Part 26: Kepler City

Hello everyone and welcome back. Don't ask me why, but I didn't start recording this update until I was already in someone else's secret base.



I asked my roommate whether she preferred Cryogonal, Glalie, or Vanilluxe and she chose the ice cream cone because "it's cute." Cryogonal, for what it's worth, was a close second because it was "all cool and geometric."





Soft Serve is joining to fill the gap left behind by Noel.



First try we got its hidden ability. I didn't even really want it, but hey why not?



Good potential in all the spots that matter, too.



Bradley the Poliwag was destined to become a Poliwrath. She has Water Absorb, which was a key component of a strategy I'd hoped to employ against a boss fight that's rapidly approaching. Sadly, I didn't pay close enough attention to the boss itself. It has the move Thunder specifically to discourage the sort of nonsense I wanted to do.

I'll find another place to use her in the future. But for now we have to part ways with Bradley.



She has the potential to be a pretty good Poliwrath or Politoed, though! So don't count the cute little tadpole out yet.



After a lot of back and forth, I settled on this group of misfits. No points for guessing what's coming up soon.



And, naturally, our fourth badge means we can now use level 60 Audino.



I'm actually kind of excited to use Vanilluxe. It's another of those Gen 5 pokemon that I've never used before and really never gave a second thought about. How can you not love what appears to be an ice cream sundae with a straw?





Dracolich finally swapped out Screech for New Moon. So now with a single turn's worth of setup, he can spam 105BP dark beams... plus an additional 35% bonus from New Moon. If my math isn't wrong then that means Lunar Cannon has an effective power of 141. And he can spam it every turn for four straight turns... five if he mega evolves!

In the odd case that dark damage isn't effective, New Moon gives Shadow Ball 108 power plus STAB. It's kinda odd when the Dragon-type move isn't the showstopper, eh? So yeah, Dracolich is just a wee bit broken and I love it.





Ahem is still here. He hits really goddamned hard and can hit all sorts of weaknesses. I should probably change Crunch to something else, but otherwise he's quite good at what he does.





I used my ability capsule on Snorflax to change her ability. The upcoming boss has a moveset deliberately designed to counter all its weaknesses, and that includes Ice Beam. Being able to cut its damage by 50% is invaluable. She also has Wood Hammer because fuck this boss in particular.

I'm also not 100% sure that Leftovers even works on Snorflax. They never seem to take effect during training when she uses Belly Drum. Not sure why.





Generator has gotten even more insane since we last saw it. 201 special attack at level 60 is nuts.





HenryDavid is still trucking along and fucking up everything that gets in his path.





And introducing Soft Serve. Like I said above, he's here to do the job that Noel did so well. He'll see the most action because Freeze Dry makes him the largest threat to most of Audrey's team, and he hits even harder than Noel did. Acid Armor is there to shore up his defenses because of his ability, and Mirror Coat fills out the last slot for reasons of "well, why not?"



Now that I've introduced the team that's going to defeat Audrey, let's actually get to that point.





Route 10 is another liminal route. There's not much to see here beyond a handful of trainers and a single hidden grotto that I didn't even bother searching out. Strangely, you can find both Carnivine and Maractus here. Until now, grass types have been oddly rare in the Torren Region.

So let's take the quick tour and never return.







Even without the leveling I did at the start of the update, we'd have been overleveled for this route. This fellow had two level 52s, for instance.

That way, I have no excuses if I lose.

Something something a poor trainer that blames his pokemon.





He had a single Druddigon. An Ace Trainer that was, but an Ace Trainer he was not.



If you're curious, the hidden grotto is in the middle of the first curve of this route. There's no deltas inside, and only a couple grass starters so I'm not really interested.





For once it's not a hiker with Solrock and Lunatone.



I still haven't forgiven the game for that first encounter way back at the start of the LP.



I wonder what could be in there?





Stupid Hitmonlee with its stupid fire kick...

Care to give me a hand?







No?



This route is the most early-2010s thing I've seen in a while. Between blatant Game of Thrones and Usain Bolt references...



Copycat.



Anyway, Tyrion Lannister was the last trainer on the route. Now we need to board the good ship SS Bikini Lady to continue.





Maelstrom 9 is a huge route with nothing in it. The only NPC is a single swimmer in the bottom right corner who is a move tutor. One that is willing to teach our pokemon...

Water Pulse
Aqua Tail
Octazooka

Yeah, I'll pass on that.



Moving right along...





Kepler City is home to the fifth gym. Besides a few houses and Anastasia's lab, that's about all there is to find here.



I know what you're thinking, but you'd be wrong. Insurgence is many things, but it's not a copycat. So we, mercifully, won't be treading on the ground that Uranium already walked.



Because Kepler is a gym city, it has a large pokecenter.





Seriously... the most early 2010s thing.



This guy is a hint that there's something to do with the Meloetta puzzles in Samsara Cave, halfway across the region.









My dude you're lining up at a register that has no workers manning it.



would be destroyed by that kinda thing.



Anastasia's team is set up specifically to fuck with people who are relying on Earthquake to counter Electric/Steel. No really... half of her team are holding Air Balloons, and she has an Electric/Water type as well. I'm still not worried.







This game has zero subtlety.









Brainwashed cultists are probably the most dangerous kind.





















I love this dumb, stupid game.



I would prefer if you didn't if it's all the same to you.



end!



So I'm given to understand this Wailord is yours, then? So many questions...



Imagine taking Eevee as your starter because you wanted to use Leafeon and having to wait until now. For all the steps forward this game makes, it still has such a long way to go. Evolutions that can only occur on specific routes are such an ass-backwards mechanic.



Sweet.

to the same university?



We can turn our Rotom into its microwave forme very soon. So any Metagross fans in the audience will be happy!













My condolences.



The mareep in the house makes this all the funnier and I don't know why.





Sweet.





I didn't read the wiki page closely while recording, but there's also a TM for Wild Charge hidden in one of these houses. I'll pick it up soon!









Anyway, let's finish this update out. Anastasia is hanging out in her observatory, and we were sent to warn her about her old college friend coming by unannounced.











she has any free time at all.



Try to walk into the back room and a tall lady walks straight into us.

: One moment, please.

about.

It's clearly broken somehow!

: In the astronomy world, Rights, we call that a star.



I'm really glad both the women in this scene get to fight over red text, making it as fucking confusing as possible. While the most generic scientist dude ever gets to hog the blue text with four whole optional lines.

: We'll talk about this later.



: Rights. I said later. And don't forget that that "project" of mine is what's funding us in the first place. Anyways.



: Oh, so you're a challenger. Nice to meet you! I'm Anastasia. I run the Gym here. My Gym is based around machines. I specialize in both Electric- and Steel-types. I'd be glad to take you on!



: One of their lackeys might be coming after me...? ... I see...



: Let's just get going. I'm pretty busy at the moment. The sooner we can get this battle done the better.



Wow, she's very intense... and kind of a dick. Though I do agree with her... the sooner we get this over, the sooner we can move on with our lives.



Uh...



: The weather wasn't like this when I went into the building. This can't possibly be natural... But what kind of machine could possibly have created this?
: Not a machine, Anastasia. A pokemon.



I kind of spoiled the surprise by getting my team ready early. Oh well, it's not like we didn't expect Audrey to return sooner or later. Also this is yet another scene where the two women fight over the red text. It would be so easy to give one or the other blue text here. Literally nobody else is using it!

: ...Audrey.
: How have you been, Anastasia?
: Alive.
: The world is changing. Our plan has officially been put into action. This storm is only the beginning. Soon, my Lugia's storms will flood the entire world.
: I thought your group worshipped Kyogre.
: Oh, we do, believe me... but Kyogre's true value is only revealed in specific circumstances. Those conditions are being created as we speak. And since leaders like you will be too busy trying to save citizens, we can't be stopped.



That reminds me... as of the time of writing, Subnautica is free on Epic's launcher until just after Christmas. You should probably get that. It's really good. Well, unless you have thalassophobia, in which case you really really shouldn't get it.

: It describes mankind's innate fear of the deep, deep ocean. And soon- very soon- we'll be reminded of where it came from.



Anastasia's speech bubble got scrolled so it looks like Ahem is commenting on the situation.

: The worst part is, she's right. I can't stop her. I need to protect people from the floods.



: I'm not going to ask you to fight her. I can't ask something like that of a kid. But if you could take this, and find someone who could, I'd greatly appreciate it.



: If she has Kyogre, then she must be in a deep part of the ocean, and the only place like that around here is Maelstrom 9. That scuba gear will let you dive down there. If the Abyssal Cult is putting their plan into action, then now is the best time to end them.





Wow. Way to go Anastasia. "I can't go fight the Abyssal Cult, my job as a gym leader prevents it. Instead I'm going to performatively tell a 10 year old that I can't ask them to go do so, while giving them specific instructions on how to do just that."

Fucking coward.

NEXT TIME: It's time to put an end to the Abyssal Cult once and for all.