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.