Let's Play Pokemon Legends Z-A, Part 36: Distortion Investigation

Last we left off, we investigated the Mega Dimension distortion. This strange child Ansha gives a bit of a cute smile and more un-childlike observations about how the donuts can give us access to that otherworldly space. Team MZ alternates between going 'aw shucks' at the praise and questioning what the heck Ansha is talking about. Ansha admits that she doesn't understand it herself, but she went into the Mega Dimension six months ago and saw a wondrous legendary Pokemon... which the game immediately spoils to us as Rayquaza. 

I mean... okay? Mega Rayquaza being involved in the game all about Mega Evolutions isn't a brand-new revelation, I suppose, and going on a bit of a meta-joke, Rayquaza being a legendary being associated with the skies definitely does not explain these alternate dimensions.

But any discussion about this is interrupted as we get a call from... Corbeau. Lida gets a bit miffed, asking the group if anyone borrowed money from the mafia again. Corbeau lampshades that no one in Team MZ would be stupid enough to borrow money off of the Rust Syndicate, and that's the actions of a real idiot... all except one, that is. The camera zooms into Taunie's face, while Corbeau makes a comment noting that he knows he's getting a dig in to Taunie. What a dick! I love him. 

Corbeau asks us all to come, and there's a brief discussion about what to do with Ansha. Despite Ansha offering to remain behind in Hotel MZ, somehow the group consensus leads to it being okay to bring a child all the way into a yakuza base because I'm there. Which... fair enough, I can beat up Corbeau easily, but it's still mighty irresponsible, even if Corbeau is our homie now. 

We arrive in the Rust Syndicate Base, finding not just Corbeau and Phillippe but also Vinnie. No, Vinnie did not join the Rust Syndicate despite also having a mafia-coded look. This is just a collaboration between Rust Syndicate and Quasartico. There's a brief question of why Ansha is here, but they just handwave it away. The dialogue here is probably one of the more clunkier ones in the game, but essentially Rust Syndicate and Quasartico want to hire Team MZ to look into the distortions, and they'll be acting as our like, base control or whatever. Quasartico had detected a different kind of energy from the tower, and while they would investigate these readings on their own, Quasartico has their hands full cleaning up the mess from the tower, while also handling Lumiose City's own redevelopment. The Rust Syndicate, meanwhile, decide to protect their investments, er, city, that's totally what Phillippe wanted to say... but any planning they were about to do was interrupted by the gigantic distortion above Prism Tower. 

An offscreen recap later, and Corbeau and Vinnie identify the portal rings as Hoopa's signature move, Hyperspace Hole, which allows access to this alternate dimension that they dub uncreatively 'Hyperspace Lumiose'. Corbeau tells me to basically get used to Ansha and Hoopa being part of Team MZ... although there was a bit where Corbeau makes sure we know that it's Ansha's call on whether she wants to be in or out. I guess he's the kind of cool mafia who doesn't like to put children in danger. Not without consent, anyway. Ansha being Ansha, she immediately agrees without question. 

Vinnie and Corbeau then give even more exposition about the new map layout, which shows up distortions all over the map like side-quests. Corbeau also has a 'survey' meter similar to the Infinite Z-A Royale, only instead of Challengers' Tickets, we get progression in the DLC story. The portals phase in and out of existence depending on the in-game days, and I need different donuts to access them. It's a bit grindy, and as I understand it, a huge chunk of the game depends on this. This... I don't really like, but we'll see how much the grind throws me off as I go through them. 

It is, by the way, a bit weird that it's Corbeau, the criminal overlord of all people, that's heading this investigation to alternate dimensions instead of Quasartico or even Professor Mable. But I really like Corbeau, and I find him as one of the most fun characters in this game, so I don't mind. 

Anyway, we get back to Hotel MZ and I make a bunch more donuts with all the random berries I've picked up over the game. Mable shows up via hologram and makes a joke that we are making our hotel stand out with the donut business... before just dropping the new regional Pokedex for the DLC. It's similar to the DLC areas in Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet, with a separate Pokedex for the Pokemon exclusively found in the distortions. I do like the detail that Mable was 'pinged' by my pokedex registering a Mankey. 

It is... a bit of an over-the-top silliness that Mable gets super excited over me seeing a Mankey versus her blithe commentary on Hoopa, the mythical genie Pokemon, being there in the hotel. I mean, sure, Mankey isn't in Lumiose City, but in-universe Pokemon have been gathering in Lumiose over time. Sure, Mankey isn't even native to Kalos, but it feels rather silly that this was the in-universe thing that make her get super excited. Mable gives me some tasks and disappears, and Ansha comments on what a lively woman she is. 

Anyway, the game then throws me into a couple more Hyperspace Lumiose missions, with Corbeau telling me that I need to do certain quests. Each journey into Hyperspace Lumiose triggers with 3 quests (again, similar to the battle cards) and has stuff like catch a certain Pokemon, break some of the strange floating balls, or do stuff like catch them unseen or after they've been stunned. It's... it's all a bit repetitive, honestly, and the vibe of a dead, empty distorted ghost-town is neither different nor creepy enough after going through it two or three times. I mean, yeah, the Pokemon there are all level 125 or something, but it's just numbers. Temporary numbers. The donuts boost my own numbers, which ultimately is dumb and artificial because the Pokemon we catch from the dimension go back to like, level 15 or something. And I don't even mind because how stupid is it that random level 125 Zubats are just flying around in the dimension with no real explanation? 

And... and I did some runs with donuts and some runs into the hyperspace to catch some of the new old Pokemon appearing, but I genuinely don't have any interesting commentary to say about that. There sure are like, Purrloin and Zubat or whatever in these dimensions, and a bunch of parkour and whatnot. The tasks are repetitive from what I've seen, and this is... this really is something that I feel I'm going to be doing passively while listening to a D&D podcast or something and not a 'main' game. So in that end, I'm not a big fan. 

After finishing the first research task, Vinnie and Corbeau conclude that... the distortions could bleed into the real Lumiose City and might be dangerous. I mean, yeah, gee, I could tell you that, too. It does kind of feel a bit like the plotline of Digimon Adventures, doesn't it? Another problem, however, is that Rogue Mega Evolution is likely to happen in these distortions, and Taunie worries about the sheer power of rampaging Hyperspace-altered Rogue Mega Evolutions. Corbeau also brings up another wrinkle: Hyperspace Lumiose gets unstable if too many folks head inside together, and the maximum number is three. 

Corbeau suggests that Team MZ bring in a third trainer, who can do the work of both Naveen and Lida... which honestly isn't even that high of a bar to clear. The game makes us ask Corbeau and go through five options of the five main supporting characters -- Canari, Ivor, Jacinthe, Grisham and Corbeau himself. Answering 'Corbeau' has him smirk and say that we can't afford his services. Ivor's dumb, Canari would start a livestream, Grisham is unpredictable... and Jacinthe? Corbeau's answer: "we'd be better off keeping her quarantined in one of her Jacinthe Zones". Bless you, Corbeau, I know there was a reason I liked you. 

Corbeau then lets our new teammate in, and it's a blonde girl in a huge puffy jacket. She introduces herself as Korrina! A returning character! Korrina's grown out his hair and has fancy new jacket. She demands a battle to test out her new skills, and we fight on the Rust Syndicate's Battle Court. Korrina wants to fight me with mega evolution, then rips off her cloak to reveal her brand new wacky design. It's... it's sure a lot. I'm not a big fan of it. 

But battle we do! Korrina still has a party of four Fighting-types. The first is a Machamp that gets one-shotted by Yveltal, then a Hawlucha that I moonblast with my Diancie, and a Sirfetch'd (!) that I take down with my Xerneas. I mean, at least compared to Pokemon XY, she's using more than two Pokemon! Korrina's ace is, of course, a Lucario. Korrina yells out loud, lifts her arms in the air and jumps up as she mega evolves her Lucario...

...and it's not the Mega Lucario we know and love. 

It's, uh... it's... I can say it's ugly, right? It's got the colours of shiny Lucario, which is neon yellow and teal... not the worst colours out there. But Mega Lucario Z has like, terrible anime hair, weird zigzag lines down its two head-sausages which are also coloured weirdly, and a random shark tail. It's... uh... I have gone on paper saying that I'm not the biggest fan of base Lucario's design, and this one makes that look like a masterpiece. I just... I just don't like this one. At all. 

I also one-shot it with my Mega Diancie. Get this abomination out of my sight. 

Korrina thanks me for showing me that I showed myself through mega evolution, and that I am a kind and straightforward person. Korrina then talks about how Rogue Mega Evolution takes its toll on Pokemon, and as the 'Mega Evolution Successor' (something that is a bit apropos of nothing if you didn't play Pokemon XY) she wants to help us free these Rogue Mega Evolutions. Corbeau and Vinnie send us off on our next mission, where we are to fight and catch all the Rogue Mega Evolutions we find. Sure, I was going to do that anyway. 

Our next distortion is in Rouge (not rogue, rouge as in the colour) District 1. Korrina stands there and briefly wonders what would happen if she pokes the thing to see what happens. I feed Hoopa a donut so it stabilizes the portal, and we enter to see an Absol in the throes of Rogue Mega Evolution. Yep, here's another "exciting" and "interactive" part of the gameplay, you need to stock strong, high-value donuts for these Rogue Mega Evolution fights, for the privilege of having the timer not run down quickly. I don't care for that, if you can't guess. 

This battleground is bereft of buildings, and the terrains kind of cut off randomly between grass, snow and concrete; and random cliffs are 'half-rendered' in the background. Korrina asks me what happens if an Absol mega-evolves, and I can answer that happens to regular Mega Absol (either its Special Attack or Speed goes up)...

But instead of the Absol we expected, this Absol evolves into... MEGA ABSOL Z. 

I most certainly did not expect that, and let out an expletive when I saw the design. In a much more positive fashion compared to the expletive I let out when I saw the horrid Mega Lucario Z. Mega Absol Z has its entire design be jet-black, its head-spikes be spikier, and instead of angel wings, we get an edgy, emo spiral-twisted giant fang made up of fur sprouting off of one shoulder. This is every emo trope you could give to a fanmade Pokemon back in the day, distilled into a great twist on Absol and an amazing contrast to the more angelic regular Mega Absol. 

The actual fight against Mega Absol Z isn't anything to write home about, with rather simple attack patterns and the only real problem being the timer (which is extra annoying since these new rogue megas have buffed HP pools due to their higher levels). But I capture the Absol, and get the Absolite Z. Korrina suspects that the energies turning into a mega stone is the Pokemon thanking me for freeing it from the pain of Rogue Mega Evolution.

Apparently, Mega Absol Z isn't... isn't actually a brand-new species variation that is literally debuting with these hyperspace portals, which I would absolutely prefer it to be. It would give these new megas a certain oomph to them that makes them feel special. But Korrina just handwaves it as Mega Absol Z being 'discovered recently', so apparently people have seen Mega Absol Z elsewhere? Eh. I don't like this particular bit of explanation. 

Taunie questions Korrina's overexcitement and her qualifications as a Mega Evolution expert, but she's just a bit wacky now. A golden poke ball appears and this acts as a poorly-shoehorned tutorial to the golden Pokeballs that can appear in Hyperspace distortions... which I've already seen from venturing into the hyperspace portals before. I get a bunch of berries... and Nice Butter, which Taunie and later Ansha acts all impressed at me somehow looting butter from an interdimensional un-space. This is a thinly-veiled excuse for Ansha to upgrade her skills, being able to fit four berries instead of three. I actually like the butter joke.

Korrina comes to Hotel MZ, noting that it's been a while since she's been around. Korrina is introduced to Team MZ, and we give Ansha the Nice Butter. Korrina also makes an observation that nothing seems to be real in hyperspace Lumiose other than the Pokemon and the items like butter and berries that we find. A bit strange... what happens to all the Pokemon we don't rescue? Do the random hordes of Panpour and Wimpod just tumble off into the abyss alongside the remnants of the false echoes of Lumiose City? 

In the subsequent dinner, Korrina tells us that she's been in Hotel Z before, and re-establishes that she knew AZ and had been working alongside with her, being the original trainer of the Lucario I used to fight the first Mega Absol. Actually, with AZ's main plan being to prepare Lumiose City against Ange, what have you been doing all this while, Korrina? We know she's invested and allied with AZ, but what has she been doing outside of Lumiose while rogue mega evolutions are rampaging around? We never get a clear answer to this. Oh well. Korrina tells us that she 'came back' to Lumiose to pay respects to AZ's grave and to deal with this problem. 

She reveals herself to permanently have a room in 301, which is apparently a room that is permanently locked. Which would probably be a major impact if we actually wander around the hotel's floors and are able to visit other rooms and other characters, which was what I had been expecting and lowkey a bit disappointed that we didn't get. We get a short scene of Korrina (now in her cloaked, superior design) going up the rooftop to see the Prism Tower with the giant swirling distortion above. She promises to AZ that she'll help end the suffering of all the Pokemon suffering from rogue mega evolution. Neato. 

And with that... that's where we'll leave off for now. Yeah, the writing is a bit clunkier than the base game, honestly, with the game kind of alternating between going 'oh look wacky hijinks' and being in full-on exposition mode. The grinding (which I have been doing on-and-off in-between main story cutscenes) aren't helping either! I still find the general concept of the story neat enough, but the framing is perhaps not the best. 

Random Notes:

• Korrina's new design is... certainly something? I am definitely not a huge fan of her bizarre mega-stone inspired hair exploding in all directions (the extra colours are a terrible-looking head-scarf or something); and especially not the removal of her roller blades which was her whole thing. I do kind of like the ridiculousness of having all the mega stones strapped around her body like Kamen Rider Zi-O, although it still is kind of... not the best look. I'm also not sure about her random change of personality to a somewhat 'look at me, I'm wacky but nice' vibe compared to her energetic but still mostly down-to-earth original personality. 
• I think the silliness is that they made a model with her only having her regular blonde hair which just looks so much better while still being a bit exaggerated. 
• With how much it's repeated, I am very very happy that unlike the day/night switch animations that the sequences of Ansha and Hoopa cooking the donuts; and Hoopa opening the portal are both skippable. Sometimes they even auto-skip if you've done a couple of donuts and/or missions in a row. 
  
• There are also 'Hyperspace Berries' in the Hyperspace Lumiose, which are basically negative-coloured versions of the most basic berries, and provide larger bonuses when turned into donuts. 
• Again, Corbeau is a friend now so it's okay, but I do like Lida constantly getting some digs at Naveen, telling him to shut up since he's someone who didn't actually go into the Rust Syndicate base with the rest of them. 
• Corbeau's answer to a little child entering his yakuza base: "is that so."
• I did like the hyperspace-warped Lumiose City has some nonsensical setups, like how the Holovators are all broken apart and point in weird directions. 
• Four or more people going into Hyperspace Lumiose is the 'limit', which... I dunno, I feel like the little sojourn we had with the full team plus Ansha didn't really communicate this too well but... oh well. 
• While eating with Team MZ, Ansha gets a smaller, less-dark version of the croissant curry that everyone else has.