V8 Discussion Thread! SPOILERS!

[FrostieFoxy]

I think Krystal's pretty cool, everyone thinks she's champ but i think i'll just wait and see, im not the best with speculations *whistles*

I did not expose her but thats because i did travel with her the first time, mostly because i wanted to keep an eye on her lol, but tbh i don't think she's a bad character. if her motives are in the right place then i'll find myself liking her more then i should probably. what happens if you do expose her though? i kinda dont want to.

I battled Flora but i play Casual so the only real problem was her mega and i got lucky enough to confuse the thing with my Crobat before it could do any real damage

I think we can assume they are in Grand Dream City.............

I did not do the side quest yet, i created a completely new file to play from the beginning to see what else was changed/added =)

[pmegakid]

Did anyone do the lost oswatt mission? It seem so pointless because we already got one last update and did the old oswatt mission change? and no new shadow pokes seems funny felt more like reborn this time around nothing wrong with that hardest battle for grass given this late game and I still struggled lol did anyone else see that snorlax blocking the way I thought the Manor would give us a certain pokemon that can take over house items lol but it cool tho remained me of the ghost girl in BandW and X&Y or maybe it setting up for that ghost running around even though it was small update still good setting up bigger plots I feel like bladestar are not evil because that base seem to easy and no head to battle yea.

[BIGJRA]

Did anyone do the lost oswatt mission? It seem so pointless because we already got one last update and did the old oswatt mission change? and no new shadow pokes seems funny felt more like reborn this time around nothing wrong with that hardest battle for grass given this late game and I still struggled lol did anyone else see that snorlax blocking the way I thought the Manor would give us a certain pokemon that can take over house items lol but it cool tho remained me of the ghost girl in BandW and X&Y or maybe it setting up for that ghost running around even though it was small update still good setting up bigger plots I feel like bladestar are not evil because that base seem to easy and no head to battle yea.

Old Oshawott mission is now Totodile, I think?

[LackofStyles]

I enjoyed V8. Tried to work through the redesigned Terajuma first but my impatience led me to stop before Crawli and go blast through the new story content.

I didn't think about it at the time but Krystal being the champion does make sense. I was wondering when we'd start seeing the champion mentioned and it feels about time for that to start coming up given how many badges we have now. I wish I hadn't forgotten her dialogue during her earlier side quest but I guess I'll just do it again with my Terajuma save.

I teamed up with Erin because she knew Aelita. Aelita is currently my favorite NPC so I thought teaming up with her might give me more information about her. I appreciate Erin's blunt attitude. So I exposed Flora because I have no real reason to like Bladestar given that my only interaction with them was getting thrown into a cell. And, at this point, the main character has had some pretty bad experiences with prisons and cells. Besides, after being captured so many times it felt amusing to get someone else caught.

I'm actually most interested in seeing where Venam ends up going as a character. It wasn't the focus of this update but it's clear something is brewing there.

My thoughts on redone Terajuma so far: Much improved! The extra dialogue between Braixen and Adam was really needed since they have just kind of been there. Now I actually care about them a little. Before the game didn't give me much reason to. The new way Venam returns to the story is amusing. I don't really like her but even I smiled when DOGARS played as a Yacht pulled in.

Misc thought on other stuff in the game: It's almost certainly nothing but the line Melia says when are fighting her for the first time "Wait, this isn't how it was suppose to go" seems really suspicious now given that time travel shenanigans are now happening.

[IntSys]

Did anyone find the card key shard inside that area where you fight the bladestar grunts? Is this for the beldum event?

It's in one of the seemingly empty boulder areas in the Darchlight Cave, hidden in a crate.

[Mr. Akeda]

No one said the Light Ball was the reward... Not good to make assumptions you know~

The side quest had felt incomplete, i just told myself it isn't the end

[Cool Girl]

Dang that was a really short version, but it was pretty good. I'm looking forward to see where and when all of the characters will appear.

I was also wondering, what do you guys think of Team Bladestar? Are they a good or evil team for you personally?

For me personally, I thought Team Bladestar was an evil team 'cause they talk about doing good deeds, but yet, they're the ones that 'caused the "corruption". I'm also curious to see how Aelita has developed as a person.

[Hymdall]

Krystal seems chill. I wonder what her deal besides being Nim's sibling is. Speaking of Nim, is she ok? Or is she still feeling a bit...rocky? I think? Been a while.

I didn't expose Flora, personally. I of course made a backup save, but everything I'm hearing about GDC is rubbing me the wrong way, so I'm taking the morally dubious road to see where it leads. Side note: I chose to explore with Erin so there are probably things I missed. Experimentation for later.

Given that I didn't expose her, this leads me to facing off against Flora. Her team's interesting...the problem is I have a well trained Vivillon that I purified. Set up on the Ludicolo, rip her team in half with Bug Buzz + Hurricane. GG. She didn't stand a chance.

Aelita and co are probably somewhere in GDC...Perhaps. Who knows at this point? I'm betting that chick in Darchlight Woods is somehow related, but is not any of the missing folks. I hope that foggy area gets dealt with soon.

And yes, I've done the manor sidequest. Jan has spoken that the Light Ball isn't the true reward, so I have to assume neither is the TM we find. This warrants more exploration. Back to the manor!

[Guzam]

I was right about the grass leader being easy, even in intense mode.

Thoughts on the gym and v8 content below:

Florin is a push over and so is Flora. I beat them both with a team of level 65's (only using 5 of them btw because of SPECTACULAR game design by Jan. Forcing you to use surf before the arena is a remarkable design choice because it forces most to use a water type. Smart move Jan). No healing items were used in either battle. My thoughts on Florin because he was the first I fought.

His mega didn't catch me off guard, mostly because I saw it in one of the tag battles. His lead, Cradily, is pretty mean tbh. It can hit hard in the field and the field is pretty mean too, but overall it kind of lost to my Mawile really easily. Next up was his Sceptile. Mega sceptile is a threat. Delphox had to set up light screen and bouffalant came in and just crit it with megahorn (while living a focus blast btw <3). Even without the crit, noivern could've come in afterwards, set up tailwind and delphox would finish. next please. His jumpluff is also pretty mean. The thing has sleep powder, uproot and uturn. Tangrowth ended pretty easily though. His serp was a joke too. Bouffalant owned it. Ludicolo went down to noivern easily. Jumpluff went down after that. His final mon was Ferrothorn and that thing died in one magma drift from delphox. So what did we learn in this battle? Don't put sap sipper mons before the grass leader unless they get breloom @Jan

The only difficult thing about Florin i can think of is the ridiculous boosts from the field and uproot combined with mega sceptile and serp. If you have any mon with sap sipper though, it's a cakewalk.

Flora. Flora was definitely the easier of the two. Ludicolo dies to Noivern, Lilligant+Serp went down easy to Bouffalant, Whimsi fell to Mawile and Ferro to delphox. The only difficult mon on her team for me was Mega Venusaur. The thing is bulky and hits pretty hard. That said, it still died to Delphox and Noivern with relative ease.

That said, I believe Florin to be the harder of the two, but that's just me. They both are difficult in their own regards, but are still easy if you have a fast flier, sap sipper or plenty of both combined with one fire mon. You tried to make the grass leaders tough and you honestly did a pretty good job. Great work Jan.

As for v8 itself. I absolutely love how you did it Jan. You gave us three decisions that each led to a split decision as well. The way it was handled was really well done and I liked it. As of the rest of the content... what content?

Jokes aside, v8 really was short, but that's ok! We learned a lot about grand dream city's situation, found Saki's machine, a "mysterious" npc in the woods, and some new characters who are all pretty cool. Krystal is pretty similar to another character when i look at her. She reminds me of someone we've already met in rejuv, just a little more mature. Erin is top-tier. ez. Love Erin. Florin is alright too, he's got his heart in the right place, but as Flora says on her route, it might lead do his demise. And Flora. I'm glad Flora is able to give up so easily unlike most villains, and her look is one of the, "looks can be deceiving" kind of looks. She seems nice on the surface with the flower in her hair, but she is definitely not, no sir.

Also, Oblitus town. Holy shit, Oblitus town was my favorite part of the episode. The look of it, the inaccessible pokemon center, the abandoned houses, the run down gym, lack of trainers, the old lady. All of it really made me feel like it was an abandoned town with no hope of survival, which really made me sad. Well done there. Only thing that threw me off there was the two girls talking about the void, but it's all probably part of some bigger thing.

Speaking of bigger things, this whole version is leading up to some bigger thing that will happen in Grand Dream City. The stone curse, Bladestar, Cassandra, the latios flying to GDC and Krystal, it's all leading up to this big thing in GDC. Operation star. They're cutting off entrances and exits to the city and they are taking resources from various other locations as shown by the probes they use. Flora also ends up mentioning it's to throw Cassandra out of office there and to make the city a better place. I'm not too sure, but we'll see soon. Also the spelunker grunts. Flora mentions there's more than one of them. Get hyped.

Which route did I end up taking? Initially I chose Florin's because I felt the need to tell him about what I saw. I didn't really like that decision though. I still have a file with that route for v9 though. Next up is the route I plan to stick with going into v9. I want to stick with Flora's path and not throwing her under the bus because I feel it's going to lead me to another big choice and a wider array of options once we do reach GDC. That's just me though. Hell, who even says we're going to GDC next version? That's all I'm going to say though. Great work this version Jan, can't wait for the next. u 2 Zumi <3

[Hymdall]

So given I answered the questions in a relatively short post, I figure I should probably also put my overall thoughts on the update as well. Under the cut because uuuuuugh I get rambly.

So. Version 8, Stopping in Our Tracks. Love the name, huge fan of puns. Dragon Quest has ingrained them into my very soul. Anyways, onto the actual content. First off, the main point: the Gym Leader(s). Personally, I have not yet fought against Florim. From what I hear his team seems to be a bit faster and less bulky than Flora's, but still pretty easy compared to other hassles we've dealt with in this game. That said, a fun and interesting fight for sure. For once, we're straight up given their TM! Amazing! And it's a pretty good one too, Energy Ball is very nice.

Team Bladestar is...peculiar. They're a giant unknown to me other than that they're stealing resources and seem to be the reason GDC is cut off from the world right now. Are they well intentioned extremists? Or are they just plain terrorists who want to cause chaos? Only time will tell. Personally, I'm going to make my final decision to not throw Flora under the bus. I said it earlier but something about GDC is just rubbing me the wrong way. Too many unknowns. Why did Cassandra lock us, and everyone else as well, out of the Dreamyard? The Badlands I can understand: that place is seemingly very dangerous, can't wait to explore it.

Venam's a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. That much is clear. How, when, and why she'll do it will be the interesting parts here. Kanon...where is Kanon? Krystal talked to him and seemed to have a vested interest. Does she know about his origins? Is there something about him we still don't know? Probably, to the latter part. And poor poor Aelita and co. What in the world happened to you? We have another ally gained in Erin, and that's fun. Erin is pretty great, she's just the right amount of spunky to keep things bright. Love her team choices too. Mono White? I've only seen Absol, Abomasnow, and Zangoose, personally. Interestingly enough: all weak to Fighting.

Outside of the main story, the content is not really there, but as others have said that's fine! This is setting the stage for V9 and later. I have to imagine V9 is going to lead to some...interesting developments, for sure. But as for the content we DID get, here we go. I personally haven't done the Totodile quest earlier when it was Oshawott, so I'm glad to get it now. The quest is very cute and fun. Reunite the baby with its parent. Very cool. Oshawott's have a tendency to forcefully join people in fangames, huh(LOOKING AT YOU CAIN)? The Darchlight Manor is very very peculiar. Something tells me I'm missing something after the Light Ball. I know a Rotom is involved(do yourselves a favor and in the long table room before the well outside, come back and read the letter a 2nd time), so something's up there. Why was the Altair family targeted in particular? Why did Mrs. Altair forbid her children from having Pokemon? I want to know the whole story here....more than just the tragic tale of Celesia Altair's untimely demise. That said: who were the people who targeted them? Team Xen? Team Bladestar? Perhaps even Blakeory CO, given I believe that's who made the Clefairy doll and stuffed a Rotom in there. LET US KNOW JAN.

As for my final thoughts: definitely a solid entry here. A small area to explore, the promise of interesting developments, and most assuredly some peculiar sidequests. Can't wait for V9. Keep it up Jan/Zumi/Rejuvenation Team In General I don't know All the members of!

[LemonJones]

Toy Clefairy is actually Rotom, I figured that much out. Have no idea if you can get it though, haven't spent much time there. There's a hidden Cindaquill egg in Sheridan Village behind the waterfall reachable only by rock climb. Perhaps there's more but I'm not into randomly walking through old remade parts really, that's probably it from my exploring advantures. Version screams for another save file if you're interested in the content.

Gym leader was laughably easy. Easiest guy among all 10, he didn't even get the chance to land a single attack on me. A friend of mine beat it with a level 60 Escavalier alone. He needs his field to favor him somehow better perhaps. Anything really to make him more of a challange.

Back to AFK untill next one comes by, maybe another save file if I get bored enough.

Edited July 19, 2016 by LemonJones

[CheddarSouffle]

One thing I haven't been loving about this game is the ridiculous amount of "parties", or groups, if you will, in the game. There's Team Xen, AA, and a new one, Bladestar. Then there's Angie and her little maid army. Indraid still has his own religious cult in the sewers. Adam, Saki, Braixen, and Valarie I COMPLETELY forgot about until I saw that mangled piece of mesh on Route 7. Then apparently Cassandra has her own little dictatorship in Grand Dream City, and we don't even know where Nim went and what she's up to. Honestly, it's a bit too much to handle. It feels like all these characters are just being thrown at us, then vanishing in the next version.

Enough with the negativity, right? The redesigned areas are absolutely gorgeous; I especially love Kakori Village and the Resort. Darchlight Woods was beautiful too, and that train for some reason was the highlight of the version for me. Stunning job to Jan and the rest of team; I eagerly await V9!

[TroubleInTexas]

Loved V8. It was a short episode but still managed to feel packed. Btw was Florin part of a side quest before V8? He acted like he knew the player from somewhere but I honestly can't remember meeting him before.

[BIGJRA]

One thing I haven't been loving about this game is the ridiculous amount of "parties", or groups, if you will, in the game. There's Team Xen, AA, and a new one, Bladestar. Then there's Angie and her little maid army. Indraid still has his own religious cult in the sewers. Adam, Saki, Braixen, and Valarie I COMPLETELY forgot about until I saw that mangled piece of mesh on Route 7. Then apparently Cassandra has her own little dictatorship in Grand Dream City, and we don't even know where Nim went and what she's up to. Honestly, it's a bit too much to handle. It feels like all these characters are just being thrown at us, then vanishing in the next version.

Strangely enough, I'm in the opposite camp of you, because I love the multitude of characters! Even in a game with little content as Rejuv is right now every group we've seen so far has had their own moments to shine and I really feel like they're all fleshed out at least a little bit. I like how we're left with only a few familiar faces in the first episode of Act II because it leaves us with really no idea what's to come, making V9 even more exciting!

Loved V8. It was a short episode but still managed to feel packed. Btw was Florin part of a side quest before V8? He acted like he knew the player from somewhere but I honestly can't remember meeting him before.

I don't think we've seen Florin before. What did he say to suggest we've seen him before?

[Hymdall]

Strangely enough, I'm in the opposite camp of you, because I love the multitude of characters! Even in a game with little content as Rejuv is right now every group we've seen so far has had their own moments to shine and I really feel like they're all fleshed out at least a little bit. I like how we're left with only a few familiar faces in the first episode of Act II because it leaves us with really no idea what's to come, making V9 even more exciting!

I don't think we've seen Florin before. What did he say to suggest we've seen him before?

During the segment with him and Flora before you fall down into Naughty Jail for Trainers Who Trespass on Bladestar Turf, he distinctly mentions recognizing you and having met you before. I don't quite recall this myself, and Flora calls him out on it. Perhaps he is also someone from the past, or there's a doppleganger of us running around and that can't be anything resembling good.

[TroubleInTexas]

Strangely enough, I'm in the opposite camp of you, because I love the multitude of characters! Even in a game with little content as Rejuv is right now every group we've seen so far has had their own moments to shine and I really feel like they're all fleshed out at least a little bit. I like how we're left with only a few familiar faces in the first episode of Act II because it leaves us with really no idea what's to come, making V9 even more exciting!

I don't think we've seen Florin before. What did he say to suggest we've seen him before?

iirc Florin said we've met him before and the player called him a loser for some reason. ( I'm guessing this is how he knew the player's name?) I was confused by it so I just assumed it was dialogue based off if you did a side quest or not. (like with April/Krystal)

[Atlas105]

1) Krystal's cool. Idk if either she's the champ or Erin since I someone got that thought in my head.

2) I decided to explore with Flora... And still exposed her afterwards just because she's an a**hole, I'm an a**hole.... and 2 a**holes don't mix.

3) I battled Florin, lost the first time because of a crit..grumble...grumble.. but then I couldn't find out how to battle him again... I've finished the whole version and still can't figure it out....crap

4) Hell if I know! Probably made of stone.

5) Sh*t! What manor sidequest?!

[Jmanultrax1]

That manor sidequest gave me the creeps. It was well set up to be creepy along with the story and "other" things inside it

Edited July 19, 2016 by Jmanultrax1

[Dragon God Goomy]

Krystal has the Crescent vibes, which makes me feel suspicious around her.

Nope, I didn't. I'm not even sure what am I diving at.

Even I am 10 levels below, it was easy (although I'm using 3 axed mons.)

I'm not really sure atm, since its lacking detail of what happened to them besides Saki's machine got destroyed and Erin's grandfather helping them.

Not done it yet, but I get the Sinnoh Mansion feels on it.

[tails12]

My thoughts on V8.

I'd imagine Krystal has some connections in GDC or maybe the league. Perhaps by doing her sidequest at Amethyst Cave may help us in the long run. Otherwise, I'd need to see what she does a bit more before I can really get a good idea.

In the save I currently have, I went with Flora and revealed what we knew to her only. I don't know which path (exposing Flora to Erin or Florin, or not doing anything with either) will be the best but I'm keeping backup saves for when v9 comes out.

We all know Grass isn't the best of types on its own so it takes some careful planning to make a challenging gym battle out of it, even on Intense. I battled Flora and I got the battle in one try as I did when I faced Crawli. Then again, I'm still working with a save file that was started when v5 was the most recent version (I'll have a restart save file later, just like I will with Reborn).

It's a shame that Braixen, Saki, Aelita, Adam, and Valerie are missing. Perhaps they are in GDC or maybe in the inaccessible area of Darchlight Woods, or maybe not. I actually have a few theories based on some things going on:

1: With one of the Eons flying over us at the end, perhaps the other was searching for something.

2: The impact blasted each of them to different parts in this section of Aevium.

3: The Farfetch'd Theory: They have become BASAV, a mix of the five of them a la XEL in Reborn. What if something went wrong when they crashed on Route 7 that caused them to fuse into one being? It is a bit far fetched given we know so little at this point, but we can always imagine.

Okay I'm done with the crazy here.

I did the Manor Sidequest. We know we get Light Ball and a TM. From the start, I knew Rotom had to be involved, but I'm not sure how we trigger getting Rotom. I wonder if the Light Ball is a clue to the next part... maybe say bring a Pikachu or Pichu back to Darchlight Manor. If I recall, there was a TV that was no longer functioning and in Gen IV, we fought a Rotom coming out of the TV...

All in all, there was quite a bit in v8 despite it being short. Looking forward to see what will happen in V9.

Edited July 19, 2016 by tails12

[darakjian]

Has anyone tried the devil theory that the old lady talks about? I'm presuming she means Giratina since it got released by Cresent, and we first found it in a ghost type building, maybe it will be in a certain area of the forest that didn't have a purpose in the update, I remember there was a spot in the forest that didn't have any use as far as I saw, or maybe it could be where we fought Flora/Florin.

[AquaShadow85]

I want to assume Krystal is the Champion, but I also believe Erin is part of the Elite 8, and that they should recognize each other, but other then that she seems cool but definitely hiding something serious.

Played all the routes first and decided to join Bladestar as opposed to exposing Flora. Those grunts need someone to train them after all, plus playing on the rebel side is always fun.

I battled against Flora and after having most of my team KO'd by a Ludicolo, just paralyzed it and Calm Mind x4 with Gardevoir with the field enhanced moonblast. It helped that Gardevoir copied Swift Swim before he used Rain Dance.

I think that Aelita is recovering with Erins grandparents but the rest encountered someone, whether it was Angie or Team Xen, and either chased them off or led them away so Aelita could be smuggled away to the healer.

Not going to lie, I felt like I almost had a heart attack when I first saw the ghost girl. The whole story of it is quite tragic and well-written. I assume there will be more involving the Rotom and the safe soon enough.

On a side note, like how the characters changed clothes in the past, I hope to those who joined Bladestar, they unlock a admin uniform or something to wear while on missions for Bladestar so as not to get recognized, it would be interesting for there to be a help board for Bladestar agenda too.

[Guzam]

Speaking of Erin recognizing people, that scene at the end where she sees Melia and Venam and calls it a sick joke and that it shouldn't be possible. mmhmm nice, sick lore there Jan. Honestly, you're foreshadowing at least 800 different things right now and I really am at a loss as to how I'm suppose to keep track of all these small details.

[QuarkStar]

Speaking of Erin recognizing people, that scene at the end where she sees Melia and Venam and calls it a sick joke and that it shouldn't be possible. mmhmm nice, sick lore there Jan. Honestly, you're foreshadowing at least 800 different things right now and I really am at a loss as to how I'm suppose to keep track of all these small details.

Perhaps Erin saw them in the past when she was a child and because of our time travel shenanigans she is surprised that they still look the same.

Edited July 20, 2016 by TheMightyPickaxe

[Swampellow]

Perhaps Erin saw them in the past when she was a child and because of out time travel shenanigans she is surprised that they still look the same.

or she is from the future and they are supposed to be dead. du du duuuun