“Whose Story is it Anyway?” - A Pokémon Rejuvenation Nuzlocke (Part 40: Waifs and Wanderers) (2024)

"ago."

Welcome back to Rejuvenation. Last time, we survived. We took on Marianette.

But, now what do I do?

"All this stuff with the ghost trees was weird, but we have a mission!"

It's good to see a semblance of normality here. Half of my mind still feels strapped to the altar.

"Your strength is inspirational to me… and a lot of others too!"

That's very sweet, but I promise it wasn't just me.

Who knows what the strongest of us will do now?

VENAM: "It's gonna be sad to see you go, but I understand you got things to take care of."

AELITA: "It's okay, you have Luca and Lenny to keep you company!"

I'm glad you Gearen kids made it out. After all we've been through, I don't want to just ditch you here. But at least your mum's around. And she'll know that I kept our promise.

"They said it was my fault that they got them [sic] into this situation."

AELITA: "Oh…"

W-Wait, did they? That's honestly harsh, I'm not sure why they're…

Unless. When you rushed to the sewers, did you make them come with you?

"Where are you guys off to now?"

AELITA: "I've already settled things with the Eldest and all that, so we're going to Route 3 immediately!"

Venam, whatever happened back there, will you be okay on your own? You can still come with us…

"Town!"

VENAM: "What the hell? That's a longass trip… Why are you guys going all the way to Akuwa Town for?"

Actually, maybe not. You and Goldenleaf would get on very poorly psdjkfdsk

"we're gonna need to fix it. We heard there's a famous mechanic named Saki Blakeory who is staying in Akuwa Town for a few months."

What Aelita said. I still can't believe I'm begging a billionaire Blakeroy for help.

AELITA: "U-Uh, Venam? Are you okay?"

Hm?

AELITA: "Y-Yes, that's what I said?"

Oh, that's interesting. Doesn't sound like the name's music to her ears either.

"VER EVER!!! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!"

She bolts in a howl of thunder.

"A sensitive topic for you… Welp, she's gone."

So much for her coming along kdsjfhdsjk

"If you forgot where that is, just go through the gate located in Sheridan. See you there!"

*nods*

Hey, Aelita, can I ask you something?

Knowing Goldenleaf so well…

At least, for one more chapter, please can you take care too?

Well, that town isn't our priority at the moment. Because before we head forward…

We need to go back.

The devs updated Pokémon Rejuvenation, it's now on Version 13.5. My current save file is on the one before, V13. But 13.5 is incompatible with older save files, unless they're way into the late-game. And even those have problems converting. So, these first three chapters we've seen? On this new version, I need to play them from scratch.

I should say that I admire these developers, particularly the main one Janichroma (Jan). They work for free, on their own time, and put a lot of love into this game. I appreciate their work in installing this. Let me say this now as I'll be grumpy later, including about the savefiles sdhsdkhg

So, V13.5. What changes did they make? It'll look the same for all of you, but when I boot up the game the main screen seems smaller. And best of all, it takes a little less time to load.

Our title screen changed to this trippy animation. It even ticks to the music. Occasionally, it glitches, and the constellation changes. Is there some lore behind this?

The devs even added autorunning! Streamer Mode is a great option too, though I don't think I'm at that level yet. Clearly, swearing in this run is way more classy than going on Twitch ;ppp

Huh, I'm glad they have this now. Can confirm the language on my end!

After the onslaught of Chapter 3, I go hunting in the prologue for clues. Here, we're not in the black and white mansion. This is some strange house, far away.

The main change is this portrait, and I prefer the old one. It looked more ominous, regal. But maybe Zumi redrew it to make it consistent with her current artstyle?

To be fair, this has an eeriness of its own. It could be in some Youtube deep dive where a family goes missing. Something about the background, the old brushstrokes and colours of decay. The bottom left looks blurred out, like censored flesh and skin.

Unfortunately, everything else plays the same. Once more, I put her through this. Once more, I feel the weight…

I understand less and less about Indriad the more I see him. I can't transcribe or sound out this ominous pattern of symbols. All Garufan spells look like this now, including Karen's when she impales random boats.

Just like before, the game shunts us from the brutal prologue to a choice of difficulties. Except something's changed.

There used to be three modes. Casual, the easiest. I was on Normal, which was hard enough. And Intense Mode, where the teams were scaled up and I've heard early Z-Moves were everywhere. So, what happened? Where has Intense Mode gone…?

Hm. I'm not sure I like this. Because in the past Normal Mode, the devs had to show even the tiniest portion of restraint – anything too OP (by their standards) would be quickbanned to Intense.

But now, Normal Mode is Classic – the highest standard of difficulty. In this mode, there are no limits on how hard things can become.

Oh nice, Zumi redrew the profile pictures! They seem more cartoonish in style, though the face shapes are more distinct this time.

And once again, I am torn between these two. The white haired one's fed up; an understandable response after dealing with some of this game's boss battles.

But I keep my old one. It looks more shocked than usual, after all this run's put me through ;p

"need to get done?

• No
• Password <- "

I'm using passwords this time to speed up my process. The "powerpack" password gives me the EV cards for the Gearen Laboratory right away. The "eeveepls" password which gives you an Eevee Starter, which is tempting, but I'm focusing on rebuilding my nuzlocke team. But if anyone is newly playing and wants that, I'd recommend a Sylveon evolution. The Keta and Marianette fights would have been greatly helped by such a friend.

And "9494" is a strange one…

…Which makes you this secret character.

The password spreadsheet here (thank you, Dred, for making this) calls her "Ana". But that's all I know. What's her deal? Why is she hidden? Where did her face go?

And there's more. This password immediately starts you in Terajuma Island, which is further into the game and story than I am currently. It even gives you a preset team depending on your profile. Mine gets a Decidueye, Gigalith and even a Sylveon! Jan, you know me so well 🥺

The Terajuma passcode also asks this. And nowhere in my current run have I heard about it. Renegade feels like the "edgier" or "evil" of the two options. It reminds me of the Undertale "Pacifist" and "Genocide/No Mercy" routes - you can tell which one's worse. That password spreadsheet links the Rejuv routes with "karma" and "reputation points", and V13.5's update was titled "Karma files". So, this is something new, right? To do with the latest updates? But it's implemented so early, is it like Undertale after all...?

Anyways, we don't put in this password for obvious reasons. Let's just go through the game as we were before.

We get a date: "July XX 20XX." And I poke around the ship, looking for clues.

Crescent's Shiny got a glo-up! She looks like a suited bodyguard in a mafia show. Every other Shiny Gothitelle has the harlequin cosplay but her. Did she hate me trashing her old look? Is that why she changed it, deep down? ;p

As before, the ship's sailed and I fly in the nick of time. V13.5 has changed the chapter art, and in this case the name.

The devs even redesigned the city layout. I'd look around more, but I'm cursed by the image limit and have so much else to show lkjsdhfks

Speaking of which, the lab looks different. Jan and Jenner have new sprites, and the conversation between brother and sister gets mercifully shortened.

But what happened to the old lab? With the brown walls, and lovely flowers? Not that this is bad, it reminds me of the Dark and Serious Grand Hall in Reborn. I just miss the old aesthetic…

Even the lab pens have gone! They're just standing on these little tables!

"How about we do a quick battle? I promise I'll go easy on ya."

Yeah, no. The early fights go predictably.

There are even indicators of these "dorm rooms", but we don't get to see or have one. It's a shame, because personalising my own little room would be a nice touch. Instead, I'm sleeping in the emptiest rooms in the city.

But for now, here's a change that I like! Quests can be accepted just by talking to whoever needs help. I don't need to run to the Help Center anymore.

But I do anyway, to check out the renovations. These Edgy Dark floors aren't all to my taste, but the lights look nice! And yes, the creepy eye is still here lkddhf

We can see the quests on Quest Logs, an option from our menu! But I'm still not catching Zumi's Dedenne for her.

The Quest logs show updates for each stage of a quest. Check out this lion one ;pp

Speaking of which, I'm going to make one key change to our catches this time.

A scary battle (which is past Chapter 3) has been updated by the devs to make it harder. As a result, my strategy needs to change. If not, I have no hope of making it through there alive. So, before making a Gearen Pier catch, I battle and defeat the lions here. Take note of this Pyroar's weird shield at the top, we'll be seeing that a lot.

I used to have two Fletchinders – Tesla, my first catch, and Raven the Shiny. However, I'm going to make a change. Tesla my first catch on the pier is now the Litleo. She insisted on making her way into the team, and I might show some mercy in my cold, petty heart to let her in this time.

It's no great loss, because I can use Pokémon Essentials to make sure I still get one Fletchinder. My shiny, Raven.

Meanwhile, these custom moves throw me for a loop. Alpha Shot? Gilded Arrow? Arenite Wall…? How overpowered will these be, I wonder?

"getting three Badges!"

Amanda shows up in Gearen to give me some advice. With all we've been through, I'm not surprised Trainers don't get three. Who wants to fight legendaries and maid cults for them?

Close by is Venam's club, her new Gym! Makes sense, given how much Venam loves Roxie. But now, what is Jan's factory for? It's just locked shut…

We can't enter Venam's Gym yet, so we find her and Shiny Garbodor in the sewers. But this time, something strange has happened. Melia lends me helpful reports on how Jan changed the boss mechanics.

…

I remember hoping that this update would remove 'mons' shields. But no, it made them worse than before!

Seriously, these fights really go all-in now. How hard will they make fights in Chapters 4, 5, and onwards?

Because I already nuzlocked this, I'm repeating everything as a playthrough. If my first exposure to these was the hard way, I'd have way more deaths than before. And I'll complain about that Mewtwo later ;p

"directly, but a variety of moves she uses are boosted. Sound moves are especially boosted, so try to use that to your advantage!"

Back to Venam, she gets a new field! Concert Venue boosts moves like Howl and Growl, which is great for the early-game. There's also a hype mechanic – which crits can add to. I beat Venam before it did anything, though.

Nim is hiding somewhere, and this shock of blue hair mentions babysitting for Saki. Also, "Axis High" is the most evil school name I've heard in a while skjdfhdk

Best of all, Venam's Gym now contains wild Pokémon! I box the Trubbish for now.

Post-Gym, I find that Zumi added some nice art. The city also gets a new field! It boosts Normal, Poison, Steel and Bug moves. Maybe even Dark too? The wiki hasn't updated much yet.

After Venam, I travel to the redesigned forest! There's also something eerie which crops up. We help a fisherman drag something biiiiig out of the lake…

…Which charges straight for us.

What's with all the question marks? What happened to this poor Lairon?

Even after Lime beats it, this poor thing doesn't go down. For some reason, it keeps attacking us. This spooky woman shows up, getting her Duskull to blast it away.

There are few trainers in the cave, but the Leavanny wielder is still here. But something looks… different about the 'mon by her side.

And it's not a different Shiny! Jan made the impeccable decision to create Bug/Dragon Aevium forms for Sewaddle, Swadloon and Leavanny.

As these are my fave 'mons, I am hyped. They more than deserve it!

This is the second change to my catch list! Freja is now an Aevian Sewaddle, and no longer evolves via happiness. This is kinda obvious, my smol friend has quite the scary look to her xD but like the past Freja, she has a Timid nature. She is just as snuggly as normal Sewaddle deep down 🥺

The next Big Mechanic Change is Prism Pokémon. These are wild 'mons which glow in rainbow colours. All these mechanics are starting to throw me for a loop. We have Shadow Pokémon, Ruthless Pokémon and now this?

You can trade in these "Black Prisms" for… something. Not sure what, or where. This Nidoran is hyped up as a threat, but folds, because the devs love me enough to give me one easy fight ;pp

"It's hard to decipher what it looks like, but currently it has a few interpretations. The blocky bits on the sides resemble buildings, and the circle in the center looks like the sun. It also has ancient letters from the Garufa civilization scattered across."

Instead of touching the new mural, Melia has something convenient.

"buildings... Their technology had not given them the opportunity to build such structures. I believe the secret lies within the message written on the wall. The text itself is in an ancient language and is completely unreadable...Until today, that is! My dad took all the pictures I've taken of this place and wrote an algorithm to decode the message."

She takes a picture of me, too! I'm giving Karen the middle finger, because she's now not the only one who can read Garufan writings. I predict that this will solve many plot threads in the future ;p

"doused by the will of the suffering."

0_____0

I… have no clue what that means. Isn't Ouroboros the snake that eats its own tail? So what is this, eternal recurrence? Some cyclical story of pain?

MELIA: "Um… I think the ancients need a day off, and maybe some therapy."

Pffft, sounds about right. But at her words, the mural begins to shake. The middle tunnels out, forming a passage.

"But unlike the first one, these are purely visual. Not that it matters much... I can barely see my own hand! Sky, this place is giving me the creeps..."

Same here. The text says one of the murals is of a Pokémon, but we can make out little else. I bet that, later in the story, someone will shine a torch here to reveal a plot twist ;p

Melia names this place the Silent Grove. She thinks she's the first to come here, but the big bridge proves her wrong.

"No use, this gate's locked shut... Could... Could this place be an undiscovered castle of some sort? There are tales of there being seven kingdoms in Aevium's past. But eventually all kingdoms fell. This could be one of those kingdoms! Maybe... Sorry, this kind of stuff really intrigues me so I tend to blurt out random things!"

No worries, I need to know! We've heard mention of kingdoms before, right? That Griselda story in Indriad's creepy library?

"That's a Butterfly of Fate!"

They circle around something ominous… Something Melia describes as "Arceus".

…Which turns out to be this statue. The cult has been busy ;p but this artwork looks amazing! Melia decides to make this a picnic spot, which sounds lovely.

Awwww, this art is so sweet! While we monch, my cutscene self decides to tell her what happened on the ship. We're placing a lot of trust in this small girl, but I appreciate her attention.

"Team Xen is known to cause minor issues, but never anything on that scale. I'm really sorry you've been through that. If there's any silver lining to all of this, it's that you got to hang out with Ren, Venam, and I! We're not like, the most exciting crew ever, but we're here to welcome a new friend. Especially one that's in need of some people looking out for them."

…

…T-Thank you.

Good lord, this is painful after that Galvantula fight…

"Today was my last day in East Gearen City. Because tomorrow I'm headed over to Grand Dream City to become the Normal Type Gym Leader."

…Wait. You were. So, tell me something. How come Marianette – that poor kid in a cult – gave away your Badge?

"He's the one who pushed me to get this far. I'm about to be thrown into a huge city I know nothing about. Alone. I'm... I'm scared. Sky... If... If you don't know what to do next, would you come with me?"

Wait, did he? Was he trying to get you out of Gearen?

"Forget I even asked, okay? Sky, let's fight. Uh, not hand-to-hand, of course... I don't think I could win a fight like that, but...If I'm going to be a Gym Leader, I'm going to need some practice."

We take to the castle, and… Melia's team is the same as before.

She still says she beat Venam, and I'm still not sure how. And that Stufful reminds me of Marianette's Bewear…

But the creepy eye and Absol interrupt my thoughts. We race back to the forest.

This old lady will make me facepalm, no matter what version we're in ;p

GRUNT: "You don't need to know all that."

0____0

And what is that supposed to mean?

Zetta makes Jenner's links even more obvious. Meanwhile, we encourage Melia, and I prod at the Magikarp around that which was the lake. But they're not moving...

M-Moving on, Melia proves to be less of a Double Battle liability. She brings in her Buneary, as well as her Togepi! Half her team is progress!

The Gyarados is as difficult as before - more so, with the Ruthless mechanics raising its defence. But we prevail.

In the background, somehow, Zetta can revive his Type: Null. And by some additional miracle, that piddly Togepi held out long enough for me to come back.

How and why this Rift didn't die is beyond me. Can Zetta still use it, this time? Do we achieve nothing of use?

The Garbodor leaps in front of us, and Zetta promises to "make it quick". With that, we have little choice but to flee.

"And now it's…"

Yeah…

With not much else to do, we head back to the lab. The confrontation plays out the same as before.

Sadly, Melia's Buneary falls as easily to a Nasty Plot Houndoom as her Togepi. She is forced to run, and Jenner's sent away.

And on this grim conclusion, we make it to Chapter 2.

Little's changed here, bar Jenkel's sprite. In fact, the green girl still teleports away. From the back, she looks like she's wearing some dark cape. Is she in fact the Team Xen admin that Karrina told us about?

Speaking of Team Xen, the grunts now have Shadows in the city!

SEC's Quagsire is now unobtainable, so Wooper is the best we can get.

Once we beat Team Xen, we can go look around Gearen. Mrs Blakeroy asks the purple girl, Lavender, to analyse this ghost tree. Even before it appeared, it beamed enough energy to draw Munna to this very spot. Was this Marianette, too?

Her Alakazam somehow turns this into an "artefact", a set of spinning cubes.

"You did more than these adults could. That's an embarrassment on their part."

Pfffft ;p She takes the sample to Axis High, that ominous school she leads. I don't know if that makes me trust her more, or less.

Route 2, too, has had a redesign. It includes mines, which I Repelled my way through, and a redrawing of the giant tree.

Keta and the butterflies are back. Amethyst looks imposing this time, with purple crystals jutting out like spears.

This cutscene art, oh goodness… the blood is more visible here, as is Zetta's anger. The Rift part is the same.

I wish I could say that I'll press on. But I just respond with "…".

…

…At least Keta acknowledges me in the cave this time.

With this in mind, we head to Sheridan Village to take stock and heal.

Part of this new update involves matching every Pokémon from our V13 savefile to this new one. This is one of my boxes in V13. I notice that Rejuv 13.5 does let us catch two new Pokémon, and they are mandatory fights. There's Venam's Gym encounter (Trubbish) and an extra Shadow encounter in Caratos Mountain.

But nowhere are two gift Pokémon that we got in V13 – the Aevian Feebas, and the gift Magby from Hawthorne. In fact, I can't find that guy anywhere.

It feels like cheating to take the Trubbish and Shadow, while also hacking in the Feebas and Magby. I'll figure out what to do in the next update. In the meantime, let's move on to the sidequests.

"Oh, Little Dove... Nature is your bathroom. In fact, you should just do it right in front of this hotel's grounds. That'll teach them for being close to those insufferable Blakeorys!"

And what a start we have dsljkfhsdKASHFKSDJ thanks, Karen. At least the game lets me try to lie to her.

Fiiiiine…

I explain the Hidden Library lore and, reluctantly, follow her to Jenkel's lab.

"Then I'll rip out your intestines and strangle you with them! And when you're finally about to pass from blood loss I'll revive you and make you experience it again and AGAIN."

0______0

"Alone."

JENKEL: "…What a hot mama."

Dear lord, these two will never change ;p

Still, Karen helps me in the end. Her spells flash golden and the tunnel rises. Sadly, the beautiful Lilligant statue is gone.

"I can't believe I've finally found this place after all this searching... The Hidden Library spoken about in legends is real! Hokay... Calm down, Karen. Compose yourself and get your act together. Aw who am I kidding?! I'm going to f*cking relish this moment!"

Whoa, this redesign is cool! Though I am tired of dark floors and walls by this point. And Karen is just as normal as usual sdfgfg

I caught an Elgyem as before. But she's still boxed, because the poor thing is cursed by Unova. They let her evolve at Level 42 skjdfhs

"Anyone who dares to get in my way will bow before me. And that's just how it should always be~!"

…Someday, Karen and I will fight. And she will prove very, very scary.

Meanwhile, the prophecy has lost its dual statues. But it's still as uncanny as ever. Though Melia's machine takes some novelty out of my ability to translate Garufan.

Back in Sheridan, the grotto is as menacing as ever. It does have a field now – the Blessed Field, like in Marianette's Gym.

"We never truly figured out. Taelia knew, but... She was gone before she could explain to us."

This mysterious Taelia. I wish we got to meet her. If she was here, she'd snap Keta out of this Xen business before it began.

Such a shame, Keta, that your revelation came a year too late.

We beat this guy as before, and he heads to the volcano.

Caratos got a facelift, look at the shades of red on the walls!

Volcanion's pipes are bigger. Imposing. And SEC's eyes follow us round the room.

SEC: "Security Enforcer Component! Model #3567, this model, was placed under the authority of subject: Madelis. May SEC please see your ID?"

In this version, they cut down a lot of SEC's text. This is the only time that we fight him before confronting Madelis.

"You are nowhere to be found in Team Xen's roster! Which means you two are considered intruders! No Team Xen complimentary pudding for EITHER of you! As a result, SEC will vaporize you into nothing. Please DIE."

SdkjfhlsdD;KFJ his indignation is priceless, and I still want my Team Xen pudding ;ppp

SEC's only catchable encounter is a Shadow Ponyta, this being the extra Shadow I was talking about. The Quagire has long gone, but there were extra Shadow encounters in Gearen City, which is where I caught the Wooper. I've used a Rapidash before, but I'm not sure how well this 'mon would survive in Rejuvenation. Still, I catch and box her for now.

SEC: "And how exactly did you expect to do that? You stupid grape."

I am absolutely stealing that if Aelita does something reckless ;pp so poor SEC says that he's a natural roadblock; designed to pop up when approached. And as before, it's tradition to explode upon defeat.

"But also... Fair warning. SEC has wife. Wife is much more annoying than SEC. She is beautiful, but annoying. SEC loves her with all of SEC's motherboard. OK BYE."

Wait, this is different. Who on earth -

-?

"And that is an impressive feat considering that I have none. HA... HA... I am evil."

AELITA: "Are you now...?"

Oh. Clara got some personality! She calls Aelita her new "daughter", dragging her goodness knows where.

Keta, how nice to see you here again. I hope for your sake that that's not a threat.

Clara shows up, and Madelis reveals what happened to Aelita.

MADELIS: "Make no mistake, Keta. She came here by herself. We saw it all through the security cameras. Don't blame Sky for your bad decisions. And, by the way, you seem to make quite a lot of those."

Can't believe I'm siding with Madelis, I am here for this roasting xD

…This'll be a common theme in this game, won't it sdjlhsKJDFHKDS

KETA: "That's fine by me. In fact, I want you to remember this."

It's nice to see Keta talking to the grunts. One straight-up tells him he doesn't understand the benefits of Xen's research. And to his credit, Keta says he doesn't care to.

Everyone has the same teams as before, including the illegal evolutions.

"This Pokémon was obtained under the desire to transform it into the most powerful Shadow Pokémon. Where she was able to obtain this Pokémon is unknown."

Back in the library, I wonder: how did she subdue a Mewtwo, a 'mon as tough as Champions? Isn't her ace a piddly Level 25 Houndoom? Though to be fair, I beat the same Mewtwo with 'mons of that level sdkfhs

"through normal procedures. The Pokémon was violent and needed to be subdued using extra methods. The staff in this laboratory was able to create armor that subdued its abilities while the shadowfication process is ongoing."

Also, while I'm here, Madelis really likes redecorating her palace. I prefer the black and white one to this, it seemed more sinister.

"Somehow she managed to capture it and bring it to Carotos Mountain. Using Rift Matter, she was able to transform Volcanion into a power source potent enough to fuel her experiments. An unfortunate side effect to this energy is that, while potent, is unstable. The extreme heat it produces caused the lower portions of the mountain to transform and melt away. Madelis found this "side effect" to be beneficial."

Of course she did kdjhgdfjk poor friend…

"Its waters have been found to have healing effects. However, sometimes it can be found to burn its target sometimes."

Take note of this, this might explain something later. Maybe.

Thankfully, the devs kept this encounter in!

I know they said the movesets were changed – so this surprises me. Jester can still evolve straight away, due to Mimic. He still learns Reflect and Light Screen not long after. What is this? Are the devs showing us mercy after all?

And then there's this. These strange little butterflies, like in Amethyst's darkest depths.

I think these are one-time heals, or something similar. Although Keta is there to heal us, I appreciate this touch. The devs are giving us moments of kindness. Lord knows we'll need it.

Madelis' palace loses the grandeur of its predecessor. But she has Aelita, on a dangerously high perch.

MADELIS: "Maybe half an hour ago that would have been true, but now she's a playing piece just like the rest of us! But you don't see her that way. Of course you wouldn't… Because why would a man refer to his own daughter that way?"

Aelita's astonished that she figured it out. But Madelis spells out one final piece of information – the thing made it all click.

…

Oh, the BS of this. I can't even.

Because – like – look at this. Madelis explains what will happen to Sheridan once Team Xen is done. Once the overloaded Volcanion is left alone with nothing but energy.

"And Sheridan Village will be wiped out in a volcanic eruption."

…

This won't pick and choose who to spare. Once Xen moves out, everyone left is at risk. Aelita won't leave her home without good reason, and this place could blow at any time. Keta might think he's protecting his daughter, might think Team Xen would take pains to spare her. But to me, he's put her in as much danger as before.

Madelis compounds this, pushing forward.

MADELIS: "Oops! Did I do that…? Well, you can have her back."

We rush to her side.

"I... I don't want to talk to you right now. My feelings towards you are... tough."

KETA: "… I don't expect you to understand, but I had reasons to do what I did."

…Wow, Keta. Did you?

Well, that's alright then! Everyone say "awwww", for the poor misunderstood Sensei. Keta, did you think the devs' update would redeem you?

KETA: "You're right, it doesn't. I have a lot of sin in my soul. And I have caused a great number of people pain. But in this moment I am trying to make it right-- However I can."

…

I appreciate this from you, at least. And Aelita, I'm proud of you for standing up to him so much.

KETA: "You always were too pure for your own good."

…For once, I agree with him.

Keta wants us to leave. But he admits he needs us as backup. If we don't stop Madelis now, she could steamroll everything later. The game doesn't allow Triple Battles, but Keta trusts Aelita to be on standby in case me or him fall.

"Most of the Shadow Pokemon are ordinary Pokémon and such. But I, the gorgeous and genius Madelis, went well beyond that scope!"

She calls for Clara, who floats by her side.

MADELIS: "Call it."

The robot disengages the locks, and the creature crashes to the ground.

MADELIS: "Well we had trouble keeping it obedient. Especially when it became a Shadow Pokemon. It inhibits its power a little bit, but it still blows everything away just fine~!"

We'll see proof of that, no doubt.

"Don't think I didn't hear about that cute little device you have there. System, activate the snag machine negation signal!"

…Goddammit, this is still a thing. I'm not sure how they heard so soon about our machine, or how Madelis could quickly find a workaround. My prediction is that the admins grilled Goldenwood's grunts, but after Melia ran into the cave. If not, Madelis would have seen me as a threat when we met in Jenner's lab.

But she sure sees me as a problem now…

"The Mewtwo is exerting its pressure! The Mewtwo is charging its attack…"

0__0

Welcome to the new fight. In V13.5, Mewtwo's a second lead, with a nice shield to boot.

I swear to god, the devs read my run. That's why they removed Shadow Quagsire from this game. That's why they put an Iron Head Cufant as the first lead. See how much this did, even with healing and Reflect?

Also, see how little that Fire Punch did to Mewtwo. Keta starts as useful as before.

0_____0

Hey, folks! Did you think Keta was at least a decent meatshield? Well, he can't even do that anymore! Mewtwo's beam hits both opponents now!

As we trade blows, I'm grateful that Mewtwo's armour slows it down. Makes up for the rest of the power they gave it.

I don't know how, but Keta's moves are doing more than before. But Violet puts in the most work by far. If anyone wants to nuzlocke this, I'd recommend getting and evolving a Gulpin in the same way I did. Truly an epic friend xD

The shield breaks; lowers Mewtwo's defences. But of course, it raises Special Attack and Attack. Keta's mons fall far easier than my bulky blob.

At last, the poison takes its toll. Mewtwo faints before the turn count ticks to nil. I don't know what happens post-countdown, and I don't want to find out.

With Mewtwo down, their teammates topple.

"I knew the suit of armor inhibited Mewtwo's abilities, but I couldn't imagine this outcome. Too bad... That's not enough to stop Mewtwo."

Madelis says some BS about how this is the real world and we can't expect "the power of friendship" to get us through. But I'd expect actions to have consequences in this world. And Keta is far from my friend.

"Even after that entire fight it's like it didn't take any damage at all!"

AELITA: "Let me help you! My Pokémon are still healthy!"

Going back on his word, Keta refuses to let Aelita fight. He insists that she needs to leave.

KETA: "I know what I said! Just listen to me!"

???: "Why can't you just listen for once?"

…

Wait, who-?

…Oh, you've got to be kidding.

A familiar voice commands the Gothitelle to teleport us away.

MADELIS: "What's going on? Where did they go?! I wasn't done killing them yet! Mewtwo, let's look for them."

Keta bars the way, so Madelis sets Mewtwo on him instead. Meanwhile, the Gothitelle is… still standing there, I guess.

AELITA: "Heh, no problem. That's what friends are for, Sky."

Awww…

A-Anyway. We wake in the "VGCR" - Volcanion Generator Control Room. Aelita suggests we team up and find our way back to Keta.

AELITA: "...It's true. He did. That's something I never expected him to do. Though, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised considering the way he's acted lately. I don't know what to think anymore. But something in my heart is telling me to trust him. It's not the same as trust, or stuff like that. It's hard to explain."

…I hope you have your reasons. I swear you're too good for this region.

The butterflies "rejuvenate" us as we head north.

Before I can answer, Clara swoops in. She congratulates us on making it this far, and on our "party tricks" of teleporting. She even goes "LOL" on her screen!

"Its appendages are strewn all throughout the mountain. This Volcanion has been altered to become a literal heart for Madelis' laboratory. As long as it lives, this facility and Mewtwo shall be forever powered."

Remember that library book? Volcanion has "healing waters". I reckon that's what flows through Mewtwo's armour, restoring its wounds.

Clara elaborates: that armour draws energy deep from Volcanion. This revives the Shadow when it faints. Perhaps it's like a frog's heart, restarted through electricity. While I may be salty about the immortal Mewtwo, I'm glad that the devs try to explain things here.

Poor Aelita is goaded into jump-kicking the glass wall…

…And it goes as expected. That glass is near impenetrable.

To make matters worse, guess who comes back to fight?

(Also, Clara's blushy face in the background is just priceless ;pp)

SEC rides in with a Shadow Quagsire… which we can't catch this time. Somewhere, Madelis is smirking.

…I hate you so much sajhffdsjkfkd

SEC wants to blow up, telling Clara that there are thousands of him. Although Clara has seen one SEC explode, and fallen for this new one, she still can't see him die this way. She clutches SEC as he explodes…

…With predictable results sljdjfhJKHA

Yeah no sh*t kid, what gave it away ;ppp

We try "SHUT DOWN", entering the Executive ID "MADELIS". But this does nothing, so the most we can do is "TRANSFER" the Volcanion into an exposed area. I'll give the devs this: it's a smarter system than Madelis' previous one: putting passwords on posters for all to see.

"VOLCANION DOES NOT REQUIRE SUSTENANCE AS OF THIS MOMENT. REQUEST DENIED."

AELITA: "Darn, the poor thing can't even have a bite to eat… Inhumane."

I want to give the poor thing some chocolate or something sdkjjfhkdj

AELITA: "Huh?! Someone else is down here with us? I didn't get to catch who they were…"

Unfortunately, I did. Crescent heads south, opening a path to the base of the mountain. We have no choice but to follow.

"It's exposed now… This might be our only shot to take it down, Sky. It's so cruel to hurt the thing, but if we don't… I don't even want to think about it. Are you ready?"

…As before, I have no choice.

Not sure you are, random disembodied voice ;p

We jump right in, though that sentence kills the tension a bit. "Languid grumble" sounds like a teen getting out of bed in the morning.

That being said, I love the shield mechanic here. At each break, the poor infant wants to fight even less. The "fracturing aura" lowers their defences and offences. And it changes their moves!

Like – at max shields, Volcanion's Water move of choice is Steam Eruption. With one broken shield, it's Scald. With two? Water Gun. This is a great way of showing the deterioration of this poor creature, without needing to say a word.

I see the process has turned her invisible ;pp so, with this, we head back to find Keta. The butterflies heal us before we step into the lab.

Aelita rushes to Keta's side. It seems that, as before, dealing with a Mewtwo was too much for him. He really didn't last long…

…I'm sorry, what?

Okay so ksdfhKJSDHFJKDS this time, Keta took Mewtwo's blows and only lost consciousness. And Madelis… left him there? Decided not to finish him off? How is this less realistic than in V13?

Anyways, Aelita confronts Madelis, saying how we destroyed Volcanion and so shut down her palace.

"Sorry to say that Volcanion wasn't the only source of power down there. Come, Mewtwo."

Wait, what? Since when?!

Mewtwo flies down, ready to eliminate us. But then…

"possibility of a third party. And that was your biggest mistake."

…Its armour fails, and a strange voice speaks. Who is that? What's going on?

…

Oh, for god's sake -

CRESCENT: "It's simple, actually. We took the time to thrash around and destroy the three hidden generators around the mountain."

*sighs in salt and anguish*

Look, everyone! Look at how much less we do this time! Once more the Mewtwo's fine, this time through literal plot armour. And that tragic fight to kill the poor, lonely Volcanion? Worthless! Because I searched this base and could find zero hidden generators anywhere. But that's because we're mere mortals, and only the mighty Crescent can do it. Hell, we couldn't even find Volcanion without her opening the path! Maybe she should be the protagonist instead?!

"my command!"

Of course. The armour had revived Mewtwo, one last time. I love how useful we are in this game!

And then, there's poor Keta. His dialogue plays out the same, as he wants to atone for his sins. And when Aelita refuses to leave, Keta makes one last plea to Crescent.

The Gothitelle teleports us away, laughing as she sends me to Xen's HQ. But that means that Crescent is still here. She can give the order; get Keta out.

GOTHITELLE: "…I wasn't doing it for you. And by the way, we'll be leaving you here. Gothitelle and I have a lab to trash."

Wait. W-What…?

CRESCENT: "…Foolish."

Oh god. So, this means…

I...

…I feel like a fool, too.

T-The moral now is that Crescent has so much agency and power. So, we can do nothing compared to her. Keta gives his life not as some final fatherly act to buy us time. But for her, who's so powerful she likely barely needs the help.

Oh, and Madelis still says the Mewtwo's gone. But how? It was fine to tear Keta apart this time! Did they both die in man to 'mon combat? How is this climax so confusedly and convolutedly written that it makes less sense than before?!

Still. Through all that. There's one silver lining.

There is no Revenant Keta fight this time. He just gives us our Badge, as deserved. Thank goodness the devs changed this, and helped him pass on in peace.

"And look at that! You got a Badge from this place! That makes two, right? You're still a rookie, but I can sense immense potential from you!"

…That's a very weird response, as I'd said the Sensei had gone. Not a word of care, Amanda, that your Gym Leader passed away? And don't you, as League Scout, know about Marianette?

I'm sure this is unintentional on the devs' part. And perhaps I'm overreacting. But Amanda, should I put faith in what you say? Do you know more about these two than you're letting on?

Speaking of distrust, this Gothitelle is a menace. But Cerberus won't let shields or Shadow Tag get in his way. Snarl strikes her down once more!

And with that, we stagger to the end of Chapter 2. Chapter 3 was barely changed, which is a blessing for my image limit.

Even in a new Gearen, the police barricade people away from the train to safety. We love cops so much ;p

We cross from sewer to courtyard, calling Luca "Lucha" to wind her up.

Hey kid, it's going to be okay! Jeez, the new art shows how scared she is…

"There was one about a woman who could control ice and a woman who excelled with swords. They're lovely stories..."

It's good to talk to this child again. But I'm confused by her library discussion. I checked the books, they're both as before. Cyrela, Meloetta and Griselda with her swords. Nothing here about ice…

Most things, like Anju and the rebel servants, are the same. But there's some small differences. Indriad's sprite has missing eyes and wilder hair. And Lenny's flame is visible this time!

There's even a team shift! Fittingly, Marianette has a Hisuian Zorua, a Normal/Ghost Type with a Focus Sash and Illusion. Though "Bitter Malice" is a weird move for someone on her team to learn.

When our foe's shield breaks, the text reads "Dusknoir is about to throw hands!" The 'mon's big ol' oven mitts gain an offensive boost ;ppp

…

Again, the final fight is against Marianette.

At least Swoobat got a better Shiny. But like before, we point him at this poor child's friends.

In fights, the UI helps me. The green glow around a move means "this gets boosted by the field". If a move gets weakened by it, it glows red instead. But in this case, it just makes things worse. The UI is laser-focused to help me blast through her team.

Marianette has a new friend: the Focus Sash Will-o-Wisp Zorua. He replaces the Nasty Plot Chatot, who was once the bane of many a playthrough. But it's sad. This is the 'mon who, last update, I said still wanted to live. But that poor songbird got snuffed out by the devs' update. It's like he never existed at all.

Back to Zorua for a second. Their themes are tricks and illusions, so it's interesting to see Marianette get one. And of course, there's a call-back to the prologue's fairy story. But there's another touch I like. The maid here still thinks Ghost types are a stain on Arceus itself, but Marianette snuck one on her team anyway. It was part of her quiet rebellion.

…

And for that, I'll always be proud of her.

With that, we make it home. Aelita says that someone dropped off a new TM for me - Facade.

And now, Volta and this lady call me a "little town hero". They should try what we did, and then see how "little" that is kdsjhfkjds

And so, with that, we make it to Chapter 4 on our new savefile. Now we've hacked in all our 'mons, we can leave this loop and head on out into the unknown.