Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (Japanese: ポケモンＸＤ のダーク・ルギア Pokémon XD: Whirlwind of Darkness, Dark Lugia) is Genius Sonority's second and final Pokémon game for the Nintendo GameCube as well as the second RPG in the Pokémon series for a home console. The game features a Battle Mode akin to that of its predecessor, as well as a Story Mode featuring a brand new plot set in the Orre region.

Changes
The changes made since the first game are as follows:
 * Your Starter Pokemon is a L10 Eevee instead of a L25 Espeon and L26 Umbreon.
 * Gameplay is less challenging until the post-game in Story Mode.
 * Save function has been removed from PCs, as you can save anywhere now.
 * There are now 8 PC boxes.
 * Shadow Pokemon go into Reverse Mode rather than Hyper Mode.
 * Shadow Pokemon can't be put in the Day Care.
 * Battle Mode has been dropped, though the Orre Colosseum has been incorporated into the post-game Story Mode.
 * Calling a non-Shadow Pokemon raises its accuracy if it's not asleep.
 * Pyrite Cave and The Under have been sealed off.
 * Pyrite Building has been turned into ONBS.
 * A Purify Chamber has been added.
 * Shadow Pokemon now learn Special Moves via purification.
 * Wild Pokemon, in-game trades, Battle Bingo and Battle Sims have been added.
 * Phenac Stadium has been closed.
 * Strategy Memo is automatically updated.
 * In Mt. Battle, you are no longer asked if you want to advance to the next zone.
 * Shadow Rush's power has dropped to 50 and no longer causes recoil damage.
 * There are now many different kinds of Shadow Moves.
 * There's now a Move Relearner.
 * Shadow Moves are now super effective against non-Shadow Pokemon but not very effective against Shadows.
 * There is now a '+' next to an opponent's Shadow Pokemon's level.
 * TMs 07 (Hail), 46 (Thief) and 37 (Sandstorm) are gone.
 * The books in the basement of the Phenac Pokemon Centre are now described as a Hoenn/Kanto region research.
 * Mt. Battle trainer levels now go up to Level 70 and trainers now use Legendary Pokemon.
 * Time Flutes are gone.
 * Poke Balls can now be bought at most Poke Marts.
 * There are now stricter conditions for trading with the GBA games.
 * Areas 1-3 of Mt. Battle are available from the start.
 * You no longer have a travelling companion for most of the game.
 * The Orre Region map got a makeover, and is now viewed from a 3D rather than a top-down look.

Gameplay
Much like, Pokémon XD features a similar 3D gameplay to the core series of Pokémon games. Mechanics in Pokémon battles are directly adapted. Also, similar to its predecessor, Pokémon XD features mostly Double Battles instead of Single Battles. Unlike in Colosseum however, wild Pokémon can be found, albeit only in specific places called Poké Spots.

Setting
The game once again takes place in the Orre region, about five years after the events of. In their second attempt at world domination, the criminal organization Cipher has created a Shadow Lugia, codenamed XD001, claimed to be immune to purification. A young, Michael, aims to defeat Cipher and prevent their plans.

Plot
The game opens with a shot of the S.S. Libra cruising through the sea, when suddenly some helicopters appear overhead with Shadow Lugia, which picks up the ship. The sailors fall out and watch in awe as it flies away, carrying the ship with it.

The protagonist, Michael, finds himself using a to battle a. No matter what the outcome is, when the battle is over the player will then find himself in the Pokémon HQ Lab, where it is revealed that the battle was merely a simulation. Michael then speaks with Professor Krane and. Prof. Krane comments on Michael's battle skills, and Lily remembers that she hasn't seen Jovi, Michael's younger sister, since lunch.

Lily asks Michael to look for her. Michael finds a P★DA that Professor Krane left him in his room and gets an e-mail telling him to ask Adon, who was playing hide-and-seek with Jovi. Adon tells Michael to look in Dr. Kaminko's house. After watching a report about the missing cargo ship that was carrying loads of Pokémon (the S.S. Libra), Michael goes to Kaminko's house, where he battles by Chobin, who mistakes him for a burglar. After fending him off, Jovi shows up and Michael takes Jovi home.

Back at the HQ Lab, Michael talks to Prof. Krane and obtains the Snag Machine, a machine that allows its owner to snag Shadow Pokémon from other Trainers. To complement the machine, Aidan adds a Shadow Monitor to the P★DA. When Professor Krane goes to ready the battle simulator for a test, some men come in and kidnap Professor Krane. Michael follows them outside and battles the leader, Naps, who is using a, which Michael snags. However, Prof. Krane is taken away by his captors. Aidan mentions that Prof. Krane is crucial to the Purification Chamber project (a device that allows Shadow Pokémon to be purified), and that there is nothing they can do without him. Lily then says they can complete it themselves, and sends Michael to Gateon Port to retrieve a crucial part, with Jovi tagging along.

At Gateon Port, Jovi runs into Zook, who sends out his Shadow in anger. Before he can do anything else, however, a mysterious wealthy man, Mr. Verich, steps in and has one of his bodyguards defeat Zook. Michael and Jovi retrieve the machine part from the mechanic Perr (snagging a few Shadow Pokémon on the way) and return to the HQ Lab.

Lily mentions that there is a place in Agate Village that can purify Shadow Pokémon, and Michael heads there. While there, he meets Eagun, the elder of Agate Village, who shows Michael the Relic Stone, a stone that has the power to purify Shadow Pokémon. Eagun allows Michael to purify one Pokémon at the Stone, and Michael returns to the HQ Lab.

Michael then travels to the Cipher Lab to rescue Prof. Krane, and successfully does so while defeating Cipher Admin Lovrina. While at the lab, he finds a, and heads to Pyrite Town to speak with Secc and Nett at ONBS, to see if they can decode it. After receiving some tips from Duking about Pokespots, Michael receives a text from Nett saying to come back to Pyrite Town. Cipher has taken over ONBS, and it's up to Michael to defeat them on his way up to see Nett.

Michael's next stop is Phenac City. After his arrival, he finds that the city has been taken over by Cipher. After defeating the Cipher Peons, he heads into the Phenac Stadium and defeats Cipher Admin Snattle, freeing Phenac City.

Later, Michael is tipped off by Phenac's mayor about Cipher sticking around a strange building, and is also requested by a young girl in Pyrite Town to go save her Pokémon aboard the S.S. Libra; but both the strange building and the S.S. Libra are inaccessible due to the heavy sands that Michael's scooter can't pass. After another misunderstanding with Chobin, Michael is able to get advanced wheels that can take him through the heavy sands. Although Michael can find the, it flees when startled by the PDA, and all the other Pokémon supposedly aboard the ship have also disappeared. After encountering and dueling some more Cipher members, Team Snagem goons ambush Michael; by using, they knock him out and steal his Snag Machine from him.

Michael then re-encounters Zook from Gateon Port at the Cipher Key Lair, the strange building Justy told him about, but he cannot even attempt to snag his Shadow. Also, two bulky guards make the key lair inaccessible to Michael, leaving him trapped out.

Fortunately, Secc at ONBS directs Michael to Hordel at the Outskirt Stand; he directs Michael to the Snagem Hideout. After battling through the swarm of Snagem members, Michael defeats the leader Gonzap and reclaims his Snag Machine; but when they both realize that they are both trying to defeat Cipher, Gonzap agrees to help Michael through the guards. The same that put Michael to sleep puts the two bulky guards to sleep, letting Michael enter the Cipher Key Lair; after intensely battling through the many -enabled peons in it, and then after shutting down the factory thus ceasing the production of all Shadow Pokémon, Michael confronts and battles the third —Gorigan.

After defeating the large, ape-like man, Mr. Verich appears on video and reveals that he is actually Greevil, the true master of Cipher, and that he is hiding on Citadark Island, but the island is in a very stormy area of sea and almost always has terrible weather, making it almost impossible to breach. With the help of Makan, Michael—after getting the Master Ball from Professor Krane—enables the Robo Kyogre, and journeys to Cipher's last stronghold.

There, he battles through Lovrina, Snattle and Gorigan a second time and an entire horde of Pokémon, and even battles Ardos and Eldes, who are two more and Greevil's bodyguards. After going through everyone, Michael battles Greevil after snagging or defeating Shadow Lugia. He defeats him, and it is then revealed that Ardos and Eldes are his sons. Ardos wishes to blow up Citadark Island, sacrificing Michael and all the Cipher members and Pokémon on the island so Cipher can live on, but he is ultimately spurned by Eldes, who convinces Greevil that Cipher is finished after being defeated a second time. Ardos storms off, and Eldes and Greevil decide to surrender to the police, thus ensuring Orre's safety.

Michael can complete the Orre Colosseum after this. The five Cipher Admins appear in competitions there, along with Gonzap and his Team Snagem followers as well as Chobin piloting Robo Groudon. Notably, when challenged, Ardos hints of his plans to resurrect Cipher, and upon being defeated, he labels Michael as Cipher's biggest threat.

Blurb
Experience The Extra Dimension! Using Shadow Pokémon, an evil organization has unleashed a sinister plot of world domination. With as your companion, and with the help of numerous friends along the way, you must fight against terrible foes and race against time to snag a purify the Shadow Pokémon and save the world!

Engage in fantastic battles with your friends! By connecting with a Game Boy Advance—using a Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable—you can import and battle with your Game Boy Advance Pokémon from Pokémon Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby and Sapphire!

Characters


The protagonist of Pokémon XD is a young boy named Michael, Trainer of an Eevee. Michael lives with his mother,, and his younger sister Jovi. Professor Krane, a scientist researching Pokémon purification and a family friend, often assists him. A handful of other characters also appear, some returning from and some new.

The crime organization Cipher returns in the game with renewed plans. The syndicate includes five new admins: Lovrina, Snattle, Gorigan, Ardos and Eldes hired by the team's boss. Miror B. also appears in the game with new scopes in mind.

Locations
The game's setting is in the Orre region, which has been altered after the five years that have passed. More wild Pokémon have started appearing, but Orre's land is still much less inhabited than other regions. Pokémon XD features locations not present in Colosseum, as well as landmarks such as Mt. Battle returning.

Johto starter Pokémon
After completing a new challenge in Mt. Battle by defeating 100 opponents with the same party, the player can have one of the following Johto starters. The player can obtain the remaining Pokémon by redoing the challenge all over again. Each of the Johto starters has their corresponding elemental Hyper Beam.

Elekid
Hordel will only trade this Elekid for a purified Shadow, otherwise he will trade an Elekid with normal level-up moves.

Duking
Duking will trade these Pokémon if the player provides him with rare Pokémon from the Poké Spots.

Meditite
Give

Shuckle
Give

Larvitar
Give

Generation IV


These Pokémon are not catchable, but they have special roles in the game. The Herbalist's Munchlax will often appear at a Poké Spot and make the player receive a false alarm that a wild Pokémon has appeared to eat his Poké Snacks. When the player finds Munchlax, the Herbalist will appear to take it back to her store, and she will offer the player ten more Poké Snacks for his trouble.

A girl's Bonsly can be found inside the S.S. Libra after it appears in the desert. This Bonsly is apparently a Pokémon that Cipher forgot to take to Cipher Key Lair. After saving Bonsly and taking it to the girl in Pyrite Town, she will allow the player to use a special bingo card at Realgam Tower, which features Bonsly as a playable Pokémon.

Connectivity
Players can transfer snagged Pokémon from Pokémon XD to any of the portable Generation III games: Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, LeafGreen and. This transference functions identically to the trading function in the core series games, but can only happen in Phenac City.
 * In order to do the above, one needs to have completed the sidequest to unlock trading with Hoenn-based games in FireRed and LeafGreen.
 * Through exploitation of differences in linkup requirements, players can send Pokémon from XD to one of the handheld Hoenn games without beating the Elite Four, trading first to a game that has done so, trading from that to, and trading from Colosseum to the Hoenn game.

Trivia

 * This is the last Pokémon game to be released for the Nintendo GameCube.
 * This is the only Pokémon game that was released outside of the core series to have a game mascot.
 * Though is the main focus of the game, it has only the second-highest level of snaggable Shadow Pokémon (tied with, , , and ), at level 50. The Shadow Pokémon of the highest level in this game is a  at level 55.
 * Before the release of Pokémon XD, stated that Pokémon XD would not be a sequel to, but rather a whole new game, having a similar style to.
 * If one trades a Pokémon from to a Game Boy Advance game and then to this game, it will say the Pokémon was met in a distant land, even though both Colosseum and XD take place in Orre. A similar oddity occurs if the reverse is done.
 * If a player pre-ordered this game, they could receive a limited edition GameCube skin featuring Shadow Lugia,, , , , and Michael.
 * Like in Pokémon Colosseum, Shadow Pokémon are banned from VS mode. However, there are no restrictions on non-Shadow Pokémon that are given Shadow moves through cheating. The same lack of restrictions also apply to.
 * This game and are the only RPG Pokémon games released after  to not allow the player to choose their gender.
 * They are also the only spin-off Pokémon games released with similar mechanics to the core series games.