Yep yep, power works best with a motive to fulfill a meaningful purpose (I suppose most things do lol). Personally, I think power for the sake of power can work well if it’s a desire that is spurned on by a lack of agency or freedom for a character. Situations that would actively cause someone to seek out power or positions of power and use it for themselves. That sort of hurt people hurt people phenomenon. But so far it doesn’t seem that Waldenhall falls into this camp so we will see if he has a greater goal to achieve! Not only would Zoroark look so cool with a shiny new Perfection form, but its ability could absolutely give us some great twists along the way! The prospects omg…. I do think it would have a purpose in the overarching story. Hardy was introduced to the player as early as Route 2 and has cropped up several times in the main story. He was chosen specifically by Lilith and he’s now a high-ranking Black Fox. He has quite a bit more story significance than characters like Aderyn the flying type gym leader or Aaron the steel type gym leader (sorry Aaron, you’ve been on the sidelines for a while now. Hope he makes a return at some point). To add to his story presence Hardy and Emily are the only two prominent characters that have silhouettes in the Wildlands Cave in the Dreamscape. Even now I’m not quite sure what that really means in the grand scheme of things but it’s such an odd detail to persist throughout the episodes that it feels significant in some way. I think he has quite a bit of story relevance still. His Zoroark is part of their Project Perfection so it is most likely being dosed with Perfection serum. His arc will eventually have to tackle that. And it would be a perfect time to do exactly that now that we have an inkling of what Perfection is. Hardy’s situation could provide a unique perspective of Perfection and give us more context about it. We got to see Umbreon's transformation but as far as we know Perfection hasn't affected Lilith. If Hardy's Zoroark gains the Perfection state would Hardy also be unaffected? Or would it be different for him? Plus Hardy isn’t chasing Perfection for Perfection’s sake. He is a contrast to those with a desire to use Perfection for their own gains. And with Lilith currently MIA (who knows if she’ll be back in time to help the protagonists…that last note attached to the Black Piece is kinda sketch imo) Hardy could fill this role until Lilith is found or the protagonist obtains a Perfection mon of their own. If it turns out not to be a “in the race” situation (I could be overestimating that aspect given that Darkrai’s trainer has already booked it over to Darkrai…things might fall apart a lot quicker than anticipated) then he could still have a hand in the plot as an ally. He only allied himself with the Foxes to help his pokémon and I don’t think that’s changed even now that he’s in the higher ranks of the Foxes. Zoroark gaining Perfection could provide extra firepower if things get dicey for the heroes. It might not be as thematically strong as him being a proper candidate and what that signifies in conjunction to the other two, but it could most certainly add more spice to the story! Of course, the whole counter to all this is that artificial Perfection serum has never produced anything but failures, leading to the idea that Perfection cannot be man-made or artificially constructed. Assuming Zoroark has been juiced up with Perfection serum then based on those results Zoroark will probably meet the same fate as other experiments. However, if this whole theory has some merit, it could throw out some of Waldenhall’s and Team Cresent’s findings…that Perfection can’t be manufactured. Or at the very least it might show that the stringent requirement of Perfection outweighs the synthetic recreation aspect. It might be less about how it’s obtained and more about adhering to the aspects of bonds and desolation. That’d be kinda neat. Oh, the irony of that would be so good! If Waldenhall does achieve Perfection without pokémon some repercussions have to happen. Absolutely! I think that’d make for an exciting turn of events! I agree, tonally the main plot beats usually reflect the gravity of the situation pretty well and any levity in them tends to be down-to-earth and fitting for the cast imo. Not to say silliness doesn’t have its place…Jarred and Ryder brings that in spades! I also think Darkrai would probably just yeet him into the Grid and call it good! If anyone from Team Darkrai were to do such a thing, my money is on Shiv (assuming he’s truly drunk the kool-aid at this point and will be more antagonistic going forward). He’s pretty dramatic so I can see him doing it to toy around with Waldenhall. It’s certainly silly, could be framed as borderline mocking, but also doubled as a show of force. In that essence it coulddddd work. Or combine it with disposing of the pokeball in some fashion. Like Aurora yeeting the pokeball and it smashes to pieces or use poke-Waldenhall in battle or something along those lines and presto! Now the silliness a moment ago isn’t so silly anymore…it takes on a darker hue. Might be a bit more fitting for the situation at hand. In all honesty I’ve played Deso on and off for several years now…I think I stumbled upon it around e3? E4? Somewhere around there. So certain characters have been ingrained in my noggin (clearly just not Cedric xD)! The Waldenhall estranged theory is more of a crackpot theory that doesn’t have any strong evidence. Emily, Connor’s sister and electric type gym leader, has blonde hair and red eyes and I think of her every time I see Waldenhall. And Connor is seeking his own form of power; to be a strong trainer. He’s never satisfied and since he stepped foot on Arcanius he’s been even more impatient and rash. He is jumping into things alone and relying on his own strength at the expense of others. He burned the fallen logs that the workers were trying to clear despite the fact that could have caused a forest fire. Can’t forget that also means they have no work now. Plus, he ran into the group of Foxes alone and the protagonist, Scarlett, and Garret had to jump in to help. It’s very loose interpretation at best and more of a silly theory than anything else. The plausibility is quite slim. But entertaining the scenario I’d think it’d be an interesting family dynamic for Waldenhall. Plus, it’d give more time for development between the three of them. Maybe those traits of Connor’s stem from this estranged relationship with Waldenhall? And Emily obtained more of the physical traits? That’s about it :). There’s still time for an estranged narcissistic mother to enter the picture if Waldenhall turns out to be a bust! At the very least I feel like that could make for some interesting headcanons. My heart goes out to you on that front! Totally, when there are choices present within a game there will always be a small aspect of we are what we choose to be. Especially if we get a story split later on (no idea if we will or not but fun prospect to consider). But there is most certainly something more lurking beneath the surface. The protagonist’s past has potential to recontextualize the present self. Maybe piecing together their past will draw out a dormant personality (each protagonist seems to have a distinct personality shown through flavor text when changing character appearance in Cellia Central)? If the protagonist proves to be a part of Darkrai’s trainer in some form or another then that opens up a can of possibilities. Of course, there’s always the chance that their present self might not change much after the reveal. But external factors can change. Like as far as I can tell it doesn’t seem like Darkrai recognized the protagonist the way the entity (probably Darkrai’s trainer) eventually did. How others react to the knowledge will be interesting at the very least. I definitely hear ya! It’s been a hotttt minute since I’ve played earlier versions so grain of salt here but I kinda got that vibe more in earlier iterations of the game. More of an unfortunate soul who happened to get caught up in the thick of all this. The protagonist washing ashore near Darkroot with protagonist amnesia and the mysterious connection with the major antagonists was not on my bingo card when booting up e6! So, I do hope we get a bit more on that front as well :)

the google drive link doesn't work

Update: got it to work

That's the thing, when I first came across this game I downloaded it along with the latest patch on the homepage.

The issues I found recently might be connected but I've realized that I can't open the save folder at all on the shortcut of Desolation - I have played reborn and rejuvenation and when I tried to open save folders from there, they were fine but it seems like only Desolation was the one struggling with it.

Update your game to the latest patch.

Okay I also have this issue on Mac as well I hope this is something that can be fixed through patch soon I don't even have problems through the other games like rejuvenation or reborn

Hi I am not sure if it is just me or if I have to finish a few things in Blackview city before doing this side quest but whenever I chat with the boss to help find their missing Pokemon I get this long line of code and I am not sure what I am supposed to do with it. This is when I hear the boss's story and that just pops up. If anyone knows what to do, I would appreciate any feedback on it

I do hope they develop Waldenhall, as power for the sake of power feels boring. Stories about attaining power to fulfill a meaningful purpose, as you pointed out, are much better. Even better if that purpose involves internal struggle—like Hardy’s journey with Zoroark. I really like your theory about Hardy and Zoroark being "in the race" to achieve perfection. Zoroark's ability to look like other Pokémon could create some incredible story twists. However, while it’s an exciting option, there needs to be a purpose tied to the greater story. Otherwise, it risks turning into a cavalcade of character introductions, with too many storylines that don’t truly matter and just confuse the player. It would be ironic if Waldenhall achieved perfection without any Pokémon—just him, somehow fighting in a form that’s half Pokémon, his body literally imprisoned by his inner demons. It would be wild if Darkrai caught him in a Pokéball. Uno Reverse silliness! But honestly, I’m just tired right now, and silliness wouldn’t fit the tone of the Desolation story. It’s impressive how well you remember all the different characters. I’m struggling with that, which is why your estranged father theory goes over my head in terms of how it fits into the story. I might relate more to an estranged narcissistic mother, though. Like you, I am interested in exploring the things you described—most of all, discovering what we, the player, really are. What am I? But i guess with our choices mattering so much in Desolation, it could be a corny - we are what we choose to be. I do however hope for a bit more than that. It's the biggest cliff hanger for me.

Sorry things have been a bit chaotic and whatnot! Yeah, I can totally understand that. I am most invested in the Darkrai side of things as well. It’s past with its trainer, whether or not Darkrai and its trainer are going to get along with one another, what exactly is going on with the twins, the whole kit and caboodle. Lots center around them. And the intrigue of how the protagonist actually fits into the picture is just too enticing! I do think a part of it, at least for me, is that Waldenhall hasn’t had enough screentime. We’ve heard characters mention him, we’ve read some journals left by him. We know what he has done but he hasn’t made an appearance until episode 6. He’s now an active participant wrapped up in the upcoming chaos so we will see if he deviates from the pre-defined scientist template or expands upon it. Kinda like Artem. There is something there that kinda sparks an interest in me about Artem. He has been researching the Grid and uses it to obtain info but outside of that he’s had so little exposure so far that it’s certainly anyone’s guess as to which direction he will go in. They could absolutely end up being temporary figures in the end. I’m certainly not ruling that out as a possibility though I like to think they have potential to be something more. Though totally gonna admit I do have fondness for archetypal scientists so that does fuel my personal intrigue a bit :) I don’t really have a set idea about how his story might go but more of a collection of thoughts and whatnot about Waldenhall. If he does end up being a more traditional curiosity driven character that can still hold some potential. If it’s something like that then his convictions and reactions to the upcoming situations will determine if he will be an interesting character with depth. Though I suppose I read his character a bit differently. I don’t think it is just curiosity or testing boundaries at play. He uses words and phrases like he is destined and this is his fate, his world. Perfection is an opportunity and something that has always belonged to him. He thinks of Perfection as a crown of silver and that he is destined to inherit the mantle. Crowns and mantles…objects that have associations with power, authority, and leadership. All the while others are unworthy of it and are his adversaries. And as Garret said there seems to be a sort of desperation driving Waldenhall. His motives may have started off as rampant curiosity but have slowly become tainted by unchecked ambition and egocentric entitlement. He somewhat gives me Elliot vibes. Reeve and Waldenhall sunk so much time and effort into researching Perfection. It’s his life’s work. He is destined to have his crown of brilliant blinding silver for all his efforts. He’s also giving me major Darkrai’s trainer vibes. Both seem to have these narcissistic tendencies, they both have used the sheep and shepherd analogy, both had the grand idea of bypassing the bond requirement, both think that Perfection is something that belongs to them, and they both have disdain against others (Darkrai’s Trainer has something against those “destroying the sanctity” of Arcanius and Waldenhall doesn’t seem too keen on Darkrai’s trainer, the priests at Kanzen Temple, or really the protagonist). And I think it’s this that connects him to Darkrai’s trainer. Not like any sort of actual connections but instead they are rather similar in some regards (at least to me. Though who knows…maybe there is a deeper connection between the two?). Waldenhall feels like a reflection of Darkrai’s trainer right now (fitting they meet in front of a mirror). Maybe his story will start shifting towards being tied to someone or something that is an equal to his own evil. Being antagonized by someone who has the worst qualities of himself. It could lead him down the path of self-reflection or he could just double down and struggle towards his goals which might ultimately lead to his own demise. I also had this little idea that Hardy and his Zoroark will obtain Perfection. Aside from someone like Tristan the dude is doing everything in his power to save Zoroark. He cares deeply for his pokémon, so much so he abandoned his hopes and dreams of becoming the Champion and ended up working with a criminal gang in order find a cure for it. Having a subordinate and a test subject obtain the one Waldenhall is pursuing sounds like peak irony. Quite a slap in the face for Waldenhall. Who knows if something like that could drive a wedge between him and the Foxes. Or maybe he’d make use of it somehow to further his own ends. It would be quite interesting to see what he’d do in a situation like that. Waldenhall has a lot of connections to other characters which could potentially help flesh out him as a character and give him more depth beyond chasing his ambition. He has his past mentor relationship with Reeve, the brewing conflict between Baron and Artem, the Garret/Eden situation, a potential conflict with Darkrai’s trainer and the rocky alliance with the Foxes. Such conflicts could elicit hidden motivations out of him and, depending on what happens, could start shifting his current goals. I also have to wonder what he would even do if he even achieved Perfection. Spending so many years chasing it…he’s bound to have some idea, right? Though I suppose if it turns out he doesn’t have any plan speaks volumes. Just gonna spitball some wackier ideas here. Stuff that borders on the line of a runaway imagination rather than anything concrete from the game! Maybe he comes from a similar background to Reeve. He may be brilliant and skilled, but he has nothing to his name and that bothers him. So, he pours years of his life into this research with Reeve, hoping to gain recognition. A way to prove his existence. His greatness. Maybe even had a thought or two of how it could aid Ayrith for the better, but in the end this type of research isn’t something that can be valued by the public. Not something that can give him the recognition he deserves, not unless he succeeds. He cannot go back to having nothing at all, being nothing at all, having his name fade away like the names of first trainers who arrived on Ayrith. The only way to achieve his goals now is to make it his sole driving force. He has no other choice. Huge crack theory but he turns out to be Emily and Connor’s estranged father or father that left them as children to pursue his research. It’s the blond hair and red eyes man... Putting the legitimacy of that theory aside, a family aspect such as that and all the complexities they hold could also help give the ambitious scientist angle more depth. There’s a part of me that really wants him to get his way somehow, preferably by some loophole or something. Let him get what he wants. The plane of creation or whatever it is can sense his “impurity” so any creation he crafts will reflect his very nature. His nature that refused to love and care for pokémon or anyone else. Everything he constructs ends up corrupted and filled with a burning flame of ambition and a black heart void of empathy and love. He ends up hunted by his creations for control of the place. Since there’s no theoretical way to get back, he’d just be stuck in this Perfection plane of existence. Now watch him get turned to dust next episode and then both him and my ideas can just blow away in the wind xD

no worries bro, appreciate you for helping out. I think it might be a mac issue though ngl, I'm playing this on a mac and I heard that macs tend to have save issues

Sorry for the delay, I've been very busy with work. I downloaded your save, and ran it on my build of Deso, and I'm not seeing any issues. I've attached your save file again, this time saved from my PC, let me know if this helps. Game_28.rxdata

Another thing that is making me curious is why everything is fine on reborn and rejuvenation but I'm only having issues with saves on Desolation tbh

Send the save file, and I'll see if I can do anything with it.

yeah Im getting to the main menu when I deleted the past save file and start the game again but no matter how many save files I make every single one of them just get corrupted for some reason

Are you ever actually getting to the main menu? Or does this prompt upon loading? Usually this happens for Mac users when attempting to convert a save file from a previous version to the latest.

Everytime I try to make a new save file it keeps saying it gets corrupted and it keeps showing this, what should I do? I've tried redownloading and reupdating multiple times but no matter how many times I try to play again and save, all it shows is "save(x) savefile corrupted"

Somehow to me Waldenhall feels like a temporary figure without much depth. He is extremely capable, and extremely ambitious. Those who can do anything because of their abilities don't settle for a normal person's life. He seems to want to push his boundaries as far as he can for the experience. Life isn't much but experiences is it? Why did X famous person do Y crazy thing? Because they could, and wanted to see what would happen if they did, and feel some feelings related to it. It's human curiousity somehow, and not too novel for me, so a little boring. To me the story around Darkrai is more interesting, and unless Waldenhall has a true connection or purpose in the context of Darkrai, he mostly seems like a temporary placeholder. Maybe i just don't have the imagination to see what role he could have in the grand scheme of things. The ambitious scientist story is however a bit old. I wonder if some novel and interesting story around this ambitious scientist could take place. Why do you find him interesting? What is your best bet on how Waldenhall's story might unfold?

So I used a fainted compound eyes mon to help get another soft sand from digletts with covet (and of course some extra heart scales later) but I'm wondering if the dark grass mons from Gen V with they're 1% chance might still work with out being in dark grass. Throh and Sawk both have that chance to hold an expert belt and it'd be nice to have at least one more of those. The other question would be if there's another way to get one in Ep 6 since I haven't found anything online heh I'm probably going to test this out anyway later but that soft sand already took awhile and it was a 20% chance with compound eyes and 1% would be 5% apparently

That is quite an interesting idea about Tristan. I could see that working. For Darkrai to have such control over Tristan and to snuff him out so easily there’s a chance Darkrai dreamed-up Tristan. His likeness could be based on its trainer. And they were using the normal gym leader’s death to confuse the protagonist…Tristan might not be Tristan the normal type gym leader. There’s something kinda sinister about that. I really like that interpretation of Perfection and the relationship between Darkrai, its trainer and the protagonist! That the story is about the trials and tribulations of bridging the gap between the shadow and the self, acceptance of the whole, and healing and growing as a person! What do you think about Waldenhall given this interpretation? He’s following a similar path to Darkrai and its trainer, sharing similar narcissistic tendencies and committing atrocities for the sake of Perfection. It makes me wonder if Waldenhall will be able to defy his fate and have a chance to reconnect his internal and external sides? Or will he be an example of what happens when someone embraces their shadow but never reaches a balance between the two? Very fitting that Darkrai and nightmares go hand in hand. Those are all good points about dreams and direction…without them it can feel like aimless wandering that can lead to anxiety and nightmares. I think there’s also the pressure of not being able to reach goals or dreams, which can result in fear and anxiety. While many lack direction and goals in the Dreamscape there are also those who struggle to achieve them. Before Anna found out that they’d been bamboozled the Odis Council were scrambling to deal with the lack of resources and infrastructure for the town. Same goes for the South Settlement. There are quite a few interesting concepts that the Dreamscape seems to cover. As Aurora once said to a couple of Foxes “It will soon be time for you to pick a side”. Absolutely, many have a vision as to how the world should be and they inevitably drag others into it. Even in the Dreamscape normal folks aren’t safe from it, with Mattias, a previous Black Fox, vandalizing the shrines and thinking that the strong should guide the weak, that they should be the ones in charge. It will certainly be exciting to see how a resolution will be reached between all these factions! Side note response- Actually, that’d be quite a neat idea! I feel it…I don’t know how many times I’ve forgotten Cedric’s name when writing a couple of posts on here (I remember his piercings more than his name…sorry Cedric I’m terrible at remembering names DX) I remember during my playthrough of e6 my friend and I talking about Serentiy’s camera, and I thought it’d be kinda cute to snap photos of locations and friends and they could be displayed in the manor with. Could do something like that and add little bios for important characters/locations and a summary of events (it gives me a chuckle to think about the protagonist pulling out a camera upon first meeting Darkrai and snapping a photo for the scrapbook back home lol). Aside from that the Wiki does provide some helpful information that makes it a tad easier to remember things. It’s slowly being worked on so at some point it’ll be more accurate and up to date.

Hey! I posted this a while back but I think I posted in the wrong place because I don't think anyone saw it lol (sorry) I've been playing a new run and I did the police task for Rosetta, but I forgot to talk to her afterwards. Since I can't save Nova now I want to go back and reload an old save state, but as you know macbooks hide shit all the time, and I've followed a few guides to get to where it's SUPPOSED to be but even if I unhide everything there is still no desolation folder in the application support folder of my computer. Does anyone know if it moved? or if I'm looking in the wrong place? Thank you in advance

Re install or patch your game again. Both bugs you've reported have already been fixed.

it happened again but with the ranger quest. still on macOS but just to clarify, i'm on high sierra. or version 10.13.6