This damn plot extension is making my head spin in at least three major ways, and I haven’t even finished it yet. So much to talk about, so much to think about! Not going to bother listing the team at this point; you know who they are if you’ve been reading these. Let’s just talk about what’s happening…
- So, by the time I get to Petalburg, it seems that Zinnia has already swiped Wally’s Digivice. Matt from Team Aqua, for some reason, is trying to steal these things as well, but Zinnia got there first. Damnit, the crafty b!tch is already two steps ahead…
- Steven’s dad, the president of Devon, has a story for me. “Let me first take us back 3,000 years, to the days when this story began… There was a great war at that time, in a region far from here. That war was finally brought to an end by a weapon created by one man. And what energy source could power such a dreadful weapon? Do you know? You see… It ran on the life energy of Pokémon. The energy that could be gained by the sacrifice of so many Pokémon… There are surely many people who would call it reprehensible. But my grandfather, the president of Devon before me, said this… “Couldn’t we use the energy to improve the lives of people and Pokémon?” And so he developed our greatest creation here at the Devon Corporation: Infinity Energy. Thanks to Infinity Energy, Devon was able to become one of the top industries in Hoenn and developed into the giant you see today. You may be surprised to learn that the Devon Parts you once recovered for us were in fact parts of a motor that would make it possible to power a submarine using Infinity Energy. It was not long before we began to expand our attempts to further human development. Next, we moved into exploring space…”
WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT; back the HELL up there, Bill Gates. You mean to tell me that ALL OF DEVON’S TECHNOLOGY – the BASIC CORNERSTONE OF MODERN LIFE IN HOENN – is powered by the LIFE FORCE OF POKÉMON!? WHAT THE SWEET FLYING F#$% IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?
Where the HELL is N when you need him!?
Like, okay, I’m this pretty sure this is supposed to be an allegory for nuclear energy and I get that; I honestly do; I don’t know if I am 100% on board with the point you’re making but I do see its merits, but no, you are forgetting here: THOUSANDS OF POKÉMON DIED just to FUEL the Ultimate Weapon. It wasn’t even conceived as a weapon originally; it was supposed to be a resurrection device, but it SACRIFICED COUNTLESS LIVES IN ORDER TO RESTORE JUST ONE. HOW IS DEVON’S TECHNOLOGY POWERED? WHERE DOES THAT LIFE FORCE COME FROM AND WHY IS PRESIDENT STONE NOT TELLING ME? - I suppose if nothing else this may explain where the Digivices and Mega Stones in Hoenn are coming from, and why Steven is able to just give them away. Professor Sycamore believed that the original stones formed from evolutionary stones that were irradiated by the energy of the Ultimate Weapon when it was used three thousand years ago – so it’s possible that Devon can create these things artificially, like Team Aqua was trying to do.
- And yeah there was some stuff about meteors and saving the world but I wasn’t really paying attention by that point because SERIOUSLY WHAT THE F%$#
- Steven and his dad apparently need meteorite shards to save the world – I mean, I have a whole meteorite in my backpack that I still have no idea what to do with, but I’m sure as hell not giving it to these f#$%ers – so they send me to Granite Cave to collect a couple.
- When I arrive, Zinnia is already there, monologuing to herself. Apparently she is a descendant of the ancient civilisation responsible for the cave paintings, but is surprised to find such paintings here, because she knows them from elsewhere. She also claims to possess secret knowledge, derived from her ancestors, which will allow her to “protect the world… [from] the threat that will appear from space, as was long foretold… from a place higher even than the heavens.”
Sounds like she’s trying to stop this meteor too. And… needs Digivices to do it? After a battle, just for fun, in which Zinnia reveals herself to be an extremely powerful Dragon master, she hands over a meteorite shard – which prompts a flash of light from the meteorite already in my bag. Still don’t know what this is for, but apparently it’s giving Zinnia weird vibes. - “The actions that you’re taking now… are they based on ideals that you cling to, or are they based on actual truths? And if they are… how much of the truth do you think you know?”
I… at the moment, Zinnia, I really have no idea.
You may be a conniving little skank, and you’re giving me unpleasant flashbacks to the last wild teenage girl from an ancient and honourable culture who royally screwed over all my friends by stealing a bunch of magical orbs, but frankly I trust you and your mystic secrets way more than the company that’s using the souls of Pokémon to fuel the nation’s economy. And don’t think I didn’t notice that truth/ideals juxtaposition there, dragon lady. - Apparently Professor Cozmo’s plan to deal with this meteor problem is to use the life energy of both humans and Pokémon in a reaction similar to that involved in Mega Evolution to open a massive wormhole and just teleport the meteor… somewhere. He’s not exactly sure where it will go; he’s just confident that it won’t be our problem anymore. We’re just going to need a second, purer meteorite shard, from Meteor Falls. While he’s explaining all this, Zinnia bursts into the Mossdeep Space Centre to give everyone a stern talking to about repeating the mistakes of the past with the same “abominable technology” that caused such devastation three thousand years ago, and y’know what, yeah, I’m totally with her on this one, both for REASONS THAT SHOULD BE CLEAR TO EVERYBODY and because Cozmo’s plan is bound to backfire enormously; I’m just not certain how yet. He refers to the technology he means to use in this endeavour as a ‘Link Cable’ – as in, the gadget we used to use to connect two of the old Gameboy systems together for trades and battles back in the Dark Ages before wireless communication.
This gives me a sinking feeling that this wormhole is actually going to send the meteor to some alternate-universe Earth and cause untold destruction there – basically we’re just sending the damn thing to Omega Ruby so those poor schmucks can deal with it. - Heading for Meteor Falls with Steven, we get hold of a second meteorite shard… as well as some interesting information. Steven has been questioning an old woman, a member of an ancient tribe known as the Draconids (the name of a well-known meteor shower, as well as Ancient Greek for “children of the dragon”). These people worship Rayquaza as a deity, and claim that it has saved Hoenn from disaster several times throughout their history – both meteor impacts and Primal Reversion nonsense on the part of Groudon and Kyogre. In order to make this happen, a Draconid priest known as a Lorekeeper is supposed to pray in front of “a stone that shone with rainbow light,” which causes Rayquaza to take on a more powerful form.
Sounds like Mega Evolution to me, and Steven agrees. - The current Draconid Lorekeeper – surprise, surprise – is none other than Zinnia, who has been aware of the current threat for a long time and is willing to sacrifice anything to stop it. In fact, the entire Team Aqua plot was actually orchestrated by Zinnia (who, remember, had infiltrated them as a grunt) as part of a roundabout attempt to draw Rayquaza’s attention. I… have to question her logic here; if she was so sure Rayquaza would respond to the awakening of Primal Kyogre, then why doesn’t she trust it to show up for the meteor?
- Moreover, as Steven points out, letting Archie summon Kyogre like that was one hell of a risk for someone who knew exactly what Primal Reversion was capable of – and, I think to myself, it lends some disturbing perspective to Zinnia’s feelings on using Infinity Energy to stop the meteor. Zinnia was willing to risk drowning the world to stop this meteor, and the Draconid elder believes that she would gladly sacrifice her own life as well, but what Cozmo is planning, however it’s supposed to work, is apparently a step too far.
- Something else very important here: the Draconid elder’s story about Rayquaza features a wild Pokémon using Mega Evolution, with the help of a human whose position in the relationship is subservient. I mean, it’s a legendary Pokémon, sure, but the contrast with how Mega Evolution works in the modern world is still important – especially since this seems to be the first known use of that power (it’s unclear exactly how long ago Korinna’s ancestor and his Lucario first achieved Mega Evolution, but Groudon and Kyogre have probably been around much longer than Mega Evolution itself, and Hoenn’s claim to be “the birthplace of Mega Evolution” makes more sense in this light). You don’t need a typical trainer/Pokémon relationship to achieve Mega Evolution, and that has to change how we view it (I am so glad I didn’t try to write my Mega Evolution article before playing this game).
Pokémaniacal 