Nyx Plays Pokemon Apex

What is Pokemon Apex you may ask? It is a game that for some odd reason was being advertised on IGN and Kotaku and other gaming newsites as this exciting Pokemon fangame that... is for adults. Truly a newsworthy point. Due to this incredible honor by such credible news sources, I just had to try for myself and see what awe inspiring game this really was.

Also this game is still in alpha, so there's a chance it just ends suddenly. Also since all these news sites decided to report on it in the past few days, there's another good chance that iamvishnu, the creator, will be receiving a nice Cease and Desist sometime soon.

But anyway, let's get to it. And I forgot to turn my resolution down again. Sorry about that. Have some giant screens.



Um... ok.



Uh...



"How a Pokemon game should be." See this already rubs me the wrong way. This stinks like a genwunner does. People who complain about the newer games and blah blah blah aren't really complaining that there's something inherently different or worse about the newer games (in fact, the creator even says that the new games are "too formulaic") but rather a frustrated voicing that the person's tastes have changed and Pokemon hasn't changed with them.

And honestly, if you're making a fan-game, then I'd expect you to do so out of sheer love for that game. Any time someone tries to make a fan-anything because "this sucks and I can do it better," it rarely works out.

But onward...




Bad words be coming.



A tall order, game. Show me.



Based on this statement I was expecting a full character customizer. But nope, just the typical name and gender selection. So... are there enough people out there who are like "man I wish I didn't have to bother with my name and gender" to warrant a "quick" setup?



Oversleeping, we're off to an original start on this Pokemon journey.



I've often wondered about genderfluid people. Like, do they just wake up one morning and think, "man I am feeling so female today!"? Apparently, the answer is yes.



My character's looking kinda plain.



Sorry Kaze.



Ok, my dad, not my mom. Admittedly, that is quite different from previous Pokemon games.



Oh boy my room.




No comment.



And here's my dad's room. ...Should I be worried that there's no wall between our two rooms? I'm going to be very worried. This got a lot more "mature" than I was expecting.



Mmm... breakfast. Currently second-most helpful parent in the Poke-verse, behind your mother in G/S/C who actually bought you things.



This is highly important.



The city I'm in is pretty huge for a Pokemon game. I'm 99% sure this isn't a romhack, but rather something in Game Maker or coded from scratch. The file was a .exe.



There's a reason RPG heroes tend to live in small villages. Presenting the player with a large city right from the get-go is very overwhelming, and "lost" isn't the first thing you want your player to feel. Hell, even in open ended games that literally drop you in an unknown world have a starting zone with limited possible directions for going forward.

...This is also the reason why the original Legend of Zelda scares me.



Hopefully you can tell in this screenshot, but each of these street lamps are giving off their own shadow, and angle of the shadows move based on where you're standing. It's really cool.



Most adult thing said so far.



Uh, sure kid. Stay in school!



Kid you're like in kindergarten where you still get games and nap time I bet you love school.



First period English. Oh boy.



Wait, how am I late? The sun wasn't even up yet! Does this school honestly begin before the sun comes up? No wonder the kid outside hated school.




Nothing says edgy teen trying to be mature like Hamlet.



I doze off in the middle of class and find myself in this hellhole. Remember when I said this was going to be a mature game? What I really meant was that it was going to be a dark and edgy game. Same thing, right?



Whoops got caught sleeping in class. Maybe if you didn't START SO GODDAMN EARLY I wouldn't be doing this.



Kaze just got infected by the edge is what happened. Don't worry it happens to all teenagers it's just a natural part of puberty.



It's night!? Did I seriously just spend the entirety of daylight hours in school? Or maybe I just live really far north and it's winter time. Yeah, let's go with that.

Also my entire day was spent in English class so no wonder everyone hates this school.



Despite the fact that we don't have Pokemon yet, this is my rival. Maybe we're competing for who has the better grades?



Oki doki daddio.



Guess this makes my dad the Professor in this game.



Oh look this is a Pokemon game. For a second I thought I was playing High School: The Game.



High security. Wonder what my dad studies...



Yes, the game made me sign in on this sign in sheet. You can't just talk to the guard to go through.



This is a mature Pokemon game.



No problem big D.
...N-no I don't mean like that see my name begins with D and "Dad" begins with D and my neighbor's name begins with D and we all used to call each other that DON'T SEXUALIZE MY CHILDHOOD YOU MONSTERS.



Because god forbid an RPG protagonist have two parents.




Nah, I just send them to the baby realm.



Wow my parents have been divorced for about ten years and things are still considered hard? I mean, my dad's a scientist, I figure that's a good source of income. Did my mom sue for everything the family owned and we're still paying off my dad's giant student loan?



When the protagonist has a missing father, he will always some back as an important character. Does the same rule work for mothers? Either way, my mom's going to be important. I'd say... Evil Team leader.



This is exactly what Pokemon needs more of. Homework.



Oh boy! Want to go out and catch some Pokemon?



...This is an acceptable alternative.



Bro who plays Villager? Also this could be foreshadowing my rival's eventual descent into madness.



Kaze you're adorable.



Sigh... Has any story ever tackled the subject of divorce well? Admittedly, I've been extremely lucky to have parents who still love each other after all these years, so it's not something I've had to deal with myself. But I've yet to find any story that can honestly make me feel whatever emotions are associated with divorce. Like, is it common for kids of divorced parents to suddenly have pangs of longing for a missing parent? In the end it just comes out as a way to remind the audience that hey! There's a missing parent! This is most likely going to be important later!



Oh yeah my mom is definitely somebody radically important to this story.



...how mature is this story?



Oh! Right. Ahem. Yes let's do that.



Gotta be all sneaky...



I SURE DO HOPE WE FIND SOME WILD POKEMON HERE.



No Pokemon in here...



Don't be a wuss, Kaze. It's either a dead body or really old ham. Not sure which is worse.



WOW WHAT IS THIS MYSTERIOUS DEVICE?



Ugh seriously? Do Pokemon even exist in this world?



Dexter, according to the anime.



Wow Dad, what a very convenient conference you had today that keeps me from advancing the plot.



Oh boy do I smell plot?



Ooh, the evil team already. Time for things to get interesting.



Don't walk into tall grass alone! Don't you know how dangerous that is?



This is called a route. There are Pokemon on routes. You should not be on a route until you have a Pokemon.



OH MY GOD KAZE THERE ARE ZUBATS IN THERE YOU'LL BE EATEN ALIVE WITHOUT A STARTER.



Professor Oak?



Not Professor Oak. Also first use of swearing.



I... just realized that technically speaking "Hell" is a proper noun and thus it is correct grammar to capitalize it, even while swearing. I mean, I already knew that, but seriously who capitalizes hell?




OH MY GOD IT'S... BJ and Tenho?



HEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL




Apparently Black Hoodie is me. Also Beat Down? Is that like Beat Up but... down?



Vileplume too.



I'm not sure yet either.



Ugh, so this just confirmed something I had been hoping wasn't the case: That Pokemon don't actually exist in this world. Or, are extremely hidden. It's not a terrible plot idea, I'm sure other fans have done it and done it well, but... well you'll see in a few more screens.



Sleep has magical teleportation properties for RPG heroes.



I wish I could describe just how creepy slash cheesy this laugh sound effect is that plays every other line when this guy talks. Think to some evil vampy woman's laugh in a generic Saturday morning cartoon and that's basically what you get.



And yes, evil vampy woman despite Kaze's insistence that this character is a dude.



You want to do hand-to-hand because I sure can't do a Pokemon battle because I STILL DON'T HAVE A POKEMON. Seriously it's been thirty minutes and I haven't even seen a Pokemon yet. This is a Pokemon fangame, is it not?



"...but with a summoned beast!"

That's fucking Yugioh. What you're describing is Yugioh.



Oh finally.





Real tantalizing starter choices there. I guess I'll go with Cacnea, I've always kind of liked Cacturne and it is being described as a thief here.



It's... it's a reference to Red Steel 2.



Again, despite that creepy/cheesy laugh being played like four times during the dialogue, the game still thinks I'm buying that this is a dude. She's probably my mom, actually. God Mom stop being so weird.

Also I should note that despite the less than par sound effects, the music in this game is actually really good. I want to say it's original, but my knowledge of GBA video game OSTs is far less complete than Dan's.



How nice of this stranger to pick the Pokemon I was strong against.



Better than Tackle I suppose.



Yes I have now proven myself to not be a complete dullard and able to pick Absorb twice.




OH MY GOD it's Shin Megami Tensei. What you're describing is Shin Megami Tensei.

You know, I'd be completely fine with this if the game didn't start out boasting that this is what a Pokemon game "should" be. I love Pokemon AU's and they can be really creative, but when you describe yourself as being a better version of Pokemon, of something that the original games should strive to be, then you can't throw out all of the underlying lore and be Pokemon in name only. And the worst part is that you don't have to do that in order to be ~mature~ like this game keeps telling me it is. There's plenty of opportunity inside the predefined Pokemon lore to explore mature topics. In fact, that's what I wanted. What if not every wild Pokemon wants to be captured? What if the evil team actually acted like a real life crime organization with all the violence and intimidation that goes along with it? I mean, you don't even have to rewrite Pokemon X and Y, you just have to spin it and focus on just how genocidal Lysandre is. But this game doesn't want to be Pokemon. It wants to be its own lore with Pokemon slapped on as its monsters. And that's fine if you bill it that way. But don't pretend that changing the heart of the game you're fan-gaming off of is what the original should be doing.




And don't pretend that this isn't super cheesy.



Hamlet's going to be a running theme, isn't it? Guess I better study up on my Shakespeare. Shall I start making comparisons to the various characters? Should I expect my uncle to kill my father for his research?



And we're back to the nightmare dream. In case you're wondering, all I can do is stand here for a second.



"...how did I get back home?" RPG hero sleep teleportation.

----

Ok, so let's start with the first impressions.

First off, to reiterate, I found this game through IGN and other gaming (and non-gaming) news sites. At first I didn't think anything of it, after all, Snakewood is technically a "mature" Pokemon fan-game and we all know how that went down. I feel like the only reason this fan-game got exposure is because one site decided to write an article and everyone else just copies from each other, or that iamvishnu decided to go around and advertise. Which is a poor idea when you're using someone else's IP, especially if it's being distributed as an executable and not a patch to a rom. (Legal gray area with patches.)

Admittedly, I have not played long enough to actually be able to say how good this game is, but I'm not terribly impressed so far. Well, that's not true. The production value is very good. The music is great (sound effects not so much), the city (while flawed from a design perspective) is impressive, and the small details like the shadows are very cool. However, I feel like all the hype this game got from the various news sites all come from people who played the original Red/Blue games, but put it down afterwards due to being older than the intended target audience. Unlike us, who were the perfect age for Poke-mania and were at the tip of the peak to ride the hype wave, and thus have heard every attempt by every internet preteen to make a new dark and mature Pokemon game. It's not an original concept.

So, fingers crossed that despite the slow start this game actually goes somewhere interesting and thoughtful.
" />" />" />" />

First off it's time to go back to sch-



Ooooh, oh it's got a day/night cycle that uses your computer's clock. Okay that's cool, though I'd suggest forcing a specific time of day if the plot demands it, so I don't end up going to school at midnight.

Back to school. Last time I went, we were learning Hamlet, and Kaze had fallen asleep and missed the lecture. Her homework was to learn perhaps the most famous line in all the play because apparently pop culture didn't already teach her. It's just a simple Google away, I'd have just looked it up during lunch.



...That being said, the answer is not "To be, or not to be." Damn you pop culture, you've failed me again.



I'm going to be honest with you, if I don't know an answer in class, I just admit it. Yes it's embarrassing, but less embarrassing than thinking the random nonsense spouted by some random stranger is the answer. "What's the capital of West Virginia-" "Motherfucking Jessie Eisenburg!"



Well, since this is obviously going to use Hamlet as it's theme, we may as well get a refresher on what this passage is about. Hamlet's feeling a bit depressed about the prospect of his mortality and he and Horatio are visiting a graveyard. Hamlet realizes that once someone has died, everyone leaves the same rotting skeleton, from Yorick the court jester to Alexander the Great. He then learns that Ophelia has killed herself and tries to throw himself on her grave. The epitome of Shakespearean teen angst.



Also "Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well," is incorrect. Damn you pop culture, you've failed me again!



What a coincidence.



Preeeeeety sure this fan-game was made while iamvishnu was learning about Hamlet in high school.



I don't know, sick? That's usually what I think when my friend isn't at school that day.



Previously on: SMTxPokemon.



Huh, like it's a Pokemon game.



"...none of this makes any damn sense!" You don't say.



Like I said, missing one day of school is rarely cause for concern.



Dude that's some Calc 2 concepts.



Bitch.



Oh yeah, that reminds me. Does that mean Pokemon, the video game, exists in this world? Is Kaze just not a Pokemon fan and can't name anything beyond Pikachu?



Griffen's gone coocoo for coco puffs. Despite the weird spelling, he's saying "Come here."



Thanks.



Um... is this not the factory?



Oh this is the factory. Took me some exploring to find it.



"...for some reason." My guess is that it's related to the Voltorb right there.



Oh boy finally some actual Pokemon battling.



I don't have any items yet, but thankfully everything in here is low enough level that I can keep my health steady with Absorb. Shouldn't be a problem...



I take that back.

Oh wait, wasn't there a Pokemart in this city?



Nice. Do like how it's kept in-universe by selling drinks instead of potions.



Kind of expensive, but what else am I going to use that money for?



Actually, let's spend all the money. There's no Pokecenter in this city, so I may be surviving purely off of items. In that case, I'll have to use my patented grinding technique: spend all your money and lose nothing when you run out of health!



Well thank god I learned Mud Slap.

One of the ways this game is rebalancing Pokemon is by giving everything a new moveset. This Trubbish has Pound, Pursuit, Toxic Spikes, and Recycle. ...Okay? Good thing I don't have to switch out Pokemon right now.



But still not enough to save me from this Trubbish. Oh well, that's what I spent the money for anyway.



How was I supposed to know that?



Apparently some of these Trubbish have Poison Gas too. Seriously? Don't introduce Poison status when I only have one Pokemon and no means to cure it! Well screw it, I'm not making a mad dash back to my house for this. That's why I drained my wallet before continuing this grind.



According to the creator, this game is going to involve more strategy than normal in order to defeat. Sure, but there's a difference in strategy between a six-on-six Pokemon trainer battle and clearing your way through a hoard of wild Pokemon. Leech Seed does have some use in competitive Pokemon battling, but nobody's going to sit here and stall out random Pokemon, so I'd rather keep my direct damage moves for now.



This factory is really dark and it's hard to know where I'm allowed to walk.



The poison finally took its toll on poor Kusagari.

Now that the poison is over with, let's...







Well, we've reached a dead end. ...Now what? Maybe that other door near the beginning had something...



Well, since I'm going back to the entrance anyway, may as well eat some healing breakfast.



Oh cool, weather effects.



Nope, that gate's still closed off. ...Now what?



The Court Jesters of... Skull King, or whatever it was.



Oh, I missed that you could come this way thanks to those shadows the same shade of black as the conveyor belts.



Griffen you don't look so good. But I have to find the arbitrary button to open this gate before I can get to you.



You know what Pokemon doesn't need more of? Flash caves.



How about no.



Hm, Vine Whip. So far my most powerful attack, and I recall that Cacnea has a higher base attack than special attack. But I don't want to get rid of my healing move, and that Mud Slap is the only way I'm getting through the Magnemites, Trubbish, and Grimers, so I guess I'll say bye to Poison Sting.



MOTHERFUCKING JESSIE EISENBURG



Stumble my way through the dark enough to find the button. Why is it located all the way down here anyway? You'd think you should place the means of opening a gate near the gate.



Oh no he's lying in a pool of purple blood! Or at least... I think he is?



Oh BJ, I didn't see you there. Probably because your sprite is using a shit ton of pure black.



Using singular they to hide the gender of the subject in order to not bring attention to the fact that she's actually female, as female characters in this role are still considered unusual. Or this game is actually more progressive than I give it credit for and Tenho is non-binary.



Suddenly, Spanish.



Excuse you I'm the main character I should be the one you want.



But you're still going to beat me up anyway.



Is... is that an Organization XIII cloak? I'm 90% sure that whoever donated this sprite was in reality making an Organization XIII sprite. ...um, DA?



Eh.



Took two Fresh Waters but no biggie.



Okay, I'm curious what this guy's deal with Griffen is. 







Adios, estúpido.



In SPAAAAAAAAAACE.



...it's still in alpha.



Oh I actually caught up to him.



What you see is what you get, just a guy who loves adventure! I'm Sonic th- [smacked.]



You're probably not going to have a Scraggy this time, huh.



I'm going to have to fight that thing before the end credit roll, aren't I? Sigh... you do know that raising everyone's levels doesn't actually make the game any harder, right? It just forces more grinding.



Oh come on, don't throw me into an unwinnable match and steal my money for it!



And by finish, he really just means to knock me out. I still got that plot armor, after all.



Oh... that was just the prologue.



Oh god I'm in the Mystery Dungeon world, aren't I? Where Pokemon are normal and humans are mythological?



Oh no it's just a kid.




You know the first time I mentioned sleeping teleportation powers, it was a joke. I didn't expect to have this actually be a chronic thing.



Thanks kid.



I'd say, "is that important information?" But have you met a real six year old? To them, it is very important information.



About time.

As expected for a forest, there's a bunch of grass type Pokemon here. Oddish and Paras, to name the two I encountered. Gee, would be nice to have that Poison Sting around...



Well at least there should be plenty of rock types in here to train Kusagari on.



Good enough.



A little more forest later and we're here at this cabin. Also check that kid for dementia, what kid calls another human being a monster while still liking them?



That or I'm a kidnapper here to ransom you for everything you own.





You don't know the half of it lady.



"...of having a mother of my own." Just in case you forgot that the protagonist's mother is missing.



Exposition time.



Gehenna... why does that sound familiar? Oh, because it's the Hebrew equivalent of Hell.



You may as well hang a bright neon sign that says "WELCOME TO LITERAL HELL."



Remember how the Pokemon world is this alternate universe of our world where there's these fantastic creatures living side by side with humans? Yeah... that was nice.




You literally missed the easiest way to make a Pokemon game mature. It ran up, bit you in the ass, and you still let it go. 




You took the biggest handwave in the Pokemon universe, that all Pokemon you capture will eventually be your loving companion and happily fight each other for sport, and you kept it. Black and White versions put more thought into it than this.




Really? Is it really? I mean, again, in the actual Pokemon games, this is a handwave. Eh, sure, power of friendship and all that, don't think too hard. And I'm pretty sure the official reason is that battling builds a bond between trainer and Pokemon? I dunno. But this is straight up justifying it because "they're just violent in nature." Because they're demons. Seems like a small thing to get worked up over but... Again, this isn't a new story within the Pokemon lore. This is new lore with Pokemon in it.




You know what would be interesting? Focusing on that. What happens when a trainer orders their Pokemon to attack humans? Is there a prison sentence? Do the Pokemon serve time? Do Pokemon of evil teams feel torn between obeying a master or following their conscience? Do wild Pokemon have a hard time adjusting to the "Don't attack people" thing, especially if they have had bad experiences with trainers beating them up for experience? 




Is it an absolute rule? Do law enforcement have justification for using their own Pokemon to attack criminals? Does law enforcement even abide by the one Pokemon at a time in battle rule when apprehending a violent criminal? What do those battles look like?

Holly told me before taking off that I should say goodbye to Dahlia.




Okay, Dahlia's legit adorable.



Her "sekret hiding place" is not under the bed, so I guess I'll stop here before having to go fight some more wild Pokemon again.

---------

Current Team:
Kusagari, Cacnea. Level 14.

So, my plan was to do a bit of grinding. After all, what fan-game developer can resist the tantalizing call of making their game difficult?*

*Disclaimer: Game difficulty is not linearly correlated with level increase, after three-ish levels beyond Pokemon's difficulty curve, any further increase in levels only increases the amount of time spent grinding, which is not a difficult action. Or fun.

Unfortunately, the majority of wild Pokemon are grass or bug typed, many close to my level, meaning my Cacnea is shit outta luck. The two Pokemon I can grind on are Sandshrew and Bonsly, but the cave is also filled with Venipedes, Paras, and Foongus. This makes grinding quite slow.



While doing a bit of exploring I ended up finding Dahlia. Oh, alright.



Yay the sekret spot!



Uh, sure kid. Just make sure not to eat the mushrooms. Pretty sure the bright red and spotted kinds are poisonous.



Oh boy a sekret! ...yes I will continually spell it like that.



Flower Child, she's still adorable ~like Flowey.~





Back in chapter 1 I made the error of saying that I had no way of healing status conditions. This was not true as the Pokemart sold Full Heals. But even if I spent all my money on Full Heals specifically, I would still not have enough to deal with all the Thundershocks, Statics, Poison Stings, Poison Gases, and Licks I've gone through.

Oh well, I should still be able to defeat this-




Nevermind.

Guess I'll have to go grind a bit more. Earlier Dahlia mentioned that there were a lot of invisible items in the forest, so I may as well go look for those. Starting with this obvious rock.



Oh. I was hoping for a Rare Candy or something, but I guess this rock was a little too obvious for that.



Uh, ok. She doesn't have all the items though, right?



Not the most helpful, considering that this cave isn't very big.



This Shuckle. There was something going on with this Shuckle. It starts with Wrap, and then follows up with Encore. It caught me doing Growth to try and do a reasonable amount of damage, which wasn't too bad. But for the entirety of me trapped in Encore, it used Struggle Bug. Thankfully Shuckle has no attack so it didn't do all that much, but this was no typical wild Pokemon AI. Once I was freed from Encore, it set it up again, but this time I was locked into a very boosted Vine Whip and was able to knock it out no problem.



Also this.



Second time's a charm?





Okay, the rates that status effects take effect have definitely been increased. Lick and Poison Sting only take effect 30% of the time, but it feels like it's been at least 50%.



So I made the mistake of replacing Mud Slap with Ingrain. Mad Slap only has a pathetic 20 base damage, and from my experience in the factory, lowering accuracy didn't do a whole lot. Maybe it was just my imagination, but even after two Mud Slaps a lot of Pokemon were still hitting me. And besides, Ingrain's like, a strategic move, right?

Not now it isn't. Ingrain heals 1/16 of your total hp. You know what 1/16 of 46 is? 2. That extra 2 hp every turn isn't going to do a goddamn thing. Not to mention, even trying is the complete wrong strategy for this situation. This Teddiursa is equipped with Lick, Fury Swipes, Leer, and Fake Tears. It's purpose is to lower your defenses so the second Pokemon can take you out. At this stage, you're not going to stall it out. Better to just hit it hard and fast before decreases your stats too much.



Thankfully with Growth, Teddiursa is a two hit KO. Please let the next Pokemon be a water type...





To reiterate, I replaced Poison Sting for Vine Whip because I didn't know I'd be fighting a bunch of grass types in the next area, and I replaced Mud Slap for Ingrain because I thought it'd be smart. So the only two attacking moves I have are Vine Whip and Absorb.

So, spam Growth a bunch to make up for the .25 damage multiplier?



Nope, Roselia has Poison Sting and Mega Drain, which hurt a lot after a Leer and Fake Tears.



So what do you do, folks? What strategy do you use to defeat this?

The answer is none. There is no strategy that I can use to make this fight go any better. I have no items that will counter Teddiursa's set up. I have no Pokeballs to capture another Pokemon that can be used effectively against Roselia. The only thing I can do at this point is to grind levels.

Could I have picked my moveset more effectively? Maybe. I'd argue no. Leech Seed, which I didn't learn, doesn't work on Grass types, and even if it did, I'd have the same problem as I had with Ingrain. Not a battle where stalling works. Could I have kept Poison Sting? Maybe, that was a tough call to make. Between Growth, Absorb, Vine Whip, Poison Sting, and Mud Slap, which of those would you ditch, not knowing that the next area has almost all Grass types? Growth is actually very helpful for tough battles, so that was obvious. I'd have probably chucked Mud Slap, but I was in the middle of fighting a bunch of Electric and Poison types, so that would have been a poor choice given the immediate situation. Having two Grass types seems a bit redundant, but Absorb allowed me to heal and not use up my healing items, so in the end I got rid of Poison Sting.

And even if I did keep Poison Sting, I really doubt it would have done that much against Roselia. Can't poison her, Poison type.



While taking breaks from waiting for Bonsly and Sandshrew to pop up for experience, I read a bit of the Pokemon Apex subreddit and found teasings that there was a Pokeball hidden somewhere. If I could catch a Venipede, this battle would go a lot smoother. Now the question is, where would you find one?



Not this mushroom. It's got a very unimportant Ether on it. PP is not something I've been worried about at all right now.



So... is this something I come back to once I acquire Rock Smash? [Looks up subreddit.] No, the Rock Smash HM is hidden around here. Which, after examining every mushroom I came across, probably means it's on a random tile. Like the Feebas. You know what wasn't fun? Hunting for Feebas.

Actually no hunting for Feebas was fun because once you caught one it was this huge status symbol. You know what isn't a status symbol? Normal items like HMs and Pokeballs.



OH THANK FUCKING GOD. Now I not only have my strongest move yet, but it isn't resisted by that Roselia.



OKAY, YOU'RE GOING-





What... what was I expecting really?



LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN.

This time I'm able to get through the Teddiursa without paralysis, so...





It's over! This completely optional fight that I didn't really need to complete is over! Finally!



Who cares kid I beat your little punk ass!



Pretty sentimental for only knowing me for like, an hour, but whatever kid I BEAT YOU.



She gives you an Ultra Ball. Pretty nice gift for all the pain I just went through. Not going to use it though, because the alpha build is nearly over.




Yep. That's all for now, folks. I said it was probably going to end suddenly, and here we are. My single overleveled Cacnea is all I have to show for the first two-to-three hours of play. ...Just give me a second damn Pokemon.

-----

End Team:
Kusagari, Cacnea. Level 20.

-----

...
...
...
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE.

While checking out the subreddit I noticed that iamvishnu seems to be updated at a pretty rapid pace. Build 3.1, that I'm on, came out about a month after Build 2, so there's a good chance that by the end of June I'll get to return to Kaze and Kusagari for their teen angst-filled adventures. In fact, the creator updates so fast that he already made Build 3.2. I took a look through the change log, and it's mostly some tweaks to values, fixes to bugs, and...

Made intro scene more in-depth and informative.

Hm? This aught to be good...



Oh. Oh boy. This is not helping the ego thing.



Hey! No! No you are not pulling a Sans here. This is not an appropriate place to pull a Sans! I'm the one judging you! With my judgey pants!




Pppffpfpft, what? Like, what I'm doing? Dude I went into Undertale with the same low expectation (trufax I was expecting to hate Undertale) but it easily pulled me out of that funk. And like I said before, I'd have not roasted this game as hard if it wasn't coming from a place of superiority all the time. If it was just a labor of love project where iamvishnu wanted to tell his story about a world where Pokemon are demons, then I would have gone along with the dark and edgy story. Hell, Edgar Allen Poe is still my favorite poet, can't get much teen edgy than that. And I guess my favorite character so far is Dante. I like his "Fuck this bullshit" attitude.

But instead of taking criticism, he does this.




And leave no tile left unchecked!

Thankfully this build lets you continue your save file. I heard build 3 didn't do that, so I was a little worried that I'd have to slog through those first 30 minutes yet again.



Ok, so a little confession. After Chapter 3, I read on the subreddit that if you read one of the books in Dahlia's room, it tells you that all the hidden stuff is on the side of these walls. Mind you, this is the ONE thing I did not inspect in practically the entire map, so good job past me. This helps address my criticism from last chapter, as inspecting each tile of a front-facing wall is far less tedious than every tile on a map.

Second confession, I totally forgot to save after beating Dahlia last chapter, so I have to beat her again. Well, I don't have to, but if I want that Ultra Ball for later then yeah, do-over. Thankfully, one of the secret caves contained a Pokeball! So now I can totally do that thing I suggested before to make the fight actually strategic. Or, well, easier, since the strategy still isn't exactly complex.

Because I'm not really keen on doing any more grinding, my plan was to catch the first Pokemon with a relatively high level for the area (that wasn't a grass type.)



That'll do.



...FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Mind you I only have one Pokeball. Restart.



I was so eager to catch this one I forgot to weaken it first. It went as well as you'd expect.



Eventually I just said fuck it and caught a Venipede at level 13. I wasn't specifically searching for Venipedes (though they do have a very nice resistance to Dahlia's Roselia) but I kind of think they were the only ones that showed up level 13+.



A name fit for a nerd.



ROUND 2. Please dear god don't let this be just as hard as last time.





In case you had any lingering doubt that the chances of getting a status effect got boosted to 99%.

BUT GUESS WHAT TEDDIURSA, your Fake Tears and Leers don't work here! Because I brought my secret weapon!



Switching out on the same turn you faint!

I was honestly half expecting iamvishnu to disable this, as restricting the ability to switch on KO is honestly one of the easiest ways to boost the difficulty level of any Pokemon game.



Alright Cruxor, let's see how much damage you can do! Roselia only has Poison Sting and Mega Drain, both of which Cruxor resists.



Not too shabby I suppose. Maybe with a Screech and a few Poison Stings he can...





Well done sir, well done. Didn't even need to bring in Kusagari.



Now that I've caught up, let's continue this journey!



Hi Larry. Yeah, he's a trainer and you have to fight him.



Finally I get to deal the pain of the status conditions back at this game.



If there's going to be double battles in this game, then having Protect will certainly be useful for the strategies. But let's be honest, there's not going to be doubles.



But we just did one... Also how many people playing this game honestly aren't familiar with how basic Pokemon mechanics work?



Woah woah wait, so I'm basically forced into a battle and then forced to pay when I lose. I mean, that's how the original games work, but they never brought attention to it to leave open interpretation that maybe this was in-lore a little more consensual. Like, does this world have a problem with the 10% of trainers going around and fighting poor people for their money? Is there a Bernie Sandshrew fighting for trainer socialism?



I randomly checked this rock and was rewarded.

Ok, quick lowdown on the Pokemon here. Surskits, Duckletts, Buizels, and Yanmas were what I found. Mostly Water types. I could catch one, but nothing really stood out as a type of Pokemon I really want and since Pokeballs seem to be a rare resource, better I see what challenge is up ahead first.



This woman concerns me.



I'd like to point out the sprite art here. iamvishnu brought on a new one, and I'll just say I am quite impressed. This sprite artist definitely deserves some respect. Well done.

Also he brought on a new composer, but I honestly couldn't tell what music was RPG Maker default and what was original. I guess the composer can take that as a compliment since the RPG Maker tracks are pretty good.



Looks like there's secret passages on this map too.



A Power Weight? That thing you give to your Pokemon to raise its EVs? I mean if you really care that much but really, who pays attention to EVs during the story portion of a Pokemon game? Afterwards when you're trying to build a competitive team sure, but... eh oh well. I'm not going to bother personally.



Not a bad fisherman, though the outline along his yellow coat is broken and just plain wonky in places.



Again, gotta hand it to the sprite artist, this time for diversity.



New trainer types are pretty cool too.



And now it's raining.



Helmet's flat up top and the arm is... well it's dislocated.

...yes I am giving sprite critique. You can't turn this shit off after doing it for years.



What a convenient roadblock to hinder my progress in that direction.



Can't complain about this sprite. Trying to think of what was used as a base and I definitely don't think it had that body type. I want to meet this sprite artist. I want to be their friend.



Team update: Cruxor is level 17 now, and Kusagari is level 20. Only level 20, because there's an arbitrary level cap there. You know, in case you've been doing too much grinding or something.



Oh yeah, and the phone mechanic from Gen 2 returns. So far I've collected almost every trainer's number that I've fought so far. This will definitely bite me in the ass later when they won't shut up about catching top tier Ratattas.



I randomly checked this area and, again, it pays off.



Oh, alright. Give that to Kusagari then. See this is what I like to have hidden. A cool bonus to reward your exploration, not an essential item I can buy in a Pokemart.



Outline's all black, pillow shaded, weird anatomy. Not the best sprite of the bunch.



Aw man Cruxor is becoming a beastly machine. I've never been proud of a Venipede before.



This guy is probably the aforementioned 10% who steals money from weak trainers.



Well I'm totally out of healing items. Sure hope I get to the next town soon...



Oh hey speak of the d-

In the wise words of Dan, you ain't slick game.



This game nearly ripped me off at 1000 Pokedollars a night.



IT MEANS A LOT TO ME.



UNHAND THE ALCOHOL OLD MAN.



And this is where I'd put my Pokemon... IF I HAD ANY.



Uh... great for anyone who actually gives a shit about EVs at level 20 I guess.



Jesus. Though I guess I'm sort of curious...

Kusagari has perfect IVs in HP and Speed and average to above average in everything else.
Cruxor has perfect IVs in Special Attack and shit IVs everywhere else. ...GOOD JOB.



Ah yes, punny book titles.



Eh a bit steep, but at least I don't have to go collect some obscure item.



...no.



PUZZLES!



No puzzles...



UNHAND THE POKEBALL.



Eh, could be worse. With the way iamvishnu was talking on the subreddit, I seriously expected these things to be only given out one at a time in key moments or hidden behind secret passages.



You're telling me, the encounter rate is caves is nuts.



This is the best new item that shouldn't exist ever.

...It shouldn't exist because I hate Flash caves and there's no reason to have a Flash cave unless you're gating progress.



Look at this dork kid. Though he challenged me to battle in the middle of the city... Nowhere is safe.



Excuse you.



I was walking in some tall grass on the outskirts of the city and SKITTY! I LOVE SKITTY. I mean it's just so cute but I never use them because they always suck. I mean seriously they have no good stats and no good movepool. BUT GUESS WHAT I'M CATCHING IT.



Had to use the Ultra Ball since I didn't actually buy any of those Pokeballs from before. ...oops.



Happy 9th TWEWY Anniversary.



Who?



I guess I need to see this guy?



Exploring east of town brings me to this graveyard. It's a bunch of names I didn't recognize with serious, bitter, or somber quotes beneath the names.



And then there's this one.



Well played game, well played.



Guess that's why I wanted to know where to find this elder guy.



DANTE!



Not Dante, he went a whole sentence without swearing.



If I'm not buying it then he's not buying it.




Surrender that McGuffin or every waking moment for you will become a swirling torrent of pain and misery!




Let the betting pools open: Old friend - 50%, his brother - 30%, evil son - 20%.



Are the earthquakes going to plot relevant beyond hindering my progress?



Who you callin' urchin?



Can you ever just tell that the script was written with the main character being male in mind? Protip: if the player can choose the gender of the main character, write the script as if they chose female. Not only are you less likely to make slip-ups, and you can avoid pronoun weirdness with he/his/his and she/her/hers.

Or he really wants this reference to be made, but I'm not really sure Kaze relates to the Prodigal Son of the bible.



I wasn't aware that Dante was supposed to kill me. He gave me several opportunities to just leave. Can we expect goodness in Dante's heart?



I literally forgot Griffen was a thing.



Bring it old man.



Nice touch on the breath.



First Pokemon is a Snorunt. Shiki's behind in level, but she only needs one turn to do her thing.



Because of course he does.



Fucking hell this is the Snorunt from the literal icy hell. Just two Icy Winds and Cruxor's down.



But through sheer dumb luck (and by that I mean the AI picking Bite and Headbutt) Kusagari takes him out. Please let the next Pokemon be weak to grass or dark...



NEVERMIND I'M SO DEAD.







OH NO WAIT ICY WIND DROPS YOUR SPEED CAN HE DO THIS!?





WAAAAAAAAT NOOOOW!!! DAMN KUSAGARI YOU MADE ME GO FULL DAN AND MAKE SOME ANIMATED GIFS FOR THAT PERFORMANCE.



SUCK MY SAMURAI-COWBOY-CACNEA'S COCK



Wait what no that's not how this works you see I have the boner and I'd rather you not get one from that.



Still wonder what you want with the guy. I swear if he shows up as the final boss...



Smell ya later, gramps.



Everyone's been talking about a dark aura around me I'm starting to think this is more than a one off NPC thing.



Well it all started when IGN posted this article about this great new Pokemon fangame for adults...



Ok fine I guess being thrown into hell and having to fight my way out with demons among a bunch of strangers would probably make me cry too. Realistically speaking.



You see I go to this school which starts and ends in the middle of the night...



Sheesh Kaze must live among a bunch of assholes back home.



Oh she did? ...I don't recall that.



Well so far this chapter hasn't been half bad so that's a bit of an odd experience.



"...weird dreams."

Oh yeah that too.



Darkrai. It's Darkrai, isn't it?



"...hesitant to let you stay here."



Lake trio? Is it the lake trio?



Always with the retrieving of objects.



...I don't have any guesses, this could go any direction.



Well guess we better get going. ...Next time because now's a good place to stop for the night.

--------------

Current team:
Kusagari, Cacnea, level 20.
Cruxor, Venipede, level 19.
Shiki, Skitty, level 14.
'/

Time for Kaze to find the secret treasure beneath the chapel. But first, let's get Shiki up to speed. She's a bit underleveled compared to everyone else.



...Uh, nevermind.



Level 15 and she learns DoubleSlap. Normally I'd get rid of Foresight, but one of the boys outside the chapel said my next dungeon would be filled with Ghost types, so I probably shouldn't get rid of the one attack that'll keep Shiki from being completely useless.



I'm starting to get suspicious of the rng in this game. Not only are the status effects on maximum overdrive, but it feels like moves are missing more often. I didn't show it last chapter, but Cruxor's Rollout missed twice. And it's not like I was using it a lot, maybe only like five times total. It's Rollout, not the most reliable. Now DoubleSlap seems to have bad luck. I'll have to keep track for the future to see if I'm just forgetting the hits and remembering the misses, or if there's really something fishy going on here.



But enough of that! Into the catacombs.



Alas, poor Yorick. Actually the fact that a Hamlet reference wasn't made his is either a missed opportunity or evidence of a lot of self restraint.



But one of them will have something.



Just as planned.



I swear if I have to go find a Ruby and Sapphire orb...



Ah yes, our first encounter with a ghost type and- wait wait wait hold up did Night Shade just do damage to Shiki? Isn't Night Shade a Ghost type attack? Shouldn't Shiki be unaffected by it? WHAT'S GOING ON? Maybe it's just bad logic in the Pokemon RPG Maker extension, forgot to check type immunity as Night Shade normally disregards type.



Well whatever, this Duskull's pretty high level so I'll just catch her.



I'll name this one Breaker for BREAKING THE RULES.



WAIT WAIT WHAT? I can only carry three Pokemon? WHY? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? First the level cap and now this? DO YOU HATE PROGRESS? DO YOU HATE FUN?





SUPER EFFECTIVE? WITH A SHADOW SNEAK?

So I went to go look this up and apparently iamvishnu decided to make Ghost types super effective against Normal types. His reasoning is that Ghost is just a worse version of Dark and this gives it some advantages over the other type. Personally... I'd argue no. It's true that both Dark and Ghost have the same strengths, against Psychic and Ghost, but Dark has one more type that resists it than Ghost. And from a defensive standpoint, Ghost has one more immunity and one less weakness than Dark. The only reason Dark seems to get more usage is that it has a wider range of attacks, and more non-Dark Pokemon can learn Dark moves than non-Ghost Pokemon learn Ghost moves.



Well, if Ghost now has an advantage over Normal, Shiki is at a very large disadvantage. So, much like the game she was named after, Shiki must be unjustly retired.



Unfortunately Breaker's not that much better a replacement. Only attacking move is Night Shade which will always do damage equal to its level, and compared to the other Ghosts it's not a great replacement. But that's ok, I'm done with these Ghosts, and I know just the Pokemon who can bust them harder than all the Ghostbusters combined.



Say hello to Vika. Her Bite is the bite that will pierce the heavens! Or wherever these ghosts ended up.



SEND THEM BACK TO HELL VIKA.



Assiah... how much you want to bet that means Heaven in Hebrew?

...Close enough.

Text:
"While we live in the world called Gehenna, the faithful believe in an entirely separate world called Assiah. While this world is inhabited by Pokemon, Assiah is not. Further details about this strange land are unknown, and many believe it is a paradise free from strife and hardship."

At this point I think it's safe to say Kaze (and most likely, Earth) is actually Assiah and it's possible at some point the game will make a point that this "paradise" isn't really so.



The game keeps making a big deal about these earthquakes. Pretty sure it was said that the evil team is responsible. I'll probably have to go save the town from near disaster after this.



Oh boy a puzzle! Let's look at the clue.



Er, alright. The sprites are all the same, and three urns "hold a curse" so that would mean the key is in one of the middle two. It's a 50/50 shot at which of them is right though...



Inny minny miney this one.



Woohoo! I got the key!



...right? There was no notification that the puzzle actually gave me anything. Did it open up another part of the map? Don't know, there was absolutely zero indication that anything happened. So either a part of the map I haven't visited yet unlocked, or the game glitched and I'm fucked. Hopefully the first.



Oh nooooo, whatever shall I do?



GET DUNKED ON YOU CHEATING SKELETON GHOST.



Oh thanks.



OH MY GOD A GHOST RUN KAZE



Ok fine if I had been battling ghosts all day as well with a super Ghostbusting dog I probably wouldn't freak out either.



Another confession, I'm not too big on the talking protagonists that are always in these fangames. It could be that I just like to project myself or my character onto the protagonist in Pokemon games, but it's also equally, if not more likely, that they all have the same personality. Like, when I'M tired of my protagonist being a little snarky snot, then it's time to stop.



Even the ghost doesn't want to stick around for Kaze's attitude.



Do you ever just try to Run Away three times and not?



Yes. Dungeons.



More info:
"...but these Pokemon are not present in the other world, as in our's, they are closer to their source of energy. Fortunately, their existence seems entirely benign, and our people have been successful at forging a bond with Pokemon for centuries."

Part three was nearby:
"...however, originally the worlds were once one. Approximately 1000 years ago, some cataclysmic event split a universe in two. The residual energy remained in our world, causing creatures known as Pokemon to spring forth."

Just in case you needed backstory to know why monsters were running around.



I totally forgot that Poochyenas evolve at level 18. Awesome!



Thanks urn probably filled with human remains.



Uh... how do I...?



Oh. ...ok.



Hrm...



Yay more puzzles!





That is all the info you're given for this puzzle.

...
...
...
...Um...

Let's press f, because I guess it's true. If I press f, then I have technically pressed none of the above options.



Aaaaaand that was incorrect.



Thankfully it only took me two more guesses to get it right. The correct answer is e. If anyone would like to tell me why the answer is e, then be my guest because I sure as fuck don't know.



Ghostie is back and wants souls.



Pretty sure I already lost my soul back when I boxed Shiki.



Ah ok then.



Tortured Revenant has three level 20 Ghost types, including a Duskull, Shuppet, and Ghastly. They're all stuff that were wild in the dungeon anyway so it's not a particularly interesting battle, especially with Vika tearing them apart one by one.



I guess the wild Pokemon were pissing this spirit off or something.



Hello random thief.



Backstabbing in three... two...



...one.



Oh cool. I know these are usually used to summon Spiritomb, but maybe it'll open up that one gate.



This is the treasure I was sent here for. Not going to lie, if I found this map, I wouldn't have thought it was the treasure. I would have thought it was just an ordinary map.



Well this is nice.



Damn. So much for that idea. Not sure where I'm supposed to find this key...



Again, wasn't that exciting to me.



Those are plot important places Kaze.



The next part is a lot of exposition, so here's the gist of it.

First Matthias goes over what we already read in the catacombs, that Gehenna and Assiah were once the same universe. The game avoids having either character jump to the obvious conclusion that Kaze is from Assiah, so I'm not sure if that means it's saving it for a reveal later or that's not the case at all. Anyway, Matthias theorizes that the residents of Assiah were unaware that a split even happened, as all the damage was contained to Gehenna. Humanity barely survived, but then they noticed that their new world had some magic energy that turned various lifeforms (and inanimate objects) into Pokemon.

Because of the residual energy humans and Pokemon were able to make bonds. And yes, the magic energy was necessary, people and Pokemon didn't make bonds because they're both intelligent lifeforms living together or anything like that. Friendship is magic and only magic apparently. To be fair, Matthias later says that these magic bonds allow humans to talk with Pokemon telepathically, so... there's that.

Then Matthias goes on to explain that he can see a dark aura around Kaze that's keeping her from bonding with her Pokemon, which is really just a long winded explanation for why there's a level cap.



Also, Psyche Locks. Kaze must be keeping a pretty big secret for seven of these to show up.

So as you'd expect, in order to free Kaze's heart from the dark aura I have to go to each of those X's on the map and find an ancient artifact.



And we finally get a name for our evil team. The Calaveras. So... technically, the Sugar Skulls, though I guess that wasn't as intimidating.

Well, that was quite the exposition dump, so I guess that marks a good place to stop. But before we do, one last thing.



Considering Vika only has Bite, this is probably a good idea. Thankfully the TM didn't disappear after using it, and now Vika has an Ice move in her arsenal.

-----------------

Active Team:
Kusagari, Cacnea (lv 20)
Cruxor, Venipede (lv 20)
Vika, Mightyena (lv 19)

In box:
Shiki, Skitty (lv 15)
Breaker, Duskull (lv 18)

Hidden Power is supposed to be Ice, but it's showing up as Normal. It's just a bug in the engine though...



As evidenced by this Goldeen.

So I totally forgot to mention in the last chapter, but the place we're headed too now is the Amon Desert.





I checked this random tree and got a berry out of it. Neat.



You can actually buy berries in this game, but they're more expensive than their medicine counterparts. Which makes sense, given that berries can be held in battle.



I hadn't mentioned it yet, but the composer that came on board with this build is really good. I had to pause once I got to Jagged Pass, the background music really gave me a Metroid Prime vibe. Hats off to you, composer. That said, the composer hasn't said if he does or doesn't mind if the music is uploaded and shared, so for now if you're interested I'll just send you the file directly.



Larry. Larry Butz.



...this guy's gonna be my new rival, isn't he?



What's the- the A stands for Apex, doesn't it?



Eeeeeeeaaaasssssyyyyy



...is what I would have said if this Slakoth clearly didn't have specialized AI. It caught my Howl in an Encore and then used Yawn to put Vika to sleep. Most people would have switched by then. Not me. No, I stuck it out.



The end result was a 3x Howl boosted Mightyena tearing through Larry's team.



I need to learn to say no.



Dude I found this ancient map from the bottom of a crypt I think I'm fine.



I'm not sure how I could have gotten this far without catching at least one Pokemon. If I try this without a full team I deserve to get my ass handed to me.



Ah! Homeless man!



Well you're not doing a very good job!



At this point I realized that with a full team of Pokemon capped at their max levels, there really was no reason for me to go looking for battles. So I didn't fight anyone who wasn't directly blocking my way.



These things are always tough to catch, and I don't have many Pokeballs to catch it with, but dammit Skarmorys are cool and I want it.



Aaaaand unfortunately this game is going by Gen 5 rules, which means the abundance of Dark type moves my Pokemon know aren't effective. In fact, the only thing that'll do neutral damage to this Skarmory is Vika's Hidden Power and Cruxor's Rollout. I decide it's not worth the effort.



Gee, thanks.



New trainer sprite. It's pretty cool and well done.



Remember what I said about the Skarmory? Yeah, wasn't expecting this Ferroseed to cause so much trouble. At this point I realize I should probably diversify my team a bit.



It works.



If I recall my ancient Greece correctly, Xerxes was the king of Persia. A bit noble for a mere Mankey but whatever.



Oh hey I didn't notice this cave before. Wonder what's in here...?




Ah, alright. Guess I need some sort of key.



Remember what I said about accuracy in the last chapter?



Don't get me wrong, I'm not replacing Cruxor. But there's no disadvantage to him for switching out with Xerxes right now, not while everything is capped at level 20.



Thankfully, Xerxes makes quick work of this Ferroseed.




Hm...



Oh I see, it's literally that one puzzle from the ruins in Undertale.



Except... longer.



Hm?



Oh god no.



Dear god please don't start talking about how you almost caught a common Pokemon recently...



Fuck called it.



Did you even change the script used in Gold and Silver?



Ugh, well, with that out of the way, I eventually came to the realization that, so long as I have this level cap, I should really be catching as many Pokemon as I can. That way I can switch out my team depending on the types I need and not have all this experience go to waste. It's funny, iamvishnu has said that he limited Pokeballs and slots in your team because he wants each Pokemon you catch feel special. But really, if I still have to abide by this low level cap, the result is the opposite. If I only stick to a core team of three, I'm heavily losing out on tons of experience that could be going to new, swappable team members.



It was also around this time that I was told my great grandma passed away. So here is a Woobat named in her honor.




Booper Wooper.




Here's the sand puzzle when I finally got through it. Each of those holes dropped me down and had me start over.



Ah, this must go on the pedestal in that other cave.



But still one thing remains, I gotta get that item that's been taunting me. According to the layout it should be inaccessible, but I bet one of these tiles is secretly stable to walk on. Just gotta find it...

...Just gotta spend a lot of trial and error finding it.



Found it. You can count how many times I had to fall through the floor to get here. This item better be worth it.



Nnnnnnnnnope not worth it.




Okilidokili then




One of the guys on the reddit page was complaining that it doesn't make sense for a doctor to beat you up before giving you medicine, but I'm pretty sure the doctor trainers in Gen 5 do the exact same thing.



Except they heal you fully instead of giving you a Super Potion and a Full Heal.



Eyy there's only room for one Vika around here.



Goddamn this Mankey and it's absurdly low defenses!



Yes I had thought of switching in Vika and doing an epic Mightyena showdown, but she was low on health.



Go spelunk, young one.





I honestly cannot hear the phrase "You're going to have a bad time" without thinking of Sans anymore. And it always feels misplaced if it's not being used as a big understatement. Like, yeah I'm sure trying to fight all the trainers in here with only one Pokemon would be a bad time, but is it Sans level of bad? Nah.



Oh great, Flash caves. Love these things...



It's a good thing I bought some of these.



Ah, much better.



There's Foongus here too. Lots of Foongus.



And of course I'M restricted to level 20, but the game sure isn't.




Thank god this hot spring is here, my Pokemon were getting pretty low on health.



I'm not sure if this is a bad fog effect or if the game bugged and kept the super light effect going too long.



Are there any items in this cave that AREN'T Foongus?



Finally.



New trainer type: the Lumberjack.



I'm out of the cave! And... I don't know, have I?



Well done spelunking.



Is it Jul'near or Jul'far?



There's an invisible wall here. Can't interact with it or anything, probably just an error.



Oh that's right, this is that route above my home town where I was like "No Kaze this is a route you don't have any Pokemon yet!" Kaze seems to think that despite being in a completely different world, her hometown is nearby. Apparently she's been so sheltered her whole life that no one even taught her the names of any neighboring cities or areas.



Another invisible wall. iamvishnu said he rushed to get this build out in time, so I guess it's to be expected. Still, the quality drop in this one route is a bit odd.



Like, the tiling on the corners of this hill. This route needs a polish pass for sure.



WHY IS THE POTENTIAL DANGER OF THIS ROCK IMPORTANT?



Oh, that's my hint that this build is coming to a close. Good idea giving a warning this time so I don't accidentally lose my progress like I did with Dahlia.




Except the logic where you're in a PARALLEL WORLD. I mean sure it might LOOK like your home, but don't expect to find your father and schoolmates and stuff. In fact, since I'm supposed to be on my way to a desert, I'll bet that the entire town has been ravaged by sands and dunes.



And that's all for now. Tune in next time for the continued adventures of Kaze and the Sugar Skulls! (Damn that makes a good band name...)

------------

Current team:

Kusagari (Cacnea), lv 20
Vika (Mightyena), lv 20
Xerxes (Mankey), lv 19

*

Cruxor (Venipede), lv 20
Shiki, Skitty (lv 15)
Breaker, Duskull (lv 18)
Dorris (Woobat), lv 15
Booper (Wooper), lv 17

Last time on: Pokemon Apex! Kaze finally gets home but really, you’re fooling no one. It’s not actually home.



I dunno, fight a demon, find the Wizard of Oz? There’s more options than you think Kaze.



Psyche Locks giving me a heart attack there. By the by, the level 20 level cap is still in place. Yay…



LOOK IT’S JIRACHI.



Yes please.



Jirachi just shows you a vision of Griffen. Oh yeah, still gotta save him.



My man Dante’s breaking out! Though really the guy has a level 70 Blaziken he is a bit overqualified for his job.



This ponce too. Don’t think he’s someone we’ve met yet, but hey don’t put down fisticuffs. Not all of us had Pokemon to fight with you know.



Ooh burn, the “I saved your life once” card. You going to take that Dante?



More names to remember.



Yeah fuck you Ultima! Mystery ponce is now known as Ultima until otherwise named.



To tl;dr their conversation, they need me and/or Griffen for something. Seems like they’d prefer to have us both, but just Griffen is fine.



Here’s the current team as it stands.



There’s a lot of items hidden behind Rock Smash rocks here. I have no idea if I’ll get Rock Smash handed to me later, or if it was a hidden thing I was supposed to have picked up already.



Groovy.



Sounds like election night.



Oh, there’s bandits is all. Guess I’ll have to be the one to take care of it.



Overall I’d say that the writing has improved since the first three chapters… but arrogant teenager Kaze with zero fear is still a little grating.



I mean IT’S A BANDIT KAZE. HE HAS A SWORD. Show SOME hesitance in deciding to lip him off.



Good news: His Pawniard is weak to Xerxes. Bad news: Xerxes is weak from getting hit by one attack by a wild Pokemon. God Xerxes grow some thick skin.



God damn it Xerxes.



Gee, thanks.



Invest all skill points into lock picking!



I have the sudden urge to make this a thing in Legacy of Hatred.



Seems a little out of place… I think…



Remember her? She’s a thing.



The mayor has a bit of lip too. They walk away to discuss some… “negotiations.” Sounds violent.



…what?



Oh come on!



I mean sure I have the money for it, but what if I need to spend that money on potions? Not to mention, it’ll really add up if I need to visit often. And given my level cap…



Ugh fine. But I really need to find a PC so I can switch out some of my Pokemon. Carrying a bunch of capped out Pokemon isn’t doing me any good. I may as well raise some others.



That was a 500 Pokedollar headbutt right there.



…IS IT!?



Oh here’s the PC.



New team. Booper doesn’t have any Water type attacks, but does have Mud Shot and Slam, so not terribly bad. Dorris has a good spread: Gust, Assurance, and Heart Stamp. Breaker is the same as last time, but I swapped out Foresight for Hidden Power, since now that Ghost is super effective against Normal, no real reason to keep it around.



Really? I have to pay just to get into the item shop?



Ugh, fine. There doesn’t seem to be any way around this.



Really? I have to choose?



Maybe if I lowball him he’ll get offended and fight me instead.



Nope, guess not.



Meanwhile I fight some trainers I dodged on my way to the city for some exp. And man, Booper and Dorris are weak. Breaker’s alright I guess. I was able to deduce that she has Grass type Hidden Power.



Dammit, no potions. Guess I’ll have to suck it up and just pay that Bandit.



Another trip to the inn yielded something interesting.



…?





Hm. Guess I’ll need to check bookshelves in inns from now on.



Come on man it’s a free night at the inn go get yourself a nice night on me.



Fine but this better go towards the hookers.



An… Antlion Ball?





I restock on potions and Pokeballs.



And it’s a good thing I didn’t just walk out. I want to shank this guy.



Alright that’s it we’re catching some new Pokemon because this sure isn’t working.



Huh. Something over level 20. That’s nice, but… it’s Pidove.



I do like Murkrow, but 16 is a bit too low of a level.



Catch a level 19 Zigzagoon. They’ve been faithful to me in the past, but let’s just check to see if there’s anything else…



HOLY BANANA JESUS. YES.



Caught it and Breaker shot up two levels. May have gone further if the level cap wasn’t in place.



Ephraim the Tropius. A good, strong name that means “fruitful.”



We’ll just box these three and- wait a minute…



Did you know that your Pokemon get free healing when you box them? No more inn fees!



Ephraim has a good moveset, but we’ll throw Hidden Power in for a bit more type coverage.



Here’s the team. At this point with wild Pokemon over my own level cap, no reason to raise anything to 20 anymore. I can just catch something better.



Data point number 1: Ephraim’s Hidden Power is weak to Steel/Bug. Hm…



Data point number 2: Ephraim’s Hidden Power is weak to Bug/Poison…

…It’s fucking Grass type, isn’t it?



Well their water has to come from somewhere in this desert.



Oooooh boy what did I accidentally challenge to a fight?



Fuck. I still don’t have anything good to attack Steel types with. I mean there’s Xerxes, but he’s soooo fragile that he wouldn’t last two seconds against this Skarmory. What I really need is a good Fire type to deal with the Durants and Ferroseeds that have also shown their faces around here, but I don’t think I’ve seen a single wild Fire type once.



Yeah fuck your accuracy.



Thank god for Ephraim’s insane bulk. It’s like little me trying to fight Brock in Yellow all over again. (And apparently I’ve learned nothing about not ignoring Mankeys since then.)



Finally. Ephraim saves the day.



Hm. So uh… how do I get in?



Save it for when I need to shove it up someone’s ass around here.



Ooh, the one building that wasn’t locked.



Hm. He’s probably talking about the Calaveras, based on being named after something Hell related, but doesn’t mention them by name. Still, one boss and seven underlings. We know about Dante, Ultima, the old man, Tenho, and the masked man from the beginning, one of who may or may not be Shiva or Lucifer.



Oh, so that’s how I get in. Took a while to find.



Alleyoop.



Yeah he’s gonna slaughter everyone.



So, a literal government overthrow.



Now’s not a time to play therapist, Mayor.



Ho don’t do it.



Girl they have swords. You have a banana tree.



Oh. Oh no.



I SWEAR TO GOD IF A VEGETABLE THEMED SUPER HERO COMES OUT



…okay?



For once Kaze and I are on the same page.



Oh my god.



Boy harness those Victini powers ‘cause you’re gonna need them!



…never mind fucking kill him.



…Just… this man. Also it seems like this build got a new Trainer spriter, and this one doesn't seem to believe in black outlines. This offends me.



I COULD REALLY USE A FIRE TYPE RIGHT ABOUT NOW.

Also level fucking 30!?



Oh thank god for Gladio. He pretty much does all the heavy lifting.



Four Close Combats before he became just too weak.



Yeah that was… ahem, I helped.



Swords are no match for my banana tree! Oh wait Siegfried has a sword too.



Would you say… when dark rises?



Kaze at least acknowledges that fighting a bunch of level 30s is way out of her league so I don’t think the game will throw this nonsense at me alone.



I legitimately do not remember what this Murmur Tower is or why I’m going.



Ooooh, what is this magical artifact?



Oh it’s just Safety Goggles.



With the Bandits gone, it’s time to restock on supplies and head out to Amon Desert!

———

Current Team:
Kusagari (Cacnea), lv 20
Vika (Mightyena), lv 20
Ephraim (Tropius), lv 25

*

Cruxor (Venipede), lv 20
Shiki, Skitty (lv 15)
Breaker, Duskull (lv 20)
Dorris (Woobat), lv 15
Booper (Wooper), lv 17
Xerxes (Mankey), lv 20
Verena (Zigzagoon), lv 19

Thanks lady.



As you read through this chapter, be sure to note all the pictures on the walls. They’re… odd decorations to say the least.





Not sure where this would be though, and I did a lot of wandering during the previous chapter.




Make Julfar…
If only America had…

I can’t do it. I’m going to go cry in the corner for fifteen minutes instead of making this joke.



Um… who?



Well alright then. I feel like I walked into the middle of a quest without seeing the first part.



It’s an overpriced Magikarp, isn’t it?



Yep.



Oh?



Nah. Milotic is cool and all but I don’t even know how I would evolve it. Can’t trade, can’t raise beauty. How much of a dick move would it be to give the player an overpriced Feebas and no way to evolve it?



That said Kaze drives a hard bargain.



Hm. While buying a Magikarp for 2000 Pokedollars is laughable, I don’t have a way to fish, and it is guaranteed to evolve into Gyarados at level 20, which all of my current team members are already at. The Feebas on the other hand has no guarantee of actually evolving any time soon, or at all.



From Chinese 金 (jīn) meaning "gold, metal, money.” It’s only level 10 though, and I’ve never actually had the patience to train a Magikarp in early game. But it’s there, in case I need it.



I guess this is like the Game Freak studio in every Pokemon game. I guess that means iamvishnu and the others who collaborate call their coalition “Dark Sands Studio.”



“I’ve gathered you all here today to talk about level caps.”




Sayaka’s house. Guess we’re friends now.



Little bit of character development from Sayaka.



Guess we’re going to Murmur Tower together then.



A… a store that sells dung?



Oh, it’s just a fancy repel.





I actually completely forgot that this was a secret until I wrote up this chapter. Guess I’ll need to do some searching for next chapter.



Hm? What’s this?



Dude what the fuck? Is this kid spoofing The Godfather?




Ah, so this is the TM Kid that other kid mentioned before.



Oh ok it is a spoof of The Godfather.





Well, I already tracked the kid down, so I guess I just need to talk to him again.



Ey Brick Break. That’ll be useful against all the Steel types the Bandits have. And thankfully Kusagari can learn it.



I was GOING to say no, but my button mashing accidentally made me accept.




So some sort of religious temple. Got it.



I can’t actually remember what Kaze heard at this point.



The temple is full of puzzles where you have to step on a switch to move two giant pillars: one horizontal and the other vertical. Some switches block off the western and southern side of the temple, others block of the eastern and northern side. You have to know when to push switches and unlock doors to progress.




In case you had any doubts that iamvishnu is an Undertale fan. I do not want my gods to shower me with LOVE.



There’s treasure chests around here, but most of them are Mimics- I mean Dittos.



I mean I gotta really.




I guess Griffen’s ghost is haunting Kaze now. Well that sucks for him.



Even this bandit is freaked out by it.



Siglyphs are cool Pokemon in concept but are the devil in practice.



Caught a level 24 Intimidate Mawile. Definitely a good contender to keep on my A team.



Uh… hey Griffen. Buddy. I’ll get you out of there. Maybe.



You can push the statue around, but can’t do the obvious thing, which is push it on top of this button. Then again, the button just resets the statue, so I don’t know why you would.




FINALLY. A fire type.



More ancient ramblings.



Puzzle. You can step on the switches near the bottom to move two of the statues up and down at the same time, except that they’re offset by one square so it’s impossible to have them on the switch at the same time. So you have to push that statue from before to block one of their paths.



It’s a religious sacrificial chamber, but the ghost wants me to confirm that with the other two wall writings I missed.



Uh… GRIFFEN? WHERE’D YOU GO?



Well thanks for leaving this for me.



Well done ancient people. Sans is not proud of you.



Really? Do I have to prove myself worthy to a ghost?




Just as easy as last time, but at least Spiritomb was a shake up.



Didn’t I get one of these at the catacombs too? Hm, wonder why the game is giving me multiples.



He’s dead.



Excuse you, like Kaze could have done anything. Got rot I’m gonna be a Demon master and get home.




Jeez, drama queen.



Oh another Calaveras. Who’s it going to be this time?




New guy then. Let’s call him Letro until further notice.



Hahaha Brick Break is the best!



FUCKING SKARMORIES.



Even though it was barely effective Vika was able to defeat it with Ice Hidden Power. I DESPERATELY need something to deal with these Skarmories.




Letro is being coy with me and not answering any questions.




God dammit Griffen would you stop it with the blame game you’re the worst friend ever.




Oh… it was just a mini shapeshifter guy. I really should have seen that coming.



Vanitas… Like the Kingdom Hearts character?

Actually it was mentioned that there’s seven Calaveras, so how much you want to bet each of them represents a deadly sin? “The Languid” would suggest Vanitas is sloth, and Dante is definitely wrath.




Psyche Lock one of seven broken!



Was Thor a war god? …Dammit.



Oooooh, THIS is Rock Smash. Good, now I don’t have to waste a slot on my very limited team for useless HM moves. Good design decision gold star.



FINALLY! Can I get a fourth party member? …No? Well I’ll take what I can get.



The “Pokemon used HM” animation plays every time I smash something, and it looks kind of silly with this hammer.