Let's Play Pokemon Legends Z-A, Part 9: The Avengers Initiative

So Taunie and I finally arrive in front of the Quasartico Building, a big fancy building that really looks like it's outsourced to whoever designs the Apple stores. Quasartico was built 3 years ago, so around 2 years after XY. Taunie talks a bit about how the vision of Pokemon and people living together in harmony needs time to happen. 

But as this happens, two security guards run up from the building entrance... and it's a pair of ferocious Pokemon... two... hamsters. Two Dedenne. Taunie and I get into a fight with the very scary and very intimidating Dedenne, sending out out starters Bayleef and Croconaw. It's an interesting double battle, which I don't think will happen too often in the game... but it's still fun. 

A blonde secretary walks out and talks about how hiring Dedenne as guards is part of the company's attempts to integrate with the Pokemon. I think all the villainous teeams have been doing that for the better part of two decades, miss, just with some extra steps. The secretary is a bit snooty, asking if we have an appointment... but we actually do! By Vinnie, the CEO's secretary who dresses like a mafia don but has a hair-scrunchie of a Buneary and a Pancham. I love that. 

Vinnie brings us to a battle arena next to the Quasartico Building, and reintroduces himself. He goes into a bit of a story time. Yay, backstory! Vinnie tells us that he detected some energy last night, which, of course, is the energy from the Mega Absol incident. Vinnie notes that by the time Quasartico arrives, someone else has already dealt with the incident. He cracks his neck (that sounds really satisfying) and demands to know if we knew what happened to the Absol. Taunie seems uncomfortable at this line of questioning, but we just shrug and tell the truth. My player character's very trusting, isn't he. 

Vinnie pauses for a while... but claps. He says it's superbly done. He tells us that Quasartico has been aware of the Rogue Mega Evolutions for a while, and they have been working in the background quietly to hush up the Rogue Mega Evolutions. Which really sounds like mafia hush-hush assassinations, but presumably they just did what I did against Mega Absol. Vinnie notes that the incidents have been increasing, and they are short-staffed. And they had realized that they needed to hire more people, particularly the strong Pokemon trainers in Lumiose City. 

This, apparently, is how the Z-A Royale came to be. I... I dunno, this is the Pokemon world, I think just posting an ad out there will get a lot of young trainers rushing up and fighting them. And it's not like the trainers in Lumiose City are weaklings, I see people casually walking around with Tyranitars and Metagrosses. But okay. Taunie at least knows of this cooperation, saying that she's been trying to get up to the higher ranks in hopes of being looped into cases of Mega Evolution. 

Vinnie then tells us that becuase Taunie and myself have been proving ourselves in the Absol incident (and probably because we're also affiliated with AZ) both of us are given a promotion match... with Vinnie. Oh! His name starts with V! And the victory will promote us to Rank F!

And I... on one hand, I am a bit sad that we're not given more time to grind the Royale. Maybe with more interesting NPCs or something. But at the same time, the Rogue Mega Evolution and Quasartico stories are so much more engaging than the one-off trainers in the Battle Royale! 

A quick rush-through of the next battle zone reveals that the trainers' Pokemon have became a bit more diverse. A lot more Pokemon are being used, like Clauncher and Arbok and Dratini. Again, the battle zones are neat but not the most exciting to describe. 

And now I fight Vinnie again! Vinnie opens his sunglasses for a beat to reveal eyes with some nice eyelashes, cracks his neck, and starts off fighting with a Houndoom! I fight the Houndoom with my Frogadier, but apparently I do need to be grinding a bit because Frogadier actually got taken out by a Pokemon he has type advantage to. Anyway, Whirlipede shows up to Pin Missile the Houndoom out, but it is still a reminder for me to check and upgrade my Pokemon a bit. 

Vinnie then... takes out... Buneary! Okay! Cause he's got the little hair-tie! Honestly, I respect it. So he likes bunnies! His bunny falls in one shot to Bois the Heracross.

Vinnie's third Pokemon goes back to being fierce, a powerful Sharpedo that I face off with my Bayleef and its Giga Drains. Pretty nice, pretty simple. And Vinnie's final Pokemon, of course, is a Mega Evolution... and one that I've never seen before, and one that I didn't know existed! It's a Drampa! And Drampa turns into Mega Drampa! Vinnie's mega stone is embedded in the palm of his glove, and it's actually quite a badass, Iron Man esque pose. Mega Drampa is quite terrifying, with a lot more black fur and all of its hair standing up. It really does look like an angry storm cloud, as opposed to the more benign cloud form of Drampa! Mega Absol actually didn't manage to take it down, and I had to swap to Bayleef to deal the finishing blow. 

I kind of like this mega. Drampa is one of those Pokemon I really don't pay much attention to, especially since it came out in Generation VII which had so many other interesting dudes out there. But this mega evolution really feels like what the mental image of 'the gentle Drampa goes angry' should be, right? I mean, the 'default' Drampa design already can go angry, but I like that the Mega Evolution emphasizes this part of its design. 

Vinnie takes off his glasses after his defeat, and mutters something about putting too great a burden on Buneary since it just joined his team. Aww, that's cute. Anyway, I get ranked up to F, skipping more than half the alphabet. Taunie shows up after the battle, and after a slight offscren battle, also claims victory against Vinnie. 

After we get up, Vinnie brings us into the Quasartico building which really looks like a modern-day office. I hate this aesthetic, by the way. Bright iPod lights everywhere, and a bunch of plants grown into the walls in "aesthetically pleasing" patterns... it just looks so overly sanitized and stilted. Vinnie basically re-confirms our commitment to helping them with the Mega Evolution problem, but he also emphasizes how Quasartico wants to keep all of this Rogue Mega Evolution thing a secret. Okay, mafia man. Apparently they have been keeping it a secret for two entire years. 

We get a flashback to AZ approaching Quasartico and looming over Vinnie, coming with the proposal of helping out with "Lumiose... crying out in pain." I love that Vinnie lampshades that he was actually more than a little terrified at being on the receiving end of a glare from the towering AZ. Quasartico used their resources to find the mysterious power that has been triggering the Rogue Mega Evolution. And they call it the very uncreative 'Mega Power', and it has been accumulating in Lumiose City for a reason they can't quite comprehend yet. 

Despite investigating the energies, however, Rogue Mega Evolutions only happened six months ago. AZ and Floette fought against a Mega Pidgeot, but AZ is old and he lacks the constitution for lengthy battles. Yeah, I don't think he can roll with those bad knees. At that point, Taunie showed up and finished the battle against the Mega Pidgeot, apparently with the help of AZ's Floette. It does beg to question why Quasartico hadn't recruited Taunie a bit earlier, since they actually note that Taunie has been trying to push up the ranks after that incident. But... oh well. 

Our meeting is a bit interrupted as President Jett comes in, and Vinnie scrambles off to attend to her. Vinnie introduces us as the young trainers called in to help with the Rogue Mega Evolution problem. Jett isn't rude, but she isn't friendly either. She's just... curt. Which makes sense, I suppose, for a woman of her position. But we've had a gigantic mega-corporation be evil for like three of the last four mainline games, so...

Anyway, only the lobby of the Quasartico Building is accessible to us, but the receptionist allows us to exchange the Mega Shards that I have been collecting from crushing the random barnacle-like growths all over the city for Mega Stones. They are mostly for older Pokemon from Generation VI, but the Drampanite is also there. 

Random Notes:

• Never did a party update, huh? It's currently Bayleef, Whirlipede, Honedge, Frogadier, Absol, Heracross. 
• It is a ibt annoying that only two of the six are Kalosian Pokemon, but the rest are all Mega candidates. Absol and Heracross are a bit older, though, and I do intend to rotate them out at some point. That's one of the big reasons why I didn't use Ralts; I used Mega Gardevoir in my Y team and Mega Gallade in my Alpha Sapphire team. 
• I think I am dead-set on picking Malamar as a party member. I always liked Malamar, and the mega evolution and the frankly fantastic Mega Malamar memes (much better executed than Pecharunt last year) are starting to win me over. Malamar, is, of course, my friend. 
• That said, Absol is technically a plot-relevant character as the first Mega Evolution to come with us, so I honestly wouldn't mind him being the sixth ranger until Zygarde eventually comes along with us in the final hours of the game. I might swap Absol and Frogadier around, since I don't really like the idea of running around with two starters. 
• Looking through the Kalosian roster, other potential joiners would be Hawlucha, Klefki and Trevenant. Not sure if I can get Trevenant without trading, though. Hawlucha does have that new mega...
• The trees outside the Quasartico building actually really do look like Alolan Exeggutor, with a rounded root and a very slender trunk, with coconut fruits under palm leaves. Legends Z-A replicates the Kalos Pokedex, I assume, and Exeggutor is in Kalos, so I wonder if this is just a cute nod to foreshadowing regional forms being in this game. 
• It is interesting, though, that AZ seems to be a bit out of the loop and working independently, despite everything that Vinnie is saying implying a close relationship between them. Maybe AZ is just playing the kooky stealth mentor with Team MZ, which might very well be the case, but I dunno. I just suspect the big ominous mega-corporation. 
• Despite the game already telling us that it is a V to F promotion when we get the news, our character does go through a rather funny cyclone of emotions when he sees the letters slowly click up and zoom all the way to F. 
• I would like to emphsaize that I am playing this game blind, so I don't know a lot of the mega evolutions, nor have I seen them. I have been spoiled about the existence of some of them, of course, because the internet is like that... but Mega Drampa is a pleasant surprise for sure. 
• Frogadier learned Flip Turn, which is a U-Turn/Volt Switch style move. In this game, Frogadier teleports back to the trainer's side, giving it some distance. It is especially cool for the ninja-like Frogadier!
• Current party: