True Ending

[Polaris]

Spoiler

After completing the game, I am itching to know what exactly the "true ending" is. There are six actions/choices that must be taken/made along the Reshiram route to unlock a difference in the Lin end fight, this I know, but is this really the true ending? iirc, I read somewhere that this might not be. Has anyone achieved the true ending? If so, what did you do aside from the six requirements to unlock it? Is the true ending just fulfilling the six requirements of the Reshiram route? Would love to create a space for this discourse to compare notes and theories. :-)

 

[Dreamy]

Spoiler

Ame's said before that neither route is a "true" rotue, they're just two alternatives.

I haven't done it yet, but supposedly if you do those six things to get the different champion fight, and then win phase 3 of that fight, you should remain on that alternate route for some late postgame stuff

 

[Eloquent Liar]

On 4/20/2022 at 10:18 PM, Dreamy said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Ame's said before that neither route is a "true" rotue, they're just two alternatives.

I haven't done it yet, but supposedly if you do those six things to get the different champion fight, and then win phase 3 of that fight, you should remain on that alternate route for some late postgame stuff

 

 

I personally......don't like that this was said at all and am highly disappointed with it even if (or perhaps especially because) it came from Ame's mouth herself, because-

 

Spoiler

-the unique Reshiram route has unquestionably more content lore-wise, down to meeting child Lin (early perhaps, maybe she shows up in Zek postgame but I haven't reached that yet) and learning more about her actual motives rather than a disembodied voice giving us vague meta implications. For all intents and purposes, that route has more content and more impact to the plot, so it is a "True Ending" in video game terms, even if Ame herself says that both can be equally canon as far as storyline goes.

 

I love this game, even if it has its down moments, but Ame saying that no ending is a "true" ending and then certainly giving one very specific set of circumstances more weight in the story than the other irritated me as somebody who was (falsely) reassured that I didn't have to worry about doing things perfectly in order to get a certain desired ending. It feels like a promise that was failed to be kept, to me.

 

[Mei-o_Scarlett]

zek route sorta makes more sense before the elite four

Spoiler

especially with stuff like florina being the one to confront fern instead of titania, im also guessing the zerk route is more the meta ending while the resh route is the normal ending

 

[MewZiikal]

Hello, I was kinda confused with the ending but upon reading this I am even more so. Would someone be so kind as to explain to me 

Spoiler

What changes between the two routes ? When or under what circumstances does one meet child Lin ?

 

[OmegaStellarSolare]

1 hour ago, MewZiikal said:

Hello, I was kinda confused with the ending but upon reading this I am even more so. Would someone be so kind as to explain to me 

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What changes between the two routes ? When or under what circumstances does one meet child Lin ?

 

It starts during final battle against Lin's team whatever Arc-Pulse is included in her team or it is fought after you beat Lin for second time where the real Lin appears. But you mustn't lose in the latter part.

[Glynda]

Spoiler

For anyone interested, tthese are the actions i took that got me the Anna postgame route:

 

>Beryl Ward: Refused to kneel to Fern, rescured the police officers and exposed Corey.

>Pyrous Mountain: Defeated Solaris.

>Yureyu Building: Didn't fight Sigmund, fought Sirius to rescue Anna.

>Tanzan Cove: Stopped Sigmund, Saphira taken.

>Ametrine City: Did not give Blake the Ruby Ring.

>Water Treatement Center: Did not fight Taka.

 

I'm interested in doing the other route on my second playthrough, so if anyone knows the steps you need to take to get it then please let me know.

 

[Fayt_Bouleouve]

@Glynda to add on to your comment, the exact specifications for the Anna Route are as follows:

• Save the 5 officers and expose Corey.
• Beat the initial Solaris encounter (Pyrous Mountain)
• Fight Sirius at Yureyu
• Stop Sigmund at Belrose Assault
• Side with Radomus when confronting Elias and Ditto-Arceus
• Don't give Blake the Ring in Ametrine
• Don't fight Taka at the Water Treatment Center

Most importantly: DON'T LOSE when fighting against Lin.  AT ALL!  Suffering defeat when fighting her will automatically put you on the other route.

 

To do the other route simply don't do one of these criteria.  If you want to make your Lin route different, go straight for the Zekrom route.

 

Ps. How can I flag this as a spoiler warning?  Can't find any prompt on mobile.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Fayt_Bouleouve

[OmegaStellarSolare]

@Fayt_Bouleouve. Is "Allowing Taka to join in Tourmaline Desert" required for Anna's route?

[Fayt_Bouleouve]

@SolareSupremo i don't think the official guide on discord mentions it as a criteria, but I would just to be safe.

[Tapu Fufu]

2 hours ago, Fayt_Bouleouve said:

@Glynda to add on to your comment, the exact specifications for the Anna Route are as follows:

• Save the 5 officers and expose Corey.
• Beat the initial Solaris encounter (Pyrous Mountain)
• Fight Sirius at Yureyu
• Stop Sigmund at Belrose Assault
• Side with Radomus when confronting Elias and Ditto-Arceus
• Don't give Blake the Ring in Ametrine
• Don't fight Taka at the Water Treatment Center

Most importantly: DON'T LOSE when fighting against Lin.  AT ALL!  Suffering defeat when fighting her will automatically put you on the other route.

 

To do the other route simply don't do one of these criteria.  If you want to make your Lin route different, go straight for the Zekrom route.

 

Ps. How can I flag this as a spoiler warning?  Can't find any prompt on mobile.

Spoiler

You can change it back to the Anna route by going into the saved games folder and making the Anna's wish file the game one. I know from experience. 

 

[TNTJ_357]

can someone explain to me how the routes work? First there was a zekron Route and a Reshiram Route. The Reshiram Route can be reached by doing certain choices. Than all of the sudden a Anna Route comes into play!. Is the Anne Route and the Resh Route the same or are there more thna 2 Routes?

[Eloquent Liar]

1 hour ago, TNTJ_357 said:

can someone explain to me how the routes work? First there was a zekron Route and a Reshiram Route. The Reshiram Route can be reached by doing certain choices. Than all of the sudden a Anna Route comes into play!. Is the Anne Route and the Resh Route the same or are there more thna 2 Routes?

 

Reshiram and Zekrom routes are based completely solely on whether you fight Taka in the WTC or not. Yes for Zekrom, no for Reshiram. There are no other choices required for this route split.

 

"Anna Route" is a Reshiram-based route/extra content that you only get by fulfilling the very specific criteria that other people in the thread have outlined.

[Blontary]

Spoiler

I would love to know the differences story-wise between the two routes. What happens, aside from having different fights? Is there maybe any summary somewhere (I suppose it is too early but you never know)? 

 

[cantamer]

I haven't finished the postgame yet but I'm curious about something. I think that I did all the steps above but during the 

Spoiler

Darkrai quest, Shiv refers to me as Lin, I can see Anna on the map and the Save file itself refers to me as "Lin" when I am in the Nightmare.

Do I have the Anna route or the Lin route?

[Vulnona]

On 4/23/2022 at 7:06 PM, SolareSupremo said:

@Fayt_Bouleouve. Is "Allowing Taka to join in Tourmaline Desert" required for Anna's route?

Absolutely. Refusing to let Taka accompany you in the desert will revert your playthrough to the Zekrom path.

 

 

Summary of the Differences on Reshiram, Zekrom, Lin, and Anna Routes

 

On 4/24/2022 at 12:40 AM, Blontary said:

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I would love to know the differences story-wise between the two routes. What happens, aside from having different fights? Is there maybe any summary somewhere (I suppose it is too early but you never know)? 

 

Spoiler

The choice between Zekrom and Reshiram path mostly affects how certain characters react to you or others.

• The most obvious change is Taka. On Reshiram, he accompanies the player in the desert, has loads of character growth and gives you plenty of additional information, but he later dies at Lin's/Titania's hand. On Zekrom, he never goes to the desert but finally betrays Team Meteor at Agate City.
• On Reshiram, Titania stays in the desert to bury Taka (damn, we never found his grave?! I mean that's good 'cause it gives me hope for the rest of the postgame, but DAMN! In the meantime, I'd like some gravestone to mourn and bring flowers to...), and that leads to Amaria losing to her depression and going all out to kill the player out of despair. Titania stops her and breaks up with Amaria, which is some sort of reality check for her and she pulls herself together for the final Labradorra fight. On Zekrom, Titania is present for Amaria's gym challenge and she remains trapped in her toxic relationship with Amaria.
• On Reshiram, Radomus gives more dialogue about his backstory, the crystal keys, and his past actions in the Glass Workstation.
• On Reshiram, Sirius stabs out Solaris' eye; on Zekrom, it's Taka's eye.
• On Reshiram, battle pairings and dialogue is different in the Tournament of Booty. Namely, the girls do not have a face-to-face earnest talk, and Cal and Victoria also have a different way of resolving their relationship.
• On Reshiram, Solaris wants to make a difference and has one final attempt to kill the player or Lin (I'm unsure) before Lin kills him off; on Zekrom, Taka openly breaks with his father and Solaris does nothing to make it seem like he cares for his son. Victoria confronts Solaris for his crimes at Charous Mountain, he dares her to kill him and stays behind to contemplate suicide until Lin approaches and kills him off.
• Oh Reshiram, Taka's Chatot will save you from an avalanche and then join your party. After saving Taka, you can show him his Chatot and he will lend it to you for the rest of the game.
• After the main game, Taka will accompany you in the Celebi event if you're on Zekrom; if you're on Reshiram, it's gonna be Elias (and MAN, I thought that sounded crazy/boring before I played it, but Elias certainly comes around - that was awesome!) On Reshiram, Elias also regrets that he failed in protecting the Alcantara bloodline and that he considers himself a failure.
• On a Reshiram file in which you beat Solaris on Pyrous Mountain, Taka is teleported to the present after completing the Dialga/Palkia event and has to be fought as an Umbral. He then resolves his shared past with Luna (Lukah) and they burn down the Sanctum. Taka then appears as a regular NPC at the nightclub and will later join the player for the Reshiram/Zekrom/Kyurem event. He will also develop a more fiery and determined personality. On a Reshiram file in which you lost to Solaris, Taka will not be revived. On Zekrom, one-eyed Taka will appear after the player has fought Dialga/Palkia and have an awkward dialogue with Luna before he leaves and she expresses regret. They do not burn down the Sanctum and Taka does not become more fiery.
• When you get to the Reshiram/Zekrom/Kyurem helix puzzle, a one-eyed Taka will accompany you on Zekrom and a fully intact Taka will accompany you on a Reshiram file in which you beat Solaris on Pyrous mountain. If you lost to Solaris on Reshiram, Zero will accompany you instead. On Anna's path, Anna will also tease you and show signs of Lin's corruption, while Lin will tease players on Lin's path and throw a Sunkern at Taka. (I have no idea what happens with Zero.)
• On both Reshiram, Zekrom, Lin and Anna, Titania and Amaria will be possessed and fight the crap out of each other. On Reshiram/Anna's path, Amaria saves Titania from drowning and the four girls acknowledge that they are no longer as close as they were in their youth. On Zekrom,... 
• On Zekrom and NoWinReshiram, you will have to solve the last Giratina puzzle. On SolarisWinReshiram & Anna's path, Taka will cut down the door with his Aegislash and attack Giratina. 
• On Zekrom, a one-eyed Taka will take up a job at the Spyce restaurant, which he isn't too good at. He'll meet up with the player there and have lunch with them. On SolarisWinReshiram, Taka and Adrienn make plans for a Reborn cultural heritage centre.
• On Reshiram, Taka will not be present at future Agate City (playable credits) because in this alternate timeline, he wasn't revived yet. On Zekrom, he is present. 

 

The choice on whether you are playing Anna's or Lin's route is outlined above.

• On Lin's route, you fight Adult!Lin two times and Child!Lin lets you go. On Anna's route, you fight Adult!Lin two times, then Child!Lin tries to kill you and Anna's Wish saves you. You then fight the real Lin (Child!Lin) with her PULSE-Arceus and Arceus rejects her. (Careful: Losing to Child!Lin will result in the game closing and your save file reverting to Lin's path. If you want to avoid that, soft reset the game or rename an old savegame file to stay on Anna's path.)
• On Lin's route, you remain her puppet and battle to her enjoyment. The credits claim all of the game was Lin's work, and Lin will talk to you throughout the game. A sleeping Anna can be found in the Cresselia quest and she will only awaken in the credits, when Noel wakes her up. But on Anna's route, Lin is really gone. Instead, Anna has become Dreamsick because she changed the world too much, so she vanished and no one except those closest to her can remember her. With her new powers, Anna tries to save a bunch of people, but she loses herself the longer she does this because Arceus' presence corrupts her. If you compare both paths, it becomes clear that you are listening to her side of a conversation between Anna and a Lin from a separate timeline (=Lin's path).
• On Anna's route, it's Samson who was abducted at Agate and whose Umbral you will fight to get him back. On playthroughs where you gave Blake the Ruby ring, it's Ciel who is abducted and rescued instead.
• On Lin's path, Terra and Lin are the final boss. Similarly, Anna is the final boss of Anna's path (in a gauntlet with Shade and Arceus).
• On Lin's path, you can save her and have her join the Nightclub. On Anna's path, this does not seem to be possible.
• On Anna's path, Anna will either hole up in the New World out of regret (malice option) or become a crime fighter with Shade (incompetence option). 

 

[Nexen57]

6 hours ago, cantamer said:

I haven't finished the postgame yet but I'm curious about something. I think that I did all the steps above but during the 

  Hide contents

Darkrai quest, Shiv refers to me as Lin, I can see Anna on the map and the Save file itself refers to me as "Lin" when I am in the Nightmare.

Do I have the Anna route or the Lin route?

Spoiler

If Anna talks to you in the New world then you are on Anna's route and if Lin is the one who talks to you then you are on Lin's route. If you already beat Child Lin then you are on Anna's route.

 

[Lunar Star]

can you be on annas route if you  do everything but fight sigmund? if not guess im stuck on the lin route XD

[Vulnona]

53 minutes ago, Lunar Star said:

can you be on annas route if you  do everything but fight sigmund? if not guess im stuck on the lin route XD

Yes, it would appear you are - sorry! 

But if it helps, I had the same problem on my first playthrough back in 2017. After 100+ hours of gameplay, I started a completely new file to tick all the Anna requirements. (I think it has payed off so far, though.) 

 

But according to Amethyst's post, people don't really "miss" stuff on whichever path they're on. You can go almost everything you can do on both paths, it's just events and dialogue that's different. 

(At least LET'S HOPE SO!) 

Spoiler

I've seen a screenshot of Taka with both eyes in a guide and that GIVES ME HOPE TO GO ON!! 

(And considering how we can apparently save everyone and their cat, Taka will be among them! I can feel it!!) 

 

[Lunar Star]

13 minutes ago, Vulnona said:

Yes, it would appear you are - sorry! 

But if it helps, I had the same problem on my first playthrough back in 2017. After 100+ hours of gameplay, I started a completely new file to tick all the Anna requirements. (I think it has payed off so far, though.) 

 

But according to Amethyst's post, people don't really "miss" stuff on whichever path they're on. You can go almost everything you can do on both paths, it's just events and dialogue that's different. 

(At least LET'S HOPE SO!) 

  Hide contents

I've seen a screenshot of Taka with both eyes in a guide and that GIVES ME HOPE TO GO ON!! 

(And considering how we can apparently save everyone and their cat, Taka will be among them! I can feel it!!) 

 

thank you i will do that but hey reason to play the game again no? i will take it XD

[Mei-o_Scarlett]

> If you want to avoid that, soft reset the game or rename an old savegame file

what does this renaming an old savegame file mean

i've seen it before but isnt renaming old save files just reverting back to an old save

[Blontary]

8 hours ago, Vulnona said:

Absolutely. Refusing to let Taka accompany you in the desert will revert your playthrough to the Zekrom path.

 

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The choice between Zekrom and Reshiram path mostly affects how certain characters react to you or others.

• The most obvious change is Taka. On Reshiram, he accompanies the player in the desert, has loads of character growth but dies at Lin's/Titania's hand. On Zekrom, he never goes to the desert but finally betrays Team Meteor at Agate City.
• On Reshiram, Titania stays in the desert to bury Taka (damn, we never found his grave?! I mean that's good 'cause it gives me hope for the rest of the postgame, but DAMN! In the meantime, I'd like some gravestone to mourn and bring flowers to...), and that leads to Amaria losing to her depression and going all out to kill the player out of despair. Titania stops her and breaks up with Amaria, which is some sort of reality check for her and she pulls herself together for the final Labradorra fight. On Zekrom, Titania is present for Amaria's gym challenge and she remains trapped in her toxic relationship with Amaria.
• On Reshiram, Radomus gives more dialogue about his backstory, the crystal keys, and his past actions in the Glass Workstation.
• On Reshiram, Sirius stabs out Solaris' eye; on Zekrom, it's Taka's eye.
• On Reshiram, battle pairings and dialogue is different in the Tournament of Booty. Namely, the girls do not have a face-to-face earnest talk, and Cal and Victoria also have a different way of resolving their relationship.
• On Reshiram, Solaris wants to make a difference and has one final attempt to kill the player or Lin (I'm unsure) before Lin kills him off; on Zekrom, Taka openly breaks with his father and Solaris does nothing to make it seem like he cares for his son. Victoria confronts Solaris for his crimes at Charous Mountain, he dares her to kill him and stays behind to contemplate suicide until Lin approaches and kills him off.
• After the main game, Taka will accompany you in the Celebi event if you're on Zekrom; if you're on Reshiram, it's gonna be Elias (and MAN, I thought that sounded crazy/boring before I played it, but Elias certainly comes around - that was awesome!)
• ...There are definitely going to be further changes, but I haven't gotten that far ^^"
• (Based on how positive the postgame is so far, there's gonna be a way to revive Taka on Reshiram, too. Anything else would be sadistic. Very, very sadistic.)

 

The choice on whether you are playing Anna's or Lin's route is outlined above.

• (I don't know if I remember this correctly, but on Anna's path, Anna remembers prior timelines; on Zekrom and vanilla Reshiram, she doesn't and it's just Nostra who gives her instructions. But I have no idea whether I remember this right.)
• On Lin's route, you fight Adult!Lin two times and Child!Lin lets you go. On Anna's route, you fight Adult!Lin two times, then Child!Lin tries to kill you and Anna's Wish saves you. You then fight the real Lin (Child!Lin) with her PULSE-Arceus and Arceus rejects her. (Careful: Losing to Child!Lin will result in the game closing and your save file reverting to Lin's path. If you want to avoid that, soft reset the game or rename an old savegame file to stay on Anna's path.)
• On Lin's route, you remain her puppet and battle to her enjoyment. The credits claim all of the game was Lin's work, and Lin will talk to you throughout the game. A sleeping Anna can be found in the Cresselia quest. But on Anna's route, Anna has vanished and no one except those closest to her seem to remember her. Anna is stuck in the void/New World in a place from which she can see everything and tries to save a bunch of people, but it's too much for her. She talks to you throughout your quests. Lin is absent in this route so far except for flashbacks.
• On Anna's route, it's Samson who was abducted at Agate and whose Umbral you will fight to get him back. On playthroughs where you gave Blake the Ruby ring, it's Ciel who is abducted and rescued instead.
• It is heavily hinted in dialogue that you will find and battle Child!Lin at the end of Lin's path again. Similarly, you might have to fight Anna at the end of Anna's path, but that's pure speculation.

 

You were awesome, thanks a lot :) 

[Vulnona]

10 minutes ago, Blontary said:

You were awesome, thanks a lot :) 

My pleasure! 

 

2 hours ago, Mei-o_Scarlett said:

> If you want to avoid that, soft reset the game or rename an old savegame file

what does this renaming an old savegame file mean

i've seen it before but isnt renaming old save files just reverting back to an old save

Yup, if you rename an old save file, you basically just go back to an old save. 

Spoiler

And that is really important if you lose to Child!Lin! If you lose to her, the game will close, overwrite your current save file and put you on Lin's path. You can ONLY avoid this by reverting back to an old save, namely: one before you lost. (I snuck in a save after the second fight, for example, just before Anna saves you). 

 

[Vulnona]

On 4/24/2022 at 4:24 AM, cantamer said:

I haven't finished the postgame yet but I'm curious about something. I think that I did all the steps above but during the 

  Hide contents

Darkrai quest, Shiv refers to me as Lin, I can see Anna on the map and the Save file itself refers to me as "Lin" when I am in the Nightmare.

Do I have the Anna route or the Lin route?

Spoiler

That happened to me, too, and I'm on Anna's path. I don't know if the quest is different on Lin's path, but Anna being there is a good indication that you're on Anna's path. 

 

[Ravenleaf182]

On 4/23/2022 at 11:58 AM, Fayt_Bouleouve said:

@Glynda to add on to your comment, the exact specifications for the Anna Route are as follows:

• Save the 5 officers and expose Corey.
• Beat the initial Solaris encounter (Pyrous Mountain)
• Fight Sirius at Yureyu
• Stop Sigmund at Belrose Assault
• Side with Radomus when confronting Elias and Ditto-Arceus
• Don't give Blake the Ring in Ametrine
• Don't fight Taka at the Water Treatment Center

Most importantly: DON'T LOSE when fighting against Lin.  AT ALL!  Suffering defeat when fighting her will automatically put you on the other route.

 

To do the other route simply don't do one of these criteria.  If you want to make your Lin route different, go straight for the Zekrom route.

 

Ps. How can I flag this as a spoiler warning?  Can't find any prompt on mobile.

Wait, one of those feels super super super hard...do you really need to win *THAT* encounter on the mountain for this route to happen? cus I'm going to have to readjust everything for that one encounter specifically...it also makes the anna route seem far more rewarding/proper then with how much has to go into achieving it

Edited April 30, 2022 by Ravenleaf182
wrong quote