Tag: Rood

White 2 Playthrough Journal, episode 23: Chasing shadows

We touch down outside the route 22 entrance to the cave network that leads into the Giant Chasm.  Jim, Hugh and I sneak inside and prepare for a surprise attack on the two Team Plasma guards within, but are cut short when a third grunt approaches to tell them that they’re being relieved – it’s time for everyone to gather in the crater forest.  The third grunt turns out to be our old friend, Rood’s spy.  In recognition of the minor service he has performed for us, Hugh refrains from crushing him like a bug, and actually seems almost apologetic.  I think he may have finally learned to distinguish between the two factions of Team Plasma; he even expresses a belief that justice for Rood’s group will never be possible as long as the loyalists’ actions continue to tarnish the name of Team Plasma.  The agent thanks him for his understanding, and regretfully explains that he must leave us, as he still has more to do.

The cave network is twisted and confusing, but small, and we easily find our way into the Giant Chasm.  As we step, blinking, back into the light and feel the still, frigid air on our faces, we see that Cheren was right about the frigate’s destination – the great ship has landed in the middle of the crater forest.  Many Team Plasma members are already outside, apparently standing guard near the cave exit.  To our surprise, Rood is there as well, standing opposite them with a couple of ex-Plasma grunts.  Rood seems to be trying to explain to them that Ghetsis is evil and has no interest in liberating Pokémon at all.  That’s… strange.  I thought everyone already knew that.  Some of the loyalists still believe that their real mission is to free Pokémon from human oppression?  I know that many of them have given up the pretence completely; these guys are either lying or deluded.  They refuse to believe anything Rood says, denouncing him as a traitor.  Hugh calls on Rood and his attendants to fight, asking them why they even have Pokémon with them if not to protect the things they value.  “Even if your precious Pokémon get hurt,” he exhorts them, “even if your ideals get damaged, the time to fight is NOW!”  Wait- hang on, Hugh, aren’t their ideals the things that they’d be fighting to protect?  And aren’t their ideals all about protecting Pokémon?  And, for that matter, aren’t their Pokémon the ones they originally stole and are now trying to earn forgiveness from?  And- oh, what the hell.  At least he’s learned to exercise a little discrimination in his rage-unleashing; there’ll be plenty of time to get him started on philosophy later.  His rallying cry seems to have worked, at any rate.  Rood and his allies call out their Pokémon and prepare to fight, sending the three of us on ahead to invade the frigate once more while he keeps his former friends occupied.  As we leave, he calls out to Hugh, telling him that the Purrloin he’s looking for is likely to be in the hands of the Shadow Triad.  His commitment renewed, Hugh charges off towards the ship, Jim and I following cautiously behind.

The entrance to the ship is unguarded, and we quickly gain entrance.  Jim and I almost immediately lose track of Hugh, who has begun another rage spree in his search for the Shadow Triad.  We find a warp panel that takes us into the lower levels of the ship, and are immediately confronted by another force field, this one controlled by a series of switches protected by a warp panel maze.  How the hell does anyone get anything done on this ship?  More to the point, who’s designing this stuff?  The Pokémon world’s security companies must be staffed entirely by ADHD schizophrenics.  Jim and I split up, and manage to fight our way through the handful of Team Plasma guards remaining on the ship to flip the four switches.  We meet up again at the deactivated force field and advance.  Directly in front of us is the huge machine we saw from the balcony above the last time we were here – the ship’s heart, with Kyurem waiting inside.  Zinzolin appears for one final gesture of futility.  I convince him that there’s no point in fighting; he can’t beat either of us alone, so he’ll certainly never have a chance against both of us together.  He gives us a strange piece of advice, “as long as you are dreaming, the dream will never reveal itself to you,” (either Zinzolin is still my superior in philosophy, or he’s spouting cryptic nonsense in order to confuse us – possibly both) and tells us that, although Kyurem’s prison is indestructible, we can go on to fight Team Plasma’s leader by taking the warp panel to our right.  With a resigned shrug, we ready ourselves to take on Ghetsis.  We remember the bastard from the original Black and White, and we aren’t about to be caught unawares.  Satisfied that our Pokémon are in order, we step onto the panel and find ourselves in a spacious control room at the ship’s prow.  Standing at the front, behind a desk packed with complicated-looking control panels, is-

Colress?

Ah hah!  I knew it!  Colress was really Ghetsis all along!  I- wait, no, that makes no f#$%ing sense.  Colress, why don’t you tell us what you’re doing here?

For Colress, all of this is, and has always been, about how Pokémon can become more powerful.  N believed that humans suppressed the true strength of Pokémon, and that only separating the world into black and white could ever allow Pokémon to achieve perfection.  N, of course, recanted his views after the events of Black and White, proving to Colress’ satisfaction that the way forward was for humans to bring out the true strength of Pokémon, but there was still a question to be answered: was this to be done through hard science or through emotion?  When Colress’ old friend Ghetsis asked him to help orchestrate Team Plasma’s new operations in Unova, Colress decided to take advantage of the whole thing to set up an experiment.  He designed all of Team Plasma’s new technology for Ghetsis, including the great flying frigate and its Nevermeltice cannon, along with a host of other devices, to try to bring out the power of Team Plasma’s Pokémon (particularly Kyurem).  Unlike Zinzolin, he has no particular desire to see human civilisation destroyed, but would consider it a reasonable sacrifice, if that’s what it will take to see the ultimate strength of Pokémon realised at last.  Meanwhile, he would encourage trainers like me and Jim to grow, work with our Pokémon, bring out their power through trust and love, and challenge Team Plasma.  The Team Plasma loyalists who still worked for Ghetsis made the perfect control group, since they were, almost without exception, appalling trainers with only the barest shreds of empathy.  We, it seems, have shown the potential of our approach at almost every turn.  Like a good scientist should always be, Colress is as happy to be proven wrong as right.  Our conflict with Team Plasma, he thinks, will decide the fate of the relationship between all Pokémon and humanity – Pokémon must always grow towards their true potential, whether the path is through Ghetsis’ cold technology or our empathy.  He just has one final experiment to run: one last battle.

While Jim and his Pokémon team engage Colress’ powerful Steel-types in battle, I attempt to take on Colress himself in debate.  I admit that I admire his dedication to the basic principles of science – his willingness to put his beliefs on the line and let his worldview be dictated only by hard evidence – but question how he can condone giving such power to a group like Team Plasma, effectively a terrorist organisation.  How could his experiment be worth risking our entire civilisation?  Colress replies that it was no risk at all.  Ghetsis and N’s actions two years ago have revealed that both the justice and the utility of our relationship with all Pokémon are in question, and the nature of that relationship pervades every aspect of our society.  If Team Plasma wins, if Pokémon truly can reach their potential more effectively through Ghetsis’ philosophies, then what authority is there left in civilisation?  What can we trust is not holding us back?  Better to take away everything, let our new relationship with Pokémon be decided from scratch, and to the victor go the spoils.  But, I challenge him, how can a contest of brute force be allowed to have such authority?  Colress chuckles at that.  Surely I know better, he asks.  Pokémon become more powerful as they grow, everyone knows that, but that’s hardly all there is to it.  As a Pokémon’s physical strength waxes, so do its self-awareness, its understanding of its own powers, its ambition and ability to plan, even its personal charisma.  This isn’t about Pokémon becoming better at battles – this, just as N always said, is about Pokémon becoming perfect beings.  I concede his point on principle, but remind him that the relationships between all of these factors are still very poorly understood, in spite of recent advances in the field, and that any sweeping conclusions must remain highly contentious, especially in the case of species which do not exhibit Pokémon evolution.  I suggest a complete survey of all relevant studies to date, with a thorough examination of the data and a critical review of all current methodological approaches.  Colress agrees enthusiastically, and offers to mail me a copy of his research notes and a detailed bibliography.  There’s totally a PhD thesis in this for me.  At this point, we are interrupted by a deafening metallic clang as Colress’ Magnezone crashes to the floor.  Colress claps his hands together excitedly.  Jim’s Pokémon, again, have proven far more powerful than his.  He congratulates us both on our strength and returns to his control panels.  Tapping a few buttons, he casually explains that he is unlocking the warp panel that will lead us to Ghetsis’ office, then sends us off with a jaunty wave.

White 2 Playthrough Journal, episode 12: Isms and Schisms

Driftveil City sprawls out before us as we reach the other end of the great drawbridge.  Unlike Castelia City and Nimbasa City, this place has changed a great deal in the last two years – in fact, it’s barely recognisable.  Great swathes of residential space have been converted to commercial use, filled with innumerable hotels that, in true Driftveil style, do not reach for the skies but plunge deep into the rock.  The whole city is a tourist town now, and a very profitable one by the looks of it.  Probably the work of Clay, the ‘Miner King,’ Driftveil’s shrewd Gym Leader and, I quietly suspect, mob boss.  The old industrial zone, the Cold Storage, is gone too, replaced by… something, looks exciting, lots of tourists, but we don’t have time to look at it now; something is happening.  There’s a Team Plasma member at the entrance to Driftveil City… along with another man wearing one of the old grey hooded Team Plasma uniforms from two years ago.  The two men are having an argument about something – the one in the old uniform is trying to convince the other man to leave Team Plasma, while his friend seems to be complaining that he’s not cool anymore and that he used to love stealing Pokémon, but they never talk now and he’s gotten so distant, always going on about whether things are ‘right’ or ‘ethical,’ or wondering what Lord N would think, and damnit, N doesn’t care about you; what about us, doesn’t that even matter to you anymore?

…he seemed to say.

Normally we would figure this is none of our business, but they’re blocking the main bridge into downtown Driftveil City with their little drama, and Jim is on the verge of approaching to ask what’s going on.  He doesn’t get the chance because Hugh comes screaming out of nowhere, tackles the fellow in the black uniform, and starts demanding answers about his sister’s Purrloin.  Jim quietly releases Ulfric and gestures to him to get ready to restrain Hugh with a Vine Whip.  The Team Plasma grunt says he’s supposed to avoid trouble, waves to his friend (no doubt stifling a flood of tears) and runs, with Hugh in hot pursuit.  Jim and I look at each other and I shrug helplessly, pointing after them.  Jim and Ulfric give chase, leaving me with the man in the old grey uniform.  I learn, through some brief questioning, that Team Plasma is not the unified organisation it once was.  There has been a schism between the followers of N, who want to help Pokémon, and the followers of Ghetsis, who want to take over the world.  I can see how those two policies might not mesh perfectly.  I am invited to meet the splinter group at their base in Driftveil City and hear about their beliefs, an offer I hesitantly accept.  They’re probably not like those door-to-door evangelicals who wake you up early on weekends but you never e know.  I follow the ex-Plasma to his group’s building on a hill overlooking the city, where he introduces me to their leader: Rood.  In Black and White, Rood was one of the Seven Sages, the group of wise men assembled by Ghetsis to help him take over the world – except that most of them didn’t know that this is what they were doing.  After a quick Pokémon battle to test my worth, Rood decides that I am trustworthy and allows me into his sanctum to tell me more.  He explains apologetically that his group are often targets of hatred and retribution for their former actions as part of Team Plasma, and they need to be careful about who they talk to.  As he speaks, I hear another voice from outside, shouting something about “Team Plasma lowlifes!”

Why, speak of the devil…

Another ex-Plasma member leads in a very curious train of guests.  In the lead is Hugh, who is screaming blue murder as he struggles with the thick, tough vines wrapped around his body, trying to grab for his Pokéballs and demanding the return of Purrloin.  Behind him is Ulfric, Jim’s Servine, who is supplying the vines.  Ulfric is clearly annoyed, but is having little difficulty keeping Hugh restrained, being much stronger than a human adolescent.  Bringing up the rear, Jim is walking several paces behind Ulfric, one hand covering his face, trying to pretend that he doesn’t know Hugh.  The ex-Plasma quietly tells Rood that he found the three of them in the middle of Driftveil City, where Hugh tried to attack him, and Jim had requested help dealing with the lunatic.  Rood asks me whether I know them.  My mortified hesitation is all the answer he needs.  Rood calmly walks up to Hugh, waits for him to get tired of shouting, and gestures to Ulfric to release him.  Ulfric looks uncertainly at Jim, who shrugs.  Once Hugh is free, Rood asks him what he’s so angry about.  Hugh breathlessly repeats his story about his sister’s stolen Purrloin.  Rood shakes his head sadly, apologising on behalf of his whole group for their part in Team Plasma’s operations, but regretfully explains that there are no Purrloin in their base.  The Pokémon in question is probably still in the possession of one of Ghetsis’s loyalists.  Hugh very nearly explodes again, raising his voice as he demands to know what good an apology does him.  Ulfric tenses and prepares for another Vine Whip.  Hugh settles down, though, turning away from Rood and telling us that he’ll be in the Driftveil Gym before leaving under a dark cloud.

These guys are interesting.

My biggest complaint – perhaps my only major complaint – about the plot of Black and White was that it underutilised the ambiguity inherent in the main conflict with Team Plasma.  What they are fighting for (or, rather, what Ghetsis claims to be fighting for) is not, on the face of it, a bad thing.  Many of the people who attend Ghetsis’s rallies, even including a Gym Leader, Burgh, admit that he has a point.  The actual Team Plasma members themselves, though, are not nearly so admirable when you meet them and speak to them.  They are, almost without exception, a bunch of zealots with little sympathy for the unfortunate trainers they seek to separate from their Pokémon.  Many of them, in fact, seem to enjoy it, and are working with Team Plasma more because they like having an excuse to commit crimes than because they actually believe in what N is trying to do.  This, I felt, blunts the effectiveness of the ambiguity which makes the plot interesting.  These guys – the splinter group led by Rood – are exactly what was missing from the first games, the members of Team Plasma who are genuinely good people, manipulated by Ghetsis into doing terrible things in the name of Pokémon liberation.  They’re now caring for the Pokémon they once stole in an attempt to atone for their crimes, and honestly their story is what really grabs me about the new games so far.  I want to know what happens to them!  Heck, I want to help them, because even if they did dreadful things they were at least doing them for noble reasons!  Ghetsis fooled a lot of people – even his six fellow Sages, who were supposedly chosen for their intelligence and their… well, sagacity.  Now his ex-minions have no idea what to do.  Theoretically they still follow N, the ‘child of the Pokémon,’ and try to emulate his teachings; in fact they seem to view him almost as a sort of messianic figure – and why not?  He was wise, and kind, and for goodness’ sake the guy could talk to Pokémon!  He’s buggered off to heaven knows where with Reshiram, though.  We meet his handmaidens, Anthea and Concordia, in Rood’s base.  They give us a little more of N’s backstory – all three of them were orphans taken in by Ghetsis, who groomed N to be the King of Team Plasma and the girls to care for him (because, let’s face it, he’s nice but the guy’s a little short on general life skills).  Despite their relationship with N, though, they can’t provide any direction.  They’re not leaders.  They just kinda hang out in the basement and help take care of the Pokémon.  Basically, this group has been ditched by its one unifying figure and left with no purpose in life but to fix its own horrendous mistakes, while enduring the shouts and attacks of lunatics like Hugh, and I cannot help but feel for them.

As we leave, Rood apologises once again that he can’t offer us any help – in fact, he has a favour to ask.  He needs to find a trainer for one of the Pokémon in their care – one of N’s childhood friends, a Zorua.  I glance at Jim with a look of “well?”  He agrees to take it and thanks Rood, deciding immediately to add Zorua to his team (with no nickname, sadly, since N counts as its ‘original trainer’).  With a new Pokémon in tow, we depart to prepare for our next Gym battle – against Driftveil’s conniving master, the mining tycoon Clay.