So I've defeated eight gyms, the Elite Four and became the champion. Dismantled five Team Star bases and their secret leader and resolved the bullying backstory. And also beat up five titan pokemon, harvested the Herba Mystica and cured a sick dog. Oh, and gained Arven, Nemona and Penny as friends.
So finally the final questline, 'the Way Home', opens up. And finally I can access the Zero Gate, this sci-fi building that was built to observe the Great Crater of Paldea. Actually, even if you try to enter the Great Crater before Arven opens the gate for you, you just get thrown out. I actually do find the design of Paldea with the Great Crater being this mysterious rock formation in the center of the region that's just blocked off with sheer mountains, and it stretches deep into the subterranean... I just love it.
The first one that I meet is Arven, who talks about how Miraidon was 'born' in Area Zero, before leading me in to show me my new teammates, who Arven had already gotten into the Zero Gate. The first to show up is Nemona, lured very easily with the promises of strong Pokemon to battle.
Then the darkened facility lights up, and Penny shows up, having hacked into the facility and disabled power-saving mode. Nemona recognizes Penny as the girl who keeps bringing the Eevee backpack everywhere and immediately asks if she likes battling as well. Apparently Penny agreed when she heard that it's a favour for me. Arven's own introductions are interrupted when the green-on-black text box of Professor Turo starts talking about biometric identification, absolutely ignoring poor, poor Arven as his devices scans Nemona and Penny and confirms their ID's.
It's interesting that to Penny and especially Nemona, they treat Turo as a celebrity and Arven is just being pissed off that he is continually being brushed off by his dad, who just speaks to us like a quest-giver and Arven even uses the term 'railroading' later on to describe Turo. Penny at least quickly catches on to how Turo and Arven's relationship isn't the most amicable, though it takes the other characters later literally spelling things out to Nemona.
As we get to the exit of the Zero Lab, we get a cutscene of a mechanical door opening, and Professor Turo asks us to use Miraidon's gliding capability to actually enter Area Zero. Turo provides no real explanation, and Penny is rightfully worried. Arven asks me if I'm 'ready for the worst', and we get a cutscene of us standing on the very rusty hangar bay. Miraidon is a bit afraid when he looks down at Area Zero, which leads Arven to... climb up to Miraidon? And then Nemona and Penny hops up, and Miraidon finally starts to move. My character very nearly gets left behind as Miraidon freaks out and charges forwards, and when he expands his (still weird) ear wing-gliders, Arven grabs on to me trailing behind with one hand.
And we finally enter Area Zero, and it's... it's a bunch of cliffs with serene mountains and light filtering in from the thick clouds that Miraidon just breaks through. It's... a bit more mundane, honestly, if not for the amazing music that honestly brings to mind to me specifically the music in Final Fantasy XIII when we leave behind civilization and actually look at what the nature of that world looks like. Area Zero here is very... it doesn't quite look alien at all, not in the way that Ultra Space or the fairy forest in Galar looked, but there's definitely something otherworldly to it. Those sparkles and the lighting and the music really do a great job at making Area Zero feel so odd.
Honestly, that otherworldly music with the lady singer going YAAAAAAAA-YOH and the horned instruments and all that might be the biggest factor. I mean, yeah, Nintendo and its music doesn't disappoint, huh?
Miraidon gets very nervous at being in Area Zero and hides in its Pokeball immediately, and we're finally doing the Miraidon questline, I guess. Nemona gets super duper excited about Area Zero being amazing, and... as a battle freak, she's not wrong? There are a lot of Pokemon in Area Zero, all of them pretty high-leveled. Probably the least hostile are the Girafarigs, Jumpluffs and odd Raichu or two, but the flying Venomoths, Corviknights and Braviary are super hostile!
It's actually very welcome, if surprising, that there are so many "regular" Pokemon in Area Zero after they spent so much time hyping it up, but I guess they want to keep the Paradox Pokemon (yeah, I know the term, and even if I didn't, Iron Treads has it in its Pokedex entry).
Turo also contacts us, and... well, a combination of his whole 'four humans identified. Condition satisfactory. Vital signs all within normal range' dialogue, as well as Penny mentioning a 'sarcasm detector', makes him really do kinda feel far more... 'mechanical' than 'distant', so to speak? I do have my theories, especially with what we learn later on in this playthrough, but I do wonder what the twist is. With the sci-fi tropes being done here, I don't think it's going to be as obvious as Penny/Cassiopeia/Big Boss.
Turo tells us that the entrance to his lab, where he is trapped in, is barred by four locks within four research stations that we have to unlock. Which, Nemona points out, "sounds kinda video-gamey if you say it out loud". Leaning on the fourth wall, are we, student council president?
Anyway, we can't really use Miraidon here, but it does really feel nice to just walk and absorb the scenery and how strange and ephemeral everything feels. I think I'm supposed to fight all these fancy high-leveled Pokemon, but I'm conserving my PP's and HP's and healing items. Except if they are Pokemon I haven't captured before.
The three partners walk around with me, and I think this is a nod to the real-life multiplayer feature, where three players can run around with you. Nemona, Arven and even Penny gets into fighting a bit about who is my true BFF. Don't tell them, but I like Arven's story the most, which means that he's probably my actual BFF. There's also a joke where Arven mistakes 'research stations' for 'radish rations', which probably is funnier in Japanese. Penny also points out how her common sense is the bets out of the group there, which... yeah, she recognizes her role in the group as the straight man.
The first research station is guarded by a Glimmora, which Penny gets absolutely flustered by because it's such an alien-looking Pokemon. Nemona, meanwhile, recognizes that it's a rare species that La Primera uses, and we double-battle the poor Glimmora and absolutely demolish it. We enter the first research station, where Professor Turo tells us that the facility was constructed 87 years ago as a waystation. There is a 'mildewy' bed to rest, and a journal detailing the creation of the prototype Tera Orb, and mentions of crystals within the depths of the crater.
Far more disturbing is the book on the left, where the researchers talk about how the energy crystallization is linked to a being called ******, where it's censored similarly to the name of the being with hexagonal plates in the Violet Book. So I guess that's what the legendary -- the Eternatus or Necrozma equivalent -- is going to be.
As we walk out, Arven is obviously very down at the lack of interest or even interaction Turo is giving him, and talks about how he cooked, cleaned and basically lived all by himself, with Mabosstiff as his only friend. He admires his dad's work, sure, but he would rather just have his dad, y'know? Arven then talks about how he's reached the point of the second waystation before he got attacked by a strange creature that didn't even look like a Pokemon, but is, and I quote, a 'crazy-weird, metallic, machine' thing.
And, of course, it refers to the future Paradox Pokemon, but... even if we don't consider the weirder legendaries and even weirder Ultra Beasts... like, Arven my man, metallic, machine-like Pokemon are like, everywhere? The Klink line, the Beldum line, Duraludon, Probopass... hell, the Bronzor and Magnemite lines are even native to Galar, and you guys also have Varoom!
I just go deeper and deeper, sliding down and ninja-ing my way to avoid the wild Pokemon, until Penny gets distracted by a cute Delibird. Except it is shining in chrome, looks obviously like a robot and moves by skating on its ski-like feet. Also, its bag is an orb attached to its butt instead of a bag attached to its butt. Penny finds the quasi-Delibird so cute, but then the Delibird just goes "de." before screeching and going loco.
And its head POPS OFF. Which actually did surprise me. I get that it's meant to resemble a toy robot or a cartoon teapot or something, but I didn't expect it to go all that far in the animation, and it's glorious.
Penny freaks out at this abomination of nature, and attacks Iron Bundle with her Umbreon and basically one-shots it with a critical hit. Man, I guess Penny was really freaked out!
Arven pulls out the Violet Book again, and points out that one page where they describe the 'monsters of Area Zero' with the scribbles of metallic Donphan (okay, I see why the face was so flat now after I've seen Iron Treads) and Penny is confused, asking if they aren't really Pokemon. Mmmm... I wouldn't go that far, and this is one of the points in the game where I'm allowed to give my opinion, whether I think they're just Pokemon, or if I don't think they're regular Pokemon. They're weird, but I've seen much, much weirder Pokemon than just 'Delibird, but a robot'.
Nemona agrees with me perfectly, and has the same idea I had when I saw the Ultra Beasts in Alola for the first time. They look different, but if they use moves and battle just like regular Pokemon, then they are Pokemon, right? If it bleeds, we can kill it. If it has a HP bar and uses four moves, then we can capture it in a Poke Ball!
Professor Turo finally shows up again and gives us an exposition. He all but confirms that these weirder Pokemon in Area Zero are future Pokemon from a distant day we have yet to see. He also drops the bombshell that the Zero Lab where he's located contains a time machine connected to the future. Humans can't be transported, but some Pokemon can go through it... which includes creatures like Iron Treads, Iron Bundle and Miraidon. While Penny is more bamboozled about the time machine,
Arven mutters about the cost of what his father is researching down there, and from the conversation, Arven seems to figure out something. Turo seems to finally relent, but tells Arven that he'll explain everything when they can meet face-to-face. How very dramatic. And I think this is my assumption, since he did talk about humans not being able to return after time-traveling. My guess is that he's trapped in the future, and that he's only been able to send signals back, which is why he's really insistent on contacting us via phone all this while.
Arven decides to give me the Violet Book at this point, realizing that he's not the main protagonist of this show, and I think he's more than a bit pissed about his dad really not paying him much attention. But I read the book before in the library, so...
This second lab also contains some more enigmatic journals, about how the powerful Area Zero crystal energy made the financial backers fret, but the researchers wanted to use and harness that energy to open up research possibilities. presumably, like the time machine.
I continue to run around in Area Zero, avoiding the very hostile Corviknights, and we get some backstory about the other parents. Nemona came from a rich family, and she's kinda like a princess... but she gets to run around and do whatever the fuck she wants because her big sister is the one with all the family expectations while she can go around doing battles. Meanwhile, Penny is kinda pissed at her very regular family who keeps calling her weird nicknames like 'Pen Pen'.
We reach the third research station, and the one fighting us is an Iron Treads. Arven gets surprised by it, but quickly recognizes it as one of the Titans we fought before, and Arven takes the time to show off. Against Mabosstiff and Skeledirge, though, the poor futuristic Donphan really doesn't stand a chance. Arven theorizes that the one we fought while searching for the Herba Mystica might have wandered down into Area Zero, but I can call bullshit on that. I named that Iron Treads 'Wheelie', it's got the Titan ribbon, and it's sitting in Box 1.
Also, I had to avoid a whole Volcarona that's trying to assassinate me. Damn giant moth!
Penny is confused because Professor Turo should be keeping things under control, and Arven snaps that the 'oh-so-brilliant' Professor Turo totally couldn't mess up, right? Penny also finally figures out that Miraidon is also from the future, like the other Pokemon from the time machine. And Nemona notes that even Miraidon's name sounds 'future-y'. Gee, yeah, Nemona, Miraidon's name literally means 'future', so.
Arven finally gives us the backstory of Miraidon, where apparently two Miraidon were found in the time machine when Professor Turo was working on it. Turo then interrupts Arven to give the explanation, and he basically figured out what the fandom did, that the Pokemon called Miraidon is, in fact, the future form of Cyclizar, a common Pokemon in this region. Despite other future Pokemon showing up in Area Zero, only two Miraidon could ever be brought forth. Penny and Nemona immediately think about reuniting our Miraidon in a 'heartwarming reunion' with its buddy, but Arven gets kinda dismissive about that family.
The next part of Area Zero descends into a deep cave, which I'll cover in the next let's play, but we do get Arven ranting about how he blamed Miraidon for how his dad became distant. He realizes how absurd and illogical it was, and that Miraidon itself was a blameless bike-lizard, but he felt like he lost his dad because of Miraidon, and ended up hating Miraidon and everything about it. Yeah, well, I'm going to have to descend into this big, yawning void just to give your dad a piece, Arven!
Random Notes:
- I said I'd do it, but... eh, took me 20 parts and nearly my entire playthrough to use screenshots from my own playthrough. oh well!
- Area Zero, particularly once I start going deeper and deeper, really reminds me of the Chasm area from Genshin Impact. Ultimately a side area, but I've always been really enamoured when I explored that specific area and especially how much deeper and deeper it goes.
- I really do like the dynamic with Penny and to a lesser extent Arven being exasperated at Nemona's complete airheadedness and her single-minded desire for battle.
- I wonder that if in Scarlet, Professor Sada is as much of a distant parent to Arven as Turo was?
- Arven and Nemona try to get Miraidon to be not scared because 'it's not scary if we go together', but Penny rightfully calls out the confusing logic behind this.
- I do like that a lot of the Pokemon Area Zero are those that could conceivably fly in and out of it. All the bird and moth Pokemon, plus Flabebe and Jumpluff, are all flight-capable, and it's understandable to think that the Golduck went in from the waterfalls... meaning the only slightly confusing ones are Girafarig, Espeon and Raichu... maybe I'm thinking too much about it.
- There is a rather funny line where Arven explains how he managed to escape Area Zero when his Mabosstiff was injured so badly -- he just calls a flying taxi, who will literally go anywhere if you give them enough of a sob story. Ha!
- Is that why Penny couldn't get herself an Espeon? They're found in Area Zero?
- All the butterfly/moth Pokemon in the region are here, huh? Venomoth, Frosmoth, Masquerain, even big bad Volcarona itself!
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