Starlight: Redshift

by the-pieman


Chapter 65

We walk into the first floor of a large tower and see a bunch of screen panels, with an Eastern theme to it all. I step forward into the first room, a small one with a single panel painted blue, and a quick test reveals it’s a door that slides, locking into place with a click on the other side, with just enough sticking out that I can pull it back, by lifting a little lever to unlock it each time. A quick check of the other side reveals there’s no lever or latch there.

“Oh, it’s a door puzzle.” I say to the girls. “You go in a door and it locks behind you and you have to find the end.”

“So it’s like a labyrinth?” Twilight asks worriedly.

“Nope, worse, you can’t immediately see where each way goes.” Twilight takes a careful step inside. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad.”

“Well, you haven’t had horrible things happen to you while stuck in a hedge maze...” She grumbles.

“You got to laugh at my fears, now I get to laugh at yours. Fair’s fair.” I say, sticking out my tongue. Twilight sighs and bristles a bit, but doesn’t argue. Rarity pulls out her éTech, and pulls up her drawing program, and sketches the first area and the door. Good thinking on her part. “See? we’ll have a map of the place. We’ll figure this out in no time, just as long as we stick together.”

The words ‘stick together’ seems to make Twilight cringe a bit for some reason, but we keep moving. With Rarity drawing out our map, we continue on through the first door.

Once the first door closes, Rarity makes the required notes and I see that there’s several more passages branching off, though several are dead ends, one of them painted green. Hmm, the entrance-side of the first door was blue... this must be another door.

“And if it’s going by the temperature scale like I figure, blue coming before green, the next door we want is yellow, then orange, and getting closer to the color red as it goes.”

Twilight nods at my deduction but pauses. “But what if that’s what they want us to think and it’s intentionally not the right way?”

I ponder that assumption and she’s right. “If they knew we knew about that sort of code then they likely would avoid using any kind of code to make it difficult.”

“Or they could simply be indicators for something else, such as the type of challenge on the other side.” Rarity points out. “Or so that you can tell if it’s a door you’ve come across before, if you didn’t think to map this out.”

“True, I doubt many trainers are used to puzzles like we are, it could be that and the color code means nothing. I mean, this is the first puzzle so it’s not supposed to be that hard.”

We all continue to think on the second puzzle of ‘how much do they expect us to know before coming in, and what have they planned for?’ Eventually Twilight comes up with a compromise. “We take the green door and if there’s a yellow door through that we’ll take it anyway and see where it leads. If that’s not the trick, then we’ll know then. The worst possible outcome is they send us back to the beginning which is already right behind us, right?”

I nod, and Rarity follows suit after thinking on her idea. “Alright then, green it is. if it’s wrong we can just try one of these other passages.”

With that, I open up the green door and we all walk inside and take a look around, searching for the assumed yellow door.

A few twists and turns later, we come to a ‘dead end’ with a blue door on it. Hmm... well, there goes the ‘code’ idea. Maybe it’ll show up later.

“So Rarity, how many turns did we take exactly? Where are we facing in relation to the entrance?” This can’t be the blue door we saw before, but... “If we ended up going backwards, then maybe the doors change color the closer you are to the exit and blue is the color of the farthest section?”

“Mmmm... actually, I think we’re facing the same direction as we started, but I’m not sure how far we are. I haven’t been measuring; on reflection, I wish I had my tape measurers so I could have been.”

“Yeah, that would be helpful.” Twilight sighs. “But no matter, we have only one door ahead of us and, assuming Anthony’s new theory is wrong, maybe we should take the blue door since the last time we saw a blue door it was the right way to go.”

I’m about to protest but she’s right. Blue seems to get us places, while green gives us more than one option... wait a second... “We went through a Blue door and it only gave us one option. When we went through the green door, it was right after the blue door, and it led us here. Maybe the trick to this door puzzle is to take fewer doors. What if we were supposed to go down the passages by the green door?”

“I’m not sure Anthony, that might be a bit too confusing for the first puzzle, you know? It is supposed to be easy... relatively speaking.”

I sigh again, Twilight being right once more. “Okay, let’s try it.” Twilight opens the door, sliding it to the left as opposed to the last blue door which slid right. I ponder if that means anything as well, but we’re already through. As soon as we pick another door, this one will lock behind us.

We walk along, and eventually find another green door, but in a separate corridor, is a yellow door. There’s also a couple other passageways that’re cut short by dead ends with no paint.

“So... green or yellow?” Twilight picks green while Rarity picks yellow. I’m too unsure to pick one over the other.

Twilight argues with “Well, last time we picked a green door it took us through a passage, which seems to be the goal.”

Rarity retorts with “But we’ve already seen both blue and green doors. It’s likely we’re supposed to pick what we aren’t familiar with, because that’s the nature of a maze: sending one through unfamiliar territory.”

Hearing both arguments I finally decide to go with Rarity on this one. “She has a point, mazes are supposed to keep you lost all the way until the end. Sticking with what you know isn’t going to help you find the end. And think about it, the last door was blue and now we’re presented with a green door just like last time, but the last green door put us going backwards according to the map of turns we’ve made.”

I open the yellow door and Rarity follows, Twilight taking a last look at the green door before following along.

We walk through the corridor behind it, until we come to a dead end, no door. Twilight swells with pride, but doesn’t say anything, choosing instead to smirk knowingly.

“Alright, alright, we go back and take the green door. Maybe that’s the pattern: blue, green, blue, green.” Backtracking we come to the yellow door we entered a moment ago and slide it open and walking through the green one. At least there wasn’t a door to pick to lock the yellow one.

We go along, until we make two more turns, and find another dead end, with a purple door in the wall, already open. That’s... weird, especially since it’s still a dead-end, even with the door open.

“So... what does an open purple door mean?” Twilight shrugs, unsure. “Fine, well it’s all we got since now we know Yellow was a bust and the door back has locked at this point.”

“Doesn’t that mean that we’re stuck if we can’t go back through the blue door?”

“Wait...” Rarity says, confusedly. “How do we know it closes doors behind us?”

Twilight shrugs pointing at me. “Anthony said that.”

I raise my hands in defense. “Hey, that’s how most door puzzles go. The other kind is one that changes corridors, making and removing dead ends as you open and close doors, but that’s a little confusing for a first level puzzle, right?”

Rarity huffs. “Well either you’ve been wrong this whole time, or you’ve gotten us trapped, one or the other.”

“I never said I had all the answers, I’m just throwing out ideas like everyone else. If we aren’t trapped then for all we know the yellow door is the right way to go and closing this purple one opens the way.”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Twilight recites, so I slide the purple door closed and we head back to the yellow door which... opens, proving that I was wrong. “Sue me, I’m just trying to figure this stuff out.”

“Badly” Twilight mumbles.

“I’m not afraid to kick-” I pause when Rarity waves a hand in between the two of us, then points down the hall beyond the yellow door.

“Dears, not to disrupt your lovely argument, but there’s no dead-end at the end of the Yellow hallways anymore.” she points out, and Twilight and I both look. Sure enough, there’s now a corner several feet further than previous end of the hall, that leads off to the side. The edge of a purple door is visible in the wall, though it’s not painted on this side.

“So what does that mean, if you’re so smart?” I ask, pointedly at Twilight. “Seriously, if you think I’m just shooting crap, what’s your brilliant plan to get us through?”

“Well since we’ve made progress, how about checking out that purple door and see where it goes? As long as the corners aren’t making us face the entrance’s direction, we’re making progress since the end can’t be on the same side as the entrance.. Otherwise the building would be shaped very differently.”

She begins to lead us off, and we head along the way, following a long, circuitous route, until we come to a chamber like the entrance, except it has a staircase leading up and a door labeled ‘EXIT’. There’s also an electric board, with the words ‘0/1 Hidden Items Found. Floor Grade = 0%, Tower Grade = 0%’’ flashing on it.

The girls and I look amongst each other, Twilight’s sense of accomplishment deflating the second she sees the number ‘zero’ after the word ‘grade’. “Hey uh, maybe we should go back... that item could be useful...”

I glare at Twilight. “Uh, yeah, I don’t think so.”

“But... look, it says we aren’t done yet!”

“We were at the entrance, and that door says ‘exit’. That means we’ve found the end, Twilight.”

She rolls her eyes. “And I’m sure that explains your less than stellar view on education.”

“I only got kicked out of my first high school because the teachers hated me!” I growl. “You know what, fine! Rarity, give Twi the map. She can find the item on her own time. We’ll stay here and wait for her to come back. Deal?”

Twilight looks stricken at the suggestion, and she doesn’t accept the map when it’s offered.

“Or she can go without the map, if the teacher’s pet thinks it’s ‘cheating’ or whatever. Seriously, it’s your choice: We go up now and move onto the next puzzle, or you can save your precious, meaningless ‘100%’ grade.”

Twilight whimpers, then shakes her head. “N-no, we’ll just do better on the next floor.” she says.

“Damn right we will.” I grumble, at least somewhat glad that Twi is starting to kick her addiction to A’s. Rarity is giving her concerned looks, but she’s probably just making sure Twilight doesn’t freak out over the grade.

The next floor is nothing like the last one. Well, it’s at least different in theme. The last floor was more classic eastern with paper walls and such. This is more... well, I’m sure there’s illusions involved, because it’s a series of stepping stones over ‘lava’, and each one has a picture of a pokémon on it.

“Oh, I know this kind of puzzle!” I say excitedly. I get some raised eyebrows in response. “For real this time. I’ve seen this kind of puzzle before. We hop across the right stones and get to the end. If we step on the wrong stones they’ll sink into the lava.”

“And how do we determine which stones are the right ones, exactly?” Twilight says, the other eyebrow rising.

“Simple.” I say, grinning. “Just figure out what the difference between the pokémon on the stones is. We step on the right kind of pokémon and we’ll be through this one in no time.”

“And you’re sure this time?”

“Yes I’m sure. We just have to figure out the similarities and differences of each pokémon and figure out which trail to follow.” I shrug. “Or you could just disregard my solution and just run across the room and hope you don’t fall into the lava.”

Twilight is about to retort but pauses. “Fine, but Rarity decides which ones to step on.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. So, let’s figure out the differences of the first stones.”

The first three stones are a Vulpix, a Flareon, and a Glaceon. Each set of stones in a given row is a set of three, so this should be relatively easy.

“Alright.” I say. “Before we can figure out which are the right ones, we need to figure out which ones do what.” With that I leap onto the nearest stone, which was the Flareon.

The second both feet plant themselves on the stone, a faint rumble fills the room, and out of the corner of my eye, I see more lava pour from a hole in the wall, into the lava below. It pours for several seconds out of many holes, and I see the level of the lava below rise, along with the temperature. I’d say, at a guess, it raised about two inches, and there’s only about eight more inches until the top, when the pouring stops.

“Okay, now we know Flareon is the wrong one!” I say proudly while the girls look nervously at the lava. “Come on, we still have a few more to test. Who’s next?”

The girls stare at me like I’m insane. Which I am but I also know what I’m doing so it’s not severe insanity.

“Fine then.” I jump to the Glaceon, figuring I’d test the Eeveelutions first. That will help narrow down one similarity at least. I make my hop over and land on the Glaceon tile. I wait... but there’s no rumble.

The girls stare at me incredulously. I grin heroically. “Now, Flareon and Glaceon have plenty in common, and usually at the start of these puzzles, only one of them is the right one, which means we have to figure out the difference the Glaceon has that isn’t shared by both Vulpix and Flareon.”

“And if you’re wrong, we fall into the lava.” Rarity points out.

“Yeah, but apparently Glaceon is the right one. Now, Flareon is wrong but Glaceon is right, so it can’t be relation to Eevee. It can’t be how they walk since all three are quadrupeds. The difference I see is...” I trail off to let the girls make their own conclusion.

“Well... Uh...” Twilight mumbles, reminding me she doesn’t know what a Vulpix is yet.

“Glaceon isn’t a Fire type?” Rarity guesses, and I clap.

“Right you are. So we just follow the ones that aren’t fire types and we’ll be over there before you know it!” With that I study the next set of tiles.

The next three are easy; Arcanine, Litwick, and Sneasel. I step to Sneasel, and look over the next trio; Charmander, some sort of bee-looking pokémon with lances that I don’t recognize, and a Rotom in a Fridge.

Not sure about the odd, not-a-Beedrill Bug thing, I skip over it and leap to the Rotom, again, the stillness of the room approving my selection. I continue hopping across correctly-guessed platforms until I notice that the girls aren’t following. “Come on, it’s no trouble at all! Just jump where I’m jumping!”

The next tiles I see are a Bellsprout, a Houndoom, and a Snover. Not a fire type, and Bellsprout has yet to prove me wrong. They’ve mostly been Ice types up until now, and now would be the chance for them to switch things up. Ice is weak to fire, as is grass, and if Ice is safe Grass must be fine too. “Get a move on, this is noth- Agh!”

I touch down on the Bellsprout pillar, but it starts shaking underneath me and I note the lava is getting deeper as the pillar catches on fire!

I leap for the next pillar over which is the Houndoom. The room rumbles again and the lava level rises another few inches, and I watch as the Bellsprout platform sinks down into the lava despite the level stopping a few inches below where the pillar was, meaning grass (and potentially Bug types) are not only bad, but very bad.

The girls stop yelling, looking at me worriedly as I hop to the Snover to safety.

“N- no problem!” I yell. “Just stick to ice-types only!”

I look around the room and note that I’m about halfway. I have to consult the éTech a few times to determine which is an ice-type, but I make it the rest of the way just fine, until about six more layers on. There’s nearly twenty sets of stones until the door, but I’m about two thirds of the way there.

“See!? Nothing to it!”

Rarity and Twilight stare at me then at each other.

I look at the next three stones. There’s one of the those big tree things that punch stuff, an Abomasnow, and pokémon that looks like a mountain erupting.

I scan the mountainous pokémon out of curiosity, but the éTech chirrups a bit and a notice requiring an international upgrade flashes across the screen. Damn, I’ll have to go off guesses from here. Well, I know what an Abomasnow is, and it’s an ice type so... With a nervous leap I land on the Abomasnow platform and... it begins to sink like before. Agh! He counts as Grass type! I leap over to the mountainous pokémon out of instinct of the unknown and watch as Abomasnow falls into the lava. Breathing heavily at the close call I stand up, now a bit less sure about my chances, and the girls still aren’t going.

Next set of tiles are... Castform in its natural state, Typhlosion, and what sorta looks like Groudon, but spikier. Castform and Groudon aren’t fire types, but Castform can be a fire-type, so maybe that one’s the bad one.

That said, Castform can also be an Ice type and I’m pretty sure that Groudon-looking thing isn’t a good choice so I decide to go with Castform. The lava raises, leaving me with only a few more screw-ups, but at least it didn’t fall in.

The next trio that gives me trouble is Magcargo, Magby, and Vanillite, not because I can’t figure it out, but because the previous trio was Dewgong, Venusaur, Ho-Oh, and it’s a long jump to the Vanillite tile.

I make a huge leap to the Vanillite pillar, but it seems I misjudged the distance and only get most of my body onto the platform, leaving a foot to be just a few centimeters away from the lava and my other leg got scraped on my landing.

The girls shriek and I give a bit of a whimper but thankfully the ‘lava’ is just really really warm. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s extremely uncomfortable, so not enough to scar me or anything... But I definitely know I don’t want to actually fall in, as it feels like I’m above a pot of water boiling on a stove. I stand up, having to lean on my scraped leg as it hurts less, but I wave to the girls telling them I’m okay. Mostly. I look ahead at the next set, expecting it to be an even larger leap or some other no-win situation.

Avalugg, Spheal, and Weavile. Well, I guess after the last, a break would be a good idea, given that I’m pretty sure this is meant for kids to be trying, not grown adults. Anyways, I gratefully take the freebie and look ahead, noting that I’m not really doing too bad. The exit is a lot closer than the entrance now.

Next trio is... actually a duo. In fact, the last six are all duos, with the middle missing. Meaning these are freebies so I can make my decision of which path to take now, not later. The duo is what looks like a flaming Weepinbel, clearly not the pokémon to choose, the other being a Beartic.

Clever... but I suppose as long as the first one I jump to is safe I might be able to leap across six of these platforms and get by even if they’re wrong, as long as they don’t fall in. Well, given the current level of the lava, it’s more like I’m allowed two fuck-ups but if I move fast, it may not really matter, right?

I choose the Beartic and look ahead of me, the next and only feasibly available pillar showing a Lampent, and the next after being a spider-looking pokémon that looks like it’s made of bars, with some kind of gas or something inside its hollow abdomen. The picture’s not the best, and not in color, so it’s hard to tell, and the éTech can’t see that far with the waves of heat coming off the lava below.

May the spirit of Leeroy Jenkins guide me to victory. And chicken.

With a deep breath I take a running leap at the Lampent and, barely stopping, just close my eyes as my feet spring me onto the spider-thing. I feel two rumbles and immediately leap to the next one ahead. I’m not even looking at the tiles but as I jump I can feel the lava rising.

Eventually, I make it to the other end, though by the time I do the pillars are just barely showing above the lava and I’m pretty out of breath... but I made it at least. I figure I’ll give my legs some time to rest and half-crawl to the exit staircase and look at my score.

‘Secret Item Code? _ _ _ _ _’
‘Bad Tile Hits: 4
Floor Grade: 85%
Tower Grade: 42.5%’

I pump my fist in the air and shout to the girls “85! I got a B! That’s passing!”

Twilight looks, again, a bit pensive at my lower expectations of ‘passing’ but she nods and prepares to take her turn, the lava having receded once I’d moved to the exit. She gives the room a look of concentration before making her leaps. She’s a bit more hesitant than I am, but she does make fewer mistakes. After scrambling quite a bit with the long jump like I did, she doesn’t have any problems until she comes to the no-win tiles and fumbles, but manages. She sighs once reaching the exit and looks at her score.

‘Secret Item Code? _ _ _ _ _’
‘Bad Tile Hits: 2
Floor Grade: 90%
Tower Grade: 45%’

“Ninety.” I say, patting Twilight on the back. “You just have to get an A, don’t you.” She rolls her eyes and we watch as Rarity begins her turn.

Rarity looks over the first three panels, and begins to make her move, skipping athletically from panel to panel, barely pausing to look at them, moving gracefully and flawlessly, until she approaches the halfway point, with the no-win row. There, she stops, and scrunches up her face in consternation. After a few seconds, she starts looking around, probably for a way to skip the row. She stops when she sees something right above her, brows furrowing as she pulls out a pokéball, sending out Glorious, speaking to it for a moment before the sword pokémon sheathes itself, and lays flat, Rarity sitting primly on the ghost-type and letting it raise her high enough to see something she writes down, before looking down, shrugging, and simply having Glorious ferry her past the no-win row and hopping off, moving once more gracefully to the exit.

Not a single time did the lava pour, and not a single column sunk. She steps up to the score screen and enters a series of letters and numbers, and a carry-capsule pops out, as she smiles at Twilight and I.

‘Secret Item Code? X2JG7’
‘Bad Tile Hits: 0
Floor Grade: 120%
Tower Grade: 60%’

I stare at Rarity and at her score, switching between the two and I notice my mouth is hanging open. Rarity just smiles happily as she takes the item. Holy shit. Really, I mean holy shit! “How the hell did you...?”

“Well, the tower rules only say ‘no pokémon battling’ outside designated areas, darling.” she says, and begins to head up the stairs.

I smack my forehead. “I could have had Geistowl carry me across most of this thing!”

Twilight nods and, recalling her ‘A’ scoring, just shrugs and stays happy with what she got. “But it could’ve gone so much better.” Twi and I just decide to cut our losses and follow behind Rarity onto the next puzzle. This time I’ll be aware of who I brought with me.

We step to the next floor, and see Rarity looking concerned, and we all get a look at what’s ahead. A single, straight path, with a computer screen on the door ahead of us, displaying a string of words. There’s no other ways through, and the door looks like it’s reinforced.

<Catch me, and a pearl
has a chance of being yours
no stone required.
*
Who am I?>

“I’ve never been good with riddles...” Twilight admits in a disappointed tone. I have to agree, but after Rarity’s display I need to come up with something.

“It looks like we can just head to the exit if we answer this.” Rarity points out. “But I have a feeling even a wrong answer will get us through but with a lower score.”

“Yeah.” I agree. “A sort of ‘At least you tried’ award of points. It doesn’t give us much to go on though, barely any hints or anything.”

Stepping closer, I see that the screen is just a simple black-and-green setup that’s easy on the eyes, and has a keyboard. As well, there is a button that says ‘Hint?’, though I don’t trust that question mark on the end.

“Wait...” Twilight says, trailing off for a moment. “It says ‘Catch’ and ‘Who am I’ not ‘What am I’; that means it must be a pokémon, right?”

“Yeah... yeah you’re right. Though the only pokémon I know that have pearls, the item, in the wild are Shellder, Cloyster, and Clamperl. And it says ‘no stone required’. That means that you wouldn’t need a stone to get it, and the only way to get a Cloyster in captivity is to use a Water Stone, but not if you catch one wild. Then it’s a Cloyster!” I run my fingers the terminal and type in Cloyster and hit the Enter key.

The computer changes its text to nothing but a large checkmark, and the door gives a hiss, then opens, revealing... another door and computer. Crap.

Still, I got that one right on the first try. I thump my chest in success and grin at the girls. “Aw yeah, like a boss!” With that I walk up to the next terminal as the girls sigh and follow behind me.

<With Suction Cups, I grip the floor,
I hold out against waves and waves,
My prey think I ignore
The sea was once my home, but it is no longer.
**
Who am I?>

I roll my eyes. “Easy, it implies the pokémon is ancient and it’s one with the Suction Cups ability. It’s either Cradily or Lileep.” I say, knowingly. “And Cradily are a lot more active than Lileep, and if prey thinks it ignores that means that it stays still. It’s Lileep for sure.”

Smirking, I put in the answer, get another check, and step through. Another door, another riddle.

<Tallest of two
Body in blue
Can’t breed together
Can fight together
**
Who am I?>

Okay, this one is a bit confusing. Body in blue, tallest of two. Wait, it’s blue and the biggest of a pair. What two can’t breed but are known to fight? Groudon and Kyogre. Groudon may be heavier, but Kyogre is much bigger in scale.

“Kyogre.” I say as I type it in and enter it in.

The screen flashes an X in red.

“What?” I think that’s right... no, wait... fight together not with each other, and they can’t breed together. Well, I can’t really remember if they can breed or not. Can they? I always assumed they could... No, Plusle and Minun both have the Fairy Egg group, it’s not Minun. They’re also the same size...

What pair can’t breed, has a taller blue member, but can’t breed?

“Hmm... well... wait.”

“Ugh, would you just pick already?”

“Look, I’m going through these as smart as I can. I mean, it’s not like you know more pokémon species than I do.”

Twilight sighs and resigns.

Rarity sighs as well but in exasperation. “I swear, you two fight like a pair of angry siblings sometimes.”

“Yeah well at least I-” Click. “Rarity, you’re a genius!” I give Rarity a big hug and enter “Latios” into the terminal.

Another red X and my grin falls.

“What the fuck!? Latios and Latias can’t breed, they’re practically built to be a pair, and Latios is blue and bigger! This is bullshit!”

“Calm down Anthony, just keep thinking.”

“Fine... Hmm... let’s see...” I hear Twilight open her mouth but I hold up a hand to silence her. “Not now.” Okay... Well, there’s Karrablast and Shelmet. Karrablast is blue and bigger and they are supposed to fight together, as they are set to evolve at the same time when traded with each other...

But can they breed? I can’t remember that. I wonder if using a pokédex is cheating... probably.

Twilight steps up to the console and sighs, hitting the ‘hint’ button. “I’ve had to swallow my pride already, now it’s your turn Anthony.”

“No! I got this, I got this! Damnit!” Before I could move Twilight away she’d already hit the hint button.

<These pokémon fight all day, and make their own garments.>

I pause and let the hint sink in. I jab the keys to enter “Sawk” into the terminal and hit enter, sighing.

A green checkmark blinks on the screen, and the door opens.

<Born of Sea or Lake
Mystical, majestic.
I bear now wings, legs, arms,
but have lost my greatest strength.
**
Who am I?>

“Okay, I know this one. Dragonair live in the water and evolve into Dragonite and that’s when it gets wings arms and legs, and Dragonite is a pretty rare, potentially mythic pokémon. But it also gains the flying type which does nothing but hinder its type resistances.”

Twilight seems unable to fight my logic, so I enter Dragonite in and stand back, gritting my teeth, half expecting another red X. However, it’s another right answer.

“Ha! Got it, back on track!”

<Frozen north, Driest desert, Deepest Core.
I am king of all I see, and bear the weight of the world with me.
Savior is my title, when disaster would follow.
***
Who am I?>

“Regigigas.”

Another check mark.

“Alright, onto the next one!”

<Darkest night and dire storm
Forebode and forewarn
Hated am I for the calamity
for I am the harbinger.
***
Who am I?>

Harbinger of calamity. Absol? I type Absol into the terminal and enter it in. I mean, it has to be right, unless there’s another pokémon who’s supposed to be a doom-bringer in mythos.

Another check, another riddle, though this room has two consoles, one on the door, the other on a wall.

They both have riddles, the one on the door being

<Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires
Beryl, Quartz, Tourmaline
Breakfast lunch and dinner
Save when a friend gives them to me.
***
Who am I?>

I decide to answer that one later, already figuring the answer. “I’m gonna get us that special item this time!” I stride over to the wall’s riddle which is

<I watch the night and hide
no nightmares for them, they come to me
Mind’s eye sees pain and fear
Mind’s touch hoards them.
*****
Who am I?>

Okay, this is a bit tougher. No nightmares sounds like Cresselia, but... the pokémon that sees emotion is Gardevoir. Can Cresselia see fear?

Mind’s touch hoards them? Uh...

Sighing, I go for the hint button, but it’s not in the same place. I begin to think there isn’t one when I find it. It was in a slightly different place.

But... I already used one hint. Maybe... well I don’t see a camera around here, how would they know if I used my éTech? I mean, this pokémon doesn’t really sound like any I know, meaning it’s home is here in Otaria, which isn’t fair to me.

Checking the éTech for Psychic types native to Otaria is pretty easy, and reveals several, and onyl a few seem applicable. Chantlette’s evolutionary line, something called Darcape and its evolutionary line, possibly a pokémon called ‘Sensinja’, which is apparently a psychic-fighting type that prefers pacifism, and a pokémon called Tantabus, that is noted for not being Psychic type but still being adept at emotional manipulation.

The one that fits the most of the riddle is Darcloak, Darcape’s evolution. I type that into the terminal and cringe as I wait for the result.

The terminal blinks for a moment, then corrects to ‘Darcape’, and gives me a checkmark.

Twilight gives me a dirty look, likely for using a pokédex but come on, it’s not fair if the person literally can’t know the answer. Besides, it’s not like it directly tells me the answer, I still have to use deduction skills.

Anyway, the wall terminal changes to a series of digits and letters, which I copy to my éTech, since it’s already out.

The next riddle, this one to continue, is the same as before, with likely the same answer. I was going to guess Sableye since they eat gems, but now that I know that it’s also covering pokémon from Otaria, I search the éTech’s encyclopedia for ‘Gem-eaters’. I expect there to be about twenty to choose from, explaining the door’s difficulty.

The top is, of course, Sableye, which I remember does live here, but it’s mentioned about half a dozen other pokémon, including Onix, Geodude’s line, and the Aron line, as well as one of Eevee’s line, Krysteon.

Well, let’s see... I forgot Aron also ate more than just rocks. I know it can’t be Onix or Geodude, but a more territorial species like Aggron... No, that line drinks mineral water and eats iron ores.

Maybe Krysteon? I already got the item code without a hint, that should be plenty of extra points. I type in Krysteon for the answer and await the response, which is a...

A big fat X, damnit! Well, it can’t be the Aron line and Onix is known mainly for it’s absurd underground speed... That leaves Sableye and Geodude’s family. Just to be sure, I look up the pokédex entries on Geodude and it’s evolutions.

Nope, Geodude Graveler and Golem all just eat normal rocks. Should have gone with Sableye from the beginning. I type in the name and get...

A checkmark, of course. Damn, damn damn...

“I knew it, and I hesitated... See Twilight? When I stop to think too much, I get stuff wrong. Trust your gut more often.” In response to my lesson, Twilight looks down at her stomach and remarks that she’s hungry. I just roll my eyes. “Ha ha ha... There’s some trail mix in my bag.”

Taking the snack out and munching on it, Twilight follows Rarity and I into the next room.

The next riddle is kinda... odd.

<Shirts and steel, I stand alone
Nobody can harm me, not fire, cold or stone
Hot sand, cold nights
But withstand all.
****
Who am I?>

Okay, definitely a local pokémon, because the only one that comes to mind are typical Desert pokémon, but they can all be harmed pretty easily.

I pull out my éTech again and look up pokémon, using “Steel”, “Desert”, and “Otaria” as keywords.

The first thing that comes up looks like an odd... giant cactus. with a beard. Wearing a sweater. But it swears it’s a pokémon. I select to animate the image and it does indeed move, shifting from position to position and holding for a couple seconds.

I type in the name, Senifluf, and wait for the machine to process my answer, which it replies with a green check.

“Hah! Only a few more doors to go now!”

“Idunno, are you sure we should be doing that? I mean, it’s kinda like cheating, Anthony...”

“Look, if you don’t like it, you can try answering these by yourself while Rarity and I answer the questions my way.” I offer, “But keep in mind that with all the pokémon that these could refer to, if I don’t know it, I guarantee you wouldn’t know even half of them.”

Twilight looks quite put off, but admits that she’d probably have at least done some studying beforehand. I point out that nowhere did it say that there would be riddles when we entered.

“Besides, if flying over a gap with Glorious isn’t cheating, I fail to see how this is. I mean, these things are standard issue, they probably expect everyone and their little brother to come in armed with one, right?”

Twilight looks conflicted, but finally gives in, and we can get going. The next room’s riddle is much like the others.

<Loyal before, leader after.
Law, order, peace
Our bites are worse than our barks
*****
Who are we?>

“Who are we?” Twilight asks. “That’s new.”

“Yeah, clearly a pokémon with multiple heads and therefore multiple brains. At least that’s how it sounds, for a single pokémon to be referring to itself as ‘we’.”

“Multiple heads? But the only thing like that is Cerberus, who guards the gates to Tartarus...”

I nod. “You have a point. Loyalty is kind of a dog thing, and having a bark gives it away. It’s probably a pokémon similar to cerberus... but the only one I can think of is Houndoom, and it’s got only one head.”

Twilight rolls her eyes. “Fine, use your cheat sheet.”

“Admit you’re stumped too, first.” I grin.

“No.” Twilight replies, mocking my grin.

“Fine.” I pull up the device again and do a search for multi-headed dogs. Several tries later, and there’s still no results.

“Okay... maybe it is asking for multiple pokémon... wait a second. Laikoyal, that pokémon that Mr. Devon had. That one sounds right... no. It says leader after.”

“The riddle sounds like a sort of oath a Guard would take” Rarity says.

“Yeah, maybe it’s a police animal.” I look those up and as usual the top result is Growlithe, but another result shows a distinctly canine set, painted in black and white with a red-and-blue set of ‘goggles’ similar to the lights on a police cruiser, named ‘Pupolice’ and ‘Dogendarme’.

Yep, those look like the winners alright. I enter the Basic and evolved form’s names into the console and await my checkmark, which flashes across the screen. I grin at the girls. “See? No sweat. It just takes a good eye.”

“A trait I am often praised for.” Rarity says, knowingly.

I sigh, but smile. “Yes, indeed. Thank you Rarity you were very helpful.”

The next door I open leads to yet another riddle:

<First but last
strongest of the weak
Playful
Powerful
*****
Who am I?>

Okay, this one has me a bit baffled. Strongest of the weak? Weak in what way? Bad stats, or a lot of type disadvantages? First but last? That doesn’t make much sense at all. Playful and Powerful? Well the first thing that comes to mind is Mew, but it’s not weak, is it? First but last... that doesn’t help either.

I sigh and hit the Hint button for the second time this entire run.

<This pokémon has not been sighted in the Sinnoh Region to date.>

Real friggin’ helpful there. Not in Sinnoh? That covers, like, barely anything! Some hint... But it’s all I got to go on. It doesn’t show up in Sinnoh.

Rules out a few I suppose, but it doesn’t discount Mew, yet. Still, it can’t be anything but Mew at this point, but how is it the ‘last’?

Well, it’s the last entry in the Kanto Pokédex but come on, they can’t mean that, can they? Not a single Kanto pokémon has been the answer to any of these.

But that would make a Kanto pokémon perfect for the last one. It could be Mewtwo... No, nobody’s sure if it even exists... but then again the same can be said of Mew, but at least Mew is more confirmed than Mewtwo yet.

No, it can’t be either of them, right? Too mythical, right?

I’m still thinking when I see the terminal flash a green checkmark and Twilight at the console.

“H- How’d you do that?”

“Well, Mew is-”

“It was Mew?”

“Apparently. I was reading through an article on confirmed legendary pokémon and-”

“Obviously but... That was my idea first!”

“But you weren’t gonna use it, either.” Twilight grumps.

“No, but that’s because... Mew was too easy an answer!”

“Sure it was. Face it, you didn’t take your own advice and didn’t trust your gut.” Twilight points out, defeating any arguments I had prepared.

I hang my head, sighing. “Yeah...” I then brighten up. “Ha! You took my advice, which means I was right!”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Twilight mutters as she walks for the door.

The next room has another score screen, along with an Exit door, and stairs leading up. I go over to the screen and type in the code I got for the special item. Once it’s dispensed I open up the containment capsule and find...

It’s a TM case, containing a single TM. I read the label on the disk and it says it’s ‘TM98: Retaliate’

“Aww, come on... Oh well... what’s my overall score? I aced most of those!” The machine finishes tallying the scores and gives its standard readout.

‘Secret Item Code? X116H’
‘Hints Used: 4
Floor Grade: 80%
Avg Tower Grade: 47.4%
Floor 2 code: 11324’

“That’s a good score.” I say, feeling a little better about my less than amazing item. I figured it might have been a pearl given the first question but... whatever. I add the disk to my case and leave the case there to be recycled. “And we have a code for the second floor, so we can always come back and not have to deal with the maze room.”

Twilight nods happily at that. “It would seem we get the code for the floor below the one we complete.” she says. I mean, that’s obvious, so I don’t know why she’s saying it, but I suppose it makes her feel better.

“Alright girls. A quick rest, then onto the next floor.” They agree with me and we sit down to relax for a bit.