All the Pokemens

[Aura]

Chapter 10: Dusknoir (Part 2)

The next morning, we're told by Loudred that we have a visitor before Chatot can give us our assignment for the day. When we arrive at the entrance, it's Azurill and Marill!

 

The brothers ask us for help in finding the Water Float that was supposedly found on the beach.

 

When they went to recover the Water Float, they instead found a ransom note informing them to come to the deepest part of Amp Plains. Marill tried to go himself, but couldn't make it far at all into the dungeon.

And so, we agree to help the brothers recover their Water Float from Amp Plains!

After some preparations in Treasure Town, we head out to the plains!

 

It's time to get the Water Float back from the jerks who stole it from them!

=============

Amp Plains

This dungeon is quite an interesting case in Explorers of Sky.

In Explorers of Time and Darkness, you could find  Phanpy and  Shinx here. But this time around, those two are starter pokemon, so you can no longer find them here. At least, not until later on. There are a handful of other pokemon that get this treatment, even in Explorers of Time and Darkness. I'll try to note when the starters will be made available and where they can be found.

Other than that, the same pokemon can be found here as in Explorers of Time and Darkness. And, with the exception of Darkness's Violent Seed, Sky includes all items from both versions with the typical additions.

Items added in Sky include:  Oren Berries,  Dough,  Dropeye,  Reviser,  Slip, and  Via Seeds,  Mix Elixirs, and the TM for  Dragon Claw.

All the traps from both versions of the game can be found, too. And the threat of Monster Houses permeate throughout the dungeon. But Secret Staircases leading to the Secret Bazaar can also be found if you're lucky!

All in all, this dungeon isn't too bad, but there are some tough pokemon ahead and bad luck, such as wandering into a Monster House, can cause some big issues. But things don't get particularly dangerous until the later part of the dungeon.

On the third floor, Pollen leveled up and learned Worry Seed! Worry Seed can be a big help in dealing with enemies with particularly annoying abilities such as Pressure, so I gave it to her in place of Growth. Growth certainly isn't a bad move by any means, but I like Pollen to play more of a status support role for the squad. She doesn't need to worry too much about buffing herself.

 

We soon arrive at the waypoint and make our way deeper into the plains.

============

 

Of course, we cut to a scene where the Marill brothers are speaking with Kecleon about their lost item that we're helping them recover.

 

After Dusknoir hears that we went to Amp Plains at this time of year, he realizes that we're in grave danger and immediately drops everything to rush to our aid!

==============

Far Amp Plains

Continuing into the Far Amp Plains, this part of the dungeon is where the real danger starts. The pokemon up here are a bit more dangerous. In particular, watch out for  Dodrio who, I found out the hard way, are capable of using Pluck and stealing edible items from your inventory! Normally they can be scared off easily with their Run Away ability, but if you're in a bad spot, such as a Monster House, they can start picking your inventory clean of a lot of valuable items like Gummis and Reviver Seeds. They're especially frustrating when you have Ampharos constantly paralyzing you. It's a whole mess.

Like in the lower floors, the pokemon and items are the same as the combined versions of previous floors minus Shinx, Luxio, and Luxray as well as the Violent Seed in the items department.

On the 6th floor is where I ran into this incredibly uncomfortable situation, surrounded on all sides by Dodrio and Ampharos. The best I could do was step back and let Pollen attack across the corners with Energy Ball and Stun Spore while I supported Icarus with Helping Hand. All the while the Dodrio helped themselves to a feast of Gummis and Oran Berries. I fucking hate it here. But eventually we were able to power through and take 'em out to reap the rewards of the Monster House. Thankfully, I didn't lose any of my most important gummis or seeds. It was mostly just miscellaneous Gummis and Oran Berries that ended up getting stolen. We did get quite a bit of Exp from the Monster House, though!

Also, on the 7th floor, we got another new recruit!

=============

Team Flight New Recruit:

-------------

Thunder (Electrike M); Lv. 20

Item: None

Abilities: Static, LightningRod | Moves: Spark, Quick Attack, Howl, Leer

If I didn't already have a support pokemon in Pollen, I'd probably be bringing Thunder along if only for the promise of Thunder Wave. But we're doing great as-is! So he'll probably be sitting on the bench for a while.

============

 

We soon arrive in the Amp Clearing where we spot the Water Float we're after! But as we approach...

 

 

 

This scene plays out with slightly different dialogue than before. Where in Explorers of Time and Darkness, they played with Luxray's ability to see through walls with X-Ray Vision, Manectric doesn't have any such ability. So instead, he and his Electrike tribe decide to take their time to carefully search the area for us. With our discovery inevitable, we have no choice but to come out of hiding and face them head on.

 

And, sure enough, we're surrounded, this time, by a crowd of Manectric and Electrike rather than Luxray and Luxio.

=============

   

Team Flight

---------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 21

Item: Persim Band 

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand + Sand-Attack, Growl, Facade

----------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 21

Item: Lime Bow 

Abilities: Inner Focus, Steadfast | Moves: Endure, Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast

-------------

Pollen (Budew F); Lv. 18

Item: Special Band 

Abilities: Natural Cure, Poison Point | Moves: Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Energy Ball, Worry Seed

--------------

Cloud (Wooper F); Lv. 18

Item: Zinc Band 

Abilities: Damp, Water Absorb | Moves: Tail Whip, Mud Shot, Water Pulse, Slam

=============

Vs. The Electrike Tribe

I believe I've alluded to this boss fight being different in Explorers of Sky back when I covered it in Time and Darkness. I also believe I mistakenly said it was easier after failing to realize how the Intimidate ability actually worked. However, this fight is actually slightly more difficult as the Electrike not only have the Static Ability which can potentially paralyze you, but they also have Quick Attack to attack you from a range! Still, they aren't exactly smart enough to just keep their distance, so they'll close in on you pretty quick and that's where you can easily turn things around.

 

Right away, I set my teammates to use their ranged attacks and hopefully pick off a few easy targets.

 

In the meantime, I would relocate into a better position. From here, it was just a matter of getting Pollen to stun the Electrike surrounding her and hold them off. Pollen and Cloud could pick off these lessers while Icarus and I could focus on the lead, Manectric.

Eventually, Manectric went down and all that was left was to pick off the one Electrike that remained thanks to a few unlucky misses on Pollen's end.

All that took was a simple Facade from Skye to finish the job.

This is just another fight that's all intimidation factor. It's scary to be surrounded, but all the foes go down so quick that they don't really get the chance to overwhelm you.

 

After defeating the tribe, we only succeed at angering their leader even more! They won't even listen to our words as they prepare a powerful attack!

 

Suddenly, Dusknoir arrives to put a stop to the madness.

 

After pleading with the Manectric on our behalf, Dusknoir is able to negotiate with the tribe and convince them to stand down without further conflict.

Music: In the Depths of the Pit

With that, we thank Dusknoir for coming to our aid when he did. There's no telling how things would've turned out had he not been there!

 

Dusknoir explains to us about the culture of the Electrike tribe and how they find this territory to their liking at this time of year, but have become incredibly territorial after being attacked unexpectedly. As a bit of a headcanon, I like to imagine that they have an ongoing conflict with the Luxio tribe from the other versions, and both tribes visit here, but one settled here first and drove the other away depending on the version.

As for the reason the tribe had to be changed? Once again, I can only assume it's related to the fact that you can start as Shinx. It might've been odd for the Luxio tribe to attack a Shinx and not consider that he might be part of their tribe. Ultimately, it's just a decision to minimize confusion, I imagine.

 

Anyway, with Manectric permitting our entry, we make our way to retrieve the Water Float.

 

As we discuss how the Water Float gets here, Dusknoir suggests that the Water Float was placed here with the intention of eliciting a fight between us and Manectric before revealing that he's been aware of the presence of Team Skull this whole time!

 

Music: Team Skull

 

With that, Team Skull reveals themselves. Zubat and Koffing explain their plan to pick us off after we got roughed up by the Electrike tribe.

 

 

Naturally, Team Skull knwos they have no chance against the world-famous Dusknoir, so they retreat. That leaves us with the task of returning the Water Float to the Marill Brothers.

=============

Music: Heartwarming

 

With the job well done, thanks and congratulations are shared all around! But... our story isn't quite over just yet.

 

 

The topic of the Dimensional Scream soon comes up, to Dusknoir's genuine surprise! It's clear some further conversastion is necessary to unravel some mysteries...

 

 

Soon, we begin to volunteer a  lot of information to Dusknoir, and this whole scene definitely carries a whole different feel now that we know about Dusknoir and his motivation... It's the moment Dusknoir learns of our name that the gears begin turning... or, perhaps it's more accurate to say, the gears stop turning.

 

And Dusknoir's smile carries with it a far more sinister tone than it initially did... Where I initially thought he was merely recalling fond memories, it's clear now just how convenient all of this turned out to be for him and how his cruel plan is so effortlessly falling into place...

With that, Dusknoir shares with us all he knows about the Dimensional Scream to further gain our trust, and decides to work with us to "help unravel the secrets of Skye's past." Of course, there is a lot of information he's witholding. He knows exactly who we are and what we're supposed to be here for. And he's going to take full advantage of our inability to remember anything. And certainly, he's also not going to want us to uncover the truth for ourselves.

 

Soon, Pelipper begin to fly overhead in large numbers. Clearly, something big has happened...

With that, Bidoof arrives and tells us that all apprentices are called back to the guild immediately. There must be an emergency! We head back to the guild!

...And that's the end of the chapter, so we'll be leaving things off there for now. Next time, we'll report back to the guild and find out just what's going on! See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 11: Grovyle the Thief

It's back to the story! Last time we helped Azurill and Marill to retrieve their Water Float that was stolen by Team Skull. Along the way, we were helped by the world-famous explorer Dusknoir. After returning, Dusknoir catches wind of our Dimensional Scream ability and our name: Skye. The gears are now turning in his head to figure out how he can take advantage of our amnesia for his goal to stop the Time Gears from being recovered.

At the end of the Chapter, Bidoof came to get us for an emergency meeting at the guild.

 

When we arrive, we come to learn that the Time Gear from Fogbound Lake has been stolen.

 

Dusknoir feigns confusion since he was told the expedition to Fogbound Lake ended in failure, so Wigglytuff confesses that they had to keep it a secret from him to keep their promise to Uxie.

 

Speaking of Uxie, Wigglytuff and Chatot insist that he's fine and under the protection of Magnezone's squad.

 

Chatot then explains that, thanks to Uxie's testimony, the Time Gear's thief has now been identified.

A wanted poster has been put up for Grovyle with a very high bounty.

 

Wigglytuff is angered by the discourse that Grovyle has caused, and vows that we'll catch Grovyle and spare no expense in doing so!

 

With that, the guild's position is made official: Until Grovyle is captured, the entire guild's operations shall be focused on making that happen!

 

After coming to understand the situation, Dusknoir offers his assistance in pursuing Grovyle. Obviously, it's quite a significant part of his ulterior motive, after all.

 

And so, Chatot encourages us to go out and prepare while he and the Guildmaster create a plan.

=============

After visiting Treasure Town to make preparations, we return to the guild to go over the plans.

 

With the help of Dusknoir, Chatot explains they've been able to deduce several locations where Time Gears might be located. Since Grovyle is after the Time Gears, it's important for us to reach at least one of the gears before he does. So our first order of business is to locate a Time Gear that hasn't been stolen.

The locations that have been "deduced" are the Eastern Forest, Crystal Cave, and Northern Desert. Again, this is actually kind of funny knowing that Dusknoir already knows the locations of the Time Gears. He merely pointed us in the directions of the remaining ones while presumably making up some bs for how he was able to deduce their possible locations. No doubt flexing his "genius" as an explorer.

Anyway, Chatot divides the guild into three squads to investigate these areas. Icarus and Skye are assigned to investigate the Northern Desert.

 

The location of the Northern Desert is marked on our map.

And with that, we're all set off to complete our assignment!

 

Once again, we have an opportunity to make preparations. Dusknoir warns us the area is raked by sandstorms, so we're bringing with us a special secret weapon to help us handle that. You probably already have an idea of who that is, too.

============

 

We soon arrive at the entrance to the Northern Desert. It's time to get searching for the Time Gear!

=============

Northern Desert

This dungeon is actually significantly more difficult than the others we've explored so far. I consistently found the enemies took multiple hits to KO. Sandshrew in particular is dangerous with Fury Swipes, Rollout, and Swift.

Item-wise, this dungeon is mostly identical to Explorers of Time and Darkness, with a minor exception:  Sticks can only be found here in Explorers of Darkness. In their place,  Silver Spikes which used to only be available starting on floor 4 are now available throughout the dungeon. Other than that oddity, all version-exclusive items from both games are available. And likewise with the traps. There is no threat of Monster Houses, either.

If you couldn't piece it together yet, my secret weapon I alluded to before is Rain! With his Cloud Nine ability, I can nullify the Sandstorms and not have to worry about them at all! Going forward, I think Rain is going to be a mainstay on our team.

 

Throughout the dungeon, I got two new recruits to join Team Flight!

=============

Team Flight New Recruits

---------------

Dust (Sandshrew F); Lv. 20

Item: None

Ability: Sand Veil | Moves: Fury Swipes, Swift, Rapid Spin, Poison Sting

Sandshrew is scary as an enemy, but not quite as useful as an ally. Fury Swipes has dangerous potential to rip into your health, but multi-hit moves have had their accuracy drastically reduced from Rescue Team, so it's not quite overpowered anymore. It's rare you're going to connect multiple hits in order to make Fury Swipes consistently more powerful than other, stronger attacks. Coupled with Dust's ability relying on sandstorms, she's not a very appealing squad member.

----------------

Fate (Cubone M); Lv. 20

Item: None

Abilities: Rock Head, LightningRod | Moves: Focus Energy, Leer, Headbutt, Bone Club

Fate is a dangerous force to be reckoned with. If I didn't already have Icarus as my dedicated DPS, Fate would certainly be taking that role! In addition to being a powerful hitter with lots of strong moves, including ranged ones it's not far off of learning, LIghtningRod is an incredibly useful ability in Mystery Dungeon, especially on a Ground-type that's immune to electric attacks! I can throw Fate onto any team filled with Water or Flying types and they'll never have to worry about one of their weaknesses! But in general, nullifying an entire type of attack is always a powerful ability. Unfortunately, this ability was nerfed in Sky to where it only works room-wide rather than floor-wide, but it's rare he'll be separated from the group anyway. That's moreso a change for your own benefit when dealing with enemies with Lightningrod.

============

In addition to those recruits, Skye also leveled up to Lv. 22 and learned the move Quick Attack! While Skye isn't much of an attacker, having an additional attacking move can do great for PP preservation.

Starting on the eight floor, the sun begins to set and the dungeon takes on this really pretty orange color.

==============

 

As we arrive at the edge of the desert, we run into what I really feel like is a completely unnecessary point. We reach the Quicksand Pit, but there doesn't appear to be anything here...

 

Just like at Fogbound Lake, we're met with a strange feeling of deja vu, but Icarus urges us to return home since the area appears to be a dead end. It's so frustrating because even my first time playing, I knew there had to be something here based on this reaction. But we've gotta go all the way home first.l

Regardless, our map expands on our way home.

==============

 

Unfortunately, when we return, it seems nobody was able to locate any of the time gears.

Ahaha, I bet you did, buddy.

 

 

With nothing else to do for now, we go to dinner and then head off to bed to prepare for the next day.

 

The assignment for today is to search for the Time Gears on our own initiative while the guild works with Dusknoir to devise a new plan to locate the Time Gears.

 

Left to our own devices, we discuss with Icarus what we plan to do next. That's when we recall that feeling we got back at the Quicksand Desert.

 

After we tell Icarus what we experienced, it seems like our plan for the day is settled and it's time to head back to the Desert!

 

Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, it seems there's been a new discovery with Project P! Eyedrop Seeds have now been added to the list of items available! We can trade three Max Elixirs for one. I've never really found myself hurting for one of these, though, I must say.

Also, I don't believe I've ever noted this, but it seems Reviver Seeds were added a while back and I must've just thought I'd covered them previously. Anyway, they require two escape orbs to recycle for and that's definitely a well worth it trade if you have plenty of Escape Orbs but are running low on Reviver Seeds. This is a recycle I might be making a few times in the future.

Anyway, with our preparations out of the way, it's time to head back out to Quicksand Desert!

 

As we look around at the dead end again, we once again draw a blank, but we soon come up with the idea to jump into the quicksand!

 

After a bit of preparation, we both leap into the quicksand!

Just like at the waterfall, we find ourselves inside a secret cave! It's time to continue further and see what we can find!

===============

Quicksand Cave

This dungeon is a much more complicated version of the previous one. It's got darkness, monster houses, and tougher enemies including Sandslash which is even more dangerous than Sandshrew! You'll also run into Skorupi which can end up from a range with Pin Missile. The individual floors are also quite large, too!

The items and traps available here are the same as Northern Desert, though.

Rain leveled up again and learned the move Disable! That's another useful tool for paralyzing pokemon, especially those pesky gras stypes that are immune to Stun Spore.

=============

 

After 10 floors, we arrive at a waypoint leading into the next part of the dungeon.

=============

Quicksand Pit

Down here, the items and traps are still the same. The tougher pokemon persist, but you also start to run into Tyrannitar and Hippopotas who introduce Sand Stream. Normally, that's a major gimmick of the dungeon but, with Rain here, the Sand doesn't bother us at all. We can carry forward no problem at all!

Despite having the advantage of Cloud Nine, this was still the first time I've felt particularly pressed in a dungeon, mainly because of the frustrations of Sandslash. This dungeon felt particularly ruthless with the frequency of enemies I had to deal with and the darkness certainly doesn't help, either.

 

And once again, I got a couple of new recruits!

============

Team Flight New Recruits

--------------

Allure (Mawile F); Lv. 25

Item: None

Abilities: Hyper Cutter, Intimidate | Moves: Vice Grip, Sweet Scent, Bite, Fake Tears

Not much to really say about Allure. I can't say there's any particular niche she fits that I'm looking for.

--------------

Sand (Hippopotas F); Lv. 26

Item: None

Ability: Sand Stream | Moves: Sand Tomb, Take Down, Yawn, Bite

Right away, Sand Stream couldn't make Hippopotas a less appealing partner. However, it's not out of the question that I could assemble a sand-oriented squad and that might be something that could make some upsets. But it's not something either Skye or Icarus are equipped well to handle, so it's definitely more of a post-game idea. And not one I'm likely to invest into.

=============

 

As we arrive at the depths of Quicksand Pit, we find ourselves at the Underground Lake where we can spot the familiar glow of a Time Gear in the distance!

 

But as we move to get a closer look, the whole room suddenly grows dark and we hear a voice demanding we leave and threatening force!

Mesprit reveals herself to us! Naturally, she suspects that we're the ones trying to steal the Time Gears!

 

There's no way she'll hear us out, so we're going to have to fight it out!

==============

   

Team Flight

----------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 25 

Item: Persim Band 

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand + Sand-Attack, Quick Attack, Facade

----------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 25

Item: Power Band 

Abilities: Inner Focus, Steadfast | Moves: Endure, Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast

---------------

Pollen (Budew F); Lv. 22

Item: Zinc Band 

Abilities: Natural Cure, Poison Point | Moves: Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Energy Ball, Worry Seed

---------------

Rain (Psyduck M); Lv. 17

Item: Lime Bow 

Abilities: Damp, Cloud Nine | Moves: Scratch, Tail Whip, Water Pulse, Disable

=============

Vs. Mesprit

Right away, the first priority is to get into position to prevent Mesprit's attacks.

 

If I step back like this, Pollen and Rain take the front lines. Together, they can use Stun Spore and Disable to paralyze Mesprit!

Then, Icarus and I can approach from the side!

 

Once I'm in position, it's down to the usual strat of buffing and debuffing while Icarus and Pollen focus on DPS. Rain is also moderately focused on DPS with Water Pulse but is mainly responsible for keeping Mesprit paralyzed using Disable.

After a little while, Mesprit went down without much pushback at all.

 

Even after her defeat, Mesprit is desperate to protect the Time Gear from us.

 

Mesprit accuses us of having stolen the Time Gear from Fogbound Lake, but as we deny it and she asks who it could be...

 

...Grovyle arrives on the scene, confessing to having stolen the gear from Fogbound Lake and insisting he intends to take this one as well.

 

He effortlessly knocks us to the side with great speed.

 

Mesprit tries to stop Grovyle. He suggests she step aside but she refuses to budge, leaving Grovyle no choice but to knock her out. He continues to insist she stay down to avoid further injury.

 

We try and stop him, but he effortlessly knocks us to the side as well. He insists he has no quarrel with us, but that he must take the time gear.

And with that, he disappears into the lake.

 

After Grovyle takes the Time Gear, time begins to stop in the desert! We have to escape or we'll be trapped in a timeless void!

With that in mind, we all immediately turn to retreat out of the area. Had we just pushed a little further that previous day, we could've been more prepared for Grovyle! But alas, the gear was taken.

With that, the rest of the clouds to the northwest are cleared away on the map. And that's the end of the chapter! We'll just have to keep looking for the time gears in the remaining areas! See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 12: The Only Option

We're returning to the guild! Last time, we discovered a Time Gear out in the northern desert in Quicksand Cave beneath the surface. It was there where we came face to face with Grovyle the thief who effortlessly defeated us and the lake's guardian, Mesprit, and pushed through to steal the Time Gear. Now, we return to report the happenings to the guild.

 

Magnezone has responded swiftly to our story and placed Mesprit under their protective care. As Grovyle could not be captured, the pursuit persists.

 

Chatot is naturally astonished by our report, but Icarus is quite bummed we couldn't hold up to Grovyle.

Right now, the most important thing is to find out where Grovyle will appear next. To do that, we'll need to locate another Time Gear.

 

As we discuss it, we come to realize one of the three locations Dusknoir had pointed out did indeed have a Time Gear after we returned for a careful examination. So, perhaps we should return to the other areas, too? That's when Dusknoir gets the idea to see if we can trigger the Dimensional Scream with the crystal Bidoof brought back from the Crystal Cave.

 

 

After explaining the Dimensional Scream to the guild and convincing Bidoof to share his crystal, we touch it and indeed experience a Dimensional Scream!

 

In our vision, we see Grovyle, having already defeated Azelf, moving in to claim the Time Gear at Crystal Lake.

 

After a really pointless tangent discussing whether the vision was from the future or the past, which should be obvious since time hasn't stopped at Crystal Cave yet, we conclude that the vision must be from the future and that we must make our way back to Crystal Cave to search for the Time Gear!

With the official order, it's time to begin our pursuit!

 

After some preparation at Treasure Town, we head into Crystal Cave to begin exploring.

=============

Crystal Cave

This dungeon actually gave me a lot of trouble. A lot of the pokemon here are able to take multiple hits and most pokemon resist all of Skye's attacks, too. The darkness can cause these pokemon to practically appear in my face in the hallways, too. Making things even more of a headache. It's generally impossible for Skye to take out most enemies on her own without taking a sizeable chunk of damage, so any time I run into two or three enemies at once, it's genuinely worrying. Not only that, but there are lots of annoying attacks like Graveler and Golem's Rollout or Cranidos's Pursuit. The key was to recognize when Skye couldn't handle it and step back to let someone else take over.

 

In Explorers of Time and Darkness, Riolu and Donphan could be encountered in this dungeon, Riolu being a Time exclusive. In Sky, since you can start with Riolu or Phanpy, these pokemon won't appear yet.

Items newly available in Sky:  Oren Berry,  Dough,  Dropeye,  Reviser,  Slip, and  Via Seeds,  Mix Elixirs, and the TM for  Dragon Claw

Other than those and the odd Time-exclusive  Sticks, everything here is the same as the combined versions of Time and Darkness. And the same can be said for traps!

After the second floor, Monster Houses start to become a threat, but you can stumble across the Secret Bazaar if you're lucky enough!

On the 6th floor, the aesthetic of the dungeon changes a little bit.

Upon leveling up to Lv. 18, Rain learned the move Confusion! Finally, he's got a solid secondary attacking move! I've been kind of regretting deleting Water Gun for Water Pulse since Tail Whip and Scratch have proven pretty useless.

We also got... at least one new recruit. I'm going to be honest with you, after several retries, I'm not really sure which others we have. I did recruit a Beldum named Meteor, but I'm not sure if that's in a "canon timeline". 

==============

Team Flight New Recruit

---------------

Landslide (Cranidos F); Lv. 25

Item: None

Ability: Mold Breaker | Moves: Assurance, Scary Face, Take Down, Pursuit

This could make for a solid supporter, but I think being able to stun a large group of pokemon in a Monster House is much more helpful than merely slowing down an individual which I can simply stun lock with paralysis anyway. And again, Icarus already provides pretty solid DPS so I don't have to worry too much in that regard.

==============

 

After 11 floors of exploring in Crystal Cave, we finally reach the depths where we find three colored crystals.

Icarus plays around with the crystals and gets them to change color by touching them.

 

As Skye goes to touch one of the crystals, though, she begins to hear another Dimensional Scream...

 

 

Across the Dimensional Scream, we hear someone's words. Skye is puzzled as to why this time and the time with the Groudon Statue we could only hear a voice. I don't believe it was ever spelled out in the first story, but I do believe I've mentioned my theory that these must be our own inner thoughts from the past, and that's why there's no accompanying visual.

So, we're left to solve the puzzle of the crystals. The answer is arrived to in-universe in an extremely roundabout way. But the obvious solution even if you couldn't figure it out directly would be to just keep trying different colors until one of them worked.

 

Eventually, we make all the crystals the color blue and suddenly a tremor begins to form and beams of electricity are fired from the top sof the crystals!

 

And suddenly, a towering crystal tower shoots up from the ground, charged with crackling electricity!

 

After things settle down, we find a large opening in the base of the tower. It's clear that this is the way forward. The Time Gear must be close! Let's go!

=============

Crystal Crossing

I find this dungeon to actually be quite a bit easier than its predecessor. Bear in mind it's not without its own dangers between Absol's Pressure ability and Glameow's Fury Swipes. (PS: I previously mentioned that I taught Pollen the move Worry Seed would be useful against pokemon with annoying abilities like Pressure. Apparently, it only gives them the sleepless status instead. It's almost entirely useless.) In Explorers of Darkness, I was lucky enough to recruit a Glalie here which is fantastic because Glalie can learn Powder Snow from the Electivire Link shop and attack whole rooms at once. Unfortunately, I'm limited to just what I can see before me.

Item-wise, this dungeon has the same additions as the previous dungeon:  Oren Berry,  Dough,  Dropeye,  Reviser,  Slip, and  Via Seeds,  Mix Elixirs, and the TM for  Dragon Claw

Other than those additions, Items as well as traps and pokemon are identical to the combined Time and Darkness versions of the dungeon.

On the 13th floor, I found myself another new recruit!

==============

Team Flight New Recruit

---------------

Omen (Absol M); Lv. 29

Item: None

Abilities: Pressure, Super Luck | Moves: Bite, Swords Dance, Pursuit, Razor Wind

==============

After 13 floors, we finally arrive at the Crystal Lake!

 

Music: Time Gear

We can get a beautiful view of the lake, and even see the glow of a Time Gear! But off in the distance, Icarus says he can see someone on the small island in the middle!

 

Music: Oh no!

As we approach, we find our vision playing out in real time, just like at Mt. Bristle! We've gotta help Azelf!

 

But, it seems things weren't about to play out the way we'd expected on the surface! Just as Grovyle is about to go and collect the Time Gear, Azelf informs him of a failsave he put in place in case he might lose.

 

Suddenly, large crystals jut out and completely cover the surface of the lake!

 

Furious at the Time Gear being sealed away, Grovyle turns his attention toward Azelf, recognizing that he'll now have to kill Azelf in order to get to the gear. While he clearly didn't want it to come to this, getting the Time Gears is important enough to him to compromise even his morals.

 

Before Grovyle can attack Azelf, we jump to Azelf's defense! This time, we're prepared to fight for real!

=============

   

Team Flight

---------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 27

Item: Persim Band 

Abiltiies: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand + Sand-Attack, Facade, Quick Attack

--------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 27

Item: Zinc Band 

Abilities: Steadfast, Inner Focus | Moves: Endure, Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast

--------------

Pollen (Budew F); Lv. 25

Item: Special Band 

Abilities: Natural Cure, Poison Point | Moves: Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Energy Ball, Worry Seed

-------------

Rain (Psyduck M); Lv. 21

Item: Lime Bow 

Abilties: Damp, Cloud Nine | Moves: Scratch, Water Pulse, Disable, Confusion

=============

Vs. Grovyle

Once again, this is a battle that isn't particularly challenging, especially with Grovyle already starting backed into a corner like this.

 

My first order of business is to get everyone situated. The strategy is mostly the same as with Mesprit. I'm just maneuvering my team so that Psyduck can paralyze Grovyle while Icarus can focus on DPS.

 

Meanwhile, I circle around with Pollen so that Pollen can contribute some damage output too while Skye focuses on Buffs and Debuffs as per usual.

Despite all the hype, Grovyle just can't live up to it and ends up going down. The fight's actually a bit of a joke all around.

 

In canon, though, this fight is far more difficult and our team desperately struggles against Grovyle.

 

During a stalemate, Riolu continues to block Grovyle's way to Azelf and refuses to budge at Grovyle's demands. Grovyle prepares a likely fatal attack against Icarus, who is willing to lay down his life to protect Azelf and the Time Gear.

 

Grovyle lunges at Icarus, ready to attack...

 

Music: In the Depths of the Pit

...When Dusknoir suddenly appears to block the attack!

 

It's revealed that Grovyle and Dusknoir seem to not only know each other, but they hail from another world entirely! It seems this game of cat and mouse is finally coming to a close... unfortunately, everyone is rooting for the wrong team.

Grovyle tricks Dusknoir into thinking he's preparing to battle him, but then immediately disappears without a trace!

 

Not willing to give up so eaisly, Dusknoir disappears into darkness to give chase to Grovyle.

 

Just as Icarus begins to pass out, the guild arrives on the scene to find us all defeated. They get us back to the guild ASAP to treat our injuries.

And now the map is expanded once again to reveal Crystal Crossing!

 

 

Chimecho informs us that she's brought us back to the guild and that everyone's okay. She then alerts everyone to the fact that we're awake!

 

After everyone rushes in to speak with us, Icarus announces the discovery he made by listening in on Dusknoir and Grovyle's conversation.

 

Icarus explains what he heard, and that Grovyle and Dusknoir apparently know each other from another world! He also explains that Dusknoir disappeared to pursue Grovyle, so there's really no knowing what's going on.

 

Suddenly, the emergency siren goes off and Diglett announces that Officer Magnezone has issued an emergency call requesting everyone to report to Treasure Town.

And that's where we're going to put things off for today! I believe we're at the point of no return right now, so we're about to get locked into a series of dungeons without access to Treasure Town. Hopefully we don't have to compromise too much! Anyway, next time, we'll report to this emergency announcement at Treasure Town and see what's being done about Grovyle! See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 13: Dusknoir's Secret

Well, today we're probably going to have the shortest update in our coverage of this game so far because something turned up at an unexpected point. But for the sake of consistency, I want to maintain the way I've been covering these. Anyway, last time clashed with Grovyle at Crystal Lake and, thanks to a failsafe set up by Azelf, the Time Gear was protected under a thick wall of impenetrable crystal. We were able to hold Grovyle off from killing Azelf and lifting the trap long enough for Dusknoir to show up and chase him off. During this conflict, we overheard that Dusknoir and Grovyle seem to know each other from before all this and shared that knowledge with the rest of the guild. Shortly after, an emergency call was made by Officer Magnezone, requesting the attendence of all Pokemon in Treasure Town.

 

As we arrive at the emergency assembly at Treasure Town, Azelf reunites with Uxie and Mesprit and catches them up on what he'd done to ensure the, at least temporary, protection of the Time Gear.

 

Dusknoir makes his announcement that Grovyle did manage to escape his pursuit and now remains at large and is very likely to make another attempt to steal the Time Gear soon.

 

This is where Dusknoir begins to sprinkle in some cruel lies in between difficult truths. He explains that Grovyle is from the future where he will be a notorious criminal with a large bounty on his head, but he also makes up the claim that Grovyle's goal is causing total planetary paralysis by stealing the Time Gears when he knows very well his goal is just the opposite.

 

Dusknoir paints a devastating image of the world he's from. A world in which all time has stopped after the collapse of Temporal Tower. Though here, he feigns that this is only a theoretical outcome caused by stealing the Time Gears and completely fails to mention that inevitably happens in a world in which the Time Gears were never taken.

 

After Corphish questions how Dusknoir could possibly have knowledge of things that have yet to happen, he explains that he is also from the future, to everyone's surprise. He explains that he returned to the past in order to capture Grovyle, who had fled into the past in order to escape capture in their world. And that in order to ensure his ability to do so, he studied up on our world to learn everything there was to know first, hence why he has so much knowledge. He also apologizes for having kept this a secret from everyone, but admits he couldn't have simply told everyone because he was certain nobody would believe that he was from the future, and it was also important to keep rumors from spreading about another pokemon from the future so that Grovyle wouldn't catch on that he was present.

 

IN the effort to capture Grovyle, many step up to offer their assistance in the pursuit.

 

Azelf suggests that Grovyle will come after him in order to get to the Time Gear of Crystal Lake. Uxie suggests we use that fact against him by laying a trap at Crystal Lake by spreading a rumor that they'll go there to seal the Time Gear away forever to pressure him into arriving right away. Then, we can ambush Grovyle when he arrives.

 

DUsknoir goes along with this plan and announces it to everyone. He asks the people of Treasure Town to spread the rumor far and wide.

 

Dusknoir then suggests the trio go to Crystal Lake just as the rumor states and remain there as bait for Grovyle who will liekly see their presence as confirmation of the rumor.

 

Naturally, everyone is on board and hyped up to ambush and stop Grovyle.

 

Dusknoir insists, however, that he take on the capture of Grovyle alone. Not only is this a personal conflict for him, but having too many pokemon at Crystal Crossing would certainly tip Grovyle off to the trap. The plan is much more likely to work if he goes alone. But he promises to capture Grovyle successfully this time.

 

 

 

With the plan in action, Chatot advises the guild to spread the rumor when possible during their usual activities, but not so much as to rouse Grovyle's suspicions.

And with that, we're given the task to take on the jobs on the bulletin boards for the day.

 

And this is where we're given our somewhat unfortunately-timed surprise: Our third Special Episode "Today's 'Oh My Gosh'" is here now! This appears to be an origin story for Sunflora!

While I could keep playing to the end of the chapter and then switch over, so far I've established the precedent that when we unlock a Special Episode, I end the chapter coverage prematurely to begin covering the special episode. So, even though this chapter just started, we'll be ending this post here and next time we'll pick up with"Today's 'Oh My Gosh'"! See you then!

[Aura]

Since my update earlier was incredibly short due to unlocking this special episode, I figured I'd go ahead and provide the next update a little bit sooner than before. This time, we're going into our third Special Episode which I initially speculated was an origin story for Sunflora. But as it turns out, that's actually not the case! But I'm not going to say much more without letting the story speak for itself. So, here we go!

 

 

Our story begins one night in Sunflora and Chimecho's room when Chimecho notices Sunflora is writing in her diary! This suddenly makes Sunflora embarrassed and start running back and forth, unable to bear the embarrassment of what she would do if Chimecho read her diary.

 

 

 

Chimecho encourages Sunflora to keep at writing her diary and promises not to sneak any peeks, which only causes Sunflora to get all embarrassed over the idea of someone peeking at her diary all over again.

============

Special Episode 3: Today's "Oh My Gosh"

 

 

As expected, our story is told from the perspective of Sunflora, who reflects on how much she's loved her time as an apprentice at Wigglytuff's Guild.

 

 

Sunflora shares a little bit about how she didn't have much self confidence before, but one day all of her hard work was recognized when the guildmaster called her to his chamber just to praise her efforts! It was a moment that clearly meant a lot to her!

 

Overall, Sunflora really loves life at the guild and sees all the apprentices as dear friends!

 

However, not everything is always well and good. And apparently something's gotten in the way of her friendship...

 

Apparently, she hasn't been getting along well with Loudred. This was the point where I realized this Special Episode was going to be expanding on one of Sunflora's diary entries! It's a really cool idea for her story to be expanded in such a way! If you recall, there was an entry where Sunflora complained about Loudred for rushing recklessly into dungeons and getting the both of them knocked out! And apparently there have been bitter feelings between the two ever since!

 

Of course, even if you didn't already know this from the diary, she explains it all right here, too.

 

Sunflora clearly feels bad about not being able to be friends with Loudred, but she pins the blame on him for refusing to apologize for his terrible behavior.

 

But as Sunflora is lost in thought, Chatot arrives and informs Sunflora that there is something he'd like to discuss with her, and asks for her to follow him to the guildmaster's chamber.

 

When she arrives at the guildmaster's chamber, she finds Magnezone there who wishes for some help with capturing a particularly tricky outlaw.

 

Magnezone shows us the wanted poster for this outlaw. He's an S-rank outlaw known as the Invincible Haunter. Supposedly, no matter how many times you KO him, he just gets back up as if the fight had never happened! That certainly sounds like quite a nightmare to detain!

 

In light of Sunflora's recent accomplishments, Wigglytuff has recommended her for the job of detaining Haunter.

 

 

Unfortunately, it seems Sunflora is going to have to go on this assignment all on her own. All the other apprentices are already on their assigned duties, Team Flight are already out exploring Waterfall Cave, and Bidoof isn't quite qualified for a job of this caliber. I'm kind of surprised the guildmaster himself doesn't offer to go given how much he loves exploring, but I suppose he has important duties here.

 

Magnezone tells us that Haunter was last seen escaping to Spring Cave, and if we go immediately, we should be able to get there!

 

 

Before Sunflora heads out, Wigglytuff stops her to warn her about some potential dangers ahead: Due to Spring Cave's location, there are likely to be Fire-types there. Haunter is also a Poison-type. It's certainly not going to be a cakewalk for a Grass-type like Sunflora to do alone.

 

Sunflora puts on a brave face for the guildmaster so as not to disappoint. Let's just hope we won't have to deal with any enemies that are too tough to handle alone!

 

And with that, we now gain control of our story's protagonist! Since this is Sunflora's story, we'll need to go to her bed if we want to save in the guild. But the watering hole works just fine for that purpose, too!

And to tie things into the main story, Sunflora's Diary is even written up until the point it's at when Team Flight sets out to explore the waterfall in Chapter 5! Nice attention to detail! Ironically enough, you can also read Bidoof's journal in spite of Sunflora's embarrassment over the possibility of anyone reading her own diary.

Anyway, as we hit up the town to make preparations, I should probably note that, despite Sunflora generally being considered a weak pokemon in the main series, Sunflora actually has quite the moveset here! She doesn't have much in terms of type variety, but between Bullet Seed, Razor Leaf, and GrassWhistle to put enemies to sleep, she doesn't really need any variety. These are really powerful moves, and this is our first time in a Special Episode where we're blessed with ranged attacks!

 

Since the dungeon was hyped up quite a bit, I came prepared for a lot of potential dangers. I didn't really know what to expect, so I brought some Reviver Seeds, a Warp Seed to get out of particularly dangerous situations, and a Foe-Seal Orb to help in case of a Monster House. I also brought two Escape Orbs in case Sticky Traps would show their mugs. I should've brought a second Max Elixir, but ultimately, it turns out I was quite over-prepared. The dungeons ahead of us are actually quite simple.

With all our preparations made, it's time to head out to Spring Cave!

============

Spring Cave

The music in Spring Cave is another remake of a song from Rescue Team! This time, it's the theme of Magma Cavern! Anyway, if you came prepared to deal with a bunch of Fire-types like the game had literally warned you about, you might be surprised to find out that there's literally no Fire-types at all in the dungeon! In fact, almost every pokemon you'll run into is actually weak to Grass! Talk about false advertising.

Anyway, this is another Special Episode-exclusive dungeon, so it's only in Explorer's of Sky.

Items available throughout the dungeon include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps are also consistent throughout the dungeon, but get more common as you go deeper.

The traps you have to watch out for throughout the dungeon include:  Gust,  Poison,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Summon,  Trip, and  Warp Traps

So nothing too dangerous to worry about, Warp and Gust Traps are especially powerless when exploring alone like this since there's no fear of getting separated from your teammates.

For now, there's no fear of Monster Houses.

--------------

Spring Cave [B1F - B2F]

Pokemon:  Meditite,  Cubone,  Baltoy,  Snubbull

As previously mentioned, there's nothing of particular danger here. Using Sunflora's ranged attacks, you can pick off most enemies before they even reach you. Just be wary of the darkness in hallways.

--------------

Spring Cave [B3F - B4F]

 Cubone,  Baltoy,  Snubbull,  Trapinch

Trapinch takes Meditite's place on B3F. It's weak to your Grass Attacks, but do be careful of its deceptively high attack stat!

=============

After the fourth floor, we arrive at a clearing in Upper Spring Cave. Note that it's called Upper Spring Cave. I didn't catch on at first but we're going down. So this subtly alludes to the fact that there's quite a bit more to this dungeon.

 

Just as Sunflora is wondering where Haunter is, she hears a voice taunting her.

Music: Growing Anxiety

Sunflora can't find the source of the voice taunting her.

 

The voice reveals itself to her, showing that he's the outlaw Haunter that we're after! We caught up pretty quick!

 

 

Sunflora insists that she's going to apprehend Haunter, which only makes him laugh. He then explains that he only revealed himself because he's confident he won't be defeated. All explorers who have tried to catch him before became discouraged after failing to defeat him.

 

==============

Sunflora's Squad

--------------

Sunflora F; Lv. 29

Item: Insonmniscope 

Abilties: Chlorophyll, Solar Power | Moves: GrassWhistle, Bullet Seed, Worry Seed, Razor Leaf

=============

Vs. Haunter

 

Turns out, this fight is actually very simple. There's no pressure to even use items or anything. He spawns right across from you, so you can open up with a Bullet Seed to get some pot shots at him, then use GrassWhistle when he gets in close to put him to sleep. He's not likely to take you out in one hit, so even if you miss once or twice you should be okay. After that, go for Bullet Seed for the DPS until he goes down. The battle is over before you know it. But this is an S-Rank Outlaw known for being "invincible," so there's gotta be more to the fight than just this...

=============

 

With a loud groan, Haunter collapses to the ground!

 

But just as Sunflora goes to apprehend the unconscious Haunter, a bright light fills the arena and she can't see a thing!

Music: Growing Anxiety

After the light clears, we find Haunter is right back up, good as new, just like Magnezone said!

 

 

Naturally, Haunter only begins to laugh at Sunflora for her naivete and reminds her that he's invincible and can't be defeated!

After recalling Magnezone's warning, Sunflora begins to realize just how much trouble she's in on this mission...

 

Haunter continues to insist that, no matter how much damage he receives, he'll be totally fine and Sunflora will only succeed in wearing herself out. It's the same story that all other Explorers who have tried to apprehend him have had to deal with.

 

And so, Hautner warns Sunflora to give up on her impossible mission!

 

But this taunting only succeeds in angering Sunflora who doubles down on her efforts. She strengthens her resolve and continues pushing forward!

===========

Upper Spring Cave

The music down here is a remake of the music from Magma Cave Depths in Rescue Team. It adds to the intensity of the scenario! But this dungeon is almost entirely identical to the entrance area, only there is now a threat of monster houses. And, of course, the pokemon are different down here, too. Items and Traps are the same.

------------------

Upper Spring Cave [B1F]

Pokemon:  Trapinch,  Larvitar,  Cacnea,  Wormadam (Sandy Cloak)

Once again, there isn't much to say. Cacnea is resistant to your Grass attacks, but it doesn't know Pin Missile, so it still can't really do much at all to you. I'm actually unsure on whether or not Wormadam has Bug Bite, but it goes down really easily so I don't think it's something you ever have to worry about.

----------------

Upper Spring Cave [B2F]

Pokemon:  Trapinch,  Larvitar,  Cacnea,  Wormadam (Sandy Cloak),  Aron

Aron joins up on the second floor. They don't resist grass attacks, but they are pretty physically defensive, so it can take a couple of hits for them. But again, with range that's not much of a big deal.

-----------------

Upper Spring Cave [B3F]

Pokemon:  Larvitar,  Cacnea,  Wormadam (Sandy Cloak),  Aron

Trapinch is gone on the third floor.

----------------

Upper Spring Cave [B4F]

Pokemon:  Cacnea,  Wormadam (Sandy Cloak),  Aron,  Onix

Larvitar disappears on the third floor and is replaced by Onix who is very intimidating because of its sheer size, but goes down like paper to Sunflora's Grass attacks.

=============

Music: Growing Anxiety

We soon catch up to Haunter once again! This time, deeper into Spring Cave.

 

This time, Haunter just seems a little annoyed that we're still following him.

 

 

Haunter insists once again that we can't possibly win against an invincible opponent, but because Sunflora won't stand down, it's another boss fight ahead of us!

=============

Vs. Haunter

 

And of course, the same strategy for the fight works again. It's an incredibly simple boss fight.

=============

 

 

Music: Growing Anxiety

Yet again, as soon as we knock Haunter out, another flash of light blinds Sunflora and Haunter rises back, good as new!

 

Just as Sunflora is mulling over how Haunter could be coming back so full of energy after getting knocked out, two Slugma suddenly appear from pools of magma!

 

As it turns out, Haunter hired a pair of Slugma to hold Sunflora off. They're fire-types to her Grass-type. This isn't good...

 

With that, Haunter leaves Sunflora to deal with the Slugma alone.

Music: Oh No!

Suddenly, Sunflora finds herself in over her head!

 

 

The Slugma chase Sunflora around all over the arena while she desperately tries to run from their fiery attacks!

Eventually, they corner her against the wall.

 

In a panic, Sunflora cries out for help!

Music: One for All, All for One!

That's when Loudred suddenly appears out of nowhere to fight the Slugma off!

 

Immediately after coming to her rescue, Loudred checks to see if Sunflora is okay. Clearly, he still cares about her despite their frustrations with each other.

 

Loudred seems surprised we'd fall behind those guys we were chasing, and then goes on to gloat a little about how he was able to get up to this point just fine while Sunflora took a lot of damage from the Slugma just now.

 

When asked why he's here, Loudred nervously lies and claims he was asked by Chatot to come, he insists he wasn't worried about Sunflora at all evne though that's obviously not true.

 

Of course, Sunflora is upset when she hears this, thinking she was wrong in assuming Loudred was worried about her. And this only escalates another argument.

 

 

With that, Loudred storms off in anger, leaving Sunflora alone. She feels bad about responding the way she did.

 

Sunflora reflects on what Loudred said.

 

 

To avoid spoilers for now, I'm gonna put a pin in this part. But I do want to mention that this moment, as well as a few other points of awkward grammar, really highlights to me that this particular story might've been a rushed job for a localization. I'll elaborate more once the full twist is revealed, if you haven't caught on to what's going on already.

Anyway, it seems that something about what Loudred said tipped Sunflora off to the secret of Haunter's supposed "invincibility."

=============

Lower Spring Cave

As we continue pursuing Haunter, we've got yet another remix of Magma Cavern! This one is even more foreboding. You'd think we're about to fight Groudon again!

Once again, items and traps are the same as the first two areas. It's essentially just a continuation of the same dungeon. Likewise, Monster Houses are a threat throughout.

----------------

Lower Spring Cave [B1F]

Pokemon:  Onix,   Paras,  Beldum

This is where we start to consistently run into enemies that actually resist our Grass attacks. Paras still has generally low HP, but quad-resisting the Grass Attacks might cause it to hang around for a little while. You might want to use Bullet Seed to get extra damage off on them. Beldum doesn't quad resist, but it has a lot of bulk to it, so you'll probably want to use Bullet Seed against it, too.

---------------

Lower Spring Cave [B2F]

Pokemon:  Onix,   Paras,  Beldum,  Zubat

Zubat shows up on the second floor. Take it out from a distance because its SuperSonic will annoy you!

----------------

Lower Spring Cave [B3F]

 Paras,  Beldum,  Zubat,  Ekans,  Cranidos

Onix is dropped on the third floor in favor of Ekans and Cranidos. Neither of which are particularly dangerous, but Ekans' Glare can put you in some precarious positions. Make sure to keep your distance from it and Cranidos whenever possible!

-----------------

Lower Spring Cave [B4F]

 Paras,  Beldum,  Zubat,  Ekans,  Cranidos,  Meditite,  Baltoy

Meditite and Baltoy rejoin the party on the 4th floor which really just serves to dilute the pool of enemies and make you deal with the pokemon that actually resist you less frequently.

==============

 

After the fourth floor, we arrive at a waypoint signaling that we're close to the end of the dungeon. But of course we've still got a ways to go!

 

As we continue deeper, we're treated to a cutscene where Haunter seems annoyed to find that Sunflora is still pursuing him, so he decides to run deeper into the cave to a place where it will be difficult for a Grass-type to pursue...

=============

Spring Cave Depths

You would think that now would be the time we'd start running into Fire-types like Slugma or something, but... nope. The warning about Fire-types was purely a narrative thing as you haven't even had the chance to fight a single Fire-type in actual gameplay at all. Poison types have been a much more prominent threat throughout this exploration.

Anyway, you know the drill. Items and Traps are the same, Monster Houses are present throughout.

---------------

Spring Cave Depths [B1F]

Pokemon:  Paras,  Ekans,  Cranidos,  Zubat,  Meditite,  Baltoy,  Beldum

There sin't anything new on the first floor.

----------------

Spring Cave Depths [B2F - B3F]

Pokemon:  Ekans,  Cranidos,  Zubat,  Meditite,  Baltoy,  Beldum

On the second floor, Paras is gone.

----------------

Spring Cave Depths [B4F]

 Zubat,  Meditite,  Baltoy,  Beldum

And on the fourth floor, Ekans and Cranidos are gone, too.

===============

 

Music: Rising Fear

It's time! We've finally caught up to Haunter, and this time, Sunflora is confident she can arrest him!

 

 

As Sunflora confronts Haunter, she calls out his trick and exposes that there are other Haunter behind the ruse!

 

Haunter is surprised to find out that Sunflora was able to figure out his trick, and suddenly, he seems a lot mroe nervous about fighting us.

And with that, three Haunter are lured out of hiding!

 

Music: I Saw Something Again...

 

 

Sunflora walks through the whole trick and exposes how simple it really is: When one Haunter is defeated, the others would create a blinding light to distract the opponent. One would hide the defeated Haunter and another would take his place. They'd cycle out like this to give the illusion that they're all one, invincible pokemon. By doing so, most explorers would give up after realizing they couldn't defeat him by normal means.

 

However, it doesn't seem like Haunter is ready to give up just yet. He's suddenly got a boost of confidence and as we begin to feel tremors, it's suddenly clear why...

 

Suddenly, geysers of magma erupt from the ground, spewing lava all over the surface and burning Sunflora again!

 

Now, we're at a massive disadvantage. It's a 1 v 3 and Sunflora's burned! The Haunter are completely unaffected by the hot floor thanks to their ability to hover off of the ground.

 

Suddenly, Loudred leaps back into the fray to come to our defense yet again!

 

 

Loudred is ready to help us fight this time, but the ground is too hot for him, and he gets burned as well! Looks like we're gonna have to fight the trio with this disadvantage in play!

=============

Vs. Haunter Trio

Now this is the real peak of challenge. This fight is no pushover! We've got three opponents and we're burned! We have no means of stopping all three Haunters from attacking, so we've gotta get into position to take some hits away from Loudred. Right away, you're going to get burned from the terrain and there's nothing you can do to prevent that. The burn is going to reduce the power of your attacks, too.

 

Our first order of business is to put the three haunter to sleep. This can be difficult with bad luck, but in the mean time, Loudred is giving the Haunter a pouding with super-effective Astonish.

 

While Sunflora struggled to keep the three Haunter asleep, Loudred took the first one out, making the remaining opponents easier to deal with. Annoyingly, though, one Haunter got Payback off, which gives him the Coutner status. Loudred isn't the brightest and often attacks right into that.

 

The flight slowly gets progressively easier as the Haunter go down, but the sheer amount of damage these Haunter can do to you in just a single turn makes this fight nearly impossible without the use of at least one Reviver Seed. It's actually really frustrating how powerful this trio is together with very little counterplay on your end. Perhaps bringing some Totter and Warp Seeds could help make this fight a little bit easier to handle.

===========

Music: In the Depths of the Pit

With that, we've finally defeated the so-called "invincible Haunter".

 

With the Haunter all defeated at once, it's time to arrest them all and bring them in!

==============

Music: Job Clear!

 

 

Magnezone has nothing but high praise for Sunflora's successful arrest of not one, but three outlaws!

 

As a reward for this difficult arrest, Magnezone gives Sunflora a  Sun Scarf! This is a rare treasure for the Sunflora line that causes Fire-type attacks to be absorbed and heal them rather than soften them up! We do get to keep it in storage, but... it's really only useful for Sunflora, isn't it? Still, I suppose it's a nice, rare item to have, anyway. Even if it is just a keepsake for practical purposes.

 

Of course, Sunflora is more than delighted to receive such a rare item! It's just a shame she won't be getting any use out of it...

Music: Heartwarming

 

After Magnezone takes his leave with the arrested outlaws in tow, Chatot congratulates Sunflora on her success, but she confesses she didn't do it all alone, and asks where Loudred is...

 

As it turns out, Loudred didn't come to help Sunflora at the request of Chatot at all!  He'd actually deserted his post to help us! Chatot thought he was just slacking off, though, so Loudred wound up getting punished by being sent to Apple Woods to gather Perfect Apples.

 

Chatot is shocked to hear when Sunflora explains that Loudred actually came to help her during the exploration!

Unfortunately, guild rules are strict and Loudred still has to serve his punishment for abandoning his duties. But, Chatot insists he'll only have to collect Perfect Apples for today.

=============

 

That night, we find Sunflora writing in her diary again. Chimecho tells Sunflora that everyone's telling scary stories in the next room and invites her to come, but Sunflora's a bit busy writing in her diary for now. She says she'll come over shortly.

 

 

With that, Sunflora continues writing in her diary. She writes out the entry we can read following this point in the story.

 

And that's the end of "Today's 'Oh My Gosh!'" As you can see, this is by far the shortest Special Episode so far. And if it wasn't for that final fight, it would be the easiest, too. Though, admittedly, I'd still say it's the easiest if only because Bidoof's Wish had a fairly difficult dungeon for him as well as a tough boss at the end.

Anyway, it was clear to me that this one was somewhat rushed in the translation department as mentioned earlier. Mainly because the way Sunflora figures out Haunter's trick wasn't really well walked through. She flashed back to Loudred talking about how she took a lot of damage but he was just fine, but that doesn't really leave any hints toward the identity of the Invincible Haunter. What did provide a hint, though, was what he said before: It's not like you to fall behind those guys. That line, instead, implies that Loudred saw multiple opponents where Sunflora only saw one. I suspect that the intention here in the Japanese version was that Loudred says something about Sunflora dealing with multiple opponents which tips her off that there might be multiple Haunter. At that point, it makes sense she'd have the whole trick figured out. I think it's a really cool detail to catch on yourself, and it's a bit of a shame they screwed up Sunflora's line of thought in such an awkward way. There's also some minor gramatical confusion, such as her saying "What is it?!" when the Slugma appear.

So yeah, translation for this particular episode could've been handled a bit better. I'm not really sure what happened in that department. But overall, it was really cool to see the story behind one of Sunflora's diary entries being fleshed out in this way!

Anyway, that's one more Special Episode down! Next time, it's back to the main adventure! See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 13: Dusknoir's Secret (Part 2)

We return to the main story! Last time, Dusknoir revealed that he'd failed to capture Grovyle but they did successfully protect the Time Gear at Crystal Lake from being stolen. He then formed a plan with the three Lake Guardians to pressure Grovyle into making another attempt to steal the Time Gear by having a rumor spread far and wide that the guardians are heading to Crystal Lake to permanently seal away the Time Gear. Form there, he plans to ambush Grovyle and capture him. However, he insists that he does this job alone in order to ensure Grovyle doesn't get suspicious of the number of pokemon in the area. And so, for now, life at the guild is returning to normal and we're assigned with our typical bulletin board assignments.

 

Before we set out on any missions, I wanna check in at the Recycle Shop where Project P has made another advancement! This time,  Def. Scarves,  Power Bands, and  Special Bands are added to the menu! You can receive each of these items by trading in an Apple, Max Elixir, and Escape Orb. So, if you happen to lose any of your held items, you can always come here for a replacement!

 

An additional element I wanted to talk about is Croagunk's Swap Shop because I didn't realize until now that this place was actually made a lot more manageable. Now, there seems to be exclusive items for every pokemon rather than the select handful from Time and Darkness, but a lot of pokemon's items are far more accessible, available by swapping in any five exclusive items at Croagunk's Swap Shop. As soon as I realized this, I popped into the shop to see what I could find and, sure enough, I just happened to find a  Budew Scarf! This item allows Budew and its evolutions to regain 1 PP every time they take damage! It turns out this shop is a lot more useful than just relying on RNG to get exactly the items you need from Treasure Chests. That said, it seems that all items that used to be available still require the same methods to obtain them whether it be from Treasure Chests or Swapping specific items.

 

 

After trading in some items, we were able to get our Budew Scarf! I'll need to check in at this place a lot more regularly going forward. Maybe I'll be able to find items for my other party members!

Anyway, my main goal in coming here is to free up some inventory space because we are rapidly approaching the point where we won't have access to Treasure Town for a while. So I also went and sold a lot of my spare held items and used up a bunch of Gummis on Skye and Icarus to boost their IQ.

With that out of the way, it's time to head on and do some missions in Craggy Coast!

==============

And, wouldn't you know it? I wound up recruiting yet another really powerful team-member!

==============

Team Flight New Recruit

---------------

Hail (Spheal F)

Item: None

Abilities: Thick Fat, Ice Body | Moves: Growl, Water Gun, Defense Curl, Encore

This pokemon is an incredibly powerful asset because of one particular move it knows: Powder Snow. All you have to do is bring it to Electivire's Link Shop and have it relearn Powder Snow and it can dominate in a Monster House! Early on, I was considering having Skye evolve into a Glaceon to be able to use Blizzard, but with Hail on the team, that might not be such a necessity anymore... That's great because it opens up even more options for Skye in the long-term! We'll see where fate takes us!

==============

 

Anyway, we didn't have many missions within the same dungeon, so I took on ones that had good rewards. This meant we only had two missions to accomplish for now: Retrieving Happinny's lost Big Apple and arresting an outlaw Grimer.

A successful exploration!

==============

 

The reward for Happinny's mission was an egg! This was a mechanic we didn't really happen across in Time or Darkness. But this egg is sent to Chansey Day Care in Treasure Town next to Marowak Dojo where we'll need to check on it periodically. It'll eventually hatch into a baby pokemon that will join our team as a new recruit! These newly hatched pokemon can also carry exclusive treasures, so it might be worthwhile even if you don't think you're going to use the newly hatched pokemon!

 

Anyway, then it's dinner time and then bedtime!

 

Icarus tells us that night that he really wishes we could help to capture Grovyle ourselves. It seems to be bothering him quite a bit not knowing what's going on and he hates knowing it's entirely out of his hands. But, we've got no choice but to trust Dusknoir...

 

The next morning, there's no news on Grovyle's capture, so we'll just have to continue as normal.

 

We head out to Chansey's Day Care to check on the egg, but it looks like it's still gonna be a little bit before it hatches.

Back at the Recycle Shop, Project P made a new discovery, but before we check in on that...

 

Today happens to be host to a special limited-time offer! A Protein for 3 Oran Berries and an X-Eye Seed! That's definitely a done deal! Lucky I have the items for it!

After you make the limited time deal, we can check in and see what kind of items were added: It's a  Zinc Band. Nothing too special, but another option is never something to shake a stick at. It requires an Apple, Max Elixir, and Escape Orb just like the others.

===============

Anyway, this time we took a trip to Apple Woods where we'd gathered a handful of missions this time! It was here that we got another new recruit!

============

Team Flight New Recruit

---------------

Spore (Paras M); Lv. 11

Item: None

Abilities: Effect Spore, Dry Skin | Moves: Scratch, Stun Spore, PoisonPowder, Leech Life

In all honesty, this little guy just might take Pollen's place. It's not far off at all from learning Spore which is an incredibly powerful support move capable of putting pokemon to sleep from anywhere in the room. Currently, Paralysis with Stun Spore is the primary reason Pollen is sticking around, though Pollen is capable of dishing out quite a bit of pain with her other attacks. Once Hail gets higher level and can provide similar special damage output, I'm not opposed to raising Spore up to take her place. Hail and Spore could be a devastating duo for Monster Houses, Boss Fights, and Outlaws alike.

============

 

First, we took out an outlaw Nidorino

 

We also rescued a defeated Wormadam and reclaimed Psyduck's lost Slumber Orb.

 

And we had a really awkward encounter with the outlaw Starly where Hail happened to spawn right next to him and there was a Beedrill in the same room as us! Thankfully, Skye is high enough level that I have access to the tactics "Go after foes" and "Get away from here," so I was able to easily get Pollen and Hail to swap places, but I still had to pick off the Beedrill before it could prey on the fleeing Spheal. This was quite a pain but with some careful movement, I was able to get everything under control. Thankfully, the enemies here are quite low level.

 

Anyway, last but not least, we took an outlaw Golem out on the 12th floor.

And that's another successful day of missions!

=============

 

Then it's off to dinner and bed once again.

 

The next night, Icarus still seems worried about the Grovyle capture, but there's still nothing we can do but wonder about it outselves... Skye's mind begins to wander off to what Grovyle and Dusknoir's home world looks like, questioning if it's a peaceful world. Of course, that couldn't be further from the truth.

 

The next morning, just as Chatot is about to announce that there still has been no word received, we hear a siren with an announcement from Deputy Magnemite announcing the capture of Grovyle!

 

However, the announcement is bittersweet as Dusknoir announces he will now be leaving for the future with Grovyle so he can face his crimes.

Icarus urges everyone to hurry to the town! Man, dramatic irony hits hard here.

 

As we arrive on the scene, we meet with Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf who explain that Dusknoir was able to flawlessly cpature Grovyle and recover all of the stolen time gears, too!

 

 

We see Grovyle all trussed up and muzzled tightly. Dusknoir got him good and made absolutely sure he couldn't escape... But knowing what we know now, you've really gotta feel bad for Grovyle here.

 

Dusknoir begins his speech about the successful capture of Grovyle, lying through his teeth about how vicious and terrible Grovyle really is.

 

With Grovyle all trussed up, he can't speak against Dusknoir's lies, and it kinda hurts a bit to see him so desperate to share the truth.

 

Dusknoir now announces his departure for the future through the Dimensional hole and bids everyone farewell.

 

Before leaving, he verifies that the Lake Guardians will return the Time Gears to their proper places and entrusts the task to them.

 

With one last exchange of thank-yous between Dusknoir and Magnezone, he announces it's time for his departure.

 

The Sableye throw Grovyle into the dimensional hole, ending his quest prematurely.

 

Before leaving, Dusknoir bids one last farewell to everyone here.

 

And just before leaving, he calls Icarus and Skye to the front! Icarus thanks him sincerely before Dusknoir claims this is goodbye...

But instead of leving, he announces that it's too soon for farewells!

 

Before we know it, Dusknoir suddenly grabs us and pulls us into the Dimensional Hole with him! 

 

Afterward, the dimensional hole closes leaving everyone bewildered at what just happened...

And with that, we're all drawn through the tunnel into the future! Just what kind of world awaits us beyond the dimensional hole? Icarus and Skye are about to see firsthand just what kind of world Dusknoir and Grovyle really come from. See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 14: Into the Future

We continue our story! Last time Dusknoir announced the successful capture of Grovyle and sent him back to the future from where he came. But before heading back himself, Dusknoir grabbed Icarus and Skye and brought them both through the Dimensional Hole by force. Now, we'll follow what becomes of the heroes in the future Dusknoir is from.

 

 

Music: In the Future

We're finally treated to our first sight of the desolate future Dusknoir and Grovyle hail from, and it doesn't look pretty.

 

Dusknoir reports the capture of Grovyle to Dialga and receives the order to execute him as well as Skye and Icarus for trying to alter the timeline. We also get our first peak at Primal Dialga at the collapsed Temporal Tower.

 

When we come to, we find ourselves in a jail cell of some sort. Icarus and Skye wrack their brains to try and figure out what's going on, where they are, and why they were put here!

 

Music: Oh No!

Soon, a squad of Sableye enter the cell. They blindfold us and begin moving us to the stockade for our execution.

 

Music: In the Future

When our blindfolds are removed, we find ourselves in a dark place, bound tightly to stone pillars and unable to move a muscle. We hear a voice commenting about how clueless we are.

It's Grovyle! He seems to know a lot more about our situation that we do. He tells us we're in a stockade and that the ones who put us here are going to "get rid of us." Naturally, Icarus is perplexed. We've done nothing wrong! It makes sense that they'd want to get rid of Grovyle, but what did we do to deserve this treatment? There must be more to the story!

 

Grovyle interrupts Icarus's arguments and calls attention to the Sableye jailers spilling into the room. He informs us that they are Dusknoir's underlings, which perplexes Icarus even more. None of this is making any sense! Dusknoir's on their side, right?

 

Music: Oh No!

Once Dusknoir arrives on the scene, Icarus tries to correct the perceived mistake but Dusknoir offers no explanation and insists that they need to be rid of all three. Furthermore, he instructs the Sableye to pay their protests no mind.

 

Icarus desperately begins pleading with Dusknoir for answers, but Grovyle insists its a waste of effort. Instead, he asks for Icarus and Skye's cooperation to get out of their situation.

 

Since we're all trussed up, we can't qutie use any moves or items, so all we can manage is our regular attack. Grovyle insists that'll do and Icarus agrees that he can manage that, too.

 

As the Sableye approach to execute us with Fury Swipes, Grovyle explains our parts of the escape plan: We are to wait for Sableye's wild slashes to damage the ropes and then attack once when the ropes are weak to surprise them with a sudden offense!

 

The Sableye begin to use Fury Swipes to attack us, causing a great deal of pain, but Grovyle encourages us to endure it and wait for our opportunity to open!

 

 

Soon, the ropes begin to break, and we take that opportunity to attack and break out of the ropes!

As soon as we break free, Grovyle uses a Luminous Orb to fill the room with a bright light, blinding the hoard of Sableye and buying our chance to hide!

 

Dusknoir is convinced that we fled using the Luminous Orb and instructs the Sableye to follow him in search of Grovyle once again. Dusknoir's in a lot of shit with Dialga if he fails the execution now!

 

Music: In the Depths of the Pit

After everyone leaves, it turns out Grovyle brought us all underground using the move Dig. We didn't actually flee! With the Sableye looking in the wrong direction, we've bought ourselves the perfect opportunity to get away!

Of course, there's no time to waste. We've gotta actually get away or we'll only be attacked.

 

As we run from the stockade, Grovyle pushes Icarus to run faster, but he gets fed up and yells at Grovyle to stop ordering him around!

 

As we continue running, Icarus begins to ask Grovyle about where we are, confirming that we are indeed in the future. This is where I think Grovyle makes one of his most crucial mistakes: He could've used this opportunity to insist that he knows a way to get back to the present, but instead when Icarus asks if there's any chance they can get back home, Grovyle just tells him "who knows?" Knowing that there's a plan would certainly help to spur Icarus onward, I'm sure!

Music: In the Future

Soon, we arrive outside, but the sight out here isn't quite the pleasant retreat we were hoping for.

 

It's at this point where Icarus starts to connect the dots and realize what's happened in this world: Total Planetary Paralysis.

 

Unfortunately, there's no time to stop and think about all this. We're still being pursued and we can already hear the Sableye catching up to us!

While Grovyle insists we continue running as far as we can, Icarus explains that he can't go any further. And so, Grovyle seeks a natural alcove to hide behind for a quick rest, but we're going to have to get going soon or we'll risk getting caught by the Sableye.

 

Icarus protests to the idea of continuing with Grovyle. He still can't see Grovyle as anything other than the bad guy we've been trying to capture all this time.

 

Originally, I was actually annoyed at how dense the partner had to be to not be able to see what was obviously happening. However, after playing through this story for the third time, I think I've started to see Icarus's perspective a lot more. There's a lot of layers to why he would be reluctant to trust Grovyle even now. To start, there's obviously the fact that Grovyle's been the most wanted criminal in the world for the past week and he swore to help capture him. To admit now that Grovyle is a good guy would mean not only admitting he was wrong, but also doubting the rest of the guild's decision to pursue him. Last time he doubted the ethics of the guildmembers was when the gear from Fogbound Lake was stolen and he suggested someone might've leaked the location. He was quickly chastised for that and realized he shouldn't have doubted them at all.

Beyond that, Dusknoir was seen as a major ally for the guild if not a guildmember in his own right. To doubt Dusknoir to Icarus just might be the same as doubting the rest of the guild. It's quite likely the guild sees our abduction the same way. Nobody has had the chance to hear Dusknoir out, so who's to say he's really in the wrong yet? Maybe there's some explanation that justifies all this insanity? It's not like the rest of this scenario is any less surprising.

Beyond even that, Icarus seems to have developed a thorough hatred of "bad pokemon" after having dealt with Team Skull as well as horrible criminals like Drowzee and the various thieves and bandits from our various Explorer jobs. With how many times he's been tricked and manipulated by bullies, and especially after getting crushed by Dusknoir's betrayal after deciding that he had no choice but to trust him, it's no wonder Icarus would be incredibly reluctant to follow Grovyle. From his perspective, Grovyle helping him break out of the ropes might not be any different from Team Skull getting the Perfect Apples out of the tree for us, or their appeals to the guild to get on Wigglytuff and Chatot's good side. At this point, he's been crushed by betrayal so much that he's reluctant to put his faith in anyone else, especially if it's somehone he has to.

The only person Icarus feels like he can trust right now is Skye. And that's only because we've been through so much together by now that, of course there could be no doubt between us. Plus, he's clearly grown a lot from spending time with us. It's not like we're just using him.

 

Regardless of how Icarus feels about the whole situation, Grovyle warns us again not to let the Sableye catch us and that we should get going asap. But since Icarus can't seem to trust him yet, he decides to go on ahead. There's no use staying together if there's no trust between us.

Naturally, Icarus is completely bummed about the whole situation. He's questioning everything. Didn't we do everything we were supposed to do? Grovyle was trying to cause the planet's paralysis by stealing the time gears! That's what we understood and that's why the whole world was after Grovyle. The Lake Guardians were supposed to return the Time Gears to their rightful places, so how did the planet get paralyzed? How does all this time travel even work? Is the planet paralyzed because Grovyle escaped and stole the time gears again? Why did we get involved in all of this?

 

As we continue to talk, we eventually hear the laughter of the Sableye approaching! That can't be good! We've gotta get moving, no more time to rest!

==============

Chasm Cave

This is the first of many dungeons we'll have to endure without a visit to Treasure Town, so hopefully you're prepared! Chasm Cave isn't particularly difficult. Being a series of platforms and bridges over a vast chasm means you can cut corners and more easily attack enemies from any direction. Likewise, it means you can frequently be attacked by enemies capable of hovering over the pits. This is where I started to realize a particular problem with the team of two I happen to have. Icarus doesn't know Foresight and, between Icarus and Skye, Icarus is the only one of us that has any moves capable of doing decent damage against Ghost types. Almost all of our offensive moves are Normal or Fighting type. Needless to say, Drifloon and Drifblim are incredibly annoying in this dungeon.

Anyway, item-wise, you guessed it, this dungeon has the version exclusive items from both Time and Darkness plus some new additions, mainly lookalike items.

New items in Sky:  Graveleyrock,  Oren Berry,  Dough,  Dropeye,  Slip,  Reviser, and  Via Seeds,  Mix Elixirs, and the TM for  Dragon Claw

Graveleyrocks are finally a new lookalike item! This item is actually a food item like a Gummi, but it's only usable for the pokemon Sudowoodo and Bonsly. That said, it's actually surprisingly useful, boosting their IQ by 10 points which is the same as two Gray Gummis! But only being usable by two species of pokemon definitely makes it a less appealing option.

Traps added:  Trip Trap

Normally, there are no new traps in Sky, you just get all the traps from both previous versions. This time, however, the Trip Trap is added to this dungeon where it was absent here in Explorer's of Time and Darkness. I can't help but wonder if it was omitted by accident because the Trip Trap is one of the most consistent traps in the game. And if the devs wanted to take it easy on you, certainly they would've gotten rid of one of the more dangerous traps like the Warp Trap.

Other than those changes, the dungeon is identical to the previous versions.

Also, starting on B5F, the dungeon's tileset shifts form the redder look to this bluer one.

One of the biggest complications aside from the aforementioned issues with Ghost-types, which doesn't come up as much here, is Grumpig's Psybeam sniping me from another bridge. It's a really awkward struggle, but between Gravelerocks, Quick Attack, and Focus Blast, we were able to handle ourselves fairly well.

===========

 

After eight floors, we arrive at the exit to the cave only to wind up in another bleak-looking canyon. Icarus decides to rest up again since we've put some distance between us and the Sableye.

 

Icarus draws our attention to the still water and it just further drives the point home that time has truly stopped here.

 

 

Icarus suddenly gets the idea to use our Dimensional Scream to see if we can get any answers, but nope, it doesn't work when we touch the water. We're still left with little in the way of direction in understanding what's going on.

Anyway, Icarus decides that's enough time resting. We should get going to put more distance between us and the Sableye.

After making preparations at the Kangaskhan Rock, it's time to get moving!

===========

Dark Hill

Welcome to the biggest pain in the ass of a dungeon. This dungeon took several attempts to get through without getting KO'd. Can you guess why? Of course, it's because there's almost nothing but goddamn Ghost-types! I've already established why Ghost-types are a huge struggle for this team in particular. Not only do I really struggle to damage them and they can attack from walls, but they have all sorts of annoying attacks like Confuse Ray, Curse, Psybeam, Faint Attack... Icarus is the only one capable of fighting back. All Skye can really do is throw Gravelerocks, which I recommend you bring plenty of regardless because it's the only way you can damage a ghost attacking from a wall.

To assist with Icarus handling Ghost-types, I swapped my Persim Bow onto him to avoid those Gastly's pesky Confuse Ray, and gave the Lime Bow to Skye for better protection.

The items, traps, and pokemon here are the same story as in Chasm Cave: They're the same as the previous versions plus the same additions, with the exception that the Trip Trap was in the Darkness/Time counterpart this time.

On the 7th floor, the dungeon changes tileset. Once again changing from a redder pallet to a bluer one.

Along the way, I had to make a bit of a compromise and have Skye temporarily forget Quick Attack for Bite when she leveled up to Lv. 29. Eventually, I do plan to replace this with Shadow Ball to help avoid my inability to fight against Ghost-types. But I've never happened across a Shadow Ball TM, so I'll have to take this opportunity to compromise range for damage. I didn't want to delete Facade because I used a TM to teach that. Quick Attack can be retaught easily enough at the Electivire Link Shop.

Icarus also tried to learn the move Copycat, but I generally don't find a move like this very useful, so I ditched the idea.

===========

 

After 15 floors, we soon arrive at a cliffside where we can see the lights from the stockade in the distance. We've traveled a long way and still don't really have any clue where we're going. This is where Icarus hits his lowest point. Why did Dusknoir have to betray us? Why would he drag us through all of this? Why us? Everything would've been so much easier if things were as simple as Grovyle being a bad guy.

 

Music: Time Gear Remix

Of course, Skye is afraid as well, but we can't just stay here and wait for those Sableye to catch up to us. But Icarus seems about ready to give up. We need to come up with a way to inspire hope. Anything at all...

 

 

 

It's a difficult conversation, but as we speak to Icarus, we help him to realize that Grovyle is the only way we know to get back to our time. Regardless of whether or not Icarus feels like he can trust him, there's still hope for us as long as Grovyle is around! We can get information out of him. Even if he's lying to our faces, we should still at least be able to stick to him and figure out if and how he plans to get to the past himself.

 

And with that, Icarus finally finds his resolve to keep going, and we agree to go after Grovyle together!

 

Music: In the Hands of Fate

As we begin to get going, Icarus stops us once again to genuinely thank us for always being there to support him and lift him up. He promises us he won't give up anymore and he'll carry onward with us! So, let's go get Grovyle!

Up ahead, there's an old ruin that we'll have to pass through. Since there haven't been any branches this whole time, Grovyle has to be up ahead! So let's get after him!

===========

Sealed Ruin

Thankfully, we seem to be beyond the worst of what this arc has to offer. We'll still have to deal with Spiritomb, but a single Ghost-type isn't nearly as threatening as a dungeon full of them. Plus, Spiritomb's Dark type offsets his resistance to Fighting a little bit. Anyway, this dungeon is more traditional than what we've been through so far. Item-wise, there are no lookalike items added, so the only new addition is the Dragon Claw TM. Otherwise, Items and Traps are just combined from the previous versions. No enemies in the dungeon stand out as particularly dangerous, either. But you do have to be wary of Monster Houses!

 

After the 8th floor, we'll run into a Waypoint. Icarus brings up that we've gotta keep going if we wanna catch up to Grovyle before the paths begin to open up and we lose his trail.

 

And then we're treated to the scene where Grovyle trespasses into Spiritomb's territory.

 

 

And now, it certainly seems like we're not going to have any issues catching up to Grovyle, huh?

==============

Deep Sealed Ruin

Deep Sealed Ruin is the same story as its predecessor. Aside from the tense atmosphere and slightly higher-level enemies, it's the exact same dungeon. Even the species of pokemon are the same!

 

I did stumble into a Monster House, but thanks to the size of the room, none of the enemies picked up any items, so I was able to drop a Spurn Orb to disperse the foes throughout the floor and pick up a nice feast of items.

==========

After six more floors, we finally catch up to Grovyle, who's being pinned down by Spiritomb!

 

Grovyle warns us of the enemy, but Icarus is naturally confused as there doesn't appear to be any pokemon in the area.

 

 

Spiritomb soon emerges from the Odd Keystone and reveals that they are the combined fusion of 108 spirits. They threaten to punish all who trespass on their territory. With no way to reason with them, we're just gonna have to fight our way through.

=============

 

Team Flight

----------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 30

Item: Lime Bow 

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand + Sand-Attack, Facade, Bite

-----------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 30

Item: Persim Band 

Abilities: Steadfast, Inner Focus | Moves: Endure, Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast

==============

Vs. Spiritomb

 

The strategy for this fight was as straight-forward as it could possibly be. We just had to keep Spiritomb at bay while Buffing Icarus and Debuffing Spiritomb. A Sleep Seed helped me buy extra time to set up while Icarus went at it with Bite.

It didn't take long at all for Spiritomb to go down. This fight is a joke compared to the Dark Hill dungeon. But boy am I looking forward to having my squadmates back.

=============

 

Upon defeating Spiritomb, the whole room begins to rumble.

 

But after all that buildup, it turns out Spiritomb were just trying to summon the energy to run away, retracting the spirits that were possessing Grovyle.

 

With Spiritomb gone, we rush in to check on Grovyle to find that he's okay. He explains that Spiritomb was tricky and took him by surprise.

 

 

When Riolu comments that it must've been a bad pokemon for attacking Grovyle the way it did, Grovyle corrects him and insists that Spiritomb was only upset that we got too close, but he points out that it ran away as soon as it realized it couldn't defeat us. He goes on to explain that this dark world has caused many pokemon to become bitter and twisted in spite of their normally peaceful nature.

 

 

After a small back and forth, Icarus and Grovyle settle on the fact that Icarus can't fully trust Grovyle, but he's not going to assume Grovyle's lying, either. After all, everything he's said has certainly made sense and it's not like we have any other choice in the moment. It might be a difficult truth to swallow, but it's only becoming more clear that Dusknoir played us all for fools.

Anyway, that's the end of this chapter! It was a bit of a doozy to cover, so I'm glad to have it finalized! Next time, we begin traveling with Grovyle as we learn about this world and try and find our way back to the past. See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 15: The Secret of the Planet's Paralysis

We continue today through the future arc. Last time, we woke up in a prison cell where we were swiftly taken to a stockade alongside Grovyle for an execution at the hands of Dusknoir! We escaped from the Stockade and fled the Sableye that pursued us. We came to learn that the world of the Future has been afflicted with planetary paralysis and time has completely stopped. The world is trapped in eternal darkness. We briefly separated from Grovyle because Icarus wasn't comfortable trusting him. But after some encouragement, we decided to catch up with Grovyle, just in time to rescue him from the attack of a Spiritomb who has grown twisted by the darkness here. While Icarus still doesn't fully trust Grovyle, we've decided we don't have much of a choice but to travel with him to try and return home in order to prevent the planet's paralysis ourselves.

Music: In the Future

 

We sought another shelter to rest up at and discuss what's happened to this world. Grovyle explains that the planetary paralysis began with the collapse of Temporal Tower during our era. He insists that he was stealing the Time Gears to return them to Temporal Tower in order to repair it and prevent its collapse. It turns out the paralysis of time from the removal of the Time Gears is only temporary. And once the gears were brought to the Tower, time would begin to flow again everywhere. However, when the Temporal Tower collapsed, Dialga reverted into a primal state where he feels no emotion at all and seeks only self-preservation. As a result, Dialga seeks to eliminate anyone who would try to alter the timeline with no care as to who is right or wrong. To that end, he enlisted the help of an agent, Dusknoir, to capture Grovyle and stop his efforts to prevent the tower's collapse.

 

All of this is just too much for Icarus to accept. He simply had too much respect for Dusknoir, all of this is clearly incredibly painful for him to hear.

 

Music: Time Gear

Of course, even Skye recognizes that, though it's painful for Icarus to accept, he does know that nothing Grovyle is saying is contradictory and explains a lot.

 

Even still, Icarus has placed too much of his faith in Dusknoir. He starts heading back to ask Dusknoir his side of the story, but Grovyle stops him.

 

Grovyle reminds Icarus of what he said before, that he shouldn't accept anything he's told at face value and think for himself instead. Going to ask Dusknoir what he thinks at this point won't help in anything, and it's clear he's just going to get rid of Icarus when he returns.

 

Icarus asks Grovyle what he plans to do, and Grovyle insists he's going back to the past. And to that end, he's going to find Celebi.

 

After another brief back and forth with Icarus, he makes it clear that he does actually agree with Grovyle, that he needs to think for himself and not just rely on Dusknoir to help him figure things out. So, he agrees to follow Grovyle and get back home so he can pursue his own answers!

Music: Planet's Paralysis

 

Back at the collapsed Temporal Tower, we see Dusknoir reporting to Dialga and hatching a plan to help capture the three of us. To that end, he requests the aid of Dialga himself.

Music: In the Future

We soon arrive at the edge of Dusk Forest. Another location where Skye feels a sense of deja vu, just like what she felt at the Foggy Forest and Northern Desert.

 

Grovyle tells us where we are: Dusk Forest, which is where Celebi dwelt last he saw her.

At Icarus's request, Grovyle explains who Celebi is, that she is capable of time travel and the way he was able to travel to the past before. But unfortunately, Celebi aiding in Grovyle's quest means that she has been made an enemy of Dialga as well. So she's in hiding just like us.

 

Of course, it's time to make preparations for our next excursion. Storage space is starting to get pretty tight! Hopefully we can make it!

 

As we take our leave though, we find that we're being tailed by a Sableye... it looks like Dusknoir might just be one step ahead of us.

===========

Dusk Forest

It's our fourth dungeon in the future! The dungeon is pretty straightforward. Mismagius is the biggest threat and Gabite can be a little scary as well, but there isn't too terribly much to worry about. Certainly not in comparison to Dark Hill. We've also got Grovyle on our side! But he's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Be prepared to watch him fumble around using the absolute worst move in every situation where he's stuck fighting.

This dungeon doesn't have much special to say. Other than the addition of the Dragon Claw TM, all items and traps from the previous versions are present and there are no additional items or traps added. Like I said, it's a pretty straightforward dungeon.

On the 5th floor, the tileset changes from green trees to darker blue trees.

============

Dusk Forest Heights

After eight floors, we arrive at the heights of the forest.

 

This is supposedly where Grovyle last met with Celebi, but he insists it's likely she's hiding because of Dialga. He tries to call Celebi out, but she doesn't appear. Icarus grows worried that she might've been captured!

 

Music: Welcome to the World of Pokemon

Soon, Celebi objects to Icarus's assertion that it's even possible for her to be captured! Celebi soon appears in a brilliant sparkling glow, reflecting her shiny coloring! She's delighted to be reunited with Grovyle!

 

Celebi can immediately tell that Grovyle failed in his mission in the past, but she agrees to help him travel to the past again. She'll help him as many times as needed if it means getting out of this miserable place.

 

When asked about the Passage of Time, Celebi points us in the direction and she'll be happy to guide us there!

 

As she looks over us, there's an odd moment where she seems to recognize Skye as Grovyle's friend! But she immediately shrugs it off, leaving Skye quite confused by her "mistake."

With that, it's off to the Passage of Time!

 

Celebi guides us deeper into the forest where we can prepare at a Kangaskhan Statue. This is where I finally run out of storage space, so hopefully we can access Treasure Town soon! I partially expect to unlock a Special Episode after finishing the Future Arc, so I might have to make a special exception for the "immediate save and quit" approach if that happens just so I can clear up some extra inventory space and make use of my items without wasting any.

==============

Deep Dusk Forest

Here we are in the depths of Dusk Forest! We've got Celebi tagging along this time and she makes equally questionable decisions. She has some obsession with using AncientPower over Magical Leaf almost every time she comes face to face with a pokemon that resists Rock. It's almost as head-scratching as Grovyle's insistance on using exclusively dig against Leafeon. I swear these two share a single brain cell. This dungeon is slightly more different than its predecessors for a couple of reasons.

The more significant reason is the absense of  Vulpix since Vulpix is now a starter.

In addition,  Sticks can be found now as well as the TM for  Dragon Claw. Other than that, you guessed it, pokemon, items, and traps are the same as the combined lists from both previous versions.

Due to the absense of Vulpix, there's actually not much Skye is capable of fighting very well, so I found myself relying on Icarus, Grovyle, and Celebi a lot more than I'd like to. Most pokemon in this dungeon are resistant to Skye's Normal attacks which is all she really has. And for some reason, as explained before, Grovyle and Celebi seem weirdly adverse to using their actually super-effective moves and insist on using moves that are resisted almost every time. I can pretty much always expect Grovyle to attack Steelix with Quick Attack rather than Dig. It was bizarre but really frustrating when Icarus was running low on PP for fighting attacks and there's really no reason Grovyle and Celebi couldn't handle these fights effortlessly. But after dropping an Elixir or two, Icarus was able to blast through the walls.

On the 7th floor, the tileset shifts to a more autumn theme.

============

 

Music: Time Gear Remix

Soon, we arrive at the Passage of Time deep in Dusk Forest! Our home is just within reach!

 

But just before we begin to make our way toward the gate...

Music: The Power of Darkness

Dusknoir appears!

 

Not only is Dusknoir here, but he has us surrounded by Sableye. It turns out he'd allowed us to "get away" from his pursuit intentionally so that Grovyle would end up leading him directly to Celebi and the Passage of Time. Now, he can kill two birds with one stone: Capture the escaped prisoners and capture Celebi.

 

Of course, we're prepared for a final showdown. We'll just have to fight our way through Grovyle and the Sableye to get to the Passage of Time and get home! We're so close!

 

Unfortunately, Dusknoir has no intention of keeping this one a fair fight.

 

Music: Planet's Paralysis

Indeed, there is yet another party waiting to ambush us. And it's one absolutely none of us are prepared to handle: Dialga himself.

 

At the sight of Dialga, Grovyle knows there is absolutely no chance of success for us.

 

Grovyle fears he has no choice but to surrender to Dusknoir.

 

 

Grovyle elaborates that he's only willing to give up because hope is still alive because he isn't on this mission alone. He must put his faith in his partner.

 

Grovyle elaborates how he and his partner got separated while crossing the Passage of Time and that his partner should still be in the past to see the mission through to the end.

 

To everyone's surprise, Dusknoir's response to this is merely laughter. And he proceeds to ask Grovyle to humor him with the name of this partner that should still be in the past helping him to gather the Time Gears.

 

Grovyle then lets the name of his partner be known: Skye.

 

 

Music: Hidden Highland

This is where it's finally revealed that Skye is, indeed, Grovyle's partner, a human from this paralyzed future, transformed into a pokemon after having been separated in the Passage of Time and being reunited here under such tragic circumstances.

 

Dusknoir tells Grovyle all about how he came to met us and learned our identity.

 

Suddenly, this situation has turned a lot more dire, and Dusknoir couldn't be more satisfied with this cursed end.

 

Music: Planet's Paralysis

The Sableye start to close in on us, and it's starting to seem like all hope is lost...

 

Soon, Icarus gets the idea to ask Celebi to use her time travel to transport us to the Passage of Time.

Celebi warns Icarus that she can't make any promises with Dialga present, but with no other options, we have to take the desperate chance! So, she uses her power of Time Travel to help us escape Dusknoir's trap!

 

 

Just as the Sableye prepare to attack, Celebi causes us to vanish with her power! Dusknoir is caught off guard for a moment, but quickly catches on to what just happened knowing his opponents.

 

 

Music: Oh No!

Responding to Celebi's attempt to warp our party through time-space, our path is cut just short of the Passage of Time!

 

Celebi tells us to dive into the Passage of Time, she insists she can't be caught and stays behind to hold Dusknoir off.

 

In spite of Dusknoir's best efforts, Celebi is able to obstruct Dusknoir's path just long enough for us to slip through the Passage of Time! Finally, we can return home!

And that's where we'll leave things off for now! We're officially transitioning into the final arc of the main story! Pretty soon we're going to be in entirely new territory! See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 16: A New Dawn

Apologies for the delay! It wasn't at all my intention, but between a few unexpected vet visits (my dogs are fine, no lasting problems there) and imgur acting up again, I was having issues getting this post done. Anyway, last time we were able to escape from Dusknoir's pursuit. We'd met with Celebi at Dusk Forest to be guided toward the Passage of Time where Dusknoir had set up an ambush with Primal Dialga. However, using Celebi's standalone power of time travel, we were able to close the distance between us and the Passage of Time before Dialga shattered our time travel path. Still, we were able to dive in and now, we return to the present day!

 

One by one, we all wake up on the beach where Icarus and Skye met at the beginning of the game! That means we're not far at all from Wigglytuff's Guild! But there's an issue... Obviously, Grovyle can't go to the guild because he's still a wanted criminal in this world. so, Icarus comes up with the idea to bring everyone to where he used to stay before he joined the guild. But it's going to involve passing through treasure town, so we'll need to keep a low profile.

 

Along the way, we unlock our fourth Special Episode "Hear Comes Team Charm!" Under normal circumstances, I play these special episodes as soon as I unlock them. However, under these specific conditions, I really don't want to dabble in any special episodes until I can get to Treasure Town and Spinda Cafe. I'm already stretched quite thin with inventory space as it is and with the Recycle Shop, I want to waste as few items as possible to advance Project P as much as possible as well as potentially getting some rare items from the prize tickets. So for now, we're going to have to put Special Episode 4 on the backburner. I do intend to play it ASAP once we free up some inventory space, though. Sorry if that's a disappointment!

 

Icarus leads us to a stairway concealed under a bush at Sharpedo Bluff. Inside is his old hideout: A hollow chamber inside of the Sharpedo's mouth. It overlooks the sea and actually seems quite cozy! Though with the open walls I can imagine it getting pretty hot and cold, so I can't imagine it being a very pleasant place to stay for the long-term.

 

As we rest up by a campfire, we finally begin to catch up with Grovyle. Grovyle explains all about how Skye was his best friend in the future where Skye was a human. Together, they tracked down the locations of the Time Gears in the past using Skye's Dimensional Scream. From there, they were able to pinpoint the locations of the Time Gears in the present. It turns out, in the future, the Dimensional Scream only works in the places the Time Gears were kept. This is a surprise to us since we've been using the Dimensional Scream all over, so Grovyle assumes the rules must just be different here. Perhaps it's related to the regular flow of time in this world? But the fact that it only works in the Time Gears' locations in the future explains why we couldn't get the Dimensional Scream to work by touching the frozen water in the future. In addition, the Dimensional Scream only works with the presence of a trusted partner, which shows that the trust between us is genuine!

Anyway, after securing the locations of all the Time Gears, Skye and Grovyle met with Celebi and used the Passage of Time to travel to the past. in order to steal them all. However, they had trouble in the Passage of Time that caused them to become separated, leading to Grovyle waking up in the Eastern Forest while Skye woke up on the beach where she met Icarus.

 

After catching up, we all agree to work together to retrieve the Time Gears again. So, we rest up for the night.

Grovyle wakes up early in the morning and notices Icarus isn't in his bed.

 

He comes outside to find Icarus standing at the edge of the bluff, thinking to himself. He's mulling over everything we've been through now, and how Skye is from the same world as Grovyle while Dusknoir was never their friend. There's clearly a lot weighing on his mind in the moment.

 

Music: On the Beach at Dusk

As they stand together at the cliff and look over the horizon, they can see the sun begin to rise!

 

Icarus and Grovyle share a moment as they watch the sun peek over the horizon. Icarus comments about how everyone, including himself, takes the sunrise for granted. Grovyle shares how powerful of a moment it was to experience the sunrise for the first time after growing up knowing nothing but the world of darkness in the future. I can imagine it being incredibly moving. It's a message that really does make you appreciate the beauty of the real world, too!

 

It's on the topic of resolve when Grovyle turns to Icarus and asks us where his came from when we were cornered by Dialga. Where did he find the courage to stand up to him even though it seemed to be a losing situation? Icarus's answer is that he's really not sure, but his only guess is Skye.

 

Icarus shows his Relic Fragment to Grovyle and he recounts the various situations our presence has helped him be brave in the face of tasks that otherwise would've been impossible for him to stand up to. This must've been similar to those situations.

 

After telling Icarus Skye is lucky to have a friend like him, he notices it's morning and that we should get prepared.

 

As we start discussing where to go first, Icarus suggests that the Underground Lake is the closest to where we are, but Grovyle suggests we start in Treeshroud Forest. It's the first Time Gear he stole last time. While it's quite far away, nobody was guarding it last time. And the longer we can avoid detection, the easier it will be to gather the Time Gears. With that decided, it's time to head to Treeshroud Forest!

============

 

When we arrive, Grovyle makes a strange comment that the atmosphere feels different than the last time he was here. When I first got here, I was worried that might mean we'd have to deal with a boss at the end of the dungeon, but that wasn't the case.

After making preparations at the Kangaskhan Rock, we make our way deeper into the forest. Yeah yeah, I forgot we still have an additional dungeon even after returning to the present. It's really annoying to be so tight on inventory space, but we've just got a little more to push through!

=============

Treeshroud Forest

Despite being a forest, this dungeon is actually quite packed with Psychic-type pokemon. Considering this dungeon has Ninetales in Explorers of Time and Darkness, you might be surprised to know that Ninetales is still present here even in Explorers of Sky! Donphan was removed from Crystal Cave because of Phanpy being added as a starter, but despite Vulpix's addition as a starter, Ninetales wasn't removed here! The explanation may be that you won't be able to revisit this dungeon until the postgame and you can't recruit pokemon your first time here, but regardless, it's still an odd exception to the rule.

Anyway, Grovyle joins us here once again. The dungeon itself isn't too rough, but be prepared to deal with Vespiquen's Pressure ability on the latter floors. Monster Houses are a threat throughout. Pokemon, Item, and Trap-wise, this dungeon is identical to the combined versions of Darkness and Time with the exception of the addition of the Dragon Claw TM. Hidden Stairs can also be found! Across the last several dungeons, you've probably gathered a lot of money so you shouldn't have any issues using the services at the Hidden Bazaar.

On the 9th floor, the dungeon's tileset shifts to a more earthy tone with darker trees.

 

I ran into a Monster House on the 14th floor, but thanks to a Spurn Orb, I was able to get everyone away and recover the goodies!

============

After 20 floors, we arrive at the depths of the forest where the Time Gear should be resting, but...

 

Music: Time Gear Remix

When we arrive, we find that time is still frozen! But that doesn't make any sense, shouldn't the gear have been returned?

Up ahead, we find that the Time Gear is indeed in its proper place, so why has the flow of time not returned?

 

Something seems to be troubling Grovyle about the fact that time is stopped her despite the return of the Time Gear. But for now, he takes the time gear, insists that it makes no difference that it's missing now, and asks Icarus to gather information at Treasure Town before returning home to Sharpedo Bluff, but he and Icarus agree that he should keep his presence on the down low so as not to draw attention to the fact that we've returned from the future.

 

Music: I Saw Something Again...

When Icarus returns to Sharpedo Bluff, he informs us of what he's heard in Treasure town: Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf have returned all the Time Gears to their rightful places, but time not only never returned in those places, but the paralysis is spreading to even more areas!

This seems to confirm what Grovyle is concerned by. If time is stopping in a spreading area, it can only mean that Temporal Tower is already beginning to collapse. And if that happens, it means we're on the verge of total planetary paralysis just like Grovyle's world.

 

 

Our mission to reclaim the time gears just got a lot more urgent. But there's a big obstacle ahead of us that we're going to have to start dealing with now.

The location of Temporal Tower, the Hidden Land, is completely hidden as its name implies. Nobody knows where it is or even where to begin looking.

 

And so, we agree that the best approach is to split up. We'll entrust gathering the Time Gears again to Grovyle while we try to find the Hidden Land.

 

The only lead Grovyle suggests is that we start by looking for a way to cross the sea, as the Hidden Land may very well be located far from where we are if nobody has ever discovered it.

With that, Grovyle is off to gather the Time Gears, entrusting the task of seeking information on the Hidden Land to us. We've both got quite the task ahead of ourselves, and it's likely that neither is going to be easy.

 

Naturally, Icarus is left drawing a blank for where we should begin looking and decides the best place to start is looking for a way to cross the sea.

We decide to head down to the beach in hopes it might inspire some ideas, but nothing comes to mind.

 

Eventually, we come up with the idea to visit Wigglytuff's Guild!

 

 

 

It takes a little bit of back and forth, but eventually, we can convince Icarus that we need to go to the guild. We don't have any leads on the Hidden Land and there are so many resources there, particularly Chatot and Wigglytuff, who can help us to that end!

Music: On the Beach at Dusk

 

 

And with that, we finally decide to make our way to Wigglytuff's Guild! And that's where we'll be stopping today. We're rapidly approaching the endgame, but we've still got some fairly tough dungeons ahead of us!

Just a head's up, next time is likely to be another short update since I'm going to save and quit as soon as I get to visit Treasure Town and clear up some inventory space. Then we'll be off to do Special Episode 4! See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 17: The Guild's Crew (Part 1)

As I mentioned last time, we are gonna break the flow a little bit just to get access to Treasure Town before moving onto the fourth Special Episode, and that's going to involve poking a little bit ahead into the next chapter.

Anyway, last time we'd traveled with Grovyle to Treeshroud Forest to get the first Time Gear with the intention of returning it to Temporal Tower. However, upon arrival at the Time Gear, we found the area was still frozen in time despite the Time Gear having been returned. After further investigation, it's concluded that Temporal Tower is already collapsing and we need to recover the remaining Time Gears before it fully collapses and the planet is paralyzed in its entirety! So, Grovyle headed off to gather the remaining Time Gears while entrusting Skye and Icarus with the task of finding the Hidden Land, the place Temporal Tower is said to reside. With no further leads, we decide to return to Wigglytuff's Guild to seek help to this end.

 

When we return to the guild, Diglett everyone is shocked when Diglett announces that he's spotted Icarus's footprint!

 

Music: Wigglytuff's Guild

Immediately, everyone pours out of the guild to see us and welcome us home!

And that, of course, includes Chatot and Guildmaster Wigglytuff. But right now, we've gotta get inside and explain the dire situation to everyone. There isn't much time to waste on formalities.

 

Music: Wigglytuff's Guild Remix

After catching everyone up on our story, it's made abundantly clear that Chatot simply cannot believe our story at face value at all. Really, who can blame him? From the guild's perspective, it's all completely backwards from everything they've known up until now.

 

Naturally, when we push the subject further, Chatot becomes angry with us, as if we're making a mockery of the guild. Not only is he wholly convinced that Dusknoir is a good pokemon, but he also asserts that he's never heard of such a place as the Hidden Land despite being the head of intelligence for the guild.

But Sunflora soon intercedes with her own observation.

 

Music: I Saw Something Again...

She recalls the bizarre moment when Dusknoir left for the future, when he grabbed Skye and Icarus and took them with him by force.

 

Chatot tries to brush this off as some sort of accident, but the guildmembers assert that there was no doubt he grabbed them and pulled them in.

Furthermore, Chimecho adds that our story does explain Dusknoir's peculiar behavior that day.

 

 

Music: Goodnight

Soon, Bidoof speaks up about believing our story, suggesting that we're more important than believing in Dusknoir, and the rest of the guild joins in agreement with him. Even Dugtrio, who seemed to be the most skeptical at first, agrees in the end, leaving Chatot completely alone in his disbelief.

 

When Wigglytuff voices that everyone seems to agree to believe our story, but Loudred takes the moment to call out the fact that Chatot doesn't seem to be in agreement.

 

Music: Guildmaster Wigglytuff

With a bit of pressure from the guildmaster, Chatot caves and changes his position. He insists that he believed our story right from the very beginning! But that doesn't seem very likely given his adamancy earlier...

Music: Wigglytuff's Guild

 

With that, Wigglytuff makes the announcement to rile everyone up: With our testament, the objective is changed. The guild is to combine their efforts and seek out information on the Hidden Land! Not only do we have to gather up information, but we also need to spread the word about these new discoveries, especially to the Lake Guardians to stop them from fighting with Grovyle. That should make Grovyle's task a lot easier, too.

 

Wigglytuff admits he knows nothing about the Hidden Land, but he suggests we go and visit Torkoal to see if he has any knowledge of the Hidden Land. In order to get to Torkoal, we'll need to head off toward Waterfall Cave in order to get to the Hot Spring where we last saw him.

 

At Chimecho's suggestion, we have ourselves a much-needed dinner with the guild and scoot off to bed.

 

Music: Goodnight

Naturally, Icarus is relieved to be home at the guild again and he also tells us how glad he is that everyone was able to believe our story in the end. It's going to be a lot of help being able to use the guild's resources.

The next morning, we all already know our duties, so there's not really much need to wait for orders. We've gotta head out to Waterfall Cave! But first, we've gotta make our much-needed pit stop at Treasure Town to unload a lot of loot. We've got a ton of Treasure Boxes to open, Gummis to eat, and other prizes in store!

 

Upon revisiting the Recycle Shop, Wynaut announces Project P discovered a new dungeon! This is Tiny Meadow which is actually one of the extra dungeons we explored already explored in Explorers of Time. But we'll still be going through it here for the sake of completion. Just not right now.

In addition, there was a special offer today! I forgot to take a screenshot of the deal before mashing through it, but it was a  Calcium in exchange for 3  Oran Berries and an  X-Eye Seed, I believe.

 

In addition, I actually got a big win with a Silver Ticket and earned the HM for Defog! I'm not sure how useful Defog is going to be, but an infinitely reusable HM is certainly nothing to scoff at!

 

And, while mixing drinks at Spinda's Juice Bar, we found another little surprise! In the bottom of one of thd drink glasses was the location of an exploration spot!

We can now explore Serenity River as well! This place is yet another dungeon we've already explored. Where we unlocked Tiny Meadow in our playthrough of Time, we unlocked Serenity River in our playthrough of Darkness. Ironic that we'd unlock them both together now.

But yes, it seems that new dungeons can be unlocked not just through Project P advancements, but randomly through drinks at Spinda's Juice Bar, too! Make sure to mix a lot of drinks!

 

And we're still not done! We also got another random event from the Juice Bar! This time, a Chingling at the cafe was impressed by the way Spore savored the flavor of his juice.

That's right, you can get new recruits from the Juice Bar at random, too! Just like other out-of-dungeon recruits, these recruits will always be at Lv. 1.

=============

Team Flight New Recruit

--------------

Ringing (Chingling M); Lv. 1

Item: None

Ability: Levitate | Moves: Wrap

I can't say I'm too terribly impressed by recruiting a Chingling, but he does have some degree of utility with Levitate being an ideal ability for any team that uses Earthquake or Magnitude.

=============

Taking a detour out of Spinda's Cafe, I also wanted to make sure to relearn Quick Attack at the Electivire Link Shop. Until I can get my hands on a Shadow Ball TM, Quick Attack is the best I have to work with for Skye's ranged attacks and it's not very impressive but I only let her learn Bite to deal with the numerous Ghost Types in Dark Hill which I imagine is a niche complication we won't be running into much going forward.

 

And as we visit Chansey Day Care, it turns out our egg hatched, too! It hatched into... a Spheal! I mean, that would be really exciting if I didn't already have a Spheal I was training up literally right now. Still, it's kind acute to imagine Hail having a cute little baby to take care of whenever she's home, so I'll give this a pass.

=============

Team Flight New Recruit

--------------

Snow (Spheal M); Lv. 1

Item: None

Ability: Thick Fat, Ice Body | Moves: Powder Snow, Growl, Water Gun, Defense Curl

This Spheal is almost identical to the one that's currently on our team just lower level and lower IQ, so I unfortunately don't really have much practical use for him. He also didn't come with any exclusive items. But hey, who could turn down that little face?

==============

When I stopped by Croagunk's Swap Shop, there were a handful of really useful items for me!

For two of any exclusive item, I obtained a  Riolu Card which will boost the Special Defense of Riolu and Lucario by 3 as long as it's in the inventory. That's a major boon for Icarus!

Not only that, but I also got an  Evolve Charm which is a rarer treasure for Eevee and its evolutions, boosting both of its Defenses by 3!

Lastly, I got the  Firm Hat which is an exclusive item for Paras and Parasect which causes them to be healed by Fire attacks! That's especially helpful given Spore's quad-weakness to Fire! It's essentially an equivalent to the Sun Scarf Sunflora got in her Special Episode. This one was particularly rare, though, and required five exclusive items.

All these trades were ones I'm more than happy to make, since all it really does is open up a lot of extra inventory space!

Finally, I did some last-minute inventory maintenance, selling a bunch of items that are too valuable for the Recycle Shop but not useful enough for me and made sure everything was ready! I'll likely have to make another round after our next update, but this is where we're going to leave things off for now because next time we're going to finally do that Special Episode that we've been waiting so long to do! See you next time with Special Episode 4: Here Comes Team Charm!

[Aura]

It's time to put our main story on hiatus as we turn our attention to Special Episode 4: "Here Comes Team Charm!" This special episode was unlocked at the start of Chapter 16, but I didn't want to cut things there since I was really cutting it close with inventory space and I'd have nowhere to store the loot from this story! So, I made an exception for the rule. Really, I think it just makes sense for this Special Episode to unlock only after you return to the guild. So where I'm playing it now just makes the most sense to me, personally.

Anyway, this is the first Special Episode that seems to star a character, or a group of characters, that I don't actually recognize. After looking into it, it turns out Team Charm did exist in Explorers of Time and Darkness, they aren't just invented for the sake of this side story, they were just introduced in a postgame plot thread that I never got around to. That certainly makes a lot of sense.

 

Our story begins in the evening at some ancient ruins on the eastern horizon. At first, I actually thought this resembled the ruins that Igglybuff and Armaldo arrived at together in Fortune Ravine, but in retrospect I don't think it is the same place. Still, judging by something that comes up a little bit further in, I'm not entirely certain that feeling is a coincidence.

Inside the ruins, we find a Graveler who seems to have been exploring these ruins for a while. He seems relieved to have finally reached the end of the dungeon.

 

He notices a treasure chest up ahead and gets excited! Finally, he's been searching high and low for great treasure!

 

Graveler almost gets carried away in his excitement by recklessly taking the treasure, but he considers the possibility of a booby trap, so he pauses to consider what he should do before concluding that he should just take the treasure real carefully and run.

Music: Team Charm's Theme

Just as he's about to take the chest, a voice calls out to him to wait.

 

Frightened, Graveler demands the source of the voice to reveal themselves. And so, they proudly comply.

 

 

The three reveal their locations, the statues surrounding the treasure chest were the source of the voices all along! Medicham announces herself with the quality of Strength, Gardevoir with Knowledge, and Lopunny with Beauty! Together, they strike a pose and announce their name as Team Charm.

 

Suddenly, the room grows dark and in the brief period of darkness, Team Charm and the treasure disappears! Graveler isn't too pleased about being tricked, but he's got a much bigger concern on his hands.

 

The ruins begin to collapse and we see that Team Charm has made their getaway completely unharmed! This is certainly a very interesting trio. They seem to be a group of Femme-Fatales? They use their charm and their wit to use others like pawns to get what they're really after. But I've gotta say their theme is really cool and this has got to be the most baddass introduction of any character in Mystery Dungeon so far.

 

The girls pat themselves on the back for yet another successful job.

 

Apparently, Team Charm takes great pride in their 100% success rate! Let's hope during our coverage we don't ruin that reputation of theirs, huh?

Special Episode 4: Here Comes Team Charm!

 

We're given a bit more of an info-dump, informing us that Team Charm is a famous master-rank exploration team with a splended ability to find treasure.

 

Then, we're told that this story takes place before Team Charm's rise to fame. Perhaps we'll get to experience the adventure that got them famous?

 

During this exploration, it seems Team Charm has their eyes set on a legendary treasure at a place called Boulder Quarry. But in order to get there, they'll have to pass through the jungle they're currently at the entrance of.

 

Apparently this legendary treasure is really beautiful, so the girls feel it's perfect for them to make their own!

This news reinvigorates Medicham who was just feeling fatigued of all their traveling. They've just gotta make it through the jungle!

 

But just as they're about to start their exploration of the jungle, they're stopped by a strange-looking Bellossom...

 

Bellossom warns Team Charm that they should give up their pursuit of the treasure in Boulder Quarry. Bellossom insists that every explorer who has sought the treasure in Boulder Quarry has failed in their attempts to find it, and they, the pokemon that live here in the Lush Jungle, believe that the treasure is impossible to recover because it simply exists.

I don't think it's too much to suggest that this Bellossom is probably another explorer, part of a rival exploration team seeking the treasure in Boulder Quarry. To be more specific, it's obviously a Ditto. Perhaps they've chosen to disguise themselves as a local of Lush Jungle in order to discourage rival exploration teams from looking for the treasure.

 

But we already know that giving up just isn't Team Charm's style, so they're going to march on ahead, anyway!

 

With that, it's time to make preparations! As expected, we'll be playing as Lopunny, the leader of Team Charm! Though curiously, she's not the highest level. That priviledge belongs to Gardevoir. This is the most party members we've had at the start of a special episode, and unlike all the others, we actually have full control of our teammates! So let's take some time to get to know them, huh?

=============

 

Team Charm

-------------

Lopunny F; Lv. 32

Item: None

Abilities: Cute Charm, Klutz | Moves: Pound, Quick-Attack, Jump Kick, Baton Pass

Lopunny seems to be about consistency and versatility. But her Baton Pass is where she really shines. This fairly rare move works very differently in Mystery Dungeon. Rather than being used to pass buffs onto your teammates, you'll instead swap your position with a random pokemon in the same room. Obviously, the main strategy here is to get an enemy surrounded by your squadmates for a serious beating. Keep in mind that "room" in a hallway refers to a two-tile radius around you on all sides, so you can use it to swap an enemy right into the middle of your squad to surround enemies even in hallways, a rare quirk indeed! Quick-Attack further emphasizes this strategy by letting Lopunny attack from a bit of a range. Jump Kick also adds some diversity to Lopunny's moveset to help her deal with Rock and Steel-type pokemon, just be wary that she'll suffer damage if she misses. Though in general, Medicham should be better and picking those off. Pound is great for dealing with general mooks.

The biggest downside to Lopunny, especially as the leader, is her Klutz ability which makes held items useless on her. This was actually a detail I'd completely overlooked when thinking about what held item to give her... It turns out you shouldn't bother at all since they can't activate.

--------------

Gardevoir F; Lv. 33

Item: None

Abilities: Trace, Synchronize | Moves: Confusion, Wish, Calm Mind, Psychic

Confusion and Psychic are fairly similar attacks. I kinda wish Gardevoir had a different move. As it turns out, the movesets of these party members in Special Episodes are variable. For example, it's possible for Sunflora in the last one to have the move Giga Drain. And as it turns out, it's possible for Gardevoir here to know Magical Leaf or Teleport which I think I would prefer over having both Confusion and Psychic, but I guess we'll just have to deal with the cards we're dealt. Anyway, there isn't much it seems Gardevoir will be doing aside from using Confusion or Psychic to blast enemies with her special attack. Wish isn't very useful as a healing move because all it does is grant a temporary status that increases the passive healing effect.

-----------------

Medicham F; Lv. 31

Item: None

Ability: Pure Power | Moves: Detect, Hidden Power, Force Palm, Calm Mind

While Medicham is the weakest of the team in terms of level, she's got quite the powerful moveset. I'm not sure how useful Calm Mind will be, I guess it depends on how frequently she'll be using Hidden Power, but Pure Power will make her Force Palm really strong! And Detect can help her wall for ages, too! Enemies caught between Medicham and Gardevoir with Lopunny's Baton Pass will certainly have seen better days.

=============

 

Bearing in mind that I forgot about Lopunny's Klutz ability, here are the items I decided to go in with. I felt a bit naked looking at this and soon realized I forgot to bring Warp Seeds and Spurn Orbs in case of dangerous enemies and Monster Houses! Thankfully, I wasn't faced with tragedy. And quite frankly, I think this team might do alright in a monster house. The biggest issue being that Lopunny won't be able to rely on Baton Pass very well.

Anyway, after making our preparations, it's time to head into the Jungle!

===============

Southern Jungle

Hang on, I know that music! It's the music from the Jungle Friend Area in Rescue Team! An odd choice for a dungeon theme, to be sure. But, it works fairly well I suppose! Anyway, this dungeon is pretty simple all things considered. Nothing in the dungeon stood out as particularly dangerous to me, I was able to rip through most enemies with a Pound or two from Lopunny. The real threat, of course, is Monster Houses and traps! Though you only run the risk of Monster Houses on the latter floors.

Items available throughout this dungeon include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerock,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps that threaten you throughout include:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps.

Clearly, this is designed to be more of a late-game dungeon and these traps really show that. Tread carefully because some of these threats are serious and Lopunny can't be protected from confusion or sleep with held items! The Grimy trap also threatens your inventory!

Once again, bearing in mind that I fogot about Klutz, I equipped Lopunny with the Stamina Band, Gardevoir with a Special Band, and Medicham with a Power Band.

----------------

Southern Jungle [1F]

Pokemon:  Dodrio,  Mawile,  Jumpluff,  Staraptor

On the first floor, there's really nothing to be worried about at all. All of these foes Lopunny could handle just fine.

--------------

Southern Jungle [2F]

Pokemon:  Dodrio,  Mawile,  Jumpluff,  Staraptor,  Muk,  Seviper,  Forretress

Seviper and Foretress can be a little scary, but Gardevoir can help deal with them easily enough.

---------------

Southern Jungle [3F]

Pokemon:  Dodrio,  Mawile,  Jumpluff,  Staraptor,  Muk,  Seviper,  Forretress,  Hippipotas

Now we've gotta start dealing with Hippopotas and this is our first fairly annoying enemy since it'll generate a sandstorm as soon as it spawns. Just try to make your way to the stairs as quickly as possible and avoid conflict as much as you can! Most of the enemies here aren't immune to the sand, though, so they're crippled by it just as much as you are. Keep that in mind!

----------------

Southern Jungle [4F - 5F]

Pokemon:  Dodrio,  Mawile,  Jumpluff,  Staraptor,  Muk,  Seviper,  Forretress,  Hippipotas,  Glameow

If I had to guess, Glameow probably still has Fury Swipes, so be wary of its attacks. You should be able to tear right through, though.

I found an Insomniscope here and gave it to... Lopunny. Again, it still hadn't clicked that held items are useless for her.

---------------

Southern Jungle [6F]

Pokemon:  Dodrio,  Mawile,  Jumpluff,  Staraptor,  Forretress,  Hippipotas,  Glameow,  Vespiquen

The queen of annoyances, Vespiquen joins the fun here. She takes the place of Muk and Seviper who are frankly opponents you'd much rather deal with than a pokemon with Pressure for its ability. This is perhaps the most annoying floor. And to make matters worse, this is the floor you can start to run into Monster Houses on. Coupled with the Sandstorm from the Hippopotas that will inevitably spawn in even if it's not storming already, this floor can spell disaster for you if you're really unlucky.

-----------------

Southern Jungle [7F]

 Jumpluff,  Staraptor,  Glameow,  Vespiquen,  Murkrow

Most pokemon fall off on the 7th floor leaving only fairly easy pokemon. After the nightmare of the 6th floor, you're pretty much home-free. Vespiquen are more common, but it's not too much of an issue when they're the only threat you have to worry about. You do have teammates to Baton Pass to if Lopunny is running low on PP!

On this floor, it was snowing! That... didn't affect anything at all, but hey, it's pretty!

----------------

Southern Jungle [8F]

 Jumpluff,  Staraptor,  Glameow,  Vespiquen,  Murkrow,  Cherrim

On the 8th floor, you'll begin to run into Cherrim!

-----------------

Southern Jungle [9F - 10F]

 Jumpluff,  Staraptor,  Vespiquen,  Murkrow,  Cherrim

And on the 9th floor, Glameow is gone making the rest of the dungeon pretty much free. Just, again, be wary of Vespiquen.

=============

 

After 10 floors, it seems as though we've gotten out of the Southern Jungle! Our next destination is Boulder Quarry! That treasure is getting closer by the second!

Soon, however, a strange noise is heard!

 

After listening closer and hearing the noise again, the girls agree to investigate.

 

Music: I Saw Something Again...

Further down the path, Team Charm stumbles across a rather familiar-looking pink blob that seems to have fainted on the path... Suddenly, it clicked with me. This Special Episode must serve as somewhat of a sequel to Igglybuff the Prodigy, elaborating further on the backstory of Guildmaster Wigglytuff!

Noticing the pokemon isn't moving, Medicham begins to get incredibly worried!

 

But after hearing the sound again, Medicham realizes that the sound is actually coming form the pokemon's stomach! It must be hungry!

 

At Gardevoir's suggestion, Medicham offers one of her Perfect Apples to the unconscious pokemon... uh-oh. Is this the origin of Wigglytuff's obsession with Perfect Apples? Or perhaps it just happens to be his favorite food by coincidence?

Whatever the case, the apple seems to be doing the trick! Suddenly, the unconscious pokemon begins to speak!

 

As soon as he realizes where he recognizes the smell, the pokemon immediately perks up, excited to wake up to a delicious Perfect Apple!

 

Music: Guildmaster Wigglytuff

Suddenly, he's feeling a lot better after eating the Perfect Apple! He thanks us sincerely for helping him, he explains that Perfect Apples are his favorite food of all!

 

After realizing how much this pokemon loves Perfect Apples, Lopunny offers him her own. She seems a bit perplexed by all this, but it does show a more friendly side to Lopunny. It seems that her cold-cut ways are reserved for rival explorers... and she just happens to not be aware that Wigglytuff is an explorer...

 

Gardevoir introduces the team to the pokemon who, in exchange, introduces himself as the one and only Wigglytuff, the apprentice of Armaldo! But... Armaldo isn't anywhere to be seen. I suppose he's still serving time for his crimes? That's a bit sad, but it seems that little Igglybuff has grown a lot in the meantime!

 

As soon as Gardevoir realizes that Wigglytuff is an explorer, she suddenly becomes concerned that Wigglytuff might be here looking for the treasure at Boulder Quarry. Medicham immediately interjects, telling Wigglytuff that they're going to find the treasure! In a bit of an odd twist, Wigglytuff seems to not only not know anything about the Treasure, but he explains he was just out for a walk out here! Huh? Little Igglybuff certainly would've been all over the promise of a treasure, right? Is there something else on his mind?

 

Wigglytuff, a bit too cheerfully, explains that he was robbed of all of his food and passed out from hunger!

 

This strange Wigglytuff leaves the girls confused perplexed to say the least, but they're at least relieved to know Wigglytuff isn't about to try and steal their treasure from them, so it seems like there's not going to be further conflict here.

 

With that, Team Charm bids Wigglytuff farewell. I have to wonder if this is just a small cameo or if Wigglytuff is going to have a larger role in this story? We'll just have to see. But for now, this is where we'll cut it. We've gone through one dungeon and it's sounding like we've got another coming up! So next time, we'll follow the story of Team Charm as they make their way to Boulder Quarry in search of their legendary treasure! See you then!

[Aura]

Special Episode 4: Here Comes Team Charm!

We return to our fourth special episode! Last time, we were following along with the story of one of Team Charm's famous explorations from a time before they became famous! We followed them through the Southern Jungle where a Bellossom with a strange-looking face told them it was a local of the jungle and warned them that the legendary treasure at Boulder Quarry is impossible to obtain. Team Charm wasn't swayed by this warning, however, and continued onward anyway. On the far side of the jungle, they ran into the one-and-only Guildmaster Wigglytuff! Though this seems to be before his fame as well as no one seemed to recognize him. It's likely his guild hasn't been started yet, either. He was unconscious on the side of the road because he grew hungry after someone stole all of his food! So, Medicham and Gardevoir offered him some Perfect Apples, to his delight, before continuing onward toward Boulder Quarry.

 

As they arrive at the quarry, they find a large group of explorers gathered around the entrance of the dungeon.

The dunsparce seems to quickly start simping over the three girls. I guess we'll just have to ignore him for a little while.

 

It doesn't take long to get a general sense that Houndoom is looking down on Team Charm for not looking very tough. He warns Team Charm that the dungeon ahead is too difficult for them and that they should just go ahead and give up.

Lopunny casually brushes this off while simultaneously telling off Houndoom for his rather misogynistic view of them.

 

Lopunny then inquires about the treasure. As expected by the reputation this treasure has garnered, nobody's been able to find it.

The group of pokemon begin explaining that shortly after the waypoint of the dungeon ahead, there's a complex labyrinth where no matter how hard you try to go forward, you always end up right back where you were.

 

Cacturne adds that he suspects there's some sort of puzzle to the labyrinth, but nobody's ever been able to solve it, and Gardevoir reminds the other girls of what Bellossom said earlier about the treasure being impossible to obtain.

But that only seems to spur Lopunny's interest in obtaining this treasure more! What could be more impressive than claiming an "impossible" treasure?

 

Music: Growing Anxiety

Soon, however, a new exploration team arrives on the scene: The nefarious band of thieves, Team AWD!

Everyone seems to be quite afraid of the trio as they threaten to hurt anyone who doesn't scatter right away.

 

When Medicham asks about this team, the explorers are shocked they've never heard of them. But Cacturne begins explaining them.

There's Drapion, who is the strongarm of the group. He tears through enemies with the claws all over his body.

Then there's Arbok who he doesn't have much to say about besides the fact that he's "vindictive." I guess he's not about to let go of any grudges anytime soon?

And then there's their leader, who the others affectionately refer to as "Boss" and "Lady Weavile". She's a cunning thief who is willing to achieve her goals through even nefarious means.

 

Magmortar adds that every explorer that faces them in a dungeon are stripped of all of their items. It certainly doesn't sound like a foe you want to get caught up with at a bad time!

Music: Rising Fear

Drapion yells at the crowd, repeating Weavile's threat to make sure it sunk in.

 

Arbok begins to look over the crowd, wondering who he should make an example out of.

 

One by one, all of the explorers surrender and run away in fear of the trio. That is, all except one particular trio.

 

Arbok and Drapion seem impressed that the three girls don't seem to be discouraged by them.

 

After considering why it could be that they weren't afraid, Arbok suggests that they must admire them and want to be their friends, and Drapion suggests that, since they're cute enough, they'll let them come along. Maybe it's a bit too much hentai talking, but I can't help but read this as an innuendo.

 

Music: Team Charm's Theme

Naturally, the girls don't respond well to the thieves' way of talking down to them. So they immediately stand up for themselves, talking back and questioning why they would want to be friends with these creeps.

 

Lopunny leaves the final nail in the coffin by insisting they aren't scary and there's certainly nothing to admire about them.

 

This infuriates Arbok and Drapion into attacking, but their attacks are effortlessly deflected by Medicham and Gardevoir.

 

Gardevoir tauns the boys further, mocking their weak attacks, so Arbok suggests to Drapion that they go in for a serious attack this time. But Weavile stops the two of them. Perhaps wanting to keep their true strength as a surprise for later.

 

Weavile only walks past Team Charm and claims that they've made an enemy of Team AWD. But Lopunny laughs in her face and proudly agrees that they won't regret it at all.

 

With that, Weavile marks her words and orders Arbok and Drapion to follow her into the dungeon.

 

With some parting words and promises of revenge, the two disappear into the dungeon after Weavile.

 

Infuriated by this exchange, Medicham yells after the team and proclaims that they've not only never failed an exploration, but that they certainly aren't about to let this be the first. So, she urges Lopunny and Gardevoir to hurry and give chase!

 

Soon, Sentret returns to the scene revealing that he was watching the exchange from a safe distance. He's impressed by Team Charm's ability to stand up to Team AWD and it made him feel that he can trust the girls with a special request: To punish Team AWD for their terrible behavior.

 

Sentret elaborates that Team AWD attacked his friends during an adventure and, ever since, they've been too scared to go exploring with him again. This naturally infuriates Medicham further to hear.

 

Naturally, the girls agree to fulfill this request next time they run into Team AWD. They won't get away so easily!

And with that, it's time to prepare for the dungeon!

 

Here's the items I decided to enter with. This time, I remembered Lopunny's Klutz ability, so I stored her item away. The All-Hit Orb was actually an accident as I didn't have any plans to use it. Other than that, I came better equipped to deal with Monster Houses. I don't think I have to worry too much about Warp Seeds or anything like that since I have Baton Pass.

With that, it's time to head into the dungeon!

============

Boulder Quarry

This is Boulder Quarry! It comes with a remix of the music from Mt. Silver! Another really memorable track from Rescue Team!

Anyway, as Magmortar suggested, the first part of this dungeon is really simple to get through. There's nothing of particular danger to watch out for. Just be wary of the various traps! Before the waypoint, there's not even a threat of Monster Houses! So outside of being wary of potential traps, there's no need to be suspicious of rooms with a lot of items! There are notably more Steel and Rock-types in this dungeon, though, so you may find yourself relying on Medicham and Gardevoir a bit more. It's not always the brightest idea to rely on Lopunny's Jump Kick for risk of missing and taking heavy damage.

Items available throughout the dungeon:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixir, and assorted  Wonder Orbs

Traps:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps

=============

Boulder Quarry [B1F - B2F]

Pokemon:  Lairon,  Ampharos,  Staraptor

For the first three floors, Lairon is the biggest threat but it's really a non-issue. Just Baton Pass him over for your teammates to handle. If Gardevoir doesn't have Magical Leaf, then Medicham is probably your best bet for dealing with them. You may want to use Baton Pass a couple times if you get unlucky and he ends up between you and Gardevoir. The others Lopunny can handle pretty cleanly on her own.

-----------------

Boulder Quarry [B3F]

Pokemon:  Ampharos,  Staraptor,  Manectric,  Claydol

Lairon is gone after the second floor, replaced instead with Manectric and Claydol who are both much easier to deal with. Though if Gardevoir doesn't have Magical Leaf like mine, it can be a bit of a pain to pick off since it resists both Medicham and Gardevoir's attacks. You'll likely have to rely on Lopunny to pick them off. Medicham's Hidden Power might be able to provide some aid, though, but don't count on it. It could be Electric just as easily as it could be super-effective. Its typing and power is randomized with the dungeon, not the pokemon.

----------------

Boulder Quarry [B4F]

Pokemon:  Manectric,  Claydol,  Ninjask,  Shelgon,  Gliscor

On the next floor, Ampharos and Staraptor take off in favor of Ninjask, Shelgon, and Gliscor. Shelgon and Gliscor aren't too dangerous, but Shelgon can get some unexpected powerful attacks in, and they can take some hits, too, so be prepared to fight them carefully. It's always a good idea to pick off Ninjask as quickly as you can. They go down like flies when hit with Quick Attack or Pound, though, so it's not an issue. But if you leave them unattended, their Speed Boost can activate and then they can become much more annoying.

----------------

Boulder Quarry [B5F]

Pokemon:  Manectric,  Claydol,  Ninjask,  Shelgon,  Gliscor,  Muk

On the fifth floor, you'll run into Muk! It's really nothign different. Claydol is probably the biggest threat throughout the first part of this dungeon.

===============

 

After five floors, we arrive at the Waypoint dividing the dungeon. We were warned that the dungeon gets a lot tougher to navigate after the Waypoint. Let's see if that holds true!

===============

Deep Boulder Quarry

The music down here is the same as it was in the first part of the dungeon. Items and Traps are the same as well. However, Monster Houses are now present, so you'll need to be wary of them again! If you're unprepared for one, try to make use of Medicham's Detect to wall them off in a hallway while using Lopunny's Quick Attack to provide aid from behind. This is where you'll be running into those Rock and Steel-types I mentioned earlier a lot more frequently, too. So be prepared to use Baton Pass when necessary!

-----------------

Deep Boulder Quarry [B1F]

Pokemon:  Claydol,  Gliscor,  Ninjask,  Muk,  Probopass,  Shelgon

Most of the pokemon on the first floor are the same as what you'd find on the previous floor, but now Probopass is mixed in and it's a similar story to Lairon, but a lot bulkier so you'll definitely want Medicham to pitch in for these guys.

-----------------

Deep Boulder Quarry [B2F]

Pokemon:  Ninjask,  Muk,  Probopass,  Shelgon,  Rhydon,  Tangrowth

Claydol and Gliscor fade out on the second floor and are replaced with Rhydon and Tangrowth. While Tangrowth isn't anything to shake a stick at, Rhydon is something you want to be especially afraid of thanks to Rock Blast. It's exceptionally strong and can tear right through your Reviver Seeds if you're unlucky. Don't take your chances and wipe it out quickly! They're definitely the biggest threat throughout the entire dungeon.

----------------

Deep Boulder Quarry [B3F]

Pokemon:  Muk,  Probopass,  Shelgon,  Rhydon,  Tangrowth,  Metang

Ninjask peters out in favor of Metang on the third floor. Metang isn't anything too crazy, but its Psychic type makes it slightly more resistant to Medicham's Fighting attacks. You may want to lend some extra support.

-----------------

Deep Boulder Quarry [B4F]

Pokemon:  Muk,  Probopass,  Shelgon,  Rhydon,  Tangrowth,  Metang,  Steelix

Steelix joins the list on the fourth floor, but it's really just an intimidating visual with little substance behind it. Medicham can handle it just fine.

-----------------

Deep Boulder Quarry [B5F]

Pokemon:  Shelgon,  Rhydon,  Tangrowth,  Metang,  Steelix

It was down ehre where Medicham levele dup and tried to learn Hi Jump Kick. While it does combo pretty well with Detect to protect you from the risk of high damage when you miss, I'd really rather the consistency of Force Palm instead. So I gave it a pass.

==============

 

After five floors, Team Charm arrives at a opening. After an offhanded comment about the way this area feels strange, Gardevoir suggests they may have gotten lost without realizing it. This leaves Medicham worried about how they should handle this.

 

Responding to Medicham's concern, Lopunny suggests she thinks of it from the perspective that they were warned that everyone got lost down here. In that sense, they could absolutely expect to get lost down here!

 

Gardevoir suggests that they should be able to find their way through the complex labyrinth. It's not like they have any plans to giv eup anytime soon.

But before they can progress after this hangup, they hear a voice calling out to them.

 

The voice introduces itself as that of Aggron, who claims this area to be his territory! Lopunny responds by claiming they didn't know to try and calm the angry voice.

 

Aggron just laughs in response to this claim and threatens the girls.

 

Music: Oh No!

Suddenly, a bunch of Lairon crash out of the walls!

The girls are closed in from behind by a hoard of Lairon! But just ahead...

 

Aggron pops out from the ground! Now Team Charm is completely surrounded!

 

Lopunny apologizes for the intrusion, and Gardevoir tries to make peace with the enemies by suggesting that they haven't done anything bad, nor do they intend to fight.

 

Music: Team Charm's Theme

But of course, Medicham is more than happy to serve these guys the hands they're asking for.

 

Aggron mocks the girls for their cheerfulness and questions how long they'll be able to keep up their facade. He calls their bravery a bluff and rallies his Lairon to fight off the intruders!

 

And so, Team Charm prepares to fight!

 

And we're treated to a special boss fight transition unique to Team Charm! How cool! Let's kick some Aggron tail!

=============

  

Team Charm

---------------

Lopunny F; Lv. 32

Item: None

Abilities: Cute Charm, Klutz | Moves: Pound, Quick Attack, Jump Kick, Baton Pass

----------------

Gardevoir F; Lv. 33

Item: Special Band 

Abilities: Synchronize, Trace | Moves: Confusion, Wish, Calm Mind, Psychic

-----------------

Medicham F; Lv. 32

Item: Power Band 

Ability: Pure Power | Moves: Detect, Hidden Power, Force Palm, Calm Mind

=============

Vs. Aggron & Lairon Squad

This whole fight plays out with the Team Charm theme playing, hyping you up for the expectation that you're about to kick some ass, but don't overestimate your team's abilities! The only member who's particularly good at fighting these foes is Medicham, and you're in an especially terrible position surrounded by foes that are about to gang up on you. The first order of business is to get Gardevoir away from having so many enemies aggro'd onto her.

 

The trick to that end is to set her to "Get away from here" and step away diagonally. While she'll still get a few enemies close to her this way, the important part is she's a lot safer than she'd be otherwise. If you leave her on "Let's go together," she'll instead attack the nearest Lairon, won't do much damage at all to it, and suddenly find herself surrounded by four Lairon at once. That's not good at all. By stepping back like this, most of the Lairon get aggro'd to Medicham instead leaving only two targeting Gardevoir.

From here, we can start attacking Aggron to take out the biggest threat while having Medicham set to "go after foes", causing her to clean up as many Lairon as she can. It's a good idea to have her use Detect as well to avoid damage.

 

By the time Aggron is defeated, the rest is an easy cleanup, just like the fight against the Electrike tribe.

============

 

 

As soon as Aggron realizes this is a losing battle, he drops his threatening facade and gives the order for the Lairon to run away.

With that, Medicham reminds them of their name. Now, they can advance deeper into the dungeon.

============

 

Up ahead, we run into a fork in the labyrinth. There are two paths to choose from.

 

The team concludes that they have to choose the correct path to take, but it's not clear which one is the right way to go. So, Lopunny and Gardevoir both suggest that they should just start by picking one arbitrarily. It's a 50-50 chance and they're confident they can handle a little extra dungeon crawling.

But for now, this looks like a good stopping point! Next time, we'll continue exploring the Complex Labyrinth! See you next time!

[Aura]

Special Episode 4: Here Comes Team Charm! (Part 3)

Once again, we return to the story of Team Charm! Last time, the girls arrived at Boulder Quarry in pursuit of a legendary treasure. At the entrance to the dungeon, they found many explorers gathered together, perplexed by a complex labyrinth deep within the dungeon. It was seeming even more that the treasure would be impossible to obtain. It was here when Team AWD made their appearance and scared the other explorers off, but Team Charm weren't dissuaded and stood up to them. After a brief altercation, Team AWD went on ahead. After exploring the dungeon themselves, Team Charm have now arrived at a fork in the path ahead. Now, it's time to get moving!

 

These are the items I'm bringing along. Nothing majorly different, but I am adding a few Warp Seeds to the mix just in case of dangerous enemies ahead.

With that out of the way, it's time to start exploring the labyrinth! We have two directions to go, and your choice ultimately doesn't matter much. After all, we were told originally that no matter what direction we'd pick, we'd end up back where we came. For now, it's best to just systematically check and see what we have to work with.

===========

Left Cave Path

This is a very brief dungeon that resembles the first part of Boulder Quarry in many ways. There's no threat of Monster Houses and the dungeon is incredibly short, so you'll be totally fine.

Items available throughout include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps to be wary of:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps

============

Left Cave Path [B1F - B2F]

Pokemon:  Lairon,  Ampharos,  Starptor

----------------

Left Cave Path [B3F]

Pokemon:  Ampharos,  Starptor,  Manectric,  Claydol

 

One thing I wanted to note was that I found the water in this tileset to be really pretty. I'm not sure if this is the first time it's come up, but it caught my attention here. Also, Lopunny leveled up to Lv. 33 on this floor! This is a very big deal because she learned a really useful move in Agility! Agility mixed in with Lopunny's other moves can make her and the rest of her team incredibly powerful. This one move can single-handedly change the way an encounter is handled and can make Monster Houses a total joke for everything except PP consumption! I deleted Jump Kick for it because, frankly, Jump Kick is just an unnecessary risk when I have a teammate with a much more consistent fighting attack that doesn't risk me potentially KO-ing myself if I miss. If I were designing Lopunny's moveset for the long-term, I'd probably replace Pound with a more consistent Fighting attack.

----------------

Left Cave Path [B4F - B5F]

Pokemon:  Manectric,  Claydol,  Ninjask,  Shelgon,  Gliscor

As you can see, this dungeon is a bit of a breath of fresh air. Really short and really simple.

==============

 

As we make it through the five floors, Team Charm reaches a light at the end of the cave!

Except... as expected, they just wound up right where they began.

 

It looks like we got unlucky, but now we know that the path on the right must be the correct choice to progress... right? Well, let's just see about that.

After taking some time to make preparations again, it's off to the Right cave this time!

============

Right Cave Path

This dungeon is exactly identical to Left Cave Path in everything except tileset.

Items available throughout include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps to be wary of:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps

============

Right Cave Path [B1F - B2F]

Pokemon:  Lairon,  Ampharos,  Starptor

----------------

Right Cave Path [B3F]

Pokemon:  Ampharos,  Starptor,  Manectric,  Claydol

----------------

Right Cave Path [B4F - B5F]

Pokemon:  Manectric,  Claydol,  Ninjask,  Shelgon,  Gliscor

Even the pokemon are exactly the same! Could that mean...?

==============

 

That's right, once again, we find ourselves at the start of the labyrinth!! So, how can we get to the end of the labyrinth if both paths are incorrect?

Gardevoir seems to be on the same thought process as Cacturne. There must be some sort of puzzle that needs to be solved to reach the depths of the cave...

 

Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to have any idea what the puzzle could even be, let alone how to solve it.

But while the team is caught up trying to figure out the puzzle of the labyrinth, they suddenly hear a shout!

 

Music: Guildmaster Wigglytuff

A Perfect Apple rolls into the room and who would be following suit but Wigglytuff himself?

 

Wigglytuff is happy to see Team Charm once again and cheerfully greets her friends down here in the complex labyrinth!

 

Medicham accuses Wigglytuff of coming in search of the treasure they're after, but Wigglytuff explains he was just chasing his Perfect Apple... all the way down here. That is one energetic apple.

 

Wigglytuff asks about what everyone's doing down here, so Team Charm begins to explain the situation they're hung up on to Wigglytuff.

 

After asking Wigglytuff if he has any ideas, Wigglytuff seems to just be focusing on his Perfect Apple. It seems like he wasn't paying any attention at al!

 

Just as the girls begin to question whether or not they can rely on Wigglytuff for help, Medicham accuses him of not listening at all, which Wigglytuff immediately contradicts. I suppose balancing a Perfect Apple on his head is a method he uses to focus on problem solving...?

 

Wigglytuff repeats the information the girls gave him and admits he has no idea what the solution might be, either! Once again, a bit too overly cheerful. Is this really the exploring prodigy?

 

But that's when Wigglytuff finally lets out the idea that's floating around in his head: There must be a correct path, and if these two are wrong, maybe there's a third path that we just can't see...?

 

Wigglytuff then drops his Perfect Apple and it... rolls through the wall? He's shocked by this occurence!

 

Distressed, Wigglytuff runs after his Perfect Apple and disappears into the wall as well! What.... just happened? Well, suddenly, I think we have our answer for which path is the correct one.

 

With the way forward now clear, it's time to progress! Into the secret third path!

 

On the other side of the wall, Team Charm finds themselves at a hidden Limestone Cave! Wigglytuff is nowhere to be seen, so the girls conclude he must've disappeared ahead. And so, we should get going, too!

===============

Limestone Cavern

This is the real dungeon we've been trying to reach! And we're now in uncharted territory, so there's no telling what kinds of threats we'll face! And yeah, this dungeon is a little bit tougher than the others so far. But not so much that it's disheartening or anything, just that the enemies are a bit more annoying with confusion and ranged attacks. Remember to take advantage of Baton Pass! And use your tactics if your squad gets separated! Items and trap-wise, this dungeon is the same as the other two paths.

Items available throughout include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps to be wary of:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps

=============

Limestone Cavern [B1F - B4F]

Pokemon:  Kingler,  Marill,  Slowking,  Volbeat,  Illumise,  Seviper

Kingler can attack from a range with BubbleBeam, Marill can shred through your HP with Rollout if you're unlucky, and Slowking, Volbeat, and Illumise are all capable of confusing you! Tread carefully and try to take these enemies out quickly using Baton Pass wherever it's appropriate. It's a fantastic tool for closing the distance on an enemy that's trying to stay away in a large room and it can also move enemies into much more convenient locations while still giving your teammates a chance to attack rather than having to waste a turn on movement.

-----------------

Limestone Cavern [B5F]

Pokemon:  Kingler,  Marill,  Slowking,  Volbeat,  Illumise,  Seviper,  Dragonair

Dragonair joins the club on the fifth floor. Nothing too crazy about it. It can just take a few hits, but it's not particularly dangerous.

=============

 

 

We soon arrive at a Waypoint after five floors. We must be drawing closer to the treasure!

After a quick rest, it's time to continue on our exploration!

===============

Deep Limestone Cavern

Things start to diverge a bit more from the other paths down here. As you can probably expect, Monster Houses are back on the menu down here. Other than that, this part of the dungeon is identical to the first part item- and trap-wise. But we've got more of the same tricks with the pokemon here, so be ready to close gaps with Baton Pass and take enemies out quickly!

============

Deep Limestone Cavern [B1F]

Pokemon:  Dragonair,  Aerodactyl,  Masquerain,  Volbeat,  Illumise,  Seviper

Aerodactyl comes with all of its many annoyances, but Masquerain isn't anything particularly scary. Try to keep Aerodactyl from hitting Medicham, though! That Wing Attack might cause some issues.

-----------------

Deep Limestone Cavern [B2F - B3F]

Pokemon:  Dragonair,  Aerodactyl,  Masquerain,  Volbeat,  Illumise,  Seviper,  Poliwhirl

Poliwhirl joins the squad on the second floor. Be wary of its BubbleBeam!

----------------

Deep Limestone Cavern [B4F]

Pokemon:  Dragonair,  Aerodactyl,  Masquerain,  Volbeat,  Illumise,  Seviper,  Poliwhirl,  Dugtrio

Dugtrio joins the fray on the fourth floor. They can trap you with Sand Tomb, but thankfully they seem to be too high-level to know Magnitude, so you don't have to worry about getting nuked from the other side of the room.

----------------

Deep Limestone Cavern [B5F]

 Aerodactyl,  Masquerain,  Volbeat,  Illumise,  Seviper,  Poliwhirl,  Dugtrio

On the fifth floor, Dragonair stops appearing, which really just leaves you with more of the more annoying pokemon. Thankfully with only five floors, you're not likely to be desperate for resources even if you run into a lot of Aerodactyl.

=============

 

After five floors, it seems that Team Charm are drawing close to another light! Hopefully it's the right path this time! Have we finally reached the treasure?

 

Music: Beyond the Dream

This is it! When the girls reach the clearing, they arrive at a massive treasure chest!

 

Medicham impatiently demands Lopunny open the chest quickly, but Lopunny teases her by taking her sweet time and building up suspense.

 

 

Lopunny happily plays up the theatrics, to Medicham's torment as she slowly prepares to dramatically open up the treasure chest to see the treasure they've worked so hard for!

 

 

Finally, she's had enough teasing. So Lopunny opens up the treasure chest and a blinding light spews out!

 

The girls anticipate for the light to die down so that they can see inside the chest...

 

...But the treasure chest is completely empty!? Did somebody get to it before Team Charm?!

 

Music: Growing Anxiety

Just after the girls open the chest, Team AWD arrives on the scene and sees them at the open, empty treasure chest! Naturally, they conclude that Team Charm have already taken the treasure they're after!

 

Team Charm tries to explain that the chest was completely empty, but Team AWD doesn't believe a word of it.

 

Weavile accuses Team Charm of lying and insists that a group of liars aren't an exploration team and aren't fit to take the legendary treasure of Boulder Quarry!

 

After Weavile threatens to take the treasure by force, Team Charm continues to hold their ground.

 

Music: Team Charm's Theme

Recalling their promise to Sentret, Team Charm decides it's now or never--It's time to punish Team AWD for their misdeeds!

 

 

==============

  

Team Charm

----------------

Lopunny F; Lv. 33

Item: None

Abilities: Cute Charm, Klutz | Moves: Pound, Quick Attack, Agility, Baton Pass

-----------------

Gardevor F; Lv. 34

Item: Special Band 

Abilities: Synchronize, Trace | Moves: Confusion, Wish, Calm Mind, Psychic

-----------------

Medicham F; Lv. 32

Item: Power Band 

Ability: Pure Power | Moves: Detect, Hidden Power, Calm Mind, Force Palm

===============

Vs. Team AWD

Once again, the boss theme is that of Team Charm's, putting you in the mood to kick some ass right away! Anyway, this fight actually turned out to be much more straight-forward than I'd honestly expected.

To open up with a tactical advantage, I started by throwing a Totter Seed to confuse Weavile.

As the others closed in, I got some pot shots with Quick Attack and retreated so that any enemies aggro'd onto Lopunny would be taking attacks from all three of us.

 

And then comes the beatdown! With Weavile stumbling about in confusion, Lopunny layered up Team Charm's speed with Agility and then we went on an all-out offensive, absolutely destroying Arbok.

Drapion lasted a little bit longer, but still couldn't do much of anything to our overwhelming speed.

And lastly, by the time Weavile snapped out of confusion, she was all alone and she didn't stand a chance against Medicham. Let alone the three of us together. All things considered, the Aggron fight was honestly more difficult than Medicham.

==============

 

Despite getting knocked down, Team AWD still doesn't seem willing to give up.

 

They stand back up and prepare for another fight!

 

And so, Team Charm readies themselves for round 2!

But just as they begin to clash, a familiar Yoom Tah fills the room!

 

Wigglytuff suddenly appears in the midst of the conflict between the two teams!

 

As it turns out, this story doesn't seem to precede Wigglytuff's fame. Team Charm were simply ignorant of him the same way they were ignorant of Team AWD at first. I suppose that makes sense, actually. Weavile is surprised to hear the name and certainly to find that the famous exploration prodigy Wigglytuff looks like... this.

 

Wigglytuff pleads with everyone to stop fighting for a moment. Medicham protests, but Wigglytuff insists that fighting isn't good.

 

And soon, Wigglytuff elaborates that the fact that we're fighting is because we've fallen into a trap... huh?

 

Everyone is shocked to hear Wigglytuff make this claim, but he insists confidently that the fight was set up.

 

Wigglytuff goes on to explain that the boss of the dungeon wanted the two teams to knock each other out, and while Wigglytuff doesn't know why, he suggests it might be a means to protect the dungeon's treasure.

 

Since he doesn't know for sure, Wigglytuff suggests we simply ask for the truth before walking up to the empty chest and.... asking it...?

 

Everyone watches Wigglytuff as he talks to the treasure chest like he's completely lost it.

 

But that's when the treasure chest begins to shake...?

 

The chest turns pink and then...

...It's a Ditto!

 

Music: Illusion Stone Chamber

 

Ditto begins to confess the truth to everyone around him, apologizing for all the troubles he's caused. He also has a curious little quirk where he repeats that last thing he hears before responding. I thought it was a neat detail to play with the reflective nature of Ditto.

 

It turns out not only the Bellossom, but the Sentret Explorer were both this very same Ditto! The use of Sentret I have to say is incredibly clever, especially following a pokemon like Bellossom. It was obvious Bellossom had a Ditto's face, but Sentret's face already heavily resembles Ditto's with dot eyes to the point where I didn't notice it, but, yeah, looking back, Sentret does have a Ditto's face, too! I can't help but suspect that Sentret was chosen on purpose specifically for that reason. Most pokemon look silly with the Ditto face, but Sentret kind of just looks normal.

Ditto apologizes once again for all of his lies and deceit.

 

Ditto explains his motivation was just as Wigglytuff suggested: To protect the treasure of this cave. What exactly is so legendary about this treasure anyway? Why is this Ditto so desperate to protect it? This seems to be going beyond just some sense of greed. If he were an explorer, wouldn't he just take the treasure and leave?

 

Ultimately, Ditto decides to show everyone to the treasure, suspecting it'll clear things up once they see what it is.

And as soon as we enter the area, everything suddenly makes a lot of sense. This location is very familiar from the title screen of the game!

 

Music: Time Gear Remix

It's the location of one of the Time Gears! That implies Grovyle and Skye must've solved the puzzle of this cave as well! Perhaps with the help of the dimensional scream... maybe Wigglytuff and Team Charm's efforts are exactly how they were able to solve the puzzle of the labyrinth?

 

Team Charm is naturally taken in by the beauty of the object and its beautiful glow.

 

Weavile explains what the item is to the team. He tells them it's a Time Gear and, unfortunately, it's not a treasure that can be taken.

 

Realizing they can't take the Time Gear, Weavile decides to go home.

============

 

Music: Random Dungeon Theme 3

Team Charm and Team AWD meet up outside the dungeon where Weavile makes a promise that they're not finished yet and next time they'll be going at them with full strength.

 

Abrok and Drapion follow after Weavile, leaving with parting words for the team

 

Now that it's all said and done, Medicham appears to be bummed they found a treasure they couldn't take, and worries this will affect their perfect success rate.

 

 

 

However, the other girls chip in as to why they can consider this exploration a success: Even though they don't have any treasure to show for it, they were able to solve the puzzle of the labyrinth, defeat Team AWD, and see a Time Gear!

 

With that, the girls share in laughter.

 

Wigglytuff is happy to see everyone getting along but finally decides he should head home.

 

But just before he goes, Lopunny calls Gardevoir and Medicham to attention. They all seem to have an idea in mind...

 

 

The girls compliment Wigglytuff on his performance today, he seems totally oblivious to how impressive his actions were. Just like before with Armaldo, he's just solving things he thinks are trivial left and right without a second thought!

 

The team asks Wigglytuff what his plans are going forward, and Gardevoir invites him to join Team Charm! Anybody would be lucky to have Wigglytuff on their side, that's for sure!

 

Wigglytuff is reluctant to join with Team Charm. While he acknowledges it would be fun, he really wants to go exploring with his master instead.

 

At Gardevoir's suggestion, Lopunny offers another Perfect Apple to Wigglytuff.

 

However, she quickly takes it back as a bit of a tease.

 

Music: Team Charm's Theme

After taking the apple back, the trio decides to encourage Wigglytuff to chase after them with a race.

 

 

And with that, everyone runs off. Who knows what Team Charm gets up to next? Or where Wigglytuff winds up? Maybe we'll get more info out of the other Special Episodes? Although I think there's only one left, it's possible there are others I simply don't know about.

But that's it for our fourth Special Episode! The credits roll! This was a really cool one! It wasn't too challenging, the team let you use some fairly unique and rare moves you might not otherwise run in the main story, and overall the story and characters were a lot of fun! It's nice being able to play as a totally level-headed character and Lopunny's enthusiasm never felt fake at all. The involvement of the Time Gear was a really surprising twist I somehow didn't see coming at all, but in hindsight the rumors surrounding this legendary treasure did sound very similar to the one surrounding Fogbound Lake. And it was really cool to see Wigglytuff again! I do still want to know what became of Armaldo. When Wigglytuff first showed up, I half expected Armaldo to make an appearance at some point during the story but it doesn't seem to be the case. What became of him still seems to be a mystery.

Oh, but before we go, I do want to mention that I did run into a complication with storage space at the end of this mission anyway. As it turns out, there were quite a few more dungeons in this special episode than I'd expected. That said, unlike the Future Arc in the main story, there's nothing stopping you from just stopping at a save point in the middle of a special episode and going to recycle some items to free up inventory space in Story Mode. I just didn't realize how quickly storage space was catching up to me!

That said, my worst fears about this were relieved. It turns out, if you run out of inventory space, the game gives you as much freedom as you want to select items to throw away from storage and which items you want to store in storage. All items that remain in your inventory will be discarded. I carefully selected the items I wanted to keep and threw them in. The stuff leftover in my inventory were just items I'd likely end up recycling anyway. Though it's a shame to miss out on a few Prize Tickets and further advancement for Project P, at least we get to salvage the most important items. Next time we'll need to take another trip through Treasure Town, though. That's for sure.

Anyway, that's it for Special Episode 4: Here Comes Team Charm! Next time, it's back to the main story as Team Flight seeks out information on the Hidden Land!

[Aura]

Chapter 17: The Guild's Crew (Part 2)

Last time we finished up our fourth Special Episode, so today we're returning to the main story! Where we last left off, we needed to go visit the Town Elder at the Hot Spring to see if he knows anything about the Hidden Land. We have no other leads, not even Chatot or Wigglytuff have any ideas, so he's our best hope for any sort of information at all!

 

So, after taking some time to, once again, clear up a bunch of inventory space, we make a trip to Waterfall Cave. Since we've already played through this dungeon, I suppose there's no real reason to cover it in detail.

That said, Id di take some time to prepare our new teammates. I taught Spore Energy Ball by TM and re-equipped held items to my entire team. Icarus now has the Nontraitor IQ skill, so I gave the Persim Band to Hail for now to avoid Powder Snow getting turned on us. I also gave Skye the Insomniscope to prevent falling asleep and being unable to access the menu. Lastly, Spore is holding the Joy Ribbon in hopes that it'll help him level up faster.

 

After clearing the dungeon, we arrive at the Hot Springs again where we ask Torkoal about the Hidden Land.

Music: I Saw Something Again...

Torkoal begins to recount an old tale shared by oral tradition in his youth. He starts by confirming that the Hidden Land is said to lie beyond the sea.

 

However, in order to get to the Hidden Land, one must possess certain qualities. It seems like you can't simply Surf there.

Naturally, whatever these qualifications are is incredibly important, so Icarus asks about them.

 

Music: Guildmaster Wigglytuff

Unfortunately, Torkoal's memory of what's quite possibly the most important part is spotty at best. All he can remember is that we require proof of some sort. But he can't remember what qualifications we must have or what proof we must possess. But, I suppose some info is better than nothing. Maybe someone back at the guild can work with this little bit of info?

=============

Music: Wigglytuff's Guild

Unfortunately, it seems nobody else really has any particular idea just yet of what kind of proof we need. The rest of the guild's searches have also come up blank. Even after going back, we still really only have the knowledge that we need some sort of proof to go off of.

 

With that, it's off to dinner and then bed.

 

Icarus is naturally curious about how Grovyle's journey to gather the Time Gears is going. Has he run into any problems? We'll just have to keep doing our best to find the Hidden Land and trust he's getting along well.

The next morning, it's back to the same assignments. We need to continue investigating the Hidden Land! But we don't have any leads this time, so where do we go to look...?

 

Just as we're wondering, Diglett announces that Torkoal has arrived! Did he remember something??

 

We welcome Torkoal inside the guild and he explains that, while he still doesn't remember much, he does remember one additional detail about the proof we need: IT bears an inscription of a peculiar pattern--the kind you rarely see.

 

That's when it clicks for Skye as she recalls the inscription on Icarus' Relic Fragment. Could that be the proof we need to reach the Hidden Land?

 

With that possibility in mind, Icarus shows his Relic Fragment to Torkoal who is shocked to see that the fragment indeed bears the inscription of the pattern in question! There's no doubt that this Relic Fragment is incredibly important for reaching the Hidden Land!

 

Sunflora asks what Icarus possessing the Relic Fragment means. Is he qualified to go to the Hidden Land?

 

Torkoal informs us that merely possessing the proof may not be enough, it may just be a physical key needed to reach the Hidden Land. We still must be "chosen". By who? For what? It's still not clear. But for now, we've definitely got something big to go off of!

 

Chatot and Wigglytuff begin to have a discussion about the pattern on the relic fragment. They apparently saw a similar pattern in a place called Brine Cave. But in that same cave, they've run into some trouble before.

 

Wigglytuff makes the announcement to the entire guild that he's seen the pattern before in Brine Cave. But he also warns of a vicious bandit who lurks there that we should be prepared for!

After hearing everyone's resolve, Wigglytuff announces that we'll set off on an exploration of Brine Cave tomorrow!

 

 

After a brief back and forth where Wigglytuff asks Chatot to stay and look after the guild, Chatot insists that he come along, so Wigglytuff suggests he go with us. That means no teammates from Chimecho Assembly. But that's kind of okay with me because my squadmates are pretty low-level in their own right anyway. But, it does mean a sizable chunk of our coverage is still gonna be lacking and there's no real getting around that one.

With all that in mind, we need to spend today preparing for tomorrow's exploration.

 

As we go to leave, we see Team Skull harassing the Town Elder about the Hidden Land.

 

And they take him away to continue their little "chat" with him...

While preparing at Treasure Town, Icarus gets the idea to check out Sharpedo Bluff to see if Grovyle's returned yet.

 

Inside the hideout, we find a letter from Grovyle, explaining that he's alredy gotten three of the Time Gears and that he plans to rejoin us after gathering them all. He adds that Azelf and the other guardians understood the situation and are fully cooperating.

 

Grovyle goes on to warn us that Dusknoir will likely pursue us from the future once again. Even though things are going more smoothly for now, it's quite possible he'll attack at any moment. So Grovyle insists he keep a low profile to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself.

So, when he rejoins with us, he suggests he'll either appear at Sharpedo Bluff or the Beach.

 

We actually have no idea how much time has passed since this letter was left, so Icarus suggests we go down to the beach to see if Grovyle is there now.

 

As we head down toward the beach, we run into a Krabby in a new scene! The Krabby tells us that Bottles have been washing up on the beach recently with stuff in them. It sounds like something we'll need to keep our eyes peeled for in the future.

Anyway, as we step out toward the beach, the chapter ends rather abruptly. So I guess this is where today's post is going to end! Next time we'll check the beach and see if Grovyle is there! Then, I guess it's off to Brine Cave!

[Aura]

Chapter 18: Lapras

Continuing along with the story, last time we went back through Waterfall Cave to speak with Torkoal, the Town Elder, again and learn about the Hidden Land. While he was initially little help due to a lapse in his memory, he ultimately arrived at the guild where it was discovered the Relic Fragment Icarus has had since the beginning of the game will hold a key role in getting to the Hidden Land. We still don't quite have all the answers, but we now have a lead to go off of, as the pattern on the Relic Fragment matches one Wigglytuff and Chatot claim to have seen in Brine Cave! However, there is a vicious bandit at Brine Cave that leaves both of them nervous to return there. As such, we've spent the day preparing for the exploration of Brine Cave. During our preparations, we decided to check in at Sharpedo Bluff where we found a note from Grovyle warning us that Dusknoir may be returning to our time to pursue us again. He also informed us that he plans to join up with us once he's reclaimed the Time Gears, and that he'll likely meet us at Sharpedo Bluff or the Beach. Since he obviously wasn't at the Bluff, we decided to check the Beach before returning home, just in case he's waiting there.

 

As we arrive on the beach, we don't find Grovyle, but Icarus is instead taken into the beautiful sunset. It reminds him of the day we first met.

 

Music: On the Beach at Dusk

He begins to recount the events of that day, and how he gained the courage to stand up for himself against Team Skull thanks to Skye being by his side. Now we've got a much more daunting task than just getting the Relic Fragment back from some bullies, but we've gotta fight hard to protect the beautiful sunset!

As we reminisce, Icarus notices something off in the distance.

 

It's Lapras swimming across the sea!

 

Icarus can't identify the pokemon, though you'd think seeing a large pokemon swimming across the sea would excite him given that we were just looking for a way to cross the sea. Anyway, since it's getting late, he suggests we return to the guild.

As it turns out, though, Team Skull was hiding nearby on the beach, eavesdropping on our conversation and plotting to once again steal this Relic Fragment of theirs...

 

Back at the guild, it's off to dinner and bed! But the guildmaster is nowhere to be seen?

 

We see exactly where he's gone. He's meeting with Lapras to discuss a promise Wigglytuff has held for a while that he's going to have to break soon. But the two seem to be on friendly terms and it's quite likely that they're both in on what's about to happen.

============

Music: Wigglytuff's Guild

The next morning, the guildmaster has yet to return. But Chatot insists on setting off for Brine Cave as scheduled, leading the guild himself! While the guild is reluctant to go on the exploration without the guildmaster, they ultimately assure Chatot that he's fit to lead them.

 

With that, it's off to Brine Cave!

=============

 

Chatot gives us a briefing before we enter the cave. He warns us once again of the bandits that lurk here and recalls his previous experience. While he remembers little, he does recall getting hit with water, so he warns everyone to prepare for Water-type pokemon ahead. With that in mind, the guild divides into groups to cover a variety of types. And, as decided earlier, we'll be going with Chatot.

 

With that, the guild enters the dungeonand Team Skull follows after with malicious intent.

==============

Brine Cave

This dungeon is a bit of a mess. Once again, since we don't have access to Chimecho assembly, we're stuck without options to cover our weaknesses. That means we're limited on options for ranged attacks. Chatot can help as a wall using Mirror Move to deflect attacks, but as a guest partner meaning you can't control his tactics or limit his moves, he's not the most reliable option.

Anyway, this dungeon is home to the standard fare for traps, but there's no threat of Monster Houses. Just watch out for enemies with ranged attacks and keep your distance from those with insta-kill attacks, too! Specifically: Tentacool and Dewgong were the ones that gave me the most trouble. While Dewgong isn't too dangerous on its own, it knows Sheer Cold which can make things go really bad really fast with just a little bit of bad luck. Don't underestimate Tentacool, either! It's surprisingly bulky and takes a few hits to go down. Its Bubblebeam makes it annoying to approach and it can trap you with Wrap. Other enemies with ranged attacks include Kingler and Staryu, so be careful when approaching them as well.

New items available here in Explorers of Sky include:  Gaggle, and  Y-Ray Specs,  No-Slip Caps,  Gravelyrocks,  Oren Berries,  Dough,  Hunger,  Reviser,  Slip, and  Via Seeds,  Mix Elixirs, and the TM for  Dragon Claw.

Other than that, all items from all previous versions are also available.

As you can see, there are some new lookalike items.

Gaggle Specs are a lookalike for Goggle Specs. Gaggle Specs reduce evasion for the pokemon wearing them.

Y-Ray Specs are a lookalike for X-Ray Specs and do the exact opposite of what those do: They make all items and enemies completely invisible! 

Traps to watch out for include:  Chestnut,  Grimy,  Gust,  Poison,  Pokemon,  SelfDestruct,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps.

-----------------

Early on, I found the TM for Protect which I decided would be generally more useful than Endure which leaves Icarus in a really precarious position with only 1 HP if he finds himself relying on it, leaving him incredibly vulnerable to alternative forms of damage, or dying immediately after the status fades. With Protect, he totally avoids direct damage! And Drain Punch can even help heal off any indirect damage he sustains, too.

===============

 

After traveling through 9 floors, we arrive at the Waypoint of Brine Cave.

 

Music: Team Skull

It's this point where Team Skull catches up to us and steals the Relic Fragment back with the intention of stealing the glory of exploring the Hidden Land for themselves.

Now that Team Skull have finally shown their true colors to Chatot, he's furious and ready to give them a piece of his mind.

 

In his fury, Chatot charges ahead after Team Skull, leaving us behind to fend for ourselves. We save at the waypoint and continue onward!

=============

Lower Brine Cave

As per usual with these second half dungeons, it's just a tougher version of the higher floors. You'll still need to watch out for Dewgong, Tentacool, and Staryu. Walrein is intimidating to see, but it's actually a total pushover and nowhere near as dangerous as Dewgong since it doesn't know Sheer Cold. They do know Aurora Beam and Swagger, though, so you do have to watch your approach a bit and be careful not to get confused!

Item and Trap-wise, Lower Brine Cave is the same as the higher floors. And contrary to what you might expect, there's no threat of Monster Houses here, either!

===========

 

Music: In the Depths of the Pit

After five floors, we arrive at a clearing at the end of the dungeon.

And up ahead, we run into Team Skull who have been completely knocked out!

 

As it turns out, Team Skull were attacked by the bandits of Brine Cave and knocked out cold.

 

Icarus checks to see if they're okay, which is a surprise to Skuntank. After everything they've done to torment Team Flight, Team Flight is still worried about them when they're in trouble.

 

Moved by this, Skuntank "accidentally" drops the Relic Fragment for Team Flight to "steal." In a time of crisis, Team Skull is willing to admit defeat and recognize when a job has to be done.

 

Music: Oh No!

After that, Skuntank tells us we should go after Chatot because he chased after the bandits up ahead. Considering Wigglytuff was worried about him going ahead, we really need to get in there and provide support!

 

We find Chatot not much further up ahead. He warns us that the enemies are nearby, but he's not sure where they're hiding... wracking his brain, he tries to recall where he was attacked from before finally remembering...

 

...It was from the ceiling!

 

Just as Chatot warns us of their location, Kabutops and the Omastar Brothers drop down from the ceiling for a hasty attack!

 

But just before we're knocked out by the surprise attack, Chatot swoops in to take the hit for us!

Music: Rising Fear

 

After knocking Chatot out, Kabutops mocks him for taking the blunt of his attack like that, and Omastar recalls that this same situation has happened before. They must be talking about the time Chatot saved Wigglytuff from this very same attack. But this time, Wigglytuff isn't here.

 

==============

 

Team Flight

------------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 33

Item:  Insomniscope | Exclusive:  Evolve Charm

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand+Sand-Attack, Facade, Quick Attack

-----------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 33

Item:  Lime Bow | Exclusive:  Riolu Card

Abilties: Steadfast, Inner Focus | Moves: Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast, Protect

==============

Vs. Kabutops & The Omastar Brothers

This fight actually took me two attempts. The first I tried to play defensively with Protect but it failed both times I tried to use it while the Omastar were able to get their own protections up. It was really annoying, so this time, my goal was to just go on an all-out offensive with Icarus and support with Skye.

I started by trying to reduce Kabutops' accuracy with Sand-Attack.

Once I started taking damage, I retreated a bit so that I could support Icarus while only having to take hits from Omastar. The other Omastar had already been defeated by Icarus with Drain Punch. As long as he kept using Drain Punch, he should be fine on HP.

 

Eventually, the second Omastar was down and all it took from here was laying the beat-down on Kabutops.

==============

 

Upon their defeat, the bandits scatter to flee from us!

 

Music: In the Depths of the Pit

We then approach Chatot to see if he's okay.

Wigglytuff soon arrives on the scene and he's brought Grovyle!

 

The guild soon follows after those two. Wigglytuff is upset to see that Chatot has gotten injured again and rushes in to try and help him.

 

Chatot insists that he's fine, but complains about the humiliation of having been defeated by the same enemies as last time. But Wigglytuff corrects him, insisting that he only took their attack because he was protecting him! It was because Chatot took the hit that Wigglytuff was able to send the bandits packing, in just the same way as we did just now!

After a heartfelt moment shared between Chatot and Wigglytuff, Chatot passes out. Grovyle assures everyone that he'll live but urges everyone to take him back to the guild to treat his injuries.

 

Icarus initially suggests everyone go back to help Chatot, but Wigglytuff insists Team Flight go ahead with Grovyle, otherwise Chatot's sacrifice will be in vain. With little time to waste, and the potential threat of Dusknoir turning up at any moment, we agree to press onward.

==============

 

As we head deeper into the cave to look for the pattern, Grovyle explains to us that he's already gathered the remaining Time Gears and was already planning on rejoining with us. Now all we need to do is find the path to the Hidden Land and return the Time Gears to Temporal Tower! Our mission is almost complete!

 

Up ahead, we find a chamber with an opening leading out to the sea.

But while everyone's taken in by the view of the sunset, Skye's attention is drawn to something a bit more important.

 

We find the pattern Chatot and WIgglytuff were talking about here on the wall! Icarus brings out his Relic Fragment to see if we can get anything to happen.

Suddenly, the Relic Fragment begins to glow!

 

Shortly after, the pattern on the wall begins to glow in response, and a bright light shines while a laser pierces through the light!

The beam shoots out across the sea.

 

And from the distance, the pokemon we saw from the shore begins to approach!

 

Lapras introduces herself to us, explaining that Wigglytuff had already told her about us and that she is the guide to the Hidden Land.

 

With introductions out of the way, there's no time to waste. Lapras invites us to ride on her back and she'll carry us across to the Hidden Land! Next time, we begin the final stretch once and for all! See you soon!

[Aura]

Chapter 19: To the Hidden Land

We're drawing closer and closer to the end of the game! Last time, Wigglytuff's guild set out to explore Brine Cave where Wigglytuff and Chatot had previously discovered a pattern that matched the one on Icarus's Relic Fragment. This is the greatest lead to the discovery of the Hidden Land! However, in the depths of Brine Cave lied a band of violent bandits who attack anyone who approaches. Team Flight went arrived here with Chatot, who took the brunt of the bandits' surprise attack, buying us enough time to fight back and take the bandits, Kabutops and the Omastar Brothers, out. Shortly after, Wigglytuff and Grovyle arrived on the scene with the rest of the guild following after them. Apparently a similar sequence of events have played out before in which Chatot protected Wigglytuff from the very same attack of the very same bandits. Everyone except Team Flight and Grovyle returned to the guild to treat Chatot. But Team Flight and Grovyle continued forward. Grovyle relvealed that he's managed to gather all five Time Gears, so if this lead holds true, all we have to do is get the Time Gears to Temporal Tower! When we brought the Relic Fragment to the matching pattern in the cavern at the end of the cave, the pattern shone brilliantly and a powerful beam of light fired across the sea. That's when we met Lapras who promised to take us to the Hidden Land on his back.

 

Music: Goodnight

Back at the guild, Wigglytuff informs everyone that, just as Grovyle said, Chatot will be okay. They were able to treat his injuries in time!

 

Sunflora asks Wigglytuff for more information about the story of what happened at Brine Cave, so Wigglytuff explains everything he said before, but adds a little bit more: While he was in a panic over not knowing how to save Chatot, Lapras showed up and saved him.

 

Meanwhile, on the sea, Lapras is recounting the same story about how she helped Chatot. He had intended to remain hidden but changed his mind when she saw the injured Chatot. So, he decided to help in exchange for a promise with WIgglytuff.

 

Wigglytuff explains to the guild that the promise was for him to not explore the pattern there for the sake of the world's peace.

 

Lapras explains that he had Wigglytuff promise not to investigate the pattern because it was integral to keep the Hidden Land undiscovered beyond only the select few who have reason to be there. This is to protect Temporal Tower where Dialga reigns.

 

Lapras explained that, in order to ensure the Hidden Land wouldn't be discovered, it was hidden in a gap in time. But he left behind one key for entering the Hidden Land: The Relic Fragment that wound up in Icarus's possession.

 

This was why Wigglytuff disappeared on an errand the night before the exploration: He had to meet with Lapras about the promise, explain the situation, and ask how to reach the Hidden Land.

 

Lapras told Wigglytuff that the Relic Fragment chooses who can go to the Hidden Land, and that the fragment chose Icarus. When asked why, he suspects it resonated with Icarus's pure heart.

With that, there's nothing more for the guild to do but entrust the return of the Time Gears to Temporal Tower to Team Flight.

 

Soon, we steadily begin to approach the Gap in Time! We're drawing close to the Hidden Land!

Music: Through the Sea of Time

 

As Lapras sails into the Gap in Time, he begins to separate from the water, appearing to float above the surface of water into the air!

 

With that, we're treated to the most exciting moment int he story! I still fondly remember my first time experiencing this back when I covered it earlier in this thread, and while it isn't new to me anymore, it still draws a smile to my face!

And with that, the Hidden Land is now marked on our map!

 

Up ahead, we see Temporal Tower, but it's floating far from the ground. How can we reach it?

 

Lapras informs us of the Rainbow Stoneship at the Old Ruins up ahead. That will take us to Temporal Tower, the final stretch.

 

With that, it's time to prepare and progress! Onward to explore the Hidden Land!

===============

Hidden Land

This dungeon has its fair share of annoyances from Dragonite that take several hits, do a ton of damage with their Dragon attacks, and use Agility to not only boost their own speed but the speed of any other potential threats, Bastiodon with its ability to use Endure to stall you out endlessly, Tropius potentially warping you away by blowing you into water with Whirlwind, and Abomasnow's Snow Warning diminishing your autohealing with Hail. Worst of all, you have arguably the most dangerous Monster Houses in the game as a consistent threat throughout because of the above threats. Enemies seem to spawn really aggressively here, too. And on top of all of that, you also have Grimy Traps that can potentially ruin your day. So be wary of that as well. If you can't tell, this dungeon gave me a lot of headache. Grovyle's miserable AI and Icarus and Skye's shared lack of move variety seriously didn't help, either. Aside from Dark Hill, I've never missed the ability to bring my party members from Chimecho Assembly more. Some of the shit in this dungeon is just straight-up BS.

Items here in Sky include the combined version exclusive items from both past versions as well as:  Gaggle and  Y-Ray Specs,  No-Slip Caps,  Gravelyrocks,  Oren Berries,  Dough,  Dropeye,  Reviser,  Slip, and  Via Seeds,  Mix Elixirs, and TMs for  Dragon Claw

As for Traps, all traps from the previous versions are present except for the Chestnut trap, oddly enough.

The pokemon are the same as previous versions, no differences here.

============

After a dreadful 15 floors, you reach a much-needed Waypoint. But don't think you're in the clear yet.

=============

Hidden Highland

In spite of the change in scenery, this part of the dungeon is exactly the same as the lower floors but with slightly tougher enemies. Be even more careful here!

Items, Pokemon, and Traps are all the same as the lower floors with one small exception:  Stealth Bands are still available up here in this version, whereas they mysteriously stop appearing up here in Time and Darkness, perhaps by mistake?

===============

 

 

After struggling through 8 more floors of hell, we arrive at the Old Ruins where we see depictions of various legends. We must be approaching the Rainbow Stoneship!

We step outside and find ourselves at a massive temple!

 

At the top of the temple, we find the familiar pattern on the ground and a stone slab inscribed with Unown Letters, which Grovyle deciphers. A small touch I like about this is that it actually makes sense for people in this world to be unable to interpret Unown text since the normal written language is Footprint Runes which doesn't resemble the english alphabet at all.

Anyway, upon reading the slab, Grovyle discovers that we're standing on the Rainbow Stoneship!

Grovyle tells Icarus to fit his Relic Fragmen tinto the indentation right here to start the Rainbow Stoneship.

 

Music: The Power of Darkness

But just as he goes to put the fragment into the ship to start it, a voice calls out to us and we're surrounded by Sableye! Once again, it looks like we've wandered into one of Dusknoir's traps... And this time, we don't have Celebi to help. Dusknoir explains that he had Dialga simply warp him here, where all he had to do was wait for us to inevitably show up on our way to Temporal Tower.

 

Dusknoir has his Sableye lead us down to the Dimensional Hole he arrived in, threatening to take us back to the future to finish what he's started.

We're surrounded, so escape seems impossible as the group of Sableye leads us down the stairs toward the Dimensional Hole.

 

But of course, we're not abou tto go out without a fight! Just like before, we combine a coordinated attack to catch the Sableye off guard and scatter them!

  

 

=============

  

Team Flight

-----------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 34

Item: Insomniscope  | Exclusive:  Evolution Charm

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand+Sand-Attack, Facade, Quick Attack

------------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 34

Item: Lime Bow  | Exclusive:  Riolu Card

Abilities: Inner Focus, Steadfast | Moves: Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast, Protect

-----------------

Grovyle M; Lv. 46

Item: None

Ability: Overgrow | Moves: Quick Attack, Dig, Absorb, Leaf Blade

==============

Vs. Dusknoir & Sableye Squadron

So.... remember that time I deleted Skye's Bite for Quick Attack saying we were done with Ghost types? Yeah, somehow this iconic boss fight completely slipped my mind and I'm woefully unprepared for this. Needless to say, this fight was a massive headache and a half for me because I was relying on my allies to make the right moves for the majority of the fight and there was little I could do to support aside from spamming Sand Attack and Helping Hand.

And these AI aren't smart. We quickly got surrounded and that is not good.

 

But, slowly, we were able to take out the Sableye squadron, leaving it down to just us and Dusknoir.

 

Once it was down to a one-on-one with Dusknoir, the fight was a lot easier and Dusknoir didn't last much longer at all.

=============

 

Music: The Power of Darkness

After defeating Dusknoir, he makes one last-ditch effort to defeat us, knocking us back in his refusal to surrender.

 

Dusknoir prepares one final, powerful attack. And just as all hope seems lost, it's made clear why this attack is a last-ditch effort and not something he'd open with: Icarus quickly catches on to a weak point--the opening in his mouth! And after discussing his idea with everyone, we agree to combine our attacks right into his mouth!

 

As soon as we attack the ball of energy he fires at us, we redirect it right back into his mouth, causing great damage!

 

Music: Hidden Highland

With Dusknoir defeated, the Sableye run off in fear, prompting Grovyle to mock Dusknoir's inability to attract reliable allies, taking a jab at his duplicity in turning against us driving us to fight against him instead.

 

Grovyle tells Icarus to go ahead and put the Relic Fragment into the Stoneship to see if it works while he and Skye stay back to keep an eye on Dusknoir.

 

This is where Dusknoir drops the bombshell that, if history is changed, everyone from the future will disappear. In hindsight, I don't think I connected this before, but this is a fact that was foreshadowed as far back as when Grovyle told us about Primal Dialga. He said he felt no emotions and only sought self-preservation. Bearing in mind that Primal Dialga will disappear along with everyone else from the future if history is changed, it absolutely makes sense why he would enlist the help of Dusknoir to stop us from completing our mission. Even though Dialga will live on in our world, the Dialga of the future world will cease to exist, and he knows that better than anyone else. It's just another small detail I was only able to pick up on now after replaying the game with a new lens.

Music: Time Gear

Grovyle confesses that what Dusknoir claims is true. And it's a very hard truth to swallow since we only returned to the past with the resolve to accomplish our mission despite knowing we'll disappear. However, having lost our memory, we've completely forgotten that resolve, leading to this incredibly bittersweet discovery right before our mission is successful. But there's no turning back, now. So much has been sacrificed, and even though we don't want to disappear, it's what must be done for the good of the world.

 

Unfortunately, things aren't so simple, as when we first developed that resolve, we had nothing to lose and nothing to go back to. But now we've made so many friends, not the least of all, Icarus, who will no-doubt be heart-broken once we're gone. That makes our sacrifice that much tougher to make. Is it even possible?

Skye looks back up at Icarus, worried now about how he'll take the news...

 

Back at the top of the temple, Icarus places the Relic Fragment in the Stoneship and it begins to glow!

 

Recognizing he's about to fail, Dusknoir makes yet another desperate move to protect his timeline, Dusknoir makes another attack, knocking Skye away.

 

He attacks us again, but Grovyle takes the hit.

 

 

Music: Through the Sea of Time

But Grovyle isn't about to go down so easily. With the last of his strength, he attacks Dusknoir with a desperate struggle to bring them both back to the future together.

 

Grovyle throws the Time Gears onto the ground, leaving the rest of the mission to us!

 

Icarus returns only to notice this struggle between the two, caught entirely by surprise.

 

Icarus is naturally reluctant to say goodbye to Grovyle, he's not confident he can complete the mission, but Grovyle assures him that he and Skye are the greatest of companions. Dusknoir continues to resist, but there's no breaking out of Grovyle's last stand.

 

With that, Grovyle bids us one last farewell, and leaves us with an assertion that, though the parting hurts, we have to finish our mission. It serves as a double entendre to mask the real meaning from Icarus, but it's clear what he's actually referring to.

 

And with that final push, Grovyle and Dusknoir disappear into the Dimensional Hole, returning to their desolate future with the knowledge that all will soon be over.

 

The sound of the Rainbow Stoneship grows louder as the ship begins to glow more intensely. It's about to take off whether we're really ready to move on or not.

 

It's hard knowing Icarus is completely oblivious to what changing the future is actually going to do. He's clearly under the impression he thinks Grovyle will be okay after all of this, that the future will simply be changed around them...

 

Music: In the Hands of Fate

It's incredibly hard to imagine how he'll react when he finds out we're going to disappear. There's no way we can tell him that right now...

 

Icarus is also reveals that he's under the impression Grovyle's parting words were meant between us. But we know he really meant it between us and Icarus. But what else he said also holds true. None of the happiness we can share now matters if it's at the cost of the future. We must succeed in our mission no matter the cost and there is, unfortunately, no other way, nor is there time to look for any alternative.

 

If we turn back now, it's not only Chatot's injury, but Grovyle and Celebi both laying down their lives that are the sacrifices at stake. Next time, we'll take the Rainbow Stoneship and make one last trip to climb Temporal Tower and return the Time Gears. Team Flight's final mission is almost over! See you, soon!

[Aura]

Final Chapter: The Last Adventure

Full Disclosure, I really apologize if this update feels disrespectfully curt, but I just finished writing the entire post and was about to share the video of the goddamn CREDITS when I accidentally clicked a link at the top of the page trying to switch tabs and erased my ENTIRE POST. This was a really long post that took four hours to write and format, and I put a lot of beautiful thoughts into it so, as you can imagine, I'm genuinely pissed I didn't get to upload what I originally had. The post was literally done, I just needed to write my final thoughts. So excuse me if it seems like I might be a little upset during this update. I really hate to treat this ending disrespectfully because it really is a beautifully powerful ending that I don't just want to skip over, but we have covered it before, so it's not like there's much new to talk about. But the longer I sit here in this intro paragraph complaining about it, the longer it's going to take to catch up, so I suppose I should just get back into it.

So, last time we arrived at the Hidden Land with the help of Lapras who pointed us toward the Rainbow Stoneship in the Old Ruins. When we made our way there, we were ambushed by Dusknoir and his henchmen. However, we fought back and were able to overpower Dusknoir! Grovyle sacrificed himself to bring Dusknoir back to the future through the Dimensional hole, leaving the Time Gears behind and entrusting the task of returning them to us and Icarus. But we're also burdened with one major bombshell: If the future is changed, all pokemon from the future will cease to exist. That includes Dusknoir, Grovyle, and Celebi, but it also includes Skye since she's from the future as well. Even still, we have no choice but to persist in our journey.

 

 

Together with Icarus, we ride the Rainbow Stoneship up toward Temporal Tower.

As we approach, our attention is drawn to the red clouds forming over the tower. It doesn't look good: This must be the source of the Tower's Collapse. We have to get to the top and fast!

 

As we draw close to the tower, we feel tremors, further cementing the fact that we've got to hurry. After a bit of preparation, it's time for to climb the final dungeon of the main story.

==============

Temporal Tower

Due to the aforementioned reasons, I'm not going to into as much detail about these dungeons. Just know that Temporal Tower is pretty much the same story as the other Hidden Land dungeons. We're alone with Icarus this time and we've got a handful of lookalike items added, none of them we haven't seen before. Other than that, items pokemon and traps are the same as the combined Darkness and Time versions, with the exception that the  Weather Band is absent here.

Anyway, the pokemon here are fairly resilient, especially for a pokemon like Skye who has little type coverage. Be wary of Lunatone and Solrock's Hypnosis or Bronzor's Confuse Ray. But the most dangerous foe is Porgyon who knows the room-wide attack Discharge paired with the power of Agility. This makes Monster Houses, which are an ever-present threat throughout this dungeon, that much more dangerous as the whole room can quickly reach full speed and even Porgyon that are distant from you can still attack your whole party. Be careful and bring Spurn Orbs!

==============

 

After 13 floors, we find ourselves at a Waypoint, but the tremors only seem to be getting worse. We have to hurry along!

=============

Temporal Spire

Despite the calming music, Temporal Spire is only more dangerous. Instead of Porygon, you now have to deal with Porygon2 and Porgyon-Z. Porygon2 is bulkier while Porygon-Z is capable of dealing more damage with Discharge. Of course, both carry the same threats as Porygon. You also have to deal with Bronzong who is a lot more obnoxious of a wall than Bronzor. Ironically, Salamence and Metagross are some of the friendliest faces you'll find here as they aren't nearly as difficult to get over.

Anyway, this one is the same story as the lower floors. Same items and traps with the exception of the Weather Band.

While climbing, Skye tried to learn Baton Pass which I decided to replace Quick Attack with. While that might be an eyebrow-raising decision, I did it with the knowledge that Skye hasn't really been doing much attacking of her own, she's mostly relying on Icarus to do it anyway. This just helps Icarus get a head start on enemies without having to waste a turn moving, and it can also help close the distance on enemies like Porygon.

==============

 

After ten more floors, we arrive at the Pinnacle of Temporal Tower where we can see the swirling red clouds are getting much more dangerous, frequently striking the ground with pink lightning!

At the far end, we find an altar with five indentations. This must be where the Time Gears go!

 

 

But as we attempt to put the Time Gears in, we're stopped by Primal Dialga! But this isn't the one from the future: It's the Dialga from our world! He's already going primal! He won't listen to reason, but he hasn't quite lost himself yet. There's still hope! But for now, we've gotta fight and win!

=============

Team Flight

----------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 36

Item:  Insomiscope | Exclusive:  Evolution Charm

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand+Sand-Attack, Facade, Baton Pass

-----------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 35

Item:  Lime Bow | Exclusive:  Riolu Card

Abilities: Steadfast, Inner Focus | Moves: Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast, Protect

============

Vs. Primal Dialga

This is it! The final battle for the world's peace! Dialga can be an incredibly scary opponent. In Explorers of Sky, I had a really hard time with this fight and all I could really do was hope I could save enough Reviver Seeds to just tank his one-shot party wipes from Roar of Time. But in Explorers of Darkness, we were much better equipped with Liz's Smokescreen. Now, guess what? We've got our trusty Helping Hand + Sand-Attack combo. Not only that, but we've actually got super-effective attacks coming from Icarus! And really powerful ones at that! Let's not knock the sheer power of Drain Punch and Focus Blast.

 

Between tanking Diagla's Accuracy like a rock, powering Icarus's attacks, and dropping the occasional Max Elixir, Dialga didn't stand a chance against us. It was almost pitiful after a while, but as you can see from Icarus's remaining health, there was still a little bit of luck involved. Thankfully, I did have some Reviver Seeds up my sleeve, so it's not like I was only getting greedy.

=============

With Dialga defeated, we have to hurry to get the Time Gears into the altar!

 

But we really do need to hurry, the storm is getting even more aggressive and the tremors are worsening!

 

Once we insert the Time Gears, they begin to glow and the altar turns a bluish green! But... the tremors still aren't stopping...!

 

Soon, the storm amplifies and lightning begins to strike even more aggressively, and Skye and Icarus can't hold on any longer!

 

When we come to, we find ourselves at the top of Temporal Tower, but it seems the storm has ceased!

 

We find that Dialga has returned to his true nature!

 

He uses telepathic powers to show us views of Treeshroud Forest where time has resumed!

 

We can also see the exterior of Temporal Tower which clearly came very close to collapsing, but it's still standing firm despite the heavy damage!

For our efforts, our determination to reach the Hidden Land, our courage to face up to Dialga while he was raging, and our success in preventing the collapse of Temporal Tower, Dialga offers us his sincere gratitude. Now, he must see to restoring the tower and the Hidden Land to their former glories. He assures us that the Rainbow Stoneship still works and that Lapras should still be awaiting our return. So, it's time to head back home.

 

As we make our way back to the Rainbow Stoneship, Skye's body begins to feel heavy and she starts to realize that she's beginning to disappear because the future was changed. As much as we may not have wanted to believe it, with Dusknoir and Grovyle warned us about indeed seems to be true. The future we're from is being erased and with it, we are, too.

Music: Don't Ever Forget

As Icarus resumes moving along, we notice a small light surrounding us, and it's clear our time with Icarus is coming to an end.

 

When Icarus returns to ask what's going on, Skye finally has to break the tragic news to him. She has to disappear, and there's nothing they can do to change that.

 

Skye thanks Icarus for everything they've done, all the adventures, their time at the guild, his friendship... it's all something Skye will never forget. As they talk, more lights begin to envelop Skye's body.

 

Naturally, Icarus is distraught at the realization he's about to lose his closest friend.

 

Skye gives Icarus her final wish: For him to be strong on his own, to go home and share their story so that a tragedy like this never has to repeat itself.

 

As the lights begin to envelop Skye more, Icarus begins to beg her not to go, but there's nothing either of them can do to stop it.

Skye once again thanks Icarus for everything they've been through.

 

 

The two share one last heartfelt moment where Skye assures Icarus she won't forget him, even after she disappears. They tell each other they're lucky to have each other as their friend.

 

But soon, Skye disappears into the light and Icarus cries out for her one last time.

Music: Have to Get Home

Afterward, determined to carry Skye's wish, Icarus forces himself to keep moving even though everything in him wants to stay here as long as he can. He has to keep moving and share their story. He has to get home.

 

Music: Farther Away

Icarus soon arrives at the Rainbow Stoneship and begins to ride it away from the tower. He looks back and watches as it gets further away, as Skye gets further away...

 

Music: A Wish for Peace

 

 

 

So Icarus returns home and begins spreading the story of his adventure to as many people as he can, just as Skye wished for him to do.

 

Many months later, many of the wounds of the story have healed. Even Icarus seems to be doing better. He heads out for a walk and Bidoof lets him know that it's almost dinner time.

 

 

Music: On the Beach at Dusk

As Icarus arrives on the beach, we find that Krabby have blown bubbles again, recreating the scenery form the very beginning of the game. I still love this music. It conveys the beauty of the scenery so well along and foreshadows the grad adventure for our heroes waiting just ahead of them. And at this point, it also bears such a sense of nostalgia for one's childhood. Icarus has come a long way since those first scenes, and though he might miss Skye, it's no secret that he's grown a lot from his adventures.

 

As he takes in the sight, Icarus reminisces about the last time he saw it, then remembers it was when he first met Skye.

 

Music: Memories Returned

He goes and stands at the place where he first saw Skye and it only elicits more memories.

He recalls the moment we agreed to form our exploration team,

 

The time we worked ourselves so hard trying to rescue Azurill we hadn't even thought about food until we were starved,

the time at the Waterfall where he laid down his resolve to put his total faith in Skye and her mysterious power depite not understanding it at all,

 

the bedtime conversation when he affirmed his confidence that becoming an exploration team was the right choice for him to solve the mystery of his Relic Fragment.

 

the time we stood up to Groudon at Steam Cave,

the beautiful view at Fogbound Lake when the geyser shot up and the Time Gear shone brilliantly from under the water,

 

the time we combined our efforts to break out of the ropes and escape Dusknoir's execution,

 

our heart to heart when he was at his lowest point in the paralyzed future before agreeing to catch up to Grovyle and find a way back home,

 

the moment we officially registered our exploration team and promised to always do our best,

 

our discoveries of Quicksand Cave and Crystal Crossing while searching for the Time Gears,

 

the moment his resolve to return home from the future hardened,

and the moment he accepted the task entrusted to us by Grovyle and prepared himself to bring the Time Gears to the tower and complete our mission.

 

 

All of those memories suddenly returning hit Icarus with a sudden wave of emotion that knocks him off of his feet. And I have to say that, on reflection, this is by far the most powerful moment of the ending to me. This is where this game's treatment of the mourning process hits home the best. While I count myself lucky that I've never suddenly lost anyone who plays an active role in my day-to-day life, some of you who've known me for a long time might have known that, many years ago, my closest friend lost her fiance in a traffic accident. And to say it messed her up for a long time is an understatement. I had never seen somebody transform so instantly. Even though I don't have personal experience, seeing what she went through and seeing what Icarus is going through here, it really is one and the same. This part was written either by someone who lost someone really close to them, or knows someone who has. On the surface, it just looks like a fairly cliche moment where a character flashes back to all the things they've done on their adventure, but the way it plays out and specifically the fact that this happens months after Icarus lost Skye and the fact that Icarus seems to be completely better at first only to have sudden flashbacks the moment he makes a single connection, this is a very real moment that happens all the time.

When you're mourning someone, it never really goes away. And while this game's story offers a happy ending as a necessity to facilitate a postgame, that doesn't happen in real life. Even to this day, that friend of mine still has powerful moments where she remembers her fiance and it does literally knock her off her feet when it happens. But of course, with time, episodes like these happen less and less as you start to look toward other things. But every once in a while, you still end up with those days where certain triggers end up hitting really hard.

 

Music: Ending Theme

Bidoof soon arrives on the scene and notices Icarus on the ground. He runs up to offer assistance. And then...

The credits roll! This story always gets to me in one way or another no matter how many times I play through it. Last two times, this would be the finale of our coverage with a little bit of cleanup to touch on some things we've missed, but not so this time around. There's no getting around it this time, Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky of course have a postgame that mirrors that of Rescue Team's. I've had some choice words about the postgame during my coverage of Blue Rescue Team. I'm really not a fan of Mystery Dungeon's idea of difficulty, and it still really doesn't bode well with the way I'm covering games for this thread. But, content is content and it already felt a bit cheaty to skip the postgame of Time and Darkness because I had this game on the horizon, so I'm not about to leave all of that untouched. Besides, there are a lot of questions the story leaves unanswered, and we did dabble briefly in the postgame during our coverage of Explorers of Time where we left things on a bit of a cliffhanger. Lingering questions include: What happened that spearated Grovyle and Skye? Why did Skye turn into a pokemon and develop amnesia? Why did Temporal Tower collapse in the first place? Well, to my knowledge, all of those questions are answered in the postgame. However, once again, we are marching into blind territory once we get past Luminous Spring. I can only guess we'll be dealing with Palkia, Giratina, and even Arceus. And though I've tried to avoid spoilers, I do know Darkrai plays a significant role as an antagonist. I also wonder if perhaps we'll learn more about Team Skull? And since Team Charm was supposedly a postgame character before, it's likely we'll be able to meet them and possibly even learn more about Team AWD, too!

Music: Time Restored

Of course, let's not forget about our post-credits scene.

 

 

 

From Temporal Tower, Dialga recalls the powerful feeling of sorrow from Icarus as he bid Skye farewell from the Rainbow Stoneship. It seems to have resonated with him. As thanks for all he's done, Dialga decides to make his wish come true.

 

Music: Epilogue Theme

And soon, down on the beach where Icarus is crying with Bidoof's support, Skye emerges from a bright light.

 

Bidoof turns Icarus's attention toward Skye and he immediately rushes over to her and begins crying all over again. As somewhat resentful as I was of this "cop-out" ending when I first covered it, I do have to say this embrace is really, really sweet. And after such a powerful moment of weakness, this scene mean so much.

And with that, we're finished with the main story. Now, I'm not really sure what order we're going to be doing things in for the postgame because we've got a lot on our plate. But I suppose we'll probably start not with Mystifying Forest, but with the two dungeons we've unlocked but never actually got to explore. After all, I still want to raise up Hail and Spore to be on par with the rest of the team. I also have to start thinking about what I actually want Skye to evolve into... Decisions for another day! Next time, we begin the postgame of Explorers of Sky! And this time, we're in it for the long haul. Buckle down because we aren't even close to finished with our coverage of this game. There's still a lot of content we haven't even touched in Explorers of Time and Darkness, let alone all the new postgame content here in Sky! All in due time, all in due time. See you soon!

[Aura]

Postgame Part 1: Serenity River & Tiny Meadow

Alright! Last time we saved the world by successfully managing to bring the Time Gears back to Temporal Tower where we faced off with Primal Dialga. But we held our ground and defeated Dialga, then placed the Time Gears in the altar which prevented the tower's collapse and the planet's paralysis! And while Skye did disappear as Dusknoir and Grovyle warned her, Dialga allowed Skye to return months later in response to Icarus's despair as a thank you for all his hard work and dedication.

 

Of course, we've already covered this first plot thread with Explorers of Time, so I don't feel a need to cover these particular scenes in detail. But don't worry, once we get into new territory, I'll cover the scenes more deeply, just like with the special episodes. Upon booting up our finished save file, we're told that while time has resumed in most places, there still exist some areas where time is out of control. It seems the world is still recovering from the tower's near collapse. When we cut back to Wigglytuff Guild, Team Flight is presented with the opportunity to take the graduation exam to graduate from the guild!

We're given special permission to take this exam early because of our substantial achievements. Saving the world is one hell of an extenuating circumstance, it turns out. The only apprentice at the guild who's even had a chance at graduation is Loudred who seems to have failed. We'll need to ask him about it later.

 

Our task is to travel to Luminous Spring in Mystifying Forest and claim the treasure that lies there, but when we go there we'll have to be wary of the grand master of all things bad.

 

Wigglytuff further warns us about how terrifying the grand master of all things bad is, but just cheerfully shrugs it off with a happy-go-lucky "good luck with that!" Man, I love this goofball. Anyway, we know from experience just what's going on with this "grand master of all things bad" character. Unfortunately, or preparations can only help so much. It's not at all an easy encounter, hopefully we're able to take it on.

 

 

When we ask Loudred about this grand master of all things bad, he tells us he's not allowed to say anything, but he does warn us that we're in for a terrifying time. And even just remembering it seems to frighten him even now! This must be some enemy alright... Of course, if we ask around the guild, nobody else seems to be able to tell us about the grand master, so we'll just have to play things by ear.

Anyway, at the Croagunk Swap Shop, I've got some really nice items!

For trading in two arbitrary exclusive items, I was able to get a  Riolu Tail which boosts Riolu and Lucario's Defense by 3.

And for trading in that  Riolu Tail along with the  Riolu Card I already had, I can combine their effects to create a  Valiant Rock! This just combines the effects of the two items and boosts both Riolu and Lucario's defenses by 3 while saving some inventory space.

Also, minor correction, I believe I mistakenly claimed the  Evolve Charm boosts Eevee and its evolutions' defenses by 3 just like the Valiant Rock, but that was incorrect. Either that's the effect the item has in the Japanese version, or Serebii simply had the information wrong. As it turns out, the Evolve Charm actually simply allows Eevee to earn bonus Exp. I somehow never noticed this discrepancy until just now. I've heard that the admin of Serebii simply doesn't enjoy the Mystery Dungeon series, so it wouldn't surprise me if this effect was just an assumption.

 

As we go to Treasure Town to make preparations, we run into Teddiursa and Ursaring who claim they're headed out to Mystifying Forest to play! They've never heard anything about this grand master of all things bad and assure us that we must've just heard a bad rumor. Indeed, nobody in Treasure Town seems to have heard of this!

...Anyway, we're not going to Mystifying Forest. As you could tell by the title of this post, we're going to take a moment at the start to focus on some side content first and foremost. We're going to be starting with exploring the optional dungeons we've already unlocked and technically had access to before the main story ended.

While at the Juice Bar, we found ourselves another new recruit, a Skorupi!

============

Team Flight New Recruit

---------------

Arrow (Skorupi M); Lv. 1

Item: None

Abilities: Battle Armor, Sniper | Moves: Bite, Poison Sting, Leer

============

And at the Recycle Shop, they were offering a Calcium in exchange for three Oran Berries and a Sleep Seed. Naturally, I accepted that offer immediately!

===========

 

While I didn't find any bottles on the beach when I went to check, I did run into Lapras! If you ever want to return to the Hidden Land, you can speak with Lapras again and he'll take you. We might be doing this a bit sooner than you'd think...

 

Anyway, among the quests related to our new dungeons, the one for Serenity River was ranked higher, so I figured I should start with that one in hopes a better mission for Tiny Meadow will appear the next day.

=============

Serenity River

So here we are at Serenity River! This dungeon I did cover in Explorers of Darkness, however, since I was playing Explorers of Darkness on actual hardware rather than... definitely legitimate hardware, I couldn't provide screenshots of my own gameplay. Well, here we are on definitely legitimate hardware to show the dungeon off! Not that there's much more to see, I just think it's nice to have my own characters in the screenshots I provide rather than the characters used by somebody from Serebii or Bulbapedia.

There's nothing really major to talk about here, Pokemon and Traps are the same as the combined Time and Darkness versions, though there are a small handfull of items that are exclusive to Darkness and aren't in Time. These are  All-Hit,  Foe-Fear, and  Foe-Seal Orbs. There's no new Sky-exclusive items to replace these, either. It's a very odd exclusion to be sure.

The enemies here are all really pathetic. Even in a Monster House, you're not likely to run into any trouble at all. The biggest headache might be that Wooper can nail you with Mud Slap a bit too much. The dungeon is also really short, so even hunger's not really a threat. No, the biggest danger in this dungeon is really just the traps you have to watch out for. But if you go in with few items, you should be totally fine.

The music for this dungeon frequently switches between that of Waterfall Cave and Mt. Bristle. It also features the song Surrounded Sea.

---------------

On the second floor, we got ourselves a new recruit!

=============

Team Flight New Recruit

---------------

Missile (Barboach F); Lv. 11

Item: None

Abilities: Oblivious, Anticipation | Moves: Mud-Slap, Mud Sport, Water Sport, Water Gun

============

On the third floor, the weather was rainy!

And on the fourth floor, it was Cloudy!

 

And it was Foggy on the sixth floor where our outlaw appeared! Of course, Rhydon didn't stand a chance against us. Hail didn't even get a chance to do anything, he just went down to a single Drain Punch from Icarus.

 

Finally, on the 8th floor, we got three Deluxe Boxes! How lovely. Once you're finished, take the Warp Tile out of the dungeon for a job well done!

===============

 

After all that, it's off to dinner and bed in preparation for the next day! And, since there's one other of these dungeons we've already covered, I figure we can turn today into a double feature!

I haven't noted it yet, but on the Bulletin Board, we're starting to see missions that are higher than S rank! These are * Rank missions that appear to range from *1 to *5. It's possible there are even higher ranks as well. They take place in tougher dungeons like Treeshroud Forest. By the way, we now have access again to many dungeons we couldn't revisit before. These high rank missions do provide a lot of points toward ranking up, though. So they're worth seeking out if you really want to expand your storage!

Anyway, once again, we got a nice item in the form of the  Sleet Bow! That was a rare item that required trading in 5 exclusive items. This one works with Spheal and its evolutions. If anyone attacks them, there's a chance they'll become frozen.

At the Recycle Shop, there was another deal: Three Oran Berries and a Blinker Seed for an Iron! It's unfortunate, but I just didn't have any Blinker Seeds, I'd already traded them all in for Prize Tickets (and inventory space). So sadly, I had to pass on this one.

Anyway, moving right along, we made some preparations and then set out for Tiny Meadow! Unfortunately, I didn't really get any good additional jobs here, just an escort mission which I really didn't want to do because a part of why I'm doing this is in hopes that Spore and Hail will gain some additional Exp.

============

Tiny Meadow

Where we explored Serenity River in Explorers of Darkness, we explored Tiny Meadow in Explorers of Time! As its name implies, this dungeon is even shorter than Serenity River. You might compare it to Tiny Woods in Rescue Team but that's not quite accurate as the enemies are slightly tougher here. That's, slightly tougher than Serenity River. They still go down really easily, so it's really not a danger at all. This dungeon is strangely the same story as Serenity River when it comes to items, traps, and pokemon. Everything is the same as Time and Darkness combined except for the exclusion of the  All-Hit,  Foe-Fear, and  Foe-Seal Orbs.

The music here changes between Cave and Side Paths, Apple Woods, and Mt. Bristle.

On the third floor, there was fog!

 

When I got to the fourth floor, though, I was surprised to find it was an open floor! However, when I entered, I got the notification that the target pokemon for my mission was completely missing... excuse me?? Apparently, this is a thing that can happen rarely. I'm not sure if it's related to the open floor. If I had to guess, it's caused by the game trying to spawn the outlaw near Skye, but she was in a corner so that was an impossibility.

So, I had to start over and try again, this time he spawned in with no problem! But I didn't get the large open floor which is a bit disappointing.

 

Anyway, this was an outlaw ambush mission and I was particularly excited to do this one because it was finally a chance for me to flex just how fantastic Powder Snow is for clearing out Monster Houses! Whereas I probably would've wanted to use a Spurn or Totter Orb to manage these numbers, Hail can just clear the majority of the room in two turns using Powder Snow! Look at how fantasticly that worked out!

Anyway, with a little more brute force, we took out Houndoom and claimed our spoils.

Continuing along, we got ourselves another new recruit: Stray the Staravia!

============

Team Flight New Recruit

---------------

Stray (Staravia F); Lv. 20

Item: None

Abilities: Oblivious, Anticipation | Moves: Mud-Slap, Mud Sport, Water Sport, Water Gun

============

 

And, on the fifth floor, we reach the end of the dungeon with two Deluxe Chests!

============

 

And then it's dinner and bedtime at the end of the day. Next time, we'll be doing a bit more cleanup of stuff that was accessible during the main story. I think it'll be a fitting idea to take on at least the first layer of Marowak Dojo mazes. I suspect that more will open up once we complete those and we might do those too. I'm not sure. But for now, that's where we're headed next. See you soon!

[Aura]

Postgame Part 2: Marowak Dojo

So, we're back with more kinda-postgame not-really-postgame content! It's not hard to notice that, due to all the isolated dungeon crawling, Skye and Icarus are significantly higher leveled than Spore and Hail. It also doesn't help that those two were recruited shortly before Skye and Icarus got abducted. We need to run them through a crash course to help them level up a bit! And thankfully, we have just the place: Marowak Dojo!

Initially, I thought I hadn't covered Marowak Dojo in my coverage of Explorers of Time. But while playing through, I realized there was something pretty familiar and by the end I realized I absolutely had covered everything. However, since this is what I've been playing in my session tonight, I'll still be talking about it today. I'll just have to discuss the mazes in a similar manner to the other dungeons I've already covered.

=============

 

Marowak Dojo

All of the entry-level mazes in this dojo are identical to their Explorers of Time counterparts. That means only Poke, Oran Berries, and Escape Orbs can be found inside, and no items can be brought in. Make sure you deposit all of your items at Kangaskhan Storage! Otherwise, anything in your pockets will disappear! Each maze features five floors with the same set of pokemon, usually pokemon that have both types, but occasionally you'll find dungeons with mono-typed pokemon even if the dungeon has two types. The pokemon get progressively higher-level with each floor, starting as low as Lv. 1 and ending at 35. On the early floors, you might be able to get by just sicking your weak allies on your enemies, but on the later floors, you'll need to play more carefully. Baton Pass can help me keep my partners safe.

Normal/Fly Maze

This dungeon is filled with Staravia and Doduo! Staravia's Quick Attack can be fairly annoying, but there's not too much going on here.

Dark/Fire Maze

In the Dark/Fire Maze, you run the risk of getting burned by Magby but, other than that, there's really not much to watch out for.

Rock/Water Maze

This biggest thing to watch out for here is Kabuto. On the lower floors, Kabuto knows Endure and Aqua Jet, so they can be a major nuisance. If you can't stall them out, try your best to get away!

Grass Maze

Only grass types? This one should be a joke! Shroomish puts you at risk of Status effects, but there's really not much going on here.

Eelc/Steel Maze

I found Magnemite to be the biggest nuisance here thanks to its defense and strong defensive typing paired with annoying moves like Thunder Wave and SuperSonic.

Ice/Ground Maze

Swinub, Swinub, and more Swinub! Apparently they can know Endure, but I never had them use it. On the lower floors they have Power Snow, but they don't seem to have it on the lower floors. Since they have pretty piss-poor defense, they go down pretty easily. But if they get Endure up, you might have to turn tail and run if you're unprepared to stall them out.

Fight/Psych Maze

Meditite and Machop are here! Sand-Attack won't do any good against Machop because of No Guard, but to compensate, none of your moves will miss him, either! Feel free to exploit that with your most powerful move son the lower floors!

Bug/Poison Maze

Watch out for Skorupi's Poison Sting! Not much else to say here.

Dragon Maze

Lots and lots of Bagon, but they're not all that scary, really.

Ghost Maze

Fuck this dungeon fuck this dungeon fuck this dungeon! It's not actually all that hard, but all the hallways sure as hell are a lot more stressful when you know a Misdreavus could attack you at any moment! With no Gravelerocks, the best option you have to deal with an attack from the walls might just be to take it and keep going until the Misdreavus gets lured into the hall where you can hit it. This isn't without major risk, though, because Spite can completely delete the PP from any of the move each pokemon used last! Not cool, Misdreavus.

 

To congratulate you for completing the Dojo's mazes, you're rewarded with a Joy Seed!

As I probably alluded to in Explorers of Time, we're not quite done with this Dojo yet, but we'll have to wait a bit before we can take on the final challenge here.

But the real reward is how much my team has grown! While Skye and Icarus haven't grown much, Spore and Hail's levels have nearly doubled! And with it, we've learned some notable new moves!

 

The biggest differences to the team are that I retaught Hail Water Gun over Ice Ball. While Ice Ball can be nice if you're lucky, I forgot about the fact that it stops as soon as it misses which often just causes it to only hit once or miss outright. I'd rather the more consistent damage and additional type coverage from having Water Gun. But the real star of the show is that Spore finally learned his namesake attack: Spore! I replaced Stun Spore with it. This is an incredibly powerful move that puts all enemies in the room to sleep!

Also, one major detail I was unaware of until I was nearly done with the dojo is that, at least in Sky, the shop stock, NPCs and Daily offers at Spinda's Cafe, and available missions all reshuffle every time you leave a maze, as if you'd just gone out on an actual exploration. This allowed me to get a  Moving Scarf, which prevents Paras and Parasect from becoming paralyzed! I also got another  Eevee Card. While the effects do not stack when two identical exclusive items are in the inventory at the same time, having multiple Eevee Cards can be useful for mixing for rarer Eevee exclusive items.

The last thing I wanted to note was that I went and cleared out a few jobs at Beach Cave, and it was there that I used a TM to teach Spore the move Bullet Seed! It may seem redundant to have both Energy Ball and Bullet Seed since they're both ranged Grass-type attacks, but Bullet Seed is better for DPS in general and is a physical attack to further differentiate it. It's possibly not the best use of a move slot for Spore, but it'll certainly be more useful than Leech Life at the very least.

The main reason I did these missions, though, was because I noticed I was right on the cusp of ranking up!

Team Flight is now a Gold Rank exploration Team! With this promotion, Kangaskhan Storage can now hold 320 items and we're gifted a free  Ginseng!

 

And with that, it's time for dinner and off to bed! And that's it for today. You might think we're getting on with the graduation exam, but not quite. There's still a little bit more content we can explore that'll help us better prepare for our final steps. So, see you soon!

[Aura]

Postgame Part 3: Legendary Rematches

Unless we happen across a new dungeon from Spinda's Cafe, this will be the last session that we put off Mystifying Forest. We're going to revisit the three lakes to give a rematch to Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. With no Time Gears for them to defend anymore, they should be free to roam the world! Maybe we can convince them to join us our Exploration Team?

We're starting with Steam Cave! Last time we went here, we had to fight Uxie's illusory Groudon which was being used to scare off outsiders in order to protect the Time Gear at Fogbound Lake.

 

While climbing my way through Steam Cave, I found myself with quite a few new recruits! Being above Lv. 30 does give you a bonus to your recruitment chance, so I suppose this is going to start happening more and more.

==============

New Recruit: Team Flight

---------------

Buzz (Yanma F); Lv. 15

Item: None

Abilities: Speed Boost, Compound Eyes | Moves: Foresight, Quick Attack, Double Team, SonicBoom

-----------------

Heat (Slugma M); Lv. 15

Item: None

Abilities: Magma Armor, Flame Body | Moves: Smog, Yawn, Ember, Rock Throw

-----------------

Light (Volbeat M); Lv. 16

Item: None

Abiltiies: Illuminate, Swarm | Moves: Tackle, Double Team, Confuse Ray, Moonlight

=============

 

At the peak of Steam Cave, we reach Uxie who knows exactly what we're here for.

 

 

=============

   

Team Flight

-----------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 38

Item:  Insomniscope | Exclusive:  Evolve Charm,  Eevee Card

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand+Sand-Attack, Facade, Baton Pass

------------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 38

Item:  Lime Bow | Exclusive:  Valiant Rock

Abilities: Steadfast, Inner Focus | Moves: Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast, Protect

------------------

Spore (Paras M); Lv. 21

Item:  Joy Band | Exclusive:  Firm Hat

Abilities: Effect Spore, Dry Skin | Moves: Leech Life, Energy Ball, Spore, Bullet Seed

-----------------

Hail (Spheal F); Lv. 23

Item:  Joy Band | Exclusive:  Sleet Bow

Abilities: Thick Fat, Ice Body | Moves: Powder Snow+Growl, Water Gun+Defense Curl

=============

 

Vs. Uxie

This battle went about as well as you'd expect. I used Baton Pass to surround Uxie and wailed on him for a little bit. It wasn't long at all before he went down. We're a lot stronger than we were last time we climbed this cave!

=============

 

Upon defeating Uxie, he asks to join our team! Unlike in Rescue Team where you only had a percentage chance of recruiting most bosses each time you rematched them, here in Explorers, its 100% guaranteed the first time you defeat them they'll ask to join. So...

==============

New Recruit: Team Flight

---------------

Thought (Uxie); Lv. 42

Item: None

Ability: Levitate | Moves: Future Sight, Confusion, Yawn, Endure

==============

 

After recruiting our new friend, we exit the cave with a successful exploration!

===============

 

Afterward, it's time for dinner and bed.

The next day at the Recycle Shop, it turns out there's more than just vitamins being offered in the daily special offer! This time, it's a  Link Box for 3  Rawst,  Cheri,  Pecha, and  Chesto Berries! While this is technically a profit compared to dropping 500P at Electivire's shop... it really doesn't seem worth it, does it? Lugging around all those berries just feels like a massive waste of space.

 

In addition, the roster of items we can recycle for has increased once again! I believe  Eyedrop Seeds are new, which require 3  Max Elixirs, and you can also trade for  Gold Tickets with any 8 items! A great way to take advantage of our newly improved storage space and I'm sure we've got lots of good items in store!

We also got our hands on a  Riolu Tail! Just a little bit more to go!

Our next destination is Quicksand Cave! This is where we discovered our second Time Gear and first came face-to-face with Grovyle. Once again, the situation is different. Things are going to be much less tense with no Time Gear to protect.

I brought Rain along for this adventure for protection from the annoying sandstorms. And it was while explorig down here that he learned Fury Swipes! Naturally, I replaced Scratch.

=============

 

At the end of Quicksand Cave is the Underground Lake where Mesprit resides. And she gives us a similar speech to Uxie's. This is the only of the Lake Spirits we actually battled ourselves.

 

 

=============

   

Team Flight

-----------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 40

Item:  Insomniscope | Exclusive:  Evolve Charm,  Eevee Card

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand+Sand-Attack, Facade, Baton Pass

------------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 40

Item:  Lime Bow | Exclusive:  Valiant Rock,  Riolu Tail

Abilities: Steadfast, Inner Focus | Moves: Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast, Protect

-----------------

Hail (Spheal F); Lv. 28

Item:  Joy Band | Exclusive:  Sleet Bow

Abilities: Thick Fat, Ice Body | Moves: Powder Snow, Water Gun+Defense Curl, Aurora Beam

-----------------

Rain (Psyduck M); Lv. 27

Item:  Joy Band

Abilities: Damp, Cloud Nine | Moves: Water Pulse, Confusion, Disable, Fury Swipes

=============

Vs. Mesprit

 

I tried the same strat against Mesprit but unfortunately wound up missign with Baton Pass and warping myself behind the rest of the team. By the time I got back into position to play support, everyone else had already taken her out. That's a little unfortunate but it is what it is, I suppose.

==============

 

And with that, we've got ourselves two of the three Lake Guardians!

=============

New Recruit: Team Flight

---------------

Empathy (Mesprit); Lv. 42

Item: None

Ability: Levitate | Moves: Future Sight, Confusion, Lucky Chant, Protect

==============

 

And that's another successful exploration!

==============

 

Once again, it's dinnertime and then off to bed!

The next day, an Egg I received from a Skarmory at Spinda's Cafe hatched into a Gastly! This very well might end up being a useful teammate in the future! Let's just bar the ethical concerns of putting a newborn baby to work. It's already dead, anyway, right?

============

New Recruit: Team Flight

---------------

Fog (Gastly M); Lv. 1

Item: None

Ability: Levitate | Moves: Hypnosis, Lick

=============

 

And on the beach, we finally found one of those Bottles Krabby mentioned before!

Inside the bottle is another job request! I find it a bit silly that there are always so many redundant ways to get jobs in these Mystery Dungeon games. If they want more jobs available at a time, why not just make the bulletin board larger? Anyway, if you're not satisfied with the jobs on the boards, try taking a peek out on the beach or check in with the guest at the door of Spinda's Cafe to see if there are any missions in those places that better suit your needs. You're more likely to find better jobs at the bulletin board, though, due to sheer numbers. You're only getting one job at a time in these other locations.

With all that out of the way, it's now time to get going to the Crystal Lake at the end of Crystal Crossing!

While exploring, I got yet another new recruit!

=============

New Recruit: Team Flight

---------------

Glamour (Glameow F); Lv. 29

Item: None

Abilities: Limber, Own Tempo | Moves: Charm, Assist, Captivate, Slash

=============

 

When we arrive at Crystal Lake, you already know the drill. Azelf knows exactly why we're here.

 

 

=============

   

Team Flight

-----------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 41

Item:  Insomniscope | Exclusive:  Evolve Charm,  Eevee Card

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand+Sand-Attack, Facade, Baton Pass

------------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 40

Item:  Lime Bow | Exclusive:  Valiant Rock,  Riolu Tail

Abilities: Steadfast, Inner Focus | Moves: Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast, Protect

-----------------

Hail (Spheal F); Lv. 29

Item:  Joy Band | Exclusive:  Sleet Bow

Abilities: Thick Fat, Ice Body | Moves: Powder Snow, Water Gun+Defense Curl, Aurora Beam

------------------

Spore (Paras M); Lv. 23

Item:  Joy Band | Exclusive:  Firm Hat

Abilities: Effect Spore, Dry Skin | Moves: Leech Life, Energy Ball, Spore, Bullet Seed

=============

Vs. Azelf

This is the third challenge, and the other guardian we weren't able to battle ourselves our first visit here: Grovyle got here first and defeated Azelf and we ended up fighting Grovyle instead. Now, we have our proper fight with Azelf!

 

This time, the Baton Pass strat worked properly and Azelf ended up going down in a few turns.

=============

 

And with that, Azelf also would like to join our team!

=============

New Recruit: Team Flight

---------------

Spirit (Azelf); Lv. 42

Item: None

Ability: Levitate | Moves: Future Sight, Uproar, Confusion, Detect

==============

 

And that's the end of that exploration, too!

=============

 

And then it's off to dinner and bed.

  

So that's the three Lake Guardians joining our Exploration Team! There is one more legendary, and by process of elimination you can probably guess who that is, but I'm not going to go out of my way to recruit that one just yet. Next time... I suppose we should probably actually work toward that graduation exam Chatot's been nagging us about every day, huh? See you soon!

[Aura]

Postgame Part 4: Graduation

It's finally time to stop putting off our graduation exam! I'm not gonna lie, a part of me has been intentionally putting this part off because I wasn't quite confident in my ability to handle the boss, so I wanted to get as much Exp in on Skye and Icarus as I possibly could. But in order to get access to the majority of the postgame content, you'll need to first graduate from the guild. So now, it's time to get it over with. I'm probably not gonna be able to get much more prepared than I am now and the only thing left to do is quite risky by comparison.

So, after making our preparations, it's time to get moving to Mystifying Forest. Our task is to recover the treasure at Luminous Spring, but we'll have to be wary of the Grand Master of all things bad!

 

At Icarus's request, we'll need to leave our teammates and go alone with him. Strangely, it seems like an honor thing for him and isn't officially a part of the exam's rules. But, still, what bigger flex is there than to graduate without even using our full power?

==================

 

We go back over our mission from the guild and proceed into the forest to retrieve that treasure!

==============

Mystifying Forest

This is our first post-game dungeon and the last dungeon we've already covered in Explorers of Time and Darkness. Going forward, our dungeons will need to be described in full detail again which may slow down my coverage of them, especially with how long and complicated these postgame dungeons tend to be. Anyway, this is the dungeon where sticky traps start to show their ugly mugs, so be wary of those.

Anyway, this is the largest dungeon yet, with more pokemon than ever before. Many starters show their faces here. Up until now, we've never been able to encounter a starter in the wild before. Unfortunately, we can't recruit any here until we pass the graduation exam, at which point encountering starters won't be such a special quality anymore.

The pokemon and traps available here are the same as Explorers of Time and Darkness. The items do have notable differences, however. The  Mobile Scarf is only available in Time and the  Weather Band is only available in Darkness. The TMs for  Avalanche,  Skill Swap, and  Stone Edge are all exclusive to Time as well. There don't appear to be any Darkness-exclusive TMs or Wonder Orbs, so its odd the exclusivity is so highly stacked. Maybe these particular attacks are simply considered too powerful to be found here?

Regardless, there are of course several new items here in Sky:  Gaggle Specs,  No-Slip Caps,  Gone Pebbles,  Gravelyrocks,  Wander Gummis,  Dough,  Dropeye,  Reviser,  Slip, and  Via Seeds, and  Mix Elixirs.

The TM for  Dragon Claw is no longer exclusive to Sky. At least, not here.

As you can see, there are a few new lookalike items.

 Gone Pebbles are a lookalike for the Geo Pebble. It's an interesting one because it apparently plays out a short scene where the user gets emotional over memories before gaining an endurance status. Wow, adding in the name, that sounds kinda sad. But I'm curious what exactly Bulbapedia means by "a quick scene." I'll try to use one if I find it!

 Wander Gummis are a little bit more devilish. They're lookalikes for Wonder Gummis which are Gummis that are extremely rare and significantly effective on all types of Pokemon.

The last change in the Sky version of this dungeon are secret stairs! I didn't actually know this until this dungeon, but secret stairs don't only lead you to the Secret Bazaar. They can also lead you to secret floors like this one, where you can find five bonus chests filled with items you could alternatively get from Swalot's Grab Bag. But these are completely free! Well, okay, technically you have to pay 150P to open each box and waste the inventory space only to find out after the fact whether or not it's an item you actually want. But Swalot only gives you a single item! So you get what you get!

While exploring the dungeon, I finally got my hands on a Shadow Ball TM. It feels like too little too late, but it might still get some use! So I had Skye forget Baton Pass to make room for it. Baton Pass was a fun move, but it does have a level of unpredictability that can potentially make things worse, and I'd rather minimize those chances.

===============

 

After 13 floors, we finally reach a clearing in the Mystifying Forest where we run into Teddiursa and Ursaring! Naturally, we haven't encountered the grand master of all things bad, which Ursaring assured us was just a bad rumor.

 

After mentioning that we're headed for Luminous Spring, Teddiursa points us in the right direction.

The two bears head off toward Luminous Spring, leaving us to follow behind them.

 

But as we do, we end up dropping into a pitfall right between them!

 

As we start to get our bearings, the pitfall we fell into begins to get covered up!

 

Music: The Power of Darkness

Soon, a voice begins to laugh at us from the darkness, introducing itself as the grand master of all things bad.

 

 

The Grand Master and a few minions begin to speak, some of them with somewhat familiar mannerisms... hm...

 

Music: Guildmaster Wigglytuff

Suddenly, the light returns and we find ourself face to face with... Wigglytuff and his guild??

 

As it turns out, Bidoof was completely misunderstanding what was going on and decided to unblock the pitfall, worried it was too dark for everyone to see inside the pit, ironically completely ruining the whole surprise!

 

  

Despite the jig being up, Wigglytuff remains in character, continuing to insist that he's the Grand Master.

 

 

============

 

Team Flight

----------------

Skye (Eevee F); Lv. 41

Item:  Insomniscope | Exclusive:  Evolve Charm,  Eevee Card

Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability | Moves: Helping Hand + Sand-Attack, Facade, Shadow Ball

----------------

Icarus (Riolu M); Lv. 40

Item:  Lime Bow | Exclusive:  Valiant Rock,  Riolu Tail

Abilities: Inner Focus, Steadfast | Moves: Bite, Drain Punch, Focus Blast, Protect

===============

Vs. The Grand Master of all things bad & his Minions

This is the infamous boss fight! We're surrounded so the standard strategies don't work quite so well.

 

I opened with a Shadow Ball toward Chimecho to the south, but it didn't end very well and I quickly got surrounded by enemeis. That's not good. I tried to reduce the accuracy of the enemies around me, but, again, it didn't end very well.

Eventually, I worked my way out of the circle and had Icarus act as a decoy using Protect and dishing out damage from the center while Skye went around and picked off what she could from the outside. The most difficult part of this boss fight is, of course, Wigglytuff and Chatot's Bodyguard skills activating around the enemies they're adjacent to. So the main strategy is to try and pick off all the extra characters that aren't near them and then focus your efforts on finishing Wigglytuff and Chatot before cleaning up the rest. If Wigglytuff and Chatot are together, they'll take hits for each other when one is about to go down, so you'll need to be especially wary of that. If you have Warp Seeds, a good use of them is to try and separate Wigglytuff and/or Chatot from the pokemon they're defending to get some more quick KOs.

 

Eventually, our efforts were enough to take out Wigglytuff and Sunflora, leaving only Diglett and Croagunk.

But alone, these guys aren't much of a threat and they went down pretty easily after that.

==============

 

 

After defeating them, the "grand master" retreats with the rest of his "minions"

 

Unsure of what exactly just happened, Icarus decides to leave it behind us and continue moving toward the treasure at the spring.

 

Up ahead, we run into Teddiursa and Ursaring who draw our attention to the strange treasure box here.

 

Teddiursa wants to open it, but Ursaring is worried it might be booby trapped.

 

Skye gets the idea to use the Dimensional Scream to check and see if the treasure box is a trap.

 

In our vision, we see Wigglytuff leaving the treasure box right here. This must be the treasure we're after! That means it must be safe to open!

 

And of course, what could the treasure be but one of Wigglytuff's prized Perfect Apples?

Soon, we see a light shining through the trees into the spring!

 

 

As it turns out, the resumption of time is what has allowed light to shine on Luminous Spring again! It seems pokemon can now evolve!

To try out the spring, Teddirusa steps into the light and undergoes the process to evolve into an Ursaring just like his friend!

 

It's kinda hard to tell them apart, now, especially with both of them called Ursaring. Let's just hope that doesn't become a problem for us.

 

Unfortunately, the voice here announces that we cannot evolve due to distortions in the fabric of space.

 

Icarus is incredibly disappointed that we can't evolve. And frankly, likewise. But for now, we're just gonna have to deal with this limitation until we can figure out how exactly we're related to the distortion of space.

 

Regardless, we return with the treasure, our graduation exam is completed! We're congratulated by the guild and are now officially graduated! We are free from the strict training regimen and are now free to leave the guild and operate on our own as an official exploration team!

 

 

 

Everyone cheers us on knowing we're about to disappear and it's enough to get Icarus all emotional again! After nearly losing Skye, it must mean a lot to be able to graduate together with her, right? Not to mention not only his dream of his relic fragment leading him to a grand adventure, but his dream of becoming a full-fledged explorer is also coming true!

 

As a reward for graduation, we get one more inventory upgrade (which is very much welcome considering I was just running out of space carrying all these exclusive items), and 10,000P of start-up funds for our new exploration team!

Lastly, we've unlocked the Special Episode we'll be playing through tomorrow, Special Episode 5: "In the Future of Darkness"!

 

Now that we're out of the guild, we've decided to make Sharpedo Bluff our official Exploration Team base. Going forward, our beds will be located here, so this is where we can return to save. Of course, the watering hole still works just fine as well.

 

If we return to Marowak Dojo, we'll find a cave has mysteriously opened up. Marowak warns us that it's an incredibly dangerous cave his grandfather sealed off and urges us not to go inside... we'll heed his warning for now.

 

As we step out into the crossroads, we run into Chimecho who tells us our Assembly priviledges have changed now that we've graduated! We can now freely change the leader of our team, just like in Rescue Team! We can now play as any of our recruits if we so choose!

Anyway, that's about it for today. We're going to take some time to clean up our inventory and, next time, we're going to put our postgame on hiatus just a little longer as we begin our playthrough of our fifth Special Episode! See you soon!

[Aura]

Alright, last time we graduated from Wigglytuff's Guild and unlocked what I believe to be the final Special Episode: In the Future of Darkness! This story I presume will follow Grovyle's adventures in the paralyzed future before its disappearance. Perhaps he finds a way to survive?

 

 

 

Music: Through the Sea of Time

Starting out, we're given a summary of Grovyle's final moments in the Hidden Land, and his ultimate sacrifice to get Dusknoir out of the picture once and for all.

 

 

And that was the last we saw of Grovyle, when he dragged Dusknoir into the DImensional Hole to trap him away in the future. And that's where this story begins.

Music: In the Hands of Fate

 

Special Episode 5: In the Future of Darkness

 

Music: In the Future

Grovyle soon awakens in the paralyzed future. "Home sweet home" doesn't quite ring true here, but at least he can make peace with his trust that this miserable future will soon disappear in favor of a better one.

 

 

As Grovyle takes in the realization that the planet is still paralyzed, he begins to question... did Skye and Icarus actually fail to return the time gears? He should've disappeared by now, shouldn't he? And why is time still stopped here?

 

 

Grovyle quickly shrugs off those pessimistic thoughts and replaces them with his faith in the companions. He knows they'll succeed.

 

Grovyle tries to get moving, but his injuries from his fight with Dusknoir still remain. As he realizes this, he a Sableye appears before him! The Sableye seems afraid of him, though.

 

Music: For a New Life

Realizing he's already been discovered, Grovyle prepares himself to get moving. That's when Dusknoir begins to awaken.

 

Dusknoir shouts in fury at Grovyle, but it seems his injuries are great as well. Grovyle warns him not to push himself. Even though they're enemies, it seems Grovyle still hates to see Dusknoir hurt himself.

 

 

Dusknoir almost seems to be losing it at this point, laughing to himself over his repeated failures and inability to stop Grovyle and Skye from accomplishing their mission despite being granted several second chances.

 

Finally, it seems Dusknoir's surrendering his desperation. Now he just wants to know why this means so much to Grovyle. All Dusknoir wants is to continue living, he doesn't want to disappear. And yet it feels that Grovyle is fighting so hard to ensure that he does. But for the first time, likely ever, perhaps this is a conversation that needs to be had between these two.

 

Grovyle points his attention toward the unthinkable beauty of the world of the past in contrast to this desolate future.

 

Grovyle suggests he doesn't want to disappear either, but that it's worth the sacrifice if it means creating a world where time continues to flow and this world is avoided entirely.

 

Now this part is new to me. Apparently this isn't a decision Grovyle and Skye made for themselves, for the sake of a world that had gone mad from their perspectives. Rather, there's an entire "planetary investigation team" which unanimously agreed to change the world in this way. Only those whose hearts had already become twisted with darkness wanted to remain.

 

With that, Grovyle suggests Dusknoir finally give up his pursuit, it's futile at this point anyway if the future is going to disappear.

 

Dusknoir asks Grovyle where he plans to go. Grovyle reveals that the Sableye found him while Dusknoir was unconscious and warn shim that they'll probably already have reported his failure to Dialga, which means Dialga will likely change his plans.

 

With Dialga seeing Dusknoir as a failure, Grovyle suspects Dialga will replace him with a new agent to stop Skye and Icarus. To prevent that possibility, Grovyle decides he must make his way to Temporal Tower to defeat Primal Dialga.

 

The idea of taking on Dialga is ludicrous to Dusknoir. He suggests Grovyle would have to be in perfect shape to even consider that. But with Grovyle's injuries, there's no way he could succeed!

 

Grovyle suggests he already knows he can't defeat Dialga, but that's simply not the point. His only goal is to buy as much time as possible for Skye and Icarus to succeed in their mission. Otherwise, everything up to now will be wasted.

 

Dusknoir is desperate to stop Grovyle, but he still can't move... it looks like Grovyle gets a head start!

 

As expected, we'll be playing as Grovyle for this adventure. But we don't exactly get any time to make preparations. This time, we start right out in a dungeon!

===============

Barren Valley

This dungeon takes it fairly easy on you since you don't get any time to make preparations. You'll find plenty of Apples and Oran Berries as you make your way up, and while I've complained about Grovyle being really stupid as an ally, it's certainly not his moveset that's lacking. Between Dig, Absorb, Leaf Blade, and Quick Attack, he's got a pretty solid lineup of attacks to tear through the various threats he'll face throughout this dungeon. And, while being alone can make you feel scarily vulnerable, it also helps you feel a lot more mobile and flexible without allies getting stuck on every little enemy you pass.

Items that can be found here include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps to watch out for include:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps.

At least for these lower floors, there's no risk of Monster Houses, so be as greedy as you want when searching for items, just be wary of the risk of Grimy Traps that could ruin your food items.

-----------------

Barren Valley [B1F - B5F]

Pokemon:  Jumpluff,  Flygon,  Lunatone,  Shuppet,  Honchkrow,  Glameow,  Toxicroak

Many enemies here have a vulnerability to one of Grovyle's attacks, so they're almost all pretty easy to deal with. Make sure to use Quick Attack to hit Jumpluff or Honchkrow since they resist all of his other attacks. Among them, Honchkrow is probably the most dangerous. Everyone else can go down easily enough to Dig or Leaf Blade. Shuppet tend to go down really easily, so I recommend hitting them with an Absorb and, if they're still standing, a standard attack to finish them off. Normally ghosts are scary to see, but when you're alone they're actually quite easy to deal with. Turning around in a hallway is a lot easier, so you can just step back and have them come to you.

==============

 

After five floors, we reach a waypoint.

==============

Deep Barren Valley

The items and traps here are the same as the lower floors, but now there's a risk of Monster Houses, so tread carefully! If you see suspicious items, think twice before diving in.

---------------

Deep Barren Valley [B1F - B5F]

Pokemon:  Jumpluff,  Shiftry,  Flygon,  Lunatone,  Shuppet,  Honchkrow,  Glameow,  Toxicroak

The pokemon are almost all identical down here, except you may run into Shiftry. Handle him the same as Jumpluff. Other than that, pokemon are slightly tougher down here so they may survive your attacks more consistently, but the strategies are all the same.

============

 

After five more floors, Grovyle starts to draw near the edge of the valley. But there's no time to rest, he has to make it to Temporal Tower!

Music: Planet's Paralysis

Just as he's about to reach the clearing, he's stopped by Dusknoir shouting after him from behind.

 

Naturally, Dusknoir isn't about to allow us to get away so easily. So, Dusknoir prepares to fight us despite his injuries.

 

That's when the Sableye ambush him from the north! Suddenly things aren't looking so good fair for Grovyle...

 

Dusknoir mocks Grovyle, as this seems to be the end of his journey.

 

Dusknoir thanks the Sableye for their ambush and requests that they finish Grovyle off.

 

Suddenly, the Sableye begin to attack Grovyle, and... Dusknoir!?

 

And... it seems to not be an accident, as the Sableye begin to surround both Grovyle and Dusknoir. Is it possible that Dusknoir's attempts to right his wrongs are now being considered an attempt to alter the timeline as well? Perhaps he's seen as equally guilty in the eyes of Dialga for failing to stop the change in history?

 

Dusknoir demands an answer as to why the Sableye are attacking him, but Grovyle warns him to fight back because they're obviously attacking the both of them!

 

 

 

============

 

Grovyle's Squad

--------------

Grovyle M, Lv. 46

Item: None

Ability: Overgrow | Moves: Absorb, Quick Attack, Leaf Blade, Dig

----------------

Dusknoir M, Lv. 45

Item: None

Ability: Pressure | Moves: Ice Punch, Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Sneak, Shadow Punch

============

Vs. Sableye Squad

You're completely surrounded, but thankfully not alone! You and Dusknoir have to work together to take on four Sableye. Dusknoir is only a guest, though, so you don't have any control over his actions. Always an annoying drawback. Just focus on taking out these enemies ASAP.

I started out using Dig to attack the enemy to my left as he approached. A smarter idea in hindsight might've been to just step forward instead so that Dusknoir and Grovyle only had to deal with two each. My logic with staying where I was was mainly that I'd be able to quickly kill any specific enemy that Dusknoir needed dealt with.

 

As the fight goes on, you'll quickly realize the fear here isn't the Sableye, but the amount of damage their supper-effective STAB attacks can deal to Dusknoir. Left unchecked, they can tear right through his HP, so it's important to take them out quickly!

Eventually, we were able to take the Sableye out one by one. It was a little bit of an embarrassing display on Dusknoir, but I suppose you can't blame him for being a little bit surprised by all of this.

============

 

Upon their defeat, the squad of Sableye run away!

 

Music: Hidden Highland

The victory isn't all warm and fuzzy for Dusknoir, though. He's stuck lamenting and wondering why the Sableye would be attacking him.

 

He reveals that the Sableye follow any orders given to them by Dialga or himself. So the idea that they would turn on him is completely inconceivable!

 

 

Grovyle suggests that perhaps Dialga issued the command to attack Dusknoir. Logically, it's the only possible conclusion when you consider that they only accept commands from two people and Dusknoir would certainly not issue the command himself. And certainly the Sableye wouldn't suddenly decide to rebel against their masters now.

 

Grovyle suggests it might be Dusknoir's failure to stop Skye that spurred such a command, which Dusknoir seems to grow silent over.

 

With that, Grovyle shrugs it off, recognizing this doesn't involve him at all. In fact, it might even be beneficial for the Sableye to be divided between the two of them.

 

Before Groyvle leaves, Dusknoir calls out to him for a temporary truce.

 

Naturally, Grovyle is incredibly suspicious of this request. It's only natural to assume that Dusknoir has every intention of betraying him the moment it becomes convenient.

 

Dusknoir assures Grovyle that he has no intention of attacking him during their adventure together. He suggests that it would be unreasonable for him to do so given his weakened condition and Grovyle's wariness. Frankly, Grovyle's also seen far more numerous difficult battles than Dusknoir has.

Music: Time Gear Remix

 

Furthermore, Dusknoir adds that it will be far better to travel together than alone. They'll be able to navigate dungeons more efficiently together.

 

 

Reluctantly, Grovyle agrees, unable to deny the advantages of working together in this incredibly hostile environment, but he warns Dusknoir not to try anything funny or he'll wipe him out mercilessly.

 

 

As they continue onward together, the unlikely duo arrive at a vast wasteland they'll need to cross to get to Temporal Tower. Dusknoir urges Grovyle to take the time to prepare and avoid rushing straight into dungeons. Naturally, Grovyle doesn't take kindly to his patronizing. To be fair, I would think Grovyle knows what he's doing after stealing so many Time Gears on his own. Some of those dungeons aren't easy, you know!

Anyway, we'll take the time to save at the Kangaskhan Rock here and, next time, we'll continue across the wasteland! See you soon!

[Aura]

Special Episode 5: In the Future of Darkness (Part 2)

Tonight we're going to do a bit of a double feature, mainly because I'm going to be a bit busy with travel and likely won't have the time to make a post in the morning before heading out. But it turns out today's session was fairly short-lived, so I don't feel it's out of place to go ahead and write this post up now.

We continue off with Grovyle's story! Last time, Grovyle woke up in the future after having dragged Dusknoir into the Dimensional Hole. After being spotted by Sableye, he retreats from where he awoke. He suspects Dialga will continue trying to stop Skye and Icarus from changing history, so he decides to make his way to Temporal Tower and fight Dialga to buy more time for Skye and Icarus to complete their task. Naturally, Dusknoir is opposed to this idea and gives chase to Grovyle in an attempt to stop his plan. However, when Dusknoir did catch up, he was caught off guard when the Sableye suddenly betrayed him! Dusknoir and Grovyle fought the two Sableye together and the unlikely duo agreed to form a temporary truce and travel together to provide assistance to each other. Grovyle was reluctant, expecting Dusknoir to betray him, but he was unable to deny that the assistance was certainly welcome.

And now, we're at the edge of a vast wasteland we'll need to cross to reach Temporal Tower. So, it's time to make preparations for our next dungeon!

 

These are the items I'm bringing into the dungeon. It isn't much, but it's something. I happened to have an Exclusive Item for Grovyle, too, a Scept Claw that boosts his physical Attack!

With our preparations made, it's time to dive into the dungeon!

=============

Dark Wasteland

Weirdly enough, this dungeon turns out to be the shortest dungeon in the entire game! It's not clear if that's intentional or not, as there is data in the game for several additional floors to make this a 16-floor dungeon, but most of those floors are inaccessible in normal gameplay, so in the end, it's only a 4-floor dungeon. This is crazy short when you consider that even Beach Cave had 5 floors. I have to wonder if this was intentionally done because the longer version of the dungeon was considered too difficult, or perhaps they didn't want the player gaining too much Exp too early? It's also possible the floors being inaccessible is entirely accidental. It's really hard to say, but this is the way the dungeon is in the final game, so this is the way we'll be covering it.

Anyway, throughout this dungeon you'll be teaming up with Dusknoir. And he's now officially your teammate, meaning you can issue commands to him and he'll obey! This is fantastic because he's a Ghost-type and, unlike Dusclops, Dusknoir actually is capable of traveling through walls! You can intuit this by noticing him cut corners as he follows you through hallways. You can take advantage of this by setting him to go after foes whenever there's a ghost approaching from the wall. After the suffocating experiences in Dark Hill with Skye and Icarus both woefully underprepared to handle Ghost-types, it feels so nice to have someone perfectly well-equipped to handle them.

Items available throughout this dungeon include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps to watch out for include:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps.

There is no risk of Monster Houses in this dungeon, so be as greedy as you want with the items, just be wary of traps!

===========

Dark Wasteland [1F - 4F]

Pokemon:  Gastly,  Onix,  Misdreavus,  Shiftry,  Shedinja,  Solrock,  Skorupi

You couldn't be better prepared to deal with all of the pokemon here. Between Grovyle and Dusknoir, you have an easy out to every single adversary.

On the fourth floor, I picked up a Special Band dropped by a Solrock and equipped it to Grovyle. It's better than nothing!

===========

 

Music: In the Future

As soon as the dungeon begins, it's over, and we're treated to a shot of a lone Sableye searching the Wasteland for Grovyle.

 

The Sableye doesn't spot Grovyle, so he decides to report the fact to Dialga, presumably to set up another ambush.

But, just when he thinks he's safe, Grovyle pops out of the ground using Dig!

 

As Sableye goes to retreat, he's cut off by Dusknoir!

 

Oh, it feels good to be on this side of the bullying, doesn't it? With Sableye trapped between them, Grovyle and Dusknoir force him off to the side where they can get interrogate him for information.

 

After finding a convenient hiding place, Grovyle begins questioning the Sableye about why they're attacking Dusknoir now.

 

Sableye seems reluctant to talk on the matter, even when Dusknoir questions his loyalty.

 

Dusknoir applies his own heavy-handed pressure to get answers out of Sableye, and it's clear Grovyle has no intention of stopping him. It doesn't appear there's any justice in this lawless world. But it's successful and gets Sableye to start talking!

 

Sableye admits it's not something they want to do, but they don't have any choice: They've been given the order to eliminate Dusknoir as well as Grovyle.

 

Music: Time Gear Remix

It's here where Sableye reveals the order came from Dusknoir's replacement... it seems Grovyle's suggestion was spot-on, far more accurate than Dusknoir was ever willing to even entertain. He tells us a little more about this replacement, but he's incredibly vague about the identity. All he tells us is that this replacement is very resourceful and will be the final agent to be sent to the past.

Furious, Dusknoir unleashes his anger by attacking the Sableye.

 

So Dusknoir's replacement turns out to want Dusknoir eliminated for some unknown reason...

 

The only explanation they were offered was that Dusknoir was no longer needed since he had failed in his mission. They all pushed back on the order, but they were all overruled. Apparently, the henchman insists it wasn't his decision but that of Dialga. Nevertheless, it was the henchman's command that forced them to carry out the order.

 

Dusknoir has finally heard enough and knocks the Sableye to the ground, mocking his story and dismissing it as a farce. There is no way Dialga would wish to eliminate him when he has been intensely loyal in this whole pursuit to the bitter end.

 

Dusknoir turns his attention back to Sableye and demands to know the identity of his supposed replacement.

The Sableye pleads forgiveness, but he cannot reveal the identity of this new henchman.

 

Dusknoir continues to press Sableye for more info, but Sableye absolutely refuses to share that information. It seems that the Sableye have been ordered to keep quiet about the identity of this new henchman. And they'll face some sort of extreme punishment for going against those orders. It seems whoever this new agent is, the Sableye are even more afraid of them than Dusknoir himself!

 

Music: Hidden Highland

Filled with fury once again, Dusknoir lashes out for another attack, this one even stronger, but the Sableye jumps out of the way in time to avoid his wrath and then runs away in fear.

 

It's clear that there's a lot on Dusknoir's mind as he mulls over this information. He doesn't want to believe it, but it's clear that everything seems to be adding up...

 

 

Once again, Dusknoir really seems to be completely losing it, breaking down into laughter to cover up the immense feelings of anger and sorrow at his bitterly ironic betrayal.

 

While Dusknoir is having his meltdown, Grovyle begins to wonder about this new henchman. He worries about how dangerous this resourceful final agent is going to be... somebody Dialga has even more faith in than Dusknoir?

 

There is such immense irony in this situation, that Dusknoir is now finding himself in the exact same position he'd put Icarus and Skye in only days ago.

============

 

 

Grovyle and Dusknoir soon arrive at the base of Temporal Tower. Grovyle supposes that, at this point in the past, Team Flight are likely climbing Temporal Tower as well. He once again asserts his faith in their ability to succeed before resolving to do everything he can to help from his end. He also has to be prepared in case Dusknoir turns on him once they reach Primal Dialga, in which case he'll have to fight Dialga, Dusknoir, and this mysterious new henchman. But with any luck, no lies are being spread by Sableye and Dialga really has simply made an enemy out of Dusknoir. The only way to find out is to climb Temporal Tower, which we'll do next time! See you soon!

[Aura]

Special Episode 5: In the Future of Darkness (Part 3)

We continue following the story of Grovyle and Dusknoir! Last time , after agreeing to an unlikely truce, the two crossed the Dark Wasteland in order to reach Temporal Tower. Along the way, they ambushed a Sableye to learn why the Sableye were turning on Dusknoir. It turns out, Dusknoir has been replaced by a new agent whom Dialga has ordered to command the Sableye to eliminate both Grovyle and Dusknoir since Dusknoir is no longer necessary after his failure in the past. Dusknoir seeks to know the full truth, and Grovyle seeks to stop this new agent from interfering with Skye and Icarus as they attempt to prevent the collapse of the tower. Where we left off, Grovile and Dusknoir had just arrived at Temporal Tower where we needed to make preparations.

 

These are the items I'm going into the dungeon with. It's pretty much my standard setup. Although I'm realizing I forgot to bring Escape Orbs! That's not good. But really, you can always just load your save anyway if you find yourself in a bad spot, so it's really not a big deal.

================

Temporal Tower

Yes, we've already climbed Temporal Tower before, but this is the collapsed version in the paralyzed future! It actually is notably different as a result. Like other dungeons in the future, it's mainly populated by ghost-types and pokemon that aren't quite "alive". While the collapsed tower is a slightly shorter dungeon, don't expect it to be totally free like Dark Wasteland. This is where you'll really need to start utilizing the synergy between Dusknoir and Grovyle well. You'll definitely want Dusknoir's help dealing with some of the foes that are tougher for him to fight.

Items available here include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha, and  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps to watch out for include:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps.

Monster Houses are present throughout, so be wary of suspicious items.

==============

Temporal Tower [1F - 6F]

Pokemon:  Zubat,  Kadabra,  Magnemite,  Gastly,  Drowzee,  Ditto,  Claydol,  Mismagius,  Bronzong

Even though the dungeon is shorter, the pokemon arrangement is arguably a lot tougher! Not only do you have Ghost-types to worry about, but Magnemite and Mismagius can attack from a range. You might think you're safe from Porygon's Discharge, but Magnemite also knows Discharge, and it has STAB with it!

----------------

Temporal Tower [7F - 10F]

 Kadabra,  Magnemite,  Gastly,  Drowzee,  Ditto,  Claydol,  Mismagius,  Bronzong,  Golbat

On the 7th floor, Zubat is replaced with its evolution, Golbat.

==============

 

After climbing ten floors, we arrive at a Waypoint. We must be nearing Temporal PInnacle.

 

It's here where Dusknoir asks Grovyle how he plans to handle his encounter with Dialga. Grovyle insists he doesn't know whether he plans to fight right away or not, but he'll definitely start fighting the moment he senses anything is up.

 

Dusknoir requests that Grovyle offer him the opportunity to seek an audience with Dialga, wanting to hear Dialga's explanation on the whole ordeal. But Grovyle shuts this request down immediately. He only trusts Dusknoir as far as he can throw him, after all. If Dusknoir ends up siding with Dialga, he'll end up in a three on one fight.

 

 

The two make the agreement that, since Grovyle refuses to offer him the chance to seek an audience with Dialga, Dusknoir will not provide assistance in Grovyle's fight against Primal Dialga, but he will speak with Dialga if Grovyle gets defeated. Or, in his choice of words, when Grovyle gets defeated. It's pretty clear where his confidence lies.

Once we're ready, we continue up toward the next part of the dungeon.

=============

Temporal Spire

The second part of Temporal Tower is much the same as the first, but with many pokemon replaced by their evolved forms. Items and Traps are all the same as lower floors.

-----------------

Temporal Spire [1F - 3F]

Pokemon:  Golbat,  Alakazam,  Magneton,  Gastly,  Hypno,  Ditto,  Claydol,  Mismagius,  Bronzong

There isn't much to say about all these enemies, the evolutions are handled the same as their predecessors, they're just a bit tougher.

On the first floor, I found a Pecha Scarf. It's certainly better than nothing, so I let Dusknoir hold onto it for a little while.

Also, while not totally abnormal, I did want to note that on the second floor I spawned right next to a Ditto. It's a fairly rare sight to see an untransformed Ditto outside of a Monster House or Pokemon Trap since they tend to transform the turn after they spawn, which is usually offscreen.

------------------

Temporal Spire [4F]

Pokemon:  Golbat,  Alakazam,  Magneton,  Gastly,  Hypno,  Ditto,  Claydol,  Mismagius,  Bronzong,  Porygon2

On the 4th floor, Porygon2 returns! Watch out for its Discharge and Agility combo.

------------------

Temporal Spire [5F]

Pokemon:  Alakazam,  Magneton,  Gastly,  Hypno,  Ditto,  Claydol,  Mismagius,  Bronzong,  Porygon2

And on the 5th floor, Golbat disappears.

-----------------

Temporal Spire [6F - 10F]

Pokemon:  Alakazam,  Magneton,  Gastly,  Hypno,  Ditto,  Claydol,  Mismagius,  Bronzong,  Porygon2,  Crobat

Finally, starting on the sixth floor, Golbat's evolution, Crobat, begins to show its face.

On the 10th floor, Grovyle leveled up to Lv. 47 and learned the move Detect! I decided to get rid of Leaf Blade since it's a bit redundant. Absorb is a bit weaker, but I do see the healing effect coming in handy. Maybe this'll be a decision I regret down the line, but right now, I see Absorb being the more useful of the two.

==============

 

As we continue to climb, Dusknoir reveals to Grovyle that they're nearing the pinnacle of the tower.

As the two arrive at the pinnacle, they find it awfully... quiet... The duo cautiously approach the pit at the far end where Dusknoir usually meets with Dialga.

 

The two are surprised to find that, indeed, it seems Dialga... isn't here?

 

 

The two both seem equally puzzled by this surprise. Dialga planned to send this new agent to the past, but to do so should require an enormous amount of power, which would require Dialga to be still. So surely he should be here at Temporal Tower...

That's when the realization hits Dusknoir of another way Dialga could send an agent through time that wouldn't require him to generate all that power.

 

Music: Time Gear Remix

Dusknoir suggests that Grovyle should be familiar with this other method. It takes a moment for him to catch on, but he's horrified when he makes the realization.

 

As Dialga is pressed for time, it only makes sense that he'll use the Passage of Time to send the agent back in a last-ditch effort to stop Icarus and Skye. But to do so, he'll need Celebi's assistance. That means Dialga is likely tracking Celebi down as they speak. And while Celebi isn't going to be easy to capture thanks to her ability to travel through time, this is Dialga who controls time. If he's out searching for Celebi personally... Well, we saw how that could work out. We need to get to Dusk Forest immediately!

 

The two quickly make their way to Dusk Forest. Dusknoir tries to warn Grovyle that they may already be too late, but Grovyle silences him. He's desperate, after all, to protect his only true companion in this world.

 

With Grovyle worrying over Celebi's safety, that's where we're going to leave things off for tonight. Next time, we'll delve into Dusk Forest to search for Celebi or stop Dialga and this agent from their search for her... and against all odds, let's just hope that we aren't already too late. See you soon!

[Aura]

Special Epsiode 5: In the Future of Darkness (Part 4)

We continue with the story of Grovyle! After reaching the pinnacle of Temporal Tower and finding it completely empty, Dusknoir and Grovyle conclude that Dialga and his new Agent must have gone to Dusk Forest to seek out Celebi to allow the agent to travel to the past faster using the Passage of Time. So, the duo made their way to Dusk Forest where they made preparations to seek out Celebi.

 

Here are the items I'm bringing along! 

================

Dusk Forest

Despite sharing a name and location with the same dungeon from story mode, and even being set in the same world, this is certainly a very different version of the dungeon Grovyle explored with Skye and Icarus. Maybe the presence of Dialga is drawing out more powerful pokemon?

Items available throughout the dungeon include:  Poke,  Insomniscopes,  Def., and  Pecha Scarves,  Persim,  Power,  Special,  Stamina, and  Zinc Bands,  Gravelerocks,  Iron Thorns,  Apples,  Cheri,  Chesto,  Oran,  Pecha,  Rawst Berries,  Blinker,  Eyedrop,  Reviver, and  Totter Seeds,  Max Elixirs, and assorted  Wonder Orbs.

Traps to watch out for include:  Chestnut,  SelfDestruct,  Explosion,  Grimy,  Gust,  Mud,  PP-Zero,  Poison,  Pokemon,  Seal,  Slow,  Slumber,  Spin,  Trip, and  Warp Traps

=============

Dusk Forest [1F - 5F]

Pokemon:  Haunter,  Lickitung,  Ditto,  Claydol,  Salamence,  Mismagius,  Hippowdon,  Rhyperior

We've got some ghosts which you'll want to rely on Dusknoir to deal with, and we have many Ground-types who are weak to Grovyle's Grass attacks. The biggest threat would probably have to be Salamence, of course. Make sure to use Quick Attack when Grass is resisted!

---------------

Dusk Forest [6F - 7F]

Pokemon:  Haunter,  Lickitung,  Ditto,  Claydol,  Salamence,  Mismagius,  Hippowdon,  Rhyperior,  Drifloon

Drifloon joins the party on the 6th floor, be wary of its Aftermath ability! Try to take it out from a range or with moves that don't make cotact!

============

 

Music: In the Future

After clearing the seven floors of Dusk Forest, we arrive at the Black Swamp where Dusknoir notices it's quiet. There doesn't seem to be a sign of Celebi, Dialga, or Dialga's new agent, either. Dusknoir suggests Celebi could've already been captured and they're too late, or that she fled after sensing danger, or even that she managed to slip out of sight and is still hiding somewhere nearby. Where Grovyle tries to remain level-headed in his emotions and faith in his dear friend, Dusknoir seems to stick solely to facts and logic to narrow down the possibilities.

But while Dusknoir and Grovyle discuss the possibilities, a familiar laugh is heard.

 

Music: Oh No!

Once again, we find ourselves surrounded by Sableye!

 

 

Together, Grovyle and Dusknoir once again prepare for battle!

============

 

Grovyle's Squad

--------------

Grovyle M; Lv. 47

Item:  Special Band | Exclusive:  Scept Claw

Ability: Overgrow | Moves: Absorb, Quick Attack, Dig, Detect

-------------

Dusknoir M; Lv. 46

Item:  Pecha Scarf

Ability: Pressure | Moves: Ice Punch, Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Sneak, Shadow Punch

============

Vs. Sableye Squad #2

It's our second brush with the Sableye! I previously suggested it might've been more optimal to step forward right away, but now I realize that doing so will just allow these Sableye to surround Dusknoir. Grovyle's the one who will be able to more consistently OHKO these guys.

 

So, I opened up with the same strat as before, using Dig to attack the Sableye as they approach while picking the Sableye off one-by-one while enduring all of their attacks. They're actually pretty weak, so it's actually fairly simple.

 

One by one, each of these little guys took powerful blows and fell like flies.

============

 

Music: In the Future

Upon their defeat, the Sableye are knocked back and immediately try to scatter in a panic, but before the last one can get away, Dusknoir grabs him to stop him from getting away.

 

The duo don't waste time in interrogating him about the lcoation of Celebi and Dialga. This Sableye quickly blabs that Dialga pursued Celebi to a place called Frozen Island.

With their answer, Dusknoir throws Sableye to the ground, allowing him to scurry off.

 

As it turns out, Frozen Island is in a different land from where they are now. Just as Team Flight had to travel the sea of time to get to the Hidden Land, we'll need some special means of transportation across space to get to Frozen Island.

 

Apparently, Dusknoir already knows how to get to Frozen Island. It involves being sent across space by Porygon, but it'll involve a bit of travel as expected.

Before we disappear, Dusknoir takes a moment to look down at the hands he'd just used to grab and throw that Sableye...

 

Dusknoir says something odd about regaining the strength in his arms. And the power he used to grab that Sableye just now certainly seemed quite powerful. It's clear he's getting stronger than he ever had before... it's curious, to be sure.

This fact seems quite amusing to Dusknoir, and of course only makes Grovyle that much more nervous about tagging along with him.

=============

 

Following Dusknoir's instructions, the duo head toward Spacial Cliffs to make their way to the Porygon that will take them to the land where Frozen Island lies in wait. Next time, we'll do just that and see what awaits us at the other side of the dungeon! See you then!