Main Episodes
Times Change…
Stepping out into Route 8 the party encounters Kairi, a young woman who declares that the area is her garden. She tells the party that they are welcome to the apricorns in the area as long as they leave some behind to replant and continue their growth. She apologises for the lack of green apricorns, especially those of the chromatic variety, but there’s a PokéCentre at the end of the route, perhaps they’ll find some answers there.
Upon arriving in the PokéCentre they find it abandoned, but what they do find is something most unusual… an active Time Capsule, a relic from the 90’s. After their escort accidentally touched the device it activated and she vanished in a flash, deciding to follow their ward the party elect to follow her into the unknown.
They find themselves in the year 2000, 17 years in the past. With no other option, they head back out into Route 8, retracing their footsteps through the younger forest in the hopes of finding some answers, and hopefully a way back home.
Upon heading back west at the behest of Nurse Joy to retrieve a part for the inoperable Time Capsule. The party encounter Kairi once again, she readily identifies the players as time travellers and offers to send them back home with their prize of the rare apricorns. But something goes terrible wrong when she initiates the time travel, the broken Time Capsule rotor interferes with the journey sending the players tumbling back into the distant past!
There they encounter Celebi doing battle with an unknown Pokemon, something which does not belong to this world. Kairi begins to panic and insists they sneak out of the battlefield, back to the site of the Pokecentre where the Time Capsule was where they can ride the rift created by it back to the present.
In doing so they attract the wrath of the Emergent Phenomenon and begin a desperate battle to hold off the powerful monster. During the battle they are assaulted by the denizens of the unknown dimension where they reside. They barely hold off the mysterious beast as it makes a bargain with them, they may leave it to its own devices and it shall give them enough time to make their final farewells. Naturally, they refuse his offer and overcome his defenses, driving him back into the mysterious widening gyre where he resides.
Kairi empowers the Time Capsule Rotor and escorts the players back to their own timezone, landing them in Lavender Town some time after they departed to avoid cross contaminating the timestream by meeting themselves.
Upon arriving in Lavender Town they meet Kudo Kurogane once again who escorts them into the Pokemon Centre to recuperate.
Rainy Days
The party recovers from their wounds in the Pokemon Centre of Lavender Town. Kudo explains he’s been in town for a few days, waiting for a package from a waylaid deliveryman, he assumes the courier either got lost in the Hinterlands or took shelter in the old Ranger Station to avoid the storm. As Nurse Celeste tends their wounds she tells them that their Gym challenge will have to be postponed, their far too banged up to battle and Tō is still out of town, he travelled to Saffron to speak to Braxton and Helena about some league matters, he’d normally just call but reception is never good in Lavender Town since the Tower was closed down, especially when there’s a storm on the horizon.
After some deliberation the party show their Emergent Phenomenon Pokemon to Nurse Celeste, to get some answers as to why they seem to be ill, suffering from some kind of lethargy and dizziness. She asks to take Kenji’s Pokemon for a while to study, she believes she’s seen this phenomenon before.
Upon learning from Kudo that a branch of the reformed Team Rocket is present in town, in Mr. Fuji’s old home no less and that they have a Cubone which struggles with something similar to the sickness shown by the Emergent Phenomenon Pokemon, the party immediately heads out into the rain to get some clarification on their intentions.
Fortunately, they’re Fuji loyalists, ardent followers of Fuji’s teaching and very hospital to roaming trainers. Hamish and Opal welcome the party into their home and are quite willing to explain their presence. They reminisce with Kenji about their time with his older brother, and recall memories of a time before the Lavender Tower raid, before they realised how deeply they’d erred by casting their lot in with Team Rocket.
While in the respite home for these injured Pokemon the team encounter a Cubone which Opal had been caring for since she found it in the Lavender Tower almost five years ago, the Pokemon suffers from something known as Lavender Town Sickness, the same affliction which they were warned about, the same affliction wrought on Yama Murasaki. Seemingly desperate and out of viable options Opal agreed to allow Francois to take the Cubone into his care, as long as he promised he could help her recover. Only time will tell if this is possible.
Returning to the Pokemon Centre, Nurse Celeste announces her finding to the party, the Pokemon seem to be suffering from some issues with blood oxygen saturation levels, it seems they’re not used to this atmosphere and this issue is being compounded by some unknown factor. While she doesn’t have a cure on hand she’s sent her finding to Celadon University for further research.
The party set about the long recovery process, speaking briefly to Yama Murasaki who isn’t much help, the LTS has reduced her mental faculties to the point where she no longer speaks plainly or in a way which means much to them. Kudo rigs up a radio and tunes into the Lavender Tower broadcast, seemingly hearing nothing but static. To his and Celeste’s ears, that is. The party hear the horrified wails and screams of agony. As does Yama…
With no end to the storm in sight and with the party all suffering from wounds which would delay their investigations Francois elects to utilise a precious commodity, one batch of Gloom Nectar as a digestive, to be shared among the party and their wounded Pokemon, allowing for a full recovery.
Awakening to a new day the party immediately realise that the Gloom Nectar has worked its charm. They are refreshed, recuperated and fighting fit, as is the trainer they shared the meal with. However, those afflicted by LTS do not seem to be in any better condition… whatever this sickness is, it’s not something which can be cured with something as simple as a hearty meal.
The recovered trainer introduces himself as Leonard Blackwood, a Galarian trainer who was on the way to the Beginner’s Cup with his younger brother on the S.S. Anne when it was attacked by Retro Rocket. He tells the party he was travelling north from Fuchsia when he was jumped by Retro Rocket Grunts who had seemingly unstoppable and monstrous Pokemon. He tells the party he is Lavender following a tip on tracking down Retro Rocket members and agrees to share any information he finds before heading out into the rain.
After a day of training and restless waiting the party finally have their break into their investigations, the doors of the Pokemon Centre slide open, thunder splits the sky in a deafening roar, lightning flashes explosively overhead, framed by the rolling doors, illuminated only by backlight of blinding lightning stands Professor Dunsparce. He’s finally tracked down the source of the signal alerting him of Emergent Phenomenon and he means business.
Prodigal Sons
The party agrees to work with Tō and infiltrate the Pokémon Tower. They enter via a complex grappling hook device and move down the floors of tower, reading into the history of the tower and the transfer of ownership from Richard Stevenson to Haruto Fukushima at the behest of Jeremy Cassidy of the Elite Four, although at the time he was a manager in the Pokémon League.
Entering the sub-basement they discover a long abandoned laboratory and damning evidence of Haruto Fukushima and Professor Samanea engaging in dangerous scientific endeavours.
Investigating the main laboratory they encounter a pod filled to the brim with the unusual oils present at the previously uncovered Yamatai dig sites. And inside that pod, a living man. Upon freeing himself he explains he is the living memory of Chimairan, one of the original creations of Arceus in a different version of the universe, the one which preceded the current iteration. After reconciling their differences Chimairan’s avatar, now known as Myron, reveals he can heal those afflicted with the sickness known as Lavender Town Syndrome. He agrees to cure the party’s Pokémon and Tō’s mother.
Before they can leave, however, they are assaulted by an upgraded and finely machined TeraDrone, piloted remotely by Fukushima himself who attempts to bury the secrets of the past and his guilt by destroying the party and Myron.
After a long and dangerous encounter the team finally escape through an underground passage into and through the Soul House. Upon resurfacing they find that Mr. Fuji’s house is aflame, Hamish is grievously wounded and Opal is missing. With tensions high and dangers abound they retire to the Pokémon Centre to treat their wounds, cure Tō’s mother and recharge for the next morning, intent on finding those responsible for the arson.
Where There Was Smoke
Heading out into the pre-dawn light the party find themselves wandering the Lavender Hinterlands. Deep in the severed recesses of a severed Rock Tunnel cavern the party find the missing Restoration Rocket member, unconscious but mostly unharmed. As the party investigate the surrounding area Kenji spots something most unusual, a photograph of himself and his older brother. Reaching out to take the picture he finds himself being unwittingly transported to the top floor of the Pokémon Tower.
In the dim light of the ruined graveyard he encounters Leonard Blackwood, the young Galarian man whom they previously encountered after he was accosted by Retro Rocket goons. He accuses Kenji, Opal and Hamish of being Rocket sympathisers and states that he cannot stop his pursuit of revenge against the Retro Rocket members even if it costs him everything, no matter who gets hurt, his brothers memory is too important to him to stop willing.
After a drawn out battle Kenji finally overcomes the frenzied and ill thought out attacks. Despite his wrongdoings Kenji shows empathy to the lad and agrees to let him go, much to the resentment of some of the other party members, with the promise he’ll attempt to better direct his rage.
Returning to Lavender the party begins their four day training session with Chimon, steeling themselves for the Gym battle with Tō.
Kudo Dies at the End
In the early hours of the morning the party are awakened by a desperate cry for aid. Kudo, the Johtonian Assistant to Professor Apple calls out to them, begging for help. After rousing themselves from the depths of slumber they trudge out into the darkness of Lavender Town.
Nestled at the southern end of town the party once again encounter the unusual, abandoned house from which the occasional musical refrain can be heard. The party head inside only to find themselves far from Lavender Town, in another place, and another time.
Inside the bizarre and twisting architecture of the strange mansion dubbed Caer Lavendarrow the party encounter phantasms and spectres, adorned in traditional ballroom dress from ages past.
Kudo, who arrived before the party and having been marked as a guest, explains he has no memory of how he came to be here or what happened to him when he vanished four days prior.
Morose, the butler, explains that the party are present as the entourage of Kudo and that there’s a slight hold up in getting the party underway, the Orb and Sceptre are missing. Two precious artifacts which need to be recovered before the party may commence and a new Kami can be crowned.
Searching high and low the party eventually recover the artifacts and attend the dinner, held by a young Galarian boy and his warden, a hooded figure who reveals himself to be Mr. Fuji. He explains that those who die in unforeseeable and untimely accidents come to this place to be cleansed of their shock and latent aggression, without his assistance those Reikon would grow to become jealous and malevolent.
As the dinner continues the young boy, Arthur Blackwood, begins to lose his grip on reality, growing into a powerful Yūrei shade. Kudo, realising he too is a Reikon comes to the sad conclusion that he too will fall to corruption and become a Yūrei.
After subduing Arthur and cleansing him of his final remaining negative emotions Mr. Fuji declares the dinner to be a success and directs the party to watch Artie depart into the eternal fields of adventure in Takamagahara.
Kudo elects to go along with him, the two of them heading out into the unknown, but as he prepares to depart he finds himself unable to let go of his friends and the final stages of degradation overtake him. In a bittersweet finale the party cleansed him of his remaining corruption through a prolonged battle.
After their goodbyes the party depart as the mansion slowly warps and unravels, reverting back to the more traditional Kanto style.
Knight Errant
Battle for the Badge: Tusslin’ With Tō in the Museum of Unnatural History
With their business concluded in Lavender there’s only one thing left to do. The party meets with Tō in his Gym and embark upon a one on one battle with their own tormented shades, twisted reflections of those who oppose them most.
After a long, drawn out battle the players emerge on top, earning themselves the Onryo Badge. But not all is well, Tō has been summoned before the Pokémon League to explain his actions and direct contradiction of his orders to prevent any and all access to the Lavender Tower.
With Myron in tow the party bid a fond farewell to the few remaining citizens of Lavender Town and strike out south around the cape of Kanto, heading for a Fuchsia future.
OVA’s
PMD Adventures
A series of mini adventures and one-off episodes set months in the past, prior to the events of the current saga.