The Curious Case of Darchlight Manor(SPOILERS)

[Hymdall]

So I'm not sure if there has been a topic made for discussing Darchlight Manor yet, and if there has been, mods feel free to lock/delete this thread and direct me/others to the proper thread. With that said, here we go. Of course, this whole thread comes with the major caveat of HORRIBLE HORRIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE DARCHLIGHT MANOR QUEST. GO DO THAT FIRST IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND HAVEN'T. I'll wait.

Now, if you're done, let's go on a magical journey to christmasland-I MEAN Darchlight Manor

So Darchlight Manor. New sidequest area in the Western area of Darchlight Woods. Creepy place, very familiar to those who played DPPt with the Old Chateau area in Eterna Forest. With that said, it's basically an area with a few Strength/Rock Smash areas and some cool ghost types for you to catch(Hi there Golett!). What's the deal?

As you explore the area, you come across a series of....7 or 8, I forget how many exactly, diary entries. Most are written by a young girl: Celesia Altair, but one is written by clearly her Grandmother. It tells the story of the Altair family...at least one snippet of their life. Celesia says that her family must represent the Altair name, and with that no one is allowed to become a Pokemon Trainer, as per her mother's decree. She does wish to at least play with one though, but she soldiers through. However, one day Grandmother Altair goes to town to buy a mechanical Clefairy doll made by Blakeory CO. As it's not a real Pokemon, her daughter(Celesia's mother)cannot do anything about it. A doll is just that, a doll. ....Usually.

You see, in the doll was a Pokemon, a Pokemon that the young Celesia described as "Zip zapping around the room, whose light reached all four corners. As such, I will call it Light." Nobody else around the house seemed to be able to see Light, so Celesia kept her new friend to herself. If no one knew, there could be no harm! However, various people kept coming to the house demanding to see...I believe it was test results, I need to reread the entries later, most likely to get their hands on Light. Celesia mentions going to the back of the mansion, a place only her family can access. ...This is where she met her untimely demise. Found by one of the people after Light, he accidentally knocked her into the well with the Clefairy doll, now identified as a doll implanted with a Rotom and sold to the Altair family on purpose. Not only was she horribly injured from the fall...the doll shorted out, and it was then she met her true demise: electrocution. Gruesome. The man deeply regrets this, and is apparently behind bars as he wrote the report. And that is all we currently know of the Untimely Demise of Celesia Altair. So, where does this leave us?

As you progress through the mansion, you interact with two entities: A ghostly apparition of a young girl, and a similar one of a Clefairy doll. The girl is most definitely Celesia, presumably haunting the place filled with regret or some other such nonsense. She's a benign one, only showing up on the other sides of rooms from you, leading you to your next destination. The clefairy doll seems to be playing tag with you, constantly leading you as well, until culminating in getting you the Gate Key to unlock the door in the main hall, as well as creating a boulder for you to use strength to even access said door. That door leads to the back of the mansion, host to a single well that smells...strange. Presumably, that is the smell of a corpse, who knows how old. The manor is clearly in a state of disrepair, so it's unclear how long it's been that way. Perhaps we'll visit it in the past? Who knows.

If you examine the well, you can pull a rope holding the ill-fated Clefairy doll up. In its hands is a single Light Ball. And to my current knowledge, that is where the sidequest ends. Upon examining the doll again, it says "It sits on the stump, but it appears to be watching you." Is that the ghost of Celesia, or is the Rotom Light still possessing the doll to this day?

I want to know more, so if anyone has any thoughts on how to proceed/proof that there is more to the sidequest, please put it here, with screenshots if possible!

[QuarkStar]

I did some more exploring around the mansion and I remembered a safe being in one of the rooms. When I got to the room, it said that it had a digi-pad on it. So what I'm assuming is that we have to somehow obtain a Rotom and use it to unlock the safe. There was a T.V. so I tried interacting with it multiple times to see if a Rotom would appear (none did). One of the diary entries say that the girl wanted to pet the fur of a pikachu, so maybe we need have a pikachu in our party? I'll need to test this.

[Guzam]

The safe and TV cannot be interacted with, end of story. Sorry, but that's just how it goes :[

For those who want the full transcript of diary entries and what they say though, I'll edit this post when I get all of it.

Edit: Here you go, all in no particular order. I'll summarize my thoughts on the sidequest in a different spoiler.

"Day ???, Month ???...
???: The most magnificent thing has happened today.
My grandmother went into town today and bought me
a lovely mechanical doll.
My grandmother thought being connected to Pokemon
in some way was important.
I do adore this doll with all my heart, but it has been
acting sort of strange.
Sometimes I feel like it talks to me too specifically.
Something a doll usually can't do.
It even called out my name..."

"Day ???, Month ???...
???: Some horrible poeple have shown up at the
manor today.
They claimed that their subject has run off and that
they suspected that we were hiding it.
My parents, of course, denied such accusations.
But that didn't mean much to them. They shoved my
parents aside and entered the manor without
hesitation.
Light seemed to be extremely scared of them.
It's decided.
I shall take Light and hide behind the manor. A place
where only my family can enter.
They'll never find us there."

"Day X, Month O...
???: Life here in Altair Manor is a pleasant one.
I live here with my mother, father, grandmother,
grandfather, and twin sister.
We're all here to represent the Altair name. All of us.
Because of this, my sister and I are not allowed to
become Pokemon trainers like the other children.
Pokemon are strictly forbidden from entering this
house.
These are mother's rules, but I know she means well.
She thinks Pokemon are distractions. I can see why, I
suppose.
Just once I would like the pet the head of a Pikachu,
or a Growlithe!
Perhaps lay my head on top of a Snorlax's belly?
One day. "

"DAY XO, Month X...
???: Oh, it's quite a pleasant experience to have Light
around.
We play around the house all day without my parents
knowing what is really happening.
I think my sister is also oblivious to Light's presence
as well.
Oh I do love my sister, but I'm afraid telling her about
Light will cause far too much trouble.
I hope she doesn't hate me for it.
Maybe I'll introduce her to Light someday. "

Day ???, Month ???...
???: It is the duty to uphold the Altair name, but I
believe that isolating my granddaughters from
Pokemon is absurd.
It is not my place to override my daughter's choices
with her children, but that doesn't mean I can't make
my own.
I went to Hiyoshi City today and picked up a beautiful
Clefairy doll from one of the street vendors.
He told me of Blakery CO. and they're new interactive
Clefairy that was made especially for small children.
Technically, this wasn't an actual Pokemon. Therefore
my daughter can do nothing about it. There's no
harm.
...Though he did warn me about one thing.
To keep this doll away from water.
I suppose this makes sense. A mechanical toy would
be dangerous play around with by water, right?
I have to make sure Celesia plays with the doll
responsibly.
I've still got my conniving ways even in my old age,
ohohoho..."

"Day ???, Month ???...
???: Something amazing has happened.
A Pokemon emerged from my Clefairy doll!
The way it zips and zaps around the room is
absolutely marvelous.
Its very body emits a vibrant light that reaches all four
corners of the room.
In spirit of that, I shall call this Pokemon, Light.
Light and I are going to be friends forever!"

"It's a note.
Name: Altair, Celesia
Gender: Female.
Age: 7
Birthday: ...
Status: .e.ea.e.d..."

"A letter from an unknown man.
After the idiot we hired sold the Clefairy Doll with our
Rotom fused inside, we have finally found its
location.
We tracked its life energy to a lone mansion in the
forest.
We interrogated the residents about it, but they
refused to tell us where Rotom was.
We forcefully barged inside of their house and
located the Rotom-infused doll that was sold.
Unfortunately, the girl who owned the doll would not
hand over the doll and ran towards the back of the
mansion.
I managed to catch her outside near an old well. I
tried to grab the doll, but she would not give up.
I... may have been too rough on her...
I acidentally shoved her backwards and into the old
well.
As her screams pierced my ears, regret and despair
filled my heart.
All of that would end when her screams ended with
a "thwomp". The sound of her body hitting water.
...And then reawakened with the shrieks of
electricity spewing out of the doll.
If the fall did not kill her, the rotom-infused doll
definitely had.
I do not regret anything more than this. The greed in
my heart had overcome me.
In the jail cell where I write this, I must do say to the
Altair family...
That I do apologize deeply for the grave mistake I
have committed.
For I cannot forgive myself. "

So what we have here is a tale of the tragic death of a member of the Altair family. All of which was caused by: The decision to not allow pokemon, the conniving ways of an old woman, the actions of a young girl not willing to tell of her pokemon or give it up, and the greed of one man.

Let's start with the things that stick out before we summarize all of this shall we? First off, the mention of Blakery Co. Seems like Blakery Co. is involved with a lot of shitty deaths, now isn't it? First, a young woman married to the fellow now known as Indriad, and now this child who used their doll. A shame really, but I guess only one was their... no, neither was inherently their fault. Next on the chopping block is Hiyoshi City. What an odd name right? It's not familiar because we've never been there, but it apparently has street vendors who sell Blakery Co. products. This place has to be nearby too in order for an old woman to get there from a remote location such as Darchlight. Perhaps Grand Dream City was once named Hiyoshi City before it changed. That might not be likely though as these events seem to have taken place in a short time, less than 7 years in fact. Then again, the manor is in disrepair, who knows how old it, and the entries inside are. Only time will tell. Next, the greedy man. Why would he give his Rotom-infused doll to some lacky selling stuff on the street? This is something I just don't get and so I can't really explain that. However, if he comes from Hiyoshi, which is now GDC, and he is still in jail for his actions, perhaps we could still find an old man trying to forgive himself for what he did.

Now, onto the summary.

This tale starts with a family under the name of Altair. Someone had claimed that the family could not be seen with pokemon as they had a name to uphold and things such as animals were a distraction. Cut to the mansion shortly after a while. A woman has twin children, meaning her manor now consists of six people including herself. They are: Her, her husband, the two children, grandma and grandad. A couple of years pass and the grandmother becomes sick of her daughters ways, keeping her children away from pokemon. She goes out and buys a strange doll from some "idiot" street vendor made by blakery co. and giggles at how conniving she is. Celesia, one of the daughters, is excited to have a new doll. After all, she has wished to have many experiences with various pokemon such as Growlithe, Pikachu and even Snorlax! However, she describes the doll as peculiar. She says that it seems to talk to her. Lo and behold, and Rotom soon emerges from the doll and she names it Light. Celesia and Light play together in the house and bond, but it seems no one notices Light. Celesia then makes the decision not to tell anyone of Light as it could likely lead to trouble, owning a pokemon and all. Things continue like this until one day when a greedy man tries to get his Rotom back. He forces his way into the manor and notices a small girl with his doll containing the Rotom. Celesia writes one last diary entry stating how scarred Light is and detailing where she is going. The man follows her out back and tries to forcefully take the doll from her, but something goes horribly wrong. He ends up shoving the girl into the well out back alongside her doll. Her screams echo in his mind and are soon followed by quick electrical shocks. He is likely tried in a certain nearby city's judicial district and is sent to jail as he writes one last letter of apology to the Altair family, and so ends the story of young Celesia and her Rotom.

What a chilling sidequest. Something will definitely happen with it in the future as we are yet to obtain our rotom and whatever is in the Altair safe, so be on the lookout.

[Jmanultrax1]

well the safe is obvious that something will make us come back to it as its a scan, however we are overlooking the most crucial thing, the clefairy doll. if you interact with it after pulling it out of the well it says it eerily is staring at you. This could mean that the rotom is still fused inside it, and when we meet this man who fused it he will tell us how to unfuse it and we will hopefully get a rotom.

[FairFamily]

A few thoughts on this side-quest.

First is the doll, not only does it look at you eerily. It also moves when you interact with it.

The second thing is that the well smells, it does hint at the body still being there. Did nobody wanted to pull up the body to bury it?

Third is the fact that the rotom is extremely scared ,rotom abuse perhaps.

Fourth are the starts on 2 of the pages, the month is the strangest because I doubt you would start with a 0 in that style. Maybe safe related?

My final thought is that if pkmn are distraction why is Celesia allowed to play around all day with that doll? Maybe Celesia is the younger sister and not the direct heir. So she has no duties except the standard etiquette. That could imply that one of the entries is not of Celesia but her sister.

Edited July 19, 2016 by FairFamily

[Dragon God Goomy]

I actually got a Rotom from Gaeren City from the earlier verions of the game. I wonder what will happen if I bring it to the Manor?

Also I already got the Gate Key. Now how to get to the back area of he Manor?

Edited July 19, 2016 by Ace_Trainer_Vince

[Hymdall]

Glad to see people have similar ideas to me on this.

I actually got a Rotom from Gaeren City from the earlier verions of the game. I wonder what will happen if I bring it to the Manor?

Also I already got the Gate Key. Now how to get to the back area of he Manor?

As to this

Go back upstairs, the Clefairy doll should once again be in the middle of the hallway above the big hole. Talk to it again and it'll create a boulder for you to push down to clog the hole in front of the barred gate.

Anyways, I did a little more testing. Going at night changes nothing. Have yet to bring a Pikachu though, so perhaps that'll change things later. More to come.

[Dragon God Goomy]

Glad to see people have similar ideas to me on this.

As to this

Go back upstairs, the Clefairy doll should once again be in the middle of the hallway above the big hole. Talk to it again and it'll create a boulder for you to push down to clog the hole in front of the barred gate.

Anyways, I did a little more testing. Going at night changes nothing. Have yet to bring a Pikachu though, so perhaps that'll change things later. More to come.

Its not there. Do I need to read all the notes?

[Guzam]

I said it before, and I'll say it again, the quest is unfinishable as of rn. The only reward (for now at least) is the light ball.

[Dragon God Goomy]

I said it before, and I'll say it again, the quest is unfinishable as of rn. The only reward (for now at least) is the light ball.

Problem is I can't get the Clefairy appear in front of the door leading to the back area. What should I do?

[Hymdall]

I said it before, and I'll say it again, the quest is unfinishable as of rn. The only reward (for now at least) is the light ball.

Must've missed that in an earlier post, freaking rip me today, blegh.

Problem is I can't get the Clefairy appear in front of the door leading to the back area. What should I do?

It's not in front of the back area. It's upstairs. You remember the room with the TV and the two stairways? Go up the stairs. Should theoretically be there. If not, check the left room upstairs again, make sure it's not in the bed.

[Dragon God Goomy]

Must've missed that in an earlier post, freaking rip me today, blegh.

It's not in front of the back area. It's upstairs. You remember the room with the TV and the two stairways? Go up the stairs. Should theoretically be there. If not, check the left room upstairs again, make sure it's not in the bed.

I got the key. Now what?

[Valyrym]

I got the clefairy to point at the candelabra, now what?

[CoolTrainerGary]

I got the clefairy to point at the candelabra, now what?

interact with the candelabara on the fireplace mantle