Let's Play Legends Arceus, Part 3: DE-LE-LE-LE WHOOOOOOOOOP

Last we left off, we're supposed to investigate some alpha Pokemon rampaging or something-or-other. Well, instead of doing that... I ran around the Obsidian Fieldlands and just had a grand old time just... exploring. This is where a game like this will absolutely get me, and what, I feel, is the true potential of what Sword/Shield did with their Wild Area. 

There's a lot of fun bits even in this first field, too. Shaking trees will drop Burmy, an absolutely welcome wink-wink-nod to the headbutt trees from Gen II and the honey-trees from Gen IV. I managed to catch myself a Ponyta (it's one of the few available Fire-types in the Sinnoh games, I remember things right) and got a Silcoon and basically ran around trying to complete the Pokedex. And I really do like it a lot -- I've always been someone who's really into the whole collector/Pokedex vibe of the game, and it actually being a progression point to explore and see these Pokemon do different things is just such a fun game mechanic! I got promoted all the way to two stars. I think I mentioned it last time, but my Rowlet, Kricketot and Shinx have all evolved into Dartrix, Kricketune and Luxio. 

Speaking of fun game mechanics... a quality-of-life improvement that I didn't know I needed but now I want for every Pokemon game... each Pokemon just has their list of 'learned' moves available at all times, and I can order which four moves I want them to have! It's just such an intensely amazing quality-of-life change, eliminating the need for move relearners... all my Pokemon has to do is to learn the move once, and then they'll be able to freely swap that move in and out. Obviously it's not something I can do in the midst of battle, but it does really make sense, doesn't it, that for example my Rowlet can still use Leafage even though he's learned a bunch of newer moves?

I also narrowly avoid being murdered by a very aggressive Alpha Floatzel when trying to catch a big Buizel for that one guard. 

Eventually I actually progress into the Deertrack Heights, where Geodudes are the super-aggressive mofos that hang out. It tracks with what I remember of them from older games, for sure! As the name indicates, there are also Stantler here, though I had to actually run around a little bit to find where they hang out. 

I walk up to a shrine-like location where Mai and Professor Laventon are waiting for me, and... and it's kind of interesting. Mai gives some exposition about how Alpha Pokemon are Pokemon that have obtained energy from 'Almighty Sinnoh', allowing them to have greater power and access to certain moves they wouldn't have normally. That just, again, sounds a lot like how Totem Pokemon are created! Mai and her Diamond Clan revere the Wyrdeer of Deertrack Heights, but that's not actually the Alpha Pokemon I'm facing.

No, instead, with a glorious De-Le-Le-WHOOOOOOOOP, a gigantic Kricketune with glowing eyes just casually saunters into the field. I think the English-localization team have caught on with the meme, becuase every single line of dialogue from the Kricketune is a de-le-le-le-whoooop! That's glorious! I love it. I loved this whole sequence. 

Unfortunately, my own Kricketune didn't manage to take down the much stronger Kricketune, and got wiped out after a couple of Aerial Aces. Dartrix got the experience points in the end, but... well, at least the crisis is averted, right? This Alpha Kricketune is just a little 'pest' that has been bothering the actual 'noble' that lives in this mountain, the majestic Gandalf-esque Wyrdeer. 

Wyrdeer shows up and apparently 'takes a liking' to me. I... I'll take Mai's word for that, the Wyrdeer's expression just looks irritated. But Wyrdeer's acknowledgement has caused the Diamond Clan to allow the Galaxy Team to set up another base where the Kricketune hung out, which means that I've got a brand-new fast-travel point!

Also hinting to what I can probably do later on in the game, Laventon and Mai discuss how Wyrdeer is known to allow humans that they trust to ride them. Laventon outright compares it to the 'ride Pokemon of Alola'... I was a bit baffled by this, but I guess there's no reason for Alola to not have domesticated Pokemon and ride them at this point in time.

As we return and get our obligatory post-level-potato-mochi dinner at the Wallflower, the green-haired shop owner shares some gossip with us -- that there is a Kleavor going around mauling people and putting people in the hospital. Holy shit! I mean, this game is still PG-13 and no human will die in this game, but all this talk of 'mauling' and 'death' is actually refreshingly intense for a Pokemon game. 

In the next day, we get an extended series of dialogue between Adaman, leader of the Diamond Clan, and Irida, leader of the Pearl Clan. It's actually quite fun for what's a pretty dialogue-heavy sequence. I assume we'll have a Skyrim/Fallout-style "pick your faction" later on in the game? But it's also pretty clear -- especially for someone like me who's a bit more versed with Pokemon lore -- that Adaman and Irida are, well, just seeing part of the picture. 

See, the Diamond Clan revere 'Almighty Sinnoh', who they view as a God of Time. Meanwhile, the Pearl Clan revere 'Almighty Sinnoh', the God of Space. Now it's obviously Dialga and Palkia, and if 'Sinnoh' is actually Arceus, that means that these two clans are arguing about the nature of the two "angels" of the actual creator deity. Pretty fun little argument, and the translation is actually pretty catchy in trying to incorporate aspects of time and space into Adaman and Irida's dialogue -- like how Adaman sees that it's not right to 'waste time', and later on Irida finds fault with Galaxy Team for restricting the 'space' of the Pokemon with their Pokeball technology. 

Design-wise... they're all right. Irida's giant... giant back-dress thing is a lot more visually striking for sure. Adaman's all right. He looks like he would fit at home among the cast of Demon Slayer. 

Anyway, the rampaging monster Kleavor is actually a 'Lord' associated with the Pearl Clan, similar to how Wyrdeer is a Lord associated with the Diamond Clan. All this lore is making me happy! And we actually have a nice little quasi-political situation here where the rampaging Kleavor is causing a lot of people to get hurt, but the Diamond Clan can't actually intervene otherwise it'd be taken as an act of hostilities. They don't outright say it, but it's heavily implied that the two clans were essentially warring not too long ago. Both leaders are very proud and take potshots at each other even while they negotiate with Kamado as to how to deal with Kleavor. 

Out of the two, Irida is a bit more cynical about me, and all this new-fangled Pokeball technology in the first place which she, like many parts of the fandom, view as a kind of 'subjugation'. Adaman, though, seems like just generally a lot more chill in general, and I think me helping Mai and Wyrdeer out does make him a bit more predisposed to liking me. Also Adaman alludes to another Lord Pokemon associated with the Diamond Clan rampaging as well, so that's probably what I'll have to deal with after Kleavor. 

There's also a fair amount of discussion where they speculate that I'm associated with Almighty Sinnoh, since I fell out of a space-time rift. Not... not a bad assumption, especially since these are clearly very religious people who's constantly arguing about whether Sinnoh is a god of space or time. 

Cyllene (who doesn't give a fuck about my safety) and Kamado (who impresses me the importance of keeping the clans at peace) send me off to the Heartlands, where I'm supposed to calm down the Kleavor. I am stopped halfway through by Bagin, who gives me some 'inventory tucking-in tips' so that I have extra inventory space in my satchel. I haven't really noticed it basically until I reach the Heartlands a bit later on, but... yeah, the amount of items I craft as well as random enemy item drops does stack up a little bit more. The game does have a giant Resident Evil style item chest that acts as my item PC,  but I actually... I actually like this a fair bit! Upgrading my satchel just by paying money does feel a bit anticlimactic, though, especially after my Breath of the Wild days where I had to hunt down like an entire Korok village to expand my inventory. 

I also explore the crafting system a bit more, because I've unlocked a bit more recipes. I get to make the Heavy Ball (one of the canon Apricorn-based balls from Gen II) and a brand-new one -- the Feather Ball, basically the opposite of it, and apparently works better on flying dudes? I can't manage to find the Sky Tumblestone needed to craft it. 

There's a lot of fun Pokemon I find running around, too -- there's a valley filled with surprisingly aggressive Paras, and in the midst of it all is a giant Alpha Parasect that attack me like a goddamn bug monster from Witcher III or something. It's pretty cool, especially seeing Parasect with glowing eyes and screeching at me. Thanks to Parasect's 4x weakness against flying and having both Dartrix and Kricketune both able to do Aerial Ace, though, Parasect has the distinction of being the first Alpha Pokemon I take down.

Zubats are another species that finally make an appearance, flapping around at night... while at the day, extremely aggressive Staravia show up. I guess after how shy and hard it is for me to catch the Starlies to complete their dex entry, it is sorta-refreshing that the Staravia are so aggrssive? 'Sparky' the Luxio, despite being a Pokemon I didn't plan on using for the playthrough, ends up being kind of the MVP of my team, using his Thunder Fang to murder all the flying-types. 'Jet' the Buizel is also very useful against all the Geodudes and their nasty owl-murdering Rollouts. 

Around halfway through the Heartlands, there's a very cool part of the river where it's clearly been dammed up by beavers. Or rather, by Bibarels! It's such a nice little detail to the area when you can just tell that the level designers really intended to highlight one of the Pokemon species. And, of course, there's a scary Alpha Bibarel that I don't feel like fighting, so I had to ninja around him.

The Heartlands is pretty neat. I think the background music implies that this is the past version of Eterna Forest? There are Buneary just hanging out in the cliffs and Psyducks waddling in the river. Psyduck, by the way, are one of the species that is coded to be aggressive, shooting Water Pulses at me. Pretty shocking! One stretch of the forest leads to a forest populated by Combees, and I bet hunting for a female Combee would be as frustrating as it was in Diamond/Pearl. At the end of this grove is a bunch of Scythers, and... and I do have a Kricketune in my party already, but I can rock with two blade-armed Bug Pokemon. We'll see how I like Scyther, since I'm trying to use new species-es and Scythers evolve into Kleavors in this game... and, hey, as cool as Scyther is, I've never actually used one in a party!

...and it turns out to not quite be that simple. The warden associated with Kleavor is a kid called Lian. I'm... not sure who he's supposed to be? I guess not all the characters in Hisui have counterparts in the future/present, then, since I can't place if Adaman and Irida are supposed to resemble anyone. The closest I can get for Irida is maybe May, the protagonist in Ruby/Sapphire... anyway, Lian is a huge Kleavor fanboy and waxes lyrical about his assigned Noble Pokemon (which is, I guess, just a title as opposed to a 'subspecies' like Alpha Pokemon) and I don't think he's all too upset that Kleavor is going nuts because it's showing its power.

Lian challenges me with his Goomy. Goomy looks good in this engine, but falls pretty quickly. Then Irida, leader of the Pearl Clan, shows up and basically talks about how she doesn't trust me or the outsiders. We get some talk about how Kleavor might have been driven mad because of that one lightning bolt we saw in a cutscene, and Irida finally begrudgingly accepts Galaxy Team's help, though she takes a bunch of potshots at the "Diamond Clan's False Sinnoh". Ah, religious intolerance!

I'm supposed to go and report this to Professor Laventon, but... that's going to be next time! 

(In-between all this, I also did a bunch of side-quests and talking to people. There was a rather funny one where a guard wants me to show her what a Zubat's eyes look like, becuase Zubats can 'patrol' in the dark. Of course, the joke being that Zubat has no eyes, ha ha. Oh, and Beauregard's Wurmple evolves, rather predictably, into a Cascoon and the man's super convinced that it'll evolve into a Beautifly.)

Current party: Dartrix, Luxio, Kricketune, Buizel, Stantler, Scyther.