Part 4: Fighting Off Foes

Ransei



...!

Ah, Azai. I'm sorry to turn up out of the blue like this, but I'd like to ask you a favor. From what I've seen, the Pokemon really seem to take a shine to you. So I was thinking I'd find it easier to meet some on my travels if I were with you.



Oh, and it's not just me actually. I have a friend who feels the same way...

Azai... I've seen you fight. You're good. And Ransei is under threat from this dark wave of evil. I want to watch you resist against it. Firsthand.

Lord Azai, these are two of Ransei's most famous Warriors... This is a real endorsement of your leadership!





This is one way to start off an update! That password last update was for this pretty special event that lets you recruit Motonari and Motochika completely free! This is actually a Wi-Fi event, but unlike the main series where they're impossible to get now, these Wi-Fi events were always available as in-game passwords long after the event itself ended naturally. There's a few more events like this, but only one other is actually worth your time.



Alright, this month is us going against Pugilis, so let's do a few things beforehand, like recruitment and links!



Unless something crazy happens in the battle itself, I'll only be showing this off.


"similar by any chance?"

That's 2 more warriors crossed off the list. Many more to go!



Oh go on then, since I'm here.

Very well! This place produces a strange energy, see--one that summons wild Pokemon to the area for a period of one month! You should use the Power Plant if you want to strengthen your link with your partner Pokemon or if you want to summon some shy Pokemon that are difficult to meet! Use it wisely, okay?



Hrmmm, sounds pretty useful, let's give it a try.



What did it change?



Uh, does it only apply after a month has passed? Or is it too early for the plant to affect anything? Well whatever, it'll be more useful later on.



Let's get this guy.

Ravine



While Flame Burst is pretty meh if you don't hit the Pokemon dead on, Electro Ball could do a lot of damage depending on how much faster you are.



See where I'm screwing up? Joltik here is Yasutomo's Perfect Link. Now I check Perfect Links at the start of the month and I really should've double checked to make sure, but I don't believe I planned this at all. I think I'm just registering Yasutomo, so this is random chance. Do I realise it's the Perfect Link, even with the gold symbol staring me in the face? Do I fuck.



See, I do Ujichika! What the hell am I doing?



Linking with this Joltik would've been REALLY helpful to focus on the Pansear, but it kept getting in the way.



So we end the battle on turn 6. Drat. I'll go over Ujihiro when we (hopefully) encounter him again. And we'll need to find another Joltik. Oh well, slip ups like this are gonna happen, I can guarantee it!



Let's forget all about what just happened and go fight Fighting types with 2 Normal types. Yeah!

Invasion



I've been waiting for you.

Waiting? What do you-?

The so-called Warlords of this area are pathetic weaklings. Invading their kingdoms would be no fun at all. Something does seem to be kicking off in the north... But that's still far away. And now you're here. I think this could be the most fun I've had in years!

VS Pugilis




Ooh, we've got banners again, but with a twist! The twist is not that great.



So to make the 5 turns trickier, if you're standing on the ring's edge, you'll get knocked down into the pit below if you get hit by an attack. This is gonna be pretty tough... for the AI. They cannot handle this system at all and it is stupidly easy to manipulate.



As you'd expect with banners, the AI is beelining for them immediately. Having 2 levitators on our team means we're not so congested.



2. Oh yeah, I suppose I should mention the Ralts and Chingling. The big reason for doing the event is that Motonari comes with a Ralts and Motochika comes with a Chingling, two Pokemon we won't be encountering for a little bit. This makes them perfect candidates to make Pugilis much easier, especially if you're having a hard time. It'll just be for this fight, they'll be back to their Perfect Links of Snivy and Oshawott before long.



Excellent AI tactics there. I'm not sure if the order they move is set, or if it's random each turn.




Alright, the banners have been claimed, now we need to deal with those on it before the others start pushing our faces in.



Not if you have something better to do next month you won't.



It is a super bad idea to let Jigglypuff, or even Eevee, really, fight in this battle. So Eevee will snipe opponents off the ledge, while Jigglypuff will ring the Fight Bell, which increases everyone's Attack. I've never seen the AI use their bell on the opposite side. Ever.




Shimazu Yoshihiro was the second son of Shimazu Takahisa and was a skilled general during the Sengoku period. While pressured to surrender against Hideyoshi by his older brother, Shimazu Yoshihisa (not in this game), Yoshihiro held power in the clan despite his brother at the head. He was unable to stop the might of Hideyoshi, so while under him Yoshihiro was instrumental in the Battle of Sacheon, defeating a force of 37k with just 7000.



Niiro Tadamoto was a retainer of Yoshihiro's brother.



Shimazu Toshihisa was Yoshihiro's younger brother and served as senior retainer of the Shimazu Clan. He was a commander when Hideyoshi invaded Kyushu.



Kimotsuki Kanemori was a retainer of Yoshihiro's brother. Weird they have two of his retainers, but not himself.



Shimazu Tadatsune was Yoshihiro's third son and succeeded him as daimyō of Satsuna. As a powerful lord, he formally submitted to Tokugawa Ieyasu, becoming part of the extended family and fought alongside his father in the invasion of Korea.



Confusion's long range is real nice, letting you hit Pokemon on banners while you stand on your banner.




Alright, Pansage and Timburr should just stand on the banner.



Well one out of two ain't bad, but damn that Timburr hits hard. Thankfully Eevee is pretty light. Confusion is an interesting status, there's a chance that your Pokemon will just perform its turn by itself, like it was an AI opponent. It can be a bit annoying.



Down you go.



Goddamn Darumaka you're amazing.



Oh yeah, I forgot to ring the bell at the start of the turn. That makes Darumaka even more impressive.



We've got the centre stage under our control, so now we need the banners.



Only 3 uses of the bell and then it's gone. And now we have all 4 banners.



Not knowing whether you're going to win or lose--that's the true thrill of the battlefield!



Uh, okay?




Now we need to defend, which is gonna be tricky when Yoshihiro finally arrives.



Ahhhhhh jesus. Now imagine if that had been on Eevee.



Now we're past turn 4 we need to knock out everyone with either Ralts or Chingling. Should be easy enough.



Oh god.



So long as you're healed by next month, it's all cool.



Now you might think I'm losing it, but I need Motochika to take out Gurdurr and his warrior skill will let me net the kill.[/i]



Oh yeah, Ralts gets that ability. Might've been more useful to use it earlier in the turn then, whoops!



...did you just leave him on 1 health?



You motherfucker.



Motherfucker!!!



Okay, we can breathe a bit easier now. Recruiting Yoshihiro is absolutely something you want to do.



Ow




We even managed to recruit the last guy on the last turn! And since we already have every banner, the battle automatically ends.

Victory!



Absolutely flawless.

Long Day



You are a worthy winner. But this is all part of the rich tapestry of battle. Victory tastes all the sweeter once you have known the bitterness of defeat. Anyway, congratulations. You won a battle that will be talked about for years to come.



Another kingdom down!



Are you always this pleased with yourselves?

...Ah!

Surely you are aware of the crisis facing Ransei as we speak...

Looming



Nobunaga, who had been gathering his forces in the north of Ransei, had conquered eight kingdoms himself. Just two kingdoms remained:



Terrera, under Shingen's command, and Illusio, Kenshin's kingdom. Both were renowned throughout Ransei as Warlords of great strength. Indeed, even Nobunaga himself was said to fear them...

Long Day



So do I have to say what we're all thinking? ...I guess I do. Azai, you've got to get Shingen and Kenshin on your side. There are no other options...

...

Ransei



It sounds like there's just 2 kingdoms left before Nobunaga. Maybe they'll be nice and easy so we can take them over no problem?






... Okay, we're not ready! Like at all.



Hey look, it's a shiny Perfect Link, let's ignore our impending doom and have some fun!




Well that was fun, who's next?



Another Perfect Link, yaaaaaaaaay Perfect Links!



And another one. Woo, yay, fun.



Uhhh... oh! Here's something interesting, our first Warlord in the wild. You can tell a Warlord is in a kingdom by a gold person shape on the region map. Let's get Muneshige.

Garden



The Sky Gardens look really cool and have jump pads, something we'll be seeing more of later.



Wheeeeeeee. As we get more and more Perfect Links I'll be prioritising using them in battle, since we should train them up.




Feels a bit mean ganging up on a Pichu.



Oh this is just the beginning. You thought Darumaka was strong, how about a Fighting type in a gen where Fighting was crazy good along with a Warlord with real high Power? Now that's strong.




Good job team.

Ransei



We'll be sure to train up Muneshige, since Starly would be a lot better evolved. ...alright we're out to things to do, let's fight the really strong scary guys.



Kenshin's army has lots of Warriors who are partnered with Psychic-type Pokemon... And they're all pretty skilful. We mustn't let our guard down!



Shingen's army has Ground-type Pokemon... And Warriors partnered with all sorts of other Pokemon, too. There's no doubt about it--we're in for a tough fight.



Uh yeah, we're totally ready to fight Illusio. Now you can only fight one of Kenshin or Shingen, so you might be thinking it's time for a vote? Nah, since I've got savestates we'll be taking on Illusio in the LP officially and then fight Shingen afterwards, before going back to the true file.

Invasion



Alas... Your abilities are not yet comparable to mine. It would not be wise for me to indulge the request of one so weak.



Should you truly wish to face him in battle, you must grow stronger first.

...!

Wh-What?

Long Day



What are we going to do, Lord Azai? While we're wasting time here, Nobunaga is probably...

...?!

Lord Azai! Warriors from Illusio are attacking our kingdom!

...!

Invasion



The one who so unwisely attempted to invade Illusio... Enthusiasm is meaningless if you do not have the requisite talent, after all. I am here to measure the extent of your strength. To see whether you would really be a match for Kenshin...

VS Chrysalia




What a twist, we're defending the kingdom we initiated the attack from. Due to the map connections this can happen in either Chrysalia or Pugilis.



Regardless if you're attacking or defending, the victory conditions are the same for a kingdom, so you'll still have to control the banners for 5 turns in Pugilis. And since they're invading, the opponents get to move first. Also, you might have noticed something...



We're on the side Yoshimoto was on! This applies to all maps in the game when you're defending and it's really cool.



So who are we fighting against? Lady Aya, or Aya-Gozen, was the half-sister of Uesugi Kenshin and mother of Uesugi Kagekatsu. -gozen in an honorary suffix, as unless you were a male government figure, you didn't have a surname. Women did get surnames, like with Ginchiyo, if they became head of their clan for whatever reason. Otherwise common people and women just had the one name. She recommended Naoe Kanetsugu serve under Kagekatsu.



Naoe Kanetsugu was a samurai that served under two Uesugi daimyōs, Uesugi Kenshin and Uesugi Kagekatsu. He served first as a koshō (page, or servant) to Kenshin and rose through the ranks to become an outstanding commander, dictating what the Uesugi clan should do against the Tokugawa clan, before they were eventually overwhelmed and surrendered.



Uesugi Kagekatsu was a daimyō and samurai, succeeding Kenshin after his death after defeating his adopted son, Uesugi Kagetora, for the inheritance. He married Takeda Shingen's daughter and became a powerful general under Hideyoshi. He was also the first to plot against Tokugawa Ieyasu, in part by allying himself with Ishida Mitsunari.



Kojima Yatarō was a samurai under Kenshin and was one of his leading generals, his ferocity in combat giving him the nickname Demon Kojima. He also wore a grinning oni helmet and wielded a kanabō, a spiked club associated with oni, furthering his reputation as The Ogre as he was sometimes called.



Osen no kata was wife of Naoe Nobutsuna and then later Naoe Kanetsugu. There's more on the JP wiki.



Cheeky bit of back and forth.



Alright, let's take out the Kirlia this turn.



Ah but of course.



Well that is pretty annoying, but thankfully the AI uses their healing skills the moment they've taken damage, or when they're close enough to fainting that they might not get a chance to use it.



Don't jinx it you prick!



Let's focus on the Drilbur on this side, I feel like it could be a problem.



Okay we might be in trouble here.



Like a lot of trouble.




Finally Darumaka is freed, but why did you Lullaby the Abra??? Gahhhhhh. While you might remember some of the locations of the fences from the first time you fought in this kingdom, having the map flipped around will trip you up.



Chop chop.



Oh goody, Freeze. Your Pokemon can't do anything, but thankfully your Warrior can if you need to cure it, or use a very useful healing skill that everyone could really use.



Pfft, whatever.



Well fuck me I guess, jesus christ on a shitting stick.



Keep us alive magic girl!



I brought Oshawott to help fight the Drilbur, but all it did was get caught in fencing and die to Dig. Dig, by the way, is a terrifying move that will snipe your Pokemon without them being able to stop it happening. I forgot how dangerous Dig was in this game, so I'm gonna prioritise it next time.




This guy is really annoying me.



We are kinda winning, but it's been an uphill struggle, let's be honest.



Another battle where Darumaka was cruelly screwed over destroying everything.



Get outta here.



So yeah, that did comparable damage to Gurdurr with +1 Attack. Do not sleep around Dig.



All that's left is the Drilbur and the Abra. And let's be honest I'm not counting the Abra as an actual opponent.



I am getting my ass kicked.



There we go, my strategy of leaving the most dangerous enemy until last worked flawlessly.




Oh yeah, my Warrior Skill. Woo range.

Victory!



Definitely a toughie, but that's because the map is fuckin BULLSHIT

Long Day



The love you feel towards your Pokemon is plain to see. Now, you are strong enough... I believe dear Kenshin will agree to do battle with you. I, for one, am looking forward to it.



But you saved the day, Lord Azai! Lord Azai...?

...!!

Warlord Evolved



...huh. That's new.

Intrigue



Azai... You look... What on earth...?! Are you...? Is this...? Warrior transformation...?! I remember hearing about this... Much like Pokemon can evolve... Warriors are capable of transforming! I have only heard of a few instances of this ever happening before in all of Ransei. But legend has it that Warriors become much more powerful when they transform! Maybe now you'll be strong enough to take on Shingen and Kenshin, Lord Azai!



Sure, human evolution. Seems legit. We'll be going more into our newfound power next update when we take on both Kenshin and Shingen.