Let's Play Mystery Dungeon DX, Part 4: Embodiment of Thunder

Before we go and properly challenge Zapdos, though -- and it really is very hype with the cutscene introducing him at the end of the previous dungeon with Shiftry -- I go off to grind just a bit. Not so much Mudkip and Bulbasaur, but other members of my team. I also actually do want to go recruit, and... and honestly, the game actually flows quite well. It doesn't feel slow with a lot of what feels like redundant animation-to-gameplay ratio when I played Shining Pearl. I think that's why they designed the auto battling in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, because they realize with the 3D system, having lots of random wild encounters is just a mite too slow. 

Anyway, after a slight bit of grinding, Mudkip, Bulbasaur and Magnemite go and finally tackle Mt. Thunder. It's a neat mountain with a nice beat for a soundtrack, with a surprising lack of actual Electric-type Pokemon. There are some Electrike, Manectric and Electabuzz, but there are also a bunch of others like Cacnea, Growlithe, Stantler and Pidgeotto... I think it's themed more like a dry almost-desert biome or something? 

Recruiting does not go well for me in Mt. Thunder, however, and I don't know if there's some formula relating to levels or something. Only a Cacnea and Pidgeotto joins my little party, and a Hoppip which I rescued from hunger (and immediately gets slaughtered by the Electabuzz that was sleeping next to him). I am conscious about preserving my PP and Hunger, though, so I did try to avoid some unnecessary fights which might be the reason as to why my recruitment is a bit low. 

There is a bit of a Final Fantasy esque trope as we get a room before the final couple of levels where there is a Kangaskhan Statue that allows me to move items. I can store stuff in case I die to the final boss, or to draw extra berries or apples or something. It's cute. It also heals my entire party, which I thought was a bit much. But okay, sure. 

At the peak of Mt. Thunder, Bulbasaur yells into the air and challenges Zapdos... who crashes down like a goddamn boss. The lightning effects are really neat for this game, and it definitely makes Zapdos feel quite threatening! Zapdos boasts that he has no mercy for meddlers, and Bulbasaur's indignant responses leads Zapdos to deliver some pretty cool video game boss lines. "Answer to my great and righteous fury!"

And we have a final boss fight against the legendary bird of lightning and thunder, Zapdos. He's a big guy, with quite a tanky bit of HP. Unlike the previous Gengar fight, I don't actually bring the population of a small village to fight him, just five guys. Zapdos sets up Sky Attack, which takes a turn to set up and another turn to deal damage... but when it hits, it kills. My party also starts off a bit further away from Zapdos, meaning that it does take a precious turn for some of the party members without ranged moves to get close to the thunderbird. 

Anyway, the recruited Cacnea gets slaughtered with a single strike of Sky Attack without even getting to fire off a single attack. The recruited Pidgeotto likewise gets taken out by two Plucks. I move Magnemite close to Zapdos, since his Electric/Steel type can tank Zapdos's attacks, and even Magnemite nearly falls to the thunderbird before the accumulated damage causes Zapdos to fall. 

That's a pretty cool boss fight! But Zapdos isn't exactly defeated. The subsequent cutscene has him fly around and seem to be charging up some red lightning attack... a Hyper Beam or something? But at this point, Team Alakazam shows up, and Charizard jumps in front of my party with a pretty cool "we'll take you on!" moment. Zapdos declares that this is 'enough', and that we can take Shiftry back since our little team has impressed him. Sure, Zapdos. That has nothing to do with three fully-evolved Pokemon, one of whom is a Rock-type, coming up. Sure. 

It is quite cool, still, not to knock down the badassery of the scene. Zapdos flies off, and Shiftry is returned to us in his weird lightning cage. Shiftry thanks us, and Charizard and Tyranitar are impressed... but then Alakazam drops a bombshell. He knows I'm an isekai protagonist! He knows I wasn't a Pokemon, but a human. Everyone present is surprised. Apparently Alakazam figured it out with his 5,000 IQ (or his psychic powers, I guess). That's all I'm getting from ol' Alakazam, though, because despite knowing everything, he can't determine anything more than that and sends us to the Hill of the Ancients. I am to talk to Xatu, the pokemon who looks at the sun all day long. That... that's probably supposed to be a barometer of how mystic and wise Xatu is, but I just feel sorry for Xatu's eyes, y'know?

As Bulbasaur and I leave, we get a short scene where Charizard looks at Alakazam and calls on his bullshit, saying that he totally knows more than he's letting on. Alakazam concedes this point, but also notes that some things should go unspoken for now, for my sake. Yep, typical RPG ominous foreshadowing!

As we return to our camp, there's a cute little moment where I ask Bulbasaur about a question... and that's why he's working so hard for this. Bulbasaur replies with a cute little 'because you're my friend, silly' bit. Aww. 

In the next day, I immediately tackle the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States... no, wait, the Great Canyon. Another 13-floor dungeon, and one that's quite nicely desert-themed. This time, I bring along a Linoone who has many multi-hit attacks like Fury Swipes and the ranged Pin Missile. Linoone also has access to Play Rough, and just like the recent Generation IV remake I played through, Fairy-types are kind of fun to break through certain type combinations.

Great Canyon's got a nice variation of Pokemon, with some Dunsparce, Doduo, Murkrow and Phanpy... and even some evolved ones, too! Cacturne are very common, and I've seen a bunch of Breloom and Skiploom. Vileplume also just waddle around and casually try and Mega Drain my poor Mudkip to death. Two Vileplume almost utterly destroyed my party with a combination of type effectiveness against Mudkip and poisoning poor Linoone. Bulbasaur, thankfully, has a lot of ranged attacks with Energy Ball and Razor Leaf to pile on to the Vileplumes. Tauros are also a bit of a problem since they hit insanely hard. 

Not a single recruit came along in this dungeon run, though, which is a bit of a shame. But at the topmost floor, the Hill of the Ancients, Xatu is just staring at the sun. It's a pretty nicely-drawn background, too, which I think is one of the best things I can say about this game's graphical upgrade. It's not trying to go for a particularly realistic look, but the painted backgrounds give such a nice, mellow feel to it. I don't think it quite replaces the adorableness of GBA-era spritework, but it's neat. 

Bulbasaur gives me two options on what to do to try and get Xatu's attention, and the option is either 'tickle' or 'attack'. I don't think we should attack the great sage, so tickle it is. And Bulbasaur goes to tickle Xatu... many, many times. All we get from Xatu is '...', up until a point where we're about to give up and he finally snorts and chuckles. 

She's unhelpfully cryptic, though, introducing herself again as one that stares into the sun all the time, and that somehow allows her to see into the future and the past. No, Xatu, Future Sight's just a move you learn at level 35 or something. You don't have to burn your corneas out for that, Xatu! She talks instead about how the balance of the world is being upset, confirms my status as an isekai human, and how my arrival on this world might be tied to the changing weather patterns and disasters. And Xatu closes the conversation by cryptically commenting that she dreads and fears the incoming cataclysm...

And as Xatu, Bulbasaur and Mudkip watch the setting sun, the conversation is being overheard by good ol' Gengar, who chuckles and overhears everything we discussed, being particularly excited at the fact that I'm a human. Hmmmm!

It's a pretty neat little detour, I suppose, even if it doesn't answer any questions. And up we go for the next day... where there's a lot of plot!

Random Notes:

• Okay, so since this is a Pokemon world where there isn't Pokemon... how does Alakazam, Bulbasaur and the rest actually know what a human is? Or did humans once exist in this world? I don't think they actually ever explain that bit... they acknowledge that humans don't really show up, but how do they know what humans even are? 
  
• Also, in-between the Zapdos and Xatu missions, I did go around and buy a lot of camps, not that much of the Pokemon are biting for recruitment... 
• I appreciate the music in this game a lot. Some of the repetitive town or load screen music is kind of... well, samey, but the dungeon music is a nice beat to run through a gauntlet of enemies for. 
• Still haven't stolen from a Kecleon shop yet. Maybe one day. 
• The two Jumpluffs have also taken up residence in Town Square. I do like the evolving NPC dialogue. It's not always the most interesting, but I do like them!
• The little Diglett is a bit curious about swimming, and somehow is under the impression that his dad has gone swimming. Please don't swim, Diglett, you're literally weak to water.