to the Tower, and take a bridge going downwards. It leads us to the garden, and like that guy said, he is waiting for us.
He explains that a Pokémon has been coming around every night and wrecking his flowers. It must really hate flowers. The man's had to replant them every day, and he's fed up with it. He also says that it only appears to attack when nobody is watching. He wants to lure it into his garden and suggests some Honey may do it. Honey is the opposite of Repel. It's a substance that attracts Pokémon. We could find some on Route 3, but I use Debug Mode to grab some early. Once we got the Honey, we can find this Pokémon. We spread the Honey, and...it works! It ends up attracting the little "demon" (the gardener calls it that), and it's...a Delta Aipom, which we easily catch thanks to my stash of Master Balls. The gardener is so thrilled and happy with us we get 1,000 PokeDollars. Hey, we saved a garden, got a Pokémon, and got some money!
(today was a good day)
Since that's done, I would like to prepare to face Orion. Now, it has been said by several people that he is supposedly a Fire-type specialist (his team includes a Vulpix, Charmeleon, and the Fire/Steel Delta Aron in Hard mode), but that's not quite the truth. Whether you play the game on Easy, Normal or Hard, Orion also packs a pair of Grass-types on his team: a Normal/Grass Deerling, and of course, the Grass/Poison Ivysaur. Having him also have Grass-types also makes a lot of sense. You see, Fire-types can be countered with Water, Rock, and Ground. Grass counters those types. I'm surprised the man doesn't have a Scovillain, as it's a Grass/Fire. But, yeah, it's clever on Orion's part. You are not going to sweep his team with a Water, Rock, or Ground-type.
(smart)
Not to mention, his name is also a reference to the sun. How? Well, it's a reference to Greek myth. The mythical Orion was a blind hunter who got his eyes healed by the rising sun. Of course, he got blinded in the first place because he raped a princess named Merope because he was mad her father, a king named Oenopion, was reluctant to let him marry her. GEE, I WONDER WHY HE DIDN'T WANT YOU TO MARRY HIS DAUGHTER, ORION?!
Anyway, we need to build a new team to counter Orion. I'll have to keep Shiro the Charmeleon on board my team to counter his Ivysaur and Deerling. I also have a Tympole and Onix, as I can use them to counter his Vulpix and Charmeleon). I can't bring my Grotle or Emolga. I may keep Krystal the Delta Bulbasaur as a secret weapon. She isn't strong against Fire or Grass (being a Psychic/Fairy), but she's hardly weak against them as well. And she can hit hard with her Psybeam.
I looked through the Pokemon I have collected on my journey thus far. I have a lot of options here. I need Fire-types to counter Ivysaur and Deerling. I also need Water, Rock, and Ground to counter his Vulpix and Charmeleon. So, I decided to replace Emolga and Grotle with Ponyta from Box 1 to back up Shiro and Gible from Box 2 to back up my Onix and Tympole. I chose Ponyta because it is a fast Pokemon, so it can help burn through Ivysaur and Deerling quickly. And I also chose Gible because it's part Ground-type, and it was a beast during my time playing Mega Adventure. I used Debug Mode to teach it Earthquake and Rock Throw. I also decided to swap out Krystal for a Wooper in Box 2 I got thanks to Debug Mode. Wooper is Water/Ground, much like Palpitoad. And it allows me a backup Water-type. And now comes the hard part. I have to grind.
(here we go again)
Thankfully, the EXP Share is very helpful. As part of my grinding journey, I decided to head to the TV Tower. They were looking for Trainers, after all. May be a good opportunity to get my new team ready.
Nice touch having all those TVs there. Nice visual reminder of what this place does. Would be better if there were images on the TVs, though. Up above is a woman who states they're starting a new "programme" (it's not a typo, it's the UK spelling of "program", as in a TV program. Maybe this woman is Galarian) about rare Pokemon. They hope to showcase not just Pokemon rarely seen in the wild like Shiny ones, they want to showcase legendary and Delta Pokemon as well. Hey lady, we got one right here! Krystal, the Delta Ivysaur! You can do a show about her! I also got a Delta Charmander and Delta Squirtle! I'd happily let you do shows about them! They'd be perfect for it!
(I'm just saying)
Near the lady is a couple men at a table. One just talks about the Pokemon program the brass are working on. The other says he wants to do a show that teaches about Pokemon battling. I can imagine there are already plenty of shows in-universe that do that already, but hey, chase your dream, pal. If we go upstairs, we end up in a hall. If we go down it and to the right, we end up here.
Sounds like he's tooting his own horn to me, ha ha.
*your joke is bad)
Right, sorry. Next to the supposed TV star is a table with a group of people around it, including two kids. The kids are the TV station table are the children of the tower's boss, and they're described as...a bit creepy. They just sit quietly, never moving, never talking. It's like they're statues instead of kids.
(shudder)
Yeah, that likely will never haunt us or anything. We go to the left, and there's a security guard. We talk to them, and they tell us we're not supposed to be here as we're near the boss's office...unless we're a Trainer. Because the boss needs Trainers for the show. We can get on TV, get some money, and keep the Pokemon we catch.
0absolute win)
Let's do this! The guard takes us to the boss. We introduce ourselves to the Tower's head honcho. He's thrilled to meet us, as they can now start filming the pilot for the new show. We're taken to a grassy area, accompanied by a reporter and cameraman.
Our mission is to capture an Axew. Just keep an eye out for rustling grass. It doesn't take long for us to find the Axew. We can catch it, make it faint, it doesn't matter. They just want footage of it. I catch it with one of my many Master Balls I got thanks to Debug Mode. The reporter and cameraman are quite happy with the footage they got of the little tusk-haver. If you talk to the cameraman, you get paid 2,000 PokeDollars. We then go back, the camera man advising us to keep an eye on any TVs for the broadcast, and that they'll call us on our PokeGear if they want us to help them find another Pokémon.
During my time grinding in the Cyan Cavern, I got another call from the boss of the TV Tower.
Indeed, it is good news.
Indeed, we got big on the TV! People want more of us, so he wants us to come back to the Broadcast Tower to film the next episode. Sure, why not? When we arrive at the Tower, he has another mission for us. There are rumors of a Delta Pokémon hanging out in a place called the Rezzai Desert. And as usual, we can keep it...if we catch it. Alright, let's go.
The cameraman tells us this Pokémon was originally from Hoenn. That's not that odd. We've captured plenty of Pokémon that originally hailed from other regions. The reporter warns we may have to chase it as it seemingly never stops moving. Good to know. It turns out to be a Level 25 Baltoy. We catch it, and got 3000 PokeDollars for it.
Once we got the new team ready to go, we head towards the Gym.
I do appreciate any attempt to make the buildings of Gyms look unique and interesting. They're the main event of a town in a Pokémon game, they should be among the flashier eye-grabbing places. Let's go inside!
You may think it's a bit odd that a Gym dedicated to Fire-types would look like this, but again, Orion also packs Grass-types, and his team is sun-themed. Grass and plants feed on sunlight. It helps them grow. Also, there's this guy standing there.
He gives us some advice about how to beat Orion, nothing we haven't heard from anyone before. He also gives out a bottle of Fresh Water, which can heal up to 50 HP. I have a bunch of Super Potions, which do heal the same amount of HP, but another can't hurt anything. You never know. Let's move forwards, shall we?
Appropriately enough for this being the first Gym we go through in the game, it is very straightforward. No fancy gimmicks, no puzzles, no nothing like that. I like to think that it also reflects Orion's personality in a way, that he's a no-frills guy. He's a straight up battler. I can respect that.
And naturally, like any other gym, he has other Trainers in it, disciples and the like. I can imagine they help run the place, and help keep the place clean, maintain the plants, stuff like that. I mean, I think it would be a bit unreasonable to expect one person to do all that work on their own. As you can see in the screenshot, we have four Trainers in it, and we can battle all of them if we want. I would recommend doing so, if only to get some extra XP for your Pokémon team. Let's do this.
I'll start with the one on the left, in the blue baseball cap facing to the right.
(Youngster) Jakob.
1st Pokémon: Vulpix (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Palpitoad. Palpitoad got burned by Will O' The Wisp.
2nd Pokémon: Numel (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Palpitoad.
Jakob claims we won't make it to Orion.
Then we fight the second one in a blue cap. he warns that young people should not be underestimated. That's very true, especially in a Pokémon game.
(Youngster) Rodan. Yes, that's his name. His parents were kaiju freaks.
1st Pokémon: Darumaka (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Palpitoad.
2nd Pokémon: Simisear (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Palpitoad. Simisear came very close to defeating Palpitoad with Fury Swipes. Palpitoad had 5 HP left.
Next to him is a little girl in a red hat. She claims we have no chance. Okay.
(Picknicker) Dorri.
1st Pokémon: Litwick (Lv. 23) - Defeated by Palpitoad with one blast of Bubble Beam.
2nd Pokémon: Monferno (Lv. 21) - Defeated by Palpitoad.
She takes her loss well, as in grumbling that we'll never beat Orion. Okay. Below her is a little girl. She thinks we're a good trainer because we're tall. Ah, the innocence of youth. Time to shatter it!
(Preschooler) Nadia.
1st Pokémon: Litleo (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Palpitoad.
2nd Pokémon: Litwick (Lv. 22) - Defeated by Palpitoad.
You noticed that these Trainers are all little kids? I think it's meant to symbolize this being the first Gym in the game, maybe? From an in-universe perspective, I don't get it. Maybe Orion helps mentor kids who want to be Trainers? Anyway, we should keep going. Remember when I said there were four Trainers? Well, I goofed.
There are five. And we have to battle them to get to Orion. The kid brags that the Suntouched Gym is the strongest gym in Torren. Yeah, I think the other gyms would have something to say about that.
(Preschooler) Riley
1st Pokémon: Litleo (Lv. 23) - Defeated by Palpitoad
2nd Pokémon: Numel (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Palpitoad
The loss humbles the kid a bit. A little humility is a good thing. It was here that I noticed something very odd. I looked up levels of the Trainers here on the Insurgence Wiki (yes, this game has a wiki. Almost everything has a wiki these days. Welcome to the Internet), and according to it, the levels of the Trainers in the gym...should be a bit lower. Now keep in mind, this is a modded version of Insurgence, so I'm wondering if the modders upped the levels a bit to make the game more challenging.
Anyway, if we go up from Riley, we end up here.
Yeah, this is where we'll fight Orion. And speaking of the man himself...
There he is, with his rock. If you examine it, you'll get a Text Box saying, "It's a white rock". This is a reference to a little thing in Ruby and Sapphire and its remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. If you interact with a white rock outside the Mossdeep Space Center in those games, you get this exact text.
Talking to Orion himself will result in him asking you if you are ready to battle. I like this feature, as it gives you one last chance to make sure your team is ready to face him. If we choose "Yes", he'll say that he's sure he'll win. After all, he has his rock by his side. He explains that as a Gym Leader, he's a lonely man, so he needs friends where he can get them. Does this man have no family? Does he even talk to other Gym Leaders? I mean, I can imagine they have busy lives, but certainly they must have time to interact with each other!
He's seen as a bit of a joke in Suntouched City due to his talking to the rock, but he does insist it's alive. Hey, I'll take his word for it. Considering how crazy the Pokémon world can be, I would not be surprised if it turned out his rock is alive. I mean, hello? Rock-type Pokémon, anyone?! And with that, we walk down to the platform, and the battle is on!
(Gym Leader) Orion
1st Pokémon: Vulpix (Lv. 23) - Defeated by Krystal.
2nd Pokémon: Charmeleon (Lv. 25) - Switched out for Deerling. Defeated Gible. Defeated by the heavy sunlight.
3rd Pokémon: Deerling (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Charmeleon.
4th Pokémon: Ivysaur (Lv. 24) - Defeated Charmeleon. Defeated by Ponyta.
Orion's team uses heavy sunlight (presumably thanks to the gym being up in the clouds. This ups the power of Fire-type moves and allowed his Deerling to use Solar Beam in one turn instead of two.
Also, Orion's Pokémon has the Easy Mode levels, but his Vulpix had Hidden Power, which is Grass-type. So, we're in the Medium difficulty. I switched out my Wooper for Krystal to counter it. Good to know for the future.
Orion can't believe he lost, but it was a great battle. As such, we now have our first badge: the Thermal Badge. He also gives us TM106 (Incinerate). He tells us that the next gym is the Vipik Gym, which is located to the south of Suntouched. The leader there is named Xavier. Whereas Orion's team honors the Sun, Xavier's honors the forest. His team uses mainly Bug and Poison. If we talk to the fan near the entrance, he just tells us about Xavier again.
If we leave the Gym, someone runs past us, saying "Excuse me!" At least they're polite about it. I wonder what that's all about? Well, whatever it was, Nora seems to be interested.
She reveals the person that passed us was a woman, who seemed panicked. Nora's going to check it out. I may as well do so as well. Nora may need some backup.
So, using Debug Mode to get my team back to its standard formation (I'm going to keep Gible in place of Onix on my team for a while. Poor little guy never got to shine against Orion, so I want to make it up to him), I went back inside the Gym. The fanboy near the entrance says there's a commotion in the back of the Gym. I hope Nora and Orion are okay.
So, Orion knows this strange lady, huh? And we also get a name: Harmony. Harmony tells Orion they need to get out of Suntouched City like a Zubat out of the Distortion World. Some people had come to the city, and they were talking about him. It wasn't jokes about him being friends with a rock. They want something from him. Harmony doesn't know what they think he has, but "we" need to get him out of here.
Orion agrees. He asks for help with moving his rock friend. It's a heavy rock, you see. Harmony thinks Orion is nuts, but before an argument can break out...these guys arrive.
A new player in the game, huh? Likely another cult. They're packing a Kyurem, one of the Legendary Pokémon of Black and White. It's also in its Black Kyurem form, meaning this bunch somehow got it to fuse with Zekrom.
The leader claims that Kyurem's breath is so cold, it can freeze fire and lightning. I imagine some of that is hype. The leader is Taen, and he's from the Perfection Cult. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. Orion claims he will protect his rock...much to Taen's disbelief. Taen mocks Orion, then reveals that, well...he's after the rock. Must be something special if Taen is after it.
We next learn that Taen is the son of Giovanni, the leader of the Viridian Gym in the original Pokémon games...and the leader of Team Rocket. The ground rumbles. The rock starts to emit a golden glow. The screen goes red. This weird symbol appears.
What is that supposed to be? We've seen something like this before, remember? All the way back in entry #1, when Persephone tried to summon Darkrai. Perhaps every Legendary in this game has something like this? Is this supposed to mean something? Curiouser and curiouser...
A pair of eyes open. The screen returns to normal. It's then revealed that Orion wasn't crazy. The rock is alive. And not only alive...it's a Reshiram.
I bet Orion feels super-vindicated right now.
Yeah, this was why Taen wanted the rock. He explains that Kyurem, Reshiram, and a third Pokémon (again, a reference to Zekrom), were all once the same Pokémon. War would split it into the three Legendaries of Unova. Reshiram was sealed in the white stone, which ended up in the possession of Orion somehow. I get the impression that Reshiram could have broken out at any time but presumably didn't because there was no reason for it to. And it also likely enjoyed hanging out with Orion. Reshiram decides to pull a "I'm outta here" move and fly off.
Taen and his boys board Kyurem and pursue it. I feel a bit bad for Orion. He ended up right about the rock being alive, but it just decides to leave without even acknowledging him. Sorry about Reshiram being a jerk, bud. Harmony apologizes to Orion for not believing him. She's not the only one in Suntouched who owes him apologies.
Harmony notices us, and after Nora assures her we're not Cultists, she fully introduces herself. Harmony is the gym leader of Sonata City, her specialty being Normal and Fairy-type Pokémon. Nora had come here to challenge Orion for her own Thermal Badge. She asks us to keep this whole thing on the down-low, and we agree. Orion could end up in danger if his being buds with Reshiram got out.
Before we leave, Reshiram returns. Turns out the big monster actually did enjoy Orion's company, so he's going to stick around. Maybe this means he chose Orion like Celebi chose Nora.
Nora tells us to go on ahead. She'll catch up later. After all, she still has to earn her own Thermal Badge, and Orion and Reshiram desire to hang out a bit. Before we go, she gives us an Instant Lapras. The Instant Lapras is a device that takes the place of the Surf Hidden Machine in early Pokémon games, as it will allow us to ride on bodies of water. I've gone into this before, but I love the concept of items instead of HMs. It makes more sense to me. And it doesn't force you to saddle a Pokémon with a move they are stuck with.
The ground area of Suntouched has a couple lakes we can test out the Instant Lapras in. You don't have to register it to a Key like you can do with the Old Rod we got. Just walk up to a body of water and keep going, and it automatically activates.
I'm not being sarcastic with that. I genuinely appreciate the convenience. So, with the Thermal Badge obtained, there's really nothing else to do here in Suntouched. Let's move on, shall we? The exit of the city is at the bottom, an entrance to another cave, located near the Subway Station. It's still cordoned off from the public, so we still can't use it. That's fine. I'm sure it'll open up at some point. If we enter the cave, we end up here.
Welcome to the Suntouched Exitway. This is why we got the Instant Lapras. You also may notice the TM in the screenshot behind the rock. Luckily, our Gible knows Rock Throw, so he can move it. It's TM124 (Struggle Bug). We can use the Instant Lapras to get across the little lake, but I wonder how people who don't have one will cross it? Whatever. The Exitway is very short, nothing special. But it takes us here.
Welcome to Route 3. Presumably, this Route will take us to Vipik City, where the second Gym awaits. If we talk to the Trainer in the screenshot, they say that they're the strongest of Trainers...and they have the comfiest shorts to thank for it. Yeah, in the original Red and Blue, there's a Trainer that remarks that they love wearing shorts as they are "comfy and easy to wear". It's become a meme among Pokémon fans.
Let's see how strong this Trainer is.
(Camper) Joey
1st Pokémon: Vigoroth (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Palpitoad.
2nd Pokémon: Girafarig (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Shiro the Charmeleon
Little Joey is shocked that he got beaten. He decides he needs better shorts. If you say so, kid. You can find a Repel lying on the grass nearby him.
Again, I think Trainers just drop these on their travels and forget about them. If we go downwards, we find more grass and another Trainer.
Yeah, the Trainer is there. Here's a better screenshot.
You can face him if you want. He tells us there's a powerful Lucario hanging out in the ruins on Route 2. Trust us, we know. We've seen it.
(Ruin Maniac) Robin
1st Pokémon: Geodude (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Krystal.
2nd Pokémon: Hitmonlee (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Krystal.
3rd Pokémon: Unown (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Palpitoad.
Robin is sad he lost, but he doesn't mind as the battle was fair and square. If we go downwards, we'll find...more Grass.
At least we found that Great Ball there. Always handy to have an extra ball. You never know if you'll need it. This place is also a great area to do some grinding if you need to. If we go further down the path, we'll find another Trainer to battle.
He's annoyed by our walking. He thinks we're too loud, and it'll scare away the bugs.
(Bug Catcher) Ingram
1st Pokémon: Illumise (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Shiro. Illumise has Moonlight, which helps restore health, and also Wish, which does the same thing. She was a pain to fight.
2nd Pokémon: Beedrill (Lv. 26) - Defeated by Shiro. Beedrill laid out Toxic Spikes.
3rd Pokemon: Volbeat (Lv. 26) - Defeated Gabite with Signal Beam. Defeated by Emolga. Gabite got badly poisoned by Toxic Spikes.
This battle was a good example of how Bug Pokémon should be used in battle. Wear your opponents down. My Pokémon got up a couple levels thanks to grinding and the Trainer battles around here. If we go downwards, the path will take us to a corner, and then go to the right. However, there's an item on the ground near some big trees.
It's hard to see, but it is there. You have to look very closely at the three trees forming a corner at the bottom middle of the screenshot. It's an Awakening. Helps well, awaken your Pokémon if they get put to sleep. The rightward path takes us to a crossroad.
We can go up, or we can go down and battle that sailor down there. If we go upwards, we end up heading towards this house with a Rare Candy lying on the ground next to it.
Thank Arceus it was still wrapped up. The man inside offers a trade: a Vanillite for his rare Delta Pokémon. That's not a problem. Thanks to Debug Mode, I can get a Vanillite to trade. One we do the trade, we're now the owner of a Delta Scyther.
I think it looks kind of cool. Since that's all done, we can go downwards and battle the sailor. If he spots us, he claims there's a trench so deep in Torren that no one has touched the bottom. Well, not yet, anyway. I wonder if this was inspired by the Marianas Trench. This trench is known as the Maelstrom 9. I wonder why it's called that.
(Sailor) Buckbeard
1st Pokémon: Chinchou (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Grotle.
2nd Pokémon: Croconaw (Lv. 25) - Nearly defeated Emolga thanks to having Ice Fang. Defeated by Emolga.
3rd Pokémon: Huntail (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Grotle.
After the battle, Buckbeard remarks that he may visit the trench one day. A couple Pokémon got levelled up thanks to this battle. If we keep going to the right, we'll end up here on this corner, with an item hidden behind those trees.
It's a PokéBall. If we keep going on the path, we'll find...more grass and another Trainer.
This nice science lady tells us that she's been studying Fairy-types. And one thing that still puzzles her is how they can be immune to Dragon-type attacks. I can see why. Ground-types being immune to Electric-type attacks do make sense. Lightning is nullified by the ground. But Fairy being immune to Dragon? I can imagine a dragon would have an easy time stomping a fairy.
(Scientist) Linna
1st Pokémon: Dedenne (Lv. 25) - Defeated by Gabite
2nd Pokémon: Magnemite (Lv. 27) - Defeated by Shiro
3rd Pokémon: Klink (Lv. 26) - Defeated by Shiro
After defeating her, Linna points out that it makes no sense that a little Jigglypuff would be able to withstand a Dragon-type attack from a Salamence. Believe me, I'm just as confused too. And that's where we're going to have to stop for the month. Join me next time when we continue our way through Route 3 and hopefully get to the vivacious Vipik City! 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 want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-Fi! See you next time!
Pokémon Obtained:
(Cyan Cavern)
- Starly (obtained by Debug Mode)
(Suntouched City)
- Machop
- Remoraid (encountered by fishing, didn't catch)
- Corsola (encountered by fishing, didn't catch)
- Gible (obtained by Debug Mode)
- Jigglypuff (obtained by Debug Mode)
- Togepi (obtained by Debug Mode)
- Butterfree (obtained by Debug Mode)
- Natu (obtained by trading the Butterfree obtained from Debug Mode)
- Palpitoad (evolved from Tympole)
- Corphish (obtained in a lake)
(TV Tower grassy area)
- Axew
(Suntouched Exitway)
- Shellder
(Route 3)
- Ralts
- Petilil
- Nuzleaf
- Kirlia
- Sudowoodo
- Swirlix
- Tentacool (By swimming with Instant Lapras)
- Gabite (evolved from Gible)
- Seedot
- Vanillite (obtained by Debug Mode)
- Delta Scyther
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