Poké-Month: Pokémon X (Part 4)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4

Today: The end of the game, the postgame, and my final words. It’s a big program, so strap in.

The road to victory

Sir, that's not how you wear a winter coat.

Unfortunately for Wulfric, Ice has a ton of
weaknesses that can be taken advantage of.

We return from the Pokémon Village into the snowy Snowbelle City. It’s time to challenge the Ice-type Gym. This is another Gym that uses the game’s new 3D for a very special effect, which is great! I’m still annoyed at how, this time around, no Trainers are skippable in Gyms. You have to fight them all to move forward, a departure from earlier Gens where, by solving puzzles correctly, you could avoid some (usually not all) of the other trainers in the Gym. At least Wulfric is as tough as his position commands, using a team made of Abomasnow, Cryogonal and Avalugg.

With eight badges in hand, we’re ready to tackle the final challenge of the story, Victory Road and the Elite 4. Going West, Route 21 leads right back to the gate that leads to Route 22, which also leads to Victory Road. If you’ve ever played a Pokémon game before, you know the deal: A grotto filled with high-level wild Pokémon, Ace Trainers and Veterans are everywhere, and the place is designed like a puzzle where the HMs collected along the way will be necessary to proceed (Surf, Strength, Rock Smash and Waterfall). Notably, some areas are outside of the cave, and it seems like this final challenge was created over the remains of an ancient fortress.

A friendly battle? In this world? Finally!

Midway into the challenge, we meet our rival Serena again and battle. There’s been a build-up to this, and her team is a strong one. And although she loses again, this renews her desire to fight and improve, so she can best the player someday. We come out of Victory Road and reach a gorgeous castle… home to the Elite 4.

Facing the Elite

Holy crap, the size of that castle.

Repeating the formula that began in Gen 5, you can challenge the Elite 4 in any order before facing the Champion. As a result, once you know the four trainers you’re going up against, you can strategize the order in which you fight them. Kalos’ four great trainers are:

-Malva, a Fire-type specialist who’s also a… Holo Caster star and an ex-Team… Flare…

Sorry, Flare, you'll never top "Ghetsis Takes
Over the E4 before you challenge the Champion"
from Pokémon Black & White.

Ah, for fuck’s sake! Are these morons ever gonna stop tormenting me? It’s been my headcanon for a while that the reason why no authorities do anything against Team Flare is because she, as a news caster, diminishes their threat to make them not seem worth bothering with, and as an Elite Four member, also convinces Gym Leaders and her fellows from the E4 not to bother. Would make sense… and I hate her even more for that theory. Don’t worry, she also hates the player with a "burning" passion for ending Flare. Anyhow, there's also…

-Siebold, a Water-type user as well as an artist and chef;

-Wikstrom, a Steel-type user dressed in a knight’s armor and who speaks in antiquated terms, like he just walked out of a portal from the Medieval Ages;

-and Drasna, a woman who uses Dragon-types and wears what looks like tusks as part of her attire.

It is an honor to fight you, Champion.

Once all four have been vanquished, the door opens to the Champion. And much like Lysandre being the villain, guessing the Champion of Kalos is easy; it’s the character all dressed in white, different from everybody else. Here she is: Diantha. She is the only Trainer in the game who uses six Pokémon: Hawlucha, Tyrantrum, Aurorus, Gourgeist, Goodra and a Gardevoir… which she Mega Evolves. Despite her status, Diantha can turn out to be really easy to defeat; most of her team is weak to either Steel or Ice, and her Mega Gardevoir is the only Pokémon that’s really difficult to deal with.

Mega versus Mega. That's gonna be epic.

As a side-note, the E4 is available for defeat again after finishing the story once. Unfortunately, whereas E4s of other games would own stronger Pokémon, here… they don’t. The E4 doesn’t even get an upgrade to be more of a challenge. This genuinely disappointed me.

Fun fact: Eternal Floette exists in the code, but
she can only be found through hacking.

After defeating Diantha, she congratulates the player and adds them to the Hall of Fame… oh, and we get a big damn parade in Lumiose as congratulations a few days later. Nice! However, someone shows up: AZ, who requests a battle against us. When he is defeated, it’s like his part of darkness dissipates, like the man finds inner peace after his long quest of 3,000 years. And when he does, his friend – his unique Floette – reappears for him! The feels, man, the feels!

Roll credits.

But that’s not all!

Most Pokémon games contain a ton of content to do after you’ve finished the story a first time. Pokémon X and Y are said to be lacking in that regard, though I’ve still found plenty of stuff to take part in.

Dragon versus Legendary Dragon!

Legendary Pokémon: You can find Mewtwo in the Pokémon Village, within a cave that you were previously barred from entering. The third Legendary of Gen 6, Zygarde, can be found in Terminus Cave, on Route 18. Your first wild encounter after seeing the credits the first time will be either Articuno, Zapdos or Moltres (depending on your starter – for my Chespin, I encountered Articuno). It will flee, and you then have to encounter the Legendary bird another 10 times, after which they’ll retreat to the Sea Spirit’s Den, a cave north of Azure Bay, accessible from Route 12.

Abracadabra, an Alakazite for ya!

The Mega Stones: Prof. Sycamore will upgrade the player’s Mega Ring to detect Mega Stones… solely between 8 and 9 PM. Those will appear as sparkles on the ground, not as solid items – but the player will bump into them as if they were. Good hunting!

Gift Pokémon: Obviously there’s far more than these two to find around Kalos, but some of the postgame handouts will be a Ralts from Diantha (she will take any Pokémon in exchange), and an egg from Shauna’s starter.

Just take the train out of Kiloude, there's an
entire Region full of adventures to be had.

Kiloude City and the Battle Maison: We obtain a train pass from Sycamore that will get us sent to Kiloude City, inaccessible by any other means. You can challenge the rival here again, and can do so once every day – it will always feel more like friendly sparring than a test of skill. The stat judge in the Pokémon Center will check your Pokémon’s stats and best IVs. This is also where you find the Battle Maison, the battle facility in this game, where you can challenge trainers one after the other in most of the available battle types: Single, Double, Triple, Rotation and Multi/Tag Battle. There are restrictions to the Pokémon that can be used here, and as with any facilities in other games, the AI will get progressively unfair as you progress. Have fun!

Friend Safari: Another interesting part of Kiloude City is the Friend Safari, in which every person in your 3DS friend list has its associated Safari, which will contain two or three Pokémon, all of the same type, with both the type and Pokémon selected at random. Only two at first, then a third if that friend has Pokémon recorded in the Kalos Hall of Fame (if they've beaten the story). All of the Pokémon found here will be Level 30, and despite “Safari” in the name, you battle the Pokémon before catching them. Most are from outside of the Regional Kalos Dex. A fun idea, but yet another one that lost a lot of interest when X and Y were no longer the reigning Pokémon games.

Of note: You can also have a picture of
yourself taken in key places.

Battle Chateau: Located on Route 7, the Chateau is a place where you can battle trainers and climb up in rank, fighting opponents with stronger Pokémon. It’s a fantastic place for leveling up as some trainers have Pokémon that give out high amounts of EXP. More importantly, this is where you can re-challenge the Gym Leaders, Elite 4 and Champion in battles fitted for the place. You can eventually buy and use Writs of Challenge to increase the difficulty (mostly by increasing the levels of opposing Pokémon by 5, 10 or even 20). It’s probably the postgame element where I’ve had the most fun.

The most important one, though, might just be…

Flare Bonus Chapter: Xer-Oh God damn it AGAIN??

Yes, again! Are these guys going to stay dead for once?

Meet franchise regular Looker, who has just landed in Kalos and is investigating the remains of Team Flare. The trail has led him to Xerosic (none of the other Scientists can be found anywhere – aw, and yet they were so memorable! /s) and some bizarre operation. Through a number of tasks, Looker soon appoints us second-in-command to his operation.

Every time I think Flare isn't bad enough...

We meet Emma, a homeless girl, in the back alleys. She’s embroiled in a plot led by Xerosic in which the mad scientists is testing out new technology on mind control, from the comfort of a secret floor of Lysandre Labs. She gets fitted, while asleep, into a morphing suit that changes her appearance and he forces her unconscious body to commit all sorts of crimes under different guises. Looker and the player investigate, find Xerosic, and have to fight the creation, nicknamed Essentia. Looker’s pleas to Emma however give Xerosic a change of heart, just enough to let the girl go free – but she keeps the suit, without its remote controls. Considering all he’s done, I have a hard time buying it. Sorry this part is short, but this article is way too long already.

I had almost forgotten!

Right, I was about to skip some of the important elements of X and Y that only got a few mentions but need a deeper dive: Pokémon-Amie and Super Training!

Happy 'Vee makes me happy too.

Pokémon-Amie was a revolutionary addition to the franchise, allowing you to care for your Pokémon like never before – and much more directly, as well. You can feed them treats, and you can pet them – in the latter case, there is an area of their body that they love to have petted, and another that they dislike. Some Pokémon are able to high-five your cursor, as well, and they also often can trigger a mini-game where they make a face and, if you make the same face, they’ll be happy. There’s something really cute to seeing them react to what you do. It’s also a good indicator of size, as the larger Pokémon will take both screens to be seen in their entirety.

It's not a berry complex game.

Mini-games are included this time around: Berry Picker, Head It, and Tile Around. It’s mainly through these mini-games that you earn the Poké-Puffs that you feed to your creatures. Not a very interesting part of the Amie, to be honest – there isn’t a lot of depth to these mini-games and they feel like a chore the more you have to do them, since they’re the only reliable way to get Puffs. You can be visited by the Pokémon of your 3DS friends and they can leave some gifts behind, but mostly decoration for the space in the bottom screen that leads to Pokémon-Amie. At least, the feature has combat advantages: Pokémon with more hearts earned in Amie can survive tough hits, heal themselves from status conditions or inflict more critical hits.

Still, the Amie has shown its weaknesses over time. It was very awesome when the games came out, but since then it seems like we’ve seen even more interesting ways to interact with Pokémon. Even Pokémon Refresh, the Gen 7 version of Amie, had improvements as the treats were easier to obtain and there were no mini-games.

Smash that training bag, Pikachu!

Super Training is another important mini-game allowing you to more easily train some of your Pokémon’s stats. Your Pokémon can smash a training bag to gain Effort Values in one stat. You’ll find bags for each main stat as well as a few that give bonuses in the Challenges. The second part of this feature is a series of challenges against balloons of particular Pokémon; these are a more involved way to gain EVs, usually by shooting at targets on the balloon. It’s a mini-game that made specialized stat training easier than ever before, further helping players join the competitive Pokémon scene. It’s not a mini-game I played all that much, but I think it was a really cool feature and wished it would make a return.

Final words

Okay, there’s a lot to cover, so I’ll have to be quick. In short, I’ve seen what the fan base thinks of the game and can confirm, it’s accurate: Excellent gameplay, but not a very good story.

No thanks, my Pokédollar account is a bit dry, I bought
every piece of clothing you were selling today.

Let’s start by the unequivocally good points: First, the inclusion of character customization, your starting traits and then your set of clothing. The games take full advantage of the new 3D look as well, with the Pokémon models, the Amie, and a ton of setpieces, especially Gyms and, of course, the breathtaking Lumiose City.

Mr. Mime has beecome Fairy funny as of late.

Gameplay-wise, the Regional Dex is humongous and makes collecting one of the best parts of these two entries. The Fairy typing shakes up the formula, rebalancing the type matchup chart in significant ways, and a lot of new Pokémon have it to show it off, on top of older ones gaining the type and becoming more viable as a result. There's even a Gym and a Legendary dedicated to it. There’s a lot of very cool ideas among the new Pokémon, with several highlights such as Vivillon, Flabébé or Pumpkaboo. Mega Evolutions are mostly well-implemented and an excellent addition to gameplay – they don’t overtake the story, appearing in the teams of only three trainers, and most of the Megas really do improve the Pokémon on top of giving them a cool bonus design. Battle-wise, I love the idea of horde encounters.

Pokémon-Amie and the Super Training are excellent additions to the game. This is also a great game on the competitive side of things, in part thanks to these two new elements. The Player Search System is also pretty neat. And before we get to the negative (which covers several issues with the story), I will at least say that I think the lore around AZ and Kalos is very interesting.

It doesn't matter what you like to do the most
in Pokémon; you can be the BEST at it!

The stuff that’s both good and bad: O-Powers are a really neat concept, but although still useful, they lose a lot of their appeal now that X and Y aren’t the most-played Pokémon games anymore. I love that these two games also attempt to reconcile all the ways to play Pokémon saying that they’re all valid – breeding/caring, collecting, battling, playing the story or getting derailed by side-activities, it’s all good! And it’s a nice thought to follow five kids that each represent one of these aspects. Alas, the five kids tend to drag the player around and cause a ton of detours that often feel unnecessary, so while their inclusion is nice, the execution is flawed. The post-game Friend Safari is also nice, but so much of it relies on having many friends and random luck regarding which friend has which Pokémon of which type in their Safari that it felt disappointing in the end.

We're railroaded in the middle of a town now?
With an excuse as lame as a guy "looking for
something" at the bottom of a staircase?

On the bad: Roller skates are fun to use, but tend to be unwieldy to control. Compared to earlier games, there are so many story events here that the player is constantly railroaded. You don’t really feel free to explore until the very end of the game, with a very rare few moments of free exploration while the story is ongoing. While I love horde encounters, I am really not a fan of Sky Battles due to how restrictive they are Pokémon-wise, and the other new kind of fight introduced here, Inverse Battles, never gets enough time to shine to really stand out. Also a tad annoyed at how you couldn't skip trainers in Gyms anymore.

See that Mega tear through everything.

I’m annoyed that so many challenge elements feel lacking – I mean, they don’t even make the E4 harder after beating the game once? Come on now. Hell, the entire game can feel incredibly easy due to the combination of being given a lot of Pokémon and items for free (and never anything useless! Lapras, Lucario, a Kanto starter…), the mechanic of Mega Evolution (which you can use anytime as soon as you unlock it, making several “tough” opponents easy to defeat), O-Powers, and the Exp. Share that’s turned on by default (though if you turn it off early on, the game is said to be much tougher). Oh, and balance-wise, the final boss of the Flare storyline, Lysandre, is stupidly easy to defeat in X due to the mascot Legendary of that version, Xerneas, being a Fairy-type.

One second it's that mysterious thing that
nobody's sure about, the next literally
everybody knows about it.

Story-wise, this is where we started seeing just how formulaic the regular Pokémon games tend to be. The cracks were showing in the structure. The storyline on discovering Mega Evolution is hyped up considerably, but is almost entirely forgotten after you do figure it out, with the only final tie to it being the involvement of the version’s mascot Legendary. The overall plot feels very lacking, with characters that are frequently basic and underdeveloped. Character reveals are friggin’ obvious; you can tell as soon as you see him that Lysandre is the villain, and Diantha sticks out from regular NPCs so much that you know she’s gonna be important as well. Most of the Gym Leaders are utterly forgettable, with only two leaving an impression – Korrina due to her ties with Mega Evolution, and Wulfric because you at least have some interactions with him before fighting him at his Gym. Even Sina and Dexio don’t do much, all things considered.

You mean to tell me that the impassionate
man dressed all in black and calling people
filth was the villain all along?
Surely, you jest! /s

The version mascot Legendary is introduced in a very awkward manner, close to where the Flare storyline really kicks in; you’re basically told, without being told, that you’re gonna catch the damn thing before the story is over. And augh, Team Flare… props to the story, if the point was to hate them, then that worked! However, they remain vague for the longest time, with unclear goals, and then suddenly everything picks up in a mad rush as though the game realized it was going to run out of time to finish that arc; that’s some terrible pacing. On top of that, aside from Lysandre (and maybe Xerosic and Malva), there’s nary a memorable character in that group, with the female Scientists being incredibly forgettable and even the admins remaining nameless. More annoying is how nobody except the protagonists do anything against them! Has nobody learned from other Teams? Augh!

Okay, that’s all. Sorry this was so long, but at least, I covered pretty much everything. In other news, we literally just had the announcement of Gen 9 with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet versions. Happy 25th anniversary to the franchise, and may it run for another 25 years at least! Though, this was long, so I need a break. See you later for more reviews.

Poké-Month: Pokémon X (Part 3)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4

Looks like this is where I’m gonna have that serious talk… I still dread it. We're still a small way from getting there, though.

Trouble’s brewing again

Shut up, Lysandsre, you twit.

Six badges down, two to go, Elite 4 next and the totally unexpected break into the story by the villains unleashing their big plan – gee, it’s like the Pokémon games are formulaic or something! There isn’t much on Route 15, aside from the Lost Hotel that houses a handful of Pokémon unique to the place (like dear old Rotom). Oh, and of course another call from Lysandre who asks questions about Mega Evolution – is it limited to only a few Pokémon? Well, we know it is, there’s only 30 species here that can do it. But he asks if, within the same species, some could while others couldn’t. Y’know, his discourse sure starts to wander into some sort of supremacist territory… Just saying!

This is the game stating that you'll find (and
catch) the mascot Legendary before the
credits roll, with zero subtlety.

Next up is Dendemille Town, where snow is falling. The Professor and one of his aides arrive to tell the tale of Kalos' legendary Pokémon: The box mascot, Xerneas for X, Yveltal for Y. Apparently, this was vital information worth traveling all the way to here for us to hear. The reason? Their enerny may be tied to the reason why Mega Evolution exists in Kalos. We're also gently prodded (read: Forcefully recommended) that we seek out that Legendary to learn more.

We need to ride Mamoswine across Route 17, but they’re currently “distracted” by something in the Frost cavern up north, so we make a detour. Deep within the cave, we stumble on Team Flare again, who have stolen a ton of Pokéballs from the factory and are now using them to catch Pokémon across Kalos with noticeably powerful attributes (such as an Abomasnow with a Snow Warning ability stronger than average, or so they claim). Two grunts and a scientist, who exposit on their group’s motives: They take everything for themselves, so that they’ll have it all when they’re the only ones to… survive? What?

Trevor, don't ask questions, just beat them!

God damn it, THAT discussion is coming and I don’t like it.

That massive crystal was allegedly created by
the power of a Legendary Pokémon. Could
you imagine the Pokémon world without
these wonders?

We fight the grunts and then the scientist, and they flee. With this threat dealt with, Mamoswine return to Route 17 and we can continue our journey unhindered. On to Anistair City, where we have to get more information on the box mascot, which also gives us more details about the great war from 3,000 years ago that allegedly ended in tragedy. The story changes depending on the version mascot: Xerneas gives life and energy, while Yveltal takes life and energy away.

Before we can tackle on the Gym, however, we’re challenged by Serena once again. And of course, she loses, and once again is disappointed in herself. The rival in X and Y makes me feel bad; you beat them, they don’t catch up, you get the Mega Ring, cue their angst.

Calm before the storm

I'm still not sure how Olympia's Gym turns
into... this. Pocket dimension maybe?
Psychics of the Pokémon world are weird.

We now walk into the seventh Gym, home of Olympia the Psychic-type specialist. And what a spectacle! You walk in and the Gym disappears, replaced by a 3D spherical plane on which you duel the other trainers before getting to her, with portals as well. She’s no slouch either, with a team composed of Sigilyph, Meowstic and a Slowking that doesn’t talk. Upon defeat, she hands over the Psychic Badge.

Hm, usually it’s right after the seventh Gym that the villainous Team’s plot kicks into hyperdrive and we have to stop them. As we leave the Gym, Serena congratulates the player for their victory… and then the Holo Caster beeps.

It’s Lysandre.

He's purposefully avoiding the real word.
Call it what it is, you fucking coward.
Ge-no-cide, that's what it is!

This guy, this freaking guy, exposits his plan to reactivate the ultimate weapon to “eliminate” everyone who isn’t a member of Team Flare, humans and Pokémon alike, to return the world to a “beautiful, natural state”. Yeah, uh, the words he’s looking for are murder and genocide. On the sole basis that there are too many “unproductive fools” in the world who take advantage of the resources and do nothing to save the world. There’s so much to unpack here… Which brings me to my thesis:

Are Team Flare Nazis?

YES THEY FREAKING AR-

Take a step back, Nic! It’s not that clear-cut. God damn, they piss me off so much, it’s difficult for me to remain objective talking about them.

Would a "more beautiful world" really be
"beautiful" if it was achieved through mass
murder, though?

Okay, so what do we know about these guys? Let’s first talk about Lysandre and his whim of a “beautiful world”. A philanthropist turned misanthrope, soured from most of mankind after his inventions were used for bad endeavors. He’s angry at a vague definition of “people who take everything” from the world, whatever that could mean, while he deplores the lack of “people who give”. Oh, and he's a goddamn hypocrite; for his anger at "people who take", his plan involves taking damn near everything - including most of the lives in Kalos. He clearly thinks highly of himself, talking about his royal ancestry, and seems to believe that it validates his quest to commit atrocities.

5 millions for a fugly red suit and a haircut that
literally everyone else has in the group.
Totally worth it, amirite?

His group, Team Flare, is mostly made up of good-looking young adults who are also rich; the entrance fee to joining the Team is 5 million Pokédollars (~50,000$ USD) as we learn from someone at Lysandre Café. There’s no way a random person just has that much money lying around. They also think highly of themselves (gee, it’s almost like they’re supremacists or something) and seem fine with killing everybody else. Yes, humans AND Pokémon. Worst of all, even though they love to boast about their goals, nobody seems to take them seriously. And for all of Lysandre’s crusade against the selfish and the entitled, the members of Team Flare all seem to be pretty selfish and entitled. They all strike me as spoiled brats who still haven't had some sense knocked into them. Oh, and the “Holo Caster”? Team Flare has been spying on all the communications made through these devices.

Their plan amounts to genocide, swapping antisemitism for classism (subtext being that, since it costs so much to join them, Team Flare’s grunts basically want to kill everyone poorer than them). Plus, they have an “ideal” regarding the “perfect person” (not unlike the Nazis and their Aryans), or at least believe that only the beautiful may survive, which is a wider definition but still just as nasty. Though their plan moves along, no authority whatsoever thinks they're enough of a threat to react. Whereas Gym Leaders were active against Team Plasma in Pokémon Black & White, here you won’t see any Gym Leader, Elite 4 member, or the Champion even raise a finger to try to stop Team Flare.

And they look so proud of it, too.

Add to this that X and Y take place in a Pokémon version of France, and that Lysandre’s device is called a Holo Caster… Holocauster? Those are NOT accidents on Game Freak’s part, they knew exactly what they were doing. Now, in all fairness, Pokémon is still a franchise for children, so everything about Team Flare is considerably toned down compared to the much darker discourse that could be had. And although there are similarities to be found, there are enough differences to make this villainous group something that takes inspiration from History’s greatest monsters, while still being its own thing at the end of the day. So, Nazis? Not directly, though there are traits; therefore it’s fair to lump Team Flare in with all the other villainous groups in media that were inspired, more or less directly, by the Nazis.

I think what makes me hate them so much is that their vanity and their spite for anything less wealthy and less pretty unfortunately mirrors some real-life sentiments shared by a thankfully small number of people - and yes, that does include the "kill the poor" part. And Neo-Nazism is still a nasty social problem that we need to solve. Put those two together, and they hit closer to home than other Team in the franchise. And if I had the option, I’d skip the Pokémon battle and go Captain America on all of them. Punching Nazi-inspired villains is a long-time video game tradition, after all.

Speaking of, it’s time to storm their hideouts.

Inglourious Trayners

…man I wish. I wish I could go full Tarantino on these guys. Anyway…

Y'know, Gyarados feels strangely out of place
in this guy's team. Something's fishy.
Pun not intended.

Our first stop is the only obvious hideout for now: Lysandre Café. After battling thewaiters, we find the secret entrance to Lysandre Labs. Guess who’s waiting behind the door? Why, Lysandre himself. Sudden boss battle! The only notable members in his team are a male Pyroar and a Gyarados. He accepts defeat but leaves in an elevator. To follow him, the player will need to find the key, in the hands of one of the Scientists.

We’re not the only ones trying to stop them; so are Sina and Dexio, in superhero personas that make the South Park kids look professional in comparison. They say that they’re looking for a very tall guy that Team Flare is also after.

In another room, two more Scientists are waiting. Why am I not saying their names? Because they’re underdeveloped to the point of being interchangeable, which is a recurring problem with this villainous Team. Once beaten, they finally spill the beans: To activate the Ultimate Weapon from the 3,000 years old legend, they need a lot of electricity (hence why they messed with the power plant) as well as the life energy of a huge number of Pokémon.

Little teleportation pads, and squares that send
you spinning in one direction. Team Rocket
called, they want their shit back.

On the plus side, the cutscene retelling
AZ's story is gorgeous to watch.

We obtain the key to the elevator and go underground, where we find Lysandre talking to the weird tall guy we saw on Route 13, now locked behind bars. This guy is AZ, the King. We get the full backstory of this guy. His beloved Pokémon, a one-of-a-kind Floette, died in a war he was waging against another kingdom; he built a machine to bring it back to life. It worked, at the cost of the lives of several Pokémon, but the war had not ended. He turned the machine into a weapon and activated it, ending the war by wiping out both sides of the conflict. The Floette, horrified by the conditions of its revival and the King’s actions, fled. AZ has been searching for that Floette ever since; he also carried the key to the weapon around his neck, and Lysandre just took it.

Why didn't you just bury that thing somewhere
and forgot it ever existed?

One floor lower, we see Lysandre again, this time accompanied by Head Scientist Xerosic. After Lysandre leaves, we battle Xerosic. When defeated, he reveals two buttons at the back; one to activate the Weapon, one to turn it off. The Head Scientist gives YOU that option. But that doesn’t matter; even if you turn it off, he’ll remotely activate it anyway. And so, we’re treated to a cutscene of the Weapon rising from the Ground in Geosenge Town, toppling the wood cabins.

The real HQ

Ah yes, the "I've read Thomas Robert Malthus"
starter pack. Thanos bought exactly the same.

Off to Geosenge we Fly – the entrance to Flare HQ is now revealed. Serena arrives to help. Inside, deep underground, we hear Lysandre’s great plan. In short: For there to be enough resources for everyone, most humans must die. And Pokémon? They must ALL die, because they can be used as tools of war. Oh, and he has captured a Legendary Pokémon (Xerneas in X, Yveltal in Y) to provide all the remaining energy necessary to power the Weapon. Guess that’s why his team stole so many Pokéballs back at the factory. In hindsight, most of their smaller plans make sense towards their greater goals, but they are so underdeveloped and generic that we can’t even bring ourselves to give a damn about HOW these things all connect. I’m at the point where I just want this to be over with.

Not only I can, but I will.

We fight Lysandre again, and kick his ass. He cordially invites us to see the Legendary Pokémon shackled at the lowest floor of the HQ, and the player and their rival do – though they have to beat up some Admins in double battles on the way. For added surprise, Shauna shows up to lend a hand! And we’re glad she’s here, as she owns a tool that lets her open the electronic lock on the door leading to the Legendary. She also distracts the Admins behind the door by fleeing, reducing their numbers so we only have four to defeat before reaching the Legendary.

Ooooooooh... Aaaaaaaaah... Purdy.

The Pokémon then bursts out of containment, and we battle to catch it. The fight is scripted, you HAVE to capture it – if you knock it out, the fight starts over. You are also given the option to swap it into your team afterwards. And you might want it there, as Lysandre then walks in, dressed in a stupid suit with a visor and robot arms, and engages a third and final battle.

He looks equal parts like he put way too much
and really not enough work on a Doctor
Octopus cosplay.

I realized too late that the Let's Play I was using
for images was for Pokémon Y. Regardless,
once more, thanks for MunchingOrange
for it! (He included a few moments taken
from X, hence why I had a screenshot of
Xerneas above.)

Lysandre is a threatening boss, with four high-level Pokémon. His team consists of Mienshao, Honchkrow, Pyroar and a Mega Gyarados (Water/Dark). He is, notably, one of only three Trainers using a Mega, though it's implied his gear is forcing Gyarados to Mega Evolve. Oh, he’s tough alright… in Pokémon Y, anyway. Yveltal is also a Dark-type. However, Xerneas, a pure Fairy-type, is strong against Dark (Hochkrow, Gyarados) and Fighting (Mienshao), or 75% of his team. He is a JOKE in X, which is the version that I played. Hell, if your Pokémon are overleveled due to the Exp. Share, he might still be easy to defeat. Depending on the version and how prepared you are, his boss battle can be incredibly anticlimactic and disappointing.

At least it's not gonna kill anybody important.

Angry, Lysandre says that he has accumulated enough energy to fire the Ultimate Weapon once, and so the player, Shauna and Serena flee. The machine fires… and by a stroke of luck, its blast lands right back where it came from, destroying not only the weapon but also the underground HQ, causing a landslide that kills everyone (in Y) or traps them under rubble (in X). That distinction is important; in X, it’s heavily implied that by being so close to the Weapon when it fired, both Lysandre, his Team, and the heroes have been made immortal, just like AZ. However, whereas the heroes fled in time, the Flares are trapped down there… and still alive… possibly forever…

That’s still too kind of a comeuppance for these guys.

Let’s resume the adventure now

Not a lot of time to dwell on the results, but at least everyone helped – Tierno, Trevor, Sina and Dexio did their part outside of the HQ. Even a freed AZ comes by to see the crater left behind by the blast and landslide.

Professor... it would be an honor.

Time to go back to earning badges! On Route 18, we are introduced to the last new type of battle: Inverse Battles, where the effectiveness of type matchups is reversed. Cool idea, but only available here and nowhere else, so it isn’t really given a chance to shine. South is Couriway Town, where we have a surprise encounter with Professor Sycamore, who apologizes for Lysandre (no trouble, nobody could have foreseen what he would become), then thanks the player. Oh, and he challenges us to a Pokémon battle with the three Kanto starters, all evolved, at Level 50.

After winning this battle, we move on to Route 19. On it there’s a long, suspended wooden bridge, and this is where we meet our friends again: Shauna, Tierno and Trevor! Who all challenge the player to a Pokémon battle, in that order! This gives everyone a chance to see how much this adventure has made them grow. Aw, that’s so nice. Through the gate and we see the frozen Snowbelle City, where our destiny awaits: The eighth Gym. Unfortunately for us, Wulfric the Ice-type specialist is in the Winding Woods at the moment, so we’ll have to fetch him if we want this final badge.

After this heavy part, it's great to meet
nice people again.

Also known as Route 20, these Woods are a maze, but they lead to an area called the Pokémon Village, where Pokémon who ran away from abusive Trainers get to live in peace. Wulfric is indeed there. After presenting himself, the Gym Leader heads back to Snowbelle to properly challenge the player. Well, back to the city we go.

How about we conclude this in Part 4?

Poké-Month: Pokémon X (Part 2)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4

One issue of later Pokémon games is that every Route, town and place advances the plot in some fashion – as a result, there’s a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump into it right away.

First signs of trouble

Some things never change.

Camphrier Town doesn’t have much to it, though it’s a nice-looking place with a mansion – a chateau, if you will. Its guardian is called to take care of a problem on Route 7 and we follow along, soon seeing a Snorlax doing its species’ time-honored tradition of blocking the path. This forces a detour by Parfum Palace in order to retrieve a Poké Flute. We won’t get it until after we help the owner of that majestic golden castle retrieve his Furfrou. For their troubles, the player and Shauna get to watch a fireworks show from the Palace’s balcony, and then are given the Flute.

After beating or catching Snorlax, we can see the rest of the Route, which is home to the Day Care center. Tierno and Trevor show up to explain its purpose. Further down is the Battle Chateau, one of the best places for trainer battles – in it, you will even be able to re-challenge Gym Leaders and other significant characters.

Looks like a place best enjoyed in postgame.

I request permission to punch this MF.

Past a small cave is Route 8, where Sina and Dexio arrive to upgrade our Pokédex, adding the Coastal Kalos Dex. Following the path down the coast leads to Ambrette Town, where research is done on fossils. The local fossil restoration lab’s scientists even encourage the player to see their assistant in Glittering Cave. It’s past Route 9, knows as the Spikes Passage, impassable by a Trainer on foot; but thankfully, there’s a Rhyhorn you can ride on through. This leads to the entrance of Glittering Cave, where we meet the villainous team for the first time proper: Team Flare.

I hate those guys. Thankfully, they’re not very threatening (for now), and seem to be here only to steal some fossils. They’re stopped, we're given fossils for our troubles, and said fossils are restored into new Pokémon for the team, including an Aerodactyl. That’s nice, but still no info on Mega Evolution… we do get an Aerodactylite, but we can’t use it yet. At least the path is now open to Cyllage Town, where the player can get their hands on a bike. We also can walk into the second Gym, home of Grant the Rock-type specialist, for a challenge. He uses the new fossil Pokémon, Amaura and Tyrunt. Two Leaders down, six more to go.

Baby T-Rex!!!

North is Route 10, Menhir Trail, on which we encounter a few more Flare Grunts. The same ones we met in the cave, actually – one says so himself. I do like that added detail of having grunts return later in the game with stronger Pokémon. It’s something I felt was missing from previous Teams, that sort of consistency. It also helps to highlight that there might not be that many Flare grunts.

Ah yes, another fan-favorite species.

This leads to Geosenge Town, a place shrouded in mystery. Another Flare guy is walking down a path but when we follow, we only find a stone construct, nothing else. Hm… Then, as we leave the town, we encounter Korrina again. She challenges the player to a battle with her two Lucario, then says that her Gym is in Shalour, right after the next cave. In fact, while on Route 11, we get a holo-message from Professor Sycamore saying that a “guru” of Mega Evolution lives in the next town. Looks like we might have that plot point resolved soon!

Solving the mystery of Mega Evolution

It’s a long trek through the beautiful Reflection Cave, its walls adorned with mirror-like rocks, but we carry through and re-emerge in Shalour City. We soon meet Tierno and Trevor again, and receive a mysterious stone from the former; and the railroading forces us to go to the Tower of Mastery, north of the town. This is where the five kids meet Korrina and her grandfather, the “guru” of Mega Evolution, who explains the new mechanic.

That's nothing, you should see the kinds of
evolution shenanigans happening a little more
up north, across the English Channel.

For anyone who doesn’t know yet: Mega Evolution can only happen in-battle, and only if the Pokémon is holding its associated Mega Stone while their Trainer has a Mega Ring equipped. This means that a Pokémon that Mega Evolves cannot hold any other item. The transformation is temporary; it will last until the end of the battle, or until the Mega-Evolved Pokémon has been knocked out. (If you use a Revive on that Pokémon, it will no longer have its Mega Evolution active.) Most Mega Evolutions add 100 points to a Pokémon’s base stats, and some of them will also have a change in typing and/or ability (as an example, Mega Charizard X becomes Fire/Dragon). You can only have one Pokémon Mega-Evolve in a battle – you can have multiple team members holding their Mega Stone, but you can only activate one of them.

Long ago, in the early days of this blog, I wrote some articles about Mega Evolution and my gripes about them. As it turns out, I was making a lot of assumptions – some turned out correct, others didn’t. For starters, I thought Mega Evolutions would steal the show, leading to less new Pokémon and a focus on these new forms instead – the meager 72 new Pokémon for Gen 6 proved me right. Second, I thought that Mega Evolutions would be a broken addition to the game – if not competitively (for which several Mega Evolutions DID turn out broken in PvP), then during a regular playthrough. I was reassured to see that NPCs using Mega Evolutions was rare, with only a few relevant ones using the new mechanic. However, you, the player, get to use it all the time, and with 30 of them to choose from (The Gen 3 remakes, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, would add another 18). It can make several battles a total breeze to get through. Couple this to the highly-generous Exp. Share, and the game becomes a complete and utter cakewalk with nary a point where there’s any challenge. And indeed, one of the biggest criticisms of X and Y is that the games are too easy, and Megas definitely have their weight in the balance on that front. I also have my own issue with how Game Freak used the new mechanic to favor Pokémon that were already highly popular, with only a few odder choices here and there among species that needed that extra boost.

The changes aren't necessarily subtle, but they
do make the Pokémon look stronger or more
imposing.

My last critique was purely aesthetic; that some of these new forms denatured the Pokémon that obtain them. As it turns out, they don’t… or at least, they don’t to the extent that I originally feared. The Mega Evolutions, for the most part, do not transform most Pokémon obtaining them to a point where they’re unrecognizable. A few look silly, but most of them are genuinely well-designed, beautiful even. (Also… since then we’ve had Gigantamax forms, which I feel DO denature the Pokémon that are boosted from them, frequently making them look freaking ridiculous.)

Anyhow, only the player and the rival express interest in the Mega Ring, so they fight to settle who gets it. Though we win, we also have to prove our worth by defeating Korrina, the Fighting-type specialist, at her Gym. Then, after defeating her team consisting of a Mienfoo, a Machoke and a Hawlucha, she says that she cannot give the Mega Ring just yet. She wants a rematch at the top of the Tower of Mastery first.

That's a really cool backdrop for the battle.
I appreciate the number of distinct backdrops
in the game's battles, it's a very nice touch.

Time to limit break and go Mega!

There she waits, with her two Lucario. We’re given the Mega Ring. More importantly, the Lucario that had taken a liking to the player decides to join them. Our new Lucario friend serves as a tutorial, showing how the “Mega Evolve” button appears on the attack selection screen. It’s not a tough battle, but it serves to show the mechanic in action. And yes – Lucario stays with the player, as well. Is it just me, or we’re straight-up given a lot of Pokémon in this game? A Kanto starter, an Aerodactyl, a Lucario… (All three of which can Mega Evolve, for the record)

We can continue our adventure after this. Before we leave Shalour, Serena arrives to give the HM Surf, which is needed to travel across Azure Bay on Route 12. Oh yeah, we’re also given a Lapras, which can learn Surf, so we can travel without having to backtrack in order to catch another Water-type. Not only are we given a lot of Pokémon, most of them are also very good in battles… no wonder the game feels so easy!

More orange troublemakers

Yeah yeah, Megas happen through the Power of Love.
Thanks for the reminder, but I already knew.

Past Route 12 (and a lovely Skiddo ranch) is Coumarine, a port city split in two parts; the port area and the town proper, both linked by a monorail. In the station, we meet Prof. Sycamore and Diantha, who congratulate us on figuring out the secret of Mega Evolution. Yeah, it took me all of 40% of the game. After taking the monorail, we get to the town, where we can challenge the local Gym… after a friendly battle against Serena, that is.

Did we accidentally walk into a Mario level?

The Gym is very pretty. One strength of X and Y is that the 3D is taken full advantage of, whenever there’s a chance to do so with scenery. Lumiose City is the most ambitious example, but a few transitions play with this, and limited space such as Gyms let themselves further toy with what the franchise can do, now that it’s less limited than it was with the 2D sprites from prior Gens. Ramos’ Grass-type Gym is excellent in that regard. The battle against him, however, is easy. Just a Jumpluff, a Gogoat and a Weepinbell.

Following this victory, we get a message from Lysandre on the Holo Caster, who congratulates the player for figuring out how Mega Evolution works. The guy seems very interested by this discovery. The fourth badge also opens the way to Route 13, the Lumiose Badlands, the location of the power plant giving electricity to Lumiose – however, although it is running, the power’s not reaching the metropolis.

That patch of darker ground? It's a Pokémon
that will chase you down.

Hey! I'm not... little!

After obtaining the Mountain Kalos Dex from Sina and Dexio in the house leading to the Route, we explore a bit, and guess who we find? Those Team Flare again. I knew it smelled like overpriced cologne in this desert. After stealing a mook’s pass to the power plant, we go in and beat up some rich kids in fugly orange suits. This is where we meet Flare admins and scientists for the first time. Apparently, they were redirecting the electricity somewhere else… and although we defeated them, they consider having enough to carry on with their plan, so they return the power to Lumiose and leave the plant. O-kay… guess we’ll learn more eventually. Not too late into the game, please!

How do they even see through these glasses?

One of the big issues with Team Flare is precisely that they remain very vague for a large chunk of the story, with unclear motivations aside from “we’ll do something that will make only us happy and take away everyone else’s happiness”, and… that’s it. Yes, it gets infinitely more nefarious once we find out, but it takes forever. And neither the Team nor its members get any sort of development until that point. It’s like the game forgets it even has villains and goes from “okay, so they show up here and there” to “Damn it now it’s GO GO GO!” That story arc's pacing is atrocious.

As we leave the badlands, we stumble upon a very tall man talking about a flower Pokémon that was given eternal life… Before we can say anything, he leaves. Add that mystery to the pile!

Down at Lysandre Café

If you answer wrong, you battle a Trainer.
If you answer right, you... battle a Trainer.
It's a minor detail, but I don't like how most Gyms here
are designed so that battles can't be avoided.

We can, finally, see the entirety of Lumiose City. That includes the Gym, Prism Tower, in the center of the metropolis and shaped like the Eiffel Tower. We can explore the city and battle trainers all over the place, or get the plot going by fighting Clemont the Electric-type specialist and his team composed of Emolga, Magneton and Heliolisk. Simple enough, and the Quiz challenge that comes before that battle is a cool idea as well.

Professor! Stop fraternizing with the
omnicidal maniac!

With the Voltage Badge in hand, the player receives an invitation from Prof. Sycamore to Lysandre Café. And indeed, the professor is there with Lysandre himself. At first, we’re congratulated (again!!) on figuring out Mega Evolution – even though there wasn’t actually much of a secret to it. Hell, for the remainder of the game, Mega Evolution is no longer treated as such a special thing – sure, only a handful of people can use it, but it’s no longer a bizarre thing that takes a while to figure out. Everybody knows about it! Talk about wasting an entire story arc!

Lysandre, yet again, goes on and on about people who give and people who take, and how those who take are filth. He recounts the tale of the King of Kalos who, some 3,000 years prior, used an ultimate machine of mass destruction to take everything (and kill almost everyone), making the world “beautiful” again at a great loss. Lysandre claims himself as a descendant of the King’s brother. The way he talks about that machine, it’s like he gets stars in his eyes and wishes he could have his hand on the lever to activate it. For wasting our tie with his filibuster, he gives the player a King’s Rock and leaves. In the Café, we also have a girl who says she’s saving up 5 Million Pokédollars to give to Lysandre. Hm…

Gee, it’s almost like he’s the bad guy or something!

That's our Tierno!

Upon leaving the café, we get a message from Trevor inviting us to a get-together with the rest of the gang on Route 14, the Laverre Nature Trail, which is also a marsh/swamp. First is a battle against Serena, followed by an impromptu team trip to a scary house, whose owner tells a “scary” story that fails to spook the group. Well, that was necessary, wasn’t it? Sometimes it feels like the team tagging along with the player forces a handful of detours that we could have done without.

Oh, it was entertaining, but I hoped I could
have avoided some Trainer battles.

Past this point is Laverre City. North of it is a Poké Ball factory, and it’s also where Valerie, the Fairy-type Gym Leader, resides with her team made up of Mawile, Mr. Mime and Sylveon. This being the Gen where this type was introduced (with several Pokémon from previous Gens retconned to have it), it makes sense that it would get top billing, as a way to explain it as well as the changes it brought. Having a Gym Leader using the type makes sense; having a Legendary Pokémon with that type makes sense as well. I can even tolerate all of the talks from NPCs rattling off details about the changes.

After defeating Valerie, we obtain the sixth badge, after which we’re invited by Shauna and Trevor to visit the Poké Ball factory.

Let’s see about this in Part 3.