Now that I’ve rung practically everything I could out of Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, I’ve decided it’s time to publish the notes I took while playing the game. This article details the dates I played, the time spent, and mostly which Pokemon I snagged. That includes the goofy nicknames that I gave them! It’s probably not that interesting, but I’m going to keep publishing these. So there.

March 17, 2014. I named the protagonist sherbet as Jenny was eating some. I started with an Eevee and soon snagged a Teddiursa. Sherbet resides in the Pokémon Lab in Orre with his mom and little sister. His little sister Jovi was paying hide and seek with another NPC when she ran off to a mad scientist’s house. I got her and spent time with the scientist and his assistant Chobin, who bears a resemblance to Professor E. Gad.

The professor was captured although he gave me the Snag Machine just beforehand. In order to complete the purification machine, Sherbet’s mom sent Jovi and me to Gateon Port to pick up a part.

I received a Thunderstone from an NPC in Gateon and evolved Eevee into Jolteon. I also snagged a Ledyba and Poochyena. After delivering the machine part to Lily, she advised I travel to Agate Village and speak with Eagun about purifying my Pokémon. 1:29.

March 20, 2014. The Teacher Lady in Agate is in a cave to the west of the town’s entrance. The Name Rater resides in the central house in the middle of town. I nicknamed Jolteon Offerman. The man in the northeastern most part of town will gift a berry everyday it appears. Purified Ledyba and named him Crochet. Purified Teddiursa and named him Ardisia.

The Move Deleter still resides in the lobby of Mt. Battle. The Move Teacher is sitting in front him. He’ll teach moves in exchange for Poke Coupons. Purified Poochyena and named her Fortnite. Snagged a Houndour, Spheal, Baltoy, Mareep, Gulpin, and Seedot at the Cipher Lab. 3:24.

March 21, 2014. Purified Houndour and named her Priscilla. Snagged a Spinarak. Snagged a Numel. Purified Spheal and named her Keane. Snagged a Carvanha. Snagged a Shroomish. Purified Baltoy and named it Martian. Purified Seedot and it evolved into Nuzleaf. Named her The Urge. Snagged a Delcatty from Cipher Admin Lovrina. 5:06.

March 23, 2014. Purified Numel and named her Firebrand. Purified Spinarak and named her Twitch. Purified Mareep, Shroomish, and Gulpin. Named them Static, Chili, and MarvAlbert respectively. Purifying Pokémon is so much quicker than it was in Colosseum. Perhaps it’s because the Pokémon I’ve encountered thus far are much weaker (level 15 average instead of level 30 average) or maybe it’s due to the invention of the Purify Chamber.

There are two treasure chests in the ONBS building in Pyrite that I can’t yet access. Purified Carvanha and named her Lithuania. Snagged a Voltorb from Mirror B. Caught a wild Sandshrew in the desert Poke Spot and named her Adobe. Caught a Phanpy and named him Finale. Snagged Makuhita in the ONBS building. 7:52.

March 24, 2014. Snagged a Vulpix in the ONBS building. Purified Delcatty and named him Delfino. Caught a Surskit in the Oasis Poke Spot and named him Apolo Ohno. Snagged Duskull in the ONBS building. Snagged Ralts. 8:56.

March 25, 2014. Snagged a Mawile and rescued the ONBS kids from the Cipher thugs who broke into their headquarters. Purified Vulpix and named her Sabrina.

Cipher is apparently going to strike Phenac City next, so that’s my destination. Plus, a member of the ONBS was heading there and the gang back in Pyrite wants me to ensure her safety. Once in Phenac, I’m directed to the Realgam Tower. The western portion has a shop that sells many TMs.

I can conduct Battle Sims in the northeastern portion of the tower. I wonder what I get for completing the specific challenges. They seem neat. I can play Battle Bingo in the northwestern section. I’m rewarded with Battle Points for successfully completing a card, as well as bonus items for completing a card for the first time. Research the rewards. Caught another Sandshrew and named him Healthcare. Duking wants to trade for a Surskit, Wooper, and Trapinch. I need to catch duplicates of these. Purified Voltorb and named it Anime. 10:23.

March 26, 2014. Purified Makuhita and named her Towerfall. Cipher has infiltrated Phenac. Snagged a Snorunt in the mayor’s house. Snagged a Pineco. Purified Mawile and named him Cole. The six colored Cipher Peons have costumed themselves after Justy, the Pre Gym leader. Chili evolved into Breloom. 11:29

March 28, 2014. Snagged a Natu in the Pre Gym. Snagged a Roselia. Snagged a Meowth. 11:53.

March 29, 2014. Snagged a Swinub outside the Phenac stadium. Snagged a Spearow inside the stadium. Snagged a Grimer. Purified Snorunt and named her Shiver. Purified Ralts and named her Heartland. Purified Pineco and named her Sioux. Purified Duskull and named him Skulltula.

Some evil leader (Master Greevil) is trying to instill one of the Cipher higher-ups (Snattle) as the mayor of Orre in a puppet government/Russian-Ukraine sort of way. Some ONBS reporters are trying to uncover the truth, including Cipher taking over Phenac. Commence the battles in the town’s stadium! Snagged a Seel.

Snagged a Lunatone.

The residents of Phenac were locked up under Justy’s Pre Gym. After beating Snattle, I was able to rescue them. Among the bunch were the daycare folks of Agate. The daycare in Agate should be open now. The scooter is unable to traverse the northern desert. After speaking with Nett he mentioned that someone in Gateon would be able to help. Also, an elder man and his granddaughter are missing their Bonsly and requesting my help.

The man who can fix the scooter is visiting Dr. Kaminko. After beating his assistant once, they decide I (mistakenly seen as a burglar) should fight Robo Groudon. His assistant sat in a cockpit centered in the lame looking Groudoun. Unfortunately, he sent out Pokémon to fight.

The S.S. Libra was the destination in the northern desert. Encountered the Bonsly after battling Cipher goons. It got away though. Team Snagem is attempting a comeback as well. They used a Gloom to put me to sleep and then stole the snagging machine.

Purified Natu and named her Marvel. Purified Roselia and named her chlorose. Purified Meowth and named her Thief. Purified Swinub and named him FreezrBurn. 14:10.

March 30, 2014. Acri in Gateon interviewed me and gave me an Amulet Coin. Purified Grimer and named her Mudge. Hordel in the Outskirt Stand gave me a Shadow Togepi. Purified Seel and named him Cee Lo. 17:04.

April 1, 2014. I completed the first round of battling at the Pyrite Colosseum. I need to return and complete the three succeeding rounds. After a couple of times, I have beaten Gonzap, Team Snagem’s leader, and received the Snag Machine back. Purified Togepi and named her Ministry. Purified Lunatone and named it Medi. Purified Spearow and named her Lively. Traded Ministry back to Hordel in the Outskirt Stand. He traded me an Elekid named ZAPRONG. ZAPRONG knew fantastic fighting moves it would otherwise not learn. Snagged a Zangoose. 18:09.

April 2, 2014. I need to keep my events p eyes peeled for Mirror B. since I missed out on snagging his Nosepass. Well that was quick! I snagged Nosepass in the Oasis Poke Spot. Snagged a Paras and a Growlithe from the same Cipher Peon in the Cipher Key Lair. Snagged a Shellder. Caught a Hoppip in the Oasis Poke Spot and named her Dust. Snagged a Beedrill and a Pidgeotto from Cipher Peon Lok. Snagged a Tangela and a Butterfree from Cipher Peon Torg. 20:15.

April 6, 2014. Snagged a Magneton. Caught a Wooper in the Cave PokeSpot and named her Jenny. Caught a Zubat in the Cave and named him Giratina. Caught a Surskit in the Oasis. Caught a Gligar in the Rock PokeSpot and named him Batman. Traded the duplicate Surskit to Duking for a Shuckle.

Purified Nosepass and named her Nasocort. Purified Zangoose and named him Mischief. Purified Growlithe and named him Odie. Purified Paras and named her Land Crab.

Snagged a Venomoth. Snagged a Weepinbell. Purified Butterfree and named him Argh. Purified Shellder and named him Nanabooboo. Snagged Arbok. Caught an Aron in the Cave and named him Grunt. Snagged a Primeape and a Hypno from Cipher Admin Gorigan. Purified Magneton and named it Triplet. Purified Beedrill and named her Mugsy. Purified Tangela and named her Medusa. 23:43.

April 8, 2014. Okay, I need to head to Gateon Port as the kindly old guy that reared hid head off and on earlier (Mr. Verich) is actually a (the?) bad guy. Formally known as Greevil. The family that runs the junk shop in town have conveniently fished Robo Kyogre, which they’ll allow me to use to reach Citadark Isle.

Purified Weepinbell and named him Dave Clark. Purified Venomoth and named him Closet. Professor Krane gave me the Master Ball. A Munchlax was snacking on my PokeSnacks. However, its trainer appeared and gifted me ten. Better than the owner of the Bonsly…

Snagged a Golduck and a Sableye on Citadark Isle. Snagged a Dodrio and a Raticate. Snagged an Altaria 24:40.

April 10, 2014. Snagged Altaria and Farfetch’d from Cipher Admin Lovrina. I can understand the Altaria being hard to catch, but the Farfetch’d was the most difficult to this point.

Caught a Gligar at the Rock PokeSpot and named him Carmack. Purified Hypno and named her Oculus. Purified Arbok and named her Intimidate. Purified Pidgeotto and named her Trusty. Snagged Kangaskhan and Banette from Cipher Peon Litnar. Caught a Surskit in the Oasis PokeSpot and named her Beatrice. Marian evolved into a Claydol. Snagged Magmar and Pinsir from Cipher Peon Grubel. Caught another Surskit and named her Aussie. Purified Farfetch’d and named him Od’d. Purified Raticate and named her Dweller. Purified Golduck and named her Tobago. Purified Sableye and named him Treasure. Purified Primeape and named her Angst. 27:06.

April 13, 2014. Snagged a Rapidash and a Magcargo from Cipher Peon Kolest on Citadark Isle. Purified Altaria and named him Birthday. Purified Dodrio and named him Sanzaru after the Three Wise Monkeys. Caught an Aron and named him Ho-oh. Snagged a Hitmonchan from Cipher Peon Karbon. Snagged a Hitmonlee from Cipher Peon Petro. Snagged a Lickitung from Cipher Peon Geftal. Snagged a Chansey and a Scyther from Cipher Peon Leden. Snagged a Solrock and a Starmie from Cipher Admin Snattle. 30:06.

April 14, 2014. Purified Magcargo and named him Loogie. Purified Pinsir and named him Guillotine. Purified Magmar and named him Dork. Purified Hitmonchan and named him Jackie. Purified Banette and named him Harlequin. Purified Kangaskhan and named her Francisca. Purified Rapidash and named him Fame. Purified Hitmonlee and named him Bruce.

Having a rough go of it on Citadark Isle; I need to do some grinding. Beat Justy and his squad at the Phenac City Pre Gym. Battled the trainers at the Pyrite Battle Circle. It looks like my best bet is to participate in the Realgam Battle Tower. The rival Pokémon are around level 40 compared to level 20 for those at the Battle Circle.

Completed the first round of battles at the Realgam Tower and received TM49 – Snatch – as a prize. Keane evolved into a Walrein. I received TM19 – Giga Drain – as a prize for completing the second round of battles. I received TM23 – Iron Tail – as a prize for completing the third round of battles. 32:18.

April 15, 2014. Completed the fourth round of battles and received TM22 – Solarbeam – as a prize. Snagged a Swellow, Electabuzz, and a Snorlax from Cipher Admin Ardos, after a half-dozen attempts and a few hours of grinding. 33:31.

April 16, 2014. Snagged a Mr. Mime and a Poliwrath from Cipher Admin Gorigan. Snagged a Dugtrio from Cipher Peon Kolax. How in the hell did I manage that! I just snagged Salamence, Manectric, Marowak, and Lapras from Cipher Admin Eldes on my first attempt! I’ve had so much trouble with the last few trainers, and Eldes wasn’t a pushover, I had two remaining Pokémon, one with low health, but still managed to conquer. SAVE!

OMG! I beat Master Greevil on my second attempt! Honestly, it was my first “real” attempt as I went in the first time to see what he’d begin with. Wow! I snagged his Lugia in a one-off battle with the Master Ball. In the second battle, I snagged a Rhydon, Exeggutor, Moltres, Articuno, Tauros, and Zapdos. Remember, all in one go too!

Purified Chansey and named her Braum’s. 35:00.

April 19, 2014. Snagged Dragonite from Mirror B. which means I have now snagged all Pokémon. Purified Lickitung and named him Gene after Gene Simmons, the bassist for KISS. Purified Starmie and named it Montreal. Purified Scyther and named him New Order. Purified Lugia and named it XD001.

Traded some high level Pokémon from Emerald, as well as a Wooper and a Trapinch into the game. I traded the last two to Duking for a Meditite and a Larvitar. Purified Electabuzz and named him Ohm. Purified Solrock and named it Quartz. Purified Poliwrath and named her Narcissus. 36:34.

April 21, 2014. Traded a few Pokémon between Emerald so I can tackle Orre Colosseum.

April 23, 2014. Well, I still haven’t beaten the first round of the Orre Colosseum, although I made it to the third trainer. It’s been very frustrating as there’s little I can do to gain an edge. In fact, it’s mostly been a frustrating trial and error procedure. I didn’t even clock out Monday (or clock in Tuesday, even though I did play, making no progress).

Round 1

Tesla
1 Hot Dawg
Swee-Koon
Gigi

Round 2

Tesla
1 Hot Dawg
Gigi
Shephard

This battle was doable, but tough.

Round 3

Tesla
1 Hot Dawg
Gigi
Shepard

This battle wasn’t too tough. I imagine Tesla’s Reflect helped.

Round 4

Tesla
1 Hot Dawg
Gigi
Shepard

Yes! After feeding this group a lot of vitamins (mainly Carbos for speed), we conquered on the first attempt! Now, time to begin this side quest and receive a Lucky Egg.

Purified Swellow and named her SIXAXIS. Purified Exeggutor and named him Danny. Purified Snorlax and named him Sauna Fan. Purified Zapdos and named it Macadamia. Purified Salamence and named her Sahloknir, after a dragon from Skyrim. Purified Articuno and named it Pistachio. Purified Rhydon and named him Rock Star. Purified Tauros and named him Amarillo. Purified Moltres and named it Chestnut. Purified Lapras and named her Flotilla. Purified Dugtrio and named him Ouya. Purified Marowak and named him Father. Purified Manectric and named her Gizmondo. Purified Mr. Mime and named her Confused. Purified Dragonite and named her Gale. And… that was the last Shadow Pokémon!

I have completed the game and now will proceed to extract the Pokémon into Emerald. I’d still like to attempt the Mt. Battle challenge to receive the 2nd generation starters knowing their elemental Hyper Beam attacks. 40:09.

April 24, 2014. Extracted everyone into Emerald. 41:46.

April 26, 2014. Well, to take on Mt. Battle I put six more Pokémon back into the game. Specifically, Organic, Boreas, Zeus, Hephaestus, Malikov, and Quetzal. It took three-and-a-half hours, although I did spend time eating and fooling around on my tablet. What was crazy was the ease in leveling these already stout Pokémon. Quetzal alone jumped from level 70 to level 86! Not only that, some of his stats increased by up to 11 per level! Everyone else now sits at level 96 or 97, when they came in at levels 92, 93, 95, and 96.

I received a Chikorita for completion. It was special in that it knew Frenzy Plant. When I next attempt Mt. Battle, I need to switch my party to Pokémon around level 60-70 and bring the Lucky Egg. This would allow the traded Pokémon to earn 3x experience, no doubt quickly leveling them up! 45:40.

April 28, 2014. Made my way through 70 combatants at Mt. Battle. 48:17.

April 29, 2014. Completed Mt. Battle for the second time and received a Cyndaquil. Like I mentioned previously, I brought in my starters from Emerald as well as Shepard, Wegendary, and Gigi. They grew from about tthe lower 60s to the upper 60s/lower 70s. 51:16.

April 30, 2014. Made my way through 80 combatants at Mt. Battle. 54:08.

May 1, 2014. Completed Mt. Battle for the third time, meaning my last time. I received the special Totodile as a reward. By the end Teriyaki, Jermaijne, Sambazon, Wegendary, Shephard, and Gigi were mostly level 76, with Wegendary at level 83. Afterwards, I transferred the remaining Pokémon into Emerald and can now retire XD: Gale of Darkness. 56:06.