Part 20: Pyrite Town, Part Seven
Pyrite Town, Part SevenWelcome back. When we last were concerned with an organization plotting to spread Shadow Pokémon to everyone (which again, I'm not quite sure why tricking people into using brainwashed Pokémon constitutes a successful plot), we encountered a mysterious locked-off lab in the desert. Chief Sherles had sent us an e-mail which, summarized, said to head over to him, they captured some criminals. So, lacking all other relevant story leads, we do.
SHERLES: I reckon they're afraid of payback from their organization. I'll be in touch with you just as soon as I hear anything.
Odd that Johnson isn't in the office with him. Anyway, let's go check out
DUKING: But they're tough nuts to crack. The interrogators haven't made much headway. The POLICE have them locked up in jail. You should go and help the CHIEF out with those two.
Hm... I can't help but notice him subtly hinting at something. Oh, alright...
JOHNSON: They came back to that creaky old building, and we nabbed them on the spot. Ehehe.
Ah, here Johnson is. A pleasure as always, and the police were actually successful with something when Johnson was there. What a surprise! Folly and Trudly have been separated into the two upper cells, which can only mean the captured criminals are in the lower cell together.
FOLLY: Huh? You went and checked out the LAB? Heheh, what could it be? I don't have a clue about what's going on at that LAB.
Not a very convincing liar, is he?
TRUDLY: But, you know, the guys in the next cell, those voices sound familiar.
Why weren't they split up in the first place? That lower cell only has one bed in it anyway...
Ferma... Ferma... that name sounds familiar. It's so hard keeping track of all the people we defeated... oh, right! Reath and Ferma were the two Miror B. Peons, who had a Shadow Remoraid and Mantine, respectively. We fought them after getting to the top of Pyrite Building, where Silva had been captured. How appropriate they now end up in police custody. Sadly, we can't get any more information out of them, unless we open up the jail cell's door, with the Jail Key that we stole off of the nearby desk quite a while ago. Something about these seems... wrong about this. Oh well, I need to remember the Protagonist's Initiative: take everything not bolted down, and use each item in order until something interesting happens.
FERMA: We were collared when we tried to sneak back down to THE UNDER. It's just another thing that goes with this, that, and everything else you caused! It's all your fault!
(YAYCLAPPINGEMOTICON)
So, it seems Reath is fast asleep. Rather than using Dream Eater on her...
There is a key of some sort on her belt! Want to take it?
YES: [NAME] obtained the ELEVATOR KEY!
Do I ever. Ferma makes no attempt to stop us, and we don't lock the door as we leave, seeing as there's no way to do so. Don't the police wonder about all these unlocked doors when they aren't around?
So, we have a key to an elevator, with knowledge of an elevator in Pyrite Building reinforced by the subtle clues that these two were trying to go to The Under and that we fought them in the same building. So, let's go use that elev...
What? I beat you already!
CHASER KAI, P$760
Phanpy (Lv.38)
Vibrava (Lv.38)
KAI: This didn't happen!
KAI: No matter what, this elevator is off-limits!
This time, battling Kai is not optional: she'll spot you and walk over for a battle. Note the higher levels of both Pokemon, compared to Phanpy (Lv.31), Trapinch (Lv.32), as well as the fact that her Trapinch evolved into Vibrava, a Dragon/Ground Pokemon with the Levitate ability.
With Kai out of the way, we can use the Elevator Key, and head down to a new area: The Under.
The Under, Part One
As soon as we head down, there's a broadcast on a giant screen informing the populace of the presence of spies. There are a few more people down here than you might expect, and some interesting people at that.
YES: Hmm... If you're really spies, you wouldn't admit that you are, would you?
NO: Hmm... You're right, you don't look like spies to me.
Except for her TV appearances, she is rarely seen.
Heading south, then west, we encounter this lass.
YES: Humph. I don't mean any offense, but you don't exactly look tough. I'll test you to see how well you can battle. *TRAINER BATTLE*
NO: Oh, you're not? Hm, now that you say it, you don't look as if you're capable of doing any battling.
HUNTER ZADA, P$560
Skitty (Lv.35)
Oddish (Lv.34)
Jigglypuff (Lv.35)
Shuppet (Lv.35)
ZADA: You're better than you look!
ZADA: You are strong. I guess there's no judging people by their appearance.
Pokémon: helping to break the boundaries of prejudice.
Tucked away in this hard-to-access bottom-left-hand corner of the upper floor is... a vending machine. And, unlike the other ones we've seen, it's operational! What we have here are some of the cheapest-per-P$ healing items you're going to find in this game, or any other game in which they're found. The only real disadvantage is that they can only be bought one at a time, while scrolling past quite a lot of text. As you can see below, Lemonade heals 10 more HP than you would suspect, given the pricing system of P$40 per 10 HP you see on the other items.
Vending Machine:
Fresh Water: P$200, restores 50 HP
Soda Pop: P$300, restores 60 HP
Lemonade: P$350, restores 80 HP
For comparison, a Potion costs P$300, restores 20HP, a Super Potion costs P$700, restores 50 HP (3.5x the cost of Fresh Water for the same effect!), and a Hyper Portion costs P$1200, restores 200 HP (which two Soda Pops and a Lemonade can do for P$950). We're going to see one last variety of healing item down here, but it's one I prefer not to use. I end up picking up 25x Lemonade, and using one up in a battle later.
Over here, at the base of the stairs we saw earlier, is the town's main shop. There are plenty of goodies to be found in here. This shop introduces the Max Potion and Full Restore: the former restores all HP (which you rarely need over a Hyper Potion's 200 HP-worth of restoration) for P$2500, and the latter restores all HP and cures any status conditions (in short, a Max Potion with a built-in Full Heal) for P$3000. From what you've seen earlier, we could easily use three Lemonades and two Full Heals to take care of up to 240 HP of damage and heal two status conditions for the same price as just one Full Restore. However, there are times in late-game where you don't have the luxury of healing out of battle, and having a few Full Restores on-hand saves you from having to use a Revive and a Hyper Potion (which cost only P$2700, but take two in-battle turns total to use).
The Under PokeMart:
Full Restore: P$3000, fully restores HP and status of a Pokemon
Max Potion: P$2500, fully restores HP of a Pokemon
Hyper Potion: P$1200, restores 200 HP
Full Heal: P$600, heals all status problems of a Pokemon
Revive: P$1500, revives a fainted Pokemon to half its max HP.
TM14: P$5500, teaches Blizzard: 120 base power (reduced to 90 in doubles), 70% accurate Ice-type move that hits both of the opponent's Pokemon, and has a 10% chance of inducing the Frozen status.
TM15: P$7500, teaches Hyper Beam: 150 base power, 90% accurate Normal-type move that requires the user to recharge for one turn if the attack connects.
TM16: P$3000, teaches Light Screen.
TM17: P$3000, teaches Protect.
TM20: P$3000, teaches Safeguard.
TM25: P$5500, teaches Thunder.
TM33: P$3000, teaches Reflect.
TM38: P$5500, teaches Fire Blast.
TM10: P$3000, teaches Hidden Power: an attack whose base power varies between 30 and 70, and is of one particular type, both values dependent on the user of the attack.
Pokemon Poopsock: Hidden Power
The power and type of a given Hidden Power attack is determined by the IVs a Pokemon has; putting these numbers into a complicated equation determines their values. I can try to guess what type a Hidden Power is for each Pokemon, by purchasing the TM, teaching a Pokemon, then having it attack a few different types of Pokemon until I have a fair chance of guessing the type, but I can only approximate Base Power without the means to reduce the EVs we've been gathering down to zero, as I haven't kept track of what Pokemon have been gaining what EVs. For shame, I know. Hidden Power tends to fill gaps in a Pokemon's movepool, to hit Pokemon it normally wouldn't against their weaknesses, but only is at its most efficient against a 4x weak Pokemon, due to its low base power (70 at max).
Am I that cool, or what?
The Roller Boy nearby looking at him says...
I was thinking... The guy next to me browsing... I think he's a spy. Shhh! Don't stare at the guy!
Paranoia abounds. It seems Venus has quite a bit of influence down here.
And now, onto one of my favorite NPCs. Words cannot describe the reaction to when you say No, so...
YES: There once was a man who made a fortune in the mines of THE UNDER. Where he ended up, I don't know. I only hope he used his vast wealth for doing good...
NO: What? Young people these days have no patience! Always in a rush! Well, fine! I'll be in a rush, too!
(subsequent talks after NO: Rush, rush, rush! Aaaah!)
Story spoilers / idle speculation on my part: The connection is never made in-game explicitly, but I like to think the person who ordered for the construction of that Colosseum in the desert was the person who made the fortune mentioned in the mines. That, or a certain character in the sequel to this game.
Eesh. Heading back upstairs, just to see if he stops, since I chose to get the No response before the Yes one, I run into Kai again and Pike, the latter whom now has a Lv.40 Taillow and Lv.40 Noctowl.I end up using up a Lemonade, before healing at the machine and heading back down. Other than some EXP and money won, little happens.
So, what about that guy on the roof?
But even though I'm so near to her, I've not seen even a glimpse of her in person. Oh, it hurts deeply!
He then turns towards the distant platform, and calls out Lady VENUUUUUUUUS!
Heading on over to the left, where there's a big ol' radar dish, is a young person blocking off a door. Interestingly, it's easy to miss talking to him, and to collect what is needed to get him to move, simply by exploring a different part of the town, and talking to the people there first.
Elsewhere, southward from there...
That's the second ADMIN to go down after MIROR B. The enemy must be pretty strong.
Oh, well, I suppose so.
You might have seen this back when we were buying drinks from the vending machine. Hooray for free healing items.
It's P$1000 a night. Will you be staying with us?
This hotel is even less grand than the one in Pyrite Town! Though, to be fair, that was SUPER GRAND. This place only has two rooms, each with nothing useful in it, and it costs 10x the price of rent upstairs. Don't worry, though, the crippling weaknesses in this scheme will be exposed, one sooner, one later.
Crippling weakness #1: a PC upstairs that you can use the deposit-withdraw trick to heal your Pokemon for free. It's also the first save point we've come across since heading down. Heading into the bar, the green screen on the back wall lights up with another broadcast:
VENUS: Hi, everyone! It's me, your VENUS! Everyone's VENUS, that's me! I'm very disappointed. The spies haven't been caught yet. Can you imagine? Everyone, please, I'm counting on you for more cooperation!
> And that was Lady VENUS! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, thank yo for watching. Please do tune in again!
Well, it's not like anything else is on down there.
Now, for some idle chitchat around the bar.
What is with that, "I'm your VENUS" shtick? It's revolting!
Turning to the blank screen, he wistfully adds, Oh, she's my VENUS...
> While the spy's startled, you jump him and subdue him. How's that for a plan? Huh? What do you two want? We're having an important chat here. Leave us alone, hear?
But, you know, I always seem to be the one getting hurt all the time.
Heading outside, we end up on the isolated platform, on the second floor. To the right of us is another shop, with no ground-floor entrance. That... seems a bit bad for business.
Oh, wait... That can't be right. Real spies would look much stronger. Sorry! My mistake.
So... the enemy is tough, so spies have to look strong? That would undermine the whole "espionage" aspect. I should know, I've got an Espeon.
One day, I'm going to enter and get me a SHADOW POKéMON. Before that, I'll test the opposition starting with you! Here goes!
CHASER GURKS, P$800
Feebas (Lv.38)
Magikarp (Lv.38)
Wailord (Lv.40)
GURKS: I'll never become the champ if I'm losing here!
GURKS: Awww, shoot! I'm not giving up until I win at the COLOSSEUM and get me a SHADOW POKEMON of my own!
Ampharos grew to Lv.47!
Be it intentional or not, Gurks tries to lull you into a false sense of security by using the weak Magikarp and Feebas. His last Pokemon, Wailord, is monstrously huge, dwarfing most other Pokemon, and has an HP base stat to go along with it. Well-placed Electric or Grass type attacks will bring them all down.
Heading inside...
Since then, I get this feeling that parts have been slowly disappearing from the shop...
Obviously, it's an underground smuggling ring. Or, people have been stealing parts, knowing he's a part of it. No one is safe!
But where is this railway supposed to be in THE UNDER? I've never seen it.
You could... just ask him?
So, downstairs, there's this kid...
Hey, wait! Wow! Aren't you [NAME] and ♀?
♀: Huh? How do you know who we are?
> I thought so! This makes things easy. Please, can I get you to deliver this part to NETT's house?
[NAME] obtained the POWERUP PART!
♀: But... Wait...
> Just tell NETT that it's from PERR. He'll tell you the details.
PERR: NETT's house is the one with the big, rotating antenna dish. You'll know which one it is as soon as you see it.
An easily-startled lot, those kids are. You can actually talk to Perr without talking to the sentry first, and save yourself some time.
Heading out triggers another cutscene.
NASCOUR: VENUS. What is your situation?
VENUS: Well, a couple mice appear to be running loose, NASCOUR. But it's nothing to worry about. We'll catch them right away, pulverize, and mash them up. Giggle...
NASCOUR: ...Fine. The priority is to distribute SHADOW POKEMON. Don't forget. As for you, EIN, hurry. Complete the SHADOW POKEMON's development as soon as possible.
EIN: Your trust will not be misplaced, Master NASCOUR. Already, sufficient SHADOW POKEMON battle data has been gathered from our minions. My masterpiece... The most powerful SHADOW POKEMON in history shall soon be ready!
NASCOUR: Good. I will be waiting for good news. That is all.
(Ein turns to Venus.)
EIN: Now... It is time we returned to the LAB and put on the finishing touches.
(Ein leaves the room, appearing elsewhere. Turning to a Scientist, Ein says...
EIN: Come. Back to the LAB.
> Yes, sir! … before the two walk offscreen.
So, we finally get to see the face behind the files. Yes, this Ein is one and the same as the one who developed the means to produce Shadow Pokemon. Fortunate for us that Ein wasn't a popular name that year. Here's what's confusing: aren't the Shadow Pokemon developed enough as is? They seem to work fine, or are they talking about stopping that whole Purification thing? And "most powerful"? Pah. I'm sure in five years or so, someone else'll come up with something better... oh, wait. I'm supposed to be stopping these guys, right?
Heading back over, we find said antenna house!
And it isn't working! Great! If you talk to the person we're about to speak with before getting the part, he simply says What's the holdup? It should be here by now...
You brought me the POWERUP PART from PERR? Great! I was waiting for that! Huh? Are you... Are you "the" [NAME] and ♀? Oh, wow, this is too awesome! Come on, you have to get inside. Quick, quick!
So, we do. Heading downstairs in the building...
MEGG: Shocking company?
> Try not to be too shocked when you hear it! It's [NAME] and ♀!
MEGG: No! Really?!
NETT: BITT, is that true? Is that [NAME] really here?!
BITT: Heheh. See for yourself.
NETT: Hi. I'm NETT! SECC in PYRITE has told me about what you've been doing so far.
[NAME] handed the POWERUP PART to NETT.
NETT: Oh, this is from PERR. Great, this is all I needed to get the KIDS GRID back up and running again.
Also, running theme of name structure being ABCC. A Shroomish has also set up residence in this basement.
The data says there is a LAB somewhere that makes SHADOW POKEMON.
Hmm... a Shadow Pokemon Lab... didn't we see a lab somewhere else, before being hastily sidetracked from it? Anyway, let's go upstairs and...
MEGG: May I have your P*DA number? We'll contact you just as soon as we discover anything.
[NAME] gave the P*DA to MEGG.
MEGG: Thank you! We'll do our best to gather useful information for you.
Okay, now, let's really head up the stairs. From here, we'll go back to the save poi-
Oh damn. RUN! … Wait, no one's coming. Who could they possibly...
Where are they at...?
When we get over to the lift we came in through...
> Shut up! It's hopeless! Quit struggling!
The spy is escorted into the whatever the heck that thing is, now used as a holding cell.
> Now you be a good boy. Lie still.
The door is still locked, by the way, so no going in through the front. Hm... maybe battling these Cipher Peons is the right idea.
> Who might you be? If you're tourists, you're getting in our way. Go on, scram. {!} Hold on, you two! You're not from around these parts, are you, now? I get it! You came to rescue your pall here! You two are spies, too!
This is a false conclusion to come to. Only a commie would throw such blatantly incorrect accusations to divert attention from herself, and would try to waste the time of Friend Computer.
CIPHER PEON KLOAK, P$1600
Ledian (Lv.40, F, Net Ball)
Spinarak (Lv.38)
Volbeat (Lv.40)
KLOAK: This spy's actually strong!
Spiffy Point: It's quite easy to miss Cipher Peon and to go through the entire game without Snagging the Shadow Ledian, because the solution to contacting the captured spy is to completely avoid the Peons.
Without a second to spare, the other Peon addresses you.
> Don't be too hasty about relaxing! I'm up next!
(Looks the same.)
CIPHER PEON DAGUR, P$1600
Ariados (Lv.38)
Gloom (Lv.39)
Illumise (Lv.40)
DAGUR: How could we lost? The both of us?
DAGUR: We're out of our league against this guy!
The two of them immediately retreat, though the cell remains locked. Coincidentally, the St.Performer in the corner comments:
Oh, wowee! I'm so lucky! I never thought I'd get to see exciting battles from this close!
Instead of battling the Cipher Peons (or after doing so), go to the area where the wall indents into the cell. It is here that the spy will speak with you.
… Nope, don't remember you.
SILVA: I discovered that they were bringing SHADOW POKEMON to PYRITE from here. That's as far as I got when they caught my like this... But I did manage to filch this from them. Here you go.
[NAME] obtained the R-Disk!
I think it's an item that's useful only down here in THE UNDER.
This is the second disk to come into our possession. The first was the F-Disk, which moves the UFO forward. The R disk moves it to the right, which is where that guy said Lady Venus was. Before we head over to her, I figure I should show off what's across the chasm.
You know, a simple bridge would do the job just as fine as this thing, and it wouldn't run the risk of being stuck on one side when you need it...
So, there's this incomprehensible old guy...
Next, is this rather visually-impressive shop. This is the Herb Shop. They sell items marginally cheaper than their Poke Mart counterparts, but are bitter herbs that end up decreasing the Pokemon's happiness stat, an unseen value based on certain actions that only really effects the base power of Frustration (up to 102 base power when minimum happiness) and Return (up to 102 base power when maximum happiness). I rarely use them, to be honest, but feel free to make the case for a hate-mongering Frustration-using Pokemon, if you wish. The problem is, odd as it seems, it's hard to constantly maintain a minimum happiness; things such as simply walking around with them in your party increases happiness.
Herb Shop:
EnergyPowder: P$500, restores 50 HP, reduces happiness.
Energy Root: P$800, restores 200 HP, reduces happiness.
Heal Powder: P$450, restores status, reduces happiness.
Revival Herb: P$500, revives a fainted Pokemon to 100% HP, reduces happiness.
The Revival Herb is the one item that doesn't have a purchasable equivalent; the Max Revive has equal function without a happiness drop, but can only be found, not bought, and the Revive only restores half HP.
And the last, big building directly forward from the UFO is a new Colosseum, the Under Colosseum.
It thrills me even thinking about what new SHADOW POKEMON I'd get to see next.
♀: How do you like that? They openly give out SHADOW POKEMON in this town.
I like it. More loot for the Snag Machine.
YES: Ah, but have no fear. My MAKUHITA here will clean up this spy problem.
NO: Oh, how dull. My MAKUHITA here would have cleaned up the spy problem easily.
Downstairs is locked, so there's nothing worth seeing down there.
The healing machine is crippling weakness #2 for the Grand Hotel, by the way. This lift right here brings us to the surface, and adds a new point to the map; at any time, we can come back to The Under straight through here, instead of needing to head through Pyrite Town's elevator.
To be honest, I'm quite pleased to be getting on with the story once more, but before we continue, I'll be making a detour to the Under Colosseum: it has some rather lovely TM prizes in store for us, so let's go enter all the rounds...
A knockout challenge just ended a short while ago. I will start registering trainers for the next knockout challenge just as soon as Lady VENUS finishes giving out prizes to the winner.
… Or not. Seems like someone has to schedule himself an appointment with Lady Venus. Let's go instead. I'm sure she couldn't possibly be too busy with...
… filming another broadcast. Geez, our timing is atrocious. Alright, it seems that we can't enter the Colosseum battles, so our only choice is to take on Venus. We'll take care of that in the next update, but before I end this one...
Hell yeah. Use a Rare Candy, and regardless of how much EXP is remaining, the Pokemon will instantly jump up to the next level.
____________________________
Soon, we'll be taking on Venus. She, unsurprisingly for a Cipher Admin, also has a Shadow Pokemon that I'll be discussing in a mini-update. Her team is primarily a status-inducing one, of both volatile and nonvolatile conditions. In one of my typical playthroughs, with only three Pokemon on the team as primaries, my Pokemon are at a much higher level than what we're currently dealing with, due to a greater dispersal of EXP.
Shall we train at Mt. Battle some more, earn some more PokeCoupons and EXP, or instead just continue with the story? If the latter, the update may come a bit later than anticipated, simply due to trying not to lose all of my Pokemon while attempting to Snag Venus's.