Let's Play Touhoumon - Gotta Graze 'Em All!

[Cogwheel]

Be fair, now. Tokamak one-shots just about everything.

[FantasyFoxMan]

Oh god yes, Beach Shikieiki. I never expected the Yama herself to have a beach form.

I guess everybody needs to take a break sometimes, amirite? :V

[Mirrinus]

Let's Play Touhoumon - Chapter 8-1

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Hi there all. Maribel here, ready to tell you all about the worst date I ever had.

As soon as I stepped out of Cinnabar Gym, I was stopped by an old acquaintance. Hey, wait, how'd he even know I was here? Has he been stalking me this whole time?

Gee, spending some time alone on a little island with a guy I barely know. Would it really be wise of me to agree to this? Then again, by now I'm genre savvy enough to know that whenever I get asked a YES/NO question, there's only one answer that I'm allowed to give anyway, because I must, or something to that effect. So, might as well get this over with and play along.

All right, ZUN. But I sure hope you know how to treat a lady on our first date. (Oh, how foolish and naive I was then.)

Well, at least your ride's pretty impressive. But do you have to go ahead and blurt out that it's not really yours? I mean, I appreciate the sense of honesty, but you don't really know how to impress a gal, do you?

All right, I'll give you another shot. Show me that you know how to have a good time!

What?! You take a girl out to a distant island on a pseudo-date, only to ditch her and hang out with your guy friend? And then you have the nerve to send the poor girl away on an errand while you two fiddle around with a stupid computer? This is the most lousy date ever! No wonder you're such a nerd.

Uh, fine, I'll run your stupid little errand. You're practically holding me ransom on these island anyway.

See, girls? This is why you should never agree to go out with a stranger on his friend's boat. You'll never know when you'll get stranded on an island while he's off playing video games with his buddies.

So ZUN sends me off to deliver a chunk of meteorite to another friend of his, who's a collector of such strange things. He says the friend lives on Two Island (real original name, eh?), where he runs the Game Corner there. Oh gosh, another Game Corner. Don't tell me it's a front for another crime syndicate. I'm still trying to recover from the math puns here. Or maybe this time they'll be literature nerds?

I was able to quickly locate the crime syndicate boss friend of ZUN's, but the man just wouldn't listen to me. He just went on and on about his missing daughter, Lostelle, and implored me to find her. No matter what I said, he refused to accept ZUN's stupid rock. Uh...there's just so many things wrong with that.

For starters, what kind of parent names their child "Lostelle"? I suppose we're just lucky you didn't think to name her "Kidnapella", or "Molestina", aren't we? Second, why in the world aren't you going to find your daughter yourself? Just get your legions of mafia goons to go out and look for her! I mean, a mafia princess such as your daughter would be considered a prime target for rivial gangs, so shouldn't you have already prepared for this eventuality? If you're expecting me to go barging into a mafia hideout dressed in a Bonta-kun suit and shoot up the-

My internal rant was interrupted by a lone biker who just barged in for no apparent reason. Uh...what does this even have to do with anything? Are you suppose to point me to Three Island (gee, who would have guessed?), or are you just here to further highlight the lack of sense this world makes as a whole?

Okay, should I be looking for the big-lipped singing alligator right about now?

I boarded the boat for Three Island, and was greeted with more bikers. Great. I get to fight my way through gang members while my "date" gets to play video games. I honestly don't know which one of us will be having more fun.

I wonder if the bikers would let me join their gang? I mean, I have a bike, and I could seriously use a distraction to get my mind off of this stupid date, and-

Wait, what do you mean, no girls allowed? Oh, you are so dead for that! What, do you actually think you can stand a chance against me? I bet you can't even integrate complex polynomials!

Guess I know where I'm suppose to stand in this conflict. Of course, I understand if I'm the only person here in this town with Touhoumon strong enough to defend it. It's OK, go ahead and ask for my help. I don't mind. I'n getting rather used to being the center of attention wherever I go-

Oh no, I just realized I'm turning more and more into a Mary Sue! I have become that which I mock! Quick, I must think of something...

And another effortless victory for me. How utterly horrifying. I had no idea being the designated hero could be so demeaning and empty. Everywhere I go, the plot just wraps around me like a cheap shower curtain. Oh woe, woe is me...

Oh no, I just realized I'm angsting about being important! If there's anything worse than a Mary Sue, it's an angsting Mary Sue! Oh, surely there must be some way to escape the evil clutches of Suedom, isn't there? There's nothing more boring than a perfect heroine!

So, how can I avoid the taint of the Sue? Let's see...Plan A: Flaws.

Oh, look at me! I'm such a poor, weak, pathetic trainer! I can't even win in battle against these juvenile delinquents! Oh, oh, poor townspeople, looks like you'll have to find some other way to save yourselves!

No, no, don't look at me that way, with your little hero-worship puppy-dog eyes!

No, Poppins, not you too! You're just such an adorable woobie that I can't bear to see you lose! Oh, all right, you win, let's just drop the act and flatten this guy.

Well, this isn't turning out well. Let's try Plan B: Explanations.

Look, see? It makes total sense that I'd lay waste to these misguided youths. They travel in packs and thus never had to feel the hardships of being alone and fending for yourself. I've had to deal with that ever since I came to this world, and it was only through much effort on my part that I became the Touhoumon trainer you see before you today. My gym badges came from hard-fought victories built upon sound strategy and quick wits. As for the plot following me wherever I go, I guess that's because, um...

Okay, I got nothing. Lousy main character syndrome.

Fine, fine, moving on now, Plan C: Plausibility.

Well, of course I won! The plot's been centered on me all this time, hasn't it? Has it been absurd this whole time that I was able to defeat a brilliant criminal mastermind, overcome several champion trainers, and save an entire city from being brainwashed? Well, of course it's absurd! It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever that a clueless college student such as myself could do this, to say nothing of if a 10-year-old were to accomplish these feats. But you know what? The mere fact that this makes no sense makes it par-for-course with this world that lacks any common sense to begin with. Whether this is really Gensokyo or not, I cannot say, but I can say that this is where the impossible becomes possible, where that which you cannot believe lurks behind every corner. So my heroism is but a logical outcome of the world, is it not?

All right, that was a bit better, but it still makes me sound sort of like the world's avatar or something. That could use some work.

Oh, the fight's over already? I hardly noticed. My apologies; the fact that I've never had a single line of spoken dialogue in any of these screenshots suggest that I usually don't pay much attention to these conversations.

Ah, Lostelle, that lost girl with a terribly unfortunate name? Right, I almost forgot about her. Sorry, the whole Mary Sue angst sort of made me lose track of what I was doing. Sure, I'll get right on that. Bond Bridge is just to the west of town, so I left quickly in that direction, and predictably ran into some trainers along the way.

Huh, if I'm really that forgetful, maybe I'm not totally Mary Sue material after all.

Whoa. What's with the levels on these trainers' Touhoumon? Did I take a wrong turn and accidentally step into some sort of endgame area? I thought I was the only one around capable of defeating those bikers, but these kids are sporting Touhoumon that dwarf my levels by a large margin.

Huh, maybe I'm not as Mary Sue-ish as I thought. Maybe my myopia has blinded me to the fact that I'm not that special. Whew, that's a load off my mind.

I mean, just look at these awesome and powerful Touhoumon that these trainers here have! They're way cool! I'm actually starting to have trouble with some of them, given their immense level advantage and fully evolved forms. Never before have I been so grateful to be losing.

Despite their very strong Touhoumon, these trainers still don't seem to be larger-than-life. Look, this one even had the (hilarious) misfortune of having her swimsuit torn, and is too embarassed to step out of the water! And her Touhoumon probably could have soloed the last gym leader, too. If someone this strong can be this humble (and humiliated), perhaps there's hope for me yet.

I suppose I should still lend her a towel so she can get out, though...

The beatdown that these trainers have been handing me has been quite refreshing. I think I've learned a lot from this experience: namely, how to mellow out and not worry about being a Mary Sue. Time to just lean back and let the plot take me wherever it goes.

At the end of Bond Bridge, I found a small forest. Ooh, I hope it's some sort of complex dungeon filled with powerful Touhoumon, difficult trainers, and loads of valuable treasure!

...This is it? Just some trees, a simple path, and a few boring birds that can't do anything useful? Wow, I haven't been this let down since the ending of Angel Beats!

At the end of the path, I found who I was looking for: the girl with the very unfortunate name. What was she doing here? How did she get here? Why is an EX Iku attacking? How is this even important to the plot? I have no idea.

Gee, after my horrible date, the Mary Sue angst, and the gauntlet of super-powered trainers, this was all rather anti-climactic, wasn't it? I suppose I should just be happy that I saved a lost little girl and a village of innocent townsfolk. Now, dear little Lostelle, might I suggest getting your name legally changed?

Well, that annoying quest is now over with. Now where to...oh, right, why was I doing this again? That stupid date with ZUN. Now that this inane trip is done, it's time I head on over and give him a piece of my mind...

The Sevii Islands is somewhat strange in this Pokemon hack. All the trainers have been given about a 15+ level boost to their teams, and will all have fully evolved teams, including some powerful alternate 3rd stages. It's mostly meant for after you've beaten the Elite 4, I think, even though you can reach some of these places beforehand.

Speaking of which: where to next? Shall I continue with the first part of the Ruby/Sapphire sidequest? Keep in mind, I can't finish the other parts until after the Elite 4. Alternatively, I could just ditch the Sevii Islands now and head straight for Viridian Gym. What do you guys think?

[Terraoblivion]

Sidequest! Was there ever any doubt that people would vote for that?

Also that is a fairly bizarre combination of high powered trainers and utterly wimpy enemies for the actual quest material. Also Maribel is perhaps the most scatterbrained protagonist ever. She cannot stick to any plot or interpretation of events for more than a few minutes at a time.

[memnarch]

Ruby/Sapphire sidequest? Sounds good!

Personally, I think those were the best game in the series. Good graphics, only 200 pokemon, fairly good story too for the series.

[Cubey]

Double Tewi team.

Oh dear.

[Assassin89]

Go for the side quest. I am beginning to see our protagonist descending into insanity; too bad the useless bunny isn't present to cause it.

[Mirrinus]

Also Maribel is perhaps the most scatterbrained protagonist ever. She cannot stick to any plot or interpretation of events for more than a few minutes at a time.

Personally, I've always thought of Maribel as a cloudcuckoolander of some sort, so yeah...

Ruby/Sapphire sidequest? Sounds good!

Personally, I think those were the best game in the series. Good graphics, only 200 pokemon, fairly good story too for the series.

I should clarify: the sidequest has nothing to do with the Ruby/Sapphire games. It's just a quest to retrieve a ruby and a sapphire in order to power up Celio's trade machine thingy.

[memnarch]

Oh.


Well, sidequests are fun, so my vote stays the same.

[Penguinator]

Might as well do the sidequest, keeps the thing going a bit longer.

[Mirrinus]

Well now, this is a surprise.

While playing through the Sevii Islands sidequest, I discovered something completely unexpected (mostly because I didn't do this quest at this time on my other 2 playthroughs). Let's just say, I think I've solved the problem of deciding whether or not to end this LP at the Elite 4. Now it looks like I can both have my cake and eat it too. You'll see what I mean soon enough.

By the way, I think I'll be cutting the later parts of the Sevii Islands sidequest down to the bare bones, plot-wise. In other words, I'm trying to skip as many non-essential trainers as I can. This is mostly because if I don't, I'll be facing level 70-80ish Touhoumon with my team that's still in the 40's. And that doesn't seem quite so appealing to me right now.

[memnarch]

Heh, yeah. 70-80 vs 40 doesn't sound fun. Also, the point of a LP is to play through whole thing and/or be entertaining, right? So you could probably skip most of them and we wouldn't know the difference.

[Mirrinus]

When I originally asked if you guys wanted to see the Sevii Islands Ruby/Sapphire sidequest, I had expected only to complete the first part of it (retrieving the Ruby). The Sapphire shouldn't be available until after beating the Elite 4 and getting the National Dex. However...

Let's Play Touhoumon - Chapter 8-2

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Well, it looks like ZUN really isn't any sort of gentleman at all. The nerve of him! I spent all day traversing multiple islands, battling evil bike gangs, and having a quarter-life crisis, and all he could say to me was "What kept you so long?" I swear, I was an inch away from socking him in the face, but Celio luckily intervened and held me back.

As it turns out, Celio's a pretty sweet guy. He apologized for what happened to me, and promised to make it up to me someday. His attitude was so much more reassuring that I had no problem agreeing to his next request.

Celio asked me to find a ruby gemstone needed to complete his machine. Normally, I'm against running errands for people I just met, but at this point I was so enthralled by his gentlemanly conduct that I somehow went along with it. Oh Maribel, you're so hopeless...

All Celio could tell me was that the gem was probably somewhere near One Island, but that's all I needed to hear. After all, there was only one direction for me to go.

As I traveled north towards the smoldering peak of Mt. Ember, I ran into more trainers with startlingly strong Touhoumon. Is everyone on these islands this strong? One can only imagine what would happen if there was ever a conflict between these islands and the mainland...I shudder to think of the possibilities.

And yes, I do have a spiffy hat, do I not? Even if this isn't Gensokyo, I'm glad to see that's still important to the girls here. They've got their priorities straight.

When faced with such strong opponents, it was no longer so feasible for me to just attempt a straightforward sweep. I needed a different strategy if I wanted to win. Luckily, all this time I have been preparing my team for just such an eventuality. For example, when up against foes that take little damage from my attacks, it's better to win using moves that work regardless of our level difference. Toxic is just one such example, letting Tachikoma here grind her foe down while stalling and healing as necessary.

The rest of our team suffered some significant blows, but we somehow managed to press onwards. This particular island seems to be a hotspot for people wishing to train both their own bodies as well as their Touhoumon. It was sort of humbling seeing them work so hard, especially given my rather...embarassing episode from before.

I must say, I resent the comment about my outfit. Why, I think it's totally amazing that I've accomplished all I've done thus far while still wearing this spiffy dress. Who says real women never wear dresses? Real women know how to kick butt while still looking stylish.

Crossing another sea route, I made my way to the fabled Mt. Ember. Given that it was the only unexplored area on One Island for me, I figured the ruby just had to be here. Little did I know, far more awaited me. As I surfed nearer, I thought I heard a faint voice calling out to me. My ears didn't seem to detect it, but it registered in my mind. I dismissed it immediately, given that I really didn't want to think I was crazier than I already was just earlier.

Climbing Mt. Ember proved to be a daunting experience. No, the grueling rock-pushing wasn't what made it difficult (after all, China-Li was doing all the work). Rather, it was having to endure inane trainers rambling about geology, as well as one particularly bad pun regarding a trainer's title. Ugh...if there's one thing I can't stand, it's bad puns.

Although the geology lesson certainly did try my patience almost as much. Why do I care about active volcanoes in the world, when I've got something much more exciting to attend to? Like this:

All right! Cute little Poppins is certainly full of surprises! Now I've only got one unevolved Touhoumon left. Oh, why hasn't she evolved yet? Well...

Anyway, while climbing Mt. Ember, I ran into some familiar faces. Of course, their outfits looked familiar, but something about their speech just didn't sound right.

I got it! They weren't making any math references! What, are these guys Team Rocket rejects or something? Wait...Team Rocket? What were they doing here? I thought I had already shut down their big old master plan...

A quick trouncing later, and I forced my way into the cave they were guarding. Pro-tip: if you're trying to keep a treasure secret, don't go talking about it when an adventurer on a side quest is walking by. Then again, if they're not smart enough to keep up with the math references, I doubt they'd have been smart enough to keep me away anyway.

Fighting my way through increasingly stronger Touhoumon and a few more puzzles that were ironically solved by China-Li knocking boulders around, I found the ruby in a strange chamber surrounded by weird plaques with dotted messages etched into them. All in all, this whole sidequest ordeal was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Except...

As I turned to leave, I thought I heard a voice again. It was a bit louder this time, but I still couldn't understand what it was saying. Tucking the ruby away, I turned back into the tunnels of Mt. Ember, my curiosity blowing away any bit of common sense I had that told me to get out of there.

Going deeper into the caves, I treked across treacherous ledges held over the center of the volcano, snaking my way around the mountain until I at last reached the summit. And there it was.

It was a Touhoumon, hovering still at the peak of the volcano. It felt just like the one I saw at Seafoam Island, yet it was still different. This one was absolutely terrifying. I beheld five giant floating eyeballs, held together by cackling strands of magic. All five eyes were staring straight at me, as though they were looking into my soul. For a minute there, I was too scared to react. My legs wouldn't move despite my common sense screaming at me to turn around and run.

I'm not sure if it was fear, courage, or stupidity that made me move at last, but my curiosity once again got the better of me, and I reached into to my bag for yet another stone. I've been meaning to save this for the last gym, but I figured now was as good a time as any to use this.

If I want some answers to the voice in my head, I'm going to have to get them myself. And that starts with challenging this abomination. By this point, my idiotic determination had drowned out the last remaining ounce of common sense.

The eyeball monstrosity, Yuugenma, took a sound beating from my newly-evolved and specially enhanced Asakura, dropping down to a pittance of health in a few short turns. However, it stubbornly refused to stay in my Ultra Orbs, breaking free each time as if fettered by mere paper. Realizing that this may soon turn into a battle of attrition, I let Souseiseki take over, knowing that she could recover her health as necessary to overcome this prolonged battle.

Eventually, after countless Ultra Orbs wasted, I managed to subdue the freakish eyes. As I gripped the triumphant orb with my trembling hands, I heard the voice call out to me one last time, clearer than ever before. It said but one short message: "Welcome back, Master."

Too exhausted to spend much time contemplating what had just happened, I quickly headed back to the Eirin Center in town, where Celio was waiting for me. He greeted me with joy as he gratefully accepted the ruby I had found.

Sheepishly, he admitted that there was still one more gemstone that he needed to complete his machine. He said that it was likely located somewhere among the Sevii Islands, but couldn't really give me any more details. As payment for my hard work, though, he gave me the Rainbow Pass, which granted me access to all seven islands. This took me quite by surprise, as I thought I was done for good with these islands. Looks like there's still much more left to see here.

I hope the last gym leader wouldn't mind waiting, whoever he is.

As it turns out, I had the National Dex all along, which is why I'm able to catch way more than 150 Touhoumon throughout this playthrough. Of course, I had already known this, but what I didn't know was that this means I'm already flagged for the entire Sevii Islands sidequest, not just the first part. Normally, I need to defeat the Elite 4 to get the National Dex, then use the National Dex to get the Rainbow Pass to access the other islands. Well, color me surprised at the recent turn of events. I guess I'll be sticking around the Sevii Islands for a lot longer.

But I'm guessing you guys won't mind this sudden development. After all, it means I can now do this:

A. Chiyuri Kitashirakawa (Water/Electric, tank or special sweeper)
B. Advent Cirno (Ice/Steel, physical sweeper)
C. Eirin Yagokoro (Water/Poison, annoyer and tank)
D. Kaguya Houraisan (Grass/Psychic, special sweeper)
E. Fujiwara no Mokou (Fire/Fighting, mixed sweeper)
F. Shikieiki Yamaxanadu (Psychic/Steel, special sweeper)
G. Rinnosuke Morichika (Normal, tank/physical sweeper)
H. Youki Konpaku (Ghost/Steel, physical sweeper, almost identical to Youmu)
I. Sasha Sashiromiya (Ghost/Dragon, mixed sweeper)
J. Mitori Kawashiro (Water/Steel, tank)

Ayanote pictures coming later, if you still need them for some reason.

Yes, the last 2 are fan-made characters who happen to be very popular for some reason. Sasha was created as a joke speculation character for TH 12.3; she's suppose to be a Kirin. Mitori is Nitori's half-sister, who has the "power to forbid" (she has a red dress with a lock as opposed to Nitori's blue dress with a key). Advent Cirno counts as a separate evolution line, so she's included here. Sorry, but I still can't seem to find Rika. Poor Rika.

This will be the last character vote, bringing our total team to 13.

[memnarch]

<- This one. No one else come close for my vote.

[Terraoblivion]

Oh Maribel, you're so hopeless...

She's also bizarrely straight for a Touhou character, it seems.

As for who to pick. Difficult choosing between Advent Cirno, she is still a version of Cirno after all, Princess NEET and Mokou. Think i'll go with Mokou, you can never have enough fire!

[Cubey]

How fitting that you can catch Eirin and Kaguya in the same location. And where is Kaguya, there is Mokou.

Advent Cirno, get!

[potatocubed]

I... quite like the idea of Mitori. Crimson kappa get!

[Tengu_temp]

Hmm, a hard choice, but I'll say Cirno.

[kamikasei]

I'll say Mokou.

[Tome]

She's also bizarrely straight for a Touhou character, it seems.

Yes, this is anomalous. Heterosexuality? In Gensokyo? HERESY!

That aside, I'd say go with Advent Cirno.

[Assassin89]

Mitori is in this game? Nooooo! She does not make sense, even within the context of the fan made phantasm stage, one that makes less sense than Lotus Land Story's extra stage. Why would Subterranean Animism have a phantasm stage, especially since Reimu or Marissa have no reason to go back underground? Ran at least told the player to return later, resulting in the phantasm stage. Koishi doesn't even give information about the character. Being the half sister of Nitori makes less sense than the relationship between Travis and Henry. Also, how in Makai is a half-kappa forbidden? /rant

I vote for Advent Cirno. I still stick by the nickname of Suiseiseki.

[Penguinator]

I like the idea of Mitori, and she has decent (Empoleon) typing.

[capfang]

Hey! A pokemon-like LP! I'll be watching this.

Uh.... I'll go with Fujiwara cuz it's got the same types as my favorite pokemon, Blaziken.

[Jm2c]

I feel like being contrary for my first post on this thread, so let's go with Eirin. I love her EX sprite. Help us, Eirin!

Is there a better/more up-to-date resource for the version you're using than the Touhou Wiki? I'm currently playing through myself, and while it's a good guideline, a fair number of things are different.

[Mirrinus]

Is there a better/more up-to-date resource for the version you're using than the Touhou Wiki? I'm currently playing through myself, and while it's a good guideline, a fair number of things are different.

I use YAPE (Yet Another Pokemon Editor), a ROM hacking program, just to view the information in the game. It gives all move and evolution levels, stat totals, EVs, and more.

[Mirrinus]

Yeah, I know the votes are currently tied right now between Cirno and Mokou, but I'm just going to call it right now for Mokou. Not because she has a better suggested nickname *cough*, but because I just realized that she has what's probably the most fitting moveset imaginable for her character:

Revenge
Fujiyama Volcano
Recover
Will-o-wisp

Okay, so maybe Will-o-wisp doesn't fit as well flavor-wise, but it complements the other moves well, and the rest of the set is just so perfect for Mokou that I can't resist. Thing is, this moveset is actually pretty potent. Either the enemy damages you and gets hit in return with a STAB'd base 120 fighting move, or doesn't damage you and gets hit with a STAB'd base 150 fire move. Very fun for mind games with human players, I'd imagine. Recover synergizes well with her attacks that work off of how much damage she receives, while Will-o-wisp neuters a physical offense and lets her stall out certain opponents in conjunction with Recover.

I'm just calling this now because I need a head start on training her up. Thank you everyone who voted (and still accepting nicknames for Mokou).

I'll be finishing up the essential parts of the Sevii Islands sidequest before taking the last gym, but it won't be easy. There are some inescapable battles against level 70+ opponents. Good thing there's always Toxic...

[memnarch]

Cool.

Nicknames..... Not very good at finding good names, but I got Lucca, Koume, and Iroh from the character list on wikipedia. Someone can come up with a better nickname probably.

[Mirrinus]

Well now, you guys asked for this sidequest...

Let's Play Touhoumon - Chapter 8-3

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With my new Rainbow Pass in hand and another quest on my checklist, I departed for the first of the unvisited islands: Four Island. This island was remarkably small, with nothing but a small town and a single cave nearby.

Icefall Cave, as the locals called it, was a site where many rare Touhoumon lived. It sounded like a good a place as any to begin my search for Celio's sapphire.

The locals really should have warned me just how inhospitable this place was. Precarious ice paths that cracked as I walked across, slippery slidey frozen mazes, and one particularly daunting waterfall all challenged me to turn back. But I managed to fend my way through the cave, and made it all the way to the final chamber in the very back of the cavern.

No, I did not find the sapphire there. What I found was a beautiful young woman being harassed by a group of Rocket gangsters. My first instinct was to rush in and save her, but it soon became apparent that she needed no help from me.

Wow, talk about style. I mean, I've kicked around more than my fair share of Rockets, but I still haven't turned any of them into human popsicles yet. If there's anyone in this world who belongs in Gensokyo, it's this lady right here. Not only was she powerful, but she had great fashion sense as well. That black vest with the violet skirt combo, and those heels? All she lacked was a nice hat or hair ornament...unless her ponytail tie counts?

It's taking a fair bit of self-control just for me to resist asking for her autograph, and I didn't even know her name yet!

After pummeling the Rockets into submission, she forced them to reveal the location of their base of operations here on the island. However, to get in, a pair of passwords is needed. Team Rocket members are each assigned only one of the two passwords, and thus can only get into their own base if partnered up with someone that has the other password. And just our luck, these goons all had the same password: the same one that I received at Mt. Ember! What a waste of time!

Once the woman had the Rockets freeze-sealed for the authorities to pick up, she turned her attention to me. Wouldn't you know it, she's actually heard of me before! I mean, I know I've been doing some pretty cool stuff lately, but it just feels like such an honor that a woman of her caliber would even know who I am! (Whoa there Maribel, ease up on the hero worship!)

The red-haired beauty introduced herself as Lorelei, a native of the Sevii Islands. Her home was located here on Four Island, and she graciously offered her hospitality to me. I never would have guessed that under that cool exterior, she was such a little girl at heart. I mean, her house was filled with plush dolls everywhere!

"Team Rocket has recently shown up on these islands to capture Touhoumon for some plan of theirs," Lorelei informed me. "I've been able to keep their activity to a minimum so far, but we need to strike at the center of their operation. You seem like a girl who has demonstrated great care and skill in raising her Touhoumon. Would you be willing to help drive these wretched Rockets away from the Sevii Islands?"

Honestly, does she even need to ask? Of course I'll do it! She responded to my assertion with a smile that could melt ice.

"You'll still need the other password to enter their base. Until you find it, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"There is one thing," I said. "I'm looking for a sapphire. It's part of a matching set with a ruby I found in Mt. Ember, and is supposedly located somewhere in the Sevii Islands. Would you happen to know where it is?"

I did my best to explain to her how I found the ruby, including the strange dotted etchings carved in the chambers where it rested. This seemed to stir Lorelei's memory a bit.

"On the southern portion of Six Island, there's a valley that holds an ancient ruin. I've heard of dotted messages found written in the stones nearby. Perhaps that should be your next destination."

Amazing: not only is she a skilled trainer and a snazzy dresser, but she even provides helpful information! I thanked her for her assistance, and promised to return to her home once I retrieved the sapphire for Celio.

Six Island proved to be even more difficult than all the previous islands. No, the terrain was not a problem at all. Rather, the trainers were far more fierce than I had ever imagined. I can see how Lorelei got so strong; practically everyone here has Touhoumon that dwarf mine in comparison! I needed every ounce of wit I had to survive the few encounters I ran into, and ended up just dodging the watchful eyes of the rest. Never before had I have to seriously avoid other trainers!

After many close shaves, I finally made it to the ruin at the center of the valley. However, it appeared to be sealed shut with a strange door of some sort. Etched into the door were some more dotted symbols. Well, that's just great! I knew I should have taken that course on archeology during freshman year when I had the chance! Now what am I suppose to do?

Ugh, forget this! If I can't figure this out, then maybe I can bust my way through with force. Hey, if it works for insurmountable two-foot-high plants, maybe it'll work on mystic dotted doors! All right, let's slash our way through!

...Huh. That was a lot easier than I expected. I guess the ancient people who built this place didn't really have very high security standards.

Inside, I found myself faced with a maze of passages, with a single plaque with a dotted message presumably telling me where to go. Well, I still haven't figured out how to read this dotted moonspeak gibberish, but it soon became clear to me that these ancient people speak English. Well, sort of. At the very least, they have the same number of letters in their words as English does. Two dotted letters is "up", five is "right". Sure, "down" and "left" are sort of indistinguishable like this, but a 50/50 chance isn't so bad, is it?

Using this strategy, I was able to make my way to the deepest chamber, where the sapphire conveniently awaited me.

I knew this was too easy! Apparently, I was just way too sluggish at grabbing the sapphire, because some random scientist popped out of nowhere and snatched it! Refusing to listen to what I had to say, he mumbled something about selling the sapphire to Team Rocket, before somehow escaping. Oh, but I'm not going to take this sitting down, no-sir-ee! He unwittingly blurted out the other piece of the password for the Rocket Warehouse as he left.

It's time to pay the dear scientist and his Rocket pals a little visit...

I got impatient and already recruited Mokou, nicknaming her Yakitori. Unless anyone has a better suggestion, I'm sticking to it for now. She'll make her debut in the next segment.

Next time is the exciting conclusion to this sidequest! See me battle against trainers with Touhoumon 15-20 levels higher than the last gym leader's team!

But trust me, that won't be anything compared to what I have in store for the finale of this Let's Play. Remember what I said about whether or not to do the Elite 4 round 2? Well, once I complete this sidequest, there's no longer a choice, lol.

Who will be the lucky six to join me for the final challenge? They're going to need quite a bit of grinding...

[Terraoblivion]

Heh, i see that Maribel is starting to behave more like a proper Touhou character in regards to who she is crushing on. Makes sense to me.

As for who to use...

China-Li, and seriously did anybody think i wouldn't vote for Meiling?
Magic Mary, she is your starter after all.
Mukyue, yes, i'm totally playing favorites.
Tachikoma, though i still think that having your tank around might be a good idea.
Souseiseki, and having other support might help too.
Yakitori, we won't get to see much of her otherwise.

[Prime32]

The trainers are level freaking 80?