Part 42: Mount Rose

Hello everyone and welcome back. We've got a lot of ground to cover today so let's not dawdle!



We could go back in the checkpoint but there's no need. Nora is waiting for us back at the Relic Song wall.



: ...they're not here yet. I've been waiting for ages. What if... what if they don't show? What is Reukra l-





: Let's get down to business. You need us to get up the mountain. And we need the shards of the Augur's Crystal. So if we-
: What, no! Absolutely no! We can't do that.
: ...what do you know about the crystal?
: Um... I mean...

Good job Nora. You actually held your tongue for once!



: We just don't want it in Zenith or Persephone's hands. Once it's in your hands- or anyone else's- we can acquire it easily.
: I... okay. We're not pushovers, you know.
: Mhmm. Go, Damian. Disguise yourself. Go through the checkpoint and get this over with.







Time passes.





Looks like Damian came through for us!

: Perfect. That ladder should get you up and down the mountain without having to go through the checkpoint.



Malde starts to walk off, but pauses.

: He was your friend, right? He doesn't talk much anymore. I'm sorry if we've caused you pain. But he's happier now.
: Are... you controlling him? Did he... choose to leave us?









: It... it hurts, but it would be the right thing to do. But it has to be his choice. I need to know if this is what he wants. I can't just abandon him. I swear I'm going to find him and I will get him to talk. But for now...



: ...on another note, I desperately need a better closing one-liner.



Poor Nora, she's taking the Damian stuff awful hard. And Malde's closing words are interesting. He's a villain, sure, but unlike most of the rest of the villains in this game, he doesn't appear to be evil.



The ladder actually takes us to Mount Rose proper. It takes me a few minutes to realize this.



We can take the path back down the mountain and get on the other side of the checkpoint but there's no reason to.



Yeah, best if we don't clue Zenith in to the fact that we're coming for him.



Back on the other side of the checkpoint, there's some items to find at Mt. Rose's base.



95 power, 100 accuracy, 10% poison chance? Mmmm...





Told you there wasn't much down here. Though I actually use this one in the next update to bridge a gap. If you need just a single level on a pokemon to, say, evolve then the level trainer is kinda imprecise.



The wiki's description of where this item is, is worthless. I actually had to open up RPG Maker's map to find this one.



Anyway, that's all that's worth finding down there.



This is a surprisingly large route.



This guy is as good a starting point as any other.





Plusle, Minun, and Pachirisu isn't a very well constructed team.









Soon... soon.



Despite the route being somewhat large, we're already at the end of it.



So before we leave, let's drop by the hidden grotto.













Delta Phantump is pure Fairy-type, while Trevenant is Fairy/Fighting. Both have Snow Warning (The Pokemon summons a hailstorm when it enters a battle), Overcoat (Protects the Pokemon from things like sand, hail and powder), and Snow Cloak (Hidden; Boosts evasion in a hailstorm) abilities. I don't get why it's ice-themed, but okay. Whatever!

It's an alright pokemon, at least. It actually learns Sacred Sword by level up! So if you somehow don't have a good fighting type by this point, D. Trevenant could fit the bill nicely. Like I said in the thread, I won't be using her because Gateau and Centaurion both fill those roles in the team already.





A fitting name for a guardian forest spirit.



Anyway, back to this fellow.







Well the good news is, we're a quarter of the way done with Mt. Rose. The bad news is we still gotta actually climb the mountain.





I'm sure there's stuff hidden in here, but I don't particularly care. According to the wiki, somewhere in here is a Shiny Ball, which is a Master Ball but for shinies.

an art piece!







Will-o-Wisp should be 100% accuracy with fire types. It's a shame it isn't.

opponent.





I don't wanna be in tune with a man who stands around in a cave in his socks.



That rock climb wall probably has the Shiny Ball.

definitely the most mysterious!





Uh, thanks.



here in Torren!

Shit, you're the Champion?





Does that mean I'm the Champion now?



Halfway up!





That's Diana, the 6th Gym Leader. You know, Persephone's sister.

: ... ... ...



: Calreath? What? Shouldn't you be at work?
: I'd like to be, but the people of Amphitrite sort of have a different plan for my life nowadays. There's no time to explain. I've already seen the people of Selene City eyeing me, too. They must have seen the broadcast Zenith put out.
: I, uh, okay. Let's get going, then.



Darkrai?







Persephone really needs to get a hobby that doesn't involve the Lord of Nightmares.

: I KNEW Darkrai was following my awful sister around. I KNEW she was luring it in somehow.



Hahahahahahahaha. Oh my god. More and more the text of this game keeps supporting the theory that Persephone is completely worthless. Like, I didn't edit that text. That's the actual text in the game.



: There's got to be something else going on. What does Diana have that I don't? What does Diana have that I don't that Darkrai is after? Doesn't matter. I'm going to tail them. I'm going to bring her to justice for what she did to me.





No map for this one because it's an extremely linear path.

Spectacular, innit?





Aaaaanytime.



Poor kid.



They do a pretty good job communicating that you're really high up.















Uh...? The specific way this is worded makes it feel like it's a reference to something.





So you're not a stockbroker?





Allow me to present to you a short essay on why I love Centaurion.



A single Bulk Up, so +1 stage to Attack and Defense.



Speed Down x2





And now we're suddenly at Stage 5 Attack.



Attack and SpAtk lowered by 1 stage each and then Pangoro switches out. Except Pangoro is his last pokemon.



First his attack went up by a stage because of the attack reduction. Then the attack was reduced because I don't think Defiant quite works right in Essentials. Then attack went up again because of the SpAtk reduction.

Then Centaurion used his 75 power Drain Punch, plus his sky high attack (212), plus the 4x attack stat increase (848 effective), plus Pangoro's 2x weakness to fighting to completely erase it from existence. According to a calculator I found, and making some assumptions about how much defense that Pangoro had...



Giving it the benefit of the doubt, I'm assuming 120 defense at level 73. I don't know for sure, but it's in the middle of the expected range between 50 and 100. It may even be on the high side, I don't know.

The point is... look at those numbers. Also the calculations were made using Centaurion's stats from last update, so they're even higher now.



And in case you were curious, here's the math on Acrobatics.

Either of them is enough damage to one shot anything in the game. Centaurion is awesome, y'all.





The other side of this purple design thingy is an Abomasite.









I asked in the Insurgence discord chat while recording. That Salamence isn't hard coded to be shiny. I just had the worst possible luck.



Fuck you and your shiny Salamence.



Nearly done. One more cave! As a bonus, it's also extremely linear.









My dude we're both at the summit of a volcano. There's wild ice-type pokemon in the cave all around us. Why are you talking to me about sailing?

challenge!







And we're done!

Brick Break, an escape rope, and Jirachi are all behind that Relic Song wall. I'm not really sure why Brick Break is a postgame TM.





Deyraan Town is one of the last cities in the region. I think after this, there's only a handful more we haven't been to.

nobody is happy here.

I've always said there's two kinds of people in the world... those that like snow and those that have to deal with it.



We steal this poor Haunter's TM.





The people of Deyraan are firmly in the "have to deal with snow" category.



Yes?





Thanks.

crater.



crater too.

So Calreath and Diana are both here already.

past month.

never grow.



Ouch.



ruin, covered in moss.



You want it? I have a Delta Geodude in my PC.







Didn't Calreath say he grew up with Vesryn? This game's timeline is screwy.





Rain.







We'll be putting at least one of these to use next time.



I think this guy is talking about that jackpot of gold we found under a tree.





I like to read this as wholesome instead of creepy. He's an artist trying to boost a small girl's self confidence.





Dude go talk to Xavier. Bug pokemon are awesome.







Um, okay.



Sweet.



Tempting, but no thanks.







I'm so judging you. Hanging out in a room with 7 Gible is not a normal thing to do.

kinda useless.





The next town in particular is gonna have a lot of people talking about the lack of 8th badge in the region. The next town is also the "gateway" to the pokemon league, so it's understandable.





Neat.



So let's end off here.

NEXT TIME: We put an end to the Infernal Cult. It's gonna be one hell of a showdown. Don't miss it!