Part 5: Finally Some Gosh Darn Purify Chamber

Part 5: Finally Some Gosh Darn Purify Chamber

Cipher Lab



Welcome back to the Shadow Lab. Let's battle for this item, I'm definitely interested in what's in it now!



Sometimes it's fun to imagine what if certain Pokemon were Shadow, like Feebas. How would that even work? Would we need scents? Happiness? Theory crafting is great.



Eh, I should use PP restoring items more often, but this game is more generous with healing machines, so I kinda don't need to.



Sometimes I don't remember every single Shadow Pokemon we'll encounter, so I'll pause and go... "is this a Shadow Pokemon?"



They weren't.



Since we're not finding DNA Samples, a chunk of this place is completely optional, but that just means I can delay the objective as much as possible!



Hmm, no Shadow Pokemon again.



I can't wait for the AI to be less useless and random, it feels like I'm beating up a small child. I should at least save that for Battle Spot.



I guess we're back on the main path again.



Ooh look, a distraction.



I can't believe this game dangled a Shadow Nincada or Shadow Wailmer in my face and then snatched it away.



I'm forcing myself to include at least one battle screenshot in, cause man are they uninteresting still.



I think so, too. But he sounds quite obstinate and tight-lipped about the whole thing. I've heard LOVRINA's getting incensed over this.

What?! A kid in the lab?! Hold still so we can catch you, kid!



The Wynaut could be a problem, but Pineapple just one shot it.



C'mon, give me a Shadow Corsola.




Woah woah woah, is that an evolved Pokemon? Go easy on me game, sheesh.



Ah it probably doesn't even have STAB, we are still in Gen 3, after all, when Pokemon was shit.




Alright we had a Shadow Qwilfish already, so I'm fine with that. This is a good time to get a Great Ball, since we're gonna want it.



Where the hell is this ID Card?



I'll admit, hoping for Shadow Magnemite, but this is also fine.



Carvanha, 225 catch rate (78%, low health, Pokeball), starting moves: Shadow Blitz/Water Pulse, Shadow Hold/Refresh, Scary Face, Bite

Stay out of the water, Carvanha is an unfortunate victim of stats, being a physical Water/Dark type in Gen 3. Yowch. It's not all bad though, you can ignore its amazing Attack stat for a meh 65 SpAtk and use your STAB to do an alright amount of damage, but nothing spectacular. Early Crunch is very nice, but the best Water move you're getting is Water Pulse, which ain't too great. Sure, your SpAtk becomes pretty good when you evolve, but we've gotta use that Attack stat. Thankfully you can, with Earthquake and Double-Edge later down the line, as well as Ice Beam and Slash if you fancy. You're definitely gonna want Protect though, this fish is SUPER fragile and really can't take even a good neutral hit. Team support will be really appreciated, but give it a chance and it'll take a bite outta you. It just gets a lot better shortly after this game.



Also, maybe Shadow Psyduck would've been cool. Ah well.



I'm an RPG protagonist, I invite myself round people's houses.



Hey, remember Chimecho? Too bad it's not a Shadow Pokemon, otherwise I'd use it. Immediately.



That was one hell of a team. Least they've replaced the Pokemon cages, these areas aren't exact copies from the last game, there's a couple of subtle differences here and there.



MASTER GREEVIL's supposedly making a personal tour of all of CIPHER's facilities. I think he wants to confirm that everything is fine so he can proceed with his plans without ending up with a fiasco like last time.

What?! Who are you?! You suspicious intruder!

How long were you there?! You might be just a kid, but we can't let you walk out!



If you're curious, no, Kecleon will not become Shadow type.



Oh hey it's our third team member. It feels so long ago that we got Houndour, but it was only at the start of this facility. Crazy, huh?



Shroomish, 255 catch rate (99%, low health, Pokeball), starting moves: Shadow Blitz/False Swipe, Shadow Mist/Refresh, Mega Drain, Stun Spore

This walking spore scatterer isn't particularly impressive to start with, its stats are meh, the moves it gets from purification are pretty bad, if useful for catching Shadow Pokemon, and it seems like it needs an evolution to save it. Thankfully, Breloom absolutely does that, giving it Fighting STAB and a great Attack stat. Mach Punch is great for picking off weakened foes, while Brick Break will do until Sky Uppercut, as well as deal with pesky screens. Its Grass STAB will languish, but it'll keep it topped up with Giga Drain against those pesky Water types that keep popping up. Aside from that though, there's not much else, since Return and Sludge Bomb are postgame. I guess there's Iron Tail and Body Slam? Eh, fine. Still, you can rely on your Fighting attacks just fine for the most part and, no, it's not worth keeping Shroomish as is until postgame to get Spore. Hell naw.



Don't bother trying. You don't know how scary LOVRINA--she's in charge here--can be. She looks cute and all, but she's nothing short of terrifying. Get out of here while you still can. It's for your own good!



Alright, it sounds like we're nearly done with this place, but there are some scary foes on the horizon that might pose a problem.



If this was the first Great Ball I could've gotten, I would've been very upset.



Before we rescue the Prof, we need a refresh and to get our new team member out. She'll be very useful (no, seriously), as well being the first female team member in Orre, since Colosseum was a sausage fest.




There's also item management, since we get a fair few boosting items from Shadow Pokemon. A 10% boost is meh, but there's nothing else for now, so sure.



A bit harder to use compared to Houndour, but she'll be purified soon enough.



Despite going through this place for the third time, since there weren't exploding scientists in my way, it wasn't too bad.



Please, won't you help us stop this SHADOW POKEMON plan? Join us, and help us save POKEMON!

...PROF. KRANE. I understand what you're trying to say, but I can't help you. Whoa?! You... aren't you that kid I saw at the POKEMON HQ LAB that time?

DAVID? Is it really you, DAVID?!

Are you trying to tell me that you came here by your lonesome to rescue PROF. KRANE? It's too bad, I'm still a member of CIPHER. I can't very well let you folks go now, can I? As for you... you snagged my TEDDIURSA from me that time! I'll give you this. You've got guts to come here alone. But I'll fix you good so you'll never get out again!

Cipher Peon Battle



Since we last saw him, Naps has gotten a bit trickier, but that's mainly cause of my poor lead, and my general frailness of my team. That Rhyhorn is gonna be a problem.



Murkrow is fast and hits hard, while Rhyhorn is slow and hits hard.



So yeah, should probably switch, Shroomish has done more than it needs to.



Thankfully Pineapple pairs with her very nicely, taking the Peck, so that's one down.



Is now really the time for this?



Oh it didn't matter anyway, back out you come Shroomish.



Eyyy, she gets a kill. Thank god Rhyhorn is so fucking slow.



Slakoth is not something to worry about because of Truant, so we'll focus on the Beldum. I know, none of these cool Pokemon are Shadow, but we've already snagged one from Naps.



Bit scary, but we manage it.



You can go on about the poor abused POKEMON and all, but you should think about your own selves. That's my advice.



But it's dangerous here. We'd better get out right away. My worst fears turned out to be true of CIPHER. They weren't wiped out. This is just one of their bases. But the details can wait. Things could get complicated if they return. Let's get out of here quick!



Neat, soon a Shiftry can be yours. Okay, now we have our permanent team member of the game, sorry about the misdirection, I just can't help it.



Of course we're not going to get out of here that easily, so we should heal up and get ready.

Cipher Admin




PROF. KRANE is so going to be very busy, oh so very busy! So, please be a nice boy and don't disturb us.

We're going back to the HQ LAB. Stand aside, please.

Going back? Seriously! You are so joking! This so happens to be where you work from now on. After all, we so need you to keep working on your studies. You so are the key to our plan. XD001... the ultimate SHADOW POKEMON that can never be purified!

Stop that nonsense! Do you seriously think I would help you do something that horrible?

Oh... that NAPS! He so must have made a boo-boo again! I so have to punish him lots! Little boy, maybe you can convince PROF. KRANE. You should so tell him to study or XD001. You see, our plan is to make SHADOW POKEMON that can never ever be purified. XD001 is only our first prototype. So, when we work out the problems, we can make combat units with XD-series POKEMON. Wouldn't that be just peachy?



That does sound pretty cool... okay then.



However the Prof ain't a fan of this and loops us endlessly, so we must say no.



Ah she's just a teen, how tough can she be?

Cipher Admin Battle









Shrromish gets her sending out gauge reduction, so time for her to take a back seat, since Pineapple will take this Gust just fine.



whyyyyyyyyyyyy?



Aside from that, Pineapple will have a real easy time with this fight. Lovrina does have an Attract strategy but, uh, she didn't use it. Since it's early game, this battle can be tough depending on how you're building your team.



But her movesets don't exactly scream danger, and all her Pokemon have pretty low stat totals. Like I'll be completely ignoring Luvdisc for now, since it does no damage.



Getting a bit lucky, but hey, Effect Spore is gonna be fun, and Bite is a great move when it flinches.



Roselia is nearly down, so now we can focus on Luvdisc, since it's an easy knockout.



And Shroomish gets another kill. Neat. Now what if we made already fast Pineapple... even faster?



Alright, the star of the show. It's only a threat since it's evolved, but shouldn't be a huge deal otherwise. The main challenge is catching the damn thing, but we'll para it asap.



Oh yeah, Shadow Rush is still in this game. It's a lot less useful than before, since it's now 55BP instead of 90 and no longer has a boosted crit chance, even in Reverse Mode. It's an upgrade from Shadow Blitz, but it's nothing special.



Against regular Pokemon, this Delcatty hurts a lot, but it doesn't do much against opposing Shadow Pokemon, so you should be fine.



Oh yeah, I haven't really been able to show this off. If you have a spare turn catching Shadow Pokemon, it's quick to Call a Pokemon, except now if you Call, a Pokemon gets a +1 accuracy boost, which is pretty neat! You can also use this in battle generally for Hypnosis strategies and the like.



Delcatty, 60 catch rate (50%, low health, paralyzed, Great Ball), starting moves: Shadow Rush/Secret Power, Shadow Wave/Sweet Kiss, Attract, Shock Wave

This classy cat is usually a bit shit, right? Well, let's see how it is this time around. Oh, it's still shit. Darn. It's a bit of an unfair comparison, but Teddiursa is just the better Normal type, since it starts with Return, already has a higher Attack stat and still has moves to learn. However, despite having a higher SpAtk, Ursaring can't use many special moves, whereas Delcatty can. Too bad Delcatty's SpAtk is low enough that it can't really use any of them. Not like its Attack is any better, so just give it whatever moves you fancy, it won't be doing much with them anyway. I guess you don't have to use the Shock Wave TM? Body Slam will be fine, but there's just not much to say here. It's fuckin Delcatty.



Hey we managed alright, not all of our team fainted!

Cipher Lab



But that's okay. I'll let you owe me this one time. But you have to promise you will think about my plan next time. If you see XD001, I'm sure you will so want to help me. I'll se be waiting for you!



We'll so see you later.



I guess we'll be relying on you even more from now on, DAVID. Now that we know CIPHER is back, we need to move quickly. We have to come up with ways of stopping them. This time, let's really head back to the HQ LAB!



Hmm... this may be something important. We'll take it back and analyze it.



Aw man, they skipped all of the cool desert adventures we had with the Prof. Ah well, that's what the third game is for.

Pokemon HQ Lab



First and foremost, CIPHER hasn't disappeared! The fact that they're still around is alarming. Worse, they are making more SHADOW POKEMON again. And worst of all, they are trying to create the ultimate SHADOW POKEMON--one that is impossible to purify. CIPHER must be plotting world domination using SHADOW POKEMON as their weapons again. To counter CIPHER's new SHADOW POKEMON conspiracy...



Oh! What fantastic timing! It's finally finished! LILY, thank you! Thank you for pulling everyone together so capably in my absence! Okay! Let's not waste any time! Let's all go have a look at the PURIFY CHAMBER.

Let's!



Finally, I can purify these damn Shadow Pokemon. Took long enough.



If evildoers were to create SHADOW POKEMON again, we wanted to be able to save them ourselves. DAVID, your father believed that passionately. To honor your father's wish, I put together our POKEMON HQ LAB. DAVID, if your father were here, I'm sure that he would be delighted. While I was gone, everyone seems to have rallied around LILY and made things happen. Okay, DAVID, we'll have you lead the way. The glorious history of the PURIFY CHAMBER will begin with you!



Okay, we'll stop here, I can just show it and go over it instead of listening to mister no name over there ramble on.



Step onto the circular plate. A holographic image of the POKEMON involved in purification will appear. Well, it would if there were actually some POKEMON on the SETS.

Purify Chamber (Again, mislabelled)



Well this is a bit boring, let's spice it up a bit.

Purify Chamber!



Alright, that's more like it, let's get jamming and purifying! The Purify Chamber is great in that you can purify up to NINE Pokemon at once, so long as you have enough regular Pokemon in it to help purify them. You can put up to four Pokemon into a set and their typing matching against the Pokemon clockwise to them determines how quickly the middle Pokemon gets purified. So it's gonna be pretty slow starting to begin with, but when the ball gets rolling, it REALLY gets rolling and you can purify a lot of Pokemon at once, including the ones you probably have in your party.



This is by far the quickest and easiest way of purifying the many Pokemon in this game and makes all other methods basically obsolete. This is walking on steroids, which explains why the Day Care isn't a method of purifying in this game, since that was walking on steroids, but cost a lot. This is free and can be accessed from any PC to edit as you see fit. Also make sure to press Y to switch the cursor to yellow so you can quickly move Pokemon around, it saves a lot of time. Once you have one Pokemon in a set and a Shadow Pokemon with an empty Heart Gauge, it's purification time!




There we go, as easy as that. This means going to Relic Forest is completely unnecessary since you can purify any Pokemon in your PC or Party. However, you will need to come back to the HQ Lab to purify a Pokemon, so we'll be doing them in batches when I fancy.



I also won't be showing any of that off. There's a lot of Shadow Pokemon in this game and I'll purify them and edit them whenever. It is still a bit of busy work, but it's so much better than the previous game. I won't be using AR codes as well, since it's just easier and the endless walking trick in Agate Village still works just fine.



Oh yeah, Houndour is all ready for battle. Faint Attack is a nice attack, but I prefer Bite, so hopefully we get it soon. It's also time for the nickname!



Hotdog, you say? Usually my thread are full of thirsty buggers, but this time they're also hungry! Nickname by MarquiseMindfang.

Pokemon HQ Lab



Annoyingly, every time you purify a Pokemon, you're kicked back out, so if you still have Pokemon to purify, then you're going right back in. To then purify something and then get kicked out. Oh well.



Now, the issue is how SHADOW POKEMON should be recovered from CIPHER. It looks as if you'll have to get busy some more with the SNAG MACHINE, DAVID.



Good boy



The DIRECTOR came back safely, and the PURIFY CHAMBER was completed. We can finally slow down and catch our breath. After your father passed away, PROF. KRANE and I carried on with his studies. If he were here to see this, I'm sure your father would be happy and proud.



DAVID, could you go upstairs and ask DATAN how he's doing? DATAN is the man in the room next to the DIRECTOR's office. Remember? He was compiling the basic data.

Big brother's tired, so JOVI will go!

Oh, JOVI, it's okay! This is for work!



Anyway, I wonder what's on that DATA ROM.

Oh, JOVI. There's no stopping you. Please, DAVID. Go ask DATAN how he's doing in his office upstairs.



Hmm, good question. Surely he can't've gone far. I swear, if I need to rescue another person from the Cipher Lab...



Oh wait there he-



Uh, cool, good thing we're still here.



That DATA ROM is heavily protected like a bank vault. It would take some seriously talented guy to break through and get at the contents.



Ahaha, it can't be helped. And if it's a seriously talented guy we need, well, I think I may have a solution.

Who would that person be?

DAVID, I'm sorry to spring this on you, but can you deliver the DATA ROM to ONBS in PYRITE TOWN? DATAN, hand the DATA ROM to DAVID, please.

Oh, right away!



The people that later founded ONBS were actually instrumental in breaking CIPHER's conspiracy five years ago. Please deliver that DATA ROM to NETT at ONBS. He's the right-hand man to SECC, ONBS's leader. I'm confident that he will be able to get at the contents of that DATA ROM.



I'm surprised, though. NETT is one of the founders of ONBS, which is now the biggest information network in all the ORRE REGION. It's amazing that our DIRECTOR would know someone like that. His social circle must be huge.

It's quite possible that the DATA ROM contains critical information that CIPHER wants to keep secret. I'm sure that NETT at ONBS can check the contents of that DATA ROM. PYRITE TOWN is past AGATE VILLAGE. It's a little far, but I need you to do this. Take care, though!



Alright, only Ledyba is able to help purify Pokemon right now, since everyone else is gonna be on the team doing stuff. It won't be too long before it'll get some help and we can start the ball rolling. I'll be going over all the Purify Chamber's details in the Side Course.



Next time, we're heading back to a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Should be a ton of fun!