This HAS to happen tomorrow. We won’t get another chance like this for months, at the very least. You can’t always be on call.

I’ve seen the data, Rose. You SHOWED ME the data. Even if we weren’t managing its emergence, we’d have a few years before it popped out on its own. As it is, we have time before the outbreaks get unmanageable.

“Manageable” is a relative term, Leon. We’ve been lucky so far. I’m not confident you can always intercept every spontaneous manifestation.

And that’s why we’re hiring Gloria and Hop. We can split them up and cover the bulk of the region between the three of us.

That’s a stopgap solution and you know it, especially now that Hop will be attending university. I’m not sure you grasp the level of property damage we’ll have to deal with before we get our next chance.

Look, when I tell you the three of us can handle it, I’m not speaking out of arrogance here. I know my capabilities and I know theirs, and we both know how well the models predict emergences.

<sub>… Should we be eavesdropping?

Maybe?</sub>

Every passing day introduces more complications we can’t afford. It must be tomorrow.

Unless it jumps out and eats Hammerlocke Castle, I’m going to spend tomorrow at the Finals. Are you really confident you can handle the DDE on your own? Or are you going to cancel the tournament in a shower of bad publicity?

I was a finalist too. I know how to handle it, I know how to operate the sensory suppression equipment, and I know its capabilities as well as anyone alive, except maybe Magnolia. Don’t force my hand, Leon.

Are you really wagering the fate of Galar on whether I’ll play along with this harebrained scheme of yours?



The more emergence events we deal with, the more we risk those lights going out. I’m willing to give you some leeway in making this decision – I can see your points. But every second that passes just introduces more risk!



It’s going to have to wait another day.

We will continue this discussion after the Finals wrap up.

THANK you.

Of course. And best of luck to both of you.

Of course I haven’t! I –

(In the original script, Hop angrily confronts this Grunt only for her to apologize for her coworkers’ behavior, saying it was all basically Oleana’s fan club within the company and calls herself “one of the good ones”. Even though it was Hop and Gloria who stormed the loving tower. But that doesn’t apply in this narrative.)

At this point we get the chance to automatically head to the stadium, but I take the chance to do something else for a little while – namely, hit up the Wild Area one last time. I didn’t mention this at the time because I wasn’t aware of it when we first entered it: the Wild Area is based on the Lake District, a fertile but extremely mountainous area in northwestern England notable for its thriving tourism industry and association with 19th century poets. Neat! Anyway, while we still have Dynamax dens same as always, the Pokémon in them are wildly more difficult.



As you get further and further into the game, the Pokémon you run into in Dens grow appropriately more powerful. I believe I mentioned it before, but powerful Den Pokémon get access to those shields, each point of which absorbs an attack. The good news: your Dynamax moves take off two points of shielding and when the shield goes down, its defenses dropped precipitously. The bad news: as always, Dynamax only lasts three turns for you, they get to use to normal attacks in addition to their Max move once the shields go down, and they can throw up those shields multiple times that picture above is the second set in that fight; I’ve seen THREE before. While you can still find them for Berries, TRs, and experience candy, it can become a god-awful trial just to figure out how to take them down – and that’s if the AI Trainers you get saddled with can actually pull their weight. They usually don’t. Oh well! Yeah, whatever, I give up after a few failed attempts and a few modest successes.

Incidentally, this is the last moment of freedom you have before heading the endgame. While you’ll still have access to your Box and such, once you start the final sequence, you won’t be getting out until you’re through.

So let’s do that.

…

What, having an attack of the nerves?

Well, yeah, but… Hop? Are you sure you’re not angry with me because I took the Championship from you?

I’m genuinely looking forward to going to school, Gloria.

Okay, that IS rather novel.

Honestly, I’m pretty nervous too. This is NOT where I saw my life going. But… I feel… Free, I guess? There’s a real weight off my shoulders. I think there’ll always be a part of me that wishes I was Champion, but it’s just a part of me rather than the overriding purpose it used to be. And it’s freeing – just a little bit terrifying, yeah, but… I get to make my own choices based on my beliefs instead of just trying to echo my brother. And Gloria? I think you can beat Lee.

Me too, honestly.

I’ll be cheering for you from the stands.

Well, looks like I’m up first. Against Opal. Looking forward to THAT.

We get the chance to talk with most of’s the Gym Leaders we’ve fought over the course of the game. They don’t have much new to say; all of them are planning to take this seriously, Raihan wants to gently caress Leon up, Piers plans not to Dynamax to rep Spikemuth, etc. We might as well skip the formalities.

_{I, Opal of the Fairy Gym, at this moment –}

_{– resign from my position and pass it to my former Gym Trainer, Bede!}

–wait, WHAT?!

That’s Gym Leader Opal in the stands! Another astonishing development, ladies and gentlemen!

I – but – what –

_{You heard me right! And, as the new Fairy Gym Leader, Bede will go up against Gloria in the first round of the finals.}

Did – did you loving plan this, you piece of poo poo?!

_{Language, Bede!}

Challenger Gloria and Gym Leader Bede’s match will begin shortly!

_{You can’t retire from being a Trainer if you aren’t a Trainer anymore!}







… A troll to the end. I can’t believe she… You know what? I accept this honor. Why the hell not? If she’s willing to throw her title away like that, I’m not going to hesitate to pick it up. Throw your Pokémon out, Gloria!



…

Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Dec 19, 2020

No updated Finals theme here. Fine by me; it’s so over-the-top already I can’t imagine how you’d amp it up even further.

As befits a member of the Fairy Gym, Bede has completely retooled his team; while he does still have a couple of his original Pokémon, he only kept the ones that are Fairy-type. I mean, most of his team is also Psychic-type as well, since Psychic- and Fairy-types tend to show up together, but there you go. His Mawile is an easy out; one Pyro Ball and it’s down. Next up is his Gardevoir, as well as my secret weapon against his team:



Mr. Blobby is fast, powerful, and has a healthy type advantage. In his typical utterly terrifying way, he pulverizes both this Gardevoir and Bede’s Rapidash.





Morgan is looking a mite taller. As she’s his last Pokémon (only four Pokémon, Bede? For shame!)…

















… He immediately Gigantamaxes her.















While the damage itself isn’t particularly notable (and the heal effect it has is miniscule), G-Max Smite inflicts Confusion on Mr. Blobby – and if you don’t remember from all the way back at Kage’s Gym, Confusion gives you a strong chance of injuring yourself instead of using your next move. In fact, that happens Mr. Blobby’s next turn, which Bede makes use of to drop a Full Restore on Morgan. I get very lucky with my next attack; while it doesn’t crit, it must have hit the top of its damage range, because it managed to OHKO Morgan and end the fight.

Bede’s team ended up being a bit of a dud, but G-Max Smite is loving terrifying. There are few better ways to lock down a Pokémon then with Confusion, and given just how little time Dynamax lasts, it can cost an opponent several valuable Max moves.

But no one on PokéEarth can stand before the might of Mr. Blobby.



… Gloria?

Yeah ?

Wipe that smirk off your face, I need to tell you something.



… Thank you.

… What?

I’m pretty miserable after you kicked my rear end in Stow-on-Side, right?

Wait, she does that to her Trainers?

Constantly. But, it’s… You know, I tried to close myself off from the rest of the Trainers there, but Ms. Opal kind of hazed me until I started socializing. And… It helped.

_{I told you, you need to express your appreciation more often!}

gently caress you, Opal!

_Language!

But anyway… I never would have expected this, but I feel at home there. I can be as dramatic as I want because everyone else is just as dramatic as I am, and Opal runs the Gym with a tight enough fist that grudges don’t last long before she makes us air them and patch them up. I’m so used to being ignored that it’s kind of intoxicating – and before Opal dragged me off I wouldn’t have ever realized my needs were being ignored, you know?

…

I came here ready to face you down because I needed some closure. I did not expect to get saddled with Gym leadership. But… I don’t know.

… I don’t think I’ll ever forget what you did, but I’m willing to forgive it. I’ve been talking to Hop.

He’s a lot nicer to me than I deserve.

See, that’s what I mean. I used to hate you, then I pitied you, but now… Now I’m willing to treat you as a person, I suppose?

_{Better than Rose ever did.}

So you finally realized that, eh? Good for you, mate.

Little early to call me “mate,” I think.

Maybe someday. I’m looking forward to kicking your arse up and down Wyndon next Cup, though.

What, you think you’ll be lucky enough to qualify again?

No, I’ll be the Champion, you twat.

Good luck with that.



…

Tournament Lobby (Locker Room) - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST

We get booted back out into the locker room, where run up to the elevator and press A to see if there’s anything hidden in –



wait



i dont



what

You know how I said something in my last update was a dirty lie?

Explopyro posted:

Three sets of shields in raid battles? I wasn't going to comment on that but I'm pretty sure it maxes out at two.

If not that one, I'm not sure.

I saw that in a fight against a Falinx yesterday . No, it turns out, you can actually up and leave the tournament during finals. You can just go around and do whatever you want! At least from a cursory check, there don’t seem to be any changes in dialogue or anything, you can just go around and play the game like you weren’t in the middle of a major sporting event. I didn’t even know this was possible! Maybe it’s so you can go catch or train up your team if you need to? But they didn’t say anything about that. I was just looking for secrets. I guess I found one.

But ultimately, I don’t have anything I want to do right now. So it’s time to go back and actually progress the plot.

Yep, we do get a Gym theme remix for these fights. And it’s a pretty solid one too, albeit a bit generic for my ears. Anyway, Nessa here presents me with a problem: I don’t have any strong Water counters on my team. I do have Mr. Blobby with Thunderbolt and Briggs with some Grass-type moves, but it I should have more than enough firepower to plow through regardless.

(I’m not gonna repost her throwing animation, you’ve already seen it.)



She leads with Golisopod, which gets nailed by Thunderbolt hard enough to activate its Ability, which puts it back into Nessa’s party and lets her throw out another Pokémon. Her Barraskewda then gets thrown out and hits Mr. Blobby with a super-effective Throat Chop, but this time Thunderbolt is strong enough to take it down in one hit. Golisopod comes out again, receives a Full Restore, gets Thunderbolted again, and shuffles back into her party again, leaving her Seaking to also get Thunderbolted into oblivion. This time, he finally takes it down.



The thing about Pelipper here? It’s both Water and Flying. Do you know what both of those types are weak to?





Time for a change in strategy. Her Drednaw, her signature Pokémon, comes out next. Rather than keep Thunderbolting, I switch out for Briggs.







This move is very powerful, but it eats up like a third of Brigg’s HP. I almost never use it in normal combat. The thing is? Max moves only key off base move power, meaning Wood Hammer’s balance mechanism no longer applies and I get a truly powerful Max move out of the bargain.





(We’ve also already seen her Dynamaxing animation, they recycle them in these fights.)



You remember the last time we fought Nessa’s Drednaw?



It looks a lot different. Just because a type of Pokémon has the capacity to Gigantamax doesn’t mean every member of that species can. Only some of them have a Gigantamax factor, marked by an X symbol; without it, they are poo poo out of luck (unless you play the DLC).

Funnily enough, this implies that Nessa keeps two separate Drednaws. I don’t know why.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize Drednaw’s G-Max move was Water-type, meaning it wouldn’t bring it to bear against Briggs. Tragic. If you want to see it, I recommend this link, which should take you right to the demonstration. But yeah, ultimately not a terrifying fight.



Look at that combination of effects; the Grassy Terrain from Briggs’s Max Overgrowth and the sandstorm kicked up by the Drednaw’s Max Rockfall (the only move it got to use).

Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Dec 20, 2020

This is YOUR FAULT, Leon. I wasn’t going to sit there and watch while you put everything I’ve built at risk.

_{What is he TALKING about?}

Oh no.





You NEED to be on top of Hammerlocke Tower in the next 20 minutes or the Entity will run amok!

_{Why are there purple lasers in the sky}

Oh poo poo.







Aye.

loving hell, Rose lost the plot.

The mad bastard… It wasn’t supposed to go like this!

How much of this did you know about?

Enough to know something like this would happen in the next few years anyway. And It’s largely thanks to you.

Uh oh.

NOT “uh oh”, we had an idea something was about to go wrong but we couldn’t have prepped anything without you and Sonia’s research. And then the fucker took Sonia off the case to keep from angering Magnolia and we never figured out how they actually stopped the Darkest Day… I really hate to ask you this, you kids shouldn’t be caught up in this. But I need you two to try and hold down the fort –

Wait! Wait. Every time the Darkest Day swept around, Zacian and Zamazenta didn’t just show up to stop it, they were already around. And I think I know where they are.

… Really?

I mean, I agree in theory.



Do you remember? We ran into Zamazenta there all the way back then. I don’t know why they haven’t shown up yet, but if we’re going to find them, it’s got to be back there.

… I’m willing to trust you on this. I’ll contact the Gym Leaders and have them keep the rest of the country under control. Go!

…

Sonia! We could use your help. We’re here to find Zacian and Zamazenta –

Because this is the Darkest Day.

Aye.

I loving knew it. The moment the sky went dark… Have to admit, I thought you’d still be dealing with the tournament now, though…



The whole region’s in chaos! There’re giant Pokémon everywhere, the power’s flickering…

I’m surprised Rose isn’t on it.

/ He caused it!

…



Will catch you up later, we have stuff to do in the Weald. You coming?

No. All I have is my Yamper, I’d just get in your way. I have a few last things I can dig up, though, a let you know if I find anything important.

Then we have to go.



… Do you think they’ll be all right, Sonia?

I don’t know.

…

No. I’m back in unfamiliar territory. I HATE unfamiliar territory. This isn’t the tournament I’ve wanted to win my whole life or doing some research. I don’t know what this is!

Last time we went through the Weald, we came out alive and sane.

That really doesn’t help…

Look,

Remember that conversation we had, back at Magnolia’s lab?

About kings and legends?

Think of this as our legend. Mate, you’re about to be the first historian to talk to Zacian and loving Zamazenta!

Oh shite, I didn’t think of that.

Thanks, mate.

Welcome back to the Slumbering Weald. The first part is just as we left it, but once we go past the point where we met Zamazenta the first time…



…The Pokémon get a lot stronger. As is standard for JRPGs, for all the rush in the story, you in fact have plenty of time to do all the exploring you want. But while we do have a few items to find, mostly holdable items with dubious benefits, we don’t have any good reason to delay.



Look, at least we can see where we’re walking…

And nothing bloody else!

I –





Wait.





_{It’s looking at you, Gloria.}

Aagh!

AAAGH!

Gloria!

Sensory… Sensory overload. gently caress me. And…



… And they’re gone.

Fog, too.

Hop, did they try to speak to you?

… Pardon, what? They just, you know, howled.

It was like voice scratching around in my head…

You know what, at this point I’d believe anything. They tell you anything?

No… Maybe? It was too much all at once, I nearly passed out. But I think I got a sense of… Approval? Maybe? I dunno, mate.

Are you right to keep going?

Yeah, just a little woozy. _{Is this what being pissed feels like?} It’s already going away, though. We need to press on.

It’s in marvelous condition. And…









It looks like somebody left us some presents.

Wait, if Zacian and Zamazenta were Pokémon, then are those… Also them?

No idea. Only one thing to do…







Just gonna pick up the ancient magical artifact and put it in your Bag, mate?

This shrine is a known landmark in the Weald. Treasure hunters have been visiting it for centuries. The only way we could find two priceless artifacts right out in the open like this is if someone put them there for us. I bet you can guess who.

… Well, if there isn’t anything else for us here, we may as well head to Hammerlocke

Calling a skytaxi now.

I don’t think ROSE knows how it’s supposed to work.

Look, we really don’t have time to waste.

… And off he goes. I should probably follow. Is there anything you need me to do before I head in?

Okay, yeah, I’m on it. Is there anything I should know before I head down?

Yes, ma’am!

Go.











This has all gone to poo poo.

Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Dec 22, 2020