Let's Play Pokemon Legends Z-A, Part 14: Bees and Puppets

The briefing is a bit shorter this time since there's less things to be established this time around. We've got a Beedrill, Hawlucha and Banette -- assigned to Taunie, Lida and Naveen respectively. As before, there is a brand-new Mega to two older ones. The conversation devolves into a funny bit where Taunie realizes that the Mega Beedrill will manifest near the hotel, and both Naveen and her snark that they could use the Mega Beedrill as either an excuse that the hotel has few guests... or an advertisement potential. Lida gets roped into it before I note that everything Naveen and Taunie are saying are just jokes, and that poor Beedrill is suffering and we can't possibly leave it like that. A surefire sales strategy, it isn't, particularly when the Mega-Evolving Pokemon in question is one of the most aggressive kinds out there.

Naveen did have some interesting lines to say about being assigned to Mega Banette. He initially seems scared, but then resolves to help out when he remembers that Banette used to be a plush toy, and as someone who sews things, he should be able to have a connection to relate to Mega Banette. That's nice. 

As I leave the hotel, Taunie calls me back to the rooftop and gives me an upgrade to my Rotom Phone... I can glide now when I fall, summoning Rotom and utterly abusing physics as I float up a bit and glide around. I'm not the biggest fan of this game's urban exploration if we're being honest -- especially since we're not getting 'proper' climbing parkour like Assassin's Creed. But this one is definitely going to be a nice upgrade. Coincidentally, near where Taunie teaches this to me is a scaffolding puzzle that I can make a mockery of by air-dropping from the nearby rooftops. 

After some running around in the rooftops, I see Taunie facing off against Mega Beedrill. Still one of the coolest designs out there, and it's probably the hardest Mega Raid for me. Mega Beedrill summons little level 7 Kakunas to help fight, and this feels very thematic to a giant hive insect. The Kakunas don't really do much but shoot String Shots, but it's still something that I have to deal with while the Mega Beedrill launches Pin Missiles. 

And Mega Beedrill's "fuck the battlefield" attack? Gigantic Pin Missiles that rain down like... well, like actual missiles from a fighter jet. These are aimed at me, there are like a half-dozen every time Mega Beedrill attacks, and they are fast! I actually die in the fight, which I did not expect would happen in this game. I eventually really focused on dodging during this segment, while also using Mega Slowbro as the Mega to fight the Mega Beedrill. During the giant bee's second phase, he starts summoning level 10 Beedrills. They all die to one shot, and Mega Slowbro does have area attacks in Surf, but it's also quite hectic when I'm also rolling around. 

With that done, we actually do have some witnesses to the fight -- which is a bit surprising since this fight happens on the rooftops. We are witnessed by a construction worker, who is a decent guy who also feels sorry for the Beedrill in question... but rumours about the rogue berserking Pokemon have spread amongst the populace. Can't keep the information down!

The next one I go to is the Banette. I like the opening to this one, with no Banette in sight and Naveen talking to me and saying such... while the Banette, of course, slowly drifts down to jumpscare him. A very terrified Naveen gets surprised. So surprised, in fact, that I think he forgot his type matchups and didn't realize that he should be sending out Scraggy instead of Ariados against Banette. 

The Mega Banette fight is perhaps as fun as Mega Beedrill, if a bit both less and more hectic. Mega Banette does a little Double Team animation before summoning several clones of itself, which is very cool! The variety of attacks from the Banettes are also fun to dodge and deal with. On one hand, you've got the very fast Shadow Claws, and Mega Banette is also fond of doing Shadow Sneak (or is it Phantom Force?) where you see the shadows snaking through the ground to explode on you. But at the same time, the Mega Banettes are also fond of casting Confuse Ray, which moves slowly enough that you don't realize it's coming for you... and I almost died a couple of times not realizing Confuse Ray is right behind me. 

The true Mega Banette glows a bit more, but is also extremely vulnerable to mega attacks. After beating the Mega Banette down, we get a shot of Zygarde watching us, and giving a howl. 

"L", or Lysandre, shows up and makes a comment about how it is perhaps noble that we are saving Pokemon from the pain of Rogue Mega Evolution... but so is Zygarde, even though he can't Mega Evolve. Which is a gigantic foreshadowing layered with a ton of bricks right there. But hey! Lysandre tells me that I need to hone my skills as a trainer until I can support Zygarde, even with its inability to Mega Evolve. I don't know, though. Even if I don't understand marketing, Zygarde also has three separate forms and is a legendary. I think he'll be fine. 

Lysander also mutters that Zygarde wants peace and order, and that Detective Emma is hunting him and Zygarde down due to a misunderstanding about Zygarde's true intentions. Lysandre does have the gall to ask why Emma finds him suspicious. Yes. You, the leader of a team who tried to nuke all of Poke-France because of some ill-defined beauty standards while wearing a Doctor Octopus cosplay costume. Yep. Lysandre buggers off then, and Naveen makes a comment about his ragged clothes... hey now, my man Lysandre is a lot of things, but do not mock that coat!

Naveen also then decides to go back to Hotel Z to take care of some things. Not because he's creeped out by the alley or anything, nuh-uh... and he bolts off like the wind. That's hilarious. 

I also did a couple of sidequests as well. I found the 'entry hazards' (or traps, as the game calls them) trainer. But most fun is a dude called Kingsley that stands outside of Wild Zone 2 with his XL-sized Magikarp, boasting about how there is no bigger Magikarp than his, and his Magikarp is the best Magikarp of all. 

The quest, of course, wants me to take Alpha Magikarp and show it to Kingsley. I nearly got myself killed by the Alpha Magikarp's Hydro Pump (!!!) but Kingsley is shocked at the sheer difference in size. After a quick, brief competition to see which Magikarp can jump higher (and it's mine, of course), Kingsley resolves to catch as many Alpha Magikarps as possible. That was funny. 

There is also a random Galarian tourist offers to trade a Galarian Slowpoke for a Kalosian, er, Kantonian Slowpoke. Not a whole ton to say here, it's nice to see that some regional variants are represented. There are also a couple of sidequests that are just simple battles, like a Furisode Lady called Faye who uses all Fairy-types and talks about the pros and cons of just representing a single type in your team. 

Random Notes:

• In the previous batch of quests, Victreebel and Camerupt are explicitly noted to be in remote areas... but while the Slowbro was in a pond, it really isn't too far off from where other residents of the city are. 
• I suppose I didn't quite fully realize that there is also a mechanic called 'plus moves', which can take the place of Mega Evolution if you don't want to engage in that mechanic... but why wouldn't you? It's fun! 
• Another sidequest is a contacts lens lady called Arden, who wants to be inspired by mega evolution, specifically asking me for Mega Camerupt. She reminds me of Arezu from Hisui, and I think the incentive to get some of the Mega Evolutions is a lot more fun than just looking for differently-coloured Flabebes. 
• Remember Gourgeist in XY, where it introduced slight variations in size and slight changes in stats? I don't remember exactly which game introduced the size differences. Go? Legends Arceus? Regardless, it is still such a strange relic of the development of Pokemon that Gourgeist's different sizes are still properly classified as alternate forms, while it doesn't really matter for all other pokemon. 
  
• Honestly I know that they're probably going for something along the lines of Scraggy/Scrafty wearing 'clothes', but I feel like they should've gone and just made Ariados into Naveen's signature Pokemon, since he uses Ariados a lot and it's a Pokemon that can also sew stuff, even if it's just webs. I also kind of want a Mega Ariados, kinda...
• For some reason, they never made a Mega Banette TCG card in Generation VI...? Huh? I know the Mega Evolutions did not last particularly long in the TCG scene, but you'd think every Mega would have had at least one card?
• With the Roto-Glide from Taunie, I've actually been finally going around collecting more Colourful Screws. The extra money and experience points are most definitely nice! I want more money for character customization and Mega Stones, while the experience points helps for evolution. 
• Also, rather randomly... I found a Dratini on top of one of the rooftops? Huh? I don't know if there's some condition I needed to fulfill for Dratini to show up (like Goomy showing up when it's raining) but okay! 
• I have been smashing Mega Crystals as I come across them, and using them to buy more Mega Stones to whoever is available. Currently, I've evolved the event Ralts to get a Mega Gardevoir, and also have a Mega Gyarados and Mega Houndoom from catching the alphas in the wild zones.