Part 35: The Dragon Ruins

Hello everyone and welcome back. 45 hours in and we've got 6 badges now. That's not too shabby at all!



Let's start off by stuffing Leopold into a drawer. In any other pokemon game, he would be a welcome addition to the team because it's not often you see a Volbeat above level 65. Sadly, this is Insurgence and he's just not up to snuff for a game this hard.



Centaurion on the other hand? Now that's a pokemon you can set your watch to!





Oh right. I forgot to turn on Constant Daytime after last time.



You may remember that at the end of the previous update, we saw Taen waltzing his way over here. We should probably see what he's up to and maybe put a stop to it.







I can't begin to imagine what this is referencing.



The Dragon Ruins are probably one of my least favorite locations in the entire game.



Just look at it. It's a tedious maze with an obnoxiously high encounter rate, and we have to come back here multiple times.



This sign sits here until we deal with Taen at the end of the maze.





I'd try to provide a walkthrough on how to move through it, but it's basically just blindly guessing. The dead ends are mercifully only a short way from where the path splits.



I'm sure I picked this up last time I played, but I have no memory of this move. According to Bulbapedia, it not only inflicts burn, but if it burns a grass type, it burns everything on the team that's weak to fire.



This is over above the exit. It's basically Dragon-type Quick Attack. 40 power is kinda weak when the average trainer level on the next route is 67.







There's a ton of items, both hidden and lying in the open, all over the ruins. The ones I'm showing off here aren't even a comprehensive list. They're just the ones I saw on my way through the maze.



This water bit here is as close to anything else as the halfway point.



If we didn't have Centaurion, this would be a welcome find. As it stands, he's the only one on our team who can even learn it.







I didn't even intend to pick this one up. I didn't even realize it was here! Turned a corner, fatfingered the use button, and found an item.



And we're finally at the end of the maze.



By the way, that's Delta Metagrossite, and we can't get it until the postgame. Just thought you should know.







: This is the moment of my triumph. Every time I've failed, you were there to witness it. Now that our experiment with armor failed, you might think we're running out of ideas.

dragon?

Hope you're all ready for some lore!

: Legend speaks of a gargantuan dragon that once reigned over all of Unova. Its power was supervised by two brothers- the princes of the region. However, these brothers constantly fought over their beliefs. One seeked truth, one strove for ideals, and- finding no middle ground- they split the great dragon into three.

Dragon's empty husk.

: This ruin is very, very ancient. While the Dragon did rule in Unova, the war between the brothers was in Torren. In fact, the great splitting was at this very spot. A shrine was built here in the hopes that one day, the Dragon might be formed once again and bring peace to the land.



: ...the Perfection Cult was left to me. It was difficult- I needed three different legendary pokemon- but I succeeded.



: It represented opposing beliefs finding neutral ground and working together. The idea of harmony... and of perfection. Once we summon this creature, we'll be unstoppable. The only thing left is to begin.



: It's time to return to your origins! Join together, and become whole once more!





: Emerge... the great Namehere!

Wait, what?



: Uh, what did you say?
: ...maybe you didn't hear me, dragon.



Hahahahaha.

: ...



: Yeah, why?
: I'm pretty sure you're reading that wrong.

"Namehere".



Pictured: Amy staring at Nora.

: It's probably a placeholder.
: Oh. Huh. That's what the perantheses are for. But hold on... that's impossible!



: The only names that survived were Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem... How are we supposed to bring it back, then?

that's not happening.

: I'll find that name. I'll search every scroll, text, or book until I learn it. But for now...









The game is under the impression this is supposed to be a difficult battle. It's still much the same battle as it ever was.





The game also includes Nora's full team as well.



I actually feel bad for her, because Beeisel is our first one out and three members of her team have a pretty crippling weakness to our engine bee's indescriminate Lava Plumes.





As such.



Nora sends out Flygon for reasons I can only guess at.



This is not her battle, sadly. Salamence's Outrage one shots it before Lava Plume can start doing damage.





Mega Typhlosion looks stupid.



Poor Nora. This battle is going about as badly as it possibly can go for her.



Naturally.



Beeisel headbutts the Typhlosion while Celebi starts Psychic-bombing Salamence.



Ow.





Beeisel and Celebi manage to bring down Typhlosion, while an Outrage-confused Salamence takes itself out.



Sure, whatever. I don't think Guts is gonna help in this situation.





Kyurem finishes off Beeisel with Focus Blast. Celebi's psychic knocked Luxray into critical HP, and its self-infliced poison will finish off the electric cat.



But before it goes down, it hits Celebi with a Guts-boosted Crunch.



The danger to Flamenco is gone with Luxray out of the picture, and now Kyurem is facing down two fairies.



Metagross comes back out, but it's not a problem.



Sure Hammer Arm is not ideal for Flamenco, but...



Dammit Nora, all you had to do was hit it slightly harder than that.



Kyurem is hanging on by a thread, and Metagross is in critical.



Flamenco Moonblasts Kyurem into next week.



Nora what are you doing?



Thankfully Meteor Mash misses whatever Metagross was aiming at.



I'm surrounded by idiots. Metagross aimed Bullet Punch at Florges instead of the larger threat.



Metagross was the last member of Taen's team with fighting moves, so Flamenco is mostly safe from Armor-Zekrom.



Fair. Florges smacked it pretty hard with Dazzling Gleam.



Fancy comes out to show Taen why it's a bad idea to be an Electric-type around the Death Elephant.





Florges could probably easily solo Zekrom.



Fancy should get more XP from that, because she brought down both Florges and Zekrom. And, yes, I just team killed two members of Nora's team.





You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.



Taen is having a very bad day.

: The ritual was't done yet! Get back together!



Zekrom fucks off completely

: Reshiram!





While Reshiram returns to Orion. Taen is having a really bad day.

: This isn't the end of this. I'll bide my time. You better hold on tight to your friend, child, because once I find that name...



Big man yelling threats at 10 year olds.



Pretty sure this is Orion speaking.

: I'm glad nobody knows, but I can't help but wondering... What was the name of that dragon?
: Well, I have a theory. It's probably wrong, but...



: It's what was left after Reshiram and Zekrom split from it. And there's the fact that the fusions are called Kyurem-White and Kyurem-Black...





: There was a page that talked about the legendary trio. Reshi- was a prefix that meant truth, Zek- was a prefix that meant ideals. Nobody really agrees on what Kyu- means, but most translations believe it's "whole" or "complete". I never really questioned how little sense that made.



: Taen said that the original dragon was perfect- a symbol of different beliefs working together.



: ...wow. I never thought of that.
: Yeah. It's just a theory though.

Rare footage of Nora at the Trainer School.

: Amy... the Infernal Cult said they were in the mountains, right? We have to go after them. If we strike them before they strike us, maybe we can have a chance.



: Your Mew can transform into anything it has the DNA of, right? That's how you used Shaymin's ability to get around, even though you didn't actually have it. Why don't you take this? It's a hair from Celebi's head.

transform and use the Tesseract ability outside of battle.



objects through time.

: It's a lot less complicated than it sounds. Just make sure you're close to the rip! Best of luck!



: For helping me out... and Reshiram, too. If you need anything, like to train or something, just let me know, OK? I'd be glad to give you a hand.





Now that we have Tesseract, we can get all sorts of stuff. So let's end this update with a montage!



A few ledges down, we find one of those rips that Nora was talking about.

















Delta Bergmite is pure Rock-type, while Delta Avalugg is Rock/Dragon. Both have Solid Rock (Reduces damage from supereffective attacks), Battle Armor (Protects the Pokemon from critical hit), and Sand Stream (Hidden; The Pokemon summons a sandstorm in battle).

Avalugg has an already incomprehensible base defense of 184, but now it's got rock typing to go along with it. If Beeisel is a tank, then Avalugg is a fortress. Here's the problem, that fortress has six weaknesses. Normal Avalugg is kinda terrible already, and it only has four. Its defensive abilities can only go so far, and even despite its impressive physical defense, it pretty much falls over as soon as something special-inclined looks its way.





Hard pass on using it, personally. For laughs, I trained one up in my first game and at level 73, it had over 300 defense.



We can continue on, but let's backtrack first.



Now that we've beaten Taen in the Dragon Ruins, several things have opend up including this sidequest.









up the mountain for all I know.

Both statements are actually true. One piece is further ahead in the story, and the other is where you might expect stolen merchandise to turn up.





Hell yeah I'm interested!



You can probably already guess what this upgrade is going to be if the PikaTaxi already replaced Fly.



We're really deep in the Fiery Caverns when our phone buzzes.







This next bit actually unlocked as soon as we beat Diana, but it had a minimum step count first. We'll be taking care of that in a moment.





I love that the past is sepia-toned.





If we follow the path around, we soon arrive at a ladder we haven't seen before.







No points for guessing what this is.







My names are getting better I think.



I'm way back in Midna Town (with the trainer school) to get something else when I accidentally find a TM I forgot to grab way earlier in the game.



I thought maybe we could Tesseract up there, but nope. Still can't do anything with these gold statues for a while yet.



The Ancient Ruins, on the other hand...



I described this guy a good 27 updates ago. He was one of the first Delta pokemon I ever profiled.





TLDR: He's not very good.



Pity we can't tell this poor fellow that the Fiery Caverns don't have anymore cultists.



Gateau and the pumpkin wooper have some more company!



We're not gonna be doing any level grinding quite yet, but the 6th badge lets us use level 80 Audino. We won't be approaching level 80 until the final battle against the Infernal Cult, still a fairly decent ways away from here.



While returning to the broadcast tower, I remember this guy from a long time ago.









Delta Aipom, if you remember, is very average. It would be a lot better if it had its hidden ability, Technician.





I wasn't paying attention at the time or I'd have named her Wrinkly instead.



You know what, that's probably a good place for her. Now into the broadcast tower!



around.





A ruin?



Oh.







This pyramid is a very small and simple maze. It's actually a preview of a location we won't be seeing until we're really deep in the postgame!



A little wandering around and the pokemon ambushes us.















This is Delta Solosis, and it's Ghost/Rock type. All three members of its line have Levitate (Ignore ground moves), Cursed Body (May disable a move used on the Pokemon), and Intimidate (Hidden; Cuts attack by 1 stage when it comes out) as abilities. It's... okay, I guess.

Delta Reuniclus has 125 base SpAtk, but mostly learns status moves. It only has 65 base attack, but learns 7 physical moves to its 9 status moves and 4 special moves. It has impressive stats, but its move set is so confused that I have no fucking idea what's going on.





I asked on twitter and this was the first response I got. I think the name works pretty nicely!





we do, we'll be sure to call you again!

Pleasure doing business with you guys!



Let's end the update here, actually. I don't want this to run on too long.

NEXT TIME: Into the Ancient Tower!