Team Neo-Rocket’s final goal is to get to the shrine in the Ilex forest, and summon the legendary Pokémon Celebi!
If you want more information on this project, check out the JohtoorMemories of Kanto tags on the blog.
When you first encounter the Ilex Shine, as you travel from Azalea Town to Goldenrod City, it is being studied by Professor Leaf Orchid. Some of her Pokémon are enjoying the forest and helping her investigate. Her Venusaur, Pidgeot, and pink Azumarill are all puttering around the shrine.
Professor Orchid notes that locals have been reporting some strange occurrences by the shrine, and she has come to investigate. Could they have anything to do with Team Neo-Rocket? Still, it’s nothing for you to worry about right now. She will let you know if anything of import happens.
It isn’t until you’ve chased Team Neo-Rocket out of Mahogany Town that you will need to return to the shrine. Team Neo-Rocket swiped an important artifact from Mahogany Town: The GS Ball. A Pokéball made of gold and silver, with a center latch button made of sparkling crystal, there has been some debate as to the origins and use of the item. It has proven ill-suited for capturing Pokémon, but some legends connect it to Ilex Shrine. Associate Professor Gold confirms that those legends are likely why Team Neo-Rocket would have stolen the GS Ball, and you need to hunt them down before it’s too late!
Sure enough, you will find Dante at the Ilex Shrine. He assures you that you are too late to stop him; once he places the GS Ball in the shrine it will summon Celebi, and allow him to travel back to the past he’s been working so hard to replicate.
The legendary Pokémon Celebi does appear, and grants his wish: Dante is warped back into the past, and you are pulled along with him.
You have now been transported back in time by more than 20 years! The Johto region is a very different place, and Dante is nowhere to be found. Celebi is also entirely absent. Finding Dante may be your only way home!
As you work your way through Ilex forest, a bug catcher to the south will tell you that a strange man did rush past, heading for Azalea Town.
In Azalea town, Dante is arguing with some locals in the Slowpoke Well. The locals, along with Gym Leader Bugsy, are asking why Team Rocket can’t take a hint; Team Rocket’s already been run out of town by a powerful trainer, why would they try and come back? And why only send one member?
When you confront him, Dante flees the town, back toward the forest, but not before insisting that slowpoke tails were never a very lucrative venture, anyway.
When you return to the forest, you run into an unexpectedly familiar face: Indigo, who, according to his account, was the only one brave enough to try and follow you. He promises to keep an eye on Ilex forest while you investigate [whatever’s next].
However, Indigo will not be your only ally. At the northern edge of Ilex Forest you will also find a young trainer from Kanto.
She introduces herself as Leaf. She has recently completed the Kanto gym challenge, and has traveled to Johto to challenge herself. She is hoping to face the powerful trainer traveling Johto, battling the revived Team Rocket, but first she wants to help you defeat Dante, especially since he has threatened her and other trainers. Leaf also asks you questions about this “Team Neo-Rocket” thing that Dante was going on about, and mentions that by traveling back in time you and Dante may have created a new timeline, altering the Pokémon world, if only slightly.
With Leaf’s help you are able to trace Dante’s path through Goldenrod city, where he is attempting to take control of the broadcast tower. However, Team Rocket already has control of the tower. Two grunts are preventing Dante’s access to the tower, with one grunt insisting he can’t enter because he doesn’t have a proper ID number or any of the necessary information, where the other grunt thinks he should be let in, as he’s obviously a member of Team Rocket.
However, he abandons this argument to battle you. Once you defeat him, the grunts no longer have any qualms about removing him from the broadcast tower premises. After all, whether he’s Team Rocket or not, what use is a guy who can’t even defeat a kid in a Pokémon battle?
Outside the station, Leaf helps you force Dante back to the shrine, where Indigo is waiting. However, Dante refuses to use the GS Ball to summon Celebi again. Instead, he wants to help fix Team Rocket’s past failures and create a future where Team Rocket controls all of Kanto and Johto, if not all of the Pokémon world. Leaf informs him that what he wants doesn’t matter, because she has taken the GS Ball from him while he was distracted by your battle. Leaf places the GS Ball on the shrine, and wishes you good luck. She’s sure you’ll meet again. Celebi returns to the shrine, and transports you through time once more.
Standing at the shrine is an old man in a dark coat. The man comments that he recognizes the red “R” on Dante’s breast pocket. It’s a mark of failure, he explains. A mark of mistakes. He asks Celebi why it would show him this, an unfamiliar man making the same mistakes he fought his whole life for. Celebi has no answer, but the man has advice for Dante:
Greed will get you nowhere. It will only leave you isolated, with no company but cold coins or the shadows of hiding. Chasing greed makes you a target for defeat by those who know better. A child, filled with enthusiasm and supported by friends, will always be greater than a man chasing power for power’s sake.
The man explains that no matter how many times he tried, greed always led him back to ruins, and to isolation. The more you follow greed and power, the more pointless it becomes. To repeat the same actions time and again and expect different results is a form of madness. You cannot recreate the past, and you cannot reach true success through greed. He has found no power more potent than the bond of genuine friendship he has managed to make with some of his Pokémon. His Persian and Nidoking leap out of their Pokéballs to confirm this point.
The old man turns to Celebi and asks if that’s the right thing to say. Is this how the Pokémon wanted him to face his past? Celebi still gives him no answer, but in a blink, you, Indigo, and Dante are transported through time once more.
Professor Orchid is waiting for you both when you return to Ilex Shrine in the present, as are Gold, Silver, and Kris.
Silver takes Dante to face justice for what he’s done, and Professor Leaf Orchid confirms that your trip to the past must have been causing ripple effects in the present. This clears up much of the confusion, and will also allow for more focused study going forward!
While in the past, there are a wide variety of new Pokémon and alternate forms of familiar species that you can discover! When you return to the present, Professor Orchid will even update your Pokédex to properly document them.
Now that you’ve made it back to the present, you’ll need to focus on completing your Johto League challenge! Team Neo-Rocket has been defeated for good, and there’s only one gym left before you challenge the Elite Four and Champion.
After you have been inducted into the Johto hall of fame, you can return to the Ilex Shrine to battle and capture Celebi. If you have Celebi in your team, you can travel back to the past once a day, and explore to your heart’s content! However, you will not be able to go any further than Goldenrod City or Azalea town in each direction, as people don’t believe your gym badges are genuine.
You’ve defeated the Kanto elite four, but Team Neo-Rocket is moving into Johto! It’s time to expand your horizons, and to keep your skills sharp you should take on the Johto League.
If you want more information on this project, check out the JohtoorMemories of Kanto tags on the blog!
A number of things have changed in Johto over the last decade, but the gym leader lineup has remained fairly similar.
Gym Leader 1: Fulton
Fulton hasn’t made many changes to the Violet City gym since taking it over from his mentor, Falkner. You will challenge a pair of bird keepers, stationed along the gym’s wooden aerial pathway, before facing Fulton himself.
Fulton’s team consists of Farfetch’d, Noctowl, Fearow, Skarmory, and Pidgeot, and he will award you with the Zephyr badge.
Gym Leader 2: Bugsy
Bugsy’s gym is the best place to master bug type Pokémon. The Spinarak-web inspired pathways lead you across the gym and past a variety of bug catchers who are training under Bugsy.
He’s proud of his work, and is glad to see a powerful trainer like yourself is interested in bug types. When you defeat his Butterfree, Aridos, Scyther, Heracross, and Shuckle, he will give you the hive badge.
Gym Leader 3: Whitney
This gym is a multi-level, candy-colored maze, where you will battle beauties and lasses on your way to facing Whitney. Whitney is very impressed by how far you’ve come as a trainer, and is excited to battle you. She also warns you not to underestimate the normal type!
If you can successfully defeat her team of Persian, Porygon-Z, Wigglytuff, Girafarig, and Miltank, you’ll receive the plain badge.
Gym Leader 4: Sakura
After Morty joined Johto’s Elite Four, the Ecruteak gym was moved into the city’s dance theater. Unlike most gyms, the dance theater’s theme is not a type, but an evolutionary line. To reach Sakura, the gym leader, you first must cross a variety of stages and battle her sisters. First, you must defeat Satsuki’s Jolteon, Sumomo’s Vaporeon, and Koume’s Flareon in single battles, before facing the remaining four sisters in double battles: first Rea’s Glaceon and Linnea’s Leafeon, then Kira’s Sylveon and Tamao’s Umbreon.
Once you have defeated all of her sisters, you will face Sakura. Her team all have friendship-based evolutions: Pikachu, Clefairy, Togetic, Blissey, and Espeon. For completing this gym, you are granted the spirit badge.
Gym Leader 5: Chuck
Not much has changed around Cianwood gym. Chuck still trains under a raging waterfall, and he’s happy to take you on if you climb to the top of the gym and shut off the water. On the way you’ll be able to challenge black belts and battle girls.
Once you defeat his Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Machamp, Poliwrath, and Primeape you’ll be rewarded with the storm badge.
Gym Leader 6: Jasmine
Jasmine’s gym challenge is all about taking a contemplative pause. Firstly, you will need to go meet Jasmine in the glitter lighthouse before she will be around for a challenge. She explains, when you find her, that this is to encourage trainers to take in the scenery and enjoy their journey, not to simply roar through each city, defeating gym after gym. The lighthouse houses a few different trainers, including sailors, bird keepers, and gentlemen, but all of the battles are optional.
In a similar vein, her gym is now styled after a zen rock garden. The room around the garden is made of industrial steel, as is Jasmine’s platform, but the majority of the floor space is sand, along with some stones. You can only walk through the garden with a rake in hand, and draw through the sand however you like. You can also move the rocks using strength. Along the edges, on the steel flooring, stand lasses and beauties who will challenge you when you cross their line of sight (which is unavoidable).
When you reach Jasmine, you are faced with her Magnezone, Steelix, Scizor, Skarmory, and Ampharos. Upon defeating her, she gives you the mineral badge.
Gym Leader 7: Silver
Upon first glance, there is no longer a gym in Mahogany town. However, if you talk to the woman who runs the Special Souvenir Shop and mention that you are taking part in the gym challenge, or ask what she knows about Team Neo-Rocket, she’ll explain to you that the gym is below the store in Team Rocket’s old Johto HQ.
Below the store, the gym features three levels of maze-like hallways, where you can battle bikers, burglars, and PI/gamblers, all of whom prefer facing gym challengers to any less savory activities they once got up to, and have at least one Pokémon each which has a friendship-based evolution.
The Mahogany gym, and Silver’s team in particular, have no particular type association, making it a comparative challenge. However, if you can defeat Silver’s Umbreon, Tyranitar, Weavile, Crobat, and Typhlosion you’ll receive the revolution badge.
Gym Leader 8: Andrea
Andrea is working hard to live up to her mentor, Clair’s reputation. She’s deeply dedicated to dragon type, as well as the ideas of tradition and discipline. In fact, when you first arrive in Blackthorn city, Andrea is not at the gym. Instead, she is training in the dragon’s den cave under the city.
On your way to find her, you will need to battle some ace trainers. When you first meet Andrea in the depths of the den, she quizzes you about what matters in Pokémon training (the same questions as the “Master’s Quiz” in the original dragon’s den). However you answer, you will then be able to challenge her in the gym, but if you give all the correct answers (all of which paint a picture of a kind, enthusiastic trainer) she will give you a level 15 dratini.
The gym itself has changed from being a landscape of lava, the lava has been replaced with deep, cold water. Using surf is forbidden, and you must pilot floating platforms across the lake. The gym includes dragon tamers and ace trainers that you will need to defeat before reaching Andrea.
Andrea’s team is made up of Kingdra, Gyarados, Zweilous, and Dragonite, and once you defeat her you will receive your final badge: the rising badge.
The final step on your Pokémon league journey is to face the Johto elite four and champion, who are newly instated since the original games took place. It’s time to head across Mt. Silver to the Silver Falls highland, where the league has been built. Good luck!
But also, I have a few Vs. Sprites that I created for this badge case as well, for Fulton, Sakura, Silver, and Andrea, that I’m gonna show off here because they took too much time not to:
Once you’ve battled your way through all eight gyms and the caves of Victory Road, you can finally face the elite four and the champion.
As always, you have to fight all of them in a row, so stock up on potions and other items and take on the challenge!
(To learn more about this project, you can check out the Peaks of Sinnoh tag!)
The first member of the elite four you’ll face is…
Aaron
Aaron is still at the front of Sinnoh’s elite four challenge, and is as enthusiastic as ever about the awesomeness of bug types. His team consists of Yanmega, trash cloak Wormadam, Heracross, Vespiquen, and Drapion.
Next up:
Diana
Inspired by her older sister Cynthia, Diana has become a powerful trainer and the Sinnoh region’s first master of fairy type Pokémon. She’s the youngest member of the elite four, and is always excited to take on new trainers. To move on, you’ll have to best her team of Clefable, Azumarill, Gardevoir, Sylveon, and Togekiss.
After you’ve defeated Diana, you’ll challenge…
Volkner
At the insistence of his friend Flint, Volkner left gym life behind to challenge stronger trainers as a member of the elite four. He’s more engaged by the challengers he receives in his new role, but he’s still skeptical of your ability to show him an impressive battle. But once you defeat his Lanturn, Raichu, Electivire, Luxray, and Magnezone he’s definitely impressed.
You’re nearly there! The last member of the elite four is…
Fantina
Fantina retired from being a gym leader to travel the world, but was unable to stay away from the battle arena for long. Upon her return to Sinnoh she became the most powerful member of the elite four, taking on each new challenger with Mismagius, Gengar, Gourgeist, Froslass, and Drifblim.
Now, brace yourself. This is the last challenge between you and the hall of fame. It’s time for you to face…
Champion Dawn
The champion is thrilled to see you! She knew she saw the spark of a master trainer in you.
If you can defeat Dawn and her partners–Luxray, Glaceon, Lucario, Garchomp, Blissey (holding a Chople Berry), and Empoleon–you will be the new strongest trainer in Sinnoh. Congratulations!
Associate Professor Larch joins Dawn to induct you into Sinnoh’s hall of fame. They congratulate you, and now you have completed the Sinnoh League.
The next morning you will wake up back home in Twinleaf Town, where Matilda and Cato will be waiting to congratulate you. Now you’re free to travel the region however you like! Will you master Pokémon contests? Cook the perfect poffin? Challenge the battle frontier? Challenge the trainers of the league to rematches? It’s all up to you!
Congratulations! You’ve earned eight gym badges, not to mention foiled Team Neo-Rocket’s plans for the region. Now it’s time for you to face the final challenge of the Indigo League: the elite four and the champion!
(If you want to know more about this project and story, check out the Memories of Kanto tag!)
Make sure you’re fully prepared to battle all five trainers in a row! Once you’re sure you’re ready, you’ll start by facing a brand new member of the elite four:
Jayce
Jayce is a cool dude who’s excited to take you on! He trained under former Elite Four member Lorelei, and he’s the first step in this battle marathon. His super rad team is made up of Dewgong, Delibird, Alolan Ninetails, Mamoswine, and Weavile.
If you’re able to defeat them, you’ll move on to…
Misty
After spending many years facing brand-new trainers as Cerulean City’s gym leader, Misty revels in facing off against stronger opponents. As much as she’s rooting for you, she had not intention of holding back. Misty’s built up a tough team of Starmie, Lapras, Quagsire, Lanturn, and Golduck.
Once you pass the test, the next trainer is…
Lt. Surge
Lt. Surge has always been a tough guy, and it was no surprise to anyone that he would move into a position in the elite four. He’s gonna whip you into shape and make absolutely certain that you’re up to the challenge of facing the champion. His team includes Electrode, Jolteon, Magnezone, Electivire, and Raichu, so you’re really in for a shock!
The only member of the elite four left to challenge is…
Sabrina
Sabrina and her team pride themselves on intelligence, diligence, and skill. This is the last test you’ll need to face before the champion, and Sabrina is a stern taskmaster. Though she cannot see the outcome of the battle, her clairvoyance tells her it will be hard-fought on both sides. She and her team of Espeon, Wobbuffet, Jynx, Xatu, and Alakazam are deeply connected, making them difficult to beat.
But now, it’s finally time to take on…
Champion Red
You may not be able to tell, but Red is impressed that you’ve made it this far. He is the trainer who most understands the position you’re in, and a battle with him will surely be one for the record books.
His legendary team is made up of Snorlax, Lapras, Vileplume, Machamp, Raichu, and Charizard. If you can defeat him, you will have mastered the Indigo League!
He and Professor Orchid will then induct you into Kanto’s hall of fame. They’re both quite proud of you, but it looks like your journey is not over yet: both Red and the Professor receive word that Team Neo-Rocket have set up shop in the neighboring region of Johto! The villainous team is broadcasting across both regions, warning that they fully intend to steal and capture the most powerful Pokémon they can and take both regions, if not the world, by force. Someone needs to stop them.
Team Dimensional’s goal is to reunite the old Gods of the Sinnoh region with our world, and to that end they are seeking to capture nearly every legendary in the region. First and foremost, they need to capture the Lake Trio, Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit.
You will have encountered Team Dimensional at many steps along your journey, as they can be found in nearly every town, either proselytizing to the masses or researching ancient legends. However, it is not until you pass by the entrance to Lake Valor, where Dimensional grunts will block your way, that it becomes clear that Team Dimensional are up to something. This is made even clearer by talking to Aroma Specialist Mars, Lady Jupiter, and Ace Trainer Saturn, but it does the details of Team Dimensional’s operation do not come to light until after you have defeated Keira at the Hearthome city gym.
You will once again meet Dawn as you are leaving Hearthome, and she will congratulate you on your progress. However, she will receive a call from Assistant Professor Larch demanding she come to Lake Verity immediately.
You and Dawn speed to the Verity Lakefront, where Acolyte Spacia is attempting to capture the lake’s legendary Pokémon, Mesprit. However, Spacia is unable to successfully catch the Pokémon, and orders some grunts to capture it by means other than a Pokéball. Upon hearing this, Mesprit flees. Specifically, the emotion Pokémon flees to you, the player, and unless there is an open space in your party you will be prompted to send a member of your team to a box. Mesprit will join your team, whether you like it or not.
Spacia and the grunts challenge you in an attempt to steal Mesprit from you, but Dawn and Lucas easily defeat the grunts while you take on Spacia. Once defeated, Spacia has no choice but to retreat.
This development sends you to Canalave town, where, once Roark’s Gym is defeated, your rivals and Assistant Professor Larch study up on the guardians of the lakes. It’s clear that Team Dimensional want to get their hands on these Pokémon, likely as a means to summon Dialga Palkia, and perhaps Giratina.
In hopes of preventing Team Dimensional from capturing any other lake Pokémon, you meet one of your rivals, Matilda at Lake Valor. There you will find Acolyte Tempus and three grunts restraining Azelf, the willpower Pokémon. Tempus is determined to succeed where Spacia failed. However, when two of the grunts challenge the player and Matilda to a double battle in hopes of driving you off, Azelf is able to break free, and becomes a part of Matilda’s Pokémon team. You and Matilda continue to battle as a team against Tempus and the remaining grunt, and once again emerge victorious.
The last lake, Lake Acuity, is reached after you have made it to Snowpoint city. You have time to reach the Pokémon center there before Cato appears, telling you something is wrong at the lakefront. At lake Acuity, you and Cato battle a group of grunts guarding the lakefront before surfing to the cave in the center of the lake. There you must face Pravita, who plans to defeat you and capture Uxie for herself. Cato isn’t confident enough to face her alone, and you battle as a team against her, which she insists is unfair. Even after being defeated, she throws one last Pokéball at the knowledge Pokémon, but it escapes from the ball and situates itself in Cato’s party.
After you defeat Candice at Snowpoint gym, Dawn meets up with you again, and is encouraged by the possibility that Team Dimensional will be stopped in their tracks now that they can no longer bring together the Lake Trio and get a hold of the red chain.
However, just before you reach Sunyshore city to challenge the final gym, an earthquake rattles the region. Barry, Sunyshore’s gym leader, runs headlong into you, and hurriedly explains what’s going on:
Something big is happening in turnback cave, off of route 214, and you’re that kid Dawn’s been talking to, right? He tells you to go ahead and check it out while he goes to find Dawn.
When you reach sendoff spring, where the cave’s entrance is located (and the path to which you could SWEAR wasn’t there yesterday…), Matilda is already there. She explains that she was on route 214 when the ground shook, and decided to head towards where the shake might’ve come from. She also called Cato and told him what was going on. The pair of you climb down to the cave entrance, and just before you head in Cato rushes down into the spring to join you.
The path into the heart of the cave, which is labyrinthine at the best of times, is lined by Team Dimensional grunts. You, Matilda, and Cato fight your way through them until you reach Giratina’s chamber, where the renegade Pokémon is looming over Acolyte Pravita and Themis, Team Dimensional’s leader.
Themis reveals to you that he has summoned Giratina, and will use this newfound power to bring forward Dialga and Palkia as well. And, all the better, the three of you are now here, so Team Dimensional has been able to bring the lake trio together after all!
In an attempt to stop Themis, you challenge him to a battle. Pravita takes on both Cato and Matilda while you face Themis, and his team: Rampardos, Bastiodon, Dustox, Clefable, and Toxicroak. Though he is upset that you defeat him, he is not swayed, and turns his attention Giratina instead.
Finally,Barry has returned with Dawn and Lucas, but it may already be too late. Themis calls upon Giratina’s power, and a dark portal opens in the center of the room. Themis, Pravita, the player, Matilda, and Cato are all pulled briefly through the distortion world only to be spat out onto the peak of Mt. Coronet at the spear pillars.
Tempus and Spatia are waiting at the pillars, and are glad to see that their leader has succeeded. With Giratina’s power, Themis calls forth Dialga and Palkia, and the whole region, perhaps the whole of reality, shakes under the strain.
Themis asks the great legendaries how Team Dimensional can serve them, but Sinnoh’s creators have only rage. Another portal to the distortion world opens in an attempt to balance all of this power, but Giratina is weakened from being restrained and controlled by Themis. Even as the mountain and the ruins begin to crumble under the pressure, Themis persists. This, he is convinced, is the will of these gods. They will reshape Sinnoh to their liking! Even if it means the destruction of everything we know and hold dear. Time and space are being torn asunder by Dialga and Palkia, and Giratina is exerting more and more power in a vain attempt to compensate. Everything is threatening to shake apart at an atomic level! It would hardly be possible to contain all three of these powerful, legendary Pokémon at all, and truly impossible to contain them quickly enough to end this destruction. They cannot return to a state of balance now that they have been summoned; their anger will not allow them, and with time, space, and distortion all in one place, to remove one would surely tip the scales into utter, world ending chaos!
The shuddering cacophony of inter-dimensional distress reaches an overwhelming fever-pitch, before being abruptly stilled.
Arceus stands before you, looking down upon the scene. All is silent. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina turn toward it. In a flash, each of the other legendaries is returned to their rightful places.
Arceus turns its attention to Themis.
Themis bows down before Arceus, and his acolytes follow suit. He swears devotion to Arceus, and offers the Pokémon anything it could want. He asks that it remold Sinnoh to its liking, and take Team Dimensional as its servants. After a moment of hesitation [… … …], Arceus gives its answer:
No.
In a blink, Themis is gone, teleported elsewhere just like Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. The acolytes recoil in horror, and everyone is unsure what to do. No one among you would be brave or idiotic enough to face the Alpha Pokémon.
…Right?
Wrong. You’re a player character, likely armed with a master ball, and you’ve been looking forward to just such an opportunity like this. It’s time to save your game, and face the legendary Arceus. Ideally, you will catch Arceus here, but if you defeat it instead you can return to the spear pillar after defeating the champion and obtaining all of the different type plates available in the Sinnoh region, at which point Arceus will re-spawn and you can try again.
With Arceus caught, reality has returned to a stable state, and the former acolytes of Team Dimensional are absolutely terrified of you. Tempus offers you the role of the team’s leader, but even if you don’t refuse, Pravita rejects the idea. Though none of them have given up their ideals and goals of a better, more advanced world, Spatia reasons that without their determined, charismatic leader, Team Dimensional will surely disband.
Now that Team Dimensional and their tampering with the legendary Pokémon has been stopped, you can finish your gym challenge in peace, and face the elite four and champion.
It isn’t until the post-game that you will find out that Themis has been discovered, alive and well, in Floaroma town. You can go meet him there and discover that his memory is hazy at best, losing focus soon after he became a Team Galactic grunt. Aroma specialist Mars is working to get him re-situated. He’s considering becoming a rancher!
Three trainers are honored in your hometown, and well known across the region, not only for their role in defeating Team Galactic, but for the work they continue to do in Sinnoh.
Lucas has now largely taken over Professor Rowan’s work. He can often be found in the lab in Sandgem Town, where he primarily studies the history of Pokémon species and their relationships with humans. He’s the one who gives you and your rivals your first Pokémon and a Pokédex. Lucas will also meet you a few times on your journey to check in on your progress or help investigate the actions of Team Dimensional. He will also introduce players who choose the “male” player character to Super Contests, and can appear as a coordinator in the highest-rank contests.
Barry is going strong as the gym leader of Sunyshore City. High-speed life in a port city is a great fit for him, though he still finds it too slow at times. He’s always rushing, and is likely to run into you or other NPCs in his haste. He has little time for Team Dimensional’s ideas and spirituality, but he does sometimes join Dawn or Lucas to investigate the team’s actions.
You first encounter Dawn in Eterna Forest, where Team Dimensional is holding up trainers. Upon discovering that you have received a Pokémon and Pokédex from Lucas, she encourages you to take on Acolyte Spatia. She can handle the grunts. She continues to monitor Team Dimensional’s actions, and you’ll meet her again many times. First she Dawn is also there to introduce the player to Super Contests if they have chosen the “female” player character, and can appear as one of the coordinators in the highest-rank contests. She is seen again when she looks into Team Dimensional’s Veilstone HQ with Barry, when she faces Team Dimensional with you and Lucas at the Verity Lakefront, and she attempts to stop Team Dimensional from summoning the Pokémon that created Sinnoh.
You are far from the first person to take on the Kanto league, or even to fight against Team (Neo)Rocket. This is all very familiar to a few people you will meet along your journey: Red, Blue, and Professor Leaf Orchid.
Gym Leader Blue is the golden boy of Viridian City. His very brief stint as champion of the Indigo League made him an easy pick for the position, and he’s practically become the city’s protector and spokesperson in the following years. Blue revels in the variety of trainers that he faces as a part of the gym challenge, and brings trainers with many different specialties into his gym to strengthen his gym challenge. His reputation and persistence have also allowed him the privilege of only facing trainers who have earned all seven other gym badges, where most other gyms have designated teams for trainers at different stages. He’s determined to keep Team Neo-Rocket away from his city and his gym, even though they continue to seek out any connections to Giovanni, Team Rocket’s former leader, that they can find.
Professor Leaf Orchid has been studying Pokémon for almost two decades, and took over as the resident Professor of the Kanto region when Professor Samuel Oak retired. Leaf’s focus is on the sheer variety of Pokémon, especially variations in form or differences found between regions. She approaches her work with one mantra in mind: Gotta’ catch ‘em all! She is also dedicated to making sure any young people who want to can go on Pokémon journeys, and to this end travels the region, handing out starter Pokémon. You meet her for the first time in Lavender Town, when she gives you your starter.
Red is a man of few words. Perhaps that’s part of what’s made him so legendary. After spending some years traveling, as well as training on Mt. Silver, Red has taken up the mantle of Indigo League Champion that he earned so many years ago. He takes his role seriously. At least, as far as anyone can tell. Not many are able to read his inscrutable expressions, or make much sense of his continual silence. Blue is his best translator, though Leaf and a few other residents of Pallet Town are also fairly adept at understanding him. He has been keeping an eye on Team Neo-Rocket’s activities, and will appear at times to scare them off or investigate them, like at their HQ.
Things are not so peaceful in the Kanto region. Some hooligans calling themselves Team Neo-Rocket are stealing people’s Pokémon, making threats, searching for legendary Pokémon, and attempting to take control of the region.
To learn more about Team Neo-Rocket, keep reading! You can also find out more about this project in the Memories of Kanto tag.
The first way you may encounter Team Neo-Rocket is on TV or over the radio. They have their own broadcasting setup in their headquarters in Vermillion City, though they really want to take over the radio tower in Lavender Town. If you tune in to one of their broadcasts, you’ll hear a lot about how powerful Team Neo-Rocket is, as well as hear promotions for the lottery that they run from their HQ.
You’ll run into Team Neo-Rocket in many places along your journey. They generally have teams of poison-, normal-, or ground-type Pokémon, and can often be found hassling lower-level trainers and causing problems for the gym leaders. Janine, Erica, and Blue in particular are consistently at odds with Team Neo-Rocket. Janine considers them a bad influence on poison-type trainers and the reputation of the poison type, whereas Erica takes responsibility for keeping them away from the old Celadon game corner, which has long-since been converted into a community center, and Blue is consistently working to keep them away from the Viridian City gym, where Team Neo-Rocket wants to search for any artifacts relating to the old leader, Giovanni.
The Celadon Community center is also home to the Pokémon Fan Club, as they were ousted from their original location in Viridian City when Team Neo-Rocket took over. Vince, Viridian City’s gym leader, also tries to keep Team Neo-Rocket in check, but their primary function in the city is broadcasting, and he has a difficult time catching them doing anything more nefarious in the city itself. (However, they have managed to build a new headquarters under their small broadcasting studio, and manage much of their operations from there.)
Alongside controlling the Kanto region through fear and force, Team Neo-Rocket also aims to capture all of the region’s legendary Pokémon. They can be found going after the legendary birds, as well as searching for Mew and Mewtwo.
In fact, chasing after legendaries is where you will first encounter…
Dante, leader of Team Neo-Rocket
Dante first became a trainer by joining Team Rocket, and stayed with the organization until the defeat of the Rocket Executives by a couple powerful young trainers. He remembers his time with Team Rocket, and the control that the organization had, very fondly, and he is determined to return to that status quo. He’s also determined to make lots, and lots of money. Team Neo-Rocket will sell you Pokémon out of their broadcasting studio, and their lottery is pay-to-enter. They also have a deal with Vermillion City’s shop, and they receive a cut of all the money made there.
Legendary Pokémon hold the possibility of both money and power, and so Dante is hell-bent on getting as many legendaries under Team Neo-Rocket’s control as possible. In the Kanto region, his highest priorities are Mew and Mewtwo.
You first see Dante when Mew appears to you at Mt. Moon. He has only just managed to chase the Pokémon there, but is still unable to capture it. He dismisses you as a child and therefore not a threat at the time. He also asks you which way the Pokémon went. If you choose to lie, Mew teleports back briefly to wave at/thank you, but even if you tell Dante the truth, Mew will float back past you, heading the opposite direction, confirming that Dante has no hope of capturing the legendary Pokémon.
Dante is determined to catch Mewtwo, and, in doing so, rectify Team Rocket’s failure to keep control of the Pokémon in the first place. In stopping Dante from attempting to capture the legendary Pokémon, you will need to battle him.
Datne’s full team consists of Wynaut/Wobbuffet, Meowth/Persian, Ariados, Nidoking, and Crobat. He has made sure his team is built for capturing evasive legendaries, as Wynaut/Wobbuffet has the ability Shadow Tag, Ariados eventually learns the move Spider Web), and Crobat has the move Mean Look.
Even after you thwart Team Neo-Rocket’s efforts in Kanto, they expand their mission into Johto, where they continue to seek out legendary Pokémon for power and profit. Even if he has failed to capture Mew or Mewtwo, Dante has set his sights on the elusive Celebi…
There’s a new group in Sinnoh, looking to share enlightenment. Along with control of the known universe. What could go wrong?
To learn more about this project, you can check out the Peaks of Sinnoh tag!
Team Dimensional is traveling the region, seeking to help people become one with the universe. They’re a spiritual bunch, aiming to connect with the cosmos and reconnect with the all-powerful Pokémon that created all things.
Team Dimensional grunts generally use Zubat, Glameow, Roselia, and/or Cleffa/Clefairy.
To reconnect with those Pokémon, they need a lot of power, and a lot of followers, and they will go to great lengths to achieve that. You will, at various stages, need to confront them to prevent them from using people and Pokémon against their wills. Most importantly, you’ll need to defeat the team’s leaders, the acolytes.
Acolyte 1: Spatia
The first acolyte you encounter is Spatia. She dreams of mastering space, being able to travel great distances instantly, either by technological or metaphysical means. She’s a big fan of astral projecting. She’s an enthusiastic driver of the team, but her temper can get the better of her. She is also the newest member of the team’s higher ranks; when you first challenge her in Eterna Forest, her team is only a Marill and a Bidoof. She is blocking a path in Eterna Forest, where they are trying to spread Team Dimensional’s message of possibility and convince trainers to work with them. However, any time someone questions Team Dimensional’s goals Spatia gets angry with them and challenges them to a battle.
You meet her a few more times in your travels, including at lake Verity. By the time you battle her for the last time, her team is made up of Bibarel, Azumarill, Floatzel, and Manatine.
Acolyte 2: Tempus
Tempus is a more experienced member of the team, and perhaps one of the more grounded. He is the most disciplined and determined of the acolytes, and is largely responsible for operations at Team Dimensional Headquarters in Veilstone city, which is run out of the old department store, now that the department store has moved into the larger space left behind by Team Galactic all those years ago. When you go snooping around the new headquarters you aren’t initially challenged to many battles. However, once you have worked your way far enough back behind the scenes to reach Tempus, he is determined to defeat you.
Tempus is fascinated by time – the ways its progress is both unavoidable and mutable. Time moves inexorably forward, and yet, every moment theoretically happens at once. Taking both of these things into account, there’s no better time to act than in the present! His team includes Bastiodon, Bronzong, and Magnezone, though his Pokémon are initially battled in their pre-evolved forms.
Acolyte 3: Pravita
Pravita has been with Team Dimensional since the very beginning. She keeps her mind open to all possibilities, and believes in the fluidity of all things, with her reasonings varying from the spiritual to the quantum-mechanical. Everything is changeable, and she aspires to share the power to change it with all of Team Dimensional’s followers, as soon as she can get a hold of it herself.
Other members of Team Dimensional will sometimes mention Pravita, and you will see her briefly in the Veilstone HQ and in Celestic town. By the time you battle her on the shores of Lake Verity (soon after defeating the Canalave City gym), her team consists of Mismagius, Drifblim, and Froslass.
Team Leader: Themis
Themis has spent over a decade searching for ways to make contact with the all-powerful Pokémon that are able to mold Sinnoh, and perhaps even time, space, and reality themselves, to their will. You will meet him many times throughout your journey; the first time you see him he is talking to scientists in Oreburgh City, but he does not introduce himself until you find him sharing the good word in Hearthome City, and you don’t face him in battle until Celestic Town.
Themis was a grunt for Team Galactic, and was there to witness Cyrus’ summoning of the ultimate legendaries of the region, and the team’s following downfall. He concluded that Cyrus’ mistake was a disrespect for the legendaries, and an over-emphasis on science. Themis’ goal is to succeed where Cyrus failed, and free Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Arceus to reign over Sinnoh once more, with himself and Team Dimensional as their loyal servants. Servants that, presumably, will become powerful by association. And maybe, just maybe, he can retrieve Cyrus from the distortion world, and prove himself to his former team leader.
He has made one small miscalculation: none of those Pokémon are trapped any more than a Pikachu is trapped in a tree. They do not need to be summoned; they are already exerting as much power as they wish. In his aspirations to “free” the legendaries, he is blindly restricting and controlling them.
This cannot end well.
Especially after you defeat his team: Rampardos, Bastiodon, Dustox, Clefable, and Toxicroak. He will first challenge you in Celestic Town.
However, Themis is not the only former member of Team Galactic still roaming Sinnoh. Most have let the teal dye fade from their hair and disappeared into mundane lives or other trainer classes, but there are three key team members that can still be encountered in Sinnoh, and can offer you some help in taking on Team Dimensional.
Bonus: Former Galactic Commanders
Aroma Specialist Mars lives in Floaroma town, and, if asked, will tell you some about the flawed battle strategies of Team Galactic, and is the first to remark on the connections between Team Dimensional and Team Galactic. After battling Spatia for the first time, Mars will battle with you to help you train to take on Team Dimensional.
Ace Trainer Saturn prefers to keep his distance from Team Dimensional. However, he can be found in Pastoria City, where he will explain some of Team Galactic’s grand plans to you, including the summoning of legendaries on Mt. Coronet, and the creation of the red chain.
Lady Jupiter has taken up residence at Hotel Grand Lake, and now considers her time with Team Galactic to have been an absurd phase in her life that she is glad has passed. She does love to tell stories, however, and will detail the events of Team Galactic’s attempt to summon the legendaries at the Spear Pillar, including their defeat by the now-champion and Cyrus’ disappearance.
Though the badge case image has the gym leaders in their traditional order, you won’t be challenging them that way in Memories of Kanto. Since you begin your journey in Lavender Town, the gym challenge will be in the following order:
Gym Leader 1: Mariana (Cerulean City)
Mariana hasn’t been gym leader in Cerulean City for very long, and she has big shoes to fill! The layout of the gym has remained largely the same, with a large pool in the center of the room where the other trainers in the gym (a swimmer and a tuber) swim around until they spot you.
Once you defeat Mariana’s team of Poliwag and Goldeen, you have your first badge: the cascade badge.
Gym Leader 2: Torsten (Pewter City)
Pewter City gym has a straightforward design. It’s simply a rocky path where you will be challenged by two campers and a black belt.
When you reach Torsten, you’ll need to defeat his Onyx and Aerodactyl to win the boulder badge.
Gym Leader 3: Fina (Cinnabar Gym)
Fina has recently built her gym and science center on Cinnabar island, after the original gym was obliterated by an eruption of the island’s volcano. She’s here to research and monitor the island, and her gym is staffed by scientists and ruin maniacs. These trainers do have work to do, so they might just let you pass by unchallenged, as long as you answer their trivia questions correctly. I hope you know about type effectiveness and Pokémon evolution!
However, you can’t avoid taking on Fina’s Vulpix, Growlithe, Flareon. Once you defeat her, she will reward you with the volcano badge.
Gym Leader 4: Janine (Fuchsia City)
At first glance, Fuchsia City gym appears empty. However, this gym has trained ninjas for decades now, so no one is surprised that it is affectively booby-trapped. Trainers are hidden throughout the room, and you never know when you’ll be thrown into battle with a ninja boy, lass, or battle girl. Make sure you have a lot of antidotes on hand!
Janine’s team of Venonat, Nidorina, and Crobat, will surely leave you poisoned, but if you survive the battle you’ll receive the soul badge.
You’ll also receive congratulations from the retired ninja master Koga, who has great faith in his daughter’s abilities. If you talk to him prior to challenging her, he will share some information about poison types with you, though he is skeptical of your odds against Janine.
Gym Leader 5: Vince (Vermillion City)
Vince keeps a much more relaxed gym than his mentor, Lt. Surge. The gym has now been fitted with colorful, musical tiles; if you step on all of the tiles of a given color in the gym, following them from front to back, they’ll play a tune together and turn off one of the rungs in the electric fence blocking off Vince’s stage. Following the musical paths will definitely put you in the sights of the gym’s trainers: a sailor, a juggler, and an idol, who mention that they are also a lead guitarist, keyboardist, and master Metal vocalist, respectively.
Vince compliments you on your musical chops when you reach him, and compares the support a gym leader gives to trainers–both his friends in the gym and the challengers that come from across the region–to the easily-overlooked importance of a bass guitar in a rock song. Once you’ve defeated his Pikachu, Lanturn, Magnezone, and Ampharos you’ll be rewarded with the thunder badge.
Gym Leader 6: Murdoch (Saffron City)
The youngest gym leader in Kanto, Murdoch works hard to be professional. He has turned the nine rooms built into the gym into a shadowy mirror-maze. It’s dark and difficult to navigate, and you will be challenged by school kids and mediums as you work towards Murdoch. (The school kids aren’t subtle about being Murdoch’s battle buddies, and the mediums are similarly un-subtle that they all look upon Murdoch as their adopted grandson and they’re very proud of him. Some will laud his world travels and interest in staying up-to-date with the newest Pokémon discoveries.)
Murdoch is impressed that you reach him, and even more impressed when you defeat his Haunter, Mimikyu, Mismagius, and Gengar. Somewhat begrudgingly, he will give you the marsh badge.
Gym Leader 7: Erika (Celadon City)
Erika takes pride in the upkeep of her flowering maze of a gym. In fact, at one of the windows outside a young girl gazes longingly at the beautiful trainers in the gym. These trainers include a lass, an aroma lady, a beauty, and a pair of ace trainers.
Erika’s team of Victreebel, Jumpluff, Bellossom, and Tangrowth are formidable, but if you can beat them you’ll receive the rainbow badge, and then there’s only one gym left.
Gym Leader 8: Blue (Viridian City)
Blue has done his grandad proud (if you talk to the retired Professor Oak in Pallet Town he’ll tell you as much!) by becoming a major facet of the community in Viridian City. He has taken well to being a gym leader, though he’ll playfully taunt challengers until or unless they defeat him. He’s built his gym to prepare trainers for the variety of his team, a stark contrast to the rest of Kanto’s gym leaders. You’ll need to navigate through a stream, a grassland, and some rocky terrain to reach Blue, and on the way you’ll battle a variety of ace trainers, all with Pokémon themed to the terrain (water and ice along the stream, grass and bug in the grasslands, and fire, rock, and ground type in the rocky terrain).
Blue will grant you the earth badge once you defeat his team of Rhydon, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Arcanine, Blastoise, which is no small feat. Now that you have all eight badges, he’ll wish you luck against the elite four and the champion. You’ll need it: Blue has never been able to defeat the champion, and not for lack of trying.
I also made Vs. sprites for Mariana, Torsten, Fina, Vince, and Murdoch to be able to make the badge case, but you can’t actually see much of them there, and I spent way too much time on them not to include them, so here they are:
On your way back to Jubilife City, you meet Cato on the Jubilife side of the Oreburgh Gate tunnel. He challenges you to a battle, though he heals your Pokémon first.
His team is currently made up of his starter (the one with type disadvantage to you), and a starly. When you defeat him he laments that he will need to get stronger before challenging the gym, but the only thing for it is to move forward. He’s determined to do his best to keep up with you and Matilda! …After going back to Jubilife to heal his Pokémon.
When you arrive back in Jubilife City with Cato, a crowd has gathered outside of the Jubilife TV station. Out front of the station, two people with teal hair and dark, sparkling clothes, and another with pale blue hair and a sleeker, more buttoned-up look are speaking to the people.
The one with blue hair seems to be taking the lead, telling everyone to,
“Step right up, let us predict your future! I, Tempus, and my colleagues wish to share with you how Team Dimensional has tuned into the mystical realms outside of this reality!”
Matilda joins you and Cato at the edge of the crowd. She tells you that, hey, that’s cool! She’s considering finding out her fortune, but Cato says that,
“But, it doesn’t make sense. How would they be able to do that? I wonder…” He hesitates a moment, before speaking up: “EXCUSE ME?”
Tempus and the other two turn to Cato. As does the rest of the crowd. He takes a step back, startled by the attention, but asks his question anyway.
Cato: “How are you able to tell the future? Could you tell me more about your methodology?”
Tempus: “Certainly. The ancient gods of the Sinnoh region are not only powerful, but wise, and kind, and in Team Dimensional we are working to make close contact with them.”
Cato: “But, have you made that contact?”
Tempus: “We understand the great powers more every day. We certainly understand enough to see some glimmers of truth about your future.”
One of the teal-haired grunts steps forward.
Grunt 1: “I can tell your future: You will struggle to win Pokémon battles. You are not a strong trainer.”
Matilda steps up to challenge this: “Hey! Don’t insult my friend!”
The other grunt steps toward Matilda.
Grunt 2: “Your future contains obstacles that you cannot force your way through with brute strength. You must remember this.”
Matilda: “Huh? What are you talking about? There’s nothing we can’t do if we work hard! Right, [PLAYER]?”
At this, Tempus turns to look at you, the player. He regards you for a moment.
Tempus: “… You will face many, many challenges. It is unclear how–or if–you will overcome them.” Tempus returns to the spot where he was originally addressing the crowd. “You see? The future is laid out before us like the pages of a book, and we wish to share this gift with you!”
Matilda and Cato both turn toward you, and each other.
Matilda: “There’s no way that’s real. They’re making it all up, right?”
Cato: “I don’t know. I am a weak trainer…”
Matilda: “No way! You’re a great trainer! And what would their predictions really mean, anyway? They were so vague… What do you think, [PLAYER]?”
You can reply one of three ways: “It’s probably fake” “It could be real” or “I don’t know…”
No matter what you say, Cato will point out that there’s no point worrying about it. You all need to keep moving on your journeys. Matilda agrees, but warns you that there’s only water to the west of the city, so she’s heading north. She wants to get to the Eterna Gym as soon as possible! Cato plans to head to the Pokémon center, and then to Oreburgh city.
Once they have left you are free to go wherever you like. Maybe you’ll stock up on items at the store, or talk to those still gathered around Tempus and his Grunts. You can’t reach the three members of Team Dimensional, but those in the crowd will say things like,
“I’ve never heard of these guys before.”
“I want to know my future!”
“What cool outfits…”
“These guys should write the horoscopes.”
“Do you think I could join Team Dimensional?”
…and more.
However, once you’re through in Jubilife City, it’s time to head up Route 204 to Floaroma town.
…Or, you WOULD go to Floaroma town, but I have sort of burnt out on this project. Sort of. Stay tuned for more information! This isn’t the end of what I have to share for Pokémon future, but this is the last “story”-style post. I apologize if you were enjoying these!
Once you’ve made it through the Oreburgh Gate tunnel you arrive in Oreburgh city. This mining town is also the home of the first gym on your journey! Are you ready to take on the gym leader?
You run into Matilda just inside of town. She informs you that she’s already defeated the gym, and she recommends that you stock on antidotes before you challenge it yourself. However, you’ll have to go find the gym leader first. After being defeated by Matilda, the leader left the gym.
Matilda heads back toward Jubilife city, and you are left to explore Oreburgh. You can look around the local homes, the patch of grass on route 207, the Oreburgh mine, or the mining museum.
In the Orebrugh mine, workers are using both rock and poison type Pokémon to either chip away or burn through the rock. Some workers will say they find using acid on the walls much easier, while others will reminisce about the more traditional ways of mining. In the mining museum you will find a man with distinctive, teal hair talking to someone at the front desk.
When you get close enough, you can overhear the conversation. The scientist behind the desk is explaining that ancient Pokémon can only be revived using fossils. What this man has are not fossils, the scientist explains, but artifacts more generally. From what the scientist can tell they are artistic representations that predate Sinnoh as we think of it. Where did the man get it? This artifact would be greatly appreciated by any number of museums in the region–
The teal-haired man proclaims that if these well-regarded scientists cannot revive these Pokémon, he has no interest in working with them. He rushes from the building, just barely missing running headlong into a young girl.
The young girl steps up to the desk, and asks, “Is everything alright? I came as quick as I could.”
The scientist explains that the man didn’t end up being a threat, just strange. There’s no need for her to worry. Before leaving again, she stops to ask you if you noticed anything strange about that man. Whether you reply with yes or no, she thanks you, and says she’ll keep that in mind. She’ll also keep an eye out for him.
Now, if you return to the gym, the same young girl can be found talking to the man by the door. When you walk through the door, she looks your way.
“Oh!” she says, “You’re a gym challenger! Welcome! I’m Carmilla, Oreburgh’s gym leader. I’ll see you on the other side, if you’re able to defeat my friends. Good luck!” Carmilla hurries away to her spot at the back of the gym. If you talk to the man at the front of the gym, he will, of course, refer to you as the Champ to Be, and let you know that Carmilla specializes in poison type Pokémon. He also warns you that you’ll have a tough time if you’re using grass type Pokémon.
The Oreburgh gym has been refitted in sleek purple. The layout is largely similar to how the Oreburgh gym appeared in the past. However, instead of stairs, there are bouncy pads on each of the three levels (ground, first level, and Carmilla’s perch), which launch the player up to the next level, and slides down from each level, including one down the entire (screen) left side of the gym, down from Carmilla’s spot. To reach each of the two bounce pads, you’ll have to pass by two picnickers (one on each level). One picnicker, Susie, has a level 8 Stunky, and the other, Zelda, has two level 9 Zubats.
When you reach Carmilla, she greets you:
“You made it! I’m always excited to face new challengers! It looks like you don’t have any badges yet, so I’ll have to use my lowest-level team. Don’t let that fool you, we’re still strong!”
Carmilla’s team consists of a level 12 Stunky, a level 12 Budew, and a level 14 Zubat. Once you defeat them all, Carmilla is upset to have lost:
“Oh no! That’s my second loss in a row! If only I could have used my stronger Pokémon…” But, she’s also happy for you: “Great job! Being a gym leader is tough, but it means I get to meet cool trainers like you. Good luck with the rest of your gym challenge!”
For your victory, you are presented with the Venom Badge, and three TMs containing Venoshock. You can also now call on wild Pokémon to help you out by using the move Rock Smash. Congratulations! That’s one gym defeated, with seven more to go!
Now, if you’re done exploring, it’s time to move on. Unfortunately, you don’t have a bike, so you can’t get up the slope to reach the rest of Route 207, or Route 206, so it’s back to Jubilife city.
Matilda rushes her way down Route 201 to Sandgem Town, staying a few steps ahead of you. Cato, on the other hand, keeps pace with you for the short trip. Still, when you reach the edge of town Matilda is waiting for you so you can all enter the lab together!
Sandgem Town is small, much like Twinleaf Town, but the lab, the Pokémon center, and the Poké-mart make this beachside spot a point of interest in its own right. But today, you’re most interested in the lab.
Along with Matilda and Cato, you enter the lab to find Assistant Professor Larch hard at work. You wait a moment, but he still doesn’t look up. An old man steps up to the three of you, and speaks:
“Can I help you?”
You all jump and turn to face him, and Matilda pushes you forward. “Tell him what happened, [NAME]!”
You have two options: “We were attacked yesterday…” or, “We came to talk to Assistant Professor Larch…” No matter what you choose, the man replies:
“I see. I am Professor Rowan, it’s a pleasure to meet you. May I see your Pokémon?” Professor Rowan steps up to each of you in turn, and concludes that, “It looks like Lucas made the right decision. You’re all getting along quite well.”
Assistant Professor Larch finally leaves his desk to join you. “I thought so,” he tells you, and gives you the option to nickname your starter. Cato decides not to nickname his starter, but Matilda leaps at the chance (she nicknames her starter Buddy, no matter which one she chose).
Then, Assistant Professor Larch asks the three of you if you will help him with something: will you travel the region and collect data on every Pokémon you can find? New information emerges about Pokémon every day, and you can be part of that process by catching them all.
You all agree, of course, and receive Pokédexes for your journey. Professor Rowan notes that to explore a region with Pokémon as your companions and guides is a great adventure, and Assistant Professor Larch agrees. As you learn more about Pokémon, you will also learn more about yourself.
Rowan and Larch send you on your way, and you are released into the Sinnoh region with Matilda and Cato. Cato notes the Pokémon center and the shop, which are now genuinely useful to you as trainers. He gives a quick explanation of each, before Matilda interrupts with more information:
“Do you know how to catch Pokémon? My older brother taught me!” You can choose whether or not Matilda gives you a tutorial on catching Pokémon. If you say you don’t know how, she’ll give you the usual spiel. If you say you know already, she’s very impressed, and suggests that your mom probably taught you. She then gives you some Pokéballs, which note in their description that they can be used to catch weakened Pokémon in battle, just to be sure you’re not totally left in the dark.
As per your mom’s request, you head home, able to catch and battle Pokémon along the way. Matilda and Cato rush ahead (Matilda faster than Cato).
When you get home, your mom heals you up and gives you a map of the region. She wishes you luck, and reminds you that she’ll be rooting for you, and that you’re always welcome at home. When you head out, you find Cato’s dad at the edge of town. He tells you that he was trying to give a package to Cato, but Matilda dragged him away, insisting that you [the player] were probably already halfway to Jubilife city! Could you deliver the package to Cato when you reach Jubilife?
You have no choice but to take the package, which is put in your key items, and you’re off! Time to start exploring the region, and head for Jubilife city!
[Author’s note: Playing BDSP has me thinking about this project again! I had dreams of being very specific, and posting Kanto and Sinnoh posts back and forth, but I think instead I’ll focus on Sinnoh for now, and just write up what I can. I’d rather put this out there than obsess about particular qualities. Thanks for checking this out!]
