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Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (JP) and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (JP) are both the second installments of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. Like the first games, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, you, a human, one day transform into a Pokémon and are transported to a world inhabited only by Pokémon. You are then thrown into an adventure with your partner Pokémon to go through dungeons, fight Pokémon, and discover why you have became a Pokémon in the first place. The theme in this installment is "exploration". It contains all the Pokémon through the fourth generation except Shaymin and Arceus.

Gameplay[]

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon plays like most rogue-like games in that the player leads a team through a dungeon organized into floors. It incorporates Pokémon features into this framework with the stats from the main game aside from speed influencing Pokémon attacks and defense as well as the type match-ups system though attacks that do not work in the normal games do inflict damage. The Pokémon also have a basic attack that deals some damage and the ability to throw or use items.

Clearing new dungeons tends to unlock story content, but most of the game is doing quests to level the team and acquire items and funds to progress. Quests have the team go back into a dungeon and complete a certain task detailed by the quest posted on the board. They include a wide variety of task like rescue, defeat, deliver an item and escort.

Occasionally, defeating enemies will cause them to want to join your team. This incorporates the catch 'em all part of the franchise. Different dungeons have different Pokémon available.

Town[]

Starter Pokémon[]

Here is a list of the Pokémon starters:

Pokémon Type Number Information
Evolution line
PKMNDP001 Bulbasaur Grass 001 This Pokémon is the first in the Pokémon series. It is a grass type of Pokémon with a bulb that grows into a flower as it evolves. PKMNDP002 PKMNDP003
PKMNDP004 Charmander Fire 004 Charmander is a lizard-like Pokémon that has powerful fire abilities. If his fire tip on his tail burns out, he will die. PKMNDP005 PKMNDP006
PKMNDP007 Squirtle Water 007 Squirtle is a water type Pokémon with a curly tail and a hard shell. However, it's shell is actually soft when it is first born. PKMNBW008 PKMNBW009
PKMNDP025 Pikachu Electric 025 This electric mouse is one of the starters in Mystery Dungeon.
PKMNDP026
Meowth Normal 052
PKMNDP152 Chikorita Grass 152 Chikorita is a grass type. Its leaf gives off a sweet scent that attracts Pokémon . It is usually well-liked for this. PKMNBW153 PKMNBW154
PKMNDP155 Cyndaquil Fire 155 Cyndaquil is a fire type. It is usually calm and quiet, but when angered or excited, flames shoot from its back. PKMNBW156 PKMNDP157
PKMNDP158 Totodile Water 158 Totodile is a water type. It has many sharp teeth. If it ever loses one, it will grow right back. PKMNBW159 PKMNBW160
PKMNBW252 Treecko Grass 252 Treecko is a grass type. It is a small gecko Pokémon and is often spotted relaxing or training. PKMNBW253 PKMNBW254
PKMNBW255 Torchic Fire 255 Torchic is a fire Pokémon. It is too young to use its arms or legs effectively, however, it can spit out burning hot flames.


PKMNBW256 PKMNBW257
PKMNBW258 Mudkip Water 258 Mudkip is a water type. It loves burying in the mud. The fin ontop of its head can sense water. PKMNBW259 PKMNBW260
Skitty Normal 300
PKMNDP387 Turtwig Grass 387 A grass type of Pokémon that gains a ground type once evolved, it looks similer to a snapping turtle. It has a seed on its head, a green and yellow body, and a soil based shell on its back. PKMNDP388 PKMNDP389
PKMNDP390 Chimchar Fire 390 A fire type of Pokémon that gains a fighting type once evolved, it has a monkey like apperence and can produce fire on his or her tail like Charmander. PKMNDP391 PKMNDP392
PKMNDP393 Piplup Water 393 A water type that gains a steel type once evolved, Piplup is like a tiny penguin. They all think of themselves as the best of their kind. PKMNDP394 PKMNDP395
Munchlax Normal 446

Plot[]

The player is washed ashore by a storm and is discovered by the partner, a timid Pokémon who dreams of forming an exploration team. After teaming up to recover the partner's Relic Fragment from some bullies, the player, who has lost all memories except their name and the fact that they used to be human, agrees to form an exploration team to piece together their identity. The two enlist at the Wigglytuff Guild and begin training as adventurers. During this time, the player discovers that they can have visions of the future or past. Eventually, the authorities alert the guild that a criminal named Grovyle has been stealing artifacts called the Time Gears, which stabilize the flow of time in each region and cause time to stop when stolen. The player and partner attempt to intercept Grovyle, but are defeated. Afterwards, the guild enlists the aid of a famous explorer named Dusknoir, who explains that the player's ability to see through time is called the Dimensional Scream. Dusknoir reveals that he and Grovyle are from the future and that if the Time Gears are stolen, the Pokémon world will become paralyzed and turn into a dark, dismal region filled with scared and corrupted Pokémon. With assistance from the guardians of the Time Gears, Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf, Dusknoir successfully captures Grovyle and returns the Time Gears to their rightful places. Back in town, Dusknoir opens a Dimensional Hole to take Grovyle back to the future to face justice and bids farewell to the villagers, but suddenly grabs the player and partner and drags them into the portal with him.

The player and partner awaken in a prison in the future. After escaping a near execution with Grovyle by Dusknoir, they discover the world is still paralyzed. They learn from Grovyle that the paralysis was caused because of the collapse of Temporal Tower, which also corrupted its head occupant, Dialga, into a tyrannical being known as Primal Dialga. Grovyle exposes Dusknoir as a villainous agent sent to the present to capture him and reveals that he and a human companion traveled back in time to take the Time Gears to Temporal Tower in order to save the world; this human is actually the player. With the help of Celebi, a friend of Grovyle, the group manages to escape Dusknoir's group and return to the present. Grovyle reveals that, while it is true that time stops when a Time Gear is taken (not "stolen"), this effect is only temporary and that once the Time Gears are returned to Temporal Tower, time is permanently restored in all locations.

Arriving back to the present, the group enlists the help of the guild to take the Time Gears to Temporal Tower to restore time. While Grovyle gathers the Time Gears, the guild investigates Temporal Tower and discovers a way to reach the Hidden Land where it lies, using the partner's Relic Fragment. The player, the partner, and Grovyle travel to the Hidden Land, and are accosted by Dusknoir. He reveals to the player that if they succeed in changing the future, they and Grovyle will be erased from existence. Grovyle sacrifices himself to drag Dusknoir back to the future, and the player presses onward. They and the partner make their way to the top of Temporal Tower, defeat Primal Dialga and restore it to sanity, and replace the Time Gears and stop the planet's paralysis. On the way back, the player says a final goodbye to the partner before vanishing. After the credits, Dialga is deeply moved by the partner's grief over the player's death, and restores the player to the timeline as thanks for bringing time back under control. The player reappears at the beach and reunites with the overjoyed partner.

After the main story, the player and partner graduate from Wigglytuff Guild and move their base of operations to Sharpedo Bluff, the partner's old home. In Luminous Spring, they learn that neither the partner nor the player can evolve due to a distortion in space. After many missions and explorations, it is revealed that Darkrai was responsible for the events in the main story. The team, with the help of Palkia and Cresselia, defeats Darkrai, fixing the distortion and finally allowing the player and partner to evolve.

Reception[]

The reviews for the games were average. The games were scored as 60 and 59 out of 100 by Metacritic for Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness respectively. GameSpot gave the games a score of 6.5 out of 10, criticising the dialogue and inconsistent visuals, but praising the story, soundtrack, Wi-Fi features and easier difficulty. IGN also rated the games 6.5 out of 10, criticising the repetitive and unoriginal gameplay but noted the story for its charm.

Other media[]

A special episode of Pokémon the Series, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness, was developed based on the game plot. Unlike previous special episodes, this does not take place in any continuity of the main storyline. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 9, 2007, as part of Pokémon Sunday. The English dub was released on August 17, 2008.

Trivia[]

  • The anime special of the game was Maddie Blaustein's last voice acting appearance, who died on December 11, 2008.

External links[]

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