Video Game Blog 042: The Pokemon Binge Part 5

Here is the long-delayed fifth installment of my Pokémon Binge series! As mentioned in my previous posts, I’ve recently caught up on Pokémon after a lifetime of being behind. I’m not exaggerating. I played Silver when it first came out, but after that I became much more casual a Pokémon player and I found myself more and more behind with each new generation. Over the past few years I resolved to correct that problem and have played from Generation 4 all the way to Generation 9. Quarantine and working from home helped me find the time to do this, as did a series of surgeries over the past two years. As the most recent games (Scarlet and Violet) were released, I decided to do some posts covering my experience playing and feelings of the past two Generations.

If you want to catch up, here are the previous installments:

Video Game Blog 022: The Pokémon Binge Part 1: Sword

Video Game Blog 023: The Pokémon Binge Part 2: Shield

Video Game Blog 024: The Pokémon Binge Part 3: Isle of Armor & Crown Tundra

Video Game Blog 025: The Pokémon Binge Part 4: Scarlet

In addition, I discussed Pokémon Violet and Shining Pearl in my Year-End post, which you can find here. I didn’t end up doing full posts for them as I planned, but I gave both games a portion of that post.

So now, as I always intended, here is the final installment, where I talk about the two DLC packs for Scarlet/Violet and my thoughts and experiences on them.

Who’s that Pokémon?! (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

Like I mentioned in my previous posts, despite any technical problems with the games and setting aside nostalgia, Scarlet and Violet were among my favorites of the entire franchise. I loved the open world aspect, the vastness of the region, the new Pokémon, the huge variety of tasks and things to do… it was just a blast playing through it all. So it was natural that I would get the DLC and add as much gameplay to these installments as I possibly could.

With all that said, here, in brief, are the stories of the DLC packs. As always, spoilers follow, so use your own discretion. The DLC, as a whole, is called The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero and is told in two chapters and an amusing epilogue.

DLC Part 1 (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

The Teal Mask involves a field trip to the Kitakami region, a small countryside and village. The trip is supervised by Ms Briar, a teacher from Blueberry Academy, a sister school to the school from the main game. Once there, you meet two students from Blueberry who live in the village. There’s the overbearing bully Carmine and her little brother, the socially awkward and meek Kieran.

This is great. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

As the story unfolds, you unravel a mystery involving the Loyal Three, legendary Pokemon who battled an evil monster called Ogerpon. During a festival, you meet the tiny and skittish Ogerpon, who drops the Teal Mask, one of four magical masks, three of which are kept in the temple. Kieran is obsessed with Ogerpon, seeing it as a kindred spirit. He thinks the legends are wrong and Ogerpon is not the villain, just misunderstood.

Really silly legendaries. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

Later you discover that Kieran is right on in his assessment. The Loyal Three are actually three bully Pokémon who harassed Ogerpon and killed its trainer. To prevent them from wreaking havoc on the village, you have to hunt them down and battle them. The problem is that the villagers, thinking they’re legendary heroes, give them the mystical masks and herba mystica-infused mochi that makes them grow to enormous size.

After defeating the three bullies, Ogerpon chooses you as its trainer, something that very much upsets Kieran.

This was a great side quest. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

Aside from the story, there are a lot of other things to do. My favorite side quest involved a photographer named Perrin who tasks you with taking photos of Pokémon in a spooky swamp at night, trying to hunt down a rumored giant bear. (It turns out to be an Ursaluna, a Pokémon first used in Legends: Arceus.)

The overall story for the DLC pack was pretty good. I liked the rural country setting and the traditional themes. You can even don festival garb and a new hairstyle. What I found most interesting was the character development. While coming across as a jerk in the beginning, Carmine proved herself to be caring and dependable. And while he started off withdrawn and skittish, by the end Kieran inverted his personality, becoming bitter and angry.

DLC Part 2 (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

The Indigo Disk continues some of the story elements introduced in both the main game and in the first DLC pack. In this one, you become a transfer student to Blueberry Academy and become embroiled in school politics.

Lots of new faces. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

Kieran, after the events of the Teal Mask, has become bitter and aggressive in his need to become the strongest trainer. It’s all because he wants to rematch and beat your character. He’s gone from being a low tier trainer to being the Champion of the BB League, a ranking system devised by the students.

Ooo mysterious! (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

The crown jewel of the Blueberry Academy is the Terrarium, a massive indoor environment simulator made up of four distinct biomes and filled with wild Pokémon and trainers. The bulk of the DLC gameplay occurs here as you fight your way through the BB League, complete tasks called BBQs, and catch Pokémon to fill up a new Pokédex. Later in the game you can upgrade the Terrarium’s biomes to include new Pokémon, including each previous region’s starter Pokémon. BBQs are simple tasks that involve catching Pokémon, taking photos, traveling a certain distance, etc. The worst one was sneaking up on sleeping Pokémon… I could never get that to work right so I always had to pay to skip those tasks.

The Elite Trials were pretty fun. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

To reach the top of the BB League and rematch Kieran, you have to complete Elite Trials, which are different for each member of the Elite Four. In one you have to barter with other trainers to make the spiciest sandwich possible. That one was fun.

It’s really not as interesting as you think, lady. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

After whipping Kieran’s booty, you’re summoned by Ms Briar, who we met in Part One. See, she’s obsessed with Area Zero and has finally gotten permission to explore it and needs capable trainers to help her. Of course your party is made up of you, Carmine, and Kieran (who’s still being a whiny little brat.).

SQUEE! (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

After a disappointingly straightforward journey, you reach the lab from the end of the main game and find an elevator that— once activated by the titular Indigo Disk— travels to new depths of Area Zero. Once there you find a disk-shaped Pokémon that turns out to be Terapagos, the Pokémon you saw referenced in the texts of the main game.

Turtle, meet my lil’ Godzilla. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

As soon as he sees the little turtle, Kieran immediately whips out a Master Ball and catches it. (That surprised me. Where the hell did he get a Master Ball?) He challenges you to another rematch, but he still can’t beat you. Afterwards, Terapagos’s power goes crazy. You have to defeat and catch the little guy. Kieran has a change of heart and apologizes, asking if the two of you can start over as friends. (You’re not allowed to say no.) The end.

What happened to that Entei? (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

There’s a lot more to do, such as meeting up with Perrin and following her clues to find new Paradox Pokémon. You can invite your friends and teachers from Paldea to be temporary coaches at Blueberry. There is a quirky little dude in a suit who rewards you for completing BBQs by giving you bait for legendary Pokémon. (All of whom he knows personally and has little anecdotes about.) And lots more. Oh, and there is also a new Tera type called the Stellar Tera Type which powers up every type of move once per battle.

This guy’s lived an interesting life. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

I felt like this DLC pack added even more to the game than the first one. The Terrarium was a massive area and was fun to explore. The Elite Trials were entertaining and novel. The BBQs were repetitive and took too long, but I stuck with them to upgrade the biomes and complete the Pokédex. I felt like the ending was rushed and a little tacked on… there wasn’t enough new stuff to do in Area Zero, yet the DLC as a whole was named after it. (When I replayed this chapter on Violet I just dove into the pit in the center of the underground to get straight to the lab. I like to imagine my three companions were clinging onto Miraidon for dear life as we plummeted.) I would have liked to travel to the past and future, even just for a brief scene, but alas, that was not meant to be. I wanted to see where the Paradox Pokémon came from! I liked the new Paradox Pokémon, though, and Terapagos is a kickass little turtle. (Seriously, he’s weirdly strong.)

DLC Epilogue (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

Mochi Mayhem is an epilogue released as a nice endcap to the DLC. It continues some unresolved plot points from the first DLC and features the return of Carmine, Kieran, and your friends from the main game.

I have waaaay too many games on my Switch. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

Your school friends invite themselves over to your house and coincidentally at the same time, you get a letter and tickets to Kitakami from Kieran. His tone is weird and he hints that something’s wrong with his sister. Your friends all invite themselves along and before you know it, you’re back in the lush apple-filled fields of Kitakami.

That mochi looks good. I’d be a zombie for sure. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

Before long you notice something odd is going on. For one thing, Carmine is in a seemingly hypnotized state. All she will say is “mochi” and she marches in place and waves her arms like she’s doing the chicken dance. The problem comes from tainted mochi. As the story continues the entire village is taken over aside from you and Kieran… even your friends are mochi-fied. It turns out to be a mysterious new Pokémon called Pecharunt.

This guy likes his mochi. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

While it’s not explicitly stated in the story, you can gather that Pecharunt is the Pokémon that was controlling the Loyal Three, as they were all wearing chains the same color as its outer casing. If you go into the boss battle using any member of the Loyal Three, they start sweating and look scared. Also, if you battle it using Ogerpon, it is noticeably terrified of Pecharunt.

Freaky! (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

Anyway, defeating and catching Pecharunt ends the village’s nightmare and breaks the sinister Pokemon’s mochi thrall. Plus you have a new Mythical Pokémon, and you don’t get those every day! Everyone has a pleasant visit and then you and your schoolmates return to Paldea.

After this, there is an optional scene you can do at the mystical spring in the mountains of Kitakami, where you can meet the Professor and give them the Scarlet (or Violet) book, thereby creating a time paradox as you’re the reason they had it in the first place. Neat, huh?

My character’s expression is exactly the expression I made. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

I really liked Mochi Madness. The first time Carmine showed up and did her little mochi dance (with accompanying silly music) I laughed so hard I couldn’t play for awhile. (Seriously, look it up, it’s so ridiculous and perfect.) I appreciate that they took the time to add in an epilogue so we could see that Kieran really was back to his old self, and introduce your two friend groups to each other. It served as a nice ending to the entire game, not just the DLC. I do wish they’d done a bit more explaining about Pecharunt’s relation to the other legendaries, but I think it worked well as subtext.

GASP! (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

So that covers the DLC story and the gameplay. Hmm, wait… didn’t I mention something about new Pokédexes? Both packs added an additional Pokédex and many more Pokémon to collect. Since I had completed the Paldean Pokédex in Scarlet, I decided to also complete it for both DLC packs.

Yay for me! (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

I feel accomplished! Completing the three regional Pokédex was a lot more fun than I expected and it’s likely an undertaking I will continue with the next mainline games. (If you recall previous posts, this is something I have not done since Pokémon Emerald.) I did have some help, as one of my brothers traded me the Pokémon that evolve through trade and a friend raided with me to get one of the new Paradox Pokémon since those were 6-star raids. (The other one I soloed with Terapagos. Told you he was strong!)

The Pokédex that gave me the most trouble was the Blueberry one, since to complete that one you had to do a whole lot of the BBQs to expand the biomes. That took me a ridiculously long amount of time.

Lookit the little guy! (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

And that’s the DLC for the latest mainline installment of the Pokémon franchise! I really did enjoy the extra content and it added several hours of gameplay. (And distraction from the pain of my surgery recovery.) I do like that Pokémon has pivoted away from doing a third edition in favor of two half-priced DLC packs instead. I’m sure less obsessive fans will just get one, or skip the DLC altogether… but just as I get both main editions, I get both corresponding DLC packs as well. There’s no wrong way to enjoy video games, as long as you’re getting enjoyment out of them and letting others do so as well.

Perrin is great. (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)

I hope you liked this return to my Pokémon Binge series. As I mentioned at the top, this will be the final installment in this particular series. I’m certain that I’ll do more Pokémon posts later on, but they won’t be part of the Binge. I’m done bingeing and catching up and now I’ll just continue to enjoy the franchise. I intend to do a normal post for Pokémon Legends: Arceus and the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A. And someday I’m sure I’ll get around to doing a full overview post of my experiences with the franchise as a whole on the main blog. I love Pokémon so much and I do so enjoy talking about the things I love.

Thank you all so much for joining me on this adventure and continuing to read my posts. Keep your eyes on socials and the main blog for some big news that I’m about to drop. I appreciate you all and I’ll be back very soon with something completely different!

Bye-cha! (Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo)