Five years after the Cipher incident involving Shadow Pokémon, someone has unleashed these dark Pokémon battlers once again. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for the Nintendo GameCube challenges players to recover the Shadow Pokémon, purify them back to their happy selves, and put a stop to the organization responsible for setting events into motion. Sounds simple, right? My time with Pokémon XD is my first experience with the Pokémon universe; the series has not been something that has interested me. Part of the fun of reviewing new video games is that I have the opportunity to try games that I otherwise would skip, so I am giving Pokémon XD a fair chance and keeping an open mind as I play it. After playing for several hours I have yet to form an actual opinion about the game, as nothing has really happened yet (nothing of any importance, at least).

The game opens as the young hero character (I named him after myself, but players can choose any name for him provided that name is less than or equal to seven letters) is enjoying his day at the Pokémon HQ where all kinds of Pokéresearch occurs. The hero is a Pokémon trainer and is in the process of training his Eevee Pokémon. On this particular day the hero’s sister, Jovi, has disappeared and must be found. “She couldn’t have left the building,” the professor explains, and so I begin guiding the hero around the research center, a 3D environment on which the camera is fixed to a familiar isometric viewpoint. After walking around the building and talking to every person and Pokémon I could find, I ventured outside and was told that Jovi was seen leaving the building. I take the hero out of the safety of the HQ and come to the map screen.

I’m expecting to find an overworld in which I can roam around aimlessly in search of other towns and characters, but instead I’m prompted to choose a specific location. At the moment Jovi’s suspected location is available as a destination, so I choose it and am treated to a scene of the hero riding his moped across open countryside without incident. At the desintation, a creepy mansion, I meet an assistant of the local professor who challenges the hero to a Pokémon battle. The battle is quickly won as Eevee wipes out the opposing Pokémon in a single turn. The hero is then invited inside the mansion to meet the professor, and it turns out Jovi is there to pester him. After some chatter with the professor, the assistant, and Jovi it’s time to go back to HQ via the same animated moped scene.

Once back at HQ the characters give some exposition about the Shadow Pokémon incident of five years ago and how at HQ there is work in progress on how to purify Shadow Pokémon should a similar threat rise again. At this point the hero is given the Snag Machine, a cybernetic glove that allows him to steal Shadow Pokémon from evil trainers in battle. Before the device can be demoed, however, the director of the facility is kidnapped by rogue forces. During the ensuing battle the hero snags a Teddiursa Pokémon, but without the director’s final work on the Purify Chamber, it cannot be returned to its normal state. In order to finish the machine the hero is sent to a nearby port town to pick up a special machine part from a local shop.

One rendered moped ride later the hero and Jovi arrive at Gateon Port where they’re roped into a Pokémon battle right away. The aggressor has a Shadow Pokémon on his side, but a local Pokémon master steps in and puts a stop to the fight before the hero can snag it. After chatting with more townsfolk, the hero retrieves the special part and returns to HQ. The Purify Chamber is still not ready, so the hero will have to perform the special Purification Ritual to help the Teddiursa. This can be done at Agate Village with the help of the elder Eagun. He directs the hero to a nearby cave that houses the Relic Stone that can assist with the ritual, but the cave is blocked by a series of Pokémon trainers who all want to have a battle.



Maybe I’m expecting too much from Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, but I can’t help but think that after investing a few hours in the game that nothing has happened yet. The plot is unfolding at a snail’s pace and the limited map screen puts a damper on any inklings of exploration. So far it plays like an “RPG on rails” as I’m directed to go from one errand to another with each errand lacking a visible payoff. I feel no attachment to the characters and I can’t say I’m overly motivated to find out what errand I have to run next. If this is the essence of the Pokémon series, I’m starting to see that I haven’t missed very much. I am desperately hoping that the game picks up soon I want some action and some actual storyline, not a series of odd jobs. We’ll find out together just where Pokémon XD is going later this week in the full AMN review of the game. *