Feng Lei

I just beat her on hard mode on the first try... (actually second, maybe, one of those two). Speed EV trained Qwilfish with Rollout, Toxic Spikes, Spikes and Minimize. I just avoided all her attacks and let poison and rollout scaling damage do the work. It turned out easy enough. I mean, I had all my other team members fainted by that point, so it's not necessarily a walk in the park, but it worked. First time ever I had no need to go back and switch to easy mode for her. Other then that.... yeah. I got no other advice. She's hard. Very, very much so. Oddly, she doesn't have Chatot in Intense, and that thing is usually a struggle for me. Maybe train a Lycanroc? Those always make fights a little easier.

I would suggest Pokemon Empire. I loved that game. Only 3 chapters in but it's got tons of content already...

My recent musings has led me to believe EVERYTHING we have been playing is actually all part of the Archetype's Inner Workings. And we're trapped in it like it's a Matrix of some sort, and we must somehow work around a means of awakening the archetype without it going into a violent fit. Maybe fuse it with the original Arceus. (The one hit with the meteor is obviously the Reborn Arceus, and we can assume it's not going to come back... since the official release date for Reborn is after the apocalypse.) It just feels like the Inner Workings would explain everything. And why time is so wonky. It's all a literal Inception style dream. (Although I have never watched Inception. I hate movies. So that's probably not accurate at all...) Maybe Erin finds out about all this and realizes she and her siblings basically are but pieces of one whole, and further concludes that it doesn't have to be Maria who wakes up... it could be Erianna... That, or she meets up with Melanie. And Melanie realizes she can actually fuse with Erin, and things go very bad from there.

Ye Fools! Soon you will learn the fate of those that help the world. Soon, you will learn that the master of AA sees the Interceptor as the prime "helper" of the universe. This is why everything is falling to pieces! *Shrieks incoherently* Because the universe got so out of shape asking PEOPLE for help with its causality problems! WAKE UP! You, the Interceptor, are the CAUSE OF ALL THIS *Wild screaming* THERE WILL BE BLOOD! *Coughs politely* I can almost guaruntee that I would love seeing the final villain actually be AA's true leader. It would be so hilarious. Too much so.

I think the 59 year old is Deagan. He looked substantially older than Kenneth in WLL. Another possibly related note I've been meaning to ask about. Alexandra said she couldn't bear to "face" the guy who lives in Oblitus Town. Why? Does it maybe have to do with Deagan? That gym there seems like it might have been his Dark Gym? We never learned where it was supposed to be located. . . It's also interesting Deagan is dark skinned like Alexandra and Damien but Kenneth isn't. It's just, odd to me. Because the brothers don't resemble each other AT ALL. Maybe 4 Island has greater significance than we might assume, but that feels like a bit of a big stretch.

I... don't know. But I'm fairly sure someone mentioned it was slowly growing bigger. No idea who mentions it. Lots of people reference it at one point or another in later episodes so it's hard. Perhaps one of the bladestar grunts who dump the MC in it? Or the guy who researches it? It feels like maybe it was Ren. I destinctly recall reading in the game that it's slowly getting bigger. But I could easily be misremembering. It does bring one to wonder. Maybe Melanie was lying about destroying all the land, and it was in fact falling into the sea because chasms were opening up same as what happened to Alamissa Urban. That right there gives evidence that maybe the dungeon is spreading. Oh. I just realized something important. Vivian. Vivian is/was connected to the EARTH. Voidal Chasm is in the earth itself. So if Voidal Chasm is directly connected to Indriad's Gift... would be very vulnerable to Vivian's sacrificial protection spell...

My thought on the way the main character behaves, and seems to lack the Interceptor power to avoid death, whereby Crescent saves us on Valor Mountain, even though it should have been our Interceptor abilities to do the trick... is that the Core is damaged from Indriad's Gift. Maybe Crescent is something more than an ordinary Interceptor. She might be someone high ranking in the project that created them, or maybe even a higher-ranking entity, like a Commander or Admin class Interceptor. Perhaps her functions put strain on the Core system and so she wasn't activated until things got dire. And the MC is the only one of the others left who can function, or didn't "fail" for the final time. She seems to indicate from the very beginning on the Oceania that there is not much time left for either of us. Why the hell is that? Nancy seems to know, but there's a lot about her that's mysterious too. And she is never around long enough to explain, and promised she wouldn't to Crescent, anyway. Then her nightmare is about running out of time, and something going to be "soon, soon..." She may be directly linked to the Core in a way that lets her see it's current status. She knows too much and look what kind of person she is. Maybe THAT is why the MC Interceptor is not given memories or understands their place. The truth, and the doomsday clock that could well be with it, might drive us mad or to panic-driven, and therefore sub-optimal, choices. Another thing about Indriad's Gift: I would swear it's connected to Voidal Chasm. And the chasm is SPREADING, and UNDERGROUND. Just like the Core and its associated systems... maybe it is being steadily eroded away... and we have nothing to stop it. Indriad always seems to get away and accomplish what he needs to in order for the Gift to manifest, and indeed, seems like it happens VERY soon after losing Anathea.

Ok, so maybe Isha was the culprit. I need to go back and read the dialogue we have with him in the Hospital of Ruin. But... some weird things are happening in that ruined building. First off, it is tacitly shown that there was someone there with us, that we don't see. They unlock the gate for us. I was assuming this was Isha. he mentioned having that area still monitored. But was the doctor actually there? Again, I'm forgetting if he confesses this at the HoR. What makes me suspect it's actually Sirius, is this: someone specifically tore out the medical files discussing the Theolia family, specifically Anathea. There was stuff missing I'm sure, but the files were also opened for us to find, or for someone to look at. Sirius would have good reason for looking at those records, but Isha just... doesn't. Ren mentions how weird it is, and notes someone must have been there recently in regards to this. Then we have the quote that Sirius is more active than he appears to be, as he was stalking Team Xen as far back as the very beginning, it seems. I just don't know anymore. It feels like Sirius would be more likely to go unnoticed. Isha is slippery, but as a side-villain and one only recently developed, I'd expect him to have gotten a good showing in Zone Zero, if only to hype it all up. It's no secret we were in Isiah's house, so why not SHOW the other explorer, and instead keep it all off-screen? It builds tension, but the addition of Anathea's files throws evidence our way we didn't have before. It's our "Assumption" Isha was there. Or at least, the only one. He could've brought Sirius along, for all we know, and we'd never know, until shown the scenes. It could be Isha and Sirius were working together. Makes me wonder if Isha's talking about, "my gift will rise!", is a quote from Sirius... because it SOUNDS like something he would say, with that whole Gift to Humanity from before... At any rate I still feel it likely he was at Zone Zero recently, or at some prior date to us arriving, to view Anathea's files. Or perhaps I'm making another assumption. But if not him, who would have interest in her records there? Everything about Sirius is a big confusing blank space. He appears to be almost an entirely different character from Indriad. The name change seems appropriate. Also, Tyron sounds very, very similar to Typhon...

My thought is that Vitus is basically looking to slay the Triforce Prime Arceus and become a god in his place. That would fit his evil motif. It also now fully comes to my attention that Vitus is truly stalking us, the Interceptor. He was watching in Wispy Tower, he was watching in Zone Zero. He is close, he is near, he is aware. And he will inevitably strike again, when least we suspect... that or he decided he'd rather be a hot ice witch, dunno. That scene is confusing. He is starting to remind me of Makuta from the Bionicle saga. He has ALL the plans, and WE are the ones implementing them, one by one...

Sirius is the Dog-star, the Goat of Mendes, the sign of Satan upon his own forehead. The egyptian Sun-god priests, at the highest levels, understood tacitly that it was not Ra, the sun god they worshiped, but a being that disguised himself in light, but who in fact was a black cube of everlasting darkness, coming from the brightest star of all. It was taboo to speak of it because Sirius was associated with the Nile River during its drought period. Which would spell doom or famine for many people in Egypt. So the truth was kept as a very tight secret. But I think Sirius was chosen because of Sirius radio. And the Altair and Sirius bit makes a LOT of sense as a reference... though it's confusing as can be on first-playthrough after just finishing Reborn.

Pray for Reborn devs. I have this sneaking suspicion the AI has rebelled and incarnated itself into Donkey Kong! The End is Nigh, indeed... to think the apocalypse would begin with the Apes...

I probably wasn't the first one on here by any stretch to have come up with that, but I did suspect. It was really really weird. If Saki isn't Madame X, she's the robot. And it would make sense how she survives all she does, like being catapulted off the ship for instance. And her eye glowing somehow... And again, I really, really need that dialogue box captured, but at the mansion, Saki-bot says... something... weird, that sounds like it is out of full context and more alluding not to your pointless activities at the manor but your interactions on Terajuma. Something like, "after all we've been through I trusted you", or something. Please don't quote that. It's vague what's actually in the game but it really got my intuition going. Alas that it's a scene easily missed, due to the humor, and also possibly a case of the vile, and most hated-but-definitely-slain-by-Reborn-devs line break. Where it's hard to catch what's said. Maybe. But if she's a robot now, was she always? Surely Braixen could tell if her bestie didn't have a functioning soul or real mind.

What bothers me about Freya and Keiran is that they basically do not actually do as much damage as they appear at first glance. They're very good at causing "distress" and "suffering", specifically in WLL. But that's it. Basically. Suffering isn't necessarily bad. It's how people choose to respond to it that's bad. From the results of Freya's work at least, it seems like her goal was to push for Aelita's birth and life growing up. Which is bizarre if she's a villain. She ruined Kenneth and turned him into Keta. But that brought Team Xen to Sheriden. But, what if whoever wanted to see Taelia dead was an enemy of Team Xen? Like maybe Indriad? Assuming they are not allies. My point is that so far, the actions of the Mysterious Two are really more chaotic, bordering on Chaotic Good, if you look close at Keiran. He sends them to the past to learn more about Sashilla, which is REAAAALLY suspicious because he obviously was waiting on you. There's another interesting bit I haven't thought about recently. Keiran was attacking Alexandra. That's something worth noting. Keiran helped us so we could go to the top of Valor, something that was otherwise IMPOSSIBLE, and we see Crescent send the mountain climbing contraption away. Which the Mysterious Two decide to attack not long afterword. Maybe they would have intervened if we tried climbing with Saki...? and by teleporting them, Crescent may have saved us a free-for-all like what happens at Eclysia Pyramid.

Hmm... maybe. But I still feel like Madame X has a consistent personality. But of course that could get programmed in. To be honest, the first thing that always struck me while playing, and doubly so after visiting Amethyst Cave... I feel like the woman behind the mask is a clone of Nancy. Nancy said she "wasn't made like the others". Probably the most unexplained comment yet. I'm fairly certain she is a cloned being, not just a maid or something. It would make sense given how the machine spoke in the Cave. Which may mean she's a puppet. The thing that gets me about Madame X is her line of "My mother died to protect me". So, we can gain a lot of insight into who we ultimately narrow down for that. It all comes down to where Saki's mother is. Is she alive now, or not? If she is, then it is unlikely Saki is the Madame, but if she is or does... well... The more I think about it, the more it feels like the Mysterious Duo are actually ultimately good. They don't seem to be operating with Team Xen's best interest at heart, or at least that's the feeling I get. Unless they want Aelita alive for some reason. Maybe they are Stormchasers and the StormChasers are actually working WITH Team Xen? That... would actually suddenly make a LOT of sense, think about it...

But now you make it sound so much like her that I can't unsee it. I was hoping she'd end up in a love triangle with Huey and Lavender. That would fit her better than falling to the choco-voice. (It's so funny how I pegged him as having a chocolate smooth, deep voice the minute he showed up. With a surfer accent of course. It... frightens me... how similar Reina's mind worked compared to mine. In that instance.) I confess that I don't like Reina that much on the character scale. Though I appreciate her place greatly. It works because she meshes well with the GDC characters. And I don't recall her even existing in my initial run of the game. (over two years back). She was a mostly refreshing surprise. Right now, Erin seems like the most likely to betray, given the bombshells she could easily receive. She has a phobia of being trapped, one that is really more of a psychosis. And she was suffering from identity crisis. She's been through horrific and tremendous psychological abuse, all the way up until that hug in the Athenium. She's a good girl at heart, and she's one of the best characters in the game, and really makes Melia and Aelita stand out more as characters. She's all but essential. However, psychological abuses like what she's suffered are permanent like cracks in a mirror. It would not be hard to see her crumble or shatter if struck hard enough. I'm very sure she fell down in Darchlight and, instead of calmly taking a nap, actually went into a fit of hysteria and passed out until Flora's unpleasant voice alerted her to our presence. She even started ranting about NEVER being trapped again. That was what did it. It threw her for a loop to be down there. And she WAS trapped, even if she hadn't explored yet to find that out. Imagine if she learns she must fuse with her siblings to become one being? If that gets couched to her in such a way that it comes across as "in a place forever with now way out and no freedom", literally "trapped", she is going to refuse. It takes only so much nudging for someone who has been betrayed thrice (Souta, Indriad and technically Flora, who she probably wasn't expecting to actually blow her up along with a building. She admits she was expecting it from Melia later, too...) to at return the favor, especially out of self-preservation and terror. I wouldn't blame her. Who wants to be left in the Inner workings with two siblings she probably doesn't care for, and MELANIE? Arceus help her! There could be other factors involved too.

I will say again that the house at the prologue bears more significance than anywhere else for some reason. (Anywhere else means any of the places Maria was sacrificed, in this instance). It is possible, now that I think about it, that maybe this is where Maria managed to break free and escape, becoming Melia somehow. Perhaps Madame X rescues her here and then gives her up to Professor Jenner not long afterword! (Just thought of that). Then we have the bizarre scene that follows, where Maria is sacrificed at the end of the prologue in a dungeon/castle like place. It may be Jan pulled a weird one on us and ends up breaking continuity (perhaps at the time he did the prologue, it wasn't meant to be that way, don't know. How long ago was the prologue implemented? Anyone know of changes/retconns?), so the first scene at the house is actually the LAST time Vitus tries something, and the second stage is actually the very first time he attempts this, likely at Blacksteeple. Anathea's books at Blacksteeple are another BIG puzzler. My thought is still that after her true death and bodily sacrifice, Indriad ends up creating a Kanon-like doll in the likeness of Anathea to keep a facade up for Maria, though that didn't happen at Chrysalis, so I still don't know... Ooh, another thing that just popped into my head: The journal entries underneath the Shridan Wetlands base state that Yveltal is "his" way back if all else fails. But Yveltal is carrying a Soul Stone so I've heard. Which may mean Indriad has died or has means of ensuring that, should he die, he can be resurrected via Yveltal and the stone.

I can totally see there being several decisions that seem utterly pointless but are BUTTERFLY EFFECTs. So much room in this game for chaos and MaYhEm. It'd be awesome if we get a Side Quest that shows us a hilariously bad ending if we choose wrong. Or maybe in the Worst Ending, if you do some random stuff like that with the library research dude, there will be funny scenes like that. "I was actually the third fragment of Arceus! If you'd not been a smartass and told me the Library likes Decaf, I'D HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEMS myself! But NOT NOW! *Arceus uses Ragnarok.*

I really like the idea of the notification about decisions, but for this to work and not ruin the mystery and suspense, especially in first playthroughs, it needs to have an option in the Options menu to switch it OFF. Just saying. That should not be impossible and for something like this it needs to be there in order to give people the ability to choose organically, and then not so organically during later playtrhoughs if they like it. Everything about the quest cards is awesome.

I doubt Crescent is the final villain. She definitely isn't interested. Though may be she is one of the 4 Darknesses. Obsession actually fits her really well. Pure Evil: Indriad Greed: Currently Unknown Betrayal: Probably either Erin or Reina, since of the twins is a traitor, and Ren has already been tried and proven true. Obsession: Either Angie, Flora or Crescent.

I think the final villain and true mastermind is none other than I think she's Celine. Or maybe Celine is her own entity and she is the true villain. Everything is going to her whim. Everything to her game. The final "battles" of real worth will be the Elite 8 and true Champion, who it is rather vaguely hinted is Alexandra, from her rather suspicious behavior while discussing the champion on the train. It just feels so obvious to me. But maybe not. Everything about Robo Amanda upsets me. I don't mesh well with techno stuff along with rituals and the like. Anyway, something got me thinking. We can be almost certain Maria and Melia are not the same girl. Because Venam had just lost Melia, yet doesn't react at all when she sees Maria. And she grew up with Melia. She ought to know if Maria and Melia look the same, which they should. Reincarnation could be the explanation, meaning Melia just looks different. But honestly even their sprites are significantly different. There was something else but I forgot. Oh! Bladestar. They were trying to do something in the dreamyard. Maybe we have not seen the last of Flora as we think! Perhaps there is more to her story or maybe Florin's than we assume. Likely to do with whatever Rune is trying to do now in the underground. Another thing that has kept me awake at night for weeks. (Seriously please help me unravel this!). Chrysalis and the events of Tainted Light occur post Calamity. They must. Angie seems to believe enough time has past since Indriad isolated her for Sashilla to be destroyed. Chrysalis is not Marble Mansion. Indriad left the house where he lost Anathea be after her death. Chrysalis has the same exterior design, but otherwise its surrounding grounds, underground, and interior layouts are totally and markedly different. Angie also is seen by Kenneth in WLL, but it happens off-screen. So in the intervening 15 years, at some time, or at least before Sirius marries Narcy and takes Geara on as his protoge, Chrysalis could have taken place.

Where Love Lies implies it does in fact screw over people's memories... so yeah, it cause all sorts of memory confusion.

I'm playing Where Love Lies right now. Honestly, this is hype and really, really should by all rights be in the main game. Right after you and Aelita meet up again, in fact, and you go to sleep in the Xen aircraft. It would be so perfectly tie things in... and would fit nice and snug and prevent that conversation with Aelita from being very, very awkward and needlessly confusing. I bring that up because, my primary reason for believing Risa Raider is Freya, or at least the character who calls herself Risa Raider, is the speech patterns. In Where Love Lies, the encounter with Taelia has Freya talking in a manner veeerrry similar to Risa Raider. Dead on accurate. Also she is acting in a previous segment. And Risa is supposedly a great actor... Then we have the fact both wear coverings over their eyes. Highly suspicious. And then TuffPuff. That Jiggly aint' normal whatever the truth is. We also know RR is a master engineer. Which is where the Saki theory comes from. But Risa is too well known for one to assume she has not displayed those skills before. Or who knows? Maybe she really was turned into the terminally ill Risa Raider because Saki has similar skills. I can't say. But it would behoove us all to watch closely to see if Freya exibits excellent engineering ability. If so, that's another piece of damning evidence that she is Risa Raider. My thought is Risa Raider actually did in fact die and Freya took over. Which explains why she is caught up in all this. Here's another one that's been brewing for too long! I cannot hold it in! My theory: Saki Blakeory, or perhaps her mother, is Madame X. This is the most absurd thing in the world and it is so riddled with holes that it counts more as a vegetable colander than anything remotely watertight. But I cannot help it! The moment she pulls out that sword and starts talking to herself about trying out the laser gimmick, I just saw Saki behind that visor and could not look away from that disturbing thought. This happened during my second playthrough back in March. The first was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2018. The game was not good. It also wasn't far enough along to give me payoff for all the complex plot threads, which are starting to slowly, but surely, converge. Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoyed my replay and now Rejuv is my overall favorite pokemon game. The music is insanely perfect. Not a track out of place. Anyway, I was enjoying the story immensely, so wild theories tended to crop up. But this Madame X equals Saki thing just would not stop. Here's my observations: 1: Mannerisms. Specifically: Dramatics. Madame X talks in an almost cliche fashion that makes her look really stereotypical, at least until we learn more about what's going on in the past. She blossoms as her own character from that point forward and it just keeps getting better. Awesome character. But. But, she still has this behavior that feels almost apart from reality, like she's putting on an iron facade for appearance sake. When on Terajuma, I noticed something. Saki slips into the same mode of speech, particularly during the moment with Amber. This is meant as a humorous point (and it is still the funniest darned thing I have ever seen in Pokemon. It was perfect!), but it is not, in fact, without some interesting insight into Saki. Her eyes glow red, perhaps hinting she's actually an android? (If she's not Madame X then I'm convinced she's been murdered and downloaded herself into Sakitron. It would make too much sense and there is this very strange dialogue she has with the Interceptor during her house sidequest. It was weird. Like she was referencing something from Terajuma.) That aside, Saki takes out, from nowhere, this.... thing, and attacks Amber with the very clear intent to kill her. This is funny, but only because it's a game. She really did intend to commit murder. Her speech was dead-on Madame X. It was dramatic. Yes, yes, lots of people are dramatic in the story. Like Veronica. But only Saki has shown this... flair for malevolent over-the-top drama. She also pulls that weapon out of nowhere, and that has to have in-story explanation somehow. Guess who also pulls a sword out of literally nowhere? Madame X! And it fires lasers. Speaking of, she has high-tech turrets everywhere. And she clearly wears a mechanical suit. Then we should consider Saki's character. 2. Saki's Character! We know nothing about her genuine personality, or why she behaves so weird. It's bizarre. I don't find her behavior rational within the context of what we know of her. It's like she is supposed to be a Terra knock-off, and honestly that may have been the original intent with her. But clearly her behavior has its own development in the story. What is it then? What could drive someone to such extremes? This is coming from my own life, but I reacted in childhood to heavy burdens and psychological stress by acting almost exactly the way Saki appears to be. Never a serious moment. Because the serious moments could get very, very bitter and dark. Maybe this is why it comes to mind that, we really, really don't know ANYTHING about the modern Blakeory household. Where are the parents? Why does Saki have a half-brother? Where is Saki's mom? Is she the new woman? But Saki is the younger sibling, despite being scion of the family wealth... and the grandparents, one of which is Hazuki, dote on her. Her grandfather, scum though he is, also seems to actually love her from what we can see. Is there maybe a reason for this beyond her being simply the favorite? You'd think Thomas the Second, chiseled from the old tree such that he's a LOT like his grandfather, would be favored more... at first glimpse, of course. Which carries the point, we only get glimpses. It just feels so deliberate. We really don't anything about Saki. Compare this with literally EVERYONE else by the end of Terajuma. We interact with Valerie constantly. There are all sorts of great moments with her. Melia continues to develop. Adam... kinda does, in subtle ways. And we spend time with them all. Save one in particular that we barely encounter throughout the entire arc... Saki. This is consistent with our entire experience with Saki Blakeory. She is a gag. She is NEVER serious. She is NEVER there when her friends or the plot need her. And NOBODY is not there when the plot needs them! How DARE she? SEC will hear of this! SEC denounces from his molten, ash-strewn grave! Ahem. Pardon me, I don't quite know what came over my person. Through my playthrough, I was struck how well the characters develop. Erin grows as a character beautifully. And Venam slowly turning over a new leaf is going along excellently. I could go on, and on, and on. Even otherwise gag or side characters get focus. Piano Lady even gets a little development arc. People we only meet later in the story, Reina, Heuy and Lavender specifically, become paramount in their development and importance. Only Saki Blakeory is missing. Only she is somehow, throughout the Interceptor's journey, remains aloof or missing. Her attitude is what makes her aloof. When Angie is threatening people she could care about, she plays video games and spouts nonsense, like there's no danger. It's as if she is unconcerned by it all. Like she might even know some foregone conclusions... But all that could be nothing. Surely. Well that's the generalizing. Generally, she is weird and not given enough player interaction to come off as anything but a one-dimensional and half-baked comic relief with benefits. It was a reason I didn't like my first playthrough waaaaaaaay back in 2018. She has no use and is pretty annoying. Everyone in-game agrees. What gives? But isn't that all there is to her? It's not like there's any- 3. Suspicious Behavior. Let us back up and let me give my three assumptions I'm making when I say Saki Blakeory is Madame X. By this, I mean she will become Madame X, not that she's somehow walking around Xen Headquarters half the time. No, not at all! That would be absurd. Though with ther Ultimate Engineering (TM), maybe she could... The three assumptions: 1: She knows she will become Madame X in the future. (She knows it "is her Destiny", "Duty", or whatever. She knows therefore, things about the overall plot even we the players as of yet do not know. How much she knows may be inconsistent with what Madame X or the Blakeories know now or will know later.) She may even have her memories tampered with in all SORTS of ways thanks to Isha. With Isha, nobody's psyche is safe from Greenbaum-style programming. But I will assume she hasn't been tampered with by Isha, or wasn't at the time of Terajuma before her disappearance. 2: She has specific duties to perform. I don't know what these are but I assume not all her actions are as flighty as they seem. She is a Jar Jar Binks is actually a Malevolent Whil kind of character. Which is basically what Terra is. Ridiculous, even insufferably annoying. But important. Maybe even critical! (Seriously, though, go research the Binks theory and then watch Episode I paying attention to Binks. It's rather disturbing... especially the planet core part where he controls the movements of the first fish with his hands...) And then there's.... uh... 3: I forget three. Wait no. No I don't. I remember now. The Blakeories and Team Xen are directly related and work or at least benefit each other. Duh. this is why I suck at math Taking all that into consideration, let's review what Saki actually does and the consequences of what she does- She is first encountered at Chrysolia Hotel. You know, nothing creepy or sinister about it. Just that it's where Zelda MARIA WAS HELD PRISONER BY Ganondorf INDRIAD in Krystal's crystal! Seriously, Andross and his krozoa spirit buds gonna file law suits. She lives in West Gearen. Why. Why? Why was she there? Where was her room? Nothing to bother packing? What was she doing there instead of being in Akuwa Town? Or home? Or GDC? Why isn't her home with her family? Where they built a freaking STADIUM for her? Nothing about that very cold, ominously dark grey and green house makes sense. Save that it belongs somewhere in a Nickelodeon cartoon. M-Maybe she was in the underground chambers doing something... until she notices your suspicious personage and tries to finish you off with the available equipment (luggage trolley), improvising a way to slay a suspicious looking Meddling Kid (TM). Or perhaps after committing acts in the dark that would bring pleasure only to Rift Gardevoir, she went to pretend she was a careless, flippant, spoiled rich girl in a hotel. This is an important point to stop and remember that the Blakeories absolutely know what they were building that hotel out of. They are Garufan, and they visited the chambers. And, most important of all in context of the main game content: the curator at the Chrysolia Hotel knows about ancient Garufan sites. He knows about the Library, after all... Or hints he does. Maybe he knows about what is beneath his hotel. We KNOW, or can infer, there is still underground chambers there. The swimming pool has a Totodile in it that surfaces from seemingly nowhere. It seems the Blakeories flooded the Garufa areas. Or so it appears... anyway. Regardless her presence at the hotel is somewhat strange. u r annoying # list feature I lost my train of thought. Oh Arceus why. Trainwreck. Brainwreck. How convenient is it that at Blacksteeple, we find Saki right next to our own cell? How odd. She is the one who mentions to us the last resident of the cell vanished (or I recall this. Correct me if I am wrong here). But she doesn't seem to know why. She is an engineer and yet she doesn't know about the obvious crack in the wall? It's almost that cell was left off limits. Strange. But not really more than video game plot and 4-wall game mechanics humor doesn't explain. And I personally believe that is all this is. But it's worth mentioning. Next, and most important, she is at Blacksteeple. She seems generally unconcerned with her predicament. When tasked with destroying the pokeball signal, she outright rips the antenna out of the ground and hurls with unbelievable superhuman strength. How? Why would she do something so stupid. It's like Dexter and Deedee fused. I don't get it. I watched too much tv as a kid What are the consequences of this escapade? The Interceptor gets caught, lacking superhuman skillz or Lin's Debugod menu, and gets thrown into the cell. The others escape, thwarted. Did she do this on purpose? What would it serve? I'll tell you. It kept everyone delayed just a little. A litttttle bit longer. Until The Madame, arrived. Cruel. Calculating. She was toying with everyone the whole while. And all this time she intended to just... slip away, up to Neved's room, when the killing started. Or whatever it was Madame X intended. There's also Saki's troublemaking with the guards that opens the way for Braixen and Valerie to enter the pokeball denial machine's cave. At Terajuma, Saki is sent flying a far distance. One would call this straight up humor. But the girl had to have practically flown, and possess incredible durability. Who else has shown disregard for falling far and landing without trouble? Probably lots of people, but Madame X especially shows she is not scared of jumping from very high up and landing without so much as a thought to it. Could Saki's durability be more than mere anime fun? Maybe. One thing is for sure: she didn't stay where she landed. Where did Saki go up until she is found in Aquamarine Cave? Why no rangers find her? Did she just... swim all the way and bypass the jungle? Why didn't she find help? Was she not hungry? Thirsty? Dirty? How come she is the most pampered gal out of the whole bunch and she seems to have no qualms about hiking through a jungle that tires out literally the entire cast present? Was she just catapulted straight to Aquamarine Cave and set to wandering aimelessly like the mindless gherkin she pretends to be? There is a BIG problem with the beginning of Terajuma. Have any of you noticed yet? Gears spinning? Did I somehow outsmart you guys? Maybe, but SEC wasn't outsmarted! No! SEC knew. Go away SEC. SEC is part of you now. He migrated after the last backup blew up. You are mine. No. Lul. The big problem. The big, big problem is: the Team Xen ship got teleported by Spacea and Tiempa hooliganry. They literally ended up AT ONCE, in the OPPOSITE, the OPPOSITE!! direction to where they were headed, according to the characters. And yet we are led to believe, despite her vast intelligence, that Nastasia just happened to have resources available for Geara and Zetta when they escaped? Really? Ok maybe. But not much time was spent between the arrival and the attack of the Deoxys, right? (Forgive me if I missed a couple days. But we never learn just why or how Geera and Zetta got so much resources, and which. Why no flying semi-truck? Is that Nastasias or maybe wasn't built until the Zone Zero mission? The Teleport Pad was very idiotic and apparently dangerous. Why in the world would Nastasia, knowing this much, dare to leave Melia's transfer to something that might leave in itty bitty pieces like Geara? That makes no sense. Unless... someone contacted Xen HQ before Geara and Zetta did, and asked for a different resource set than they did... Back to Aquamarine Cave. Something very disturbing happens. First, Saki, when discovered, is in a life-threatening position where she would have been eaten. Instead of fighting, instead of being somewhere safe, she is standing in the middle of a small island deliberately ASKING a pack of flesh-hungry and bloodthirsty Sharpedo to give her all their fury. With arms spread, eyes closed, back turned. Her words are funny. But the way the characters and the Interceptor are forced to interact, this situation was life-threatening and NOT funny. Saki's words could be taken for flippant enjoyment. Maybe her team would have come out and slaughtered them. Or maybe, maybe we are not to look to Saki's words. Maybe her words are meaningless for a reason. Maybe she wants us not heed easily spewed sentences, but to pay attention to her actions. Perhaps that behavior in Aquamarine was a chance she saw coming. Consider this: If Saki is really friends with everyone, and has been with them through so much, yet knows her Destiny, perhaps she does not WANT it. Perhaps, once she was free from her friends' protective eyes, she fled. Blacksteeple was behind her. A horrid point where maybe she knew what she should do, but did not yet want. She has a duty, a destiny. But that purpose flies in the face of all her happiness, friendship, and maybe her conscience. And she saw a place to end it. In the depths of Aquamarine cave. Let me ask you another question: SEC will always answer, Feng. I wasn't talking to you. Shut. UP. *Sadness* Where was Saki, in Aquamarine? In the Garufan chambers. Where, presumably, Kyogre itself rose to greet her. How? Why? Wasn't it sealed up beneath Valor? Can it come and go freely without sacrifices on the alter? The stone steele there states something about unsealing the beast and capital punishment falling on those who release Kyogre. how in the world did it get to Aquamarine? I guess it really can move freely. But still, why was she there, specifically? Couldn't she just ask a Kingler to do her in? If suicide was her true goal? Maybe. It would be not worth mentioning, honestly. But for one BIG, Mysterious Twist (TM) Freya. Freya saves Saki from the Kyogre. A now prevalent and tempral-critical character, who is there even aaaaallllll the way back there with Team Xen, the Blakeories and herself, Freya the interpol officer, is the one whom saves Saki from the Whale. Not to mention reveals herself first to her, before all others. Now, that would mean nothing. Normally. BUT. But, but, but! She says to Saki, "My name is Freya, you WILL remember that name!" O __ O Yes. The mysterious figure who has shown to be tight-lipped and at least antagonistic to us, was nothing but helpful to her and even goes so far as to offer her name and demand its remembrance. Saki KNEW the name. She did not forget. But she brushed it off to the others, while also making her story sound like crap. When it was in fact not so. Then we have Saki's general behavior after that point. Val sums it up. She is unreliable of late. Does that mean she is usually at least a little more competent? Even if just a little? Why? Why behave as she is now as opposed to later? She does nothing useful until provoked. Angie's letter. This should have provoked Saki. But instead she says something that, in light of time travel prevalence in the story, is rather scary: "Oh, I've seen that one already", or something to the effect. If she is Madame X and knows the truth, perhaps she realizes Angie's little stint won't last and so shows no concern. Of greater importance is what comes afterword. Now, Saki does help with her... contraption. What would it have accomplished? It probably would have worked. But then again, she still fails. It makes one wonder. Where did she go after that? The existence of her mountain climber shows she is interested in helping, at last, though maybe her ultimate plan was to just throw everyone off it before it was all done. Then again, there is the possibility she is conflicted, to the point of attempted suicide by sharpedo gang. Maybe the contraption was her attempt to do what she really wants to, but feels she can't. Or shouldn't. After Terajuma, Saki's whereabouts become unknown. Adam and Valerie are displayed in their respective places and Adam has returned to his proper place in the story with development. Val has not, but she is still at least shown. Saki is gone. She is missing. Yet her grandmother does not appear worried at all! And her half-brother is downright hostile, despite being almost as helpful as she has been the ENTIRE game, in just his short time interacting. 4. It's All in the Family I gotta type this fast. It's late and my computer is dying. It's WHAT Slick? No, no no! SEC DOESN"T WANNA GO BY POWERFAILURE! SAY NO TO STARVATION! Not you, SEC, the computer I'm typing on. O-oh. I get it. I thought that was us looking into a mirror! No it wasn't. I'm still getting used to this meatsuit thing. If only you would DIE! Then I could concentrate and not look like a schizophrenic lunatic! And lose all attempts at humor that give your theory any worthwhile reading potential? Hmmm? Well, Slick? I will move on now. The Blakeories are suspicious. They are one of the three major branches of the ancient Garufan to survive, aside from the Altairs and Theolias. Apparently Hazuki has a vast fortune and she is one of the Guardians. One has to wonder if maybe she is something else, another family. Or the last thereof. Either way it is all the same. The Blakeories are DIRECTLY tied to all this. The Altairs were failing and it seems like they had all but lost their magic besides the grandmother. Even Narcissa is not actively aware of anything important. Despite that Indriad sought her out to marry her, and even built a lab under Whispy Tower specifically to do nasty telecommunications research and broadcasting (And Search for Girantina of all things). But overall the Theolias have shown a stellar retention of Garufan magic. One must wonder whether the Blakeories did as well. Hazuki is again, like anything Blakeory related, kept out of the limelight. We know only she is a swordswoman. Nothing more, save that she seems more wise and in control during Birth of One, Death of Another. And all together unconcerned about her granddaughter... though her time with the Interceptor is brief and under an emergency situation, of course, of course. Maybe that connexion between Team Xen and the Blakeories is of real importance. Is of true substance. Erin is a smart conspiracy researcher. Got the makings of a real, true journalist and truth-seeker. She probably has caught on to something really important. You notice she has no high view of Saki. But that means they have interacted. Meaning maybe our girl of the hour has actually been to the library more than often enough to prove she is interested in a few research projects too. We know Grand Dream City is run by a Team Xen admin. We know the Blakeories built GDC and turned it into a place built in their image. There is Rift Matter of great size and power emanating underneath the city. There are buildings all over the Judicial District that have no official or disclosed purpose, but that Cassandra ordered their construction. The Blakeories are not stupid cookies. They surely know about all this, or SHOULD. Their knowledge is too deep. Their history and lore too vast and specifically oriented to the events we are entangled in as Interceptor. There is no way they don't know. And if they do know, that means Saki ought to know, as heir of the fortune. 5. Amethyst Cave Mineworks We know Keith Blakeory (Keith is Thomas Blakeory's son, isn't he? Looks like it) wanted to expand into Sheriden. That did not happen. But we know Amethyst Cave one day SUDDENLY has hyper-advanced equippment all over and the production station for Madame X herself. Or her armor rather, which is generated from a Timeshift Stone, of all things! What in the hell? That part still makes no sense. It still has no meaning behind it I can grasp. but someone had to have vast resources and knowledge of time-space travel and Garufan powers to pull that off, or they ought to. The Crystals in the cave all are arranged in an X formation, for Team Xen, obviously. There is waaay too much going on. There is also Amethyst Grotto. . . Two major sites One cave. Perhaps the evidence of two separate choices, two paths to two different futures, one of Light, and one of Darkness. With all the speed and money required for the Madame X armor factory, I'd assume the Blakeories are prime candidates for at least financing the project. 6. Deals with the Devil Thomas Blakeory made a deal with Indriad to kill Mr. Blakeory. They know each other and may be of the same or similar age. It may be Mr. Blakeory didn't have Garufan power or didn't bother to dabble for whatever reason. But Thomas surely knows enough to get into contact with his father's enemy and make a deal of mutual benefit. Thomas is a vicious snake. He is evil. We must assume he loves Saki, for the moment, and hope of decency. But if he is willing to murder his father, what is he willing to do with his granddaughter? Put her inside a time-resistant suit? Maybe? 7. REJUVENATION CO. Most important of all, the (insert french phrase of choice), is that Rejuvenation Co. was working for Mr. Blakeory. Or at least, Katsu was working in her home with some people about some kind of power source, if I am not misremembering this. There's the mysterious house belonging to who knows who, mentioning that "That Old Fool is building the end of the world", or something along those lines. I can't exactly quote it, but it's alarming and chilling. Maybe, just maybe, it was not Indriad's Gift that resulted into "Storm 9" after all, but something else. Perhaps it was. Only time will tell. What is of importance is that the Blakeories had ties to Rejuvenation Co. And Rejuvenation Co. is now Team Xen Headquarters itself! Fully restored and expanded beyond what it was, in all likelihood, given what we see, despite being so near a giant volcano, Zone Zero, and that terrible abyssal labyrinth... Is it... possible, that maybe Team Xen are not so villainous in their ultimate goals, as we assume? Or maybe the are. Maybe they are the dark side of the Blakeories. Their way of stopping Indriad, by ruling everything with the fist and the sword. A more bitter, bleak, driven (and Husbando poisoned) Hazuki might well approve of such work. Especially with monstrosities abounding, like the Theolias, and who knows what else. Bladestar for instance. (Whoever believes Bladestar is finished hasn't recalled the beginning of the game. The Dreamyard is apparently a later stage operation than even the pyramid, it's still off limits, Flora clearly meant to do something there, and I for one believe she will do so. her death sentence is not yet completed... and we know not what at the last she might do. Or even Florin, or Jykell. That Musharna wants its pulse massage back.) Mu! Shar! NA! Anyway, it begs the question: what does Blakeory hope to gain? We know they gained a lot from the loss of the Miera region. They retained great power. And the Calamity gave them almost total rule over Aevium. Now that is very, very telling. If Thomas, at least, could stop Storm 9, he would not now. It gave him EVERYTHING. GDC, West and East Gearen, and who knows what else. His wealth and power is vast. And one day it will all belong to Saki Blakeory. 8. He Stalks Them Another interesting point. It appears, in secret, at least, that Madame X (or possibly Nastasia) conspires to stop "him" from doing what he wants. "Yveltal is his way back, if all else fails." -says the diary. Indriad HATED the Blakeories, father and son, and wanted to kill Thomas. He may even have found Thomas' desire to murder his father revolting. If Team Xen is financed or even IS the other side of the Blakeory household, trying perhaps through the Dark Prophetic Path, to stop his end goal of destroying the world, then who else better to concentrate on than them? Indriad would have reason to watch, and to attack them wherever he can. If for no other reason than spite. Team Xen's behavior is odd. Their goals remain unknown. They AREN'T trying to destroy the world. Melia just stubbornly and bone-headedly believes that. Madame X is genuinely enraged by what she sees in the alternate future. This alone proves her goals aren't total annihilation, but perhaps domination. How better to protect the world than hold in her steel fist from those that would crush it? Saki has shown a murderous tendency to take extreme measures with things (the sharpedo, and most importantly Amber, who she intended to murder before her own mother). Perhaps conquest of Pokearth is not beyond her. It is certainly not beyond Madame X. And she holds enough in her power to try, eventually. 9. Children of Nymiera Where is Saki's mother? Madame X tells Melia her mother was a weak woman who died to save her. And that her death WILL mean something, by implying Nany Doll's was not worth it for the Interceptor. I can't recall if at this point Madame X understands the player character is the Interceptor (My opinion is they are the last in line, besides Crescent, and the rest are slain in previous "Attempts" to correct everything, for good or bad). Since we don't know where Saki's mother is, and how she and her husband, the middle Blakeory (I'm assuming to be Keith from Where Love Lies), or what happened to them, we can perhaps infer that maybe they are no longer around. Saki lives alone. There is apparently distance between her and Thomas the Second. There is apparently affection between her and her Grandparents, but no direct interaction is yet seen between her and Hazuki. We don't know much about her personal life with her family. The relationships. Maybe all of her flippancy and carelessness hides a sad life and an even more tragic fate. Saki Blakeory may have everything money can buy, but that won't bring back those she lost, apparently. One would wonder if the time-shift stones could do it, but the circumstances may not be that simple. Or perhaps she is unable. Either way, Madame X claims her mother is dead. We will take her word for it now, even as we wait to discover the fate of Saki's (It just occurred that maybe Keith marries into the family by wedding Saki's mother, but that makes no sense given how he is just a dark haired version of Thomas the Second.) And last but not least, in the battle atop the pyramid, Madame X's mask... cracks. We see it for a glimpse. I don't recall now, after writing all this, if the eye was black or red, but Saki's eyes are capable of both. Which means she must be Obito! Case closed. Go away SEC. There is also the potential that some black hair is shown in the brief exposure. How Indecent! It could possibly be one of the Theolias after or before Archetype exposure or extraction (despite that Extracted subjects die, if I recall). It could be Saki, who has black hair... or a future version of her, perhaps. We also note that without the Suit in good condition, Madame X seems to be rather shook and weakened. She is forced to retreat immediately. She also covers her face. Is this to avoid Deletion for some reason? Is she operating from beyond the time she appears? Past? Future? Or is it to avoid us recognizing her? I recall a rumor somewhere on the forum, please if someone can let me know for closure's sake, that we have ALREADY BEEN GIVEN A HINT AS TO SAKI'S NEW APPEARANCE. What could that be? Maybe the future in which Saki takes the mantle and the sword... is soon. Or even now. _______________________________ Questions left unanswered: Too many to count. Please point them out for me. Please. PLEASE! SEC's are too much to endure! But one in particular bothers me: Yveltal. Yveltal is the key. Yveltal is the answer. It was with Indriad when he went to 4 Island to murder Kenneth's mother. (I assume it was him until further notice). And it is obviously connected to Blacksteeple, if nothing else, Melanie. And of course it is connected to Madame X. It is connected to the very heart of this web of confusion Jan has produced for us. It truly is the key. The one who correctly extrapolates as to Yveltal's role and place in all this, unlocks the truth, surely.

OMG I DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT WITH THE PORTRAIT! And yes, it is possible Melia and Maria are indeed separate people. Now, when it comes to the Interceptor, that's where things can get all kinds of confusing. I am going to assume at the moment that whatever happened in that house, it was the most critical moment, or the point whereby the Interceptor is grafted into events, and is shown the prologue due to its dire significance as the very incident that triggers the disasters to come. Now, another thought on all this happening more than once: we know Anathea dies twice, basically. What if she and Kanon are the same kind of entity? There was an original Anathea, presumably the one Tangrowthed. But it is possible that the one we see in the prologue is in fact a special Kanon-style maid. We've seen clearly he is basically a hormunculus, and Anathea-Prologue version might indeed be such a creature. Then there's the Maria bit. It could be we witness her final moments in the prologue, and the result is the Archetype splitting again into 4. That would make sense, so far as I know, if not for the fact that Isiah had data on the Theolias indicating they all existed prior to the siblings vanishing and their hair turning gold. But what if that's misdirection? Perhaps Freya did it? We know at least Risa Raider was lurking nearby at the time... possibly stalking us JUST to prevent us from piecing too much together. Though she did try and hint as something critical with that Garufa nuke (which was always empty. Weirdest moment in that chapter).

The Apocalypse is already well under way. Alas, alas! "Not this Year". Who wants to be we aren't even here next time this year? *Face palm*