Part 19: The Jade Tower

Hello everyone. I don't want to build this up more than I have, but this is one of those updates that I've been thinking about awful hard. Whenever you start a LP there's always a That Section that you have to work out the logistics of showing off. I'll get into this more later on, but for now just remember that this whole update has been one I've given no small amount of thought.



So let's start off on the right foot.



Up the fan and...





We're in the Jade Tower now. If not for the blockade of Sky Cult grunts, we could leave via the front exit and be back in Helios City.



They won't budge and we can't make them. That's why this section is particularly galling for backtracking.









And now the problems start.







Don't do this to me Thundervolt.









Don't do this to me Thundervolt!



That's it, now I'm mad.





I'm sorry to say that we have a turncoat in our midst. So now we need to retreat all the fucking way back to the pokecenter so I can take care of this... problem.



I don't abide traitors. Thundervolt gets moved to the Benchwarmers, and the next time I play I'm making an actual SHAME BOX for her to live in by herself.



This is actually a blessing in disguise, because this lets me prepare for the upcoming boss fights. Thundervolt was a key component of my strategy, but she proved she couldn't be trusted. So on short notice I need another electric type.



One with a proven track record.



A true hero.



A few minutes later, she gets her Light Ball and is now an extremely deadly glass cannon. 138 SpAtk is pretty damn good and puts her, if not on par, then ahead of the curve with regards to the rest of the team.



Her moves really haven't changed since the last time we saw her. If I'm not mistaken, Double Team got replaced with Agility in order to coax a little more damage out of Electro Ball.





Thundervolt's betrayal was well timed at least. That last Sky Cult grunt was the last trash trainer in the place. After him it's a straight shot to the gym leader. Does anyone else think that's a weird sentence?



If you're playing along I strongly urge you to drop your save here. The point of no return for this dungeon is just beyond those medical cabinets. There's a PC here if you need to swap out your team, but there's no Nurse Joy or Chansey here. So be sure you're fully healed up and ready to go once you step past that boundary.





summoning Rayquaza!





The man talking is East, the 3rd gym leader. I didn't bother making him a portrait.

: Well, well, well. Isn't this a sight for sore eyes? Is that Damian and Amy, from Telnor Town?



very own Sky-themed Gym Leader.

: He excels in both Dragon and Flying types.
: N-no sir... we're here because... because...







: That is a serious problem. You're positive about this? Are you sure you heard what they said correctly?

pick now.

Why do I have the strangest feeling we're way out of our depth here?

: I hope this wouldn't have to happen... but what's done is done.





: H-huh? What's going on?







: Yo... your cultists? What do you mean?



Show of hands, who's surprised?

obvious.





Villain monologue, so skipping through the fluff bits.







: The Augur was strong, but he was a coward. He wasn't able to do what was necessary to keep the region safe.





So wait... he crowned himself Augur in order to cure the cultist problem plaguing Torren? By himself being the leader of a cult that got introduced 2 updates ago? WHAT?

: You'll never get away with this, you monster!

got all of Torren on my side.

: That's why I can't let you two blab about my true identity. Realistically, nobody would believe you, but it's a risk I can't take.



omniscient, and omnipotent.



















There's so much fucked up going on in those past few sentences that I don't even know where to start.

enjoy every second of it.

: What? What has Amy done to you?
: Oh, she won't remember. She's forgotten nearly everything.

Cult!

Poor Damian's worldview is coming crashing down around him. Don't forget that he idolized Jaern. The Second Augur, as far as Damian is concerned, hung the moon and walks on water.

: Fair point. It would be hypocritical to sacrifice you after talking about a utopia, wouldn't it? Amy, in the spirit of fairness, I will give you a fighting chance.

Any other villain wouldn't give a shit. Jaern is kind of a moron.





And now you know why I didn't bother making a portrait for East.

chance.



orders were given.



By the way, that extremely long cutscene before? You have to sit through that every time you fail this battle. So don't fuck up.



Here's East's team in case you wanted to know. It's seriously not a problem because my team is extremely badass. We got this shit covered with Noel. Though if you don't have a badass Christmas Fairy, this is a really fucking hard battle.



East starts off with Steel/Flying and I have a living, flaming chandelier.



Don't forget that Sparky has the highest SpAtk on the team. So he one shots the Skarmory.



Kingdra used to have no weaknesses. Water/Dragon is a very bullshit type combination. Or it used to be.



Pop quiz time... who knows how Freeze Dry works? According to Bulbapedia...


Freeze Dry is an ice type move that hits supereffective against water. So now I have an ice move that hits Kingdra for 4x Supereffective. The game even plays the little "overkill" sound that only plays when you smash a weakness like that.





Dragon/Flying... meet Ice STAB 4x Supereffective.







East tried to draw the fight out longer.



I guess he forgot that the only reason Noivern survived the first time was the Focus Sash.



Janine is here to take care of Talonflame.





Er... nevermind.



I meant Fancy!







Rock hits Fire/Flying for 4x Supereffective. Fancy can't miss with Rollout and has already doubled its damage with Defense Curl.





Altaria is East's ace. It's still Flying/Dragon and Noel can smash that weakness with ice attacks.





The sprite work on these mega evolutions really doesn't work.



I have to hand it to Mega Altaria, though! Even with a 4x weakness to Noel's primary type, it "only" took 2/3 of its HP in damage instead of being one shot outright.



Cotton Guard might have worked better had Freeze Dry not been a special move.



Ground/Flying. Still a 4x weakness to Ice.





Sorry about this, East. It's nothing personal, but the Augur's orders were given.



: I'm disappointed, East. I'd love to change my mind and save you, but I can't.



: I'm sorry- and farewell.



Confirmed Deaths: 4







Oh good. Jaern is completely bugfuck insane.

: East's sacrifice was not in vain, especially now that I can use him to summon Rayquaza. You can follow me to the roof, if you want.

twice.











: The Augur... he lied? Everything I was taught, everything I grew up believing... How the Augur fought against the cults and was the hero of the nation... that was a lie? I don't know how to feel about this...

Poor kid.





Just past the gym battle platform we find a much needed healing break.





: It's a beautiful crystal, isn't it?

Augur for as long as I can remember.

finding out.

this crystal is capable of.



: Any kind of magic-based action, such as a spell or a pokemon attack, requires two things: a focus, and energy.

No don't you dare.

directs it to do something.





This is something literally nobody was asking about and the writer felt the need to explain anyway.





: As near as I can tell, this crystal is a limitless source of energy. It contains the power of a thousand suns- maybe more.





I don't think that's true... like, at all. Could it be that he was just a really strong trainer and there was no mystical mumbo jumbo nonsense?

: Now, it's my turn to put this great gift to good use.







So yeah, Jaern has completely gone off the deep end.









: Together, the world can be ours...





: And as for you, Amy... I should have dealt with you in Telnor Town when I had the chance.













So like I was talking about way back at the start of the update, this has been something I've been thinking about a lot. This battle is the first major roadblock in the game. I've said before that Pokemon Insurgence is extremely hard, and except for the second gym leader kicking my teeth in, the game hasn't lived up to the hype.



I spent a lot of time thinking about this battle in particular, about all the different ways I could approach it... what I could possibly do in order to make it not an absolute bloodbath.



Then I read that there's a Wynaut for sale in Helios City.





Do you understand now why I call this game really fucking hard? Because after a major boss battle, you're immediately thrust into a fight with a pokemon so overpowered that fucking Smogon had to create a competitive tier just for it and it alone?











Die you son of a bitch!

Before we continue on, let's take another look back at my first run of the game.



My first time through, only Basilisk my Delta Pidgeot was faster than Mega Rayquaza. So it swept through 5/6 of my team and only went down because its defenses were in the shitter by that point.

I wasn't going to have a repeat of that.



same mistake twice!









I could kiss Damian right now.

: I'd say I was sorry, but I'm really not. It's a good thing Rayquaza is weak to ice, huh?







Postage stamp sized because the fog effect bloated the file size.

: What? No! The crystal!





: You stupid, stupid, stupid child!

hands!







And then Jaern runs away. Like a little bitch.



: I used to look up to him. He was my hero... but I guess that was all propaganda, huh?





: You know what we need to do? We need to fight these cults ourselves... because the Augur clearly isn't doing it for us. We're strong- we have legendaries on our side, after all- I think we could pull it off.



We don't have a bad start, to be honest. One cult down, four to go!

Yes, those 3 trainers and the gym battle were the entire extent of the Sky Cult's activities in the game. When we beat their god in a one on one duel, we broke the back of their power base and they've since disbanded.

: I nearly forgot. I found these on the ground where you and East battled. I figured you should have them. They're yours, after all.







We can take East's Will to that first desert town... the one with the Science Club. There's a dude there that will give us Altarianite.

: I'll meet you in Utira Town. There's an old library there... maybe we can learn more about that prophecy. Nora was heading there too.







: I can feel the power emanating from it.







show this to her.

Expect to start seeing Audrey pop up soon. The Abyssal Cult is extremely active in the part of Torren that we're about to visit.



: I'll make good use of this.



Let's heal up and then call this an update.





from the Rezzai Cavern!









wanted it, and they threatened us.

















us from people like the Sky Cult.



Well... fuck.

Looking ahead...

Cave of Steam

Marowak
Rhyhorn
Croconaw
Slugma
Magcargo (8%)
Torkoal
Gigalith (2%)
Druddigon (20%)
Heatmor

Cave of Steam (Surf)

Tentacruel
Starmie
Lapras
Octillery
Swampert

Cave of Steam (Fishing)

Gyarados (Super Rod)
Octillery (Super Rod)

Looking back as well...

Route 1 (Super Rod)

Dragalge

Midna Garden (Super Rod)

Cloyster
Dratini

Midna Mine (Super Rod)

Seaking
Huntail
Gorebyss
Luvdisc

Route 3 (Super Rod)

Dewgong (1%)

Route 5 (Super Rod)

Seadra
Dragonair (1%)

Route 6 (Super Rod)

Milotic (1%)

So many repeated pokemon on the fishing encounters. Well, whatever!

NEXT TIME: The Cave of Steam, and Utira Town! Let's find out about that prophecy.