Theories & Thoughts

[Luri]

On 8/5/2023 at 10:25 PM, Amare said:

 

1: Damn Atlases. Holding the weight of our frustration on their shoulders. But yeah, it's going to be really interesting when we finally meet the Elite Four/Three/π, unless they all turn out to be holograms or something. I feel like with this game, you *could* have them having the kind of personalities you'd expect from their reputations- Azura as an ice queen/stately noblewoman, Atlas as a noble hero, Damon as a bad boy- or maybe they'll all turn out to be frat kids or something.

 

Replies ^15:

 

I'd put Amelia in her twenties. Maybe somewhere between 22-28?

 

Yeah, I feel like Mesprit showing up is definitely going to lead into something bigger. And with the whole Dreamscape plot in E6, we're not done by any means. Maybe Azelf or Uxie will show up in the Dark Zone, who knows?

 

We definitely need all hands on deck, and I bet Reeve will enter the fray at the most appropriate moment, aka whenever he'd look the most stylish and/or save all our asses.

 

I suppose the question is, if Lilith *isn't* at Astraciel, where would she go and what's her intentions? Does she want to bring down Amelia and reclaim the Foxes? Does she want to destroy the Foxes? Does she want to join us? Is she building a Darkrai Death Ray? I do not know.

 

Oh God, not another gauntlet. Or hypnotised battle. But you're right, Deso has been pretty nice to us so far, which probably means it's going to stop being nice to us shortly. Or maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

I just realised something. Darkrai and darkness are a major part of this game, but nobody ever mentioned Cresselia. You'd think Darkrai's counterpart would be something everyone would be all over, but I don't think there's even been a line about her in the game. So where is she, and what happened to her? Did Darkrai lock her away somewhere, or try to wipe her from everyone's memories? Is Cresselia what Lilith's looking for? Do all the Pieces summon her if you put them together?

 

Yeah, we've kind of spiralled a bit. Hopefully we're an enjoyable read at any rate. We could start speculating on various characters' relationships if we want the devs to have more fun?

 

That's definitely true. Does darkness feed off emotions? Does emotional turmoil lead to darkness? We know Perfection allegedly stems from being in an unwinnable situation with impossible odds, but there must have been a bunch of people in situations like that whose Pokemon didn't attain Perfection, so what makes Lilith different? Was it that she was in the presence of someone who was under the influence/affected by a Legendary? Was it that she was feeling the right cocktail of emotions to attain Perfection? I feel like there's an interesting line of thought there...

 

It's probably full of Oricorio, or militant Flabebe, or Vileplume or something. Or maybe the field's actually haunted. Who knows?

 

The new Megas and Perfection forms are really good. I can't wait to see what Perfection Darkrai looks like. I wonder how Perfection forms for the other Eeveelutions would look?

 

There's also the fact that Darkrai's spent a ton of time in the Dreamscape, which screws with your mind at the best of times. It's entirely possible that Darkrai has some problems telling the Dreamscape apart from reality.

 

I definitely agree that those four NPCs have some kind of importance. I'm not sure what, but they're suspicious. We should probably keep an eye on them.

 

 

I guess the difference is that we had every reason to believe that Tristan was the Leader, while we've been explicitly told that Jarred is no longer the leader. But it's possible that we might fight him for a badge anyway, I guess.

 

I'm guessing the Astraciel leader is next, then Ava, then Vera, then Kairo. This is a long shot and I'm probably not remembering properly, but I recall there being a mention of someone who I think was called Delia in Astraciel Town who Reeve is on good terms with, I think she's the Astraciel leader. And no, we haven't been told much about Vera except that she's the Dragon-type leader and only appeared on TV once.

 

 

Thatttt they are lol It shall be, especially considering all the potential circumstances that we can meet them under. Welp, the Ayrith region has hoverboards…maybe they do have holograms? Or androids or something. That would be the cheekiest deception in the game. True I can very well see them with personalities according to reputations, or yeah, they can be a rowdy frat squad, totally opposite of their media personalities.

 

Replies ^{^}16 :

That’s roughly the age range I was thinking as well.

 

Yeah absolutely, there’s still more for us to uncover in the Dreamscape, most notably when it comes to the lake guardians. I wonder if something will happen once, we catch all three of them and bring them back to the Waterscape Temple.

If I remember correctly that odd book in the Waterscape Temple mentioned that Uxie is located in the mountains and Azelf is residing in the depths of Lapide. Considering that there were some rock-climbing spots north of the Waterscape that looks like it will lead to some rockier terrain, I assume that’s gonna lead to the mountains and Uxie. Lapide is another story. Since the only other non-explored route open to the protagonist is the Dark Zone, it’s possible Lapide either resides somewhere in the Dark Zone (maybe a branching path that leads out of the Zone?), or is situated on the other side of the DZ. In any case I do think Azelf is around there.

Oh absolutely, it’ll be both, he’ll make the most stylish entrance and save us in the nick of time ! I’m definitely looking forward to that moment.

 

 

That is quite a good question. I suppose where she’d go after her visit to the Astraciel relies heavily on what her motives are and what she accomplished in that field. Given the circumstances, however, I’d say that most of those motives (helping us, decommissioning the Foxes or reclaiming her seat as the Head of the Foxes) should have her located somewhere on Arcanius still.

A Darkrai Death Ray though…with the rate our merry band is going we may need it xD Maybe the Darkrai Death Ray is powered by Cresselia’s or Arceus’s energy or something and she’s on the hunt for them?

 

Haha I’m quite paranoid as well, no worries. All the antagonists are gathered nicely on one island, and we still haven’t seen Perfection Darkrai yet. Juuuuust waiting for things to go south, and we get hit with some challenges to up the ante. I’d be astonished if that didn’t happen.

 

 

True, given that they are the lunar duo and counterpart to Darkrai I’m surprised neither Reeve nor Ava had thought of the idea considering Darkrai is, in fact, real and not some myth.

It’d be pretty interesting if Darkrai somehow wiped her from everyone’s memories. It does have some capacity for manipulation, control, and altering memories…who’s to say it hasn’t? Other possibilies include her roaming the grid or something. Or one of the settlers had a Cresselia and it was one of the pokémon that perished due to that outbreak of Perfection wayyyy back when.

 

This may be a bit of a tangent but…I always kinda wondered why Team Crescent is named Crescent…and subsequently wonder if they will have something to do with Cresselia. Her motif is the crescent moon, and their motif is obviously silver crescent moons. Aside from that there doesn’t seem to be too many other connections I can see between the team and Cresselia.

If Lilith’s goal is to help take down Darkrai, then seeking out Cresselia would be an understandable course of action. Ya know…maybe Cresselia is residing in the Astraciel Wildwoods? That one journal of Shiv’s on the cruise mentioned some energy present in the Astraciel but when he tried to look closer, something in him pulls away…maybe that was Darkrai’s influence recoiling from Cresselia’s presence/energy? It’s a long shot, but hey, maybe that’s another possibility xD

 

It would be very interesting to have the pieces summon something that would be directly counter to Darkrai. The Lilith-detector and the Cresselia summoner are the ones I like the most.

Right now, she hasn’t been a factor in the main plot but there’s still time for her to make an appearance …only time will tell.

Though an interesting question is whether or not Cresselia would be of help in this situation. She has the power to dispel Darkrai’s nightmares, though could that stop the Dreamscape and Ayrith from merging?  Or even ending the dream itself? The Dreamscape seems too peculiar for it to be dispelled by a normal Cresselia.

Perfection Cresselia on the other hand…

 

 

Agreed! Ooh color me intrigued, what character relationships do you have in mind?

 

It is possible emotional turmoil leads to darkness, or at least the darkness is a metaphor for said turmoil or hopelessness. Heck, maybe it’s a physical manifestation of Perfection energy or something akin to that?

That’s an interesting idea, darkness feeding off emotions. We do know that, once a pokémon reaches a Perfection state they seem to exhibit maliciousness, anger, and or restlessness. Lots of negative emotions. And, while we don’t have any direct evidence for this, I have a feeling Darkrai wasn’t always malicious. It’s like the positive emotions were stripped away due to ascending to Perfection. Or fed upon/absorbed. Maybe even suppressed or lost somewhere.

Like you said one of the requirements for natural Perfection is those unwinnable odds, while the other is supposedly a bond, or love between trainer and pokémon.

The requirements for Perfection are very interesting in my opinion. Especially since there are quite a few people who end up targeted by Darkrai like Lilith was, you’d think that would be a scenario where quite a few pokémon reach Perfection.

It’s possible that Lilith did end up with the right cocktail of emotions and along with the strong bond of her Umbreon Perfection was achieved. Being in the presence of someone who was under the influence of a legendary is an interesting line of thinking. It does seem like those who are being influenced by Darkrai have something to do with the darkness field…maybe being in the presence of that darkness/presence plays a role in that somehow. The presence idea also works with the impossible odds as well.

 

Although Nova seems to really care for her Gothitelle. She even gives the protagonist an egg from her Gothitelle as a symbol of commitment to our cause and a hope that the protagonist will learn to trust in her again. However, her Gothitelle never reached a Perfection state, despite her ending up in a similar position. What differentiates her from Lilith in this case?

Is there something we’re missing? Does she not have a strong enough bond with her pokémon? Was her situation somewhat different?

 

 

Militant flabebe…that sounds like a fun scenario xD The flabebe or whatever resides there could be protecting some sort of secret there. Or hauntings could be a thing too since we don’t really know what sort of energy is permeating though those woods quite yet.

 

Honestly yeah, they really are. Props to the devs and artist for such great designs and sprite work ! I adore every mega evolution and Perfection Umbreon. I’m stoked to see Perfection Darkrai as well (haha I’m kinda hoping it ends up gaining Perfection next update just to witness what it looks like). If Umbreon is anything to go by I’m sure Darkrai will be just as cool, if anything a bit more menacing. I wonder if there are any specific design traits that are shared between Perfection pokémon or not…

Oh my gosh a whole squad of Perfection Eeveelutions… that truly would be perfection!

I’m most curious about Espeon, Vaporeon, and Sylveon although I’m sure every one of them would look really neat.

 

I actually haven’t thought about that, yeah…is the Dreamscape also affecting Darkrai? Is it even possible? I always thought it was kinda odd how Darkrai referred to Ayrith as the protagonists’ world, a new world…didn’t it originate *from* some other region in reality along with the settlers? Is its mind a bit muddled as well or something?

 

They are quiteee suspicious indeed, that’s the plan! I’m definitely gonna check on them every so often when the next version is out.

 

 

On 8/5/2023 at 10:46 PM, RocketOSullivan said:

Yeah that rings a bell, I remember something like this but not sure at all what exactly, maybe he mentioned her in the prison but you are definitely right, she probably is the next gym leader, followed by the others three in that order. Honestly Vera in 11 is pretty fine, both Reborn and Rejuv have a Dragon user as the ultimate gym leader, would be nice to break that loop.

 

I’m pretty certain we’ll see more of Jarred in the future… It’s possible he may show up in Astraciel or Darkroot considering how he just ends up everywhere the protagonist is. Plus, he seems to have ties with the elemental orbs/relic so maybe we will see more of him during our Ranger activities. We certainly haven’t seen the last of our blue bearded friend. Honestly, I wanna know why he was removed from the league, that should be an interesting story lol

 

And I do find myself agreeing with both of your predictions on the order of the gym leaders, especially with Kairo being the last.

The question is: what types do Delica and Kairo use?

 

Desolation is pretty good at doing their own thing at times, with there being 12 gyms and all. It’s quite possible they may shake up that rule the Reborn and Rejuv has set.

[RocketOSullivan]

I'm pretty sure one of them will use Dark types, maybe it comes out of nowhere but somehow I feel like it's already set and done. For Delia Fairy or Psychic would fit the light mushroom stuff themed Astraciel well, but those are already taken, so I guess I'd pick Dark for what would be closer to the theme but now that I think about it Bug and Poison would go pretty nicely along Astraciel as well, plus those types aren't represented in the Elite 4. And for Kairo if not Dark I have a strong intuition for Ground, a pretty solid type and not represented in the Elite 4 either.

[Amare]

On 8/8/2023 at 11:19 AM, Luri said:

 

Thatttt they are lol It shall be, especially considering all the potential circumstances that we can meet them under. Welp, the Ayrith region has hoverboards…maybe they do have holograms? Or androids or something. That would be the cheekiest deception in the game. True I can very well see them with personalities according to reputations, or yeah, they can be a rowdy frat squad, totally opposite of their media personalities.

 

Replies ^{^}16 :

That’s roughly the age range I was thinking as well.

 

Yeah absolutely, there’s still more for us to uncover in the Dreamscape, most notably when it comes to the lake guardians. I wonder if something will happen once, we catch all three of them and bring them back to the Waterscape Temple.

If I remember correctly that odd book in the Waterscape Temple mentioned that Uxie is located in the mountains and Azelf is residing in the depths of Lapide. Considering that there were some rock-climbing spots north of the Waterscape that looks like it will lead to some rockier terrain, I assume that’s gonna lead to the mountains and Uxie. Lapide is another story. Since the only other non-explored route open to the protagonist is the Dark Zone, it’s possible Lapide either resides somewhere in the Dark Zone (maybe a branching path that leads out of the Zone?), or is situated on the other side of the DZ. In any case I do think Azelf is around there.

Oh absolutely, it’ll be both, he’ll make the most stylish entrance and save us in the nick of time ! I’m definitely looking forward to that moment.

 

 

That is quite a good question. I suppose where she’d go after her visit to the Astraciel relies heavily on what her motives are and what she accomplished in that field. Given the circumstances, however, I’d say that most of those motives (helping us, decommissioning the Foxes or reclaiming her seat as the Head of the Foxes) should have her located somewhere on Arcanius still.

A Darkrai Death Ray though…with the rate our merry band is going we may need it xD Maybe the Darkrai Death Ray is powered by Cresselia’s or Arceus’s energy or something and she’s on the hunt for them?

 

Haha I’m quite paranoid as well, no worries. All the antagonists are gathered nicely on one island, and we still haven’t seen Perfection Darkrai yet. Juuuuust waiting for things to go south, and we get hit with some challenges to up the ante. I’d be astonished if that didn’t happen.

 

 

True, given that they are the lunar duo and counterpart to Darkrai I’m surprised neither Reeve nor Ava had thought of the idea considering Darkrai is, in fact, real and not some myth.

It’d be pretty interesting if Darkrai somehow wiped her from everyone’s memories. It does have some capacity for manipulation, control, and altering memories…who’s to say it hasn’t? Other possibilies include her roaming the grid or something. Or one of the settlers had a Cresselia and it was one of the pokémon that perished due to that outbreak of Perfection wayyyy back when.

 

This may be a bit of a tangent but…I always kinda wondered why Team Crescent is named Crescent…and subsequently wonder if they will have something to do with Cresselia. Her motif is the crescent moon, and their motif is obviously silver crescent moons. Aside from that there doesn’t seem to be too many other connections I can see between the team and Cresselia.

If Lilith’s goal is to help take down Darkrai, then seeking out Cresselia would be an understandable course of action. Ya know…maybe Cresselia is residing in the Astraciel Wildwoods? That one journal of Shiv’s on the cruise mentioned some energy present in the Astraciel but when he tried to look closer, something in him pulls away…maybe that was Darkrai’s influence recoiling from Cresselia’s presence/energy? It’s a long shot, but hey, maybe that’s another possibility xD

 

It would be very interesting to have the pieces summon something that would be directly counter to Darkrai. The Lilith-detector and the Cresselia summoner are the ones I like the most.

Right now, she hasn’t been a factor in the main plot but there’s still time for her to make an appearance …only time will tell.

Though an interesting question is whether or not Cresselia would be of help in this situation. She has the power to dispel Darkrai’s nightmares, though could that stop the Dreamscape and Ayrith from merging?  Or even ending the dream itself? The Dreamscape seems too peculiar for it to be dispelled by a normal Cresselia.

Perfection Cresselia on the other hand…

 

 

Agreed! Ooh color me intrigued, what character relationships do you have in mind?

 

It is possible emotional turmoil leads to darkness, or at least the darkness is a metaphor for said turmoil or hopelessness. Heck, maybe it’s a physical manifestation of Perfection energy or something akin to that?

That’s an interesting idea, darkness feeding off emotions. We do know that, once a pokémon reaches a Perfection state they seem to exhibit maliciousness, anger, and or restlessness. Lots of negative emotions. And, while we don’t have any direct evidence for this, I have a feeling Darkrai wasn’t always malicious. It’s like the positive emotions were stripped away due to ascending to Perfection. Or fed upon/absorbed. Maybe even suppressed or lost somewhere.

Like you said one of the requirements for natural Perfection is those unwinnable odds, while the other is supposedly a bond, or love between trainer and pokémon.

The requirements for Perfection are very interesting in my opinion. Especially since there are quite a few people who end up targeted by Darkrai like Lilith was, you’d think that would be a scenario where quite a few pokémon reach Perfection.

It’s possible that Lilith did end up with the right cocktail of emotions and along with the strong bond of her Umbreon Perfection was achieved. Being in the presence of someone who was under the influence of a legendary is an interesting line of thinking. It does seem like those who are being influenced by Darkrai have something to do with the darkness field…maybe being in the presence of that darkness/presence plays a role in that somehow. The presence idea also works with the impossible odds as well.

 

Although Nova seems to really care for her Gothitelle. She even gives the protagonist an egg from her Gothitelle as a symbol of commitment to our cause and a hope that the protagonist will learn to trust in her again. However, her Gothitelle never reached a Perfection state, despite her ending up in a similar position. What differentiates her from Lilith in this case?

Is there something we’re missing? Does she not have a strong enough bond with her pokémon? Was her situation somewhat different?

 

 

Militant flabebe…that sounds like a fun scenario xD The flabebe or whatever resides there could be protecting some sort of secret there. Or hauntings could be a thing too since we don’t really know what sort of energy is permeating though those woods quite yet.

 

Honestly yeah, they really are. Props to the devs and artist for such great designs and sprite work ! I adore every mega evolution and Perfection Umbreon. I’m stoked to see Perfection Darkrai as well (haha I’m kinda hoping it ends up gaining Perfection next update just to witness what it looks like). If Umbreon is anything to go by I’m sure Darkrai will be just as cool, if anything a bit more menacing. I wonder if there are any specific design traits that are shared between Perfection pokémon or not…

Oh my gosh a whole squad of Perfection Eeveelutions… that truly would be perfection!

I’m most curious about Espeon, Vaporeon, and Sylveon although I’m sure every one of them would look really neat.

 

I actually haven’t thought about that, yeah…is the Dreamscape also affecting Darkrai? Is it even possible? I always thought it was kinda odd how Darkrai referred to Ayrith as the protagonists’ world, a new world…didn’t it originate *from* some other region in reality along with the settlers? Is its mind a bit muddled as well or something?

 

They are quiteee suspicious indeed, that’s the plan! I’m definitely gonna check on them every so often when the next version is out.

 

 

 

I’m pretty certain we’ll see more of Jarred in the future… It’s possible he may show up in Astraciel or Darkroot considering how he just ends up everywhere the protagonist is. Plus, he seems to have ties with the elemental orbs/relic so maybe we will see more of him during our Ranger activities. We certainly haven’t seen the last of our blue bearded friend. Honestly, I wanna know why he was removed from the league, that should be an interesting story lol

 

And I do find myself agreeing with both of your predictions on the order of the gym leaders, especially with Kairo being the last.

The question is: what types do Delica and Kairo use?

 

Desolation is pretty good at doing their own thing at times, with there being 12 gyms and all. It’s quite possible they may shake up that rule the Reborn and Rejuv has set.

 

Replies ^17:

 

That does make a lot of sense. I have to wonder, how big is the Dreamscape in total? Between the twins and Nova, they populated it with a ton of people. IIRC, Nova said that all of the inhabitants of the Dreamscape are people like her and the twins, dreamers who Darkrai discarded, but can there really be that many people in Ayrith with dream powers? I know we've seen a few people around stuck in the dream, and Rosetta mentioned that she'd heard of people who'd been in Odis and woke up, but if everyone in the Dreamscape is a dreamer, shouldn't half of Ayrith be in a coma? Is it possible that at least some of the Dreamscape residents are actually figments/created by Darkrai, like Tristan was? Assuming that we'll be seeing at least one more settlement, it just doesn't add up.

 

I feel like it would make a lot of sense for Cresselia to have some kind of vital role in the endgame. For all we know, maybe there's another church/cult/whatever who worship her. Or maybe Darkrai had his agents lock her away, who knows? Maybe Lilith's looking for her?

 

Knowing the devs, they're going to make it extra painful. Like giving us a gauntlet battle where everyone has a new Mega or something.

 

Those are all really good ideas. I wonder what Perfection Cresselia would look like? ...maybe, if we're a settler, is Perfection Cresselia our Pokemon? For all we know, she thinks we're dead? Or something along those lines? Maybe Darkrai chased her out of Ayrith...

 

Holy shit, I never thought of that. Now I'm wondering something- Crescent's original goal was to put everyone in an awesome dream world, but why would anyone go to Darkrai for that, given that Darkrai's entire schtick is nightmares? It's not like that's a secret, either- everyone knows that Darkrai causes nightmares. So I'm wondering, what if Crescent's original goal was to try to get Cresselia to put everyone into the dream, but they got taken over by Nova, and Darkrai got them to change the goal a little or something? And Cresselia being in the Wildwoods would definitely make everything a lot more interesting.

 

You're right, I don't think regular Cresselia would have the power to take out Darkrai. But if the player winds up getting Cresselia and she attains Perfection, that'd be a whole other thing entirely. Maybe we'll be alongside Cresselia, Perfection Darkrai and their trainer bearing down on us, and then boom, time to get nasty.

 

I mean, I've been writing a fanfic that revolves around Reeve/Garret, Garret/Rosetta and Rosetta/Reeve, and that's just the start of it. Otherwise, I feel like Emily/Rosetta has potential. And I think a big part of the fandom ships MC/Tristan. Have you got anything in mind?

 

I know we've been asking what Perfection really is, but now I think we need to be asking what darkness really is. Because while 'the absence of light' is obviously part of it, it seems to be wound up in emotions and lots of other things. It's surprisingly complex. It also seems to be wound up with Perfection, so for all we know there's an extensive mythos around all of it.

 

...or we've been way overthinking things.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

It's true, with the Wildwood we could be getting anything from somewhere populated by evil faeries, to haunted by ghosts, to haunted by ghost trees, and so on. It'll be really interesting to find out what's in there.

 

I definitely think design traits between Perfection Pokemon is something to look out for.

 

I swear, if turns out that the Dreamscape was like the inverse reality of Ayrith all along, I'm going to throw something.

 

On 8/9/2023 at 6:39 AM, RocketOSullivan said:

I'm pretty sure one of them will use Dark types, maybe it comes out of nowhere but somehow I feel like it's already set and done. For Delia Fairy or Psychic would fit the light mushroom stuff themed Astraciel well, but those are already taken, so I guess I'd pick Dark for what would be closer to the theme but now that I think about it Bug and Poison would go pretty nicely along Astraciel as well, plus those types aren't represented in the Elite 4. And for Kairo if not Dark I have a strong intuition for Ground, a pretty solid type and not represented in the Elite 4 either.

 

Delica or whatever her name is could be a lot of things, but I'l go with Poison or Bug as well. Kairo, I'm inclined to say Ground (I would have said Rock but that's Azura.)

 

 

 

 

[RocketOSullivan]

Speaking of Azura, if it's the same pattern as Reborn that means each Elite 4 member will have 4 mons from Type 1 and 3 mons from Type 2, meaning they have one mon from both types in their team. In Azura's case it's Ice and Rock, meaning her only option left is Aurorus. So here is my assumption: Azura will be fought on Inverse Field, and I don't see any way I could be wrong on this one. Sure the Snowy Mountain is still an option, boosting both Ice and Rock moves, but Aurorus is way too weak to be part of an E4 member team, barring on the Inverse Field precisely, no need to add that both Ice and Rock types are incredibly powerful on this field, especially Aurorus. And the funniest thing in all of that, the only fight in Reborn main game held on the Inverse Field is against an Ice type specialist, who uses an... Aurorus. And the only Inverse Field fight in Rejuv is against the Rock type gym leader, who also has an Aurorus obviously.

Which is a thing I'm very hyped for, I love this field, pretty tricky but so much interesting, and feel like it is not highlighted enough in Reborn-like games, deserves way more love instead of this awful and dreadful Glitch Field. 

[Luri]

On 8/10/2023 at 10:32 PM, Amare said:

 

Replies ^17:

 

That does make a lot of sense. I have to wonder, how big is the Dreamscape in total? Between the twins and Nova, they populated it with a ton of people. IIRC, Nova said that all of the inhabitants of the Dreamscape are people like her and the twins, dreamers who Darkrai discarded, but can there really be that many people in Ayrith with dream powers? I know we've seen a few people around stuck in the dream, and Rosetta mentioned that she'd heard of people who'd been in Odis and woke up, but if everyone in the Dreamscape is a dreamer, shouldn't half of Ayrith be in a coma? Is it possible that at least some of the Dreamscape residents are actually figments/created by Darkrai, like Tristan was? Assuming that we'll be seeing at least one more settlement, it just doesn't add up.

 

I feel like it would make a lot of sense for Cresselia to have some kind of vital role in the endgame. For all we know, maybe there's another church/cult/whatever who worship her. Or maybe Darkrai had his agents lock her away, who knows? Maybe Lilith's looking for her?

 

Knowing the devs, they're going to make it extra painful. Like giving us a gauntlet battle where everyone has a new Mega or something.

 

Those are all really good ideas. I wonder what Perfection Cresselia would look like? ...maybe, if we're a settler, is Perfection Cresselia our Pokemon? For all we know, she thinks we're dead? Or something along those lines? Maybe Darkrai chased her out of Ayrith...

 

Holy shit, I never thought of that. Now I'm wondering something- Crescent's original goal was to put everyone in an awesome dream world, but why would anyone go to Darkrai for that, given that Darkrai's entire schtick is nightmares? It's not like that's a secret, either- everyone knows that Darkrai causes nightmares. So I'm wondering, what if Crescent's original goal was to try to get Cresselia to put everyone into the dream, but they got taken over by Nova, and Darkrai got them to change the goal a little or something? And Cresselia being in the Wildwoods would definitely make everything a lot more interesting.

 

You're right, I don't think regular Cresselia would have the power to take out Darkrai. But if the player winds up getting Cresselia and she attains Perfection, that'd be a whole other thing entirely. Maybe we'll be alongside Cresselia, Perfection Darkrai and their trainer bearing down on us, and then boom, time to get nasty.

 

I mean, I've been writing a fanfic that revolves around Reeve/Garret, Garret/Rosetta and Rosetta/Reeve, and that's just the start of it. Otherwise, I feel like Emily/Rosetta has potential. And I think a big part of the fandom ships MC/Tristan. Have you got anything in mind?

 

I know we've been asking what Perfection really is, but now I think we need to be asking what darkness really is. Because while 'the absence of light' is obviously part of it, it seems to be wound up in emotions and lots of other things. It's surprisingly complex. It also seems to be wound up with Perfection, so for all we know there's an extensive mythos around all of it.

 

...or we've been way overthinking things.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

It's true, with the Wildwood we could be getting anything from somewhere populated by evil faeries, to haunted by ghosts, to haunted by ghost trees, and so on. It'll be really interesting to find out what's in there.

 

I definitely think design traits between Perfection Pokemon is something to look out for.

 

I swear, if turns out that the Dreamscape was like the inverse reality of Ayrith all along, I'm going to throw something.

 

 

Delica or whatever her name is could be a lot of things, but I'l go with Poison or Bug as well. Kairo, I'm inclined to say Ground (I would have said Rock but that's Azura.)

 

 

 

 

 

Replies ^{^}18:

I do wonder that as well. It seems rather expansive...and we have no idea if there's more beyond the Dark Zone and Lapide.

I do remember Nova mentioning to Lilith that Odis Village is the culmination of discarded dreamers, although I can’t recall if she specifically says all of the Dreamscape is. Some NPCs outside of Odis have moved to their respective locations from the village and others reference places in Ayrith though everyone else is a big mystery.

It's quite possible that some Dreamscape residents, especially outside of Odis Village, are figments of the dream. Or something similar to that.

They have been targeting people for quite a while now…if more and more people started to fall asleep and never wake up again every year the region would be a lot more abuzz with concern. Absolutely.

Plus, I figure something must have inhabited the Dreamscape prior to the dreamer abduction plans since it’d be weird for Darkrai to create a vast dream like the Dreamscape and not have any inhabitants. So, either some of them are figments or maybe people who were caught up in the dream during its creation.

It is still an interesting question though…why do so many people have the ability to dream and have the capability to release Darkrai? Heck, what is even required to release Darkrai?

 

 

Yeah, I can see Cresselia being a component near endgame given her connections with Darkrai and all that. So far, the two things that seem like they would be able to beat Darkrai are either Perfection or Cresselia, maybe even a combination of both. Given all that both of those possibilities seem likely. I wonder where one could even hide a Legendary pokémon without it being found?

 

 

At the end of the gauntlet is a surprise battle with Perfection Darkrai starting on the second stage of the darkness field

 

 

Maybe Perfection Cresselia will lean into its celestial motif and elegance. I feel like a lot of the Perfection design elements from Umbreon could work well on Cresselia. And that’d make quite a bit of sense… one of the settlers did have a Darkrai after all. And it’s quite possible, if Darkrai and it’s trainer didn’t realize the protagonist was alive I’d bet Cresselia wouldn’t either.

 

 

Everyone knows except for Garret, who didn’t know what a Darkrai was lol xD I always assumed those in Crescent thought that because the Darkrai was special that it can control whether it unleashes dreams or nightmares upon someone.

I can totally see them chasing after Cresselia before Nova weaseles her way into Crescent and starts the hunt for Darkrai. That would be a neat way of explaining their team name. If that is the case, I assume they’d at least have some info about her status and location…if there is ever a Crescent team-up in the future, especially one where both Waldenhall and Darkrai are our targets, maybe they’ll share that info and we’ll go track down Cresselia. Either that or we could find the information while raiding another one of their bases or something.

I guess I never considered it but is the Dreamscape a dream or a nightmare?

Another possibility, albeit not sure if it’s intentional, is the fact their motif is of a waning crescent moon which is the last lunar phase before a new moon. In pokémon lore Darkrai is supposedly active during nights of the new moon…given Nova’s association with Darkrai maybe it was just a cheeky way of announcing Darkrai’s eventual arrival in Ayrith.

Oh! Another idea…it’s in the same vein as to why Cresselia might be hidden in the Wildwoods…maybe we’ll encounter Cresselia in Cellia. I mean the name alone sounds pretty close, and it’s the city of dreams. Maybe she’s hidden somewhere beneath the city in the Depths?

 

 

Absolutely, that’d be an epic way to face Darkrai and their trainer. Especially after gaining a Perfection Cresselia!

 

 

Ooh, that’s wonderful! Sounds like you have a lot planned for the fanfic. When it comes to relationships, the first ones that come to mind are any with Reeve, Garret, and or Rosetta, absolutely. Those three work well together  It’d be cute to see Emily and Rosetta though, definitely a secondary option right there. I’m pretty basic when it comes to ships xD Connor/Scarlett and Ava/MC…maybe it’s an odd one but Ava/Reeve mightttt work.

 

 

Yeah, for all we know we could be missing some mythos, oooooor we are just too blinded by the allure of the dark lol

Agreed, the darkness does seem to be a literal lack of illumination, and can be construed as void when the field is completely doused in shadow. And this gloom elicits feelings of hopelessness the more one becomes enveloped in it.

If the Dark Zone does indeed have anything to do with darkness or its field, then it’s possible that it is erosive and toxic as well.

By itself it feels very traditional for darkness, both in a literal and figurative sense.

One idea mentioned before is that it’s tied to Darkrai. The only move to advance the Darkness Field two stages is Dark Void. It’s also what the move does, drags its victims into a world of complete and utter darkness which puts them to sleep. It could probably be a manifestation of this dark void, maybe made possible due to the effects of the Perfection state it achieved before.

Plus, if the inscription in the Wildlands Cave is to be believed, presumably the cave is possibly where the dream started or where Dark Void was cast to create the dream? That may explain why any encounter in the cave takes place on the darkness field.

 

Although that doesn’t exactly explain why moves like Wish, being the only non-light-based move of the bunch, can reduce the darkness field by one stage, or why Last Resort can work on the first stage. They more coincide with the idea of Perfection, or at least the idea that hope and willpower can break through the darkness.

It could be possible that darkness isn’t tied to or the result of something, maybe it just is. There are Blessed and Holy fields that represent light and the power of Arceus. Maybe the Darkness field is just the representation of the other side of the coin, void darkness or some such.

Darkrai could easily be using the darkness to amplify its power and reach.

Another question we should be asking is where it originates from?

Also, side note the background for the title art is reminiscent of the darkness field.

 

 

True, it is called the Wildwoods after all. It could start off pretty whimsical but the closer you get to the secrets or Darkroot the more protective and haunted the woods get. Who knows?

 

Absolutely! It is possible Perfection pokémon may not share any design traits and may all be unique, akin to Mega Evolutions, but given the strict requirements of Perfection I’d be surprised if there aren’t some similarities between pokémon. I suppose we just have to wait and see :D

 

Haha the Dreamscape is just the equivalent of Lorule.

Crack theory time! …Darkrai and the settlers originated from a different realm/reality altogether and found Ayrith through Grid travel. There they discovered Perfection and the events of the Settler’s Ruins transpired. Afterwards Darkrai ran back to its reality where it decided to create a dream there and merged with its reality to become the Dreamscape. Then Darkrai lost its Perfection state and ended up stuck in the dream.

Realistically Darkrai just worded it like that since the Dreamscape is its creation, which seemed to have held some sort of significance for it at some point. And the fact it has most likely been stuck there for over a century by the looks of it.

 

Also, a side though but I was just thinking if Darkrai is totally okay with using and tossing away a figment of Tristan/Tristan’s spirit or whatever it was, it’d be pretty interesting to see it use a figment of Scarlett if she had perished in Blackview…certainly would be a fun consequence for failing…or willingly allowing her to die.

 

If there won’t be any more repeating typing, going forward I would peg Delica as poison. I agree with Kairo using ground types, it seems like a good candidate for him!

Speaking of Delica…if Delica and Reeve have a great relationship I wonder if this Delica person may have helped Reeve with Perfection research at some point?

 

On 8/11/2023 at 2:41 PM, RocketOSullivan said:

Speaking of Azura, if it's the same pattern as Reborn that means each Elite 4 member will have 4 mons from Type 1 and 3 mons from Type 2, meaning they have one mon from both types in their team. In Azura's case it's Ice and Rock, meaning her only option left is Aurorus. So here is my assumption: Azura will be fought on Inverse Field, and I don't see any way I could be wrong on this one. Sure the Snowy Mountain is still an option, boosting both Ice and Rock moves, but Aurorus is way too weak to be part of an E4 member team, barring on the Inverse Field precisely, no need to add that both Ice and Rock types are incredibly powerful on this field, especially Aurorus. And the funniest thing in all of that, the only fight in Reborn main game held on the Inverse Field is against an Ice type specialist, who uses an... Aurorus. And the only Inverse Field fight in Rejuv is against the Rock type gym leader, who also has an Aurorus obviously.

Which is a thing I'm very hyped for, I love this field, pretty tricky but so much interesting, and feel like it is not highlighted enough in Reborn-like games, deserves way more love instead of this awful and dreadful Glitch Field. 

 

Honestly, I had completely glossed over that pattern in Reborn, that’s pretty neat! If that is a pattern that will be adopted in Deso Hendrick will be the odd one out. So far it sounds like he only uses normal types instead of wielding two types like Azura, Atlas, and Damon.

I really like that idea though. It would give Azura a nice boost and end up calling back to Reborn and Rejuv. I enjoy the inverse field quite a bit as well, so I do hope we see at least one battle on it!

Following this pattern then Atlas could be using a Mega Charizard X or a Turtonator and Damon could be wielding a Mega Sabeleye or Mightyena.

Who knows what Hendrick will be doing.

The Ayrith League is certainly shaping up to be pretty atypical.

If Shiv is still the Champion in this region, he’s still walking around with his Aipom of all things on his team. A little purple monkey may win in the cuteness category, but it certainly isn’t a powerhouse. Aurorus has a higher base-stat total than it xD

[RocketOSullivan]

2 hours ago, Luri said:

If there won’t be any more repeating typing, going forward I would peg Delica as poison. I agree with Kairo using ground types, it seems like a good candidate for him!

 

Yeah and TM26 Earthquake seems like a very fair and adequate reward for the last badge.

Mega Mightyena seems more like Amelia-copyrighted, so I’d rather go for Mega Sableye in Damon’s case, Zard X for Atlas, a way better mon than Turtonator. Dragon’s Den field seems pretty obvious for him when you put two and two together, Hendrick might fight on Holy Field. Harder to say for Damon, either the Darkness Field, another brand new field, Dark Crystal Cavern or Short Circuit field if I have to take a guess. I also expect a brand new field, like Mushroom Stuff Arena, against Delica. No idea for the last three gym leaders, maybe Desert for Kairo if he is actually Ground, Vera either Holy Field if not for Hendrick or another new field, Ava there are so much fields that boost Grass moves, Forest field seems to be the most logical, Grassy Field is out of question, that would be the third time we fight on for a badge.

 

[Amare]

On 8/15/2023 at 1:44 PM, Luri said:

 

Replies ^{^}18:

I do wonder that as well. It seems rather expansive...and we have no idea if there's more beyond the Dark Zone and Lapide.

I do remember Nova mentioning to Lilith that Odis Village is the culmination of discarded dreamers, although I can’t recall if she specifically says all of the Dreamscape is. Some NPCs outside of Odis have moved to their respective locations from the village and others reference places in Ayrith though everyone else is a big mystery.

It's quite possible that some Dreamscape residents, especially outside of Odis Village, are figments of the dream. Or something similar to that.

They have been targeting people for quite a while now…if more and more people started to fall asleep and never wake up again every year the region would be a lot more abuzz with concern. Absolutely.

Plus, I figure something must have inhabited the Dreamscape prior to the dreamer abduction plans since it’d be weird for Darkrai to create a vast dream like the Dreamscape and not have any inhabitants. So, either some of them are figments or maybe people who were caught up in the dream during its creation.

It is still an interesting question though…why do so many people have the ability to dream and have the capability to release Darkrai? Heck, what is even required to release Darkrai?

 

 

Yeah, I can see Cresselia being a component near endgame given her connections with Darkrai and all that. So far, the two things that seem like they would be able to beat Darkrai are either Perfection or Cresselia, maybe even a combination of both. Given all that both of those possibilities seem likely. I wonder where one could even hide a Legendary pokémon without it being found?

 

 

At the end of the gauntlet is a surprise battle with Perfection Darkrai starting on the second stage of the darkness field

 

 

Maybe Perfection Cresselia will lean into its celestial motif and elegance. I feel like a lot of the Perfection design elements from Umbreon could work well on Cresselia. And that’d make quite a bit of sense… one of the settlers did have a Darkrai after all. And it’s quite possible, if Darkrai and it’s trainer didn’t realize the protagonist was alive I’d bet Cresselia wouldn’t either.

 

 

Everyone knows except for Garret, who didn’t know what a Darkrai was lol xD I always assumed those in Crescent thought that because the Darkrai was special that it can control whether it unleashes dreams or nightmares upon someone.

I can totally see them chasing after Cresselia before Nova weaseles her way into Crescent and starts the hunt for Darkrai. That would be a neat way of explaining their team name. If that is the case, I assume they’d at least have some info about her status and location…if there is ever a Crescent team-up in the future, especially one where both Waldenhall and Darkrai are our targets, maybe they’ll share that info and we’ll go track down Cresselia. Either that or we could find the information while raiding another one of their bases or something.

I guess I never considered it but is the Dreamscape a dream or a nightmare?

Another possibility, albeit not sure if it’s intentional, is the fact their motif is of a waning crescent moon which is the last lunar phase before a new moon. In pokémon lore Darkrai is supposedly active during nights of the new moon…given Nova’s association with Darkrai maybe it was just a cheeky way of announcing Darkrai’s eventual arrival in Ayrith.

Oh! Another idea…it’s in the same vein as to why Cresselia might be hidden in the Wildwoods…maybe we’ll encounter Cresselia in Cellia. I mean the name alone sounds pretty close, and it’s the city of dreams. Maybe she’s hidden somewhere beneath the city in the Depths?

 

 

Absolutely, that’d be an epic way to face Darkrai and their trainer. Especially after gaining a Perfection Cresselia!

 

 

Ooh, that’s wonderful! Sounds like you have a lot planned for the fanfic. When it comes to relationships, the first ones that come to mind are any with Reeve, Garret, and or Rosetta, absolutely. Those three work well together  It’d be cute to see Emily and Rosetta though, definitely a secondary option right there. I’m pretty basic when it comes to ships xD Connor/Scarlett and Ava/MC…maybe it’s an odd one but Ava/Reeve mightttt work.

 

 

Yeah, for all we know we could be missing some mythos, oooooor we are just too blinded by the allure of the dark lol

Agreed, the darkness does seem to be a literal lack of illumination, and can be construed as void when the field is completely doused in shadow. And this gloom elicits feelings of hopelessness the more one becomes enveloped in it.

If the Dark Zone does indeed have anything to do with darkness or its field, then it’s possible that it is erosive and toxic as well.

By itself it feels very traditional for darkness, both in a literal and figurative sense.

One idea mentioned before is that it’s tied to Darkrai. The only move to advance the Darkness Field two stages is Dark Void. It’s also what the move does, drags its victims into a world of complete and utter darkness which puts them to sleep. It could probably be a manifestation of this dark void, maybe made possible due to the effects of the Perfection state it achieved before.

Plus, if the inscription in the Wildlands Cave is to be believed, presumably the cave is possibly where the dream started or where Dark Void was cast to create the dream? That may explain why any encounter in the cave takes place on the darkness field.

 

Although that doesn’t exactly explain why moves like Wish, being the only non-light-based move of the bunch, can reduce the darkness field by one stage, or why Last Resort can work on the first stage. They more coincide with the idea of Perfection, or at least the idea that hope and willpower can break through the darkness.

It could be possible that darkness isn’t tied to or the result of something, maybe it just is. There are Blessed and Holy fields that represent light and the power of Arceus. Maybe the Darkness field is just the representation of the other side of the coin, void darkness or some such.

Darkrai could easily be using the darkness to amplify its power and reach.

Another question we should be asking is where it originates from?

Also, side note the background for the title art is reminiscent of the darkness field.

 

 

True, it is called the Wildwoods after all. It could start off pretty whimsical but the closer you get to the secrets or Darkroot the more protective and haunted the woods get. Who knows?

 

Absolutely! It is possible Perfection pokémon may not share any design traits and may all be unique, akin to Mega Evolutions, but given the strict requirements of Perfection I’d be surprised if there aren’t some similarities between pokémon. I suppose we just have to wait and see :D

 

Haha the Dreamscape is just the equivalent of Lorule.

Crack theory time! …Darkrai and the settlers originated from a different realm/reality altogether and found Ayrith through Grid travel. There they discovered Perfection and the events of the Settler’s Ruins transpired. Afterwards Darkrai ran back to its reality where it decided to create a dream there and merged with its reality to become the Dreamscape. Then Darkrai lost its Perfection state and ended up stuck in the dream.

Realistically Darkrai just worded it like that since the Dreamscape is its creation, which seemed to have held some sort of significance for it at some point. And the fact it has most likely been stuck there for over a century by the looks of it.

 

Also, a side though but I was just thinking if Darkrai is totally okay with using and tossing away a figment of Tristan/Tristan’s spirit or whatever it was, it’d be pretty interesting to see it use a figment of Scarlett if she had perished in Blackview…certainly would be a fun consequence for failing…or willingly allowing her to die.

 

If there won’t be any more repeating typing, going forward I would peg Delica as poison. I agree with Kairo using ground types, it seems like a good candidate for him!

 

Speaking of Delica…if Delica and Reeve have a great relationship I wonder if this Delica person may have helped Reeve with Perfection research at some point?

 

 

 

 

Honestly, I had completely glossed over that pattern in Reborn, that’s pretty neat! If that is a pattern that will be adopted in Deso Hendrick will be the odd one out. So far it sounds like he only uses normal types instead of wielding two types like Azura, Atlas, and Damon.

I really like that idea though. It would give Azura a nice boost and end up calling back to Reborn and Rejuv. I enjoy the inverse field quite a bit as well, so I do hope we see at least one battle on it!

Following this pattern then Atlas could be using a Mega Charizard X or a Turtonator and Damon could be wielding a Mega Sabeleye or Mightyena.

Who knows what Hendrick will be doing.

The Ayrith League is certainly shaping up to be pretty atypical.

If Shiv is still the Champion in this region, he’s still walking around with his Aipom of all things on his team. A little purple monkey may win in the cuteness category, but it certainly isn’t a powerhouse. Aurorus has a higher base-stat total than it xD

Replies 19^:

 

Now I can't remember, was it explicitly stated that Darkrai created the Dreamscape, or is that just what we all assumed? And yeah, why are there so many dreamers in Ayrith?

 

I feel like there's two answers to that question that suggest themselves: 1, catch the mon, stick it in a box and leave it there. 2, the mon basically hibernates somewhere safe, but not with a telling name like 'Fullmoon Island', somewhere like a cave in a mountain range that's normally impassable. (Or, now that I think about it, the mon hides somewhere like the Dreamscape. Maybe Cresselia made her own version, with Pokemon blackjack and hookers?)

 

I'll take a guess that Perfection Cresselia is strong against Dark somehow. We don't know if Perfection Darkrai will be another type, but it would make sense for Perfection Cresselia to be Fairy.

 

I imagine the schools in Cellia South aren't exactly renowned for academical excellence, sadly.  I think the Dreamscape would be classed as a lucid dream, but whether it's a nightmare or not really depends on how the dreamer sees it. As for finding Cresselia in Cellia, that's a very interesting idea. Maybe there's a gateway in the East Sewers or something? Or maybe she's in the sky above Cellia.

 

Honestly, it feels like a miracle that I've got as far as I have. I've got three chapters published and the next one is almost as long as all of them put together. I could also see Ava/Scarlett, and for some reason Aderyn/Sera just jumped into my head. Ava/Reeve could be really interesting, it feels like those two have some history.

 

Now I'm starting to wonder if we'll find places in Ayrith that resemble/approximate areas in the Dreamscape, like the cave and the lake. I feel like there must be some kind of equivalent in the real world.

 

It does feel like there's a lot more to darkness than we think. I wouldn't be surprised if we wind up encountering cults that worship darkness and light as sacred to Darkrai and Cresselia. As for the title art, that's a really good point. The Waldenhall/Reeve thing is obvious, but the triangles really are very reminiscent of the Darkness Field, and as for the wings... they look kind of like the ones of the statues that are all over Cellia East, but I don't know if that's what they're meant to represent. Some sort of angel reference?

 

I actually like that theory a lot. After all, IIRC we never learned where the Settlers originated from, and with the Grid being a thing, who's to say that they didn't come from another dimension or something? 

 

Oh daaaaaamn, I never even thought of that. But given how big a decision it was, I'd be lying if I said I'm not wondering if future episodes will have dead!Scarlett show up.

 

Double oh daaaaamn, I didn't think of that either. I guess I assumed that Reeve and Delica had mutual fashion interests, but maybe she does study Perfection. In that case, could she have some kind of link to Lilith? Is Delica Lilith's secret identity?

 

Somewhere in Ayrith, there's a trainer who beat the Leaders, got through the Elite Four and got swept by Shiv's Aipom. They never showed their face in public again.

[Luri]

On 8/15/2023 at 1:20 AM, RocketOSullivan said:

 

Yeah and TM26 Earthquake seems like a very fair and adequate reward for the last badge.

Mega Mightyena seems more like Amelia-copyrighted, so I’d rather go for Mega Sableye in Damon’s case, Zard X for Atlas, a way better mon than Turtonator. Dragon’s Den field seems pretty obvious for him when you put two and two together, Hendrick might fight on Holy Field. Harder to say for Damon, either the Darkness Field, another brand new field, Dark Crystal Cavern or Short Circuit field if I have to take a guess. I also expect a brand new field, like Mushroom Stuff Arena, against Delica. No idea for the last three gym leaders, maybe Desert for Kairo if he is actually Ground, Vera either Holy Field if not for Hendrick or another new field, Ava there are so much fields that boost Grass moves, Forest field seems to be the most logical, Grassy Field is out of question, that would be the third time we fight on for a badge.

 

 

That it does…which dashes my hopes of obtaining Earthquake before the final gym xD.

Amelia and Aurora-copyrighted. Mega Sableye would be a good fit and sorry Turtonator…maybe one day you’ll get a chance to shine.

The Darkness Field would be quite ideal for Damon assuming the Darkness Field isn’t a lore/story related field (outside of the Dark Surge ability that Mega Mightyena has). The second best would be the Dark Crystal Cavern. There isn’t much in the way of fields for Kairo if he is ground so the Desert Field for sure. Unless Vera or Hendrick get a new field then there may be some repeating fields. The Holy Field or another instance of Dragon’s Den would work for Vera.

The Forest Field definitely seems like quite a solid choice for Ava. Though I’d be curious to see how a battle against Ava on a Flower Garden Field would go.

A neon mushroom field would be pretty interesting for Delica, and fitting given what we’ve heard of the Astraciel. I’m sure it's possible to make a mushroom field that can work with poison or bug typings.

If she doesn’t use a new field, then there are a few fields that can work for poison types. And if she’s a bug type specialist then the Forest Field doesn’t seem too bad.

 

 

On 8/18/2023 at 1:48 AM, Amare said:

Replies 19^:

 

Now I can't remember, was it explicitly stated that Darkrai created the Dreamscape, or is that just what we all assumed? And yeah, why are there so many dreamers in Ayrith?

 

I feel like there's two answers to that question that suggest themselves: 1, catch the mon, stick it in a box and leave it there. 2, the mon basically hibernates somewhere safe, but not with a telling name like 'Fullmoon Island', somewhere like a cave in a mountain range that's normally impassable. (Or, now that I think about it, the mon hides somewhere like the Dreamscape. Maybe Cresselia made her own version, with Pokemon blackjack and hookers?)

 

I'll take a guess that Perfection Cresselia is strong against Dark somehow. We don't know if Perfection Darkrai will be another type, but it would make sense for Perfection Cresselia to be Fairy.

 

I imagine the schools in Cellia South aren't exactly renowned for academical excellence, sadly.  I think the Dreamscape would be classed as a lucid dream, but whether it's a nightmare or not really depends on how the dreamer sees it. As for finding Cresselia in Cellia, that's a very interesting idea. Maybe there's a gateway in the East Sewers or something? Or maybe she's in the sky above Cellia.

 

Honestly, it feels like a miracle that I've got as far as I have. I've got three chapters published and the next one is almost as long as all of them put together. I could also see Ava/Scarlett, and for some reason Aderyn/Sera just jumped into my head. Ava/Reeve could be really interesting, it feels like those two have some history.

 

Now I'm starting to wonder if we'll find places in Ayrith that resemble/approximate areas in the Dreamscape, like the cave and the lake. I feel like there must be some kind of equivalent in the real world.

 

It does feel like there's a lot more to darkness than we think. I wouldn't be surprised if we wind up encountering cults that worship darkness and light as sacred to Darkrai and Cresselia. As for the title art, that's a really good point. The Waldenhall/Reeve thing is obvious, but the triangles really are very reminiscent of the Darkness Field, and as for the wings... they look kind of like the ones of the statues that are all over Cellia East, but I don't know if that's what they're meant to represent. Some sort of angel reference?

 

I actually like that theory a lot. After all, IIRC we never learned where the Settlers originated from, and with the Grid being a thing, who's to say that they didn't come from another dimension or something? 

 

Oh daaaaaamn, I never even thought of that. But given how big a decision it was, I'd be lying if I said I'm not wondering if future episodes will have dead!Scarlett show up.

 

Double oh daaaaamn, I didn't think of that either. I guess I assumed that Reeve and Delica had mutual fashion interests, but maybe she does study Perfection. In that case, could she have some kind of link to Lilith? Is Delica Lilith's secret identity?

 

Somewhere in Ayrith, there's a trainer who beat the Leaders, got through the Elite Four and got swept by Shiv's Aipom. They never showed their face in public again.

 

Replies ^{^}20:

From what I recall Darkrai states that the Dreamscape is its world, definitely implying that Darkrai was indeed the one to create the dream. Lilith also phrases it as Darkrai’s dream… and Nova comments on how Darkrai actually crafting something beautiful in its creation when first entering the Waterscape. So unless there something Darkrai isn’t telling us I’d say it’s looking pretty likely Darkrai did create the dream.

I haven’t the foggiest idea why there are so many dreamers. Maybe Ayrith is home to many people who are naturally more likely to remember their dreams and experience lucid dreams? Maybe something about the region and its mysterious powers increases the likelihood of dreamers? Maybe dreamers have a generational connection to the Settlers or people involved with the events of the past?

 

So it is totally possible that Artem stumbled upon Cresselia in the Grid, or her domain or something and thought “Eh, why not?” before proceeding to catch and then toss her into the eternal PC prison. True, maybe there’s some undiscovered islands we still haven’t been to yet that could be housing Cresselia, like how Ruby Island was found not too long ago. Ooh casino dream let’s go! Who knew Cresselia has such a wild side xD It’s possible she’s also trapped in her dream the way Darkrai is.  

 

I can get behind that. My assumption is that Perfection Darkrai has the darkness field so I wouldn’t be surprised if it still kept its dark typing. If anything, maybe it’d gain a secondary typing of ghost. It’d make sense that Perfection Cresselia would be a fairy type to have an advantage over Darkrai. Assuming we can manage to keep the darkness field on the lower stages that is lol

 

Yeah, it most likely doesn’t…that’s okay though, it’s just one of Garret’s many endearing qualities . That is a fair point, the dream is certainly not the friendliest to some, and usually emotional reactions do distinguish dreams from nightmares.

Some NPCs mentioned how the East Sewers are being repaired and that there is a way into them from Cellia East so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Maybe during the repairs they will come across some odd room or something like the Northern Sewers that’ll lead to Cresselia? Oh, above Cellia would be quite a hiding spot. I certainly wouldn’t have thought about her hiding in the sky.

 

Wow, that’s quite an accomplishment, congrats on the progress you have made so far! If I may ask, where are you publishing them? I’d love to read your work .

Ava/Scarlett would be really cute! That would add a bit more sentimental value to Scarlett’s bow and the story behind it. Oh yeah didn’t Sera admire Aderyn? I can see that having some potential. It certainly sounds like they do. I’m certainly curious about that.

 

I was kinda wondering that myself…

If there are equivalents to the real world, I’d definitely say the cave, the lakes, and the shrines are most likely to have an Ayrithian counterpart for sure. If there is, then I have to wonder if the approximations are either fabricated like the twins’ manor or if they are actually the physical locations/constructions pulled to the dream.

 

Absolutely, my money is on darkness making a big splash later on in the story. I wouldn’t be too terribly surprised either. It’s possible Darkrai is already associated with the dark and we still have quite a bit of Ayrith left to explore. Next thing we know we’ll be seeing dedicated statues of them strewn about.

I’d hazard a guess and say yeah, they could be the statues from Cellia East. If you look closely there seems to be a part of the lantern which looks similar to the ones that the statues in CE hold (it’s better seen on the banner for the Public Club). Although unlike their CE counterparts, they don’t seem to have those kintsugi-like cracks or streaks running along their wings, or the rest of them for that matter. If they are supposed to be the same, it’s an interesting difference to have.

I’d say it depends on if they are supposed to reflect the ones from CE or not…cause there’s some interesting design elements going on with the ones in Cellia East that could possibly lead to different implications. If not it’s possible it may be an angel reference. Angels can mean quite a few things… it’s certainly interesting to have them in conjunction with the potential darkness and Waldenhall of all things lol

 

Yeah, I don’t think we’ve ever got any information about where they came from.

Plus, Reeve mentioned Perfection being something more than a source of energy or power, the end results seem to lead to a different plane of existence. Obviously with the Grid, the Dreamscape, and wherever Perfection can lead shows there are different dimensions at play here…it’s not too farfetched to assume that the Settlers weren’t originally from the reality we know as Ayrith.

Even if the theory is way off the mark, I still think it’d be kinda neat to find out where they were prior to stumbling upon Ayrith.

 

It’s certainly a decision that has intrigued me for a few episodes now.

Maybe next episode? Darkrai wants the party distracted for whatever reason. A dead!Scarlett showing up would certainly shake up Connor and the protagonist…and possibly Emily. Maybe we’ll have a neato battle with her? If not, I’m also wondering if she will appear in future episodes for something else.

Or Darkrai succeeds in merging Ayrith and the dream to a certain extent and like a figment of Scarlett shows up or something.

 

Haha my mind is apparently the opposite, I totally did not think of the fact that Reeve and Delica could have mutual fashion interests xD Between connections with Reeve and residing near Kanzen Temple she could have been involved with Perfection at some point, or at the very least aided Reeve in his endeavors in some capacity. Or they simply enjoy exchanging fashion tips and design elements for their respective towns.

Oh man that implies Lilith is a gym leader if Delica is Lilith’s secret identity…here comes round 2 of the Darkness Field Perfection Umbreon battle!

That is quite an interesting question though, maybe she does have some kind of link with Lilith.

I was wondering…do we know where Lilith originates from? Obviously, she has ties to a field in the Astraciel Wildwoods, so if we don’t know where she’s from maybe she hails from Astraciel? If that’s the case, it’s totally possible Delica at least knows a bit more about Lilith. Maybe Lilith chatted with her before her whole disappearing act?

 

The rumors say that even to this day the faintest shades of purple send shivers down the trainer’s spine and gives them flashbacks of that grinning mischievous monkey.

 

So, I was perusing the badges, as one does, when I noticed Reeve’s badge has a similar color scheme to the Perfection symbol that appears near Perfection Umbreon's name when we duke it out with Lilith. Pretty neat!

I swear every time I craft a response I find like 50 new things I hadn’t realized or thought about before…at this rate I’ll be discovering things up until the day E7 is released

[Amare]

On 8/21/2023 at 4:50 PM, Luri said:

 

That it does…which dashes my hopes of obtaining Earthquake before the final gym xD.

Amelia and Aurora-copyrighted. Mega Sableye would be a good fit and sorry Turtonator…maybe one day you’ll get a chance to shine.

The Darkness Field would be quite ideal for Damon assuming the Darkness Field isn’t a lore/story related field (outside of the Dark Surge ability that Mega Mightyena has). The second best would be the Dark Crystal Cavern. There isn’t much in the way of fields for Kairo if he is ground so the Desert Field for sure. Unless Vera or Hendrick get a new field then there may be some repeating fields. The Holy Field or another instance of Dragon’s Den would work for Vera.

The Forest Field definitely seems like quite a solid choice for Ava. Though I’d be curious to see how a battle against Ava on a Flower Garden Field would go.

A neon mushroom field would be pretty interesting for Delica, and fitting given what we’ve heard of the Astraciel. I’m sure it's possible to make a mushroom field that can work with poison or bug typings.

If she doesn’t use a new field, then there are a few fields that can work for poison types. And if she’s a bug type specialist then the Forest Field doesn’t seem too bad.

 

 

 

Replies ^{^}20:

From what I recall Darkrai states that the Dreamscape is its world, definitely implying that Darkrai was indeed the one to create the dream. Lilith also phrases it as Darkrai’s dream… and Nova comments on how Darkrai actually crafting something beautiful in its creation when first entering the Waterscape. So unless there something Darkrai isn’t telling us I’d say it’s looking pretty likely Darkrai did create the dream.

I haven’t the foggiest idea why there are so many dreamers. Maybe Ayrith is home to many people who are naturally more likely to remember their dreams and experience lucid dreams? Maybe something about the region and its mysterious powers increases the likelihood of dreamers? Maybe dreamers have a generational connection to the Settlers or people involved with the events of the past?

 

So it is totally possible that Artem stumbled upon Cresselia in the Grid, or her domain or something and thought “Eh, why not?” before proceeding to catch and then toss her into the eternal PC prison. True, maybe there’s some undiscovered islands we still haven’t been to yet that could be housing Cresselia, like how Ruby Island was found not too long ago. Ooh casino dream let’s go! Who knew Cresselia has such a wild side xD It’s possible she’s also trapped in her dream the way Darkrai is.  

 

I can get behind that. My assumption is that Perfection Darkrai has the darkness field so I wouldn’t be surprised if it still kept its dark typing. If anything, maybe it’d gain a secondary typing of ghost. It’d make sense that Perfection Cresselia would be a fairy type to have an advantage over Darkrai. Assuming we can manage to keep the darkness field on the lower stages that is lol

 

Yeah, it most likely doesn’t…that’s okay though, it’s just one of Garret’s many endearing qualities . That is a fair point, the dream is certainly not the friendliest to some, and usually emotional reactions do distinguish dreams from nightmares.

Some NPCs mentioned how the East Sewers are being repaired and that there is a way into them from Cellia East so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Maybe during the repairs they will come across some odd room or something like the Northern Sewers that’ll lead to Cresselia? Oh, above Cellia would be quite a hiding spot. I certainly wouldn’t have thought about her hiding in the sky.

 

Wow, that’s quite an accomplishment, congrats on the progress you have made so far! If I may ask, where are you publishing them? I’d love to read your work .

Ava/Scarlett would be really cute! That would add a bit more sentimental value to Scarlett’s bow and the story behind it. Oh yeah didn’t Sera admire Aderyn? I can see that having some potential. It certainly sounds like they do. I’m certainly curious about that.

 

 

I was kinda wondering that myself…

If there are equivalents to the real world, I’d definitely say the cave, the lakes, and the shrines are most likely to have an Ayrithian counterpart for sure. If there is, then I have to wonder if the approximations are either fabricated like the twins’ manor or if they are actually the physical locations/constructions pulled to the dream.

 

Absolutely, my money is on darkness making a big splash later on in the story. I wouldn’t be too terribly surprised either. It’s possible Darkrai is already associated with the dark and we still have quite a bit of Ayrith left to explore. Next thing we know we’ll be seeing dedicated statues of them strewn about.

I’d hazard a guess and say yeah, they could be the statues from Cellia East. If you look closely there seems to be a part of the lantern which looks similar to the ones that the statues in CE hold (it’s better seen on the banner for the Public Club). Although unlike their CE counterparts, they don’t seem to have those kintsugi-like cracks or streaks running along their wings, or the rest of them for that matter. If they are supposed to be the same, it’s an interesting difference to have.

I’d say it depends on if they are supposed to reflect the ones from CE or not…cause there’s some interesting design elements going on with the ones in Cellia East that could possibly lead to different implications. If not it’s possible it may be an angel reference. Angels can mean quite a few things… it’s certainly interesting to have them in conjunction with the potential darkness and Waldenhall of all things lol

 

Yeah, I don’t think we’ve ever got any information about where they came from.

Plus, Reeve mentioned Perfection being something more than a source of energy or power, the end results seem to lead to a different plane of existence. Obviously with the Grid, the Dreamscape, and wherever Perfection can lead shows there are different dimensions at play here…it’s not too farfetched to assume that the Settlers weren’t originally from the reality we know as Ayrith.

Even if the theory is way off the mark, I still think it’d be kinda neat to find out where they were prior to stumbling upon Ayrith.

 

It’s certainly a decision that has intrigued me for a few episodes now.

Maybe next episode? Darkrai wants the party distracted for whatever reason. A dead!Scarlett showing up would certainly shake up Connor and the protagonist…and possibly Emily. Maybe we’ll have a neato battle with her? If not, I’m also wondering if she will appear in future episodes for something else.

Or Darkrai succeeds in merging Ayrith and the dream to a certain extent and like a figment of Scarlett shows up or something.

 

Haha my mind is apparently the opposite, I totally did not think of the fact that Reeve and Delica could have mutual fashion interests xD Between connections with Reeve and residing near Kanzen Temple she could have been involved with Perfection at some point, or at the very least aided Reeve in his endeavors in some capacity. Or they simply enjoy exchanging fashion tips and design elements for their respective towns.

Oh man that implies Lilith is a gym leader if Delica is Lilith’s secret identity…here comes round 2 of the Darkness Field Perfection Umbreon battle!

That is quite an interesting question though, maybe she does have some kind of link with Lilith.

I was wondering…do we know where Lilith originates from? Obviously, she has ties to a field in the Astraciel Wildwoods, so if we don’t know where she’s from maybe she hails from Astraciel? If that’s the case, it’s totally possible Delica at least knows a bit more about Lilith. Maybe Lilith chatted with her before her whole disappearing act?

 

The rumors say that even to this day the faintest shades of purple send shivers down the trainer’s spine and gives them flashbacks of that grinning mischievous monkey.

 

So, I was perusing the badges, as one does, when I noticed Reeve’s badge has a similar color scheme to the Perfection symbol that appears near Perfection Umbreon's name when we duke it out with Lilith. Pretty neat!

I swear every time I craft a response I find like 50 new things I hadn’t realized or thought about before…at this rate I’ll be discovering things up until the day E7 is released

 

Replies ^21:

 

OK, so that makes me wonder: when did Darkrai make the Dreamscape? Did he make it back when he'd still had his Perfection form? Is the increased number of dreamers in Ayrith a response to the Dreamscape's existence?

 

Yeah, Cresselia could well be trapped in her own Dreamscape, or something. Or maybe she's in the depths of the Grid. (Maybe Eden's going to ride out of the Grid on Cresselia's back, they attain Perfection and kick Darkrai/Waldenhall's asses?)

 

I can see Dark/Ghost Perfection Darkrai, but maybe it'll become a total abomination and wind up as Dark/Dragon or Dark/Fire or something, who knows. And it'll have like sixty eyes and five wings or something.

 

Maybe the Pieces will lead us to Cresselia? I definitely think there's more to the East Sewers than we think (which, given that they canonically contained a Crescent hideout, is saying something). And the North Sewers led to that cave system, so maybe there's more caves beneath Cellia. I think we might be on to something here...

 

They're on AO3, you can see what I've got so far here. I've been thinking about posting it in the art thread, but I'm not sure if fic is eligible, and also the first few chapters get really dark and later chapters get really smutty. (And dark.) I hope you enjoy it!

 

Yeah, Sera and Aderyn would be good. And Dan/Lucas would be adorable in a 'these two dumbasses should hook up' way.

 

Like, I guess you could say Odis is the counterpart to Addenfall, but it's not really much of a counterpart... Hmm.

 

Maybe we'll get something like that bit in Reborn where the PC gets swallowed by a black hole, winds up in the void and sees weird shit going on. (Technically we kind of already did before the big Darkrai fight, so maybe we'll get a longer reprise?)

 

It's also a pretty interesting thing to have scattered all over a city. Statues, fine, but why so many angel statues? Did Reeve put them in specifically, or did someone in the Council put them in?

 

Otherwise, I'm not sure. Maybe the entity in the mirror is like a fallen angel or something, who knows?

 

It turns out the whole game was a giant crossover with Insurgence and nobody in Ayrith is human. Surprise! *jazz hands*

 

I feel like there's some real potential there. Darkrai may do dreams and not illusions as such, but he's been able to fuck with the player before, with the whole Tristan thing. For all we know, he could start trying to drive the player insane- Ava nearly died in the lava, and depending on the player's actions Scarlett could have died in Blackview, so Darkrai could throw apparitions of dead Ava and dead Scarlett at us- or he could just start sending the player awful nightmares.

 

Oh God no, not another Darkness Field Perfection Umbreon battle, please...

 

I can't remember where Reeve talks about Delica, so I can't recall what exactly he said about her. I might try again at another time. But for all we know, she's another fashionista scientist, lmao.

 

IIRC, Garret said that Lilith's from Cellia, but it's possible that she was born somewhere else and moved to Cellia as a child, or that she deliberately left Cellia to train.

 

That is a good find. And it makes a lot of sense, too. (And yeah, it's one of the reasons why I love this game so much, there's always so much more to discover and talk about.)

[Luri]

On 8/22/2023 at 11:33 PM, Amare said:

 

Replies ^21:

 

OK, so that makes me wonder: when did Darkrai make the Dreamscape? Did he make it back when he'd still had his Perfection form? Is the increased number of dreamers in Ayrith a response to the Dreamscape's existence?

 

Yeah, Cresselia could well be trapped in her own Dreamscape, or something. Or maybe she's in the depths of the Grid. (Maybe Eden's going to ride out of the Grid on Cresselia's back, they attain Perfection and kick Darkrai/Waldenhall's asses?)

 

I can see Dark/Ghost Perfection Darkrai, but maybe it'll become a total abomination and wind up as Dark/Dragon or Dark/Fire or something, who knows. And it'll have like sixty eyes and five wings or something.

 

Maybe the Pieces will lead us to Cresselia? I definitely think there's more to the East Sewers than we think (which, given that they canonically contained a Crescent hideout, is saying something). And the North Sewers led to that cave system, so maybe there's more caves beneath Cellia. I think we might be on to something here...

 

They're on AO3, you can see what I've got so far here. I've been thinking about posting it in the art thread, but I'm not sure if fic is eligible, and also the first few chapters get really dark and later chapters get really smutty. (And dark.) I hope you enjoy it!

 

Yeah, Sera and Aderyn would be good. And Dan/Lucas would be adorable in a 'these two dumbasses should hook up' way.

 

Like, I guess you could say Odis is the counterpart to Addenfall, but it's not really much of a counterpart... Hmm.

 

Maybe we'll get something like that bit in Reborn where the PC gets swallowed by a black hole, winds up in the void and sees weird shit going on. (Technically we kind of already did before the big Darkrai fight, so maybe we'll get a longer reprise?)

 

It's also a pretty interesting thing to have scattered all over a city. Statues, fine, but why so many angel statues? Did Reeve put them in specifically, or did someone in the Council put them in?

 

Otherwise, I'm not sure. Maybe the entity in the mirror is like a fallen angel or something, who knows?

 

It turns out the whole game was a giant crossover with Insurgence and nobody in Ayrith is human. Surprise! *jazz hands*

 

I feel like there's some real potential there. Darkrai may do dreams and not illusions as such, but he's been able to fuck with the player before, with the whole Tristan thing. For all we know, he could start trying to drive the player insane- Ava nearly died in the lava, and depending on the player's actions Scarlett could have died in Blackview, so Darkrai could throw apparitions of dead Ava and dead Scarlett at us- or he could just start sending the player awful nightmares.

 

Oh God no, not another Darkness Field Perfection Umbreon battle, please...

 

I can't remember where Reeve talks about Delica, so I can't recall what exactly he said about her. I might try again at another time. But for all we know, she's another fashionista scientist, lmao.

 

IIRC, Garret said that Lilith's from Cellia, but it's possible that she was born somewhere else and moved to Cellia as a child, or that she deliberately left Cellia to train.

 

That is a good find. And it makes a lot of sense, too. (And yeah, it's one of the reasons why I love this game so much, there's always so much more to discover and talk about.)

 

Replies ^{^}22:

 

Yeah, it’s probably likely it created the Dreamscape while it still had the Perfection form since the Dreamscape has some oddities like the lakes that don’t seem like they could be constructed by a normal Darkrai. There is always the possibility that it could have created it after losing the Perfection state if it still had some residual power left over. Or maybe it created the Dreamscape on the cusp of losing the Perfection state. Whenever the Dreamscape was created, I’m sure it was quite a whileee ago.

Also, it’s definitely a possibility. And since the Dreamscape was crafted by Darkrai, who is well known for drawing people into nightmares involuntarily, maybe there’s an unnatural pull from the Dreamscape when the people of Ayrith sleep. Or something along those lines anyways. Those who can traverse between reality and dream are those who become lucid.

Another set of particularly interesting questions are why would Darkrai create this dream? What sort of significance did it hold for it? Why is it displeased by the stagnant way of life in Odis and the Dreamscape…doesn’t it hold dominion over the Dreamscape? Can’t it just alter the dream to fix this issue (unless that’s only possible if it is in the Perfection state…then never mind lol)?

 

There’s so many locations Cresselia could be found in, my goodness.

Another location Cresselia could be hiding out in is Majira’s Rest. He could have scooped up Cresselia and hid her away from Darkrai and his helpers, so they don’t try and banish her to the shadow realm or something. Or crazier idea, maybe it isn’t Cresselia hidden there but a mega stone for her? Or maybe some special Perfection serum to make Perfection Cresselia or something?

Also, a bit of a side question…

What exactly are the “threats of old” mentioned in Majira’s Log? Obviously, it couldn’t be Crescent since it says they are no more at the time, maybe the Black Foxes or something?

Okay that’d be pretty epic. We may not have Nova riding on Moltres anymore, but we could have Eden swooping in on Cresselia to save the day. I’m quite alright with that trade-off.

 

I can see it being Dark/Fire, it’s kinda wispy looking enough for it to pull off a fire typing. Dark/Dragon would be one of the more unique ones. Now I’m really curious if it will have a secondary typing.

Dear lord I’m just imagining a biblically accurate angel fused with Darkrai… that, indeed, would be the stuff of nightmares (and kinda cool) xD

 

That’d be a nice reward for the pieces. Also, kinda fitting the reward would be a pokémon that’s canonically the counterpart to Darkrai.

It’s quite a possibility, plus with Cellia being the capital of the Islands and all that I’m sure there are still a few surprises in store for us there. We may be…the question is what resides underneath there?

It seems like most islands in Ayrith have some sort of underground caverns or chambers: Amaria has the Vejyr Core (does the Core count as an underground location?), Cellia has the Depths and the sewers, and Arcanius has a large underground section and the Settler’s Ruins. If this is a theme, then I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something hidden under Hydreilius as well.

Speaking of those pieces…

There will be another one in Cellia, according to the Q-log so maybe it will be chilling in the portion of the East sewers we can’t get to currently. Or maybe the Cellia piece will be the last one and will just be handed to us, along with some instructions on what they are even for lol.

I also wonder how many pieces are left anyways. Surely it can’t be thatttt many. For a while it looked like they were following a rainbow spectrum meaning we were at least missing orange but with the appearance of a black piece I suppose that thought is out the window. If one appears on Hydreilius then there’s at least two left. I’m guessing orange and white.

 

Yeah, that’s quite understandable, I’m not quite sure myself. If that’s something ya wanna do, maybe ya can make an inquiry about it. I read through your available chapters and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s well thought out and quite a fun read (poor Reeve, I feel for him) I’m definitely looking forward to your next chapters!

Totally. I can see it now; they get paired together on a ranger mission and adorable hijinks ensue. Dan/Lucas for sure, I’ll root for that too xD

 

Odis does definitely have Addenfall vibes. Maybe instead of counterparts or a one-to-one replica maybe Darkrai took inspiration from places in Ayrith. Or Odis was influenced by the twins since they had a hand in filling the town with its residents?

Or maybe places in the Dreamscape like Odis village and whatnot were what the settlements a century ago looked like?

Maybe it’s a mixture of older settlements from the past and newer towns in the present?

 

Oh, that’s something I hadn’t thought of…it could be possible. There’s always some weird stuff going on in Ayrith: haunted restricted sections in the library, haunted graveyards that can retell people’s memories, a voltaic tree, and two different dimensions.

I wouldn’t be surprised if our protagonist gets the equivalent of being voided here too, or at least ends up in a situation similar to that. Especially if Darkrai, the entity, and/or Waldenhall decides to go on the offensive. I wonder what weird and wonderfully unnerving things we may see in that scenario.

 

And a prison of all things too. Why are there so many of them? Why is there a masculine and a feminine one? Why are both of them missing an arm? What’s up with the golden steaks? Why are they so cool looking? Why do I wanna steal one and take it back to the protagonist’s manor as a decoration? xD

Well, initially (for some reason) I was under the impression they were just here prior to Cellia East’s renovations but some NPC mentioned how the council decided to build the prison on the outskirts. Seeing that there’s the two statues located inside the confines of the prison I suppose it might be logical to assume they were placed by the council. Whether or not Reeve had a hand in it as well is another question. A lot of the city has Reeve’s flair, and the statues are quite a prominent fixture of Cellia East. So maybe it’s possible? It’d certainly be curious if he did.

 

Honestly it could be a fallen angel situation. The end result of Perfection leads to some sort of plane of existence.

The entity in the mirror was most likely trying to gain access to this place by evading the specific requirements needed to reach this place. Whether or not this person went through with it is another matter entirely. In the end, however, we do know they are left as an incorporeal being locked away in a mirror.

To me it sounds like a consequence of trying to be cheeky and skirt the rules. It’s sorta reminiscent of an angel being denied access or outright booted from heaven for things they really shouldn’t have done.

And Waldenhall is over here trying to do the same thing.

Thinking about it…maybe that’s what Waldenhall and the Foxes were trying to do with the Grid prior to digging into Perfection research. Find a way to this Perfection place through the Grid. Or find a way to amplify the teleportation to bypass needing Perfection entirely.

 

Have mercy, I dunno if my brain could handle a twist like that XD Now that I think about it…maybe that’d explain Jarred. Actually, nah, I’m convinced now. No one is human and Jarred is one of the ringleader behind this Insurgence crossover lol

Speaking of crossovers, Insurgence mayyyy not be in the cards but we do have two canonical regions that are…

Will we see a little Reborn or Rejuvenation crossover mission in the future perhaps?

 

It totally seems like a possibility going forward. Darkrai isn’t gonna remain waiting around forever. It’ll have to go on the offensive at some point.

We also have the entity meeting up with Darkrai at the end. After failing to heed any of their warnings the entity is talking about those unworthy being extinguished. Whether that’ll happen naturally through the Perfection or if they will have a hand in snuffing out the unworthy is yet another question waiting to be answered. However, if they do start involving themselves in the grand scheme of things, the entity and Darkrai teaming up would be a fun opportunity to flaunt some creepy shenanigans.

Apparitions and nightmares of Ava and Scarlett would be pretty good ways of dissuading (or at least attempting to dissuade) the heroes.

 

Haha that’s the true nightmare of Desolation...Lilith's Umbreon XD

 

Honestly that’s what we need more of, those who either further scientific knowledge or dabble in immoral experimentation…but doing so in style :D. That’d be great if you do at some point, I might also skim through his dialogue to see if Delica crops up.

 

Oh yeah that does ring a bell. I suppose if she was from Cellia, she would have eventually traveled to Arcanius for some reason for her to be chilling in that flower field in Astraciel. I suppose Delica could still have information on Lilith if she was passing through or some such.

 

I’m definitely wondering if the Perfection symbol is supposed to represent something. Currently I have no guesses about it xD

Haha yeah, I definitely feel that way too. There’s just soooo much stuff and it’s very well put together. It’s definitely one of my favorites to delve into at this point!

 

[Amare]

On 8/26/2023 at 1:10 PM, Luri said:

 

Replies ^{^}22:

 

Yeah, it’s probably likely it created the Dreamscape while it still had the Perfection form since the Dreamscape has some oddities like the lakes that don’t seem like they could be constructed by a normal Darkrai. There is always the possibility that it could have created it after losing the Perfection state if it still had some residual power left over. Or maybe it created the Dreamscape on the cusp of losing the Perfection state. Whenever the Dreamscape was created, I’m sure it was quite a whileee ago.

Also, it’s definitely a possibility. And since the Dreamscape was crafted by Darkrai, who is well known for drawing people into nightmares involuntarily, maybe there’s an unnatural pull from the Dreamscape when the people of Ayrith sleep. Or something along those lines anyways. Those who can traverse between reality and dream are those who become lucid.

Another set of particularly interesting questions are why would Darkrai create this dream? What sort of significance did it hold for it? Why is it displeased by the stagnant way of life in Odis and the Dreamscape…doesn’t it hold dominion over the Dreamscape? Can’t it just alter the dream to fix this issue (unless that’s only possible if it is in the Perfection state…then never mind lol)?

 

There’s so many locations Cresselia could be found in, my goodness.

Another location Cresselia could be hiding out in is Majira’s Rest. He could have scooped up Cresselia and hid her away from Darkrai and his helpers, so they don’t try and banish her to the shadow realm or something. Or crazier idea, maybe it isn’t Cresselia hidden there but a mega stone for her? Or maybe some special Perfection serum to make Perfection Cresselia or something?

Also, a bit of a side question…

What exactly are the “threats of old” mentioned in Majira’s Log? Obviously, it couldn’t be Crescent since it says they are no more at the time, maybe the Black Foxes or something?

Okay that’d be pretty epic. We may not have Nova riding on Moltres anymore, but we could have Eden swooping in on Cresselia to save the day. I’m quite alright with that trade-off.

 

I can see it being Dark/Fire, it’s kinda wispy looking enough for it to pull off a fire typing. Dark/Dragon would be one of the more unique ones. Now I’m really curious if it will have a secondary typing.

Dear lord I’m just imagining a biblically accurate angel fused with Darkrai… that, indeed, would be the stuff of nightmares (and kinda cool) xD

 

That’d be a nice reward for the pieces. Also, kinda fitting the reward would be a pokémon that’s canonically the counterpart to Darkrai.

It’s quite a possibility, plus with Cellia being the capital of the Islands and all that I’m sure there are still a few surprises in store for us there. We may be…the question is what resides underneath there?

It seems like most islands in Ayrith have some sort of underground caverns or chambers: Amaria has the Vejyr Core (does the Core count as an underground location?), Cellia has the Depths and the sewers, and Arcanius has a large underground section and the Settler’s Ruins. If this is a theme, then I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something hidden under Hydreilius as well.

Speaking of those pieces…

There will be another one in Cellia, according to the Q-log so maybe it will be chilling in the portion of the East sewers we can’t get to currently. Or maybe the Cellia piece will be the last one and will just be handed to us, along with some instructions on what they are even for lol.

I also wonder how many pieces are left anyways. Surely it can’t be thatttt many. For a while it looked like they were following a rainbow spectrum meaning we were at least missing orange but with the appearance of a black piece I suppose that thought is out the window. If one appears on Hydreilius then there’s at least two left. I’m guessing orange and white.

 

Yeah, that’s quite understandable, I’m not quite sure myself. If that’s something ya wanna do, maybe ya can make an inquiry about it. I read through your available chapters and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s well thought out and quite a fun read (poor Reeve, I feel for him) I’m definitely looking forward to your next chapters!

Totally. I can see it now; they get paired together on a ranger mission and adorable hijinks ensue. Dan/Lucas for sure, I’ll root for that too xD

 

Odis does definitely have Addenfall vibes. Maybe instead of counterparts or a one-to-one replica maybe Darkrai took inspiration from places in Ayrith. Or Odis was influenced by the twins since they had a hand in filling the town with its residents?

Or maybe places in the Dreamscape like Odis village and whatnot were what the settlements a century ago looked like?

Maybe it’s a mixture of older settlements from the past and newer towns in the present?

 

Oh, that’s something I hadn’t thought of…it could be possible. There’s always some weird stuff going on in Ayrith: haunted restricted sections in the library, haunted graveyards that can retell people’s memories, a voltaic tree, and two different dimensions.

I wouldn’t be surprised if our protagonist gets the equivalent of being voided here too, or at least ends up in a situation similar to that. Especially if Darkrai, the entity, and/or Waldenhall decides to go on the offensive. I wonder what weird and wonderfully unnerving things we may see in that scenario.

 

And a prison of all things too. Why are there so many of them? Why is there a masculine and a feminine one? Why are both of them missing an arm? What’s up with the golden steaks? Why are they so cool looking? Why do I wanna steal one and take it back to the protagonist’s manor as a decoration? xD

Well, initially (for some reason) I was under the impression they were just here prior to Cellia East’s renovations but some NPC mentioned how the council decided to build the prison on the outskirts. Seeing that there’s the two statues located inside the confines of the prison I suppose it might be logical to assume they were placed by the council. Whether or not Reeve had a hand in it as well is another question. A lot of the city has Reeve’s flair, and the statues are quite a prominent fixture of Cellia East. So maybe it’s possible? It’d certainly be curious if he did.

 

Honestly it could be a fallen angel situation. The end result of Perfection leads to some sort of plane of existence.

The entity in the mirror was most likely trying to gain access to this place by evading the specific requirements needed to reach this place. Whether or not this person went through with it is another matter entirely. In the end, however, we do know they are left as an incorporeal being locked away in a mirror.

To me it sounds like a consequence of trying to be cheeky and skirt the rules. It’s sorta reminiscent of an angel being denied access or outright booted from heaven for things they really shouldn’t have done.

And Waldenhall is over here trying to do the same thing.

Thinking about it…maybe that’s what Waldenhall and the Foxes were trying to do with the Grid prior to digging into Perfection research. Find a way to this Perfection place through the Grid. Or find a way to amplify the teleportation to bypass needing Perfection entirely.

 

Have mercy, I dunno if my brain could handle a twist like that XD Now that I think about it…maybe that’d explain Jarred. Actually, nah, I’m convinced now. No one is human and Jarred is one of the ringleader behind this Insurgence crossover lol

Speaking of crossovers, Insurgence mayyyy not be in the cards but we do have two canonical regions that are…

Will we see a little Reborn or Rejuvenation crossover mission in the future perhaps?

 

It totally seems like a possibility going forward. Darkrai isn’t gonna remain waiting around forever. It’ll have to go on the offensive at some point.

We also have the entity meeting up with Darkrai at the end. After failing to heed any of their warnings the entity is talking about those unworthy being extinguished. Whether that’ll happen naturally through the Perfection or if they will have a hand in snuffing out the unworthy is yet another question waiting to be answered. However, if they do start involving themselves in the grand scheme of things, the entity and Darkrai teaming up would be a fun opportunity to flaunt some creepy shenanigans.

Apparitions and nightmares of Ava and Scarlett would be pretty good ways of dissuading (or at least attempting to dissuade) the heroes.

 

Haha that’s the true nightmare of Desolation...Lilith's Umbreon XD

 

Honestly that’s what we need more of, those who either further scientific knowledge or dabble in immoral experimentation…but doing so in style :D. That’d be great if you do at some point, I might also skim through his dialogue to see if Delica crops up.

 

Oh yeah that does ring a bell. I suppose if she was from Cellia, she would have eventually traveled to Arcanius for some reason for her to be chilling in that flower field in Astraciel. I suppose Delica could still have information on Lilith if she was passing through or some such.

 

I’m definitely wondering if the Perfection symbol is supposed to represent something. Currently I have no guesses about it xD

Haha yeah, I definitely feel that way too. There’s just soooo much stuff and it’s very well put together. It’s definitely one of my favorites to delve into at this point!

 

 

 

That's actually a really good question. I can't imagine that creating the Dreamscape would have been at all easy, so I doubt that Darkrai did it on a whim. My best guess on a whim is that it was created either as a playground (i.e. where Darkrai could do whatever it wanted whenever it wanted) or as a refuge, somewhere it could go where nobody else could. I feel like there's definitely more to it, though. Maybe Darkrai made the Dreamscape because it could, only to wind up imprisoned there.

 

Oh, that's a great point. Maybe it's both? Maybe the threats of old are Darkrai and its trainer, and Majira set the whole Rest thing up as a puzzle, so only the person best equipped to defeat Darkrai could release Cresselia, not some dipshit with no clue?

 

Just... eyes. So many eyes. Like a Spiritomb made of eyes.

 

I'm willing to bet that A, there's a lot more underground in Cellia than we've seen, and B, there might be more Pieces on Arcanius in the future. I agree that it does seem like we're running out of colours, but as long as we don't wind up with a Taupe Piece and a Puce Piece, we should be good.

 

Thank you, I'm very glad you enjoyed it. Part Four is nearly done, and once that's done I'll post Three.

 

That's all very possible. I wonder, how much influence *can* a dreamer have? Like, the most the player can do is teleport, but if Aurora could turn a shrub into a Turtwig, is it possible that she and Shiv could make up whole towns? New people? New areas?

 

I went and checked on Patreon, the alt art shows a bit more so it's clear that the wings are of the angel statues. As for the rest... I'm not sure. The gold looks like decoration to me, but the cracks... with the ones in the alt art, I'm inclined to say that it's meant to be symbolic. Possibly a loss of faith, whether it's in some kind of deity or in somebody Reeve trusted (aka Waldenhall)? Otherwise, the gold could be something like kintsugi? 

 

I mean, I figured Reeve just dyed the whole city purple 'cause it's his favourite colour. As for the rest, I feel like there's two options here: one, the statues are part of some big puzzle where we have to run around and tag certain statues in an order to open something. Or, two, the statues are used by the Council to spy on people somehow. (Or Reeve is just really religious, who knew?)

 

Initially, I thought the Grid experiments were just for better mobility, like how Aaron talked about with the portal in the North base. But you're right, I think you're on to something with the 'reach Perfection' idea. It's possible that maybe some old documents got mistranslated or misunderstood, and they thought it was a place you could reach, not a whole other plane. But yeah, the mirror entity really does seem like a fallen angel. (Wild guess: it's future!Waldenhall, stuck in a time loop.) The more I think about it, the more I wonder about it- Lilith's Umbreon ascended, but (as far as we know), she didn't, so how could the entity ascend while its Pokemon didn't? I know the current theory is that the mirror entity is Darkrai's trainer, but it was stated that the entity's Pokemon didn't ascend, whereas we know that Darkrai *did* ascend once. So is the mirror entity what's left of the person who wrote all those journals in the ruins? Did they screw around with Perfection and *really* screw it up? Hell, for all we know, the mirror entity is Majira and his Pokemon is in the Rest.

 

I would actually buy Jarred being an alien, LMAO. As for the other question, I'm still holding out for a post-game ending where the MC of Reborn walks in, walks up to Shiv and punches him in the face without saying a word. Everyone else is like 'WTF' but Shiv recognises them and says "Yeah, I deserved that", whereupon the MC nods and walks out, and someone asks why the hell the Champion of Reborn just punched Shiv in the face.

 

Yeah, it definitely seems like they know each other. If the entity can do more of its weird tricks, we could be in for a really fun time.

 

I tried looking, but I didn't find anything despite distinctly remembering Reeve talking about her. Either I didn't look hard enough or my mind's playing tricks on me.

 

I can see Lilith doing a 'travel all over the region to get stronger' journey. And yeah, Delica might know something.

 

It's entirely possible that it's just a cool symbol and we're way overthinking it, but honestly, overthinking it's part of the fun. I love speculating about this stuff.

[Luri]

On 8/31/2023 at 6:30 AM, Amare said:

 

 

That's actually a really good question. I can't imagine that creating the Dreamscape would have been at all easy, so I doubt that Darkrai did it on a whim. My best guess on a whim is that it was created either as a playground (i.e. where Darkrai could do whatever it wanted whenever it wanted) or as a refuge, somewhere it could go where nobody else could. I feel like there's definitely more to it, though. Maybe Darkrai made the Dreamscape because it could, only to wind up imprisoned there.

 

Oh, that's a great point. Maybe it's both? Maybe the threats of old are Darkrai and its trainer, and Majira set the whole Rest thing up as a puzzle, so only the person best equipped to defeat Darkrai could release Cresselia, not some dipshit with no clue?

 

Just... eyes. So many eyes. Like a Spiritomb made of eyes.

 

I'm willing to bet that A, there's a lot more underground in Cellia than we've seen, and B, there might be more Pieces on Arcanius in the future. I agree that it does seem like we're running out of colours, but as long as we don't wind up with a Taupe Piece and a Puce Piece, we should be good.

 

Thank you, I'm very glad you enjoyed it. Part Four is nearly done, and once that's done I'll post Three.

 

That's all very possible. I wonder, how much influence *can* a dreamer have? Like, the most the player can do is teleport, but if Aurora could turn a shrub into a Turtwig, is it possible that she and Shiv could make up whole towns? New people? New areas?

 

I went and checked on Patreon, the alt art shows a bit more so it's clear that the wings are of the angel statues. As for the rest... I'm not sure. The gold looks like decoration to me, but the cracks... with the ones in the alt art, I'm inclined to say that it's meant to be symbolic. Possibly a loss of faith, whether it's in some kind of deity or in somebody Reeve trusted (aka Waldenhall)? Otherwise, the gold could be something like kintsugi? 

 

I mean, I figured Reeve just dyed the whole city purple 'cause it's his favourite colour. As for the rest, I feel like there's two options here: one, the statues are part of some big puzzle where we have to run around and tag certain statues in an order to open something. Or, two, the statues are used by the Council to spy on people somehow. (Or Reeve is just really religious, who knew?)

 

Initially, I thought the Grid experiments were just for better mobility, like how Aaron talked about with the portal in the North base. But you're right, I think you're on to something with the 'reach Perfection' idea. It's possible that maybe some old documents got mistranslated or misunderstood, and they thought it was a place you could reach, not a whole other plane. But yeah, the mirror entity really does seem like a fallen angel. (Wild guess: it's future!Waldenhall, stuck in a time loop.) The more I think about it, the more I wonder about it- Lilith's Umbreon ascended, but (as far as we know), she didn't, so how could the entity ascend while its Pokemon didn't? I know the current theory is that the mirror entity is Darkrai's trainer, but it was stated that the entity's Pokemon didn't ascend, whereas we know that Darkrai *did* ascend once. So is the mirror entity what's left of the person who wrote all those journals in the ruins? Did they screw around with Perfection and *really* screw it up? Hell, for all we know, the mirror entity is Majira and his Pokemon is in the Rest.

 

I would actually buy Jarred being an alien, LMAO. As for the other question, I'm still holding out for a post-game ending where the MC of Reborn walks in, walks up to Shiv and punches him in the face without saying a word. Everyone else is like 'WTF' but Shiv recognises them and says "Yeah, I deserved that", whereupon the MC nods and walks out, and someone asks why the hell the Champion of Reborn just punched Shiv in the face.

 

Yeah, it definitely seems like they know each other. If the entity can do more of its weird tricks, we could be in for a really fun time.

 

I tried looking, but I didn't find anything despite distinctly remembering Reeve talking about her. Either I didn't look hard enough or my mind's playing tricks on me.

 

I can see Lilith doing a 'travel all over the region to get stronger' journey. And yeah, Delica might know something.

 

It's entirely possible that it's just a cool symbol and we're way overthinking it, but honestly, overthinking it's part of the fun. I love speculating about this stuff.

 

Absolutely, very fair point there.

Maybe it was discontent with how chaotic reality is and wanted to create a place where it can shape how things end up. Fast forward many years and it realizes it actually misses Ayrith or something? The refuge is an interesting angle. Given its attitude thus far I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.

It does mention how the Dreamscape held some sort of significance to it at one point if you either side with or fail to resist Darkrai. So, it once held importance, but for whatever reason that meaningful existence the Dreamscape held for it has vanished.

There must be some motive or driving force behind the creation of the Dreamscape at the very least. Perhaps to preserve that meaningful existence it mentioned?

 

Good idea, Darkrai and its trainer would certainly fit the criteria of being threats of old.

If that is the case, interestingly, Majira doesn’t count the twins as part of the threat, or at very least mention a connection between the two. I suppose it is possible Majira wasn’t aware of said connection, they obviously aren’t shouting it from the mountaintops and it’s more advantageous to keep it hidden.

 

Considering there are five locks on the door and five keys scattered about, I’d say it’s pretty likely it’s a puzzle or trial of sorts for sure. Imagine having some rando accessing the Rest and getting Cresselia yoinked by Darkrai as soon as they sail back to the mainland…all that hard work of hiding Cresselia for naught xD.

It also proves to some degree that the person in question is a worthy Pokémon Ranger, most likely on par with Majira himself.

Another question is what does he mean that the city is still sick and saving it isn’t within their capabilities?

I kind of assumed the sick bit was referring to rampant crime and or general corruption and whatnot and there weren’t enough rangers or good-natured people that could help sweep up the crime.

Though finding out that Perfection can turn people to dust, and it was already dusting entire settlements in the past, it just makes me wonder if there’s more to the sickness than just crime…or I’m just reading too much into it. It’s most likely that.

 

A cluster of countless eyes that each blink independent of the others. Oof, no thank you!

 

Absolutely, we will have more sewer spelunking in our futures!

When the Black Piece is collected it marks the Pieces of Arcanius quest as done, whereas the Pieces of Cellia is still an active side quest. That feels like it is implying there won’t be any more of them to be found on Arcanius. Though we only covered a small fraction of the island which makes it feel odd... With so much ground left to cover maybe there will be some surprise pieces on Arcanius. Or at the very least receive some hint about what they’re used for.

Omg we will be required to hunt down 10 more obscure colors. In the end, it turns out the whole scavenger hunt was an elaborate prank planned by Darkrai.

 

I’ll be looking forward to it!

 

Their powers extend well past the Dreamscape. Like ya mentioned she turned a shrub into a Turtwig. Also, one of those notes Aurora left in the manor implies that she fashioned said manor from Shiv’s description, presumably for Darkrai’s schemes. Or at the very least the manor was altered by them to some degree.

Given all that I would think it’d be more than possible for them to whip up any manner of things in the Dreamscape, ranging from new people to even entire areas. Either that or they are aided by Darkrai to some extent?

However, if we are talking about how much influence all dreamers have then I’m not sure.

It looks like the more lucidity or insight one has the more influence they have over the dream. The protagonist seems to be a decent example of this, being able to teleport around the Dreamscape now.  Maybe, given enough time, most dreamers can reach that level of influence over the dream.

Then again, the protag could also be an outlier in this situation, we don’t exactly know who or what they are.

 

Ooh, good thinking! That clears up one bit.

I can see both the symbolic loss of faith and kintsugi working in tandem. A loss of faith in Waldenhall but in the end accepting this loss and the mistake of pursuing Perfection and continuing onwards.

Another idea I had was it could represent a reminder of their pursuit Perfection? The Perfection serum is described as peculiarly radiant. The lamp and gold are radiant, and the cracks represent the destructiveness that seems to follow the pursuit of Perfection.

It’s quite a stretch since they don’t mention the radiance of the serum being golden, but it was a thought nonetheless.

Cellia Central is all pink due to Rosetta so definitely fair Reeve just dyed his side of Cellia purple cause purple is a great color .

That’d be pretty fun actually. If the statues were placed by the Council or Reeve, then they may open up something related to them. If not, maybe it’ll be like Cellia North and lead to another part of the Depths or a secret section of the sewers or something.

Considering the amount of shadiness the Council was up to I wouldn’t be surprised if the statues had some hidden cameras or mics in them. True, he could secretly be a follower of Arceus for all we know.

 

It's definitely possible. Since their endeavors hadn’t yielded any promising results, they instead decided to use the Grid research for mobility to transport equipment and Foxes while Waldenhall shifted focus to Perfection serums.

You know, with the wacky way Perfection interacts with time I wouldn’t be all too surprised if it’s future!Waldenhall stuck in a time loop.

My current theory about Lilith not ascending along with her Umbreon is due to the bond aspect of Perfection. Her parents disappeared or died or whatever way before Nova attempted to take her away. Her logs express confusion at the event as well as using Umbreon as a means to deal with the ones responsible for her parents disappearance, despite Umbreon’s apparent agitation and aggression after its ascension. Maybe she was too focused on training and finding her parents that her bond with Umbreon wasn’t as strong as it was before her parents disappeared therefore, she didn’t ascend with Umbreon.

Who knows though xD.

 

Given that the mannerisms of the journal’s author match the entity in the mirror/entity speaking to the protagonist, I’d be inclined to say the mirror ghost is indeed what’s left of the journal’s author.

Also, it did state that the trainer’s pokémon didn’t ascend? I must have overlooked that. That does bring about some interesting points of contention with the Darkrai angle. It’s possible we are missing some pieces of the puzzle as well.

Putting aside the Darkrai trainer theory for a minute, Majira would certainly be an interesting choice. That would explain his disappearance. And it’d be kinda sad to see someone dedicated to helping others fall into a single-minded desire to reach this Perfection plane.   

We know the consequences of artificial Perfection on both pokémon and humans and how disastrous it is…I wouldn’t be surprised if screwing up resulted in the loss of a body or whatever is going on with the entity.

A crazy idea is that the entity is actually someone from the Perfection plan who previously ascended and whoever wrote the journals in the Ruins accidentally summoned them (or heck maybe the entity noticed someone trying to gain access to the plane and wanted to halt their progress).

If the entity isn’t Darkrai’s trainer, then that leaves me with the question who is and are they still around?

 

I would absolutely believe it, either that or some Great One or something.

Here I thought winning with a bunch of rats and ghosts was a cathartic ending for the Champion of Reborn but man that would be satisfying to see. Fingers crossed

 

I’m of the mind it can. After all, they were communicating with the protagonist since the very beginning and also being all poltergeist-y with Waldenhall…I’d be shocked if that’s all the tricks they have up their incorporeal sleeve. We are gonna have some hijinks involving those two for sure.

 

Yeah, the only thing I found was that one NPC mentioning Delica as well. Sometimes that does happen. Certainly, has happened to me several times lol. Though it’s certainly interesting Reeve didn’t mention her, despite where the protagonist is heading. It’s possible that just before or during the Canyon events Reeve may mention Delica, especially if she does end up having information on Perfection.

 

I can totally see Lilith being the type to do the whole “travel to become stronger” journey. I’m quite keen on hearing more about Lilith if this ends up being the case.

 

As of right now, that’s what I’m chalking it up to be, unless an idea randomly hits me later on. Agreed! Overthinking is a part of the appeal of theory crafting in my opinion. Not everything has to have some deeper meaning behind it but it’s always neat to see what connections or possibilities could spring forth regardless.

 

 

[Amare]

On 9/6/2023 at 1:40 PM, Luri said:

 

Absolutely, very fair point there.

Maybe it was discontent with how chaotic reality is and wanted to create a place where it can shape how things end up. Fast forward many years and it realizes it actually misses Ayrith or something? The refuge is an interesting angle. Given its attitude thus far I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.

It does mention how the Dreamscape held some sort of significance to it at one point if you either side with or fail to resist Darkrai. So, it once held importance, but for whatever reason that meaningful existence the Dreamscape held for it has vanished.

There must be some motive or driving force behind the creation of the Dreamscape at the very least. Perhaps to preserve that meaningful existence it mentioned?

 

Good idea, Darkrai and its trainer would certainly fit the criteria of being threats of old.

If that is the case, interestingly, Majira doesn’t count the twins as part of the threat, or at very least mention a connection between the two. I suppose it is possible Majira wasn’t aware of said connection, they obviously aren’t shouting it from the mountaintops and it’s more advantageous to keep it hidden.

 

Considering there are five locks on the door and five keys scattered about, I’d say it’s pretty likely it’s a puzzle or trial of sorts for sure. Imagine having some rando accessing the Rest and getting Cresselia yoinked by Darkrai as soon as they sail back to the mainland…all that hard work of hiding Cresselia for naught xD.

It also proves to some degree that the person in question is a worthy Pokémon Ranger, most likely on par with Majira himself.

Another question is what does he mean that the city is still sick and saving it isn’t within their capabilities?

I kind of assumed the sick bit was referring to rampant crime and or general corruption and whatnot and there weren’t enough rangers or good-natured people that could help sweep up the crime.

Though finding out that Perfection can turn people to dust, and it was already dusting entire settlements in the past, it just makes me wonder if there’s more to the sickness than just crime…or I’m just reading too much into it. It’s most likely that.

 

A cluster of countless eyes that each blink independent of the others. Oof, no thank you!

 

Absolutely, we will have more sewer spelunking in our futures!

When the Black Piece is collected it marks the Pieces of Arcanius quest as done, whereas the Pieces of Cellia is still an active side quest. That feels like it is implying there won’t be any more of them to be found on Arcanius. Though we only covered a small fraction of the island which makes it feel odd... With so much ground left to cover maybe there will be some surprise pieces on Arcanius. Or at the very least receive some hint about what they’re used for.

Omg we will be required to hunt down 10 more obscure colors. In the end, it turns out the whole scavenger hunt was an elaborate prank planned by Darkrai.

 

I’ll be looking forward to it!

 

Their powers extend well past the Dreamscape. Like ya mentioned she turned a shrub into a Turtwig. Also, one of those notes Aurora left in the manor implies that she fashioned said manor from Shiv’s description, presumably for Darkrai’s schemes. Or at the very least the manor was altered by them to some degree.

Given all that I would think it’d be more than possible for them to whip up any manner of things in the Dreamscape, ranging from new people to even entire areas. Either that or they are aided by Darkrai to some extent?

However, if we are talking about how much influence all dreamers have then I’m not sure.

It looks like the more lucidity or insight one has the more influence they have over the dream. The protagonist seems to be a decent example of this, being able to teleport around the Dreamscape now.  Maybe, given enough time, most dreamers can reach that level of influence over the dream.

Then again, the protag could also be an outlier in this situation, we don’t exactly know who or what they are.

 

Ooh, good thinking! That clears up one bit.

I can see both the symbolic loss of faith and kintsugi working in tandem. A loss of faith in Waldenhall but in the end accepting this loss and the mistake of pursuing Perfection and continuing onwards.

Another idea I had was it could represent a reminder of their pursuit Perfection? The Perfection serum is described as peculiarly radiant. The lamp and gold are radiant, and the cracks represent the destructiveness that seems to follow the pursuit of Perfection.

It’s quite a stretch since they don’t mention the radiance of the serum being golden, but it was a thought nonetheless.

Cellia Central is all pink due to Rosetta so definitely fair Reeve just dyed his side of Cellia purple cause purple is a great color .

That’d be pretty fun actually. If the statues were placed by the Council or Reeve, then they may open up something related to them. If not, maybe it’ll be like Cellia North and lead to another part of the Depths or a secret section of the sewers or something.

Considering the amount of shadiness the Council was up to I wouldn’t be surprised if the statues had some hidden cameras or mics in them. True, he could secretly be a follower of Arceus for all we know.

 

It's definitely possible. Since their endeavors hadn’t yielded any promising results, they instead decided to use the Grid research for mobility to transport equipment and Foxes while Waldenhall shifted focus to Perfection serums.

You know, with the wacky way Perfection interacts with time I wouldn’t be all too surprised if it’s future!Waldenhall stuck in a time loop.

My current theory about Lilith not ascending along with her Umbreon is due to the bond aspect of Perfection. Her parents disappeared or died or whatever way before Nova attempted to take her away. Her logs express confusion at the event as well as using Umbreon as a means to deal with the ones responsible for her parents disappearance, despite Umbreon’s apparent agitation and aggression after its ascension. Maybe she was too focused on training and finding her parents that her bond with Umbreon wasn’t as strong as it was before her parents disappeared therefore, she didn’t ascend with Umbreon.

Who knows though xD.

 

Given that the mannerisms of the journal’s author match the entity in the mirror/entity speaking to the protagonist, I’d be inclined to say the mirror ghost is indeed what’s left of the journal’s author.

Also, it did state that the trainer’s pokémon didn’t ascend? I must have overlooked that. That does bring about some interesting points of contention with the Darkrai angle. It’s possible we are missing some pieces of the puzzle as well.

Putting aside the Darkrai trainer theory for a minute, Majira would certainly be an interesting choice. That would explain his disappearance. And it’d be kinda sad to see someone dedicated to helping others fall into a single-minded desire to reach this Perfection plane.   

We know the consequences of artificial Perfection on both pokémon and humans and how disastrous it is…I wouldn’t be surprised if screwing up resulted in the loss of a body or whatever is going on with the entity.

A crazy idea is that the entity is actually someone from the Perfection plan who previously ascended and whoever wrote the journals in the Ruins accidentally summoned them (or heck maybe the entity noticed someone trying to gain access to the plane and wanted to halt their progress).

If the entity isn’t Darkrai’s trainer, then that leaves me with the question who is and are they still around?

 

I would absolutely believe it, either that or some Great One or something.

Here I thought winning with a bunch of rats and ghosts was a cathartic ending for the Champion of Reborn but man that would be satisfying to see. Fingers crossed

 

I’m of the mind it can. After all, they were communicating with the protagonist since the very beginning and also being all poltergeist-y with Waldenhall…I’d be shocked if that’s all the tricks they have up their incorporeal sleeve. We are gonna have some hijinks involving those two for sure.

 

Yeah, the only thing I found was that one NPC mentioning Delica as well. Sometimes that does happen. Certainly, has happened to me several times lol. Though it’s certainly interesting Reeve didn’t mention her, despite where the protagonist is heading. It’s possible that just before or during the Canyon events Reeve may mention Delica, especially if she does end up having information on Perfection.

 

I can totally see Lilith being the type to do the whole “travel to become stronger” journey. I’m quite keen on hearing more about Lilith if this ends up being the case.

 

As of right now, that’s what I’m chalking it up to be, unless an idea randomly hits me later on. Agreed! Overthinking is a part of the appeal of theory crafting in my opinion. Not everything has to have some deeper meaning behind it but it’s always neat to see what connections or possibilities could spring forth regardless.

 

 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Darkrai missed Ayrith. The Dreamscape is pretty drab compared to it, and even if Darkrai did create the Dreamscape to have its own place to play God, I bet it'd get pretty boring after a while. If the Dreamscape was meant to be a refuge, maybe it's stopped serving that purpose once everyone seeking Darkrai died or forgot about it.

 

I guess it really depends on how much Majira might have known about the twins or anyone else. The timeline's pretty vague on how old Majira was, how long ago he vanished, and so on, so it's possible that he just might never have heard about them.

 

Yeah, I can buy there being a puzzle, or maybe some kind of gauntlet battle. After all, even the MC hasn't found all the keys themselves- I remember Sera finding one. So maybe it's a test in case someone got the keys without really doing any searching themselves.

 

Crime does seem like the obvious answer, especially since the Rangers lost their base. But I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that there was something else to it. Maybe all Majira needed was to get Adrienn over to renovate Blackview.

 

I fully expect there to be more Pieces on Arcanius in the future, given how big the island is... maybe there's another Piece on Cellia and nobody's managed to figure out how to find it yet? 

 

Part 3 just went up today :)

 

I wonder, can Darkrai influence people through their dreams? I'm probably not phrasing this properly, but like... instead of just straight up brainwashing them, can it slowly, subtly change their minds and the way they think, using dreams as a way to get into their heads? This is probably wrong, but since Darkrai is such a powerful dream manipulator, is it possible that being controlled by Darkrai can enhance the abilities someone already has? That being controlled souped up the twins' powers, maybe kept the ones Nova stole from Aurora going? ...yeah, I'm probably wrong.

 

I recall the mirror entity referring to Perfection as something like 'a crown of brilliant, blinding silver'. Not sure why it would be silver and not gold, but if Perfection has something to do with Cresselia, I guess it could be like moonlight? And since the statues hold lanterns, maybe it'll be a puzzle about following the lights or something?

 

That actually makes perfect (pun not intended) sense. I wonder, when Lilith wrote after Umbreon achieved Perfection that it had become moody, was this really a change in personality, or was it just the first time she'd realised it? Although, I guess it could also be that their bond wasn't that strong because Lilith was prioritising her quest for answers/revenge re: her parents' deaths, which Umbreon may not have prioritised? (I guess it depends on when/where Lilith got Umbreon and how well it knew her parents.)

 

Yeah, I'm also inclined to say that the mirror entity is the former resident of the Settler's Ruins. And yeah, Reeve said that whoever the entity is, their Pokemon must not have ascended with them, which is why they're still stuck partially on this plane. I guess there's no reason why, if the mirror entity isn't Darkrai's trainer, they couldn't have known Darkrai and its trainer regardless. Maybe Darkrai's trainer was another settler?

 

The entity certainly wanted to keep Perfection all to itself. I guess Lilith wouldn't be a problem because only her Umbreon achieved Perfection. Reeve never got there and doesn't seem to want Perfection for himself, but Waldenhall sure does, so it makes sense that the entity would target him over either of the other two (or Garret, just because he went into the Ruins).  The MC, on the other hand, gets special status by way of being the MC. So I could buy that maybe the entity went after the settler for trying to take what it saw as theirs.

 

I would actually not be at all surprised if Darkrai, the entity, the twins or both started screwing with the MC by making them hallucinate, see and hear the wrong things. It'd really throw everything out of whack if the MC can't trust their own senses. And it's not like Nova can help, since she's lost her power. (God, it'd be screwed up if the heroic way to deal with the evil!twins is to have Nova steal their powers again.)

 

I think my brain did screw with me on that one. It also occurred to me that we just assumed that Delica is a Gym Leader even though all we know about her is that she has something to do with imports from Astraciel. Might have jumped the gun a bit.

 

I feel like part of our job as fans is to overthink everything, LMAO. ;)

[Luri]

On 9/10/2023 at 2:06 AM, Amare said:

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Darkrai missed Ayrith. The Dreamscape is pretty drab compared to it, and even if Darkrai did create the Dreamscape to have its own place to play God, I bet it'd get pretty boring after a while. If the Dreamscape was meant to be a refuge, maybe it's stopped serving that purpose once everyone seeking Darkrai died or forgot about it.

 

I guess it really depends on how much Majira might have known about the twins or anyone else. The timeline's pretty vague on how old Majira was, how long ago he vanished, and so on, so it's possible that he just might never have heard about them.

 

Yeah, I can buy there being a puzzle, or maybe some kind of gauntlet battle. After all, even the MC hasn't found all the keys themselves- I remember Sera finding one. So maybe it's a test in case someone got the keys without really doing any searching themselves.

 

Crime does seem like the obvious answer, especially since the Rangers lost their base. But I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that there was something else to it. Maybe all Majira needed was to get Adrienn over to renovate Blackview.

 

I fully expect there to be more Pieces on Arcanius in the future, given how big the island is... maybe there's another Piece on Cellia and nobody's managed to figure out how to find it yet? 

 

Part 3 just went up today :)

 

I wonder, can Darkrai influence people through their dreams? I'm probably not phrasing this properly, but like... instead of just straight up brainwashing them, can it slowly, subtly change their minds and the way they think, using dreams as a way to get into their heads? This is probably wrong, but since Darkrai is such a powerful dream manipulator, is it possible that being controlled by Darkrai can enhance the abilities someone already has? That being controlled souped up the twins' powers, maybe kept the ones Nova stole from Aurora going? ...yeah, I'm probably wrong.

 

I recall the mirror entity referring to Perfection as something like 'a crown of brilliant, blinding silver'. Not sure why it would be silver and not gold, but if Perfection has something to do with Cresselia, I guess it could be like moonlight? And since the statues hold lanterns, maybe it'll be a puzzle about following the lights or something?

 

That actually makes perfect (pun not intended) sense. I wonder, when Lilith wrote after Umbreon achieved Perfection that it had become moody, was this really a change in personality, or was it just the first time she'd realised it? Although, I guess it could also be that their bond wasn't that strong because Lilith was prioritising her quest for answers/revenge re: her parents' deaths, which Umbreon may not have prioritised? (I guess it depends on when/where Lilith got Umbreon and how well it knew her parents.)

 

Yeah, I'm also inclined to say that the mirror entity is the former resident of the Settler's Ruins. And yeah, Reeve said that whoever the entity is, their Pokemon must not have ascended with them, which is why they're still stuck partially on this plane. I guess there's no reason why, if the mirror entity isn't Darkrai's trainer, they couldn't have known Darkrai and its trainer regardless. Maybe Darkrai's trainer was another settler?

 

The entity certainly wanted to keep Perfection all to itself. I guess Lilith wouldn't be a problem because only her Umbreon achieved Perfection. Reeve never got there and doesn't seem to want Perfection for himself, but Waldenhall sure does, so it makes sense that the entity would target him over either of the other two (or Garret, just because he went into the Ruins).  The MC, on the other hand, gets special status by way of being the MC. So I could buy that maybe the entity went after the settler for trying to take what it saw as theirs.

 

I would actually not be at all surprised if Darkrai, the entity, the twins or both started screwing with the MC by making them hallucinate, see and hear the wrong things. It'd really throw everything out of whack if the MC can't trust their own senses. And it's not like Nova can help, since she's lost her power. (God, it'd be screwed up if the heroic way to deal with the evil!twins is to have Nova steal their powers again.)

 

I think my brain did screw with me on that one. It also occurred to me that we just assumed that Delica is a Gym Leader even though all we know about her is that she has something to do with imports from Astraciel. Might have jumped the gun a bit.

 

I feel like part of our job as fans is to overthink everything, LMAO. ;)

 

I wonder why it would go for such a dreary atmosphere for a good portion of the dream.

Maybe it should conjure up some fairy lights and statues around the settlements and it wouldn’t be so bad. Not as pretty or vibrant as Ayrith but it would have its own charm lol. Also yeah, the boredom could be what prompted his escape in the first place.

That’s a very good point. The journals in the Settler’s Ruins did mention they were being pursued. Disregarding the author’s identity for now, it’s still likely Darkrai was present in those ruins given those diagrams that can be seen in the lab area, and decided to flee to the Dreamscape when things went south.

 

For some wacky reason, I had it in my head that he vanished like ten years ago…I have no idea why, I don’t even recall that being said in game. It’s just there xD

He does state that a part of the reason he’s leaving behind his legacy for a future successor is that the twins will never cease and will outlast them all. He needed a way to protect themselves from what was to come in the future.

Which kinda sounds like they were out and about causing some problems when he was still around and Majira was aware of it. Maybe he was directly involved in opposing them.

This is definitely an odd point since we don’t know how long ago he vanished.

If all that turns out to be the case, then I guess we could have some time frame on when this occurred given the rough estimate of the twins’ ages (Unless they happen to be, like, immortal too or something).

 

Ooh what if we have a gauntlet battle with some security measures as soon as we open the door?

Yeah, finding one or two keys won’t help anyone open the door. Someone would have to put in some effort to find them all.

It could also represent the spirit of being a ranger. After all, we wouldn’t have obtained the key from Sera if we hadn’t joined. Majira made sure the keys would be obtainable to people following a ranger’s path. A path that requires helping out citizens and making sure they are safe and all that.

 

Quite true. Maybe some other gangs were running amuck back then too, and eventually swiped the base after Majira disappeared. I wonder if that will be elaborated on if we find some more clues from Majira. Given how there’s usually more going on than meets the eye in this game I wouldn’t either.

Omg yeah, even current Blackview requires some TLC.  That’d be pretty cool though. It’d be super exciting to see a renovated Blackview.

Especially if Adrienn is involved. They sure know how to spruce up a city!

That reminds me of the resort that was being discussed on Keneph Beach. I wonder if we will aid in its construction as a side quest or if we will see it being completed as the story goes on.

 

Indeed, it is quite a big island. So many places to hide a piece or two…luckily they are tied to some side quest so that should make finding them a bit easier.

Ah, yeah, that isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. If I had to wager a guess I’d say if there is one it’ll be in East given that it’s still the newest location on Cellia. The most suspect places/things are the sewers, the statues, and those locked storages located in the Eastern Docks.

 

Awesome, I know what I shall be reading after this post .

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if it could. Darkrai is shown to be a pretty good scheming manipulator. Concocting a series of dreams to subtly guide someone to do something or change their minds seems right up its alley.

It certainly seemed like Darkrai was a bit more involved in Lilith’s dreams, what with her describing a shaded figure of black, white, and red antagonizing her in her dreams before Umbreon powered up. Maybe it was attempting to do something similar to that? Inflict doubt or fear or something so that she’s more likely to enter the Dreamscape in the end.

That could be how Nova was first inducted as well. As far as we know there wasn’t someone who lured her to the Dreamscape, so it seems feasible Darkrai used dreams to get into Nova’s head and start that whole cycle.

Darkrai was enhanced by Perfection at one point and created an entire dreamworld and has some ability that can help it retain control of those under its influence. Given all that, it doesn’t sound too farfetch’d that it can amplify their abilities as well.

Especially when we consider the alternatives… they just have more raw powers compared to everyone else or they have more knowledge. It’s not like Lilith is going around casting illusions (or any other dreamer for that matter). It’d be a really neat explanation for all that.

 

That’s quite an interesting idea. Silver is often representative of the moon so I could see the silver being moonlight which does work with Cresselia…and Darkrai as well.

That would be a really neat idea. Like the lanterns representing the illumination of the moon and following the brightest ones or following the direction of the lantern will reveal more journals or some secrets regarding Cresselia.

Though, I would assume the lanterns would be shining silver as well to signify the connection. We’ve only seen a fraction of Arcanius, maybe we will see more lantern-wielding statues glowing silver later on. Or maybe we interact with them in a specific order and for each correct interaction the golden glow fades to a shining silver? Or even changing the colors from gold to silver.

You do make an interesting point. Usually, crowns and other royal regalia are gold, not silver. An interesting distinction. I suppose if the crown mentioned isn’t some sort of hint or whatnot and more figurative, like an expression of Waldenhall’s desire to inherit the power of the Perfection plane, then the distinction doesn’t matter as much.

Or, maybe the entity has a preference for silver over gold or something.

 

Lilith is pretty astute usually; it’d be a bit surprising if she didn’t pick up on any shifts in its mood. Maybe it was occasional bouts of moodiness, but the Perfection exacerbated it to a new level.

Ooh, that could definitely be a factor as well. If her Umbreon was gifted to her by her parents (most likely starting as an Eevee in the beginning) and later on evolved into an Umbreon while they were still around it’s possible there was some form of attachment to her parents as well. And if Umbreon didn’t have as strong of a connection with them as it does with Lilith then it’s priorities were more about her wellbeing than her parents, possibly resulting in a weakening of their bond for a while.

Given that we know nothing about her childhood or her parents it’s a lot of speculation though all pretty feasible without anything else to go on.

 

Oh yes! I remember now. It’s been a hot minute since I went through that dialogue. Either the entity isn’t Darkrai’s trainer like previously discussed or they are Darkrai’s trainer but managed to find a way to ascend without Darkrai while Darkrai ascended naturally? Or something.

So far, I’d say another settler makes the most sense. I doubt Darkrai’s trainer was some random deserter, and the priests were actively chasing the group so it seems unlikely they were a priest. Unless there is some other party involved we’re not aware of yet…until then a settler seems most likely.

 

You can say that again. I definitely agree with that. It does sound like the entity isn’t a huge fan of people living in Ayrith but most people aren’t gonna be high priorities for them. Well at least in the beginning.  

If Lilith comes back and has achieved Perfection along with her Umbreon then she may end up a higher priority. Other than that, it’s pretty sensible that Waldenhall and the protagonist would be the main targets. You know, I wouldn’t be too surprised if they targeted Garret for such a reason, given how protective the entity is over Perfection.

I could buy it as well. If any of the settlers opposed the idea of using Perfection, I could see that causing a problem between the two. Plus, they have something against either the priests or some other settlers for destroying the sanctity of Arcanius or whatever they meant by that.

I do wonder what they meant by that…destroying Arcanius’s purity and replacing it with an impure order?

 

Both sounds like it’s gonna be a fever dream xD

Our poor protagonist though, first not being able to trust the words of others, then questioning who they really are, and now they can’t even trust their own senses…they need some therapy.

Who knows, Nova may end up in the hallucination/illusions as well. She may not be able to help with the hallucinations though I’m sure there must be something she could do. Like working as a counter distraction or something?

Surprise! Hardy will be the one that comes to save us instead with his Perfection Zoroark and scare off Darkrai for the time being.

That would be pretty screwed up. It’s time for the hero team to take some morally grey actions…I’d kinda be down with that xD.

 

It is definitely one of our speculative points. It’s pretty easy to assume she might be given her connections with Reeve and being name-dropped.

Of course, being name-dropped isn't actual confirmation she is. Artem and Waldenhall were introduced way before we met them, and they certainly aren’t gym leaders.

If she doesn’t turn out to be a leader, then we will be missing one with no mention of who they are and what they specialize in. This feels a bit off since we already know the names of the remaining leaders, as well as the Elite Four.

It could be a case of a new character being introduced in E7, similarly to how Kairo or Reeve were introduced in E6, to fill the last slot for the gym leaders.

Haha true, I guess that means we are doing our jobs well, huh?

[Amare]

On 9/12/2023 at 10:10 AM, Luri said:

 

I wonder why it would go for such a dreary atmosphere for a good portion of the dream.

Maybe it should conjure up some fairy lights and statues around the settlements and it wouldn’t be so bad. Not as pretty or vibrant as Ayrith but it would have its own charm lol. Also yeah, the boredom could be what prompted his escape in the first place.

That’s a very good point. The journals in the Settler’s Ruins did mention they were being pursued. Disregarding the author’s identity for now, it’s still likely Darkrai was present in those ruins given those diagrams that can be seen in the lab area, and decided to flee to the Dreamscape when things went south.

 

For some wacky reason, I had it in my head that he vanished like ten years ago…I have no idea why, I don’t even recall that being said in game. It’s just there xD

He does state that a part of the reason he’s leaving behind his legacy for a future successor is that the twins will never cease and will outlast them all. He needed a way to protect themselves from what was to come in the future.

Which kinda sounds like they were out and about causing some problems when he was still around and Majira was aware of it. Maybe he was directly involved in opposing them.

This is definitely an odd point since we don’t know how long ago he vanished.

If all that turns out to be the case, then I guess we could have some time frame on when this occurred given the rough estimate of the twins’ ages (Unless they happen to be, like, immortal too or something).

 

Ooh what if we have a gauntlet battle with some security measures as soon as we open the door?

Yeah, finding one or two keys won’t help anyone open the door. Someone would have to put in some effort to find them all.

It could also represent the spirit of being a ranger. After all, we wouldn’t have obtained the key from Sera if we hadn’t joined. Majira made sure the keys would be obtainable to people following a ranger’s path. A path that requires helping out citizens and making sure they are safe and all that.

 

Quite true. Maybe some other gangs were running amuck back then too, and eventually swiped the base after Majira disappeared. I wonder if that will be elaborated on if we find some more clues from Majira. Given how there’s usually more going on than meets the eye in this game I wouldn’t either.

Omg yeah, even current Blackview requires some TLC.  That’d be pretty cool though. It’d be super exciting to see a renovated Blackview.

Especially if Adrienn is involved. They sure know how to spruce up a city!

That reminds me of the resort that was being discussed on Keneph Beach. I wonder if we will aid in its construction as a side quest or if we will see it being completed as the story goes on.

 

Indeed, it is quite a big island. So many places to hide a piece or two…luckily they are tied to some side quest so that should make finding them a bit easier.

Ah, yeah, that isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. If I had to wager a guess I’d say if there is one it’ll be in East given that it’s still the newest location on Cellia. The most suspect places/things are the sewers, the statues, and those locked storages located in the Eastern Docks.

 

Awesome, I know what I shall be reading after this post .

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if it could. Darkrai is shown to be a pretty good scheming manipulator. Concocting a series of dreams to subtly guide someone to do something or change their minds seems right up its alley.

It certainly seemed like Darkrai was a bit more involved in Lilith’s dreams, what with her describing a shaded figure of black, white, and red antagonizing her in her dreams before Umbreon powered up. Maybe it was attempting to do something similar to that? Inflict doubt or fear or something so that she’s more likely to enter the Dreamscape in the end.

That could be how Nova was first inducted as well. As far as we know there wasn’t someone who lured her to the Dreamscape, so it seems feasible Darkrai used dreams to get into Nova’s head and start that whole cycle.

Darkrai was enhanced by Perfection at one point and created an entire dreamworld and has some ability that can help it retain control of those under its influence. Given all that, it doesn’t sound too farfetch’d that it can amplify their abilities as well.

Especially when we consider the alternatives… they just have more raw powers compared to everyone else or they have more knowledge. It’s not like Lilith is going around casting illusions (or any other dreamer for that matter). It’d be a really neat explanation for all that.

 

That’s quite an interesting idea. Silver is often representative of the moon so I could see the silver being moonlight which does work with Cresselia…and Darkrai as well.

That would be a really neat idea. Like the lanterns representing the illumination of the moon and following the brightest ones or following the direction of the lantern will reveal more journals or some secrets regarding Cresselia.

Though, I would assume the lanterns would be shining silver as well to signify the connection. We’ve only seen a fraction of Arcanius, maybe we will see more lantern-wielding statues glowing silver later on. Or maybe we interact with them in a specific order and for each correct interaction the golden glow fades to a shining silver? Or even changing the colors from gold to silver.

You do make an interesting point. Usually, crowns and other royal regalia are gold, not silver. An interesting distinction. I suppose if the crown mentioned isn’t some sort of hint or whatnot and more figurative, like an expression of Waldenhall’s desire to inherit the power of the Perfection plane, then the distinction doesn’t matter as much.

Or, maybe the entity has a preference for silver over gold or something.

 

Lilith is pretty astute usually; it’d be a bit surprising if she didn’t pick up on any shifts in its mood. Maybe it was occasional bouts of moodiness, but the Perfection exacerbated it to a new level.

Ooh, that could definitely be a factor as well. If her Umbreon was gifted to her by her parents (most likely starting as an Eevee in the beginning) and later on evolved into an Umbreon while they were still around it’s possible there was some form of attachment to her parents as well. And if Umbreon didn’t have as strong of a connection with them as it does with Lilith then it’s priorities were more about her wellbeing than her parents, possibly resulting in a weakening of their bond for a while.

Given that we know nothing about her childhood or her parents it’s a lot of speculation though all pretty feasible without anything else to go on.

 

Oh yes! I remember now. It’s been a hot minute since I went through that dialogue. Either the entity isn’t Darkrai’s trainer like previously discussed or they are Darkrai’s trainer but managed to find a way to ascend without Darkrai while Darkrai ascended naturally? Or something.

So far, I’d say another settler makes the most sense. I doubt Darkrai’s trainer was some random deserter, and the priests were actively chasing the group so it seems unlikely they were a priest. Unless there is some other party involved we’re not aware of yet…until then a settler seems most likely.

 

You can say that again. I definitely agree with that. It does sound like the entity isn’t a huge fan of people living in Ayrith but most people aren’t gonna be high priorities for them. Well at least in the beginning.  

If Lilith comes back and has achieved Perfection along with her Umbreon then she may end up a higher priority. Other than that, it’s pretty sensible that Waldenhall and the protagonist would be the main targets. You know, I wouldn’t be too surprised if they targeted Garret for such a reason, given how protective the entity is over Perfection.

I could buy it as well. If any of the settlers opposed the idea of using Perfection, I could see that causing a problem between the two. Plus, they have something against either the priests or some other settlers for destroying the sanctity of Arcanius or whatever they meant by that.

I do wonder what they meant by that…destroying Arcanius’s purity and replacing it with an impure order?

 

Both sounds like it’s gonna be a fever dream xD

Our poor protagonist though, first not being able to trust the words of others, then questioning who they really are, and now they can’t even trust their own senses…they need some therapy.

Who knows, Nova may end up in the hallucination/illusions as well. She may not be able to help with the hallucinations though I’m sure there must be something she could do. Like working as a counter distraction or something?

Surprise! Hardy will be the one that comes to save us instead with his Perfection Zoroark and scare off Darkrai for the time being.

That would be pretty screwed up. It’s time for the hero team to take some morally grey actions…I’d kinda be down with that xD.

 

It is definitely one of our speculative points. It’s pretty easy to assume she might be given her connections with Reeve and being name-dropped.

Of course, being name-dropped isn't actual confirmation she is. Artem and Waldenhall were introduced way before we met them, and they certainly aren’t gym leaders.

If she doesn’t turn out to be a leader, then we will be missing one with no mention of who they are and what they specialize in. This feels a bit off since we already know the names of the remaining leaders, as well as the Elite Four.

It could be a case of a new character being introduced in E7, similarly to how Kairo or Reeve were introduced in E6, to fill the last slot for the gym leaders.

Haha true, I guess that means we are doing our jobs well, huh?

 

 

So basically, Darkrai just needs some decorating classes and the entire plot of Desolation could be avoided. 

 

I vaguely remember something about fifteen years in there, but I don't recall if that's fifteen years since Majira went missing, or since Elliot joined, or what. If we're assuming the twins are somewhere around their thirties (well, I am at least), they could definitely have been causing trouble for Majira. And God knows a couple of superpowered teenagers with no real leash is the definition of a nightmare. (pun not intended) That being said, the twins turning out to be immortal does seem like a plausible idea- I've been wondering about them for a while. Their diaries said it's always been them and Keegan, but how did they take care of themselves as kids with no adults? Were they abandoned as teenagers, are they amnesiacs, what gives?

 

That's a good point, I can see Majira wanting his successor to be able to play nicely with others. (Speaking of playing nicely with others, am I the only one who suspects that the next instalment of the Elliot sidequest will involve us teaming up with the Grand Rogue?)

 

E7's new plot: Darkrai takes decorating classes and teams up with Emily to renovate Blackview. (Also, from what we've been shown, I think it'll be a bit of both- we get side quests helping to build the resort, but I imagine the whole thing won't be finished until a certain point in the story.)

 

Yeah, those definitely seem like the most likely locations to me as well.

 

Hope you enjoy it :)

 

It seems likely to me that it tries to influence people through dreams- after all, Darkrai couldn't get back into Ayrith until the end of E5, so it's not like it could just appear in front of people and mind-whammy them. Getting them through their dreams seems like the most logical way for it to happen, especially if it did it really slowly and subtly, so they didn't even realise it at first.

 

Honestly, given that Darkrai has Shiv and Aurora, hopefully it can't actually soup their powers up, or the protagonists are going to be in a world of trouble.

 

It would genuinely be hilarious if the entity was just like 'Yeah, I like silver more than gold, it's not that big a deal'. 

 

True, but if she was obsessing over her parents' deaths, she might have disregarded it. And yeah, this is just speculation, unless the devs walk in and hand us a bunch of answers on a platter, which somehow I don't think is going to happen any time soon. :(

 

Yeah, Lilith does seem like an obvious target, even if all the entity does is profoundly mock her for not attaining Perfection with Umbreon. You've lost me with Garret, though- why him?

 

I went back and rewatched that bit. This is purely conjecture, but I have a theory that the writer wasn't one of the original settlers, they came in slightly later- either in the second wave or maybe a child of one of the settlers. I came up with a timeline, that's probably wrong in places, but it goes kind of like this:

 

1. The original settlers come to Arcanius and make some kind of settlement/base camp.

2. They fall out, fight each other and some if not all of them attain Perfection.

3. They wind up resolving things (at least, some of them do) and go back to settling Arcanius.

4. The writer and a group of others discover the Perfection Fragment somewhere. The writer attains true Perfection; the others attain some kind of subpar/artificial Perfection.

5. There's some kind of big argument amongst everyone, presumably over what to do with the Fragment. The writer, who advocated studying it/reproducing its effects, is banished, and the others who attained Perfection come with them.

6. The group flees to the area that would become Fairbale Town with the Fragment and make their haven.

7. Despite all their attempts, everyone dies except the writer and their Pokemon.

 

The bit I haven't got figured out is that apparently the writer had already tried this once, and it ended with everyone except them dying of artificial Perfection. 

 

To me, the bit about Arcanius' purity sounds like a reference to settling/industrialisation- the writer was angry that the other settlers were felling trees, clearing ground and so on to build on the land and farm. (Of course, it could be something else entirely.) Or it could just be that the writer thought that nobody should live on Arcanius full stop, even if they didn't clear any land to do it.

 

That would make a hilarious amount of sense- how do you defeat an illusion? With a better illusion! And who can do the best illusions? Perfection Zoroark! *jazz hands*

 

Yeah, E7 has the writers troll us by having Delica turn out to be a Fox or something. But you're right, if Delica isn't the last Leader, we don't know who is, and it feels weird for Arcanius to only have one Leader. 

 

Oh God yeah, we're excelling at our jobs, heh.

 

[Luri]

On 9/16/2023 at 6:34 AM, Amare said:

 

So basically, Darkrai just needs some decorating classes and the entire plot of Desolation could be avoided. 

 

I vaguely remember something about fifteen years in there, but I don't recall if that's fifteen years since Majira went missing, or since Elliot joined, or what. If we're assuming the twins are somewhere around their thirties (well, I am at least), they could definitely have been causing trouble for Majira. And God knows a couple of superpowered teenagers with no real leash is the definition of a nightmare. (pun not intended) That being said, the twins turning out to be immortal does seem like a plausible idea- I've been wondering about them for a while. Their diaries said it's always been them and Keegan, but how did they take care of themselves as kids with no adults? Were they abandoned as teenagers, are they amnesiacs, what gives?

 

That's a good point, I can see Majira wanting his successor to be able to play nicely with others. (Speaking of playing nicely with others, am I the only one who suspects that the next instalment of the Elliot sidequest will involve us teaming up with the Grand Rogue?)

 

E7's new plot: Darkrai takes decorating classes and teams up with Emily to renovate Blackview. (Also, from what we've been shown, I think it'll be a bit of both- we get side quests helping to build the resort, but I imagine the whole thing won't be finished until a certain point in the story.)

 

Yeah, those definitely seem like the most likely locations to me as well.

 

Hope you enjoy it :)

 

It seems likely to me that it tries to influence people through dreams- after all, Darkrai couldn't get back into Ayrith until the end of E5, so it's not like it could just appear in front of people and mind-whammy them. Getting them through their dreams seems like the most logical way for it to happen, especially if it did it really slowly and subtly, so they didn't even realise it at first.

 

Honestly, given that Darkrai has Shiv and Aurora, hopefully it can't actually soup their powers up, or the protagonists are going to be in a world of trouble.

 

It would genuinely be hilarious if the entity was just like 'Yeah, I like silver more than gold, it's not that big a deal'. 

 

True, but if she was obsessing over her parents' deaths, she might have disregarded it. And yeah, this is just speculation, unless the devs walk in and hand us a bunch of answers on a platter, which somehow I don't think is going to happen any time soon. :(

 

Yeah, Lilith does seem like an obvious target, even if all the entity does is profoundly mock her for not attaining Perfection with Umbreon. You've lost me with Garret, though- why him?

 

I went back and rewatched that bit. This is purely conjecture, but I have a theory that the writer wasn't one of the original settlers, they came in slightly later- either in the second wave or maybe a child of one of the settlers. I came up with a timeline, that's probably wrong in places, but it goes kind of like this:

 

1. The original settlers come to Arcanius and make some kind of settlement/base camp.

2. They fall out, fight each other and some if not all of them attain Perfection.

3. They wind up resolving things (at least, some of them do) and go back to settling Arcanius.

4. The writer and a group of others discover the Perfection Fragment somewhere. The writer attains true Perfection; the others attain some kind of subpar/artificial Perfection.

5. There's some kind of big argument amongst everyone, presumably over what to do with the Fragment. The writer, who advocated studying it/reproducing its effects, is banished, and the others who attained Perfection come with them.

6. The group flees to the area that would become Fairbale Town with the Fragment and make their haven.

7. Despite all their attempts, everyone dies except the writer and their Pokemon.

 

The bit I haven't got figured out is that apparently the writer had already tried this once, and it ended with everyone except them dying of artificial Perfection. 

 

To me, the bit about Arcanius' purity sounds like a reference to settling/industrialisation- the writer was angry that the other settlers were felling trees, clearing ground and so on to build on the land and farm. (Of course, it could be something else entirely.) Or it could just be that the writer thought that nobody should live on Arcanius full stop, even if they didn't clear any land to do it.

 

That would make a hilarious amount of sense- how do you defeat an illusion? With a better illusion! And who can do the best illusions? Perfection Zoroark! *jazz hands*

 

Yeah, E7 has the writers troll us by having Delica turn out to be a Fox or something. But you're right, if Delica isn't the last Leader, we don't know who is, and it feels weird for Arcanius to only have one Leader. 

 

Oh God yeah, we're excelling at our jobs, heh.

 

 

Alrighty, I’ve been a bit busy, but I am back with another (longgg) response! Sorry for the wait :D

 

Totally. Maybe we just need to max our protagonist’s charisma stat to convince Darkrai to parley and from there Reeve and Delica could give Darkrai some pointers and bam, crisis adverted XD.

 

Five off, not too bad. Unless Elliot joined soon after Majira’s disappearance then yeah that could lead to a huge difference. Maybe it was fifteen years since Elliot joined but an unknown amount of time since Majira disappeared. Or vice versa. I’ll definitely have to parse through some of the Ranger text at some point.

Yeah, I kinda assumed late twenties – early thirties, around that age range. Yeah, poor Majira, they already cause enough problems now, but them in their teen years? Oh boy. (That’s two now, are we sureee they aren’t intended~?)

Immortal or something akin to it. Them being immortal would make things quite a bit interesting. I’ve definitely had a niggling feeling about them for a while too. Something seems to be up with them but I’m just not sure what, hard to place a finger on it.

Not to mention their manor is located in Silver Rise Forest. Not much is up there besides the small gathering of rangers situated a bit further up the mountain. Living on a continually snowing mountain seems a touch difficult at the best of times, even more so for children with no adults around.

On the other hand, this is the same universe where children leave house and home to take on leagues and foil villainous teams. Not to mention these kids do have some unnatural powers (except for Keegan, sorry buddy). Taking care of themselves probably wasn’t exactly easy but most likely doable.

You know, that is a good question. What happened to their parents/caretakers? There doesn’t seem to be implications of Nova/Darkrai having anything to do with their disappearance like Lilith and her parents, so it sounds like their family was already gone before she entered the picture.

Besides those journals, the only other time I can think of them referring to family is when it’s mentioned that their family has no room for weakness or failure in regards to Keegan (then again that could have been haughtiness of their own making, not a familial norm taught to them by a caretaker or some such).

At this point, it seems like any one of those could be possible. It could be abandonment (though whoever their caretakers were must have had some goooooood reason to abandon three kids on a mountain >.>) The amnesiac idea seems interesting. Maybe Darkrai muddled their memories to the point they just don’t know? And given all that’s happened to them it’s probably not high on their priority list to figure out right now. Or maybe some sort of repressed memory situation, though that is more of a symptom of the root cause. Or maybe their parents ended up lost in Silver Rise, never to be seen again.

I suppose the easiest way to find out (assuming we don’t get a nice tragic backstory from one of them at some point) is to make physical contact with either of them now that the protagonist absorbed some of the Perfection serum. That should cut through any of the lies or whatnot.

However, getting either of them to sit still long enough for an opportunity is another matter entirely.

 

Yep yep, Majira was the first ranger after all. A successor should embody the qualities of a ranger. Ah, that hadn’t occurred to me. I can see it being a possibility. After all, despite his unsavory attitude, he was the first one to warn us about Elliot. It would be neat to have a mission where we team up with the Grand Rouge and Sera to find either the last orb or one of Majira’s keys.

 

Okay, that would be so wholesome! With Darkrai and Emily at the helm, Blackview is spruced up and ends up a rival for Cellia. Darkrai gets really into the decoration scene and becomes a hit in several other regions. Yeah, it could be a series of quests spanning an episode or two. That’d be pretty fun, kinda like restoring Goldenwood Park in Rejuvenation. Definitely excited to see what this resort will look like that’s for sure.

 

Agreed, now we just need to keep an eye on those locations juuuuust in case those mysterious pieces do end up at one of them.

 

I absolutely did! I really enjoy the creativity you put into your work, brilliant idea having Rosetta and Aaron be the ones to coax Reeve into getting a pokémon. Very adorable

 

Yep yep, Darkrai is pretty much channeling its inner Morpheus, motivating dreamers into action through its dream manipulation. No wonder Darkrai was able to amass such a collection of dreamers in the Dreamscape.

 

Yeah, the odds wouldn’t be in the protagonist’s favor that’s for sure. Chances are regular Darkrai won’t have the ability to boost their powers, though I wouldn’t say the same about Perfection Darkrai.

 

Omg yeah, even more hilarious if Waldenhall is sitting around overthinking it while the entity just pipes up with that line. Amazing xD.

 

Yeah, it’s quite possible she did. We know that’s been her goal for years after their deaths. Given that I wouldn’t be surprised if, around the time of their deaths, that was one of the only things on her mind. Which could easily lead to her disregarding Umbreon, whether intentionally or not.

Haha yeah, that’s probably not likely to happen. At least that means we will possibly get the chance to figure it out in the game. Which I’m totally okay with, that just makes things all the more exciting .

 

Yeah, that’s a fair point, even if the entity doesn’t target her, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some mockery for her failure to ascend with Umbreon. I went back and read my response and the previous line of responses. To be honest I lost myself as well xD. I totally misunderstood your line about Garret entering the ruins. I was under the impression that would make Garret somewhat of a target cause they wouldn’t know Garret’s intention for entering the ruins and they are already quite keen on making sure they are the only one who should have Perfection. Probably should just disregard that.

 

That’s some pretty interesting conjecture. If the author of those journals wasn’t one of the first settlers, what do you think happened to the very first settlers who attained Perfection?

I think that’s a pretty good outline of events, it roughly follows the timeline I kinda mapped out while going over those journals, give or take a few things.

If I remember correctly the priests started chasing the author in question because they considered Perfection a curse of sorts.

Working with your timeline, during the time the writer may have obtained Perfection, others may have come into contact with it as well (intentionally or not) and ultimately met their demise. The author’s insistence on studying Perfection despite what happened previously and animosity towards the others over the desecration of Arcanius sparked debates/arguments about the whole ordeal. One side thought that Perfection was a curse whereas the writer and others thought it should be explored. These arguments eventually boiled over and left the author and a bunch of others no choice but to flee with the Fragment.

Or the writer’s tinkering is what led to the arguments before they fled.

With this theory and timeline do you think the writer is the entity or not?

 

Both of those ideas seem pretty likely. Arcanius seems like a pretty special island, what with the Visinite Tree, the Astraciel Woodland and possibly being the homeplace of the Perfection Fragment. Industrialization could very well change or alter that.

I kinda ended up wondering if it had anything to do with the priests. Like a growing religious view that conflicted with the writer’s views or prevented others from uncovering the mysteries of Arcanius.

Another line of thought was if it had anything to do with the uniqueness of Arcanius, like them harvesting the mystical energies that emanate from the island or something. Although that does sort of bleed into environmentalism.

 

Haha, I’d say it’s quite fitting. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Plus, that’d be pretty entertaining to see. Now that’s got me curious, who would win in a battle of illusions?

 

Huge conspiracy theory: everyone is a Fox. The Foxes have infiltrated every position and role at this point and are preparing to enact their plans lol

It does feel rather strange for Arcanius to only have Ava. Every other island has more than one gym leader. Not to mention that the island, at one point, did have at least two leaders. It seems pretty likely that we’ll have a gym leader in Astraciel. Whether or not it’s Delica is another matter.

That has me wondering, where would Connor have been stationed for gym leader duties? The battle in Redcliff was due to the circumstances everyone found themselves in though it's probably not where he was gonna kick off his career.

 

[Amare]

On 9/27/2023 at 2:07 PM, Luri said:

 

Alrighty, I’ve been a bit busy, but I am back with another (longgg) response! Sorry for the wait :D

 

Totally. Maybe we just need to max our protagonist’s charisma stat to convince Darkrai to parley and from there Reeve and Delica could give Darkrai some pointers and bam, crisis adverted XD.

 

Five off, not too bad. Unless Elliot joined soon after Majira’s disappearance then yeah that could lead to a huge difference. Maybe it was fifteen years since Elliot joined but an unknown amount of time since Majira disappeared. Or vice versa. I’ll definitely have to parse through some of the Ranger text at some point.

Yeah, I kinda assumed late twenties – early thirties, around that age range. Yeah, poor Majira, they already cause enough problems now, but them in their teen years? Oh boy. (That’s two now, are we sureee they aren’t intended~?)

Immortal or something akin to it. Them being immortal would make things quite a bit interesting. I’ve definitely had a niggling feeling about them for a while too. Something seems to be up with them but I’m just not sure what, hard to place a finger on it.

Not to mention their manor is located in Silver Rise Forest. Not much is up there besides the small gathering of rangers situated a bit further up the mountain. Living on a continually snowing mountain seems a touch difficult at the best of times, even more so for children with no adults around.

On the other hand, this is the same universe where children leave house and home to take on leagues and foil villainous teams. Not to mention these kids do have some unnatural powers (except for Keegan, sorry buddy). Taking care of themselves probably wasn’t exactly easy but most likely doable.

You know, that is a good question. What happened to their parents/caretakers? There doesn’t seem to be implications of Nova/Darkrai having anything to do with their disappearance like Lilith and her parents, so it sounds like their family was already gone before she entered the picture.

Besides those journals, the only other time I can think of them referring to family is when it’s mentioned that their family has no room for weakness or failure in regards to Keegan (then again that could have been haughtiness of their own making, not a familial norm taught to them by a caretaker or some such).

At this point, it seems like any one of those could be possible. It could be abandonment (though whoever their caretakers were must have had some goooooood reason to abandon three kids on a mountain >.>) The amnesiac idea seems interesting. Maybe Darkrai muddled their memories to the point they just don’t know? And given all that’s happened to them it’s probably not high on their priority list to figure out right now. Or maybe some sort of repressed memory situation, though that is more of a symptom of the root cause. Or maybe their parents ended up lost in Silver Rise, never to be seen again.

I suppose the easiest way to find out (assuming we don’t get a nice tragic backstory from one of them at some point) is to make physical contact with either of them now that the protagonist absorbed some of the Perfection serum. That should cut through any of the lies or whatnot.

However, getting either of them to sit still long enough for an opportunity is another matter entirely.

 

Yep yep, Majira was the first ranger after all. A successor should embody the qualities of a ranger. Ah, that hadn’t occurred to me. I can see it being a possibility. After all, despite his unsavory attitude, he was the first one to warn us about Elliot. It would be neat to have a mission where we team up with the Grand Rouge and Sera to find either the last orb or one of Majira’s keys.

 

Okay, that would be so wholesome! With Darkrai and Emily at the helm, Blackview is spruced up and ends up a rival for Cellia. Darkrai gets really into the decoration scene and becomes a hit in several other regions. Yeah, it could be a series of quests spanning an episode or two. That’d be pretty fun, kinda like restoring Goldenwood Park in Rejuvenation. Definitely excited to see what this resort will look like that’s for sure.

 

Agreed, now we just need to keep an eye on those locations juuuuust in case those mysterious pieces do end up at one of them.

 

I absolutely did! I really enjoy the creativity you put into your work, brilliant idea having Rosetta and Aaron be the ones to coax Reeve into getting a pokémon. Very adorable

 

Yep yep, Darkrai is pretty much channeling its inner Morpheus, motivating dreamers into action through its dream manipulation. No wonder Darkrai was able to amass such a collection of dreamers in the Dreamscape.

 

Yeah, the odds wouldn’t be in the protagonist’s favor that’s for sure. Chances are regular Darkrai won’t have the ability to boost their powers, though I wouldn’t say the same about Perfection Darkrai.

 

Omg yeah, even more hilarious if Waldenhall is sitting around overthinking it while the entity just pipes up with that line. Amazing xD.

 

Yeah, it’s quite possible she did. We know that’s been her goal for years after their deaths. Given that I wouldn’t be surprised if, around the time of their deaths, that was one of the only things on her mind. Which could easily lead to her disregarding Umbreon, whether intentionally or not.

Haha yeah, that’s probably not likely to happen. At least that means we will possibly get the chance to figure it out in the game. Which I’m totally okay with, that just makes things all the more exciting .

 

Yeah, that’s a fair point, even if the entity doesn’t target her, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some mockery for her failure to ascend with Umbreon. I went back and read my response and the previous line of responses. To be honest I lost myself as well xD. I totally misunderstood your line about Garret entering the ruins. I was under the impression that would make Garret somewhat of a target cause they wouldn’t know Garret’s intention for entering the ruins and they are already quite keen on making sure they are the only one who should have Perfection. Probably should just disregard that.

 

That’s some pretty interesting conjecture. If the author of those journals wasn’t one of the first settlers, what do you think happened to the very first settlers who attained Perfection?

I think that’s a pretty good outline of events, it roughly follows the timeline I kinda mapped out while going over those journals, give or take a few things.

If I remember correctly the priests started chasing the author in question because they considered Perfection a curse of sorts.

Working with your timeline, during the time the writer may have obtained Perfection, others may have come into contact with it as well (intentionally or not) and ultimately met their demise. The author’s insistence on studying Perfection despite what happened previously and animosity towards the others over the desecration of Arcanius sparked debates/arguments about the whole ordeal. One side thought that Perfection was a curse whereas the writer and others thought it should be explored. These arguments eventually boiled over and left the author and a bunch of others no choice but to flee with the Fragment.

Or the writer’s tinkering is what led to the arguments before they fled.

With this theory and timeline do you think the writer is the entity or not?

 

Both of those ideas seem pretty likely. Arcanius seems like a pretty special island, what with the Visinite Tree, the Astraciel Woodland and possibly being the homeplace of the Perfection Fragment. Industrialization could very well change or alter that.

I kinda ended up wondering if it had anything to do with the priests. Like a growing religious view that conflicted with the writer’s views or prevented others from uncovering the mysteries of Arcanius.

Another line of thought was if it had anything to do with the uniqueness of Arcanius, like them harvesting the mystical energies that emanate from the island or something. Although that does sort of bleed into environmentalism.

 

Haha, I’d say it’s quite fitting. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Plus, that’d be pretty entertaining to see. Now that’s got me curious, who would win in a battle of illusions?

 

Huge conspiracy theory: everyone is a Fox. The Foxes have infiltrated every position and role at this point and are preparing to enact their plans lol

It does feel rather strange for Arcanius to only have Ava. Every other island has more than one gym leader. Not to mention that the island, at one point, did have at least two leaders. It seems pretty likely that we’ll have a gym leader in Astraciel. Whether or not it’s Delica is another matter.

That has me wondering, where would Connor have been stationed for gym leader duties? The battle in Redcliff was due to the circumstances everyone found themselves in though it's probably not where he was gonna kick off his career.

 

 

The phrase 'Queer Eye For The Darkrai' jumped into my head and I'm even more convinced that I'm going to Hell.

 

Yeah, there's a ton of options. Short of them being actual dreams brought to life or something, I think it's safe to say that there's some weird shit going on with them. (Dumb theory: they're the dream-children of Darkrai and Cresselia.) And the house is another question- why is there just a random empty manor on a mountain, conveniently empty for three parentless kids to live in?

 

Even better, the other person who warned us about Elliot- Jarred. We have to team up with the Grand Rogue, who's a dick, and Jarred, who's Jarred, to somehow find the orb. (And then Jarred will probably try to backstab us so he can get Lugia back.)

 

Keneph Beach (and the Caves) could really use a spruce up, that's for sure. Especially the Caves, given that all the homes were really primitive and the floors were cracked. (And they really needed some light sources.)

 

Thanks, I'm glad you like it :)

 

Hopefully as long as we don't go full Inception, we should be fine. (Emphasis on should.)

 

I guess the problem is that we really don't have any idea what Perfection Darkrai is capable of. Lilith's Perfection Umbreon is certainly tough, but any Perfection Legendary would be a nightmare, and Darkrai... I guess it could do anything with nightmares, huh...

 

It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle. We're throwing pieces into the spaces we don't have, and once E7 comes out, we'll know where more of the pieces go, even if we got some of the earlier ones in the wrong places.

 

Actually, you might have a point about Garret. He didn't know anything about Perfection and AFAIK doesn't have any special powers, but the entity said something to Waldenhall about 'the fate of all your kind'. If it was talking about humanity, I can see the entity targeting people around the player to mess with them, and Garret was one of the first on the scene...

 

That is a really, really good question. Maybe they moved regions to stay hidden, or they lost their Perfection, or they're actually the priests at the Kanzen Temple.

 

It seems likely that the writer is the entity. Maybe the entity is the Fragment itself, come to life? Or the writer merged with the Fragment to become the entity? Honestly, the Fragment thing always seemed kinda off to me because AFAIK, Perfection isn't meant to be something tangible, so how can there be a fragment of it? Was it meant to be, like, a preserved part of a Perfection Pokemon's body or something?

 

I mean, if they're both Perfected, then probably Darkrai by way of being a legendary. If Darkrai isn't, then probably Zoroark.

 

Everyone's a Fox! Rosetta's a Fox, Connor's a Fox, we're both Foxes...

 

Redcliff does have its own arena, so it seems like a good place for a Leader. It's got the Lab, too, and I can see the powers that be (well, they don't exist in Ayrith, but still) wanting a Leader there to handle the Keneph Village situation, at least until the player got there.

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by Amare

[Luri]

On 10/1/2023 at 12:06 AM, Amare said:

 

The phrase 'Queer Eye For The Darkrai' jumped into my head and I'm even more convinced that I'm going to Hell.

 

Yeah, there's a ton of options. Short of them being actual dreams brought to life or something, I think it's safe to say that there's some weird shit going on with them. (Dumb theory: they're the dream-children of Darkrai and Cresselia.) And the house is another question- why is there just a random empty manor on a mountain, conveniently empty for three parentless kids to live in?

 

Even better, the other person who warned us about Elliot- Jarred. We have to team up with the Grand Rogue, who's a dick, and Jarred, who's Jarred, to somehow find the orb. (And then Jarred will probably try to backstab us so he can get Lugia back.)

 

Keneph Beach (and the Caves) could really use a spruce up, that's for sure. Especially the Caves, given that all the homes were really primitive and the floors were cracked. (And they really needed some light sources.)

 

Thanks, I'm glad you like it :)

 

Hopefully as long as we don't go full Inception, we should be fine. (Emphasis on should.)

 

I guess the problem is that we really don't have any idea what Perfection Darkrai is capable of. Lilith's Perfection Umbreon is certainly tough, but any Perfection Legendary would be a nightmare, and Darkrai... I guess it could do anything with nightmares, huh...

 

It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle. We're throwing pieces into the spaces we don't have, and once E7 comes out, we'll know where more of the pieces go, even if we got some of the earlier ones in the wrong places.

 

Actually, you might have a point about Garret. He didn't know anything about Perfection and AFAIK doesn't have any special powers, but the entity said something to Waldenhall about 'the fate of all your kind'. If it was talking about humanity, I can see the entity targeting people around the player to mess with them, and Garret was one of the first on the scene...

 

That is a really, really good question. Maybe they moved regions to stay hidden, or they lost their Perfection, or they're actually the priests at the Kanzen Temple.

 

It seems likely that the writer is the entity. Maybe the entity is the Fragment itself, come to life? Or the writer merged with the Fragment to become the entity? Honestly, the Fragment thing always seemed kinda off to me because AFAIK, Perfection isn't meant to be something tangible, so how can there be a fragment of it? Was it meant to be, like, a preserved part of a Perfection Pokemon's body or something?

 

I mean, if they're both Perfected, then probably Darkrai by way of being a legendary. If Darkrai isn't, then probably Zoroark.

 

Everyone's a Fox! Rosetta's a Fox, Connor's a Fox, we're both Foxes...

 

Redcliff does have its own arena, so it seems like a good place for a Leader. It's got the Lab, too, and I can see the powers that be (well, they don't exist in Ayrith, but still) wanting a Leader there to handle the Keneph Village situation, at least until the player got there.

 

 

Omg there’s no way you’d go to Hell for that gem of a thought, that’s gold right there… I can absolutely imagine that as Darkrai’s jingle for its design work xD.

 

Absolutely. So many options, not enough answers yet. Maybe those possibilities will be narrowed down next episode.

They doooooo have that black/red/white color scheme going on that could totally work with Darkrai’s dream children angle…

The manor question can go two ways. Either that random empty manor belongs to them/their family, or it is a random house in the middle of a snowy forest that they eventually found.

(On a side note, those plants blocking the way in the manor are now the bane of my existence. I really wanna poke around on the second floor…foiled by potted plants of all things >.>)

Why the house is there could be any reason. No one on Silver Rise, Route 3, or even in Addenfall mentions the house so it’s anyone’s guess.

What if there was a Tristan-esque situation; whoever lived there wanted to be away from others but couldn’t handle the sheer cold and isolation and abandoned the house.

There is material of some sort in an underground section near the manor, perhaps some construction material? Maybe there were plans to build a town in Silver Forest and the manor was the first thing that was built. But the project was eventually scrapped, and no one has inhabited the place since.

Or the manor could have belonged to a ranger or someone who frequented the mountain but doesn’t anymore.

Heck, maybe the owner of the manor ended up lost in the mountains, perished, and was reborn as the Froslass in Silver Forest.

 

What a team that’d be. The Grand Rouge, Jarred, and the protagonist, off to find the Lightening Orb. That will be a memorable quest xD.

If we don’t get a Grand Rogue team-up, then a Jarred team-up seems quite likely. He’s gonna be keeping tabs on the protagonist since the spicy chicken showdown so he’s gonna appear eventually.

This time I will be prepared for Jarred’s inevitable backstab/surprise arrival!

 

True. It would be super cool to go back to the Caves at some point and see a thriving cavern town, complete with lights, cozy little houses/huts, and a town hall not meant for gladiatorial combat against a Donphan. With the Resort and the Cavern maybe that portion of Amaria will gain more popularity over time.

 

Haha I should be thanking you for a great read  I hope you have fun crafting your next chapter! I know I will certainly be anticipating its release.

 

Quite a bit of emphasis on should. There’s still time for things to descend into a chaotic mess for everyone! Doubly so if we do end up down the Inception route xD.

 

Yep yep. Umbreon is tough, tough enough to keep anyone from targeting Lilith and it. Although it probably pales in comparison to a Perfection Legendary. What we know Perfection Darkrai is capable of boils down to it constructing a dream world and given its current objective, merging dream and reality. That alone is pretty daunting. Outside of that we dunno what other tricks it may have up its sleeve. With it being a pokémon related to nightmares it definitely seems that way.

 

Definitely an apt way of putting it. Slowly but surely the spaces will be filled, and the picture will be revealed… even if there are some pieces that need to be shuffled around just a smidgen .

 

I’d surmise the entity was either talking about humanity or those unworthy (which is probably a good chunk of people either way).

The entity was aware of the protagonist’s presence in the ruins so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they knew Garret was there as well. Valid target acquired.

Ya know, the ending scene showed Darkrai seemingly waiting for the entity. Obviously, we have no way of knowing if they will be buddy-buddy as of yet, but it’d certainly be on the interesting side if the entity also views Darkrai as unworthy or a threat of some kind.

 

All things considered, staying hidden seems like a pretty sensible plan in the long run.

Huh, now that you mention it isn’t out of the realm of possibility for them to lose their Perfection since it did happen to Darkrai, whether it was by a strange accident or whatnot.

The priest idea is quite interesting. Having the first Settlers be proponents of Perfection in a spiritual sense and set up Kanzen Temple would be pretty neat.

 

Ooh, maybe the writer merged with the Fragment due to their experiments or a screwup or something. I suppose experiments or catastrophic failure could also result in the fragment coming to life.

If either of those ideas comes to fruition I wish Waldenhall good luck getting that Fragment. He’s gonna need it.

Another idea is that the entity was housed in the Fragment and was eventually released. The Fragment situation is definitely an odd one to dissect.

We know that Umbreon ascended without the usage of the Perfection Fragment, and Umbreon ascended naturally. Being immaterial seems to be an intrinsic state of Perfection.

Though, according to those journals the Fragment may be a gem or fragment of something. Something tangible. Given this, it seems possible that being an intangible force it isn’t the only state it can exist in. It’s unknown if this Fragment is an exception to what we know, or if it’s just a rare occurrence that we just haven’t heard of until now.

It’s possible that the fragment could be a vessel that harbors or traps large quantities of Perfection, or it could be the source of Perfection (or a part of it anyway) that emanates the Perfection energy throughout the region. It could also be that the Perfection energy underwent a process that crystallized it into the form of a gem. Or the fragment could be a conduit for channeling or collecting Perfection energy.

It’d be really cool if it was part of a Perfection pokémon preserved. Especially in a stone/gem, akin to amber fossilization.

If it’s a gem or stone or some such I’m wondering if it looks like the game’s icon. It’s gem-like and looks similar to the designs on the text box when the entity speaks. Given the close connection they have with Perfection it seems like a possibility to me.

I’ve also been tossing around the idea of the Onyx Stone being the Perfection Fragment. Dunno how viable that is but it’s a mysterious stone with some powerful aura radiating from it.

 

That’s a pretty fair assessment I’d say. If it does come down to a duel of illusions let’s just hope Darkrai hasn’t succeeded at powering up at that point!

 

So many Foxes…probably the largest skulk I’ve seen yet xD. Ayrith, the region of Foxes.

 

Ah, quite true. It has all the trappings for a gym leader. Once the threats to Ayrith are settled it seems like a good opening for him. At that point, he’d come full circle with the addition of personal growth making for a satisfying conclusion.

[Amare]

On 10/9/2023 at 3:20 PM, Luri said:

 

Omg there’s no way you’d go to Hell for that gem of a thought, that’s gold right there… I can absolutely imagine that as Darkrai’s jingle for its design work xD.

 

 

 

Absolutely. So many options, not enough answers yet. Maybe those possibilities will be narrowed down next episode.

They doooooo have that black/red/white color scheme going on that could totally work with Darkrai’s dream children angle…

The manor question can go two ways. Either that random empty manor belongs to them/their family, or it is a random house in the middle of a snowy forest that they eventually found.

(On a side note, those plants blocking the way in the manor are now the bane of my existence. I really wanna poke around on the second floor…foiled by potted plants of all things >.>)

Why the house is there could be any reason. No one on Silver Rise, Route 3, or even in Addenfall mentions the house so it’s anyone’s guess.

What if there was a Tristan-esque situation; whoever lived there wanted to be away from others but couldn’t handle the sheer cold and isolation and abandoned the house.

There is material of some sort in an underground section near the manor, perhaps some construction material? Maybe there were plans to build a town in Silver Forest and the manor was the first thing that was built. But the project was eventually scrapped, and no one has inhabited the place since.

Or the manor could have belonged to a ranger or someone who frequented the mountain but doesn’t anymore.

Heck, maybe the owner of the manor ended up lost in the mountains, perished, and was reborn as the Froslass in Silver Forest.

 

What a team that’d be. The Grand Rouge, Jarred, and the protagonist, off to find the Lightening Orb. That will be a memorable quest xD.

If we don’t get a Grand Rogue team-up, then a Jarred team-up seems quite likely. He’s gonna be keeping tabs on the protagonist since the spicy chicken showdown so he’s gonna appear eventually.

This time I will be prepared for Jarred’s inevitable backstab/surprise arrival!

 

True. It would be super cool to go back to the Caves at some point and see a thriving cavern town, complete with lights, cozy little houses/huts, and a town hall not meant for gladiatorial combat against a Donphan. With the Resort and the Cavern maybe that portion of Amaria will gain more popularity over time.

 

Haha I should be thanking you for a great read  I hope you have fun crafting your next chapter! I know I will certainly be anticipating its release.

 

Quite a bit of emphasis on should. There’s still time for things to descend into a chaotic mess for everyone! Doubly so if we do end up down the Inception route xD.

 

Yep yep. Umbreon is tough, tough enough to keep anyone from targeting Lilith and it. Although it probably pales in comparison to a Perfection Legendary. What we know Perfection Darkrai is capable of boils down to it constructing a dream world and given its current objective, merging dream and reality. That alone is pretty daunting. Outside of that we dunno what other tricks it may have up its sleeve. With it being a pokémon related to nightmares it definitely seems that way.

 

Definitely an apt way of putting it. Slowly but surely the spaces will be filled, and the picture will be revealed… even if there are some pieces that need to be shuffled around just a smidgen .

 

I’d surmise the entity was either talking about humanity or those unworthy (which is probably a good chunk of people either way).

The entity was aware of the protagonist’s presence in the ruins so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they knew Garret was there as well. Valid target acquired.

Ya know, the ending scene showed Darkrai seemingly waiting for the entity. Obviously, we have no way of knowing if they will be buddy-buddy as of yet, but it’d certainly be on the interesting side if the entity also views Darkrai as unworthy or a threat of some kind.

 

All things considered, staying hidden seems like a pretty sensible plan in the long run.

Huh, now that you mention it isn’t out of the realm of possibility for them to lose their Perfection since it did happen to Darkrai, whether it was by a strange accident or whatnot.

The priest idea is quite interesting. Having the first Settlers be proponents of Perfection in a spiritual sense and set up Kanzen Temple would be pretty neat.

 

Ooh, maybe the writer merged with the Fragment due to their experiments or a screwup or something. I suppose experiments or catastrophic failure could also result in the fragment coming to life.

If either of those ideas comes to fruition I wish Waldenhall good luck getting that Fragment. He’s gonna need it.

Another idea is that the entity was housed in the Fragment and was eventually released. The Fragment situation is definitely an odd one to dissect.

We know that Umbreon ascended without the usage of the Perfection Fragment, and Umbreon ascended naturally. Being immaterial seems to be an intrinsic state of Perfection.

Though, according to those journals the Fragment may be a gem or fragment of something. Something tangible. Given this, it seems possible that being an intangible force it isn’t the only state it can exist in. It’s unknown if this Fragment is an exception to what we know, or if it’s just a rare occurrence that we just haven’t heard of until now.

It’s possible that the fragment could be a vessel that harbors or traps large quantities of Perfection, or it could be the source of Perfection (or a part of it anyway) that emanates the Perfection energy throughout the region. It could also be that the Perfection energy underwent a process that crystallized it into the form of a gem. Or the fragment could be a conduit for channeling or collecting Perfection energy.

It’d be really cool if it was part of a Perfection pokémon preserved. Especially in a stone/gem, akin to amber fossilization.

If it’s a gem or stone or some such I’m wondering if it looks like the game’s icon. It’s gem-like and looks similar to the designs on the text box when the entity speaks. Given the close connection they have with Perfection it seems like a possibility to me.

I’ve also been tossing around the idea of the Onyx Stone being the Perfection Fragment. Dunno how viable that is but it’s a mysterious stone with some powerful aura radiating from it.

 

That’s a pretty fair assessment I’d say. If it does come down to a duel of illusions let’s just hope Darkrai hasn’t succeeded at powering up at that point!

 

So many Foxes…probably the largest skulk I’ve seen yet xD. Ayrith, the region of Foxes.

 

Ah, quite true. It has all the trappings for a gym leader. Once the threats to Ayrith are settled it seems like a good opening for him. At that point, he’d come full circle with the addition of personal growth making for a satisfying conclusion.

 

Sorry for the wait, I completely lost track of the days.

 

Next up is Darkrai and its pawns giving people makeovers. They teach Tristan how to wear colours that aren't brown. Reeve is the guest consultant.

 

For all we know, Darkrai dreamed up the manor for its kids. Comes with free electricity, hot water and a library, but no internet or they'd just get distracted. God forbid Shiv find his purpose making memes on Rotomblr, or Aurora begin her life's work of making videos where she tears down scientific theories on MewTube. (I'd say something about Keegan, but nobody cares about Keegan, let's be real.)

 

Ah, yes, the plight of our hero. We can take down terrorist gangs, overcome Darkrai's brainwashing, help hundreds of people all over Ayrith and teleport around the Dreamscape, but we can't get around some potted plants. It's such a tragedy.

 

Yeah, those are all good ideas. Could be anything, but the construction material is a worthy thought. (Maybe Aurora's into construction and architecture on the side?)

 

I really hope if we do get the team-up, that the devs make it like a sitcom road trip. It just seems like prime comedy material, especially if Sera comes along as well and she and the Grand Rogue spend the whole time bitching at each other about things from the old days. "You never apologised for drinking my coffee!" "Yeah, well, you never paid me back for lunch that one time!"

 

I mean, now that you mention it, 'not intended for gladiatorial combat against a Donphan' is both accurate and extremely hilarious as a criterion. I can just imagine the poor villagers having to specify that to the baffled construction workers.

 

Well, it's not chapter 4 that's the problem, it's the second interlude after it. As it turns out, awkward conversations that neither participant wants to have are not my forte. 

 

See, now I'm thinking about other Perfection Legendaries. I guess we're lucky that Teams Aqua and Magma didn't have access to Perfection- Origin Groudon and Kyogre were bad enough, I can only imagine what Perfection Groudon and Kyogre could do.

 

That's a really good point, actually. I think a lot of us assumed that the mirror entity is Darkrai's trainer, but that doesn't mean they'll be best friends even if that is the case. Maybe the mirror entity will think Darkrai's a failure, or Darkrai will throw a tantrum and be like 'I don't need you, I can do it by myself' and storm off.

 

Yeah, there's just so many possibilities for what the Fragment could be. I guess I assumed the game's icon was meant to be the thing around Darkrai's neck? But it also looks kind of like a crown. Maybe the Fragment looks like a crown? (The Fragment being part of a Perfection Pokemon's body would also be cool. I wonder if being around Lilith's Umbreon can make Pokemon stronger?)

 

If it's a duel of illusions I can see the MC just walking away and going 'Nope.'

 

That's how the plot ends, everyone realises that they were all Foxes and don't have anything to fight about, and then it's just a lot of awkward apologies.

 

And hopefully he has Scarlett on hand to help de-douche him a bit. (God, he needs it.)

 

 

 

 

[Luri]

On 10/14/2023 at 9:40 PM, Amare said:

 

Sorry for the wait, I completely lost track of the days.

 

Next up is Darkrai and its pawns giving people makeovers. They teach Tristan how to wear colours that aren't brown. Reeve is the guest consultant.

 

For all we know, Darkrai dreamed up the manor for its kids. Comes with free electricity, hot water and a library, but no internet or they'd just get distracted. God forbid Shiv find his purpose making memes on Rotomblr, or Aurora begin her life's work of making videos where she tears down scientific theories on MewTube. (I'd say something about Keegan, but nobody cares about Keegan, let's be real.)

 

Ah, yes, the plight of our hero. We can take down terrorist gangs, overcome Darkrai's brainwashing, help hundreds of people all over Ayrith and teleport around the Dreamscape, but we can't get around some potted plants. It's such a tragedy.

 

Yeah, those are all good ideas. Could be anything, but the construction material is a worthy thought. (Maybe Aurora's into construction and architecture on the side?)

 

I really hope if we do get the team-up, that the devs make it like a sitcom road trip. It just seems like prime comedy material, especially if Sera comes along as well and she and the Grand Rogue spend the whole time bitching at each other about things from the old days. "You never apologised for drinking my coffee!" "Yeah, well, you never paid me back for lunch that one time!"

 

I mean, now that you mention it, 'not intended for gladiatorial combat against a Donphan' is both accurate and extremely hilarious as a criterion. I can just imagine the poor villagers having to specify that to the baffled construction workers.

 

Well, it's not chapter 4 that's the problem, it's the second interlude after it. As it turns out, awkward conversations that neither participant wants to have are not my forte. 

 

See, now I'm thinking about other Perfection Legendaries. I guess we're lucky that Teams Aqua and Magma didn't have access to Perfection- Origin Groudon and Kyogre were bad enough, I can only imagine what Perfection Groudon and Kyogre could do.

 

That's a really good point, actually. I think a lot of us assumed that the mirror entity is Darkrai's trainer, but that doesn't mean they'll be best friends even if that is the case. Maybe the mirror entity will think Darkrai's a failure, or Darkrai will throw a tantrum and be like 'I don't need you, I can do it by myself' and storm off.

 

Yeah, there's just so many possibilities for what the Fragment could be. I guess I assumed the game's icon was meant to be the thing around Darkrai's neck? But it also looks kind of like a crown. Maybe the Fragment looks like a crown? (The Fragment being part of a Perfection Pokemon's body would also be cool. I wonder if being around Lilith's Umbreon can make Pokemon stronger?)

 

If it's a duel of illusions I can see the MC just walking away and going 'Nope.'

 

That's how the plot ends, everyone realises that they were all Foxes and don't have anything to fight about, and then it's just a lot of awkward apologies.

 

And hopefully he has Scarlett on hand to help de-douche him a bit. (God, he needs it.)

 

 

 

 

 

Haha no worries at all, it happens to me sometimes as well

 

Omg yes! As much as Tristan is rocking those shades of brown it’d be a treat to see him in other colors. Maybe some dark blue or something. With Darkrai and Reeve working together anything is possible. Eventually, they end up with their own reality show as well, all about makeovers and design tips.

 

Totally plausible at this point in time. Not a bad trade all things considered…although we’re robbed of memes made by Shiv and biting rebuttal videos from Aurora. That’s a true loss right there (it’d be quite amusing to see though).

You’re not wrong... destiny has chosen him to fade away into obscurity. He won’t be missed.

Setting that aside I will say I am a tad curious to see if he will ever appear again or if everyone will forget about him.

 

The most tragic of tragedies. Just goes to show nature is a force to be reckoned with.

 

It’s definitely a possibility. A neat one at that. Plus, she was in charge of the Dreamscape manor’s construction (if you can call it construction in a dream lol). She could have a knack for that. That's gonna be my headcanon unless stated otherwise.

 

That would be an amazing premise! Especially after the intense interactions with Elliot and Jarred. A humorous sitcom quest with those two bickering about trivial past incidents (Also who doesn’t apologize after drinking someone else’s coffee… that’s utter blasphemy ). It’ll be even better if it wraps up with a mutual understanding between the Grand Rogue and the Rangers. And a dramatic name reveal for the Rouge himself lol.

 

Haha right? What a conversation that would be, particularly when those baffled construction workers lay eyes on the Donphan Pit xD. Least it makes for a grand tale to tell the grandchildren.

 

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of brainstorming and many rewritten lines there… not the easiest scenes to write that’s for sure. At least the fun bit about awkward conversations is the fact that they are awkward by nature. Playing into that can sometimes benefit the scene as a whole. Especially if neither participant wants to broach the subject.

Whatever way you decide to write it I’m sure the final result will be great .

 

Yeahhhh, it’s definitely a good thing they didn’t. The poké-world might be in a smidgen of danger if Perfection Groudon and Kyogre were used to wreak havoc. But man, the end times sure would be something, can you imagine how cool they’d look?

Perfection Arceus sounds like it would have some potential as well.

Aside from Cresselia and all that I’m kinda curious about Perfection Lugia since it does seem like the orbs and relic lead to Lugia in the end.

 

Yep yep, working off that assumption we have bits and pieces of their story but we dunno how exactly they parted ways, let alone ended up in such positions. They both have ambitions and who knows if those ambitions will clash at some point. Given all that, it seems like it could go either way.

Another possibility is that they may end up working together only for mutual benefit, although neither may be pleased about the team-up. Maybe one of them will betray the other.

I know I’m definitely itching to see how those two will interact with one another.

 

Omg I kinda forgot about that!

It does look like a one-to-one design of Darkrai’s crest (no idea what that part of Darkrai’s anatomy is called so I’m just gonna call it a crest). It even has the two bottom protrusions on the front and four smaller spikes in between the larger central spikes, just like Darkrai. Definite Darkrai connection I’d say.

Andddd I agree, it does look like a crown of sorts. Which is quite interesting since the entity does mention a crown of red to Waldenhall, yeah? Maybe that whole crown thing may have not been entirely metaphorical. Maybe the Fragment does look like a crown. Maybe even that crown. Of course, it could all be a massive coincidence but the what-ifs are more fun to ponder.

If the fragment looks like this crown in particular, then that brings about some questions. Why do the fragments of Perfection take on attributes that Darkrai has? Perfection seems to be native to Ayrith and our pal Darkrai certainly didn’t originate from Ayrith so it must have existed in Ayrith way before Darkrai came to the region. Why does this crown, this Fragment of Perfection, look like Darkrai’s crest?

Does this mean there’s an inherent link between Perfection and Darkrai?

 

That would be really neat if Umbreon does. Umbreon is radiating Perfection energy, enough to be pinged on Reeve’s Perfection tracker. Maybe that could power up nearby pokémon. If so, I can see some potential there for a double battle with Lilith in the future where Umbreon buffs our pokémon.

 

With all that has happened to the MC thus far, good for them. They deserve to nope out of that whole mess XD.

 

Then we achieve our true peace. Fin.

 

If Fern can de-douche himself, I believe there’s some glimmer of hope for Connor too. Scarlett will, no doubt, help him through that process. Question is whether or not he’s gonna cause any problems before then.

Or how he’s gonna de-douche himself without Scarlett around if that's the route the MC chose xD.

 

[Amare]

On 10/23/2023 at 5:43 AM, Luri said:

 

Haha no worries at all, it happens to me sometimes as well

 

Omg yes! As much as Tristan is rocking those shades of brown it’d be a treat to see him in other colors. Maybe some dark blue or something. With Darkrai and Reeve working together anything is possible. Eventually, they end up with their own reality show as well, all about makeovers and design tips.

 

Totally plausible at this point in time. Not a bad trade all things considered…although we’re robbed of memes made by Shiv and biting rebuttal videos from Aurora. That’s a true loss right there (it’d be quite amusing to see though).

You’re not wrong... destiny has chosen him to fade away into obscurity. He won’t be missed.

Setting that aside I will say I am a tad curious to see if he will ever appear again or if everyone will forget about him.

 

The most tragic of tragedies. Just goes to show nature is a force to be reckoned with.

 

It’s definitely a possibility. A neat one at that. Plus, she was in charge of the Dreamscape manor’s construction (if you can call it construction in a dream lol). She could have a knack for that. That's gonna be my headcanon unless stated otherwise.

 

That would be an amazing premise! Especially after the intense interactions with Elliot and Jarred. A humorous sitcom quest with those two bickering about trivial past incidents (Also who doesn’t apologize after drinking someone else’s coffee… that’s utter blasphemy ). It’ll be even better if it wraps up with a mutual understanding between the Grand Rogue and the Rangers. And a dramatic name reveal for the Rouge himself lol.

 

Haha right? What a conversation that would be, particularly when those baffled construction workers lay eyes on the Donphan Pit xD. Least it makes for a grand tale to tell the grandchildren.

 

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of brainstorming and many rewritten lines there… not the easiest scenes to write that’s for sure. At least the fun bit about awkward conversations is the fact that they are awkward by nature. Playing into that can sometimes benefit the scene as a whole. Especially if neither participant wants to broach the subject.

Whatever way you decide to write it I’m sure the final result will be great .

 

Yeahhhh, it’s definitely a good thing they didn’t. The poké-world might be in a smidgen of danger if Perfection Groudon and Kyogre were used to wreak havoc. But man, the end times sure would be something, can you imagine how cool they’d look?

Perfection Arceus sounds like it would have some potential as well.

Aside from Cresselia and all that I’m kinda curious about Perfection Lugia since it does seem like the orbs and relic lead to Lugia in the end.

 

Yep yep, working off that assumption we have bits and pieces of their story but we dunno how exactly they parted ways, let alone ended up in such positions. They both have ambitions and who knows if those ambitions will clash at some point. Given all that, it seems like it could go either way.

Another possibility is that they may end up working together only for mutual benefit, although neither may be pleased about the team-up. Maybe one of them will betray the other.

I know I’m definitely itching to see how those two will interact with one another.

 

Omg I kinda forgot about that!

It does look like a one-to-one design of Darkrai’s crest (no idea what that part of Darkrai’s anatomy is called so I’m just gonna call it a crest). It even has the two bottom protrusions on the front and four smaller spikes in between the larger central spikes, just like Darkrai. Definite Darkrai connection I’d say.

Andddd I agree, it does look like a crown of sorts. Which is quite interesting since the entity does mention a crown of red to Waldenhall, yeah? Maybe that whole crown thing may have not been entirely metaphorical. Maybe the Fragment does look like a crown. Maybe even that crown. Of course, it could all be a massive coincidence but the what-ifs are more fun to ponder.

If the fragment looks like this crown in particular, then that brings about some questions. Why do the fragments of Perfection take on attributes that Darkrai has? Perfection seems to be native to Ayrith and our pal Darkrai certainly didn’t originate from Ayrith so it must have existed in Ayrith way before Darkrai came to the region. Why does this crown, this Fragment of Perfection, look like Darkrai’s crest?

Does this mean there’s an inherent link between Perfection and Darkrai?

 

That would be really neat if Umbreon does. Umbreon is radiating Perfection energy, enough to be pinged on Reeve’s Perfection tracker. Maybe that could power up nearby pokémon. If so, I can see some potential there for a double battle with Lilith in the future where Umbreon buffs our pokémon.

 

With all that has happened to the MC thus far, good for them. They deserve to nope out of that whole mess XD.

 

Then we achieve our true peace. Fin.

 

 

 

If Fern can de-douche himself, I believe there’s some glimmer of hope for Connor too. Scarlett will, no doubt, help him through that process. Question is whether or not he’s gonna cause any problems before then.

Or how he’s gonna de-douche himself without Scarlett around if that's the route the MC chose xD.

 

 

Dark blue could work. Maybe green? He'd look nice in green, I think.

 

Next episode, we're introduced to the Dreamscape's internet, where Shiv makes memes about how much it sucks to have cool reality warping powers when everyone else is stuck in permanent mediocrity, jk, it's awesome, and Aurora makes videos about why her campaign to take over the whole Dreamscape should succeed. Everyone else is posting memes about how boring the whole place is and there's nothing to do except have existential crises and worry about the imminent collapse of civilisation.

 

In all seriousness, since we're going to be (well, I say we, I doubt the player is doing that much of the actual work) renovating the village, if Keegan/Kuiki does come up again, it'll likely be there. Like, it occurs to me that we're *assuming* that Kuiki's dead, but for all we know, the tombstone with his name on it was just Shiv being dramatic about how the brother he knew is dead, and Kuiki got shipped off somewhere (or maybe Shiv locked him somewhere in the Dreamscape). Not to mention, none of the villagers have a clue what happened to him, only that he vanished. For all they know, he could come back at any moment. So they may well have a lot to say about him.

 

Being the protagonist sucks sometimes. They're subject to the most random hindrances.

 

That's going to be my head canon too. Maybe in the good ending she teams up with Aaron to make Cellia North over entirely.

 

I do hope we get an actual name for the Grand Rogue. And yeah, I think Desolation needs more sitcom moments. There's a lot of potential there.

 

Those guys are going to have the weirdest conversations when they're looking at the village. "So is there a reason why all your houses have huge cracks in the floor that nobody bothered fixing?" "Yeah, the guy who was mind-controlling us didn't want us to have nice things." "OK, and why were you using fire as your light source in a cave with little ventilation?" "I think the oxygen deprivation helped him control us." "What about the town hall with a giant pit in the middle?" "Oh, our leader liked to kill everyone he couldn't mind control or didn't want to keep around by having them fight a Donphan unarmed." "What the actual fuck."

 

I appreciate your faith in me. I'll do my best, though it might take a while.

 

Hmmm, Perfection Lugia... now there's a thought. Actually, now that you mention it, I'm surprised there hasn't been a ton of speculative fan art about what various Perfection legendaries would look like. (Admittedly, it's easy for me to say that, since I can't draw.)

 

See, the two of them teaming up and not liking it could also be hilarious, because then we could get scenes of Aurora and Shiv standing around awkwardly while Darkrai and the entity throw petulant jabs at each other about stuff that happened hundreds of years ago. After a while, Aurora leans over to Shiv and says 'Wow, and I thought overhearing Keegan yelling at you for ignoring him all the time was bad', and Shiv tells her to shut up.

 

Maybe it's not that Perfection has an inherent link to Darkrai. Maybe it's that *the Fragment* has a link to Darkrai. Darkrai used to be Perfect (there has to be a better term for having achieved Perfection, this is clunky) and it isn't now. So maybe the Fragment is part of Darkrai, or used to be part of Darkrai? Maybe Waldenhall finds the Fragment and then he gets mutated into a half-human half-Darkrai abomination and then it turns out we were in Insurgence all along-

 

Oooh, there is so much potential there... even if Umbreon can only buff other Psychic/Dark types, that'd be worth it. (Bring on the Malamar!) Or maybe, would a Perfection Pokemon buff other Perfection Pokemon?

 

It's like that Rejuvenation (I can't remember if it was Reborn or Rejuvenation, one of them) where early in the game, you get offered a free trip to Hoenn and if you take it, you just get a game over screen telling you that the player spent the rest of their life relaxing while everyone else suffered. Here, the MC just nopes out to the new resort and gets a free tan and cocktails for defeating Kuiki.

 

Actually, the question of how much Scarlett can do for him right now is a really good one, given that IIRC, at the end of E6 she's worried about him and he doesn't seem to be listening to her or anyone. And in the timeline where Scarlett dies, it could honestly go either way- maybe he decides to become a better person for her, maybe he doubles down on the douchery because of his pain and anger.

 

[Luri]

On 10/25/2023 at 6:11 PM, Amare said:

 

Dark blue could work. Maybe green? He'd look nice in green, I think.

 

Next episode, we're introduced to the Dreamscape's internet, where Shiv makes memes about how much it sucks to have cool reality warping powers when everyone else is stuck in permanent mediocrity, jk, it's awesome, and Aurora makes videos about why her campaign to take over the whole Dreamscape should succeed. Everyone else is posting memes about how boring the whole place is and there's nothing to do except have existential crises and worry about the imminent collapse of civilisation.

 

In all seriousness, since we're going to be (well, I say we, I doubt the player is doing that much of the actual work) renovating the village, if Keegan/Kuiki does come up again, it'll likely be there. Like, it occurs to me that we're *assuming* that Kuiki's dead, but for all we know, the tombstone with his name on it was just Shiv being dramatic about how the brother he knew is dead, and Kuiki got shipped off somewhere (or maybe Shiv locked him somewhere in the Dreamscape). Not to mention, none of the villagers have a clue what happened to him, only that he vanished. For all they know, he could come back at any moment. So they may well have a lot to say about him.

 

Being the protagonist sucks sometimes. They're subject to the most random hindrances.

 

That's going to be my head canon too. Maybe in the good ending she teams up with Aaron to make Cellia North over entirely.

 

I do hope we get an actual name for the Grand Rogue. And yeah, I think Desolation needs more sitcom moments. There's a lot of potential there.

 

Those guys are going to have the weirdest conversations when they're looking at the village. "So is there a reason why all your houses have huge cracks in the floor that nobody bothered fixing?" "Yeah, the guy who was mind-controlling us didn't want us to have nice things." "OK, and why were you using fire as your light source in a cave with little ventilation?" "I think the oxygen deprivation helped him control us." "What about the town hall with a giant pit in the middle?" "Oh, our leader liked to kill everyone he couldn't mind control or didn't want to keep around by having them fight a Donphan unarmed." "What the actual fuck."

 

I appreciate your faith in me. I'll do my best, though it might take a while.

 

Hmmm, Perfection Lugia... now there's a thought. Actually, now that you mention it, I'm surprised there hasn't been a ton of speculative fan art about what various Perfection legendaries would look like. (Admittedly, it's easy for me to say that, since I can't draw.)

 

See, the two of them teaming up and not liking it could also be hilarious, because then we could get scenes of Aurora and Shiv standing around awkwardly while Darkrai and the entity throw petulant jabs at each other about stuff that happened hundreds of years ago. After a while, Aurora leans over to Shiv and says 'Wow, and I thought overhearing Keegan yelling at you for ignoring him all the time was bad', and Shiv tells her to shut up.

 

Maybe it's not that Perfection has an inherent link to Darkrai. Maybe it's that *the Fragment* has a link to Darkrai. Darkrai used to be Perfect (there has to be a better term for having achieved Perfection, this is clunky) and it isn't now. So maybe the Fragment is part of Darkrai, or used to be part of Darkrai? Maybe Waldenhall finds the Fragment and then he gets mutated into a half-human half-Darkrai abomination and then it turns out we were in Insurgence all along-

 

Oooh, there is so much potential there... even if Umbreon can only buff other Psychic/Dark types, that'd be worth it. (Bring on the Malamar!) Or maybe, would a Perfection Pokemon buff other Perfection Pokemon?

 

It's like that Rejuvenation (I can't remember if it was Reborn or Rejuvenation, one of them) where early in the game, you get offered a free trip to Hoenn and if you take it, you just get a game over screen telling you that the player spent the rest of their life relaxing while everyone else suffered. Here, the MC just nopes out to the new resort and gets a free tan and cocktails for defeating Kuiki.

 

Actually, the question of how much Scarlett can do for him right now is a really good one, given that IIRC, at the end of E6 she's worried about him and he doesn't seem to be listening to her or anyone. And in the timeline where Scarlett dies, it could honestly go either way- maybe he decides to become a better person for her, maybe he doubles down on the douchery because of his pain and anger.

 

 

Green was gonna be my second choice. Completely agree with green, he’d pull off green. Maybe Tristan will miraculously return somehow, and we get an alternate green or dark blue attire for him… a girl can dream.

 

Omg that’s perfect. The Jinx Guild members are writing thesis-level posts trying to find anyone who can help with the Grid problem. Normal Jarred is going around posting daily vlogs about the chill pokémon near his home and DIY Dreamscape Designs. And Booker is, like, one of the only ones going around throwing the most passive-aggressive shade at the twins he can muster while everyone else is posting those memes and coping with their existential crises.

 

Totally would be willing to help renovate! (Yeah, chances are the player won’t be directly aiding the renovations. They do mention something about when so maybe we’ll come back after the renovations are done and gain their aid for something in the future.)

If I remember correctly, during the confrontation Kuiki begs Shiv not to send him back “there”. I presume Shiv shoved Kuiki into the Grid again and the grave was him being dramatic.

 Albeit that’s what seems to be implied, for all we know Keegan could have been tossed into the Dreamscape too. Either works since it doesn’t seem like Keegan has any way to return from either on his own.

Although if it is the Grid then that means there is the possibility he ended up in an area where time is accelerated so hopefully, he isn’t a pile of bone and dust by the time we see him again.

I’m sure they have a few choice words for him. Even if he doesn’t end up returning, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have some quips about their previous “leader”.

 

It really does. House plants, Pangoros, boxes… Being a protagonist sure is tough sometimes.

 

I need to see that. That sounds so adorable.

Regardless of what happens, I do hope to see Cellia North finished and looking all spiffy. Also hoping for Cellia South to get some care too. They deserve it considering how much effort Garret’s been putting into driving back the Foxes and this whole Darkrai crisis.

 

Watch, for having such a grand title he’s gonna have a typical name. But yeah, I’d love a name-drop for him. (Speaking of which, I cannot wait for the name reveal for the entity. Referring to them by name will be so much easier.)

Right? Desolation’s cast already does well bouncing off each other. Adding in some sitcom moments with the Ranger missions would be great. I think Ryder could potentially capitalize on some sitcom moments too, especially if Cedric continues to pop up in our Lilith investigations.

 

Gonna admit that had me in stitches . Sure must be the strangest job those workers have taken.

 

Of course, you deserve it. And no worries, take your time. Can’t rush perfection and all that! Most important thing is to have fun with it and put out something ya can be proud of regardless of how long it takes .

 

Isn’t it? Lugia is already cool on its own… but a Perfection version? Certainly has my imagination running wild.

Haha yeah, I’d throw my hat into the ring but I’m not too adept at digital art myself. Most I could bring to the table now is a smudge and some blotches of color faintly resembling Lugia lol. Maybe one day but that day isn’t today.

Maybe someone with artistic talent will feel inspired to tackle some speculative fan art at some point. If anyone does, I’ll be rooting for ya! Who knows, we could see a few pieces after another Perfection pokémon is added to the game. Guess time will tell.

 

You’re totally right. It’d be quite a fun way to bring a bit of levity to our fellow antagonists. The petulant jabs would be amusing and a neat way to offer a peak into their views of what happened centuries ago. Snarky Darkrai just sounds too good to pass up.

Especially if we end up contrasting their views and petulant jabs with the traces of history left behind. Dunno if Darkrai and the entity will become more sympathetic villains as time goes on but if that’s the course they end up sailing having that bit of levity could help achieve that.

Now that you mention it, we do need more Aurora and Shiv sibling moments lol.

 

(If it’s for a pokémon who has achieved Perfection I’m nominating the term Perfected. It’s short, sweet, and to the point.)

Ooh yeah, I could see that working. If Darkrai has a link that would explain all that if the fragments do end up having design traits similar to it.

Maybe those (potential) special properties of Perfection like the only known Perfection pokémon are Dark types or the odd similarities that the Darkness field shares with the process of Perfection, all stem from the fragment having this link to Darkrai?

I would assume it might be an instance of being a part of Darkrai but isn’t anymore since it did eventually lose its Perfected status at some point. Or at least the link is temporarily cut due to circumstances we aren’t totally aware of yet.

Here I thought a human/Deoxys mutation was creepy enough. So, this is how Insurgence 2 begins huh?

 

A team of six Malamar and Lilith’s Umbreon… It’s time for Team Cthulhu to shine! An unstoppable army right there.

I can see it being more of a buff for other Perfection mons considering the already strict requirements to reach Perfection in the first place.

If Perfection does end up boosting other pokémon that means possible encounters with antagonists with Perfection boosting other pokémon. A double battle against Perfection Darkrai and Aurora’s team or something where Darkrai is bolstering her team.

 

Oh yeah, that adorable joke ending! I believe that was Rejuvenation. We already got a nice debug joke ending from Jarred, we need more like it.

Okay though…they should at least be free refills for those cocktails. The protagonist did save a whole village while having to be paired with Connor the entire time lol. At the end of that, everyone’s trying to figure out where the protagonist went.

 

A fair question now that I think about it. I’m guessing Scarlett is going to play a big part but as she said he isn’t really. She won’t be the only factor here. I’m gonna take a stab and say the power of friendship with the MC or something (depending on the amount of relationship points you accrued with Connor over the course of the game). Maybe even some words from his sister will help? Either way, I don’t think Scarlett alone will be enough to help de-douche Connor.

(Though I’m secretly hoping we get a cute scene where Connor is about to do something dumb and Scarlett steps in to help. It’ll be a great display of how much she’s grown, in no small part to Connor and this adventure through Ayrith with her friends. He realizes this, softens up, and accepts the help from her and the others. Or something of the sort.)

I can see it going either way as well. In the timeline, she isn’t around he mentions how he brushes everyone away instead of admitting his weaknesses in the tournament before you fight Rosetta so he is on that road to self-growth.  

On the other hand, in both timelines, I believe he ends up in the same position at the end. (So, I suppose it’s technically a generous interpretation to say he’s learned from his mistakes depending on how you wanna view the situation…running headfirst into a group of Foxes at Fairbale isn’t exactly the smartest idea lol.)

I’m certainly curious to see how this plays out.

 

These are some random thoughts, so I’ll tack this onto the end here.

Could the lake guardians have something to do with the Grid? The background of the mural in the Waterscape is purple and glittery/spacey and feels very reminiscent of the void (for lack of a better term) of the Grid. In the end, it could just be a stylized mural of the three.

But there is also the fact that there is some sort of energy radiating from the lakes that the lake guardians may be drawn to. And the first time we find those wells of energy that allow for teleportation is in the Waterscape. However, I don’t know if the energy wells are the same energy as what’s being emitted from the lakes.

Probably some realllllly loose connections there but thought it was interesting, nonetheless.

 

Also was it ever touched upon what “promise” Tristan needed to fulfill before he took off to the Waterscape?

 

[Amare]

On 10/30/2023 at 5:18 AM, Luri said:

 

Green was gonna be my second choice. Completely agree with green, he’d pull off green. Maybe Tristan will miraculously return somehow, and we get an alternate green or dark blue attire for him… a girl can dream.

 

Omg that’s perfect. The Jinx Guild members are writing thesis-level posts trying to find anyone who can help with the Grid problem. Normal Jarred is going around posting daily vlogs about the chill pokémon near his home and DIY Dreamscape Designs. And Booker is, like, one of the only ones going around throwing the most passive-aggressive shade at the twins he can muster while everyone else is posting those memes and coping with their existential crises.

 

Totally would be willing to help renovate! (Yeah, chances are the player won’t be directly aiding the renovations. They do mention something about when so maybe we’ll come back after the renovations are done and gain their aid for something in the future.)

If I remember correctly, during the confrontation Kuiki begs Shiv not to send him back “there”. I presume Shiv shoved Kuiki into the Grid again and the grave was him being dramatic.

 Albeit that’s what seems to be implied, for all we know Keegan could have been tossed into the Dreamscape too. Either works since it doesn’t seem like Keegan has any way to return from either on his own.

Although if it is the Grid then that means there is the possibility he ended up in an area where time is accelerated so hopefully, he isn’t a pile of bone and dust by the time we see him again.

I’m sure they have a few choice words for him. Even if he doesn’t end up returning, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have some quips about their previous “leader”.

 

It really does. House plants, Pangoros, boxes… Being a protagonist sure is tough sometimes.

 

I need to see that. That sounds so adorable.

Regardless of what happens, I do hope to see Cellia North finished and looking all spiffy. Also hoping for Cellia South to get some care too. They deserve it considering how much effort Garret’s been putting into driving back the Foxes and this whole Darkrai crisis.

 

Watch, for having such a grand title he’s gonna have a typical name. But yeah, I’d love a name-drop for him. (Speaking of which, I cannot wait for the name reveal for the entity. Referring to them by name will be so much easier.)

Right? Desolation’s cast already does well bouncing off each other. Adding in some sitcom moments with the Ranger missions would be great. I think Ryder could potentially capitalize on some sitcom moments too, especially if Cedric continues to pop up in our Lilith investigations.

 

Gonna admit that had me in stitches . Sure must be the strangest job those workers have taken.

 

Of course, you deserve it. And no worries, take your time. Can’t rush perfection and all that! Most important thing is to have fun with it and put out something ya can be proud of regardless of how long it takes .

 

Isn’t it? Lugia is already cool on its own… but a Perfection version? Certainly has my imagination running wild.

Haha yeah, I’d throw my hat into the ring but I’m not too adept at digital art myself. Most I could bring to the table now is a smudge and some blotches of color faintly resembling Lugia lol. Maybe one day but that day isn’t today.

Maybe someone with artistic talent will feel inspired to tackle some speculative fan art at some point. If anyone does, I’ll be rooting for ya! Who knows, we could see a few pieces after another Perfection pokémon is added to the game. Guess time will tell.

 

You’re totally right. It’d be quite a fun way to bring a bit of levity to our fellow antagonists. The petulant jabs would be amusing and a neat way to offer a peak into their views of what happened centuries ago. Snarky Darkrai just sounds too good to pass up.

Especially if we end up contrasting their views and petulant jabs with the traces of history left behind. Dunno if Darkrai and the entity will become more sympathetic villains as time goes on but if that’s the course they end up sailing having that bit of levity could help achieve that.

Now that you mention it, we do need more Aurora and Shiv sibling moments lol.

 

(If it’s for a pokémon who has achieved Perfection I’m nominating the term Perfected. It’s short, sweet, and to the point.)

Ooh yeah, I could see that working. If Darkrai has a link that would explain all that if the fragments do end up having design traits similar to it.

Maybe those (potential) special properties of Perfection like the only known Perfection pokémon are Dark types or the odd similarities that the Darkness field shares with the process of Perfection, all stem from the fragment having this link to Darkrai?

I would assume it might be an instance of being a part of Darkrai but isn’t anymore since it did eventually lose its Perfected status at some point. Or at least the link is temporarily cut due to circumstances we aren’t totally aware of yet.

Here I thought a human/Deoxys mutation was creepy enough. So, this is how Insurgence 2 begins huh?

 

A team of six Malamar and Lilith’s Umbreon… It’s time for Team Cthulhu to shine! An unstoppable army right there.

I can see it being more of a buff for other Perfection mons considering the already strict requirements to reach Perfection in the first place.

If Perfection does end up boosting other pokémon that means possible encounters with antagonists with Perfection boosting other pokémon. A double battle against Perfection Darkrai and Aurora’s team or something where Darkrai is bolstering her team.

 

Oh yeah, that adorable joke ending! I believe that was Rejuvenation. We already got a nice debug joke ending from Jarred, we need more like it.

Okay though…they should at least be free refills for those cocktails. The protagonist did save a whole village while having to be paired with Connor the entire time lol. At the end of that, everyone’s trying to figure out where the protagonist went.

 

A fair question now that I think about it. I’m guessing Scarlett is going to play a big part but as she said he isn’t really. She won’t be the only factor here. I’m gonna take a stab and say the power of friendship with the MC or something (depending on the amount of relationship points you accrued with Connor over the course of the game). Maybe even some words from his sister will help? Either way, I don’t think Scarlett alone will be enough to help de-douche Connor.

(Though I’m secretly hoping we get a cute scene where Connor is about to do something dumb and Scarlett steps in to help. It’ll be a great display of how much she’s grown, in no small part to Connor and this adventure through Ayrith with her friends. He realizes this, softens up, and accepts the help from her and the others. Or something of the sort.)

I can see it going either way as well. In the timeline, she isn’t around he mentions how he brushes everyone away instead of admitting his weaknesses in the tournament before you fight Rosetta so he is on that road to self-growth.  

On the other hand, in both timelines, I believe he ends up in the same position at the end. (So, I suppose it’s technically a generous interpretation to say he’s learned from his mistakes depending on how you wanna view the situation…running headfirst into a group of Foxes at Fairbale isn’t exactly the smartest idea lol.)

I’m certainly curious to see how this plays out.

 

These are some random thoughts, so I’ll tack this onto the end here.

Could the lake guardians have something to do with the Grid? The background of the mural in the Waterscape is purple and glittery/spacey and feels very reminiscent of the void (for lack of a better term) of the Grid. In the end, it could just be a stylized mural of the three.

But there is also the fact that there is some sort of energy radiating from the lakes that the lake guardians may be drawn to. And the first time we find those wells of energy that allow for teleportation is in the Waterscape. However, I don’t know if the energy wells are the same energy as what’s being emitted from the lakes.

Probably some realllllly loose connections there but thought it was interesting, nonetheless.

 

Also was it ever touched upon what “promise” Tristan needed to fulfill before he took off to the Waterscape?

 

 

Well, now that you mention it, Tristan returning isn't actually out of the cards. After all, if Darkrai made him up in the first place, there's no reason why Darkrai can't bring him back. (Knowing Darkrai, Tristan will only get brought back to torment/torture/taunt the player.) Whether he'll get a fabulous new outfit in the process is entirely up to the devs.

 

Oh God yes, Booker is that guy who leaves bitchy comments on everything the twins post and makes really sarcastic memes, while everyone else is like 'Hey, man, they're saving us, lay off them'. And I bet there's a whole bunch of people wondering why a guy as normal as Jarred refuses to wear clothes.

 

Or we just help out like the Goldenwood renovations in Rejuvenation, where it was just 'catch mons to give to the person in charge, then fight off some elite Team Xen guys'.

 

If he did get tossed into the Grid again, then there's a non-zero chance that next episode, we wind up dealing with Kuiki holding Eden hostage... or trying to... or Eden becomes his sidekick. Or maybe we just have to battle Kuiki to get to Eden.

 

Yeah, I absolutely expect there to be a lot of comments about Kuiki from the villagers, next ep.

 

Ledges, small fences, doors that aren't locked but that we can't open, tiny gaps that we should be able to jump over but can't, train tracks...

 

God, yes. It seems kinda weird that the Docks, an industrial area with no Gym Leader, look better than two of the actual districts with resident Gym Leaders.

 

Yep, the best reason to anticipate episode 7: name reveals!

 

Oh, God, Ryder. Yeah, Ryder/Cedric is prime sitcom material. Next ep, the player, Ryder and Cedric wind up in an impromptu buddy-cop thing in their investigations. By the end of it, Cedric is wondering if it's legal to murder someone for incompetence.

 

That is an excellent point and I will do my best not to push myself. (Also, I see what you did there re not rushing perfection. *rimshot*)

 

Yeah, if anyone wants to give fan art of Perfection Legendaries a shot, I am right behind them.

 

It would be kind of hilarious if Aurora decided to become an amateur historian and kept questioning Darkrai and the entity on things that happened hundreds of years ago. Then she finds out that Waldenhall burned down a building full of journals, books and other items from hundreds of years ago, many of which had survived intact (or mostly intact) and decides that she has to murder him because it's the only reasonable response. (And yes, more Aurora/Shiv sibling moments would be wonderful.)

 

Perfected works fine, thank you :) And it would definitely be intriguing if Darkrai was somehow the ancestor or cause of the known Perfected Pokemon. That's a very intriguing thought...

 

...oh God, even if it can only bolster mons of the same type, can you imagine a battle against Perfection Darkrai and boosted Mega Mightyena?

 

Actually, it begins with Reukra and co coming in all 'Hey, did somebody say Perfection, that's kind of our thing...?'

 

The *least* the MC deserves at this point is all the cocktails they want. Even if it ends with the MC passed out in a corner and losing relationship points because they threw up on Ava's shoes.

 

I agree that Scarlett probably won't be enough by herself. The best friends that Connor has are basically Scarlett, the MC and Ava... maybe all of them together (plus Emily, if she stops bullying him for five minutes) can do it?

 

The lake guardians could be a possibility. Otherwise, the only other vaguely-associated mon I can think of would be Hoopa, but there's been no sign of Hoopa in the game yet.

 

I don't believe it was, so it might come up later.

 

[Luri]

On 11/1/2023 at 6:51 PM, Amare said:

 

Well, now that you mention it, Tristan returning isn't actually out of the cards. After all, if Darkrai made him up in the first place, there's no reason why Darkrai can't bring him back. (Knowing Darkrai, Tristan will only get brought back to torment/torture/taunt the player.) Whether he'll get a fabulous new outfit in the process is entirely up to the devs.

 

Oh God yes, Booker is that guy who leaves bitchy comments on everything the twins post and makes really sarcastic memes, while everyone else is like 'Hey, man, they're saving us, lay off them'. And I bet there's a whole bunch of people wondering why a guy as normal as Jarred refuses to wear clothes.

 

Or we just help out like the Goldenwood renovations in Rejuvenation, where it was just 'catch mons to give to the person in charge, then fight off some elite Team Xen guys'.

 

If he did get tossed into the Grid again, then there's a non-zero chance that next episode, we wind up dealing with Kuiki holding Eden hostage... or trying to... or Eden becomes his sidekick. Or maybe we just have to battle Kuiki to get to Eden.

 

Yeah, I absolutely expect there to be a lot of comments about Kuiki from the villagers, next ep.

 

Ledges, small fences, doors that aren't locked but that we can't open, tiny gaps that we should be able to jump over but can't, train tracks...

 

God, yes. It seems kinda weird that the Docks, an industrial area with no Gym Leader, look better than two of the actual districts with resident Gym Leaders.

 

Yep, the best reason to anticipate episode 7: name reveals!

 

Oh, God, Ryder. Yeah, Ryder/Cedric is prime sitcom material. Next ep, the player, Ryder and Cedric wind up in an impromptu buddy-cop thing in their investigations. By the end of it, Cedric is wondering if it's legal to murder someone for incompetence.

 

That is an excellent point and I will do my best not to push myself. (Also, I see what you did there re not rushing perfection. *rimshot*)

 

Yeah, if anyone wants to give fan art of Perfection Legendaries a shot, I am right behind them.

 

It would be kind of hilarious if Aurora decided to become an amateur historian and kept questioning Darkrai and the entity on things that happened hundreds of years ago. Then she finds out that Waldenhall burned down a building full of journals, books and other items from hundreds of years ago, many of which had survived intact (or mostly intact) and decides that she has to murder him because it's the only reasonable response. (And yes, more Aurora/Shiv sibling moments would be wonderful.)

 

Perfected works fine, thank you :) And it would definitely be intriguing if Darkrai was somehow the ancestor or cause of the known Perfected Pokemon. That's a very intriguing thought...

 

...oh God, even if it can only bolster mons of the same type, can you imagine a battle against Perfection Darkrai and boosted Mega Mightyena?

 

Actually, it begins with Reukra and co coming in all 'Hey, did somebody say Perfection, that's kind of our thing...?'

 

The *least* the MC deserves at this point is all the cocktails they want. Even if it ends with the MC passed out in a corner and losing relationship points because they threw up on Ava's shoes.

 

I agree that Scarlett probably won't be enough by herself. The best friends that Connor has are basically Scarlett, the MC and Ava... maybe all of them together (plus Emily, if she stops bullying him for five minutes) can do it?

 

The lake guardians could be a possibility. Otherwise, the only other vaguely-associated mon I can think of would be Hoopa, but there's been no sign of Hoopa in the game yet.

 

I don't believe it was, so it might come up later.

 

 

Man, it’s already bad enough Darkrai nuked Tristan’s existence, probably outta spite. But to bring him back just to force him to haunt the player… that’s devilish (-ly good for a narrative). Couldn’t even let him rest in peace.

A double battle against Tristan and (deceased) Scarlett because Darkrai is just that evil.

Thinking about it I’m kinda curious as to whether the MC could either find a way to bring Tristan back, at least in the Dreamscape. Aurora was over there turning bushes into Turtwigs. If the protagonist could reach that level of proficiency, it doesn’t seem too farfetched that they could figure out a way to bring him back without Darkrai.

Also quite true. Whether it’s in a new or the current outfit…it’d be nice to see Tristan appear again.

 

Absolutely. Booker’s just seen as the salty crab of the Dreamscape and that’s why his books keep getting stolen. Poor guy. He deserves some of those free cocktail refills once he is sprung from the dream.

It just dawned on me normal Jarred over there is still wearing his iconic swimwear lol. Yeah, there’d definitely be some questions about that floating around…

 

That was rather a fun quest in Rejuv, and a good way to spend some cash as well. It’d be neat if that was an option for Keneph Village and the Resort.

In this case, it’d be more like ‘catch some ‘mons and fight off some Foxes’…or I guess whoever decides to impede progress on Amaria. Maybe it’d be Keegan if he does resurface.

 

That hadn’t even occurred to me. Like we get the chance to traverse a deeper section of the Grid and stumble upon them where Keegan swears vengeance and takes her hostage or something.

A rematch against him to get to Eden would be quite fun (poor guy won’t stand a chance though).

Eden becoming Keegan’s sidekick could be an interesting dynamic (or heck maybe the roles are reversed- Keegan becomes her sidekick). During their Grid imprisonment Keegan helps Eden hone her battling skills (maybe offering some advice from the little time he spent with Shiv) and Eden, in return, takes him under her wing as a sidekick, giving him some relief from loneliness and abandonment he’s endured over the years.

 

I’ll be quite surprised if there isn’t lol.

 

Vileplume that refuses to move to flames but scatter with spices, forever locked doors that could totally be lockpicked, logs, sewer grates, two guys conveniently standing in front of an entrance for a millennium and a half…

 

I thought so too. In the end, I presumed that the Docks fell under Rosetta’s purview given that they do lead to Central. Most people probably arrive via the west docks to enter Cellia proper, and it wouldn’t do to have the entrance to the heart of Ayrith looking dingy. Either that or whoever officially runs Cellia has some bias xD.

Neo-(North/South) Cellia let’s go!

 

Facts!

 

Already seeing them “work” together this episode was grand. I can legitimately see that happening, while the MC tags along for the ride. I’m curious to see what’ll happen with those two once we do find Lilith. No one should tell Cedric as long as he doesn’t get caught it should be fine.

 

Awesome, glad to hear it! Haha I just couldn’t resist that one.

 

Yep yep, you have two supporters right here!

 

She’d most likely be a good amateur historian. The thought of her pestering Darkrai with questions is amusing in and of itself. Waldenhall torched the place and shattered a pretty expensive-looking mirror that could have historic value. Logically murder is the only acceptable punishment fitting of the transgression (totallyyy not on Team Aurora here or anything XD). Least having Aurora’s wrath would make tracking down Waldenhall a tad easier.

Seriously though, I’d be surprised if either twin at this point didn’t have any questions.

 

No problem at all :D. Currently, it seems to be the oldest known Perfection pokémon (or at least the oldest that has survived). It does make sense if Darkrai is the ancestor or the catalyst of Perfected pokémon. If that’s the case maybe that’s why Darkrai was able to be separated from the Perfection energy/state.

Speaking of Perfection history, I wonder if Perfection had a hand in the wars that took place in Ayrith. We have no indication as to what the two sides were warring over, just that a hero with the help of some legendary birds quelled the fighting. Could they have been fighting over the Perfection energy or something? Course this is assuming the fables contain some truth to them. Theyyyy could also just be fables. Who knows?

 

Gotta add the fact that the Perfection Darkrai battle will most certainly take place on the Darkness field. So, we’ll have a scary Darkrai boosting a mega mightyena (give or take five others on her team) on a scarier field. That’ll be a battle for the ages. Is that too cruel?

 

What a way to start off the story… Perfection of two kinds… Kinda curious to see how that would go down xD

 

Totally. Then begins the secret fetch quest of hunting down Reeve to get Ava a new pair of shoes.

 

I’m gonna say yeah. I think Scarlett, MC, Ava (maybe even Emily…siblings man) can do it.

Some of Connor’s core flaws, as he mentions, are pushing others away and attempting to tackle challenges himself (acting rashly in the process). Given all that, it feels natural to have his growth tied to those he’s close/has grown close to throughout the game.

With the support they could provide him and him actually accepting the help (and also learning to not push them away in the process) he may be a fraction more kind in the future. Although I don’t see him losing his *whole* tsundere thing he has going on.

It just so happens that the events of Arcanius seem quite conducive to this type of growth, given that the group of heroes kinda needs to be working together to have a shot at success.  

That’s how I read his character at least. Optimism for the win!

Whether or not anything’s gonna happen before he gets his moment is another question entirely.

 

Oh yeah! I forgot about the mischievous little djinn friend. Its rings do have that sorta Grid look to them when they are active. That could be possible too. The Grid is still mired in mystery so can’t completely rule Hoopa out yet. If we start seeing golden rings around, we may have found the answer.

Now I kinda wonder what a field based on the Grid would be like.

 

Alrighty, that’s what I thought but wasn’t 100% sure. I sure hope so. Given Tristan’s whole situation, it sounded rather ominous.

[Amare]

On 11/6/2023 at 6:59 AM, Luri said:

 

Man, it’s already bad enough Darkrai nuked Tristan’s existence, probably outta spite. But to bring him back just to force him to haunt the player… that’s devilish (-ly good for a narrative). Couldn’t even let him rest in peace.

A double battle against Tristan and (deceased) Scarlett because Darkrai is just that evil.

Thinking about it I’m kinda curious as to whether the MC could either find a way to bring Tristan back, at least in the Dreamscape. Aurora was over there turning bushes into Turtwigs. If the protagonist could reach that level of proficiency, it doesn’t seem too farfetched that they could figure out a way to bring him back without Darkrai.

Also quite true. Whether it’s in a new or the current outfit…it’d be nice to see Tristan appear again.

 

Absolutely. Booker’s just seen as the salty crab of the Dreamscape and that’s why his books keep getting stolen. Poor guy. He deserves some of those free cocktail refills once he is sprung from the dream.

It just dawned on me normal Jarred over there is still wearing his iconic swimwear lol. Yeah, there’d definitely be some questions about that floating around…

 

That was rather a fun quest in Rejuv, and a good way to spend some cash as well. It’d be neat if that was an option for Keneph Village and the Resort.

In this case, it’d be more like ‘catch some ‘mons and fight off some Foxes’…or I guess whoever decides to impede progress on Amaria. Maybe it’d be Keegan if he does resurface.

 

That hadn’t even occurred to me. Like we get the chance to traverse a deeper section of the Grid and stumble upon them where Keegan swears vengeance and takes her hostage or something.

A rematch against him to get to Eden would be quite fun (poor guy won’t stand a chance though).

Eden becoming Keegan’s sidekick could be an interesting dynamic (or heck maybe the roles are reversed- Keegan becomes her sidekick). During their Grid imprisonment Keegan helps Eden hone her battling skills (maybe offering some advice from the little time he spent with Shiv) and Eden, in return, takes him under her wing as a sidekick, giving him some relief from loneliness and abandonment he’s endured over the years.

 

I’ll be quite surprised if there isn’t lol.

 

Vileplume that refuses to move to flames but scatter with spices, forever locked doors that could totally be lockpicked, logs, sewer grates, two guys conveniently standing in front of an entrance for a millennium and a half…

 

I thought so too. In the end, I presumed that the Docks fell under Rosetta’s purview given that they do lead to Central. Most people probably arrive via the west docks to enter Cellia proper, and it wouldn’t do to have the entrance to the heart of Ayrith looking dingy. Either that or whoever officially runs Cellia has some bias xD.

Neo-(North/South) Cellia let’s go!

 

Facts!

 

Already seeing them “work” together this episode was grand. I can legitimately see that happening, while the MC tags along for the ride. I’m curious to see what’ll happen with those two once we do find Lilith. No one should tell Cedric as long as he doesn’t get caught it should be fine.

 

Awesome, glad to hear it! Haha I just couldn’t resist that one.

 

Yep yep, you have two supporters right here!

 

She’d most likely be a good amateur historian. The thought of her pestering Darkrai with questions is amusing in and of itself. Waldenhall torched the place and shattered a pretty expensive-looking mirror that could have historic value. Logically murder is the only acceptable punishment fitting of the transgression (totallyyy not on Team Aurora here or anything XD). Least having Aurora’s wrath would make tracking down Waldenhall a tad easier.

Seriously though, I’d be surprised if either twin at this point didn’t have any questions.

 

No problem at all :D. Currently, it seems to be the oldest known Perfection pokémon (or at least the oldest that has survived). It does make sense if Darkrai is the ancestor or the catalyst of Perfected pokémon. If that’s the case maybe that’s why Darkrai was able to be separated from the Perfection energy/state.

Speaking of Perfection history, I wonder if Perfection had a hand in the wars that took place in Ayrith. We have no indication as to what the two sides were warring over, just that a hero with the help of some legendary birds quelled the fighting. Could they have been fighting over the Perfection energy or something? Course this is assuming the fables contain some truth to them. Theyyyy could also just be fables. Who knows?

 

Gotta add the fact that the Perfection Darkrai battle will most certainly take place on the Darkness field. So, we’ll have a scary Darkrai boosting a mega mightyena (give or take five others on her team) on a scarier field. That’ll be a battle for the ages. Is that too cruel?

 

What a way to start off the story… Perfection of two kinds… Kinda curious to see how that would go down xD

 

Totally. Then begins the secret fetch quest of hunting down Reeve to get Ava a new pair of shoes.

 

I’m gonna say yeah. I think Scarlett, MC, Ava (maybe even Emily…siblings man) can do it.

Some of Connor’s core flaws, as he mentions, are pushing others away and attempting to tackle challenges himself (acting rashly in the process). Given all that, it feels natural to have his growth tied to those he’s close/has grown close to throughout the game.

With the support they could provide him and him actually accepting the help (and also learning to not push them away in the process) he may be a fraction more kind in the future. Although I don’t see him losing his *whole* tsundere thing he has going on.

It just so happens that the events of Arcanius seem quite conducive to this type of growth, given that the group of heroes kinda needs to be working together to have a shot at success.  

That’s how I read his character at least. Optimism for the win!

Whether or not anything’s gonna happen before he gets his moment is another question entirely.

 

Oh yeah! I forgot about the mischievous little djinn friend. Its rings do have that sorta Grid look to them when they are active. That could be possible too. The Grid is still mired in mystery so can’t completely rule Hoopa out yet. If we start seeing golden rings around, we may have found the answer.

Now I kinda wonder what a field based on the Grid would be like.

 

Alrighty, that’s what I thought but wasn’t 100% sure. I sure hope so. Given Tristan’s whole situation, it sounded rather ominous.

 

I'm not sure if the player could bring Tristan back... or at least, bring him back *properly*. Aurora and/or Shiv might have the power, but I don't know if they knew him well enough to get 100% Tristan and not, like 75% Tristan. The player has the memories, but not the power. Might need all three? (I definitely think we can expect to see Darkrai haunting us with Tristan and anyone else we lose in the future, though.)

 

Does Booker have an Ayrith equivalent? Have we met him/heard about him? Did Darkrai make him up? I genuinely can't remember.

 

Haha, instead of the Foxes it's Team Anti-Assist. No making life better for formerly-brainwashed villagers allowed!

 

See, all of those are great ideas, but there's also room for the world's most awkward conversation about brothers. "My big bro's such a dork, he takes everything so seriously and he got mad at me for being late and he kept trying to date Rosetta even though she turned him down all the time." "...my brother ignored me for most of my life, and then after I left home and got into trouble, he threw me in here as a punishment. And then once I looked old enough that nobody would believe me if I said we were related, he let me out... but then he came back and threw me in here again." "...uh."

 

Signs, tiny ponds that anyone older than three could step over, Psyducks with headaches, chairs, the world's thinnest trees...

 

The Docks falling under Rosetta's purview does make sense, I guess. But the rest of Cellia certainly deserves to get spruced up. 

 

I'm just imagining Cedric falling into a state of despair at the fact that he probably got picked right out of school to go on this mission, he's been preparing for ages, this mission could make or break everything not just for him, but for Ayrith... and he wound up having to work with Ryder. (In another room, Ryder trips on his perfectly-tied shoelaces and knocks himself silly on a bench.)

 

Honestly, I'd murder Waldenhall for torching the labs if I had a chance. That was *pure history* he burned.

 

I barely remember anything about the wars in Ayrith, but it's possible that they could have been fighting over Perfection, or using Perfection. I mean, knowing what the PULSE mons did to Reborn, I bet a Perfected mon could do a hell of a lot of damage if it wanted.

 

Oh, Lord, I hope that's not what we get. Some of the battles are already bad enough.

 

Probably with a whole lot of fighting, honestly.

 

I agree, Connor is probably never going to stop being a jerk, but everyone might be able to file a couple of the rough edges off him. Maybe.

 

A Grid field... well, very purple. And starry. Not sure what the effects would be, though.

 

Maybe the promise was to Booker or something?