October

 Today is the first of October!

I hope you're all ready for a month celebrating scares! And I hope it's a good month for you all!

Text Play: Pokémon Insurgence (Detergent Mod) #9

 Hello, and welcome back to the Torren Region! This is entry #9 in my Text Play of Pokémon Insurgence...with the Detergent Mod!

Last time, we managed to defeat Damien in a rematch. He was good. Real good. His Delta Charizard is no joke. We also explored Roggan Town, home of Torren's Game Corner and future site of its Battle Frontier. And then we started on Route 6. 

So, where do we go from here? Let's find out! Before we begin, I wish to warn you, I will be spoiling this game.

As such, I highly recommend that you play this game for yourself before you read these Text Plays. You can download the game here. And now, on with the show! 

Before we fully travel through the Route, I wanted to hit the Game Corner and give Triple Triad a try. I've never been interested in the game before. Who knows, maybe playing around will win me over. Before we did, I went to Felicity to check out the lucky number. Won another Ultra Ball. Yay! I also wanted to buy some more cards. Thanks to Debug Mode and a lot of Nuggets, I have more than enough money to buy a ton of expensive ones.

I bought a couple Torterra and Zapdos cards, And because I have a Fire deck, I bought some Heatmor, Charizard, and Dugtrio cards, the Dugtrio ones just for the heck of it. I got money, after all. Why not spend it? One we bought some cards, we can now play the game. So, how does Triple Triad work? Well, first we have to talk to Felicity at the Game Corner.

She doesn't just let you buy and sell cards, she'll explain the rules of the game to you. That's very nice and helpful of her. I hope the Game Corner pays her very well. Anyway, the rules work like this: We have a grid, 3 squares by 3 squares. Each player chooses five cards from their deck for their hand. Each player then takes turns putting cards on the board. 

Each card has a number on its sides. When a card is placed, the numbers on the card are compared to the numbers on the sides of the card that touches it. If the placed card's number is higher, the placer gets control of the card. Whoever controls the most cards when the grid is filled wins the game and also wins one of the loser's cards. The card lost is chosen at random, so make sure to get lots of extras. The game here comes in four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Legendary.

I'm playing on Easy mode because I'm new to this. This mode also allows you to see your opponent's hand, and there are no rule variations. In fact, the purpose of this mode is to help teach the game. Every game should have an Easy mode. Once we agree to play, Felicity lets us in, and we meet our first opponent: this nice old lady here.

She seems like one of those "one with nature" types. Which is cool, never had an issue with those folks. Nature is nice after all. Let's play some Triple Triad. 

We have to pick our five cards. I chose to use a Natu, Aerodactyl, Charizard, Marowak, and a Heatmor card.

The lady, Tyla by name, chooses her own five cards: Two Budews, a Nidorina, a Growlithe, and an Anorith. She placed her first Budew on the top center cell. I placed my Natu on the top right, taking the Budew. She then placed her Anorith card on the top left, taking it back. I put the Aerodactyl underneath the Anorith, giving me 3-1. She placed her second Budew on the bottom left. I put my Charizard on the middle right cell, taking control of the second Budew. She then placed her Growlithe on the bottom middle cell, taking back her Budew. I put my Aerodactyl in the middle, giving me control of her first Budew She placed her final card, her Nidorina, on the remaining cell.

As you can see, we won against Tyle, controlling six cards to her three. And I won her Nidorina card.

I admit, I felt a little bad about that. I would have happily taken one of her Budews, as she had an extra. I can certainly see why people enjoy Triple Triad. It's basically a game that requires a bit of luck and a bit of strategy. Anything can happen.

When we first enter the Route, we can battle this guy.

He tells us, like the screenshot says, that Helios is north of here. Also, it's the biggest city in Torren. Which makes sense. Helios, in Greek myth, is a sun god and personification of the sun. His chariot pulls the sun through the sky, explaining sunrise and sunset. And the Sun is the biggest (and brightest) star seen in the sky, due to the fact that Earth is closer to it than any other star. 

So, let's take him on!

(Athlete) Tor (His sprite is a baseball player. That's neat. Reminds me of Black and White.)
1st Pokémon: Hitmonlee (Lv. 42) - Defeated by Torterra. Hitmonlee's Hi Jump Kick hit Grotle hard, though.
2nd Pokémon: Primeape (Lv. 42) - Defeated by Krystal the Delta Venusaur.
3rd Pokémon: Hitmontop (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Krystal.

After we win, he tells us we should go there, as he describes it as a "crazy place". I don't doubt it. Helios is supposedly a big ol' city, after all. Makes sense there's be lots to do there. I want to see what's going on there, but we have to get there first! Once we enter the Route and get past Tor, we can fish and surf in a nearby lake. Also near the lake is an Ultra Ball.

You can grab it if you'd like. As you can also see in the screenshot, there is a bridge. If we cross it, we end up passing through here.

We have to battle that guy to continue onward. He compliments the colors he's seen on this Route. He especially is fond of the majestic greens and beautiful blues. I mean, he's not wrong. The greens are indeed majestic and the blues are indeed beautiful. And he wants to capture them not by painting or photography, but battle. Eh, whatever floats your boat.

(Artist) Kao
1st Pokémon: Smeargle (Lv. 42) - Defeated by Torterra.
2nd Pokémon: Musharna (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Krystal. Musharna was hard to damage due to my team having no Dark-types or Dark-type moves. I have to work on that.

He found our battle elegant. I'm glad he did. Anyway, we continue on the next Bridge ahead of him and find...this thing on the wall.

What is that? Is that some kind of art thing? It reminded me of something I saw when I was a kid. On my way to my grandmother's house in Great Britain, we would see these colorful shapes arranged in a line on the side of cliffs. Not the white cliffs of Dover, different cliffs. They were really cool. I don't think they're there anymore. I wish I had a camera then, I would have photographed or filmed them. 

Right, right. Sorry about that. Just feeling a bit nostalgic. Anyway, if we continue upwards, there's a path that takes us to the left. If we go on that path, we'll be taken here to this corner.

As you can see in the screenshot, there's a Max Repel. It's handy if you don't want to be bothered by wild Pokémon on your travels. There's also a Trainer we can battle. He's a big fan of Bug-types, as he believes they are the strongest kind of Pokémon. I mean, I'd agree with him when it comes to Butterfree. Butterfrees have always been reliable powerhouses on my teams in various games. 

(Bug Catcher) Mikage
1st Pokémon: Butterfree (Lv. 44) - Defeated by Shiro.
2nd Pokémon: Beedrill (Lv. 44) - Withdrawn from battle after a dose of Fire Blast from Shiro. 
3rd Pokémon: Ninjask (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Shiro. Brought out in place of Beedrill.

He still insists Bug-types are the best. Whatever floats your boat, my friend. And again, I'd agree with him when it comes to Butterfree. Anyway, we go upwards, and we find ourselves here. 

A maze of fences. I wonder why this is here. Is it an artist making some kind of statement? Who knows?

The blue haired man explains that every year, a parade passes through this Route to Helios City. It's a big celebration, but he doesn't reveal what it's for before we battle him. 

(Bird Keeper) Josh
1st Pokémon: Pidgeot (Lv. 42) - Defeated by Thunderwing the Zapdos.
2nd Pokémon: Swoobat (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Thunderwing.
3rd Pokémon: Fearow (Lv. 43) - Defeated by Thunderwing. 

We swept his team! I friggin' love Zapdos. After we beat him, he mentions the "next festival" is in two months, and he is excited for it.

Yeah, he doesn't say exactly what this "festival" is or what it's celebrating. Is it celebrating a harvest? Or, considering games like this, it's a general celebration of Pokémon? Maybe we'll find out more in Helios, because I am very curious. To actually get to Helios though, we're actually going to have to get past that fence maze. Thankfully, it's not remotely as complicated as it seems to get through. No, it's not. It really isn't. Just enter, go to the left, and then the exit is right there. It's literally that simple! Makes me wonder why it's there in the first place.

Yeah, just stay hugging the trees, and we'll be right at the exit. Before we go, if we go down the other side of the maze's exterior, we'll find an item.

It's an Ether, if you're wondering. So, now we got that, let's move on.

Welcome to Route 7.

Yeah, it's another route. We'll get to Helios. I hope. We can battle the green-haired cape-wearer in the screenshot if you'd like. He wants to run away and join the circus. Is that still a thing in this day and age?

(Juggler) Shan
1st Pokémon: Ambipom (Lv. 45) - Defeated by Torterra. Ambipom's Double Hit managed to hurt it bad, though.
2nd Pokémon: Ambipom (Lv. 44) - Defeated by Gabite. Like with Torterra, it was hit hard by Ambipom's Double Hit move.

After we beat him, he says he loves the circus. I don't blame him. I went to one years ago when I was younger, and it was neat. Anyway, this Route is a short one. We just go upwards and follow the path to the left. Doing so takes us up here.

Hey, there's also a Dusk Ball on the ground! I wonder how that got there. Maybe some Trainer accidentally dropped it. Although how it ended up there is anyone's guess. Maybe it rolled there. After picking up the Ball, I noticed something...familiar.

Huh. Haven't seen a puddle of green water in a while. I think since all the way back in entry #1 when were escaping that facility. Come to think of it, you'd think Persephone would have noticed that we were gone by now. I mean, we've gotten two Badges. I can imagine Badge fights are public record.

I wonder how that got there? Maybe somebody did some waste dumping in Helios?  

To go forward, we have to pass by those two watchtowers and battle the lady with the umbrella. She thinks we want to see Jaern. Honestly, I'd rather avoid him if I can. Man gives me the creeps.

She says he's way too important to waste his time on people like us. Yeah, I'm sure.

I'm going to enjoy fighting her.

(Parasol Lady) Maurine
1st Pokémon: Basculin (Red Stripe, Lv. 44): Defeated by Torterra.
2nd Pokémon: Heliolisk (Lv. 44) - Defeated by Gabite with one shot of Earthquake.
3rd Pokémon: Absol (Lv. 44) - Defeated by Seismitoad with Drain Punch and poisoning.

She grumbles it wasn't fair. Too bad, lady. No one cares. We go upwards and find us at this bridge.

I admit, when I first saw this bridge, I got the impression it was meant to be lined in gold, giving the idea that Helios is a rich city full of rich people. I mean, it makes no sense, but the phrase "Rich in dollars, poor in sense" exists for a reason. Ah, well. This bridge leads us right to Helios City.

Welcome to Helios City! Home of the Augur, and one of the richest and biggest cities of the Torren Region. In fact, according to one woman walking around the streets, this place is actually Torren's capital city. I can't help but think that Helios was inspired by Manhattan. It looks like a big island, and it even has what appears to be its own version of Central Park right near the center of the city. I want to explore that park. However, when we arrive in the city, Damian is there.

How you been doing, buddy? Sadly, he has some bad news for us.

He went to the Jade Tower to warn Jaern, but it turns out the Cultists were already there. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that Jaern invited them. We have to find another way into the Tower, presumably as they have the main entrances covered. He thinks maybe we can get in through the sewers. Do I look like Wolverine to you, Damian?!

He then vanishes, presumably to find another way in. I imagine he's going to try to get in through the sewers. He's going to stink to high heaven. But first, let's get to the Pokémon Center here in Helios. Naturally, for a big city, the Center is a full-on PokeMall. According to one old lady here, Helios's is actually bigger than most other complexes like this, due to how rich the city is.

However, when I went inside, it didn't seem any bigger or fancier than the previous PokeMalls we've been to in the past. Yeah. There weren't any unique stores or anything like that. Well, there is a reason for that. You see, Torren isn't just known for being the home of the Augur. It's also known for its big Department Store. 

There's a house to the right of the PokeMall. 

Yeah, that one. If we go upstairs and talk to the kid with the Chatot, he'll say there's someone willing to trade a Barboach for any Pokémon. It's a good opportunity to get yourself a Whiscash if you want. We'll have to do that next time. Yeah, not much happened here in this entry, and I do apologize for that. This month has been a bit crazy, so I haven't been able to devote a lot of time to this game. New job, other fangames, that kind of thing. I hope you'll join me next time when we fully explore Helios City. 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:
(Route 6)
- Minun
- Gogoat
- Lapras (obtained by Surfing)
- Farfetch'd
(Route 7)
- Stoutland
- Phantump
- Chatot

Batman #388 (October 1985)

Since last week was Batman Day, which I was unaware of until after it passed, I thought I'd make it up by looking at a comic focused on the Dark Knight. I wondered which one I should cover, as there are many stories featuring the Caped Crusader. I picked up a Batman trade off my shelf, and found one that looked fun to talk about, as it showed the Gotham Guardian facing off against two villains that he regularly doesn't. You'll see what I mean when I look at Batman #388!

The cover is a Tom Mandrake and Anthony Tollin piece. It's really cool. It depicts what looks like a bunch of reflections of Batman about to be ambushed by Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang. It's a really unique cover. Is this what it's like to be on an acid trip? I can imagine people in the DCU seeing stuff like this on LSD.

"The Round-Trip Looking Glass!"
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciller: Tom Mandrake
Inker: Tom Mandrake
Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins at the Gotham Museum. It's midnight. And midnight in Gotham is a time for the creatures of the night to roam. And I'm not talking about vampires or ghosts or monsters. I'm talking about super-criminals.

The night watchman is looking over a display of a necklace. Said necklace is made of jade, the beads in the chape of elephants. But someone is interested in obtaining the necklace, and not through legit means.

"They said I was mad for creating this! They called me Nuts! Insane! WENDELL!"

Meet Sam Scudder, aka the original Mirror Master. Now, Gotham is not his normal stomping ground. He's normally active around Central City, home of the Flash. In fact, he's one of the Flash's Rogues. Thing is, at this point, Barry Allen (the Flash at the time) had gone through a criminal trial over the death of his archnemesis Eobard Thawne, aka Professor Zoom. Afterwards, he retired to the far future with his wife Iris. That was a whole thing. As such, I can imagine the Rogues were feeling a bit empty without the Flash to fight. 

The night watchman, unaware of this, is at the neanderthal exhibit. He feels a draft in the air but thinks nothing of it. And then he gets a boomerang to the head.

Yup, another one of the Flash's Rogues has decided to try his luck in Gotham.

"Awww, you always have to butt in on my heists! Go bother Heat Wave!"

It's George "Digger" Harkness, aka Captain Boomerang. He's after the jade elephant necklace too. Scudder's not surprised. After all, he came to Gotham to get away from the Flash and other super-powered heroes. He thinks Batman is nothing to worry about. After all, unlike the Flash, who is super-fast, he's just some dude in a costume who can fight good. Boomerang disagrees, as he fought the Dark Knight in Batman #321. Just because the Batman has no powers, doesn't mean he isn't dangerous. And he wants a rematch.

The two then end up arguing over their supervillain gimmicks, until a certain Caped Crusader comes by to..."greet" them. The two decide that now is good time to run away. Digger, especially. He may want revenge against the Gotham Guardian, but not like this.

Batman pursues the two to a dinosaur exhibit. Mirror Master blinds Batman with a flash of light, and Boomerang uses an explosive boomerang to pin him under a pile of dinosaur bones. The two keep running, arguing over who did more damage to Batman. This leads them to decide to compete over who will be the best criminal in Gotham. I can imagine Batman's own rogues having something to say to these two about that...

Batman eventually frees himself from the damaged dinosaur skeleton. At least he managed to foil the jade necklace robbery. In the Batcave, he discusses this with Alfred and the Jason Todd Robin. They already have enough on their plate with mopping up the remnants of the False Face Society, the criminal organization that was run by the villain known as the Black Mask. 

Here, we get to learn about the origins of the Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang for those who haven't read The Flash. 

Samuel Scudder (the comic refers to him as "Joe" Scudder for some reason. Joseph is his middle name)...

...was once an ordinary convict working in the prison's mirror factory. One day, he goofed up by putting the wrong chemical in the backing for a mirror. His foreman told him to toss it, but he discovered the mirror had gained special properties, like holding reflections, that kind of thing. He would study this strange phenomenon, and upon release from prison, used his new knowledge to start a supervillain career as the Mirror Master, using mirrors to create 3D duplicates of people to commit crimes, trapping people in mirrors, that kind of thing.

Now for Captain Boomerang! George "Digger" Harkness was an Australian criminal who was hired by a toy company to help promote the selling of boomerangs as toys. Harkness's "Captain Boomerang" persona was originally meant to be a promotional mascot, in the vein of Tony the Tiger. The promotional campaign was a failure, seen as ridiculous and idiotic. And a furious Digger decided to make the persona into a feared criminal. 

That night, Sam Scudder is in civilian clothes, trying to brainstorm a crime that'll outdo Harkness. 

However, his little his brainstorming ends up getting interrupted.

"Is it true you owe Batman twenty bucks?"

These masked men are well aware who Sam is. Which makes sense, being a super-criminal, it's likely his identity is very much public. These masked men are not looking to beat Sam up, however. They're looking for him to lead them.

Gladly. You see, these guys were once members of the False Face Society, hence the masks. But since Batman and Robin took down Black Mask, the leader of said Society, these guys have been feeling down and rather rudderless. They're looking for someone to tell them what do to. Sam agrees and puts on some special glasses. These glasses have special lenses in them, allowing Scudder to hypnotize the men. He orders them to go find Captain Boomerang and beat him up. This'll cause Harkness some problems for a while. Scudder eyes a nearby bank and decides, "What the heck? I'll just rob this bank!"

At Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne has a visit from Julia Remarque. She's the daughter of Alfred Pennyworth and the WWII-era French resistance fighter known as Mademoiselle Marie. During the war, Alfred served in France as part of British Intelligence. Of course, that was plausible in the 1980s, but due to comic book time (not to mention DC rebooting their universe every week), it's become less plausible over time.

Right. Anyway, Remarque announces to Bruce that she wants to write a true crime book about Black Mask and the False Face Society, kind of like In Cold Blood. Hey, if she was doing this today, she'd be doing a podcast about it! However, Bruce's mind is on other things. He's not just worried about what the two Flash rogues are up to, he's also been thinking about Vicki Vale. Yeah, she was part of Batman's supporting cast at the time, basically a parallel to Lois Lane. The two of them had broken up, causing her to become obsessed with working out. And then he spots the Bat-Signal. 

He heads to the Batcave, donning his Batman togs. He finds Robin waiting for him in the Batmobile. The two head out to a police station, only to nearly crash into Harvey Bullock. Bullock informs him that there's a suspicious figure hanging around Zindorf Jewelers. Bullock himself was responding to a call elsewhere. Robin figures it's both Scudder and Harkness waging their little war. So, they decide to split up.

Robin goes with Bullock, and Batman continues on his own. Over at Zindorf Jewelers, Captain Boomerang manages to easily break into the building. You'd think a business in city with its own supervillain problems would have better security systems.

Anyway, Harkness is unaware that he was spotted by the False Face Society members hypnotized by Mirror Master. Boomerang looks over the jewel cases, picking out which are the best to steal, when the False Face men bust in. 

"CANDYGRAM!"

Meanwhile, Bullock and Robin have arrived at a bank. They spot Mirror Master and have an easy time with him. Sort of. Scudder manages to blind Bullock with a mirror, but Jason Todd kicks him and Bullock shoots the mirror, rendering it useless. 

Batman arrives at the jewelers, and the former False Face Society members end up facing him. Boomerang takes the opportunity to, again, run for his life. 

Boomerang makes his way to Scudder's hideout. It's easy to find, as it is the only apartment that has a bunch of mirrors in it. 

Harkness even spots the mirror that Scudder used to make his glasses with the hypnotic lenses. Robin and Bullock are taking Scudder to the police station. Scudder uses the car's rear-view mirror and the image of Boomerang in a mirrored false tooth to create an illusion of Captain Boomerang. This distracts the Boy Wonder and the cop, allowing Scudder to hack Bullock in the back of the head with his shoulder. The car crashes, and Scudder escapes into the bay.

At police headquarters, Commissioner Gordon thinks that since they've been foiled, the two Rogues will leave. Batman doesn't think so. Besides, he wants them to stay. I can imagine it's also because Batman wants a bit of payback against them.

Scudder heads back to his hideout, where he notices one of his mirrors is missing. A boomerang flies into his apartment, shattering his mirrors. Oh, Sammy is in for a lot of bad luck...

...which makes sense somewhat. I think this storyline is his last appearance before he becomes one of the casualties of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. He catches the boomerang, which was carved from the missing mirror. It plays a recording of Captain Boomerang that helps hypnotize Scudder.

"You will also get naked and dance at the police station."

The story ends with Captain Boomerang thinking that regardless of what happens next, he'll be rid of one of his enemies tonight...

I enjoyed this issue. The main hook is Batman fighting super-criminals he normally doesn't fight. I love stories like this because not only does it show that the DC Universe is interconnected, but it actually would make sense that in a universe like the DCU, a superhero would occasionally face off against a villain outside their usual Rogues Gallery. I also like the feuding between the two Rogues. Thing is, just because they both fight the Flash regularly, doesn't mean they have to like each other. Over the years, Boomerang would go on to be one of the worse Rogues thanks to his depiction in Suicide Squad. Also, the Rogues aren't generally a formal team like say, the Justice League. The cliffhanger is a nice bit of irony, Sam Scudder being placed in peril by his very gimmick.  

I also enjoyed the comic touching on the issues regarding Bruce Wayne's personal life. It's something about this era of Batman I actually enjoy. He isn't just the costume. He has a life outside it...a life that is often complicated by the Batman suit, but a life nonetheless. Vicki Vale's obsession with working out is an example of that. 

Tom Mandrake is an underrated artist. I really enjoyed his art here. I was more familiar with his work on The Spectre, which I found perfect for him with his use of shadow and moodiness. We start to see the beginnings of that here. What a difference a few years makes, huh? 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2025 trade paperback DC Finest: Batman - Red Skies. 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 my blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!