The past few days have been dangerous for wild pokemon and random trainers alike. Sunyshore should be accessible by now, the only city in Sinnoh that I have not visited. My pokemon have grown stronger. Inanna, Khali, Enki, Nanabozho, Apsu, Ninhursag, Ryujin, Hanuman, Nyx, Phlogeus, Sekhmet, and Cai Shen are all level 40 now. I enter the gatehouse. One man there notes that the gym leader could be described as "shockingly electric." If he intends to use only electric types, I'll crush him. Another man notes that the gym leader is bored because there haven't been any worthwhile challengers in a while. This is new, but like I said, I'm ready.
As soon as I enter Sunyshore City, a trainer spots me and approaches. This one doesn't want to battle right now, though...
"Your pokemon are secure inside their poke balls, but there's no masking that aura of serious toughness!"
I'm flattered. And you are...
"Oops, sorry, I should introduce myself. The name's Flint! I'm one of the Pokemon League's Elite Four!"
Elite Four? This sounds like something I'm going to have to deal with later. Do I have to face them all at the same time?
"I just had this idea. Maybe you can pull it off. It's about this town's gym leader."
I'm not going to refrain from defeating him and taking his badge, if that's what you want.
"He's really lost his enthusiasm lately because there've been so few good challengers worth his time. He's been so bored he spends all his time renovating the gym. And then the blackout happened. That sure didn't help his mood. You know where I'm going with this, don't you?"
Actually, no.
"I need you to give him a battle that's so hot, it will reignite his passion for battling. I'm counting on you, hotshot!"
Well, that's really up to him now, isn't it? But Flint leaves. Well, if he wants this gym leader to have a challenge for once, that's what I was already planning on doing in the first place, with the minor caveat that I completely trounce him. That still counts as being a "hot" battle, right? For him, at least. But first, I want to check out this new city.
The roads here are strange. I find out from a local that this is because all of the roads are solar panels. It seems like that would be expensive and impractical. I barge into a house in my usual fashion. Everyone living here is obsessed with some underground thing. Enough of this. I barge into another house and the woman there wants me to tell her stories. I'm out of here. There's a market that doesn't seem to have anything interesting. I also find a local woman who informs me that in addition to being a major port, Sunyshore is the gateway to the Pokemon League. I don't really know what that means. I'm sure I'll find out.
I find a small beach where I meet a gym leader named Jasmine. She's from somewhere called "Johto" so I can't challenge her for a gym badge. She also tells me that if I don't have the gym badge, I'll be forced to turn back. Earlier in my adventure, I would have ignored her and continued past her, but I she's probably right and I want that badge anyway. Time to check out the gym.
Flint is standing outside the gym. He says that the gym leader hasn't come back yet. Ugh. The sign says that the guy's name is "Volkner." I'll try asking around. This same nonsense happened to me in Hearthome City. I search the city. This time, it doesn't take long. Volkner was in the lighthouse. I confront him...
"So, you're the latest challenger up against the Sunhshore Gym. All right, I've decided! If I find you to be weak, I'm going to challenge the Pokemon League. I'm done with renovating the gym, so I don't need to be here. More than anything, I want to have battles that can thrill me again. As the toughest gym leader in Sinnoh, I'm going to unleash everything in my arsenal on you."
He's allegedly "shocking" and "electric." The only sure pick for my team to beat Volkner is Ryujin. I keep Poseidon, even though he'll be useless, because I want to train him and I'm really not even worried about having a full team at this point. Maybe I'm underestimating Volkner, but I doubt it. I also take Inanna, Phlogeus, Ninhursag, and Cai Shen. Flint is still hanging around outside the gym. For the third time, Flint instructs me to give Volkner a battle so hot that it reignites his passion for battling. Flint is repetitive.
Like all gyms, this one has stupid puzzles that I must navigate to progress, along with puny trainers for me to crush along the way. My first opponent uses a Pachirisu that is higher in level than any of my team (I left Articuno in storage). Phlogeus puts up a fight, but Pachirisu does too much damage with super fang and gets my horse confused, so I switch to Ryujin. Pachirisu's discharge is harmless against Ryujin, but then my opponent uses sweet kiss and super fang again. It's proving to be a devastating combination. I may have to rethink this. I switch to Ninhursag. Pachirisu uses an attack called last resort and nearly finishes Ninhursag, but she manages to afflict the squirrel with leech seed. I switch to Inanna and let leech seed finish the job. No need to do anything stupid here: I return to the Poke Center and heal my team, then rush back to the gym.
The next trainer that ambushes me in the gym uses only a Luxio. Phlogeus gets hurt as I switch him in, but manages to hit back with a big fire blast. Luxio uses crunch. I switch to Ninhursag and finish the battle with petal dance. I heal Phlogeus and proceed through the stupid puzzles. The next trainer uses only Mr. Mime. I switch Phlogeus in again. Mr. Mime uses energy ball, which Phlogeus shrugs off. My opponent chooses energy ball a second time and Phlogeus wrecks Mr. Mime with fireblasts. Thunder wave and thunderbolt do more damage. I switch to Cai Shen and try to finish Mr. Mime using confuse ray, but Mr. Mime's flash causes Cai Shen to miss. Energy ball does even less to Cai Shen than it did to Phlogeus, so I get a second chance, ultimately defeating Mr. Mime with gyro ball after missing a few more times.
I heal my team again. The next trainer is dressed as Pikachu. Amazingly enough, she uses Pikachu. And Pikachu. And Pikachu. And Pikachu. All four of them go down in one hit from Ryujin's dig attack. My next opponent uses only one pokemon again. Raichu. One critical hit from a thunderbolt takes Phlogeus out. I retaliate with a digging Ryujin, then head back and heal my team yet again. I'll admit it: this gym is harder than the others. Nothing I can't handle, though. My next opponent uses Kadabra. Phlogeus hits Kadabra several times with fire spin and fire blast, but Kadabra is able to recover away the damage and damage Phlogeus. I switch to Cai Shen. It's a good thing I trained until all of my pokemon (almost) became level 40, because everything I'm facing is above level 40. Cai Shen wins this one unscathed, although it takes a while. For the first time, a trainer in this gym has two different species of pokemon. I switch to Ryujin as she switches to Raichu. We both have our pokemon use dig, amusingly. This works for me because my pokemon is slower.
Phlogeus evolves into Rapidash. The people at the daycare probably kept him from evolving somehow. Unlike the rest of my team, Phlogeus reached level 40 at the daycare, not through my training.
The next trainer leads with Luxio. I switch to Ninhursag and have her use leech seed. Ninhursag is paralyzed by a thunder fang. I switch to Inanna and a crunch lands a critical hit. Inanna puts Luxio to sleep with sing. Now she's free to set up minimize. Leech seed will take care of the rest for me. Luxio does wake up and even hits with both crunch and thunder fang, but Inanna throws an egg bomb, knocking Luxio out. My opponent's other pokemon is apparently Bibarel. Once Inanna puts it to sleep, I switch Ninhursag in and win with petal dance.
There seems to be one last trainer standing between me and Volkner. He leads with Steelix. I switch to Phlogeus. Fire blast misses twice and Steelix keeps screeching at Phlogeus. After fire blast finally hits, a fire spin finishes Steelix. Medicham is up next, and I switch to Ninhursag. This trainer keeps having his Medicham use detect every other turn, so I have Ninhursag leech seed and then repeatedly attempt petal dance until it starts working. Medicham doesn't last long.
I make it to Volkner and switch so that I'm leading with Ninhursag, just in case he really is that tough. Here we go...
"All right, challenger. It's not often, but some trainers manage to come and challenge me. But they've all been boring battles. I didn't break a sweat beating them."
I keep hearing about this.
"I'm Volkner, the gym leader. They say I'm the top gym leader in Sinnoh, but..."
But what?
"Anyway, I guess we'd better get this done. I hope you're the trainer who'll make me remember how fun it is to battle."
Volkner leads with a level 46 Raichu. Brick break damages Ninhursag and she sets up one layer of toxic spikes. The next exchange is identical. Then Raichu uses charge beam and Ninhursag leech seeds. Ninhursag starts petal dancing and is paralyzed by Raichu's ability. Raichu keeps using brick break. Ninhursag is badly hurt, but Raichu is down. Volkner's next pokemon is a monkey called Ambipom with two tails. It's level 47. I have Cai Shen use confuse ray, but Ambipom baton passes right away, and Cai Shen is suddenly facing a level 49 Luxray. Cai Shen's extrasensory isn't particularly devastating, but confuse ray and the toxic spikes help to weaken Luxray. Cai Shen is nearly brought down by charge beams by the time Luxray succumbs to poison. Ambipom comes back out and starts using nasty plot. Phlogeus fire blasts the monkey and is about to finish it with take down, but Volkner uses a full restore. I forgot that he could do that. Phlogeus is about to finish Ambipom yet again, but a critical hit from shock wave knocks Phlogeus out. That was patently unfair to poor Phlogeus. I bring Ryujin in and have him use dragon rage to take the monkey out permanently, but Volkner has Ambipom baton pass. All those nasty plots and agilities are now enhancing this water-type. I didn't plan for a water-type. Ryujin was here to take down electric pokemon. Octillary takes Ryujin out with aurora beam. I switch to Inanna and have her use minimize. Octillary can't score a hit and the poison from toxic spikes finishes it off. Volkner exclaims, "Here it comes. Get ready for my trump card!" I have Inanna use egg bomb. Ambipom withstands the egg bomb and uses agility twice, but goes down after the second egg bomb. And that's it. I win.
Volkner stops his silly oh-I'm-so-depressed-because-no-one-can-give-me-a-decent-challenge attitude and congratulates me on earning all of the gym badges in Sinnoh. He seems to think that I am ready to take on the Pokemon League. But first, I'll need waterfall to get there. I go back to the beach. Jasmine sees me and runs up to me. She gives me the HM for waterfall. Problem solved. I guess I'm off to the Pokemon League.
There is one thing that bothers me, though. Every other gym I've been to, Slave had already been to and become certified. But this time, he was nowhere to be found. I don't think Slave would lose to Volkner. He's had plenty of time to beat me to Sunyshore City if that was what he wanted to do. The last time I saw him was on Mount Coronet. So what's that kid up to?
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Poseidon
Now that I don't have to bother with saving the world and such, I can get back to doing the two things I was trying to do before Cyrus demanded my full attention: training my pokemon and acquiring badges. So I change my team completely, switching my stronger pokemon for some that have been neglected. I'm not going anywhere in particular for now. This is just training, a nice change of pace from being some sort of superhero.
I finally get to battle with Ryujin, mostly against wild pokemon, although I use Enki to surf and find some trainers out on the water. They're all very easy to defeat, even though I'm not using any of my strongest pokemon. After a while, I return to shore and beat a restaurant full of trainers. It's easy. Cai Shen evolves into Bronzong. Excellent. I also catch a wild Shellos and name him Poseidon. Professor Rowan will be glad, but he'd better not get used to this. I just wanted a Shellos. I like Shellos. But this little guy is only level 20. Right now I can really only battle using pokemon that are around level 35 or higher. Toward the end, everything Team Galactic was throwing at me was level 40 or higher, and I was only able to keep up thanks to Articuno. I already have two water-types: Apsu, one of my strongest, and Enki, which I am trying to train presently. So Poseidon will have to stay in storage for now.
I continue my rampage across Sinnoh, postponing my epic journey while I strengthen my pokemon.
I finally get to battle with Ryujin, mostly against wild pokemon, although I use Enki to surf and find some trainers out on the water. They're all very easy to defeat, even though I'm not using any of my strongest pokemon. After a while, I return to shore and beat a restaurant full of trainers. It's easy. Cai Shen evolves into Bronzong. Excellent. I also catch a wild Shellos and name him Poseidon. Professor Rowan will be glad, but he'd better not get used to this. I just wanted a Shellos. I like Shellos. But this little guy is only level 20. Right now I can really only battle using pokemon that are around level 35 or higher. Toward the end, everything Team Galactic was throwing at me was level 40 or higher, and I was only able to keep up thanks to Articuno. I already have two water-types: Apsu, one of my strongest, and Enki, which I am trying to train presently. So Poseidon will have to stay in storage for now.
I continue my rampage across Sinnoh, postponing my epic journey while I strengthen my pokemon.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Mount Coronet
In order to make any progress, I'm going to need to make use of this "rock climb" move, another of those "hidden" machine techniques that this world permits me to utilize outside of duels and encounters with wild pokemon. On discovering this, I leave the mountain briefly to configure my team. Well, I leave once I fight my way through all the Geodudes that keep blocking my path. Articuno flies me to Oreburgh City. I weigh my options: it seems that most of my pokemon cannot learn this move. Ryujin can. Good enough. He's low in level and I want a strong team to take on Cyrus. But I also don't want to have to return to town again if I run into some obstacle. So I need my HM moves. Hanuman has rock smash and Ryujin has rock climb. Both Enki and Apsu have surf. Both Enki and Ninhursag have cut. Only Apsu has strength. So I am compelled to bring Ryujin, Hanuman, Apsu, and Ninhursag. With Articuno too, that leaves me only one open slot. Sekhmet has been holding her own, but Khali's immunity to normal and fighting moves could be valuable here, so I take her.
Mt. Coronet is huge, or at least, I think it is. I can never really see all of it at once. I don't know why not. I have no idea how to navigate this or what I am even looking for, other than Cyrus. I don't know how much time I have to find him and he probably has some of his devoted cultists ready to sacrifice themselves to stall me. Better keep moving.
Ryujin isn't strong enough to fight these wild pokemon, but the rest of my team are making quick work of them. After winding through some rocky passages and crossing a few inexplicable bridges, I meet my first cultist. The idiot openly states, without interrogation, that the operation is taking place at the summit. Now I have a general idea of where to go, even if it's just "up." Somehow, her Beautifly severely wounds Hanuman, but that was her only pokemon, so I continue. The next cultist to accost me uses only Bronzor, which takes a beating before fainting.
I rush ahead to the end of the cave. I appear to have ascended a great deal of the mountain. I'm outside and it's snowing. Rock climb helps me ascend a bit farther. I rely on Articuno for the wild pokemon that attack out here on account of the hail (experience has taught me that the hail somehow hurts pokemon, but that ice-types are unaffected). I enter another cave, scale another wall, and encounter another fanatic from Team Galactic. This one has three pokemon, which is three times as many as they usually use. Khali dominates all three of them: a Dustox, a Golbat, and another Dustox. Psybeam is strong against poison-types.
As I dash through the tunnel, another one ambushes me around the corner. Hanuman's close combat brings Stunky down in one hit. Apsu is more than a match for the Golbat that follows. I see another exit, one that might lead me closer to the summit. I have no idea, really. I wade through a few more wild pokemon and proceed to daylight, er, nightlight. It does look unusually bright out there for being so late. Enough of this. I am back outside. More rock-climbing. Either there's a passage somewhere out here or I need to turn back and go a different way.
After a little more climbing, I run into a wild Golbat. Business as usual, except Ryujin evolves into Gabite, which is awesome, although I'm a bit preoccupied right now, so I'm not going to celebrate. I find the next passage and continue. I see two more cultists. I must be going the right way. The first one leads with Bronzor, which Hanuman deals with. She sends in Glameow. Hanuman's close combat takes care of that in one hit. The second Team Galactic moron also leads with Bronzor, and Hanuman takes care of business once more, although at this rate he might run out of flame wheels. This one's other pokemon turns out to be Golbat, so I switch to Apsu for ice fang.
I must be getting close to the summit by now. Here's another obstacle courtesy of Team Galactic. Khali exchanges attacks with a Golbat and, of course, wins. She uses Bronzor next, so Hanuman gets to practice his flame wheel again. Her final pokemon is Glameow. Close combat solves that problem again. And that's it. I've reached the summit. Or something. This place is strange. Team Galactic has two guards posted.
Switch Ryujin for Khali and have Hanuman flame wheel Dustox. Stunky's night slash nearly finishes Khali. So then I have Hanuman close combat Stunky and Khali pain split Croagunk. Hanuman is down to his last close combat, but I use it on Glameow anyway. Khali's psybeam easily finishes Croagunk. The guards offer to let me pass so that their bosses can pulverize me.
I'm walking through some sort of ruins. There are broken columns everywhere. What is this place? Why is it at the top of Mt. Coronet? It's irritatingly ominous. But Mars and Jupiter are up ahead and I shan't keep them waiting. Cyrus is behind them. As I approach, he speaks...
"Now, all will end. And everything will begin. With this red chain I pry open the portal to another dimension. I command that you unleash your power for me. Palkia, the mythical pokemon, and the master of space and dimensions!"
And then a black sphere appears out of nowhere and it appears: the phantom from my dream. At the beginning of all of this. Perhaps it was this Palkia that brought me here in the first place. However this happened, I can tell that this is very serious. This demon has the power to control space itself. And Cyrus claims to control it with his chain. I need to do something, anything, to stop him. Or else, there goes the universe. But what can I do against a god? Cyrus continues...
"This will bring about the destruction of all things. With everything gone, there will be no fighting and no strife. Feel the dimensions distorting. Only I can stop it. This is the mythical pokemon that created Sinnoh! Palkia, the ancient deity of space and dimensions!"
The monster roars. Cyrus is unfazed...
"This world cannot be molded into the ultimate world I seek! It's far easier to create an entirely new world than to change this one! A new world in which I am the ruler of all things! I shall become a deity!"
My mind is reeling. I envision a hundred plans to stop him and a hundred failures. So I do the only thing anyone can do when all else fails: I rush him. Of course, I don't make it. Mars grabs me and says, "There's no need to rush. I can understand you want to battle our boss real bad, but you'll have to go through me first. After all, you've made me look bad more times than I care to remember!"
Jupiter chimes in: "And I'll be next. You might be tough, but this time, the gloves are coming off!"
My team is weakened. I do have a lot of healing items, but beating both of these two will be a challenge. Beating both of them and then stopping Cyrus from crushing me into a singularity or something will be downright impossible. But I have to try. A familiar voice rings out across the ruins...
"Hold on one second! Don't you start the party without me!"
It's Slave. Oh, you two are in so much trouble now. Jupiter tries to mock him. "Well, if it isn't the little boy who ran off crying at Lake Acuity! Did you get any tougher since then? We'll beat you two-on-two!" No, Jupiter, you won't. There is no way in all the unspeakable hells your boss has traversed to bring this about that you are ever, ever winning this battle. Cyrus might use his godlike powers to turn me into a fine, red mist before I can even get close to him, but first, I am going to beat you both one last time.
Both of our opponents lead with Bronzor. Slave leads with Munchlax. I switch from Ryujin to Ninhursag. Extrasensory brings Ninhursag down, although she does set up one layer of toxic spikes. Hanuman takes one Bronzor out with flame wheel, but not before they both use extrasensory on him. Skuntank, a poison-type, is next, absorbing the toxic spikes Ninhursag sacrificed herself for. Hanuman will go down in one more hit. Thanks to Munchlax softening it up, the other Bronzor goes down in a single flame wheel. Skuntank finishes Hanuman off. Munchlax screeches to weaken Skuntank. I bring Apsu in. Strength damages Skutank. Munchlax paralyzes the next pokemon, Purugly, with body slam. Apsu weakens Skuntank some more with strength, Skuntank nearly finishes Munchlax with poison jab, Munchlax devastates Purugly with body slam, and Purugly puts Apsu to sleep with hypnosis. I use an awakening. Skuntank hits Apsu with a huge night slash and, to my surprise, Apsu goes down. Purugly puts Munchlax to sleep with hypnosis. Khali, I guess you're up next. Skuntank takes Khali out in one hit before she can do anything. That night slash is getting very annoying. Ryujin wouldn't stand a chance against this Skuntank and Purugly. They're higher in level than anything I have with one exception. Remember how I said you would not win this battle, guys? Articuno, do your thing. Articuno flies, Skuntank and Purugly both try to attack, but the icy phoenix is already in the air. That takes care of Skuntank. Purugly hits Articuno with hynposis and Golbat comes in to replace Skuntank. Then Purguly finally finishes Munchlax off. Slave sends Staraptor in. Articuno wakes up and ice beams Golbat. Staraptor takes Purugly out with aerial ace. I let Slave finish the battle with his Staraptor.
Slave says that his pokemon have hit the wall. He thinks I have a better chance here than he does, so he fully heals my pokemon. I needed that. But it looks like, just as I feared, we were too late. Cyrus is going to use Palkia to obliterate me (and also the entire universe). Or maybe not? Something is going wrong with his plan. Uxie appears behind Palkia. Mesprit appears on one side of Palkia. Azelf appears on the other side of Palkia. Cyrus's vortex of doom vanishes. The three legendary pokemon vanish. Mesprit reappears, this time floating directly over my head, then vanishes. Cyrus is livid...
"The red chain! It crumbled away to nothing! But why? Why would Mesprit, the pokemon of Lake Verity, appear by your side? But never mind that! It's all destroyed! My galaxy is gone! I won't allow this. I will capture those three again and craft another red chain! But before I even think about that, I'm going to completely crush you!"
Yeah, I'd like to see you try that now that you're just a psychopath and not a psychopath controlling a god. This ends here, Cyrus...
He leads with Honchkrow. I switch to Apsu. Honchkrow's dark pulse heavily damages Apsu. Apsu hits back with ice fang. Cyrus uses a super potion. Apsu freezes Honchkrow with ice fang. The next ice fang finishes Honchkrow. I caught a lucky break there. If all of his pokemon are this high in level, I'm going to be stuck relying on Articuno, and even Articuno would be vulnerable against something with a type advantage. He switches to Gyarados and I switch to Ninhursag. Giga impact takes Ninhursag out in one hit. Poor thing. I switch to Khali and am able to weaken Gyarados with confuse ray and psybeam, but aqua tail takes Khali out in one hit. Back to Apsu. Aqua tail does little damage against Apsu. Gyarados hurts itself in confusion. Apsu and Cyrus' Gyarados hit each other with strength and aqua tail respectively, a contest that Apsu would have the advantage in normally, but this Gyarados is level 45 and Apsu is only level 37. Khali's confuse ray pays off, though, and Apsu barely wins. I use a hyper potion as Cyrus brings Weavile in. Weavile hits Apsu with brick break and x-scissor. Apsu strikes back with surf. Weavile uses night slash. Apsu survives and hits again with surf, but the next x-scissor easily finishes my leviathan. I use Hanuman next. Cyrus has Weavile use night slash for some reason, so Hanuman is hurt, but easily able to retaliate with close combat and take Weavile out. He's down to his last pokemon: Crobat. I switch Ryujin in and hit Crobat with dragon rage while Ryujin is affected by Crobat's confuse ray. I switch back to Hanuman. Crobat's bite damages Hanuman. Crobat uses confuse ray on Hanuman, who retaliates with flame wheel. Cyrus is starting to realize that he will lose again. I switch to Ryujin again. Crobat brings Ryujin down in two attacks. Crobat devastates Hanuman with cross poison. Hanuman hits back with flame wheel, but Crobat survives. Cyrus uses a full restore on Crobat. Hanuman's flame wheel weakens the bat. If Cyrus wants to play with healing items, I can respond in kind. I use a hyper potion. Crobat's confuse ray and then cross poison weaken Hanuman. Cyrus finally does something intelligent, although it's probably blind luck, and has Crobat use air slash. Good job, Cyrus, now we're both down to our last pokemon. Now goodbye. Cyrus has Crobat use air slash. Articuno flinches. Cross poison. Articuno laughs and strikes back with ice beam. Articuno gains a level.
Cyrus asks me, "What is truly ultimate to you? What do you consider perfection? The most beautiful thing. Joy that shines the brightest. Telling you is meaningless. But I will not give up. I will become a deity one day. And I will make the ultimate mine. All three of the Team Galactic leaders disappear into thin air. How do they do that?
Before I can turn to run from the horror before me, Dawn and Professor Rowan arrive. I could have used your help earlier, guys. You know, before he summoned the apocalypse dragon. Professor Rowan exclaims...
"Palkia, the master of space and the dimensions. It's impossible to tell if it is enraged or saddened."
Fascinating. But now that doom has been temporarily staved off, I am not waiting around to find out which.
"But to me, Palkia appears to be waiting for you, Master. It seems to be challenging you as a test."
All the more reason to run away very quickly.
"Go on, Master. Face up to Palkia!"
Are you insane?
"Listen to its heart. Understand its thoughts. Palkia is out of control after being dragged out by the red chain and forced to use its power."
They're not going to let me leave. I just know it.
"Palkia seems to be entrusting you with stopping it."
No. Bad idea. This thing controls space. I occupy space. It can kill me in millions of ways without even breaking a sweat. Also, it is a big dragon.
Dawn butts in...
"Master, I ran into Slave a little while ago. He said he believed in you, Master. He said you could get the job done."
I have a better idea. How about you guys do it. I believe in you. Go for it. Go fight the galaxy dragon. It'll be great. I'll provide moral support for a change.
"I feel the same way. Please help that pokemon! It's suffering from being dragged out by Team Galactic!"
No, you don't understand. I'm not a doctor or a pokemon doctor or anything. I specialize in fighting. I beat stuff up. My talents are not useful here because the thing that is the problem is a god. But of course, they won't listen. They won't let me leave. I am cornered. I try to sneak around Palkia. Not happening. The space-devil roars at me and attacks. I'm down to Articuno. that's it. Articuno has never been beaten. But even an ice phoenix can't hope to defeat this kind of power.
The demon is momentarily distracted by Articuno. I do have one idea so crazy that it just might work. Even though this thing is a demiurge and our universe is apparently putty in its talons, they do keep calling it a pokemon. And pokemon can be caught in poke balls. They have to be weakened first, and that involves fighting, which involves giving Palkia the opportunity to open up a black hole in my face. But I happen to have acquired a "master ball." It supposedly catches any wild pokemon without fail. I can only hope that this includes dimension-controlling monstrosities from beyond.
I throw the master ball. It works. Palkia is caught. I nickname it Anu, although for all I know the creature is only humoring me. Well, if it really was caught, that thing is never leaving the storage box. Sure, I like power and all, but some forces are best left locked away. Now that the danger is passed and I have saved the world, Dawn and Professor Rowan approach me. Rowan is astounded...
"Master! I don't know how...You were magnificent. Truly, you were incredible. I've lived for sixty years, but I've never been thrilled like this!"
Dawn adds, "Since the last time, the professor did a lot of research. He became very concerned about you, Master, so he came out to a place as treacherous as this. Master, I'm so glad you're safe. Let's go home!"
As Dawn drags me away, Professor Rowan stands near where Cyrus summond Anu, I mean Palkia...
"No one has a right to take away anyone's future or anyone's world."
I came all the way to this place. I'm not leaving without checking it out. I break away from Dawn and run back. Behind the spot that I capture Anu, I find an item. Something called a "lustrous orb." I begin descending the mountain and am attacked by a Machoke, an ordinary pokemon that doesn't threaten to wipe out the whole world. My whole team is down except Articuno, and Articuno easily demolishes Machoke. I keep dashing back the way I came. Another Machoke interrupts me and another aerial ace takes care of that. I'm almost to the exit when a graveller attacks.
As soon as I get back out into the snow, I have Articuno fly me home. Mom is watching television as usual. I go upstairs and crawl into bed. Well, I guess I stopped Team Galactic and saved the universe and now a demiurge is contained in one of the boxes in my PC storage. Let's never do that again.
Mt. Coronet is huge, or at least, I think it is. I can never really see all of it at once. I don't know why not. I have no idea how to navigate this or what I am even looking for, other than Cyrus. I don't know how much time I have to find him and he probably has some of his devoted cultists ready to sacrifice themselves to stall me. Better keep moving.
Ryujin isn't strong enough to fight these wild pokemon, but the rest of my team are making quick work of them. After winding through some rocky passages and crossing a few inexplicable bridges, I meet my first cultist. The idiot openly states, without interrogation, that the operation is taking place at the summit. Now I have a general idea of where to go, even if it's just "up." Somehow, her Beautifly severely wounds Hanuman, but that was her only pokemon, so I continue. The next cultist to accost me uses only Bronzor, which takes a beating before fainting.
I rush ahead to the end of the cave. I appear to have ascended a great deal of the mountain. I'm outside and it's snowing. Rock climb helps me ascend a bit farther. I rely on Articuno for the wild pokemon that attack out here on account of the hail (experience has taught me that the hail somehow hurts pokemon, but that ice-types are unaffected). I enter another cave, scale another wall, and encounter another fanatic from Team Galactic. This one has three pokemon, which is three times as many as they usually use. Khali dominates all three of them: a Dustox, a Golbat, and another Dustox. Psybeam is strong against poison-types.
As I dash through the tunnel, another one ambushes me around the corner. Hanuman's close combat brings Stunky down in one hit. Apsu is more than a match for the Golbat that follows. I see another exit, one that might lead me closer to the summit. I have no idea, really. I wade through a few more wild pokemon and proceed to daylight, er, nightlight. It does look unusually bright out there for being so late. Enough of this. I am back outside. More rock-climbing. Either there's a passage somewhere out here or I need to turn back and go a different way.
After a little more climbing, I run into a wild Golbat. Business as usual, except Ryujin evolves into Gabite, which is awesome, although I'm a bit preoccupied right now, so I'm not going to celebrate. I find the next passage and continue. I see two more cultists. I must be going the right way. The first one leads with Bronzor, which Hanuman deals with. She sends in Glameow. Hanuman's close combat takes care of that in one hit. The second Team Galactic moron also leads with Bronzor, and Hanuman takes care of business once more, although at this rate he might run out of flame wheels. This one's other pokemon turns out to be Golbat, so I switch to Apsu for ice fang.
I must be getting close to the summit by now. Here's another obstacle courtesy of Team Galactic. Khali exchanges attacks with a Golbat and, of course, wins. She uses Bronzor next, so Hanuman gets to practice his flame wheel again. Her final pokemon is Glameow. Close combat solves that problem again. And that's it. I've reached the summit. Or something. This place is strange. Team Galactic has two guards posted.
Switch Ryujin for Khali and have Hanuman flame wheel Dustox. Stunky's night slash nearly finishes Khali. So then I have Hanuman close combat Stunky and Khali pain split Croagunk. Hanuman is down to his last close combat, but I use it on Glameow anyway. Khali's psybeam easily finishes Croagunk. The guards offer to let me pass so that their bosses can pulverize me.
I'm walking through some sort of ruins. There are broken columns everywhere. What is this place? Why is it at the top of Mt. Coronet? It's irritatingly ominous. But Mars and Jupiter are up ahead and I shan't keep them waiting. Cyrus is behind them. As I approach, he speaks...
"Now, all will end. And everything will begin. With this red chain I pry open the portal to another dimension. I command that you unleash your power for me. Palkia, the mythical pokemon, and the master of space and dimensions!"
And then a black sphere appears out of nowhere and it appears: the phantom from my dream. At the beginning of all of this. Perhaps it was this Palkia that brought me here in the first place. However this happened, I can tell that this is very serious. This demon has the power to control space itself. And Cyrus claims to control it with his chain. I need to do something, anything, to stop him. Or else, there goes the universe. But what can I do against a god? Cyrus continues...
"This will bring about the destruction of all things. With everything gone, there will be no fighting and no strife. Feel the dimensions distorting. Only I can stop it. This is the mythical pokemon that created Sinnoh! Palkia, the ancient deity of space and dimensions!"
The monster roars. Cyrus is unfazed...
"This world cannot be molded into the ultimate world I seek! It's far easier to create an entirely new world than to change this one! A new world in which I am the ruler of all things! I shall become a deity!"
My mind is reeling. I envision a hundred plans to stop him and a hundred failures. So I do the only thing anyone can do when all else fails: I rush him. Of course, I don't make it. Mars grabs me and says, "There's no need to rush. I can understand you want to battle our boss real bad, but you'll have to go through me first. After all, you've made me look bad more times than I care to remember!"
Jupiter chimes in: "And I'll be next. You might be tough, but this time, the gloves are coming off!"
My team is weakened. I do have a lot of healing items, but beating both of these two will be a challenge. Beating both of them and then stopping Cyrus from crushing me into a singularity or something will be downright impossible. But I have to try. A familiar voice rings out across the ruins...
"Hold on one second! Don't you start the party without me!"
It's Slave. Oh, you two are in so much trouble now. Jupiter tries to mock him. "Well, if it isn't the little boy who ran off crying at Lake Acuity! Did you get any tougher since then? We'll beat you two-on-two!" No, Jupiter, you won't. There is no way in all the unspeakable hells your boss has traversed to bring this about that you are ever, ever winning this battle. Cyrus might use his godlike powers to turn me into a fine, red mist before I can even get close to him, but first, I am going to beat you both one last time.
Both of our opponents lead with Bronzor. Slave leads with Munchlax. I switch from Ryujin to Ninhursag. Extrasensory brings Ninhursag down, although she does set up one layer of toxic spikes. Hanuman takes one Bronzor out with flame wheel, but not before they both use extrasensory on him. Skuntank, a poison-type, is next, absorbing the toxic spikes Ninhursag sacrificed herself for. Hanuman will go down in one more hit. Thanks to Munchlax softening it up, the other Bronzor goes down in a single flame wheel. Skuntank finishes Hanuman off. Munchlax screeches to weaken Skuntank. I bring Apsu in. Strength damages Skutank. Munchlax paralyzes the next pokemon, Purugly, with body slam. Apsu weakens Skuntank some more with strength, Skuntank nearly finishes Munchlax with poison jab, Munchlax devastates Purugly with body slam, and Purugly puts Apsu to sleep with hypnosis. I use an awakening. Skuntank hits Apsu with a huge night slash and, to my surprise, Apsu goes down. Purugly puts Munchlax to sleep with hypnosis. Khali, I guess you're up next. Skuntank takes Khali out in one hit before she can do anything. That night slash is getting very annoying. Ryujin wouldn't stand a chance against this Skuntank and Purugly. They're higher in level than anything I have with one exception. Remember how I said you would not win this battle, guys? Articuno, do your thing. Articuno flies, Skuntank and Purugly both try to attack, but the icy phoenix is already in the air. That takes care of Skuntank. Purugly hits Articuno with hynposis and Golbat comes in to replace Skuntank. Then Purguly finally finishes Munchlax off. Slave sends Staraptor in. Articuno wakes up and ice beams Golbat. Staraptor takes Purugly out with aerial ace. I let Slave finish the battle with his Staraptor.
Slave says that his pokemon have hit the wall. He thinks I have a better chance here than he does, so he fully heals my pokemon. I needed that. But it looks like, just as I feared, we were too late. Cyrus is going to use Palkia to obliterate me (and also the entire universe). Or maybe not? Something is going wrong with his plan. Uxie appears behind Palkia. Mesprit appears on one side of Palkia. Azelf appears on the other side of Palkia. Cyrus's vortex of doom vanishes. The three legendary pokemon vanish. Mesprit reappears, this time floating directly over my head, then vanishes. Cyrus is livid...
"The red chain! It crumbled away to nothing! But why? Why would Mesprit, the pokemon of Lake Verity, appear by your side? But never mind that! It's all destroyed! My galaxy is gone! I won't allow this. I will capture those three again and craft another red chain! But before I even think about that, I'm going to completely crush you!"
Yeah, I'd like to see you try that now that you're just a psychopath and not a psychopath controlling a god. This ends here, Cyrus...
He leads with Honchkrow. I switch to Apsu. Honchkrow's dark pulse heavily damages Apsu. Apsu hits back with ice fang. Cyrus uses a super potion. Apsu freezes Honchkrow with ice fang. The next ice fang finishes Honchkrow. I caught a lucky break there. If all of his pokemon are this high in level, I'm going to be stuck relying on Articuno, and even Articuno would be vulnerable against something with a type advantage. He switches to Gyarados and I switch to Ninhursag. Giga impact takes Ninhursag out in one hit. Poor thing. I switch to Khali and am able to weaken Gyarados with confuse ray and psybeam, but aqua tail takes Khali out in one hit. Back to Apsu. Aqua tail does little damage against Apsu. Gyarados hurts itself in confusion. Apsu and Cyrus' Gyarados hit each other with strength and aqua tail respectively, a contest that Apsu would have the advantage in normally, but this Gyarados is level 45 and Apsu is only level 37. Khali's confuse ray pays off, though, and Apsu barely wins. I use a hyper potion as Cyrus brings Weavile in. Weavile hits Apsu with brick break and x-scissor. Apsu strikes back with surf. Weavile uses night slash. Apsu survives and hits again with surf, but the next x-scissor easily finishes my leviathan. I use Hanuman next. Cyrus has Weavile use night slash for some reason, so Hanuman is hurt, but easily able to retaliate with close combat and take Weavile out. He's down to his last pokemon: Crobat. I switch Ryujin in and hit Crobat with dragon rage while Ryujin is affected by Crobat's confuse ray. I switch back to Hanuman. Crobat's bite damages Hanuman. Crobat uses confuse ray on Hanuman, who retaliates with flame wheel. Cyrus is starting to realize that he will lose again. I switch to Ryujin again. Crobat brings Ryujin down in two attacks. Crobat devastates Hanuman with cross poison. Hanuman hits back with flame wheel, but Crobat survives. Cyrus uses a full restore on Crobat. Hanuman's flame wheel weakens the bat. If Cyrus wants to play with healing items, I can respond in kind. I use a hyper potion. Crobat's confuse ray and then cross poison weaken Hanuman. Cyrus finally does something intelligent, although it's probably blind luck, and has Crobat use air slash. Good job, Cyrus, now we're both down to our last pokemon. Now goodbye. Cyrus has Crobat use air slash. Articuno flinches. Cross poison. Articuno laughs and strikes back with ice beam. Articuno gains a level.
Cyrus asks me, "What is truly ultimate to you? What do you consider perfection? The most beautiful thing. Joy that shines the brightest. Telling you is meaningless. But I will not give up. I will become a deity one day. And I will make the ultimate mine. All three of the Team Galactic leaders disappear into thin air. How do they do that?
Before I can turn to run from the horror before me, Dawn and Professor Rowan arrive. I could have used your help earlier, guys. You know, before he summoned the apocalypse dragon. Professor Rowan exclaims...
"Palkia, the master of space and the dimensions. It's impossible to tell if it is enraged or saddened."
Fascinating. But now that doom has been temporarily staved off, I am not waiting around to find out which.
"But to me, Palkia appears to be waiting for you, Master. It seems to be challenging you as a test."
All the more reason to run away very quickly.
"Go on, Master. Face up to Palkia!"
Are you insane?
"Listen to its heart. Understand its thoughts. Palkia is out of control after being dragged out by the red chain and forced to use its power."
They're not going to let me leave. I just know it.
"Palkia seems to be entrusting you with stopping it."
No. Bad idea. This thing controls space. I occupy space. It can kill me in millions of ways without even breaking a sweat. Also, it is a big dragon.
Dawn butts in...
"Master, I ran into Slave a little while ago. He said he believed in you, Master. He said you could get the job done."
I have a better idea. How about you guys do it. I believe in you. Go for it. Go fight the galaxy dragon. It'll be great. I'll provide moral support for a change.
"I feel the same way. Please help that pokemon! It's suffering from being dragged out by Team Galactic!"
No, you don't understand. I'm not a doctor or a pokemon doctor or anything. I specialize in fighting. I beat stuff up. My talents are not useful here because the thing that is the problem is a god. But of course, they won't listen. They won't let me leave. I am cornered. I try to sneak around Palkia. Not happening. The space-devil roars at me and attacks. I'm down to Articuno. that's it. Articuno has never been beaten. But even an ice phoenix can't hope to defeat this kind of power.
The demon is momentarily distracted by Articuno. I do have one idea so crazy that it just might work. Even though this thing is a demiurge and our universe is apparently putty in its talons, they do keep calling it a pokemon. And pokemon can be caught in poke balls. They have to be weakened first, and that involves fighting, which involves giving Palkia the opportunity to open up a black hole in my face. But I happen to have acquired a "master ball." It supposedly catches any wild pokemon without fail. I can only hope that this includes dimension-controlling monstrosities from beyond.
I throw the master ball. It works. Palkia is caught. I nickname it Anu, although for all I know the creature is only humoring me. Well, if it really was caught, that thing is never leaving the storage box. Sure, I like power and all, but some forces are best left locked away. Now that the danger is passed and I have saved the world, Dawn and Professor Rowan approach me. Rowan is astounded...
"Master! I don't know how...You were magnificent. Truly, you were incredible. I've lived for sixty years, but I've never been thrilled like this!"
Dawn adds, "Since the last time, the professor did a lot of research. He became very concerned about you, Master, so he came out to a place as treacherous as this. Master, I'm so glad you're safe. Let's go home!"
As Dawn drags me away, Professor Rowan stands near where Cyrus summond Anu, I mean Palkia...
"No one has a right to take away anyone's future or anyone's world."
I came all the way to this place. I'm not leaving without checking it out. I break away from Dawn and run back. Behind the spot that I capture Anu, I find an item. Something called a "lustrous orb." I begin descending the mountain and am attacked by a Machoke, an ordinary pokemon that doesn't threaten to wipe out the whole world. My whole team is down except Articuno, and Articuno easily demolishes Machoke. I keep dashing back the way I came. Another Machoke interrupts me and another aerial ace takes care of that. I'm almost to the exit when a graveller attacks.
As soon as I get back out into the snow, I have Articuno fly me home. Mom is watching television as usual. I go upstairs and crawl into bed. Well, I guess I stopped Team Galactic and saved the universe and now a demiurge is contained in one of the boxes in my PC storage. Let's never do that again.
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