So apparently I missed some pokemon. Back to ice cave! Now that I’m no longer making a beeline to the ice, it turns out there actually are a lot of pokemon around.Jynx.

It wiggles its hips as it walks. It can cause people to dance in unison with it.

It’s still ice/psychic and not fairy. When will you give up and give us trityped pokemon, game? When?

Piloswine.

Although its legs are short, its rugged hooves prevent it from slipping, even on icy ground.

Also, raised a pack of glaceon.(Evolution is so tedious in this game…)

By controlling its body heat, it can freeze the atmosphere around it to make a diamond-dust flurry.

With that, I’m only missing two eeveelutions – haven’t bothered evolving a jolteon, since I couldn’t outright buy a thunderstone, and still need to find the mossy stone for leafeon.

My brother was telling me earlier that there’s rumors of a second new eeveelution that’s a secret. While I find that really unlikely given they could not shut up about sylveon, it does make me happy that they’ve managed to give us a game where that kind of speculation can happen. Knowing everything about the game for certain ruins some of the magic. And I’m sure there’s a bunch of actual secret pokemon, or maybe some mega evolutions of eevee or something, that we’ll find out about eventually but not for a while.

And right as I’m ready to leave…

Bergmite.

It blocks opponent’s attacks with the
ice that shields its body. It uses cold air
to repair any cracks with new ice.

On to the route of snow and more snow.

Purplehead from before exposits that apparently the abomasnow rescued the mamoswine and probably they’re friends. And now I’m getting to ride it! Into the very, very tall snow. I’m sorry, Serena, you must be freezing, but all I can get you are belly-baring sweaters and I think it’s more important to keep your torso covered. Also, I just refuse to buy the horrible things.

To the pokemon catching!

Snover.

During cold seasons, it migrates to the mountain’s lower reaches. It returns to the snow-covered summit in the spring.

Delibird! Into a premier ball on the first try.

It carries food rolled up in its tail. It has a habit of sharing food with people lost in mountains.

I’ve always thought raising one of these might be nice, but like most non-evolving pokedex deadweight, never have.

And…looks like that’s it, I can see the end of the snow. That was a really short unpassable pass.

You know, I’m kind of disappointed by the return of green.

It’s making me think of Blue and how there was (admittedly so subtle I missed it as a kid) the idea that your travels were actually taking real time, so you’d meet people later on who referenced seeing you at in an earlier area. The progression from green and flowering fields into autumn leaves and finally snow felt like something similar.

And since snow = mountains and mountains = metaphor for progress, it’d be fun to have a game where you started off in the warm green and slowly worked your way into the harshest depths of winter, finally surmounting the highest peak and then punching whatever champion was there off of it.

Holoclip oh god don’t be holocaust hair.

Oh, alt-me. Hey there.

Calem: Serena. This time, I challenge you to a battle in front of Anistar City’s Gym!

Uh. Well, that’s better than not challenging me, but have you considered just ambushing me at random? Also, how about actually fighting the gym leader, that might help.

You’d better be ready!

NO! BAD RIVAL! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO WANT TO WIN, NOT WANT TO MAKE SURE I’M ALL HEALED AND DRAGGING A CASE OF REVIVES

And so it ends.

There’s also one of the many giant glowing signs.

Trainer Tips!
Some Pokemon may evolve if they gain a level while it’s raining.

Huh, really? I wonder what pokemon.

In the transition room, a battle girl says, You know what I find interesting? No matter how much scientific progress we make, we may never fully understand everything that happened in the past.

…how is that interesting? Also, I’m sure once we properly study Celebi we’ll have time travel.

A few steps further and yet more talking at me!

You there! It’s Skirt!

I came in place of Dexio to tell you something.

“in place of”? You’re completely interchangeable. Dexio doesn’t tell me he came in place of you. Why are you disclaiming yourself?

There’s a person here in Anistar City who knows about the Legendary Pokemon.

Come on game, it’s not like I won’t talk to everyone on my own. You don’t need to have forced scenes where you explain that by the way, talking to people is good.

She starts to walk off, then comes back to give me gifts! Repeat balls, specifically.

Nearby is some regular NPC. Look at me willingly talk to them!

The tip of a sundial’s shadow… If we were in a mystery novel, there would probably be something buried here!

So I should check this, yes?

At the pokecenter, I get yet another o-power, this one an experience boost because obviously that is totally what this game needs, more experience points!

Also, there’s someone who hands out different TMs depending on the day. You know, I like items and all, but I’d rather they were integrated more into the storyline and also, maybe a bit less everywhere. It cheapens things.

They say that Anistar’s sundial couldn’t be manufactured with today’s technology. It really makes you wonder how the people and Pokemon from long ago managed to build it. Maybe it was created using the power of a Legendary Pokemon?

Honestly, in your world where technology increasingly takes a backseat to WE DID IT WITH OUR POKEFRIENDS :D, I don’t think you need to invoke a legendary here. The simpler explanation is that there was some otherwise unremarkable pokemon that had some ability that let it manufacture whatever it is, and it’s extinct now or something. It’s weird when people in the past seem to have better technology than we do, because technology is generally a thing that gets better. It’s not weird for them to have different animal skins, because animals can disappear from places. If your “technology” is more an issue of the animal resources you have one hand, then it’s very easy for you to lose the capability to do something.

For all we know, this is like islanders saying, “Ancient boats were so much bigger and better, we can’t make them with our current technology, isn’t that amazing?” when it’s because they killed off their trees. The technology level is exactly the same: use trees/pokemon to accomplish goal. The difference is in materials.

Next door is another clothing shop, this one with lots of ruffles. Everything’s very pale and I’m not sure how well it’ll match anything else I have. I was having that problem with the previous store as well – the tops are nice but don’t go with the rest. There’s also a nice dress – short like the rest, but that’s less of an issue now that I have tights or can do the boots+leggings thing for proper coverage.

Why, hello there. You must be that apprentice of Professor Sycamore’s I’ve heard so much about.

See, game? I was willing to talk to him on my own, by working through the NPCs like a proper player.

It’s my guess that you’ve come to ask about the Legendary Pokemon of the Kalos region, Xerneas. Well, allow me to tell you what I know.

Also, if we didn’t have the background that he was supposed to tell me, he could’ve just jumped right into rambling about it like any other NPC and skipped this paragraph.

Well, allow me to tell you what I know. It happened 800 years ago. The Pokemon known as Xerneas used its shining horns to illuminate the lands of Kalos. At that very moment, people and Pokemon throughout the land felt great energy and vitality surge through their bodies. At the same time, a vast forest sprung up, with Xerneas at its center. Legend has it that, when it nears the end of its thousand-year life span, Xerneas releases all of its remaining energy, sharing it with all living things nearby.

And we know Team Flare is doing something with some connection to energy from pokemon. Which is to say, there’s not actually any tie here between events, but apparently this is the main thought in the writer’s head that’s popping up in a couple different places.

There’s another story I know that talks of the appearance of just such a fortuitous Pokemon. Back 3,000 years ago, the Kalos region was engulfed in a terrible war. So the tale goes, a Pokemon came to the rescue of all of the wounded Pokemon that had been caught up in the conflict. Some people suspect the Pokemon that appeared was Xerneas, but there’s no way to know. Maybe they just wished a Legendary Pokemon had come to the rescue to brighten a tale of woe.

Okay, now I’m really curious how things go down in Y, given that ones seems like the death pokemon. Is it helpfully ushering in death, or is it that it murdered its way through the weakened pokemon? (Don’t answer this.)

Supposedly, after Xerneas released its remaining energy, it transformed into a dried-up tree. It remains in hiding deep within the forest.

…any connection to the two foresty ghost pokemon that live in plantlife?

According to old tales, as I say. Stories and tales.

And he’s done. Talking to the girl nearby gives us our actual plot connection: What happened to that strange bunch of folks in their red outfits? I wonder if they’re still out there, seeking Legendary Pokemon. A few years back, some people came around here, asking the same questions.

In the next house is a lonely old man who asks if I’ll lend him a low-level pokemon. I can’t imagine what sort of jerk wouldn’t, so I give him one of my eeveelution babies. Vaporeon, play with this guy and have fun!

There’s also a gym, which I’m not going near, and another of those cafes that charge you to enter. Is there some point to these?

Then there’s a pair by the water.

You know the mysterious object called the Anistar Sundial, right? Apparently, even the most cutting-edge scientific techniques can’t break it, says the first.

The other one says, Some people call out-of-place artifacts like this “OOPArt.”

I feel like this is a joke I’m not getting.

This might have been made with the mysterious power of Pokemon.

Now, now, there’s no need to invent things. I see no reason why speculation should include the possibility it wasn’t made by pokemon. Is there anything impressive in these games that doesn’t ultimately lead back to pokemon?

The sundial itself is quite awesome, and there’s a photo thing nearby.

Tomorrow: I guess I get my seventh badge. Wow. Almost done with this.

I guess I’ve had one big encounter with Team Flare at the power plant, and their shenanigans there influenced the story from very early on. And a bit before the power plant fight they were all over the fossil area, which was a very nice introduction. And right, they were doing…something, at the pokedex factory. It feels really forgettable because none of the areas were particularly large, I guess – I cleared them all quickly and sent Team Flare running, instead of each fight getting longer and harder (if anything, I feel like the first time was the toughest, if only for being at the back of that cave), and they don’t have any coherent ideology to grip me. Holocausthair manages to be pretty engagingly terrifying when he appears, but honestly, there’s not much connection between him and Flare beyond that the game just says there is – Team Flare would appear to be the patsies he’s using for something else, because his insane rants and their self-centered all-for-me attitude don’t have any real connection.

Once again, Team Rocket, best villains. Who were they? Pokemon mobsters. What were they doing? Getting money. Why should I stop them? They’re thieves and murderers.

That’s a nice, easy to understand plot.

Team Flare seem like baby republicans who somehow found themselves being led by science Hitler. Their group has to do with money and power, but there’s nothing about it that shows how they’re planning to get that, they just happen to hold the opinion those things are super important. Their actual goals are hidden behind a general veneer of SCIENCE, which leaves me the impression that the grunts have no more idea than I do what the actual point is and they just latched on because this seemed like a good bet. Meanwhile, SCIENCE PLOTS are happening. Also, for some reason they had to steal pokeballs and couldn’t just buy them.

I mean, I’m happy to beat them up because they seem like a pack of assholes, but I don’t feel the satisfaction of it really stopping the plans, because they don’t seem to know what those are either. (I guess it doesn’t help that they seem to keep succeeding – when I finally get to the people who do know what’s up, they say they’ve got enough and it’s okay to leave.) If their leader was a straight up evil CEO instead of an evil scientist guy with burn the world plans who happens to own a lab, I feel the whole thing would come together more nicely.

Still, I’m assuming Holocausthair eventually gets involved directly, and beating down whatever his plan actually is promises to be fun.