It's an important plot event, it'll get expanded upon quite a bit as we progress on through the game.Originally Posted by Formalhaut
Yep. Actually, there are TWO.
General information on the Gamecube Pokémon games:Actually, I had heard about Pokémon Colosseum when it first came out, and I avoided it because I figured it was going to be the sort of thing we got with Stadium and later Battle Revolution. Fighting, more storage boxes, trading options, but no plot. After Stadium, can you blame me? So when I saw Gale of Darkness in a Gamestop, and noticed a subtitle that indicated an actual game, I took a look at it and bought it. With no regrets whatsoever, as it is one of the best games in the series (XD and Platinum are my two favorite Pokémon games), and one of the gems of the Gamecube.
This mixup meant that I played XD before Colosseum, so when I say that you can play XD first with no real detriment, I mean it. The game gives you pretty much everything you need to know about the previous game's plot through its own story.
XD is also a superior game to it's predecessor. While heavily criticized upon release due to not being original enough, reusing areas and themes from its predecessor whole heartedly, XD has received a ton of polish that refined its systems, gave it some of the best mechanics in the series, and generally made it a blast to play.
Due to the relatively unknown status of this work, I'm going to try to include almost a walkthrough style of events, so that people can get a feel for the game, since most Pokémon fans aren't immediately familiar with everything I'm talking about. This will lead to screenshots of exposition dumps, new characters, and general wandering around town. This in turn means that I might do multiple updates in a row, so that I can keep things moving and get to the good bits quicker.
So, without further ado, let's get back to the game!
Story 001.jpg
As we fade out from that first awesome battle, we enter the world for the first time, to find that we were just taking part in a virtual reality simulation battle against Sim Trainer Losten. We also learn that our actual starter Pokémon is an Eevee. Well, shucks darn. Oh well, Eevee evolves into my most favorite Pokémon of all, Espeon, so that's hardly bad news for me.
So we immediately step off the plot railroad, ignore my mom, and go exploring! Not a whole lot to see, only this one office building thus far. But there are tons of people to talk to and collect information from. You know, because I'm the son of one of the chief researchers, and that gives me free rein to pester everyone.
Apparently this facility is built to study the "Shadow Pokémon" phenomenon, and find out ways to reverse it. Although supposedly there aren't any Shadow Pokémon right now, so it's just a huge waste of taxpayer money. Yay.
Hide and Seek.jpg
Ah, the nostalgia. While I should tease the guy for hiding for two hours without realizing he's been abandoned (which the game will do for me when we visit him a couple of minutes later for the plot), this whole building's atmosphere really reminds me of the days I'd visit my dad's work as a kid. I'd play hide and seek with my sister, find trouble to get into, and generally be a little kid. They captured that sort of office atmosphere completely, in my opinion.
Chatter 001.jpg
Lady, you might want to be careful who you admit that to. I'm not sure if there are laws about sleeping with your Pokémon, but I still don't think it's exactly socially acceptable.
Chest.jpg
Outside the building, we find out what those Pokéball looking chests actually look like in 3D. Two Antidotes in here.
Potions.jpg
And back to my room for 3 potions from another such chest.
News 001.jpg
Finally we end in the break room where there's a news report on the ship that went missing. Apparently it was a cargo ship carrying a ton of Pokémon, which are now missing.
No one seems to care about the two guys who were on it, though. Only the Pokémon that are missing. Ah, it sucks to be an unimportant NPC.
But, that pretty much exhausts our exploration options for the time being, so I suppose I should actually go visit my mom and figure out what I'm supposed to be doing here.
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