Part 24: The Challenge of Not Getting Fired
Music: Jungle Relic
Like you have guessed, we're going to clear The Challenge of Fire too.
Surely nothing bad can come of "just looking" at the fourth challenge. Surely.
Video: The Challenge of Fire (Charizard)
How convenient.
The stone tablet's too badly damaged... I can't read what it says. Maybe someone wrecked it to make sure no one clears the fourth challenge. It doesn't make much sense... Want to try reading it, Circe?Sure. Why not?
"The Chall...Fire... ...violen...flam... ...fly...chase... ...nd...path you...find... Awai...be a...ragon of fi... By...hand...us...calm... ...rives th...vage...east... When...is so...calme...seal... ...tone...no mo...brin... co...usion...up...hallen...f...fir... ...chamber...f trial...there... no...save...or...itsel... challen...
Enlightening.
My favorite Rapidash... It... cute... lovely... smart... plus... amazing... you think so?... oh yes... it... stunning... kindly... love it! Hug it... when... sleeping... warm and cuddly... spectacular... ravishing... ...Oops!
Sadly, we don't get to zip around Fiore on a bike
The path merges pretty much immediately later on and the craters does absolutely nothing, so we go to the boss room without much trouble.
So the legendary and forbidden fourth challenge isn't extant?
It's just not active right now. But judging from the tablet, it'll have something to do with flames and chasing stuff.
Music: Go-Rock Quads!
Correction: With almost no problem.
Even if you're in a hurry, stop in your tracks!
!
Open your ears to our melodic attacks!
!
The rhythm of rage pounds the ground!
!
Let the melody of ambition rise to the skies!
!If you don't know us, we'll cure your ignorance! Billy! Garret! Clyde! Tiffany! The Go-Rock Squad's hot-prospect band of key-shaker-and-taker celebrities! A name once heard and never forgotten! The Go-Rock Quads!
!This is actually the first video featuring the Go-Rock Quads' slogan.
I love this gif.
Hey, long time! Welcome to the challenge of fire! You folks are Union Rangers, am I right? As you can see, this Charizard is in a world of suffering! Don't you think you ought to capture it? You know, so you can calm it down?Hey, Circe... What are these people? Are they high-ups in the Go-Rock Squad?*Charizard flies past them all*
Hey! Look at the Charizard!
That does look painful
The Charizard is really suffering!Music: Tension
Obviously, a round of talking to everyone is in order here.
Oh? Why are we doing nothing to help the Charizard? It's rather simple--it has nothing to do with us in the least. Perhaps you should be the one extending a helping hand?Oh, no! Look at that poor, poor Charizard! This poor thing is suffering oh so much! Why don't you do something about it? Why, how about capturing it? So you can make nice and calm it down!The Charizard is suffering? Thank you kindly for telling me. ...And?Why are you asking me? I don't even know you. Why don't you quit wasting time and get on with it yourself? I'm running out of time to go shopping in Fall City over this.
Well, this is a no-win situation, isn't it? We're forced to go around this area and capture this obviously-not-the boss.
The Go-Rocks are up to something here. Their plan obviously hinges on Circe capturing this Charizard. So would their whole plan have been ruined had our two
You know what they say: curiosity kills the cat.
By the way, the "go around" part is literal. Charizard will flee if not approached within a short time. There's fire on the way, but the path is wide enough to prevent us from falling.
There's three spots where Charizard could be, so this challenge tests our...attention, I guess? It's done in 10 seconds and require almost no thought, so
Music: Wild Boss Pokemon Encounter
The challenging part of this challenge comes wholly from this boss.
Charizard starts off by shooting fire upwards, similar to Camerupt.
Unlike Camerupt, though, the fire spreads and stays. Hope you practiced avoiding mines with Venusaur last mission!
The flames disappear after a hit, but they cost 4 HP. Tanking those hits isn't a good idea, especially since...
After a while, Charizard will attack again. This will actually reset all our progress, which is kind of bullshit.
If you're unlucky enough...well...this happens. The best thing to do in that case is to just wait, honestly.
Going by the video, at least the fire eventually dissipates.
Plusle is actually useful here since Charizard isn't a Dragon type. Shame that it's considered a Fire type instead of Flying, though.
And that concludes the four trials. Fun fact: All four challenge bosses had appeared together somewhere in this thread.
Music: Capture Complete
Required Loops: 11
Possible EXP: 350/370/390/410/430/450
I'd be amazed if anyone manage to get max EXP here.
Same. That fight looked tedious with how short a time you had to capture it. If the RNG hated you, I could see this taking forever.
Goodbye, level 3 Burn
Music: Go-Rock Quads!
I tried capturing that Charizard, but our prototype Styler couldn't quite get the job done.Worse, our unfinished Styler caused injury to that Charizard. An accident, of course.We lucked out when you gullible Rangers happened to come along all cheerful and helpful. But, you have our thanks. You cleared the fourth challenge for us!Huh? What are you saying? We captured the Charizard, but we didn't clear any challenge!
...You're not too swift, are you? Capturing that Charizard was the fourth challenge!*Garret, Clyde and Tiffany leave*
There's a legend about the Jungle Relic. Maybe you've heard of it? If all four of the reic's challenges are cleared, a great calamity will befall the Fiore region... We, the Go-Rock Squad, desperately wanted that calamity to happen. Then, we got word that some clueless Rangers--that's you--were coming here to take the challenges. And bingo! I had a wicked idea! We'd convince you to clear the fourth challenge and bring on the calamity! You had more trouble than I expected, but, hey, it's all cool. Anyway... I wonder what's happened to the Entei statue? I hope it's nothing good! Hahaha! *leaves*Darn it... They conned us... What do they mean by calamity? And what did he mean by the Entei statue? Is something happening to it? Let's go check that statue!I kinda don't like plots like this, where the only way to make shit happen is for the heroes to act like complete dunces. Surely there was a better way for this to go than having our heroes get outsmarted by a group who can't even properly keep the rhyme scheme in a four-line quatrain.
I like to think that only Lunick is fooled by this. Circe is literally just doing her job.
Music: Jungle Relic
I like the design of this room. It shows a huge amount of
for something that is very easily missable. Spoiler, I guess.Yeah, the background here is really awesome. It has a cooling lava look to it that I appreciate.
lunick: *When talked to* What are you doing? We have to go check on the Entei statue!
What's supposed to happen when the four challenges are cleared? The altar is now lit by fire, but that seems to be it. It looks sort of pretty, but that doesn't seem like a calamity to me.*The two approach the statue*
But so what? Is that the horrible calamity? I guess that gang was just pulling a prank on us. They had me scared over nothing. Circe, we should head back. We're done with the challenges. I don't think anything else will happen.*The two leave*
Entei is definitely loose now. And probably angry.
Music: Olive Jungle
The screen is shaking here.
This quake... This isn't good! And what is that noise? It's coming from inside the relic! Let's go back! We have to investigate this!
From: Cameron
To: Circe
Oh my gosh, it's an earthquake! The tremor seems to be centered in the Jungle Relic. Knowing the both of you, I'm sure you're OK... ...You are OK, aren't you? I want the both of you to survey the damage and investigate the cause. But be careful of aftershocks, OK? Fall City's Aria--she was in Summerland--should be headed your way, too. I'm strictly ordering you to think safety first. ...Is it still shaking?
*The two reenters*
Mission complete?
