Hello, and welcome back to the Torren Region! This is entry number 7 in my Text Play of Pokémon Insurgence...with the Detergent mod!
Last time, we took on and defeated Xavier, the Gym Leader of Vipik City, to earn our second badge in the game: The Stinger Badge. Shortly afterwards, we had to face members of the Kyogre-worshipping Abyssal Cult. They had captured our friend Damian, who was himself on his way to Vipik on his own Pokémon journey. Thanks to Damian's big fat mouth, the Cult learned of our association with Mew, the ancestor of all Pokémon. Basically, they wanted us to surrender the powerhouse Pokémon to them. We were like, "Ha ha no", sent them packing, and rescued Damian. Hopefully, this will impart him a lesson about keeping quiet. And now we are here.
Alright, now that you're all caught up, it's time to do something I traditionally do when starting a new Text Play entry. And that is my traditional warning. I will be spoiling this game.
As such, I highly and strongly recommend that you play this game for yourself first before reading these Text Play entries. You can download the game here if you wish. And with that out of the way, let's go ahead with our fangame adventure!
With winning the Stinger Badge and that fight against the Abyssal Cult behind us, there's not really that much reason for us to stick around in Vipik Town anymore. There was another Delta Pokémon in the Vipik Dump, but I couldn't get to it. I can get it with Debug Mode anyway, so it's not a big loss.
Since we beat Xavier, the southern exit has been opened. If we go through it, we end up here.
Welcome to the Crossroads. Contrary to popular belief, it was not named after the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony song. It is a good song, though. It's called that because it leads to a road that can take you to the left or to the right. If you look at the screenshot, you can see a Trainer on the corner. He wants us to check out his "super-awesome-rare Pokémon".
(Youngster) Kimbe
1st Pokémon: Raticate (Lv. 36) - Defeated by Torterra.
2nd Pokémon: Spinda (Lv. 35) - Defeated by Shiro the Charizard.
3rd Pokémon: Swellow (Lv. 37) - Defeated by Thunderwing the Zapdos.
Yeah, kiddo. Raticate and Swellow are super-rare Pokémon indeed. 😒 Keep in mind that I didn't say they were not awesome. That's because I think every Pokémon is someone's favorite, and with the right nurturing, any Pokémon can be a good battler. Yes, even Dunsparce. I said it.
Anyway, if we go southwards down the path, we encounter a Black Belt where the path forks.
You can battle him if you want to, but as is standard, if you do not want to, you just can't let him spot you. And he spotted us.
(Black Belt) Nike
1st Pokémon: Throh (Lv. 37) - Defeated Torterra. Defeated by Thunderwing.
2nd Pokémon: Infernape (Lv. 36) - Defeated by Seismitoad.
3rd Pokémon: Hitmontop (Lv. 37) - Defeated by Krystal.
4th Pokémon: Croagunk (Lv. 37) - Defeated by Croagunk.
Nike likes us, as he thinks we're styling! He also tells us to not forget about Pokémon Centers. That's good advice. We may have Debug Mode, but that's for this game. It's not a luxury every other game has. Now, which path to take? Well, if we go on the left path, the path will take us across a pair of small lakes. Surfing across the bottom lake will lead us to an item.
It's a Rare Candy. I don't use them myself, but you want a Pokémon to jump a level quick, there you go. Give them one of those. There's also a Trainer on the leftward path. You can avoid them by using your Instant Lapras to swim by. But if you do choose to face them, who give us a warning.
They also remark that they'd explore it themselves if they had a map. Thanks for the tip.
(Camper) Nicolas
1st Pokémon: Marill (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Thunderwing. This Marill has Sap Sipper, a2n Ability that protects it from Grass-type moves while upping its Attack stat, so Torterra couldn't take it down with Razor Leaf or Leech Seed. It also has Aqua Ring, which heals its HP a little every turn.
2nd Pokémon - Larvesta (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Gabite. Larvesta has Leech Life, which allowed it to hit Gabite hard, but a couple doses of Earthquake fixed that.
3rd Pokémon: Zangoose (Lv. 37) - Defeated Krystal with Crush Claw. Defeated by Seismitoad.
After we win, he asks if we have a map for him to borrow. Sorry, kid. We're just as clueless about this cave system as you are. Passing by Nicolas and getting through the trees takes us to Route 5.
Welcome to Route 5! It's a nice little route. There's grass patches, a small lake, it's beautiful!
As you can see in the screenshot, there's a Trainer nearby. You can bypass them if you like by walking through the grass behind them. If you face them, he remarks about a place called the Samsara Cave, what artifacts can be found there and what Pokémon reside there. I'm guessing Samsara is the cave system that was mentioned by Nicolas the camper earlier. The Trainer said that he's heard stories about the caves.
(Ruin Maniac) Kyle
1st Pokémon: Lileep (Lv. 37) - Defeated by Torterra with two blasts of Earthquake, the first scoring a critical hit.
2nd Pokémon: Crustle (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Gabite.
3rd Pokémon: Probopass (Lv. 37) - Defeated Shiro the Charizard. Defeated by Seismitoad.
After we beat him, he says the battle was not bad. I agree. It was a fun battle. He also wonders if a legendary Pokémon can be found in the caves. Wouldn't surprise me if that was the case. If we keep going to the left further down the route, we can spot another Trainer.
Okay, based on this, there's supposedly something very scary in there. Now, this could indicate that the cave is home to a lot of Ghost-type Pokémon. The cave's name, Samsara, comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "wanderer". In Indian religions, the word also refers to the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, something that is believed that all beings go through regularly. Wait...does that mean that people die and get reborn as Pokémon in that cave?
Well, let's calm down for a second. There are a lot of legends in the Pokémon world. Yeah, legends can have a kernel of truth to them, especially in games like this, but let's get some hard proof before we freak out, okay? Let's calm down by battling this Trainer. Constructive, I know.
(Ace Trainer) Lara
1st Pokémon: Lilligant (Lv. 39) - Defeated by Shiro.
2nd Pokémon: Emolga (Lv. 39) - Defeated by Gabite. Emolga's Aerobatics hit him hard. Wasn't super-effective, just hit him hard.
3rd Pokémon: Furfrou (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Torterra. Furfrou managed to get Torterra down to 4 HP with a Take Down but fainted from damage due to the recoil.
She tales the loss well.
Why do I get the feeling she does this every time she loses?
Anyway, we keep going to the left, and we find the path going downwards, and a cave entrance.
Is this the supposed Samsara Cave? Only one way to find out!
Well, I did look it up beforehand, and yes. It is the Samsara Cave. This is it. Before we go in, we should grab that Full Heal on the grass. Could be useful. Okay, let's go do some spelunking. Partway into the cave, I noticed this statue here.
I admit, I'm not a sculpture guy, but I am quite impressed with this statue. It's so lifelike. But I wonder why it's here and not in some museum or art gallery. Weird. Maybe it's meant to be some kind of artistic statement. I don't know.
Anyway, we got a Hyper Potion right there, so better pick that up. There are lakes we have to cross to move forward. Good thing we got that Instant Lapras. Further upwards, there's a big lake.
Hey, another statue! And there's a Great Ball nearby we should grab. From here, we go to the right and cross another lake.
Hey, more statues! I wonder why they're here. They don't look like they were carved by some ancient civilization. They look too new. I've also noticed that so far, there are no wild Pokémon in this cave. That is also rather odd. You'd think you'd at least encounter some Geodudes. They live in caves. No Pokémon in the waters, either. This is getting a bit creepy.
Anyway, we have to go upwards. Doing so will take us to the entrance of this chamber.
It's here that we finally started encountering wild Pokémon. Walking around will let you encounter Machoke and Graveler. I didn't catch them as I already have a Machop and Geodude. You can encounter Boldore and Riolu in the grassy patches. If we had Rock Smash, or an equivalent Item, you could encounter a wide variety of Pokémon: Geodudes, Shuckles, Nosepasses, Roggenrolas, Dwebbles, and Carbinks. Going further upwards, I think I found the reason for that.
Looks like some kind of shrine or something. I noticed these odd-looking statues there. They're made of metal. Metal that is cold to the touch. Which makes sense, this is a cave after all. Plenty of caves are cold. The statues look like Pidgeotto, yet different. This is really weird. Maybe it's a variant of Pidgeotto that's native to this region? That's certainly plausible, as there are regions that have unique variants of various Pokémon. Alola has variants of Sandshrew and Geodude, for example. Galar has a Meowth variant that evolves into a different Pokémon than Persian.
I did notice a button on one of the statues. I gave it a press because why not.
Pressing the button reveals a ladder. Going down it takes us to another chamber with the same statues in it. And at the end of it is this little guy.
Interacting with it reveals that it's a Delta Pidgey. Hey, another Delta to add to the collection! Delta Pidgey is a Dark/Dragon type, and it was a breeze to catch. Thank you, Debug Mode, for making it possible for me to have a ton of Master Balls.
Reading its PokéDex entry makes quite a shocking revelation...
...oh. My. Arceus. You know those statues we saw earlier in the cave? Yeah, those weren't statues. Those were PEOPLE! THOSE STATUES WERE PEOPLE!
They must have gotten petrified by Delta Pidgey when it saw them! Maybe it battled these poor unfortunate souls, and when it won, it petrified them as a sign of victory! Too bad I can't get it to unpetrify these people. Ah, well. I feel bad for their families. Their loved ones' final fate was a statue in a cave. Maybe some scientist will find a way to cure them. I hope so. There's nothing we can do to help those folks, so we may as well leave. I did manage to catch a shiny Riolu while I was here. The first shiny I ever got in this game so far.
And I found a couple of hidden items on my way out: TM45 (Attract)...
And a Rare Candy.
And that's really it for Samsara Cave. For now, anyway. Once we leave, we can head further to the left, continuing our way through Route 5. While going down the path, we can find this guy hanging around in the grass.
I know people are encouraged to touch grass, but this is ridiculous. If he spots us, he screams at us to check his neck! Brother, I'm not a doctor! I don't even play one on TV!
(Roughneck) Tommy
1st Pokémon: Scrafty (Lv. 39) - Defeated by Krystal the Delta Ivysaur. Her Psychic attack had no effect on Scrafty due to being part-Dark type.
2nd Pokémon: Mawile (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Krystal.
He apologizes after we beat him, admitting it was a bit weird. Yeah, that's an understatement. I think you need meds, Tom. On a more pleasant note, there's a Muscle Band lying nearby in the grass. If you give it to a Pokémon, it slightly boosts the power of physical moves. Moves that use the body, like Low Kick or Mega Punch. It's a good gift for a Fighting-type. We're almost at the end of the Route...to find someone standing right near the exit.
Always one last obstacle. If you go by him, he'll run up to you and say that if you want to enter Koril Town, you have to pay a toll. And how much is that toll? 14 billion PokeDollars! 😒
...I will punch this man. Really hard. In the face.
(Miner) George
1st Pokémon: Kricketune (Lv. 38) - Defeated by Shiro the Charizard.
2nd Pokémon: Poliwrath (Lv. 39) - Defeated by Thunderwing the Zapdos.
He admits that he lied after we beat him. Yeah, we figured that part out, Georgie. I wish I could punch him. Ahhh, that likely would probably cause more problems than it would fix. Let's just go ahead.
Welcome to Koril Town, everyone! You know, I think I have discussed this before in a previous Text Play entry in the past, but I have noted that in Pokémon games (the official ones, anyway), the towns and cities all tend to have a theme when it comes to their names. For example, Red and Blue have towns and cities named after colors: Lavender Town, Goldenrod City, etc. Some fangames also continue that tradition. For example, if you ever read my Text Plays of Pokémon Xenoverse (which I recently learned is being remade, so that is pretty cool), they also continued the theme, with references to space.
I'm getting there. What I mean is, I don't think that applies to the town and city names in Torren. Yeah, it's more realistic, but at the same time, it's a Pokémon game. It's a game that has children capture and train magic monsters that supposedly can level continents, so a little bit of slack should be cut when it comes to town names having a theme in my opinion. It's not something that hurts the game in any way, it's just a nice little touch I thought would be nice.
When we enter the town, we encounter this redhead, as seen in the screenshot. He talks about the Samsara Cave. Yeah, we saw it firsthand. Hopefully, somebody can help find a way to depetrify people. I mean, this is a universe where ancient Pokémon can be brought back to life from fossils, I can imagine a way to restore those poor folks to humanity can be found. And we got the Pokémon that caused this whole mess, so it shouldn't be a problem anymore. He also tells us we need Waterfall, or something like it, to really explore the Samsara Cave. Huh. Have to keep that in mind.
Back on topic! We have arrived in Koril Town. This town is a stopping point between Route 5 and a place called the Rezzai Desert. This place does seem painfully average, but one should never judge a book by its cover. There might some interesting stuff here. Only one way to find out. Let's go exploring!
If we go to the left, we find ourselves seeing these two houses here.
There's also a couple of people wandering around nearby. The guy with the visor gives us a Dusk Stone. The blonde explains that Koril is Torren's resident economic stronghold. There's a Stock Market in the town, and there's also presumably a mint, as she also says that Torren's currency is produced here. So, yeah. Koril is a more interesting and important place than some may think. Maybe we'll get to see some of the coins being made. That would be pretty cool.
Before we go looking for those places, let's explore these two houses. I'll start with the one on the left.
This house has three occupants, as you can see in the screenshot. The blond guy asks if that's a stock market in the corner of the town. I mean, there likely is. We were just told by the blonde outside that this town is Torren's economic center. The equivalent of Wall Street. She said there is a Stock Market. So yes. There is a Stock Market here! And he gets dumber.
He asks why anyone would consider running a stock market when Pokémon exist.
...BECAUSE THIS WORLD STILL HAS MONEY, YOU NINCOMPOOP! BUSINESSES ARE STILL A THING THAT EXIST, YOU MUTTONHEAD! I feel like I lost braincells talking to this dipstick. Hopefully the other two occupants are smarter.
Luckily, the bluehead sitting across from Stupid actually says something helpful and useful.
They remark that boulders can be pushed around by Pokémon moves. Steamroller, Whirlwind, Bulldoze are moves they know can do that. They do think there are plenty more moves that work. That's good to know. I think this game may have an item than can be used in place of the old Strength Hidden Machine, but it's good to know there are moves that can also move stuff around.
The third occupant is hilarious. They're a lawyer, that does lawyer things. If you need lawyer stuff done, she's your lady. I dunno, I get the feeling she graduated from the Lionel Hutz School of Law. Well, let's go to the house to the right of this one.
Hey, they got a Drifloon wandering around here? I always liked seeing Pokémon run around in houses. Adds a nice little bit of realism. Yeah, realism in a Pokémon game, I know. But I look at it like this. There are people who raise Pokémon as pets. They don't travel around the region battling other Trainers, making cash from winning battles and doing odd jobs. So, they likely would have no reason to keep their Pokémon in a ball all the time.
The guy on the left remarks that he'd love to fly over the Torren Region like Brendan could back in Hoenn years ago. Huh. Well, if he has a Pokémon that can learn Fly, he could. Go to anywhere in Torren that he went to before.
The girl on the right remarks that Drifloon takes the souls of children, and Banette is the spirit of a thrown-out doll that seeks revenge on its former owner. Yeah, when you actually think about some of the PokeDex entries, some of them can be quite terrifying.
But here's how I look at it. I think a lot of it can be chalked up to ancient superstitions and old wives' tales. If we go to the left and down a bit, we find a couple more houses.
Talking to the lady wandering around near them leads her to reveal that she is a fan of Ice-type Pokémon. They're great for keeping cool on a hot day. I don't blame her. Summers where I live can be brutally humid. It doesn't help that in recent years, the temperature has been hitting the late 80s/early 90s. If it was dry heat like in Nevada, it would not be so bad.
One of the lady's Pokémon (presumably an Ice-type) had found something today. She's not a battler, so she thinks I may have more use for it: an Icy Rock. It's an item that extends the duration of the effects of the Hail move. So, it's handy if you have an Ice-type that has that move. Or even a non-Ice Pokémon that knows it. So, that's good to have. I normally don't use stuff like this, but considering this modded game is a bit more difficult than its non-modded counterpart, maybe I should consider starting.
Anyway, let's look in the left house.
You've got to love that people in Pokémon games will just let you barge into their houses. The occupant welcomes us to Koril Town. This town don't have much, but it is still willing to share. As such, he gives us the Sea Incense. If you give this to a Pokémon, it powers up any Water-type moves they have. After he gives it to us, he tells us to enjoy our stay. I'm sure we will. His house's bookshelf has a book called "How to Train Your Dragonite". If you read it, the text gives us a simple instruction.
Yell at it.
Yeah, yell at the Pokémon that is often seen to be sweet and human-level in intellect. That always goes well.
Let's go into the house on the right.
The dark-haired lady just tells us something we already know about Samsara Cave: that we need Waterfall to fully explore it. The man says his favorite Pokémon is Castform, despite his looks. Hey, no judgement here, pal. Every Pokémon is liked by someone. Even Dunsparce. The house has a book on the Orre region, the home of two famous heroes: Wes and Michael. This book says that in this universe, after they managed to capture Shadow Lugia, the Shadow Plague spread to humans, and as a result, Orre doesn't have any people living in it anymore. I would not be surprised if it turned out that Ardos deliberately made that happen as part of his revenge against Michael. He did swear that he'd get revenge at the end of Gale of Darkness, after all. nothing much else here, let's move on.
If we keep going to the left, we find ourselves in front of this building.
Hey, there's also the PikaTaxi guy! Nice to see him again! Anyway, the lady in front of that building claims that Koril Town was founded for the purpose of finding the unknown rare Pokémon inside of Samsara Cave. Well, the only rare Pokémon I know of that was there was the Delta Pidgey we caught earlier. But then again, we haven't explored the whole cave, so who knows what else is down there?
So, what's going on in the building in the screenshot?
It's a gaggle of nerds!
I'm just kidding. We're all nerds for something. That's nothing to be ashamed of. If you've read this blog before, then you know the kind of thing I'm nerdy for. Sports fans are nerds for player stats. Welcome to the Scientists' Club. This is a place where Pokémon experts gather (as well as presumably experts in other scientific fields as well) to do research in their fields. They also are open to the public, letting people see what they do on a day-to-day basis. That is really cool. I can imagine they regularly run tours for kids here. Maybe the next generation of scientists were inspired by coming here.
When we enter, there is a bespectacled man standing in front of a trio of large computer banks. He offers to give your Pokémon surgery to change their natures, costing only 1000 PokeDollars. You may be thinking, what, change their natures?
Well, nature was a game mechanic introduced in Generation III Pokémon games. It's a special trait that every Pokémon has that effects how said Pokémon's stats grow. For example, Krystal the Delta Venusaur has a Careful nature. Because of that, it's Special Defense stat is boosted, while its Special Attack stat is lowered. It also affects Pokémon's preferences when it comes to certain food. Again, I'll us Krystal as an example. Because of her Careful nature, she dislikes Dry-tasting food and enjoys food that is Bitter in taste. These Natures normally cannot be changed.
I opt out, and he's pretty understanding about it. He is called "Shady Sir", after all. He can understand why people would be reluctant to let him operate on their Pokémon, even he probably is licensed, and offers what is presumably a good price for his services. One of the ladies is a bit wore welcoming, thank goodness.
She also reveals that the Scientists' Club is looking for Trainers. Especially ones with experience in battling Pokémon. Hey, we got two badges of experience, we can help! I wonder what they need Trainers for. But first, let's talk to the other scientists. Another lady reveals that many of them were friends of Reukra before he became a cult leader. If the name seems somewhat familiar, that's because we last saw him all the way back in entry #1, talking to Professor Sylvan about the Delta Pokémon. I mistyped his name as "Rekura" in that entry.
He was the leader of the Cult of Perfection. She tells us he was always a bit of a weird guy, and he never got along with the rest of his family. Maybe that's why he stated Perfection? So he'd have a family that he felt he'd fit into? She does remark he was a prodigy, hinting that he was brilliant for his age. Huh. Anyway, another scientist is studying Mega Stones. And another scientist is studying the effects of Delta Pokémon on the environment.
Buddy, if you want Deltas to examine, I got some you can look at! Heck, my Starter is a Delta! I wouldn't mind you examining Krystal or any of my other Deltas...as long as it's not too invasive and they are comfortable with it. In the screenshot, there is also a purple-haired lad with glasses. It's an anime/manga trope that has always amused me, people with wild hair colors. She is the head of the Scientists' Club. She offers to put me on a project to help out on. Sure, why not? Once we agree, she gives us a mission. There was a lab that was studying some ancient Pokémon that have presumably been revived from fossils. And in the classic science fiction/horror manner, one got loose and is now freeing the others. They need a trainer to catch or make them faint. Either way, they still have plenty of ancient Pokémon to study. And we'll get some money for it.
Alright, let's do this.
The screenshot doesn't do it justice. There are quite a few ancient Pokémon wandering around here. I check to see I have plenty of Master Balls (thanks to Debug Mode, that's not really an issue), and I get to work. The ringleader of the liberation operation (rhyming, baby!) was a Kabutops that had a strange device on its back. When we catch it, the head scientist thanks us for our work and removes the device. She laments that the experiment was a failure. She gives us 3,000 PokeDollars and says the Club will call us on our PokeGear if they have other work for us to do.
This leads me to wonder something. What on Earth kind of experiments were these people doing with these ancient Pokémon? Must've been something that got Kabutops extremely steamed if it was doing all of this.
Maybe now in my boxes, if there is something shady going down in that lab, those Pokémon can find some peace. I like to imagine that the boxes are little dimensions where the Pokémon you store can run around, keep sharp by training against each other, and live in comfort. If we head upwards from the club building, we end up here.
Hey, another house! There's also a couple more folks wandering around town. The blondie tells about a field condition that I think is unique to this game: New Moon. The New Moon field condition causes the battlefield to get much darker and hard to see. This also has the effect of powering up Dark and Ghost-type moves. Which makes sense. A "new moon" is the first phase of the lunar cycle, when the Moon is least visible. It also weakens Fairy-type moves. it also causes certain Abilities to take effect.
The person with dark hair remarks that the town's stock market was shut down when the Augur (presumably Jaern) took over last year. This gives me the impression that the Augur must have quite a lot of power over the Torren region. He points out that the value of Torren's currency took a massive dive as a result...and it has never recovered. Yeah, it's clear that Jaern is no expert on finance.
Anyway, let's go inside the house.
The Ryu-looking guy on the left is buttmad that the Scientists' Club want kids to be smart. What a crybaby. The woman on the right is his wife, and she doesn't have an issue with it. The club is open to everyone, and they even pay you to do small bits of work for them. Not to mention that kids get to have fun and learn stuff! That's hardly a bad thing.
The bookshelf has a tome in it called "Manipulating the Stock Market". It basically tells us that because of Torren's low population, it's easy to have great influence over it by buying large amounts of items. Huh. I wonder if that means rich Trainers can influence the markets in that method.
So, where was the former Stock Market building? Well, it can be found to the left of the house that we were just in.
You may also notice that the bottom of the screenshot has a bunch of breakable rocks around a TM. We don't have a Pokémon that knows Rock Smash, nor do we have an item that can be used as a substitute, so we can't get it at the moment. We'll have to remember this place, though.
Anyway, the man says that the Stock Market is closed permanently. That is such a bizarre decision to me. Koril Town is supposedly the financial capital of the Torren Region. Why shut this place down? Why let Jaern do this? What's the point? Did someone there insult a suit he was wearing or something? Man, this goes to show that just like in Vipik City, local governments can be stupid, too. If we go to the right of the house we just went into, we find a crossroad.
We should get that Great Ball. You never know when you'll need one. I mean, technically, we don't need to take it, as we have Debug Mode, and with it, we can get as many PokeBalls as we want, but if you want to grab it, there it is. The man inside the house admits he does get a bit lonely, living by himself. However, he has his Pokémon for company, as shown by the Ambipom and the Cherubi in his home. The house also has a bookshelf that has a tome that describes Sinnoh's lake guardians: Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf. They each represent an aspect of the human spirit: Uxie represents Knowledge, Mesprit represents Emotions, and Azelf represents Willpower.
The tome states that it's theorized these three Pokémon were mutations of Mew, the first species of the creatures. Also, some believe that Mew and certain equipment can be used to summon them. Huh. If we go to the right, we meet a blonde lady who tells us that there is a family that lives in a cave out in the Rezzai Desert. They make a living mining gems the like and selling them for cash. She thinks it's crazy, and she could never do it. Hey, it's a living.
Nearby are some steps. If we go up them, we find the Pokémon Center and another house.
The old beret-wearing man points out that the Rezzai Desert is an artist's paradise. The sand and the rocks...the rocks...the rocks...the sand and the rocks...
He then basically "never mind". I don't doubt the desert is likely very beautiful, but I think he did get a bit overboard. Also, he's not in the screenshot, but there's a man hanging around the Pokémon Center who says if we have a Burmy or a Wormadam, he'll change its form for us...somehow. Yeah, how's he going to do that? I'm good.
The Pokémon Center is nothing special. It has a Move Deleter, a Name Rater, and a shop. But I think you can find them in any Pokémon Center in this game. Let's go into the house to the left of the Center.
The blond on the left mocks us for having friends and a social life. He finds that terrible, as he's got video games. Buddy, you can have all of that. Heck, likely friendships have formed over video games! The lady on the right tells us something useful. She saw a bunch of green-hooded creeps head towards the Rezzai Desert. She wonders what that was all about. To be honest, so do I. Because those guys cannot be good news.
The bookshelf in this house has a tome called "Sky Cult". It explains the Sky Cult is the newest of the five cults in the Region. As such, this cult is the least-known. They don't know the names of any of the members or leaders, but it is rumored they're after Rayquaza. Which...makes sense.
Gladly. The Sky Cult has claimed they have noble goals, but it's not believed as well...the other four cults have said the same thing, and they turned out to hardly be noble. No freakin' kidding.
And I think that's pretty much it for exploring this town. If we go slightly to the left and upwards, we find the entrance to the Rezzai Desert.
The lady in the screenshot says that some green-suited folks ran by here earlier. I'm guessing they're the "Sky Cult". If they are into Rayquaza, it makes sense they'd wear green. Also, I noticed what looks like musical notes carved into the stone wall. I wonder what those notes mean? And I could have sworn I've seen something like this before...
Ah well. Nothing we can do about that now. Let's head to the Rezzai Desert!
The little covered entryway has a screen that warns us that this desert has many harsh sandstorms. Which means that your Pokémon are going to get battered if they get into battles.
It does suck but we have to get through this desert to move forward.
Welcome to the Rezzai Desert.
It's a big desert, so we should make sure that we got plenty of water. Don't want to die of thirst out here.
I do wonder how this place got its name. This game doesn't really do theme naming as far as I can see, so I wonder if the name was just given on a whim. Would make some sense...
Right, right, let's worry about getting through this desert, shall we? Wandering around, we do find some items left behind. Likely other trainers dropped them. For example, I found a Great Ball.
I love the little detail of it being half-submerged in sand. It's a nice touch. There's also Mr. Hard Hat in the screenshot we can battle if we wish. He points out something we just saw, that thanks to the sandstorm, people can find lot items. Yeah.
(Miner) Brady
1st Pokémon: Torkoal (Lv. 39) - Switched out for Gigalith. Later defeated by Seismitoad to end the battle.
2nd Pokémon: Gigalith (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Gabite
3rd Pokémon: Golem (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Seismitoad.
He then grumbles and calls me a thief for taking his money as a prize. Bro, I didn't program this game! It's not my fault! Whatever. If we go downward from the Hiker, we find another trainer, and a Super Potion.
Never know when you'll need a Super Potion. If the Trainer in the screenshot spots us, he'll as if someone as young as us should really be out here in the desert. After all, deserts can be dangerous. I mean, his concern is hardly unreasonable. I sometimes think that people may forget that in Pokémon games, the characters we play as tend to be children. But then again, in these games, children are the ones who tend to save the world as well as capture and command creatures that are powerful enough to potentially level continents, so...yeah. Take that for what you will.
Anyway, let's battle this guy.
(Ruin Maniac) Indiana (Heh.)
1st Pokémon: Lucario (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Krystal.
After we beat him, he thinks that we'll be fine. Again, in these games, kids are the ones who save the world and capture super-monsters. I headed to the right. I had noticed that it took me a while to encounter my first wild Pokémon here: a Vibrava. I think wild Pokémon only hang around the darker sands of the desert. Like here in this screenshot.
I think it's meant to imply that these sands are moister? Which would make sense, as even desert animals need water. There's also a Hiker we can battle. He says the sandstorm is brutal, but it's worth it when it comes to finding Pokémon in the desert. He's not kidding.
(Hiker) Henry
1st Pokémon: Lunatone (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Torterra.
2nd Pokémon: Solrock (Lv. 39) - Defeated by Seismitoad.
He's impressed with us, saying "Not bad, not bad!" That's nice of him. I mean, we did get two badges, so we are definitely doing well for ourselves. Thanks for the compliment!
Going to the right and upwards takes us to this here cave entrance.
If you looked at the map of the Rezzai Desert I showed earlier, you may see this entrance in the middle of said map. The upper half of the desert is on a ridge that we can't climb, so presumably, we have to enter this cave in order to access that area. So, let's go inside, shall we? As we approach the cave, we see a Vibrava and a Trapinch standing on top of the cave entrance. It's almost like they're guardians of this cave, judging our worthiness to enter. They don't seem to react, so they must see us as welcome.
Welcome to the Rezzai Cavern. It's got rocks, rocks, more rocks, and also, rocks. Did I mention there are rocks here? Well, guess what? There are more than rocks here. There are also trainers and items. For example, this little lady right here.
...hey, what is that in the corner? Is that another Delta Pokémon? There's a boulder in front of it, which can be moved with a Pokémon that knows Strength...or Psychic. Luckily, Krystal knows it. Moving the boulder allows us to get to the mysterious critter, and turns out, I was right!
It's a Delta Elekid. Unlike the Electric-type of standard Elekids, Delta Elekid is a Rock-type. It was an easy capture thanks to my cache of Master Balls. I love Debug Mode. Anyway, let's meet that Trainer in the screenshot, shall we? She explains that the cave is full of valuable minerals, and it attracts Miners from all over the region. Maybe we could find some of these minerals ourselves. Like a Nugget. Yeah, Debug Mode lets us have all the Nuggets we want, but still. Would be cool to find one here.
(Lady) Tristi
1st Pokémon: Simisage (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Shiro.
2nd Pokémon: Grumpig (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Gabite.
After we win, she suggests we try finding some minerals ourselves. That's not a bad idea. And speaking of finding things, we find a couple items here. One is a Dusk Ball upwards and to the right of Tristi.
You never know when you'll need one of those. You can Surf or fish on the water below to find Pokémon. Across from here is another item.
That's a Timer Ball. There's also another Black Belt trainer hanging around nearby. If he spots us, he'll come at us with a loud "HEEYAAAAAAAAAAH" like he's Bruce Lee or something.
(Black Belt) Adam
1st Pokémon: Throh (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Krystal. Torterra used Leech Seed to weaken it.
2nd Pokémon: Gallade (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Gabite. Gabite grew to Level 40!
3rd Pokémon: Sawk (Lv. 40) - Defeated by Krystal.
In a funny moment, when you beat him, he apologizes for the scream, he was just clearing his throat. Heh. Nearby Adam is another lake. If we cross it, we find this lady hanging about.
I'm guessing she's a geologist looking around at all the rocks. She says she doesn't understand why having Pokémon fight each other is legal. My idea on that is that many Pokémon naturally do battle each other and actually do enjoy fighting each other. It's just with Trainers; there's rules and limits. Ironically, we end up battling her.
(Scientist) Bella
1st Pokémon: Magneton (Lv. 41) - Defeated Gabite. Defeated by Krystal.
You know lady, if you don't like the idea of Pokémon battling each other, maybe you shouldn't train a Pokémon to fight others.
We move upwards, further into the cavern, and we end up spotting some women in dresses (at least, I think they're women in dresses) hassling a Hiker.
Oh, great. Another cult.
Well, we should not have been surprised. This is Torren, after all. The dark blue-haired woman (I'm assuming she's the leader, tries to act friendly, saying there is nothing to be afraid of and that we're all friends here.
The Hiker understandably doesn't buy it. The leader claims that he found something while mining (She says "you two", but as you can see in the screenshot, he doesn't have anyone with him), and since they're friends, he wouldn't mind loaning it to her. The Hiker reveals that she's talking about a "scroll" his kids found, and it belongs to them. She can't just take it! She says she can, but she prefers to do it the "easy way". He asks what they need the scroll for, and she reveals that they're the Sky Cultists, worshippers of Rayquaza. And the scroll is basically an instruction manual for summoning it. The Hiker figures that's why they want it, and he decides to give it to her anyway. I imagine he doesn't want them to go after his kids.
When he leaves, one of the ladies asks the leader what they'll do next. The leader is like "The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!" Well, she doesn't say that, but I would not be surprised if that's the intent. For now, the plan is to head to Helios City. There's a place there called the Jade Tower, and they're going to try and summon Rayquaza there. The Jade Tower is the Augur's headquarters, presumably where he lives and works when he's not...doing whatever it is an Augur does. It's also the highest point in the region. Makes sense, I think Rayquaza is an embodiment of the sky, so one would try to summon him from a high point.
And with that, they vanish.
...we'll have to get Helios City. I mean, we should warn Jaern, but that man makes my hackles rise for some reason. In the screenshot, there was a ladder leading to a lower floor. I wanted to explore it, but the game has something to say about that.
Yeah, we should go to Helios anyway. We have to go to the left to exit the cave. While there, we encounter a nice surprise.
Hey, it's Damian! How's he been doing? Hopefully, he learned his lesson about keeping quiet. You may also notice the two nurses standing there. The one on the left will heal your Pokémon, and the one on the right is basically a PC, letting you adjust your team roster. I'm guessing she has some kind of device or maybe is a robot. Either way is plausible.
When we talk to Damian, he reveals he was looking for us. He's been training up his team and changed his style a little bit, inspired by his new partner: Shaymin. He's ready to take us on, intent on winning this time. Well, if it's a battle he wants, a battle he shall get...next time. I tried to take him on before, and his Dets Charizard decimated my team with Shadow Ball. I'm going to grind up my team before facing him again. Wish me luck! 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:
(Crossroads)
- Growlithe
- Weepinbell
- Ditto
- Slowpoke (obtained by surfing)
- Fletchling
(Route 5)
- Prinplup (obtained by surfing)
- Croconaw (obtained by surfing)
- Luxray
- Roselia
- Servine
(Samsara Cave)
- Delta Pidgey
- Riolu (Shiny)
(Koril Town)
- Lileep x 2
- Archen x 2
- Omanyte x 2
- Kabutops
- Kabuto (obtained by Debug Mode)
(Rezzai Desert)
- Vibrava
- Hippopotas
- Krokorok
(Rezzai Cavern)
- Dugtrio
- Graveler
- Quagsire (encountered by Surfing)
- Gastrodon (encountered by Surfing)
- Axew (encountered, didn't catch as I already had one)
- Boldore
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