EB trilogy summaries: Earthbound
Feb. 8th, 2013 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedLife is not serious all the time. It's also not a comedy all the time. There are sad points, and there are happy points... but ultimately, life is what you make of it.
-The underlying message in Earthbound, according to Zerodius, according to Jake.
Before I begin, I'd like to mention that, months ago, I had drawn a lot of similarities between the plots of Earthbound and Popotan. And now is a better time than any to describe them (for anyone in general reading this), before I go onto the real content of this entry.
Earthbound:
1) Ness's Sound Stone, which allows him to record the melodies at each Your Sanctuary location.
2) Three self-contained arcs (and a prologue) to start the game, each with their own town(s), debut character, situation, and Your Sanctuary location.
3) Next arc involves various things going on in both Dusty Dunes Desert and the city of Fourside, including Paula being forced apart temporarily from Ness and Jeff. This is where things become less and less formulaic.
4) Poo joins the party much later than Paula and Jeff.
5) Ness visits Magicant after recording all eight melodies with the Sound Stone.
6) The party revisits Saturn Valley and Onett one more time before the final battle.
Popotan:
1) Ai's ability to communicate with Popotan, or dandelions.
2) Four self-contained episodes, each with their own character of the week and situation.
3) Episodes 5 and 6 are connected to each other, with Mai and Mea being left behind at the end of 5 as the girls' traveling mansion moves on with just Ai and Mii. 6 is all about the four of them finding each other again. Things become less formulaic from there.
4) Episodes 8 and 9 continue the character-of-the-week formula with Nono, the daughter of a Shinto priest, and Mai, the daughter of protagonist-Mai's former friend Konami. 9, however, is the first of a four-episode arc designed to wrap the series up.
5) After ten episodes of a journey that had been going on long before the story began, the girls finally get to meet Shizuku, the goddess they were looking for, in her magical garden.
6) From there, Ai, Mai, and Mii each travel back in time to meet with one of their old friends, before realizing how unhappy they are now that they no longer have each other... and continuing their journey once the opportunity arises.
Now, for the real purpose of this entry:
Prologue:
Ness is asleep one night when a meteorite lands on a nearby hill and wakes up everyone in town. He goes outside to see it for himself, and there are police everywhere. Halfway up the hill where it landed, the police have blocked the path, but Ness also meets his nextdoor neighbor Pokey, who is bugging them to let him through. After talking with him for a bit, Pokey promises to tell Ness more about it the next morning, and Ness heads back home.
Later that night, Pokey knocks frantically at Ness's door, waking him and his mother and sister up. Ness answers the door, and Pokey explains that while the police had left, his brother Picky had gone to check out the meteorite. Ness agrees to help Pokey find him, and then gets ready to leave, bringing his dog King along with them. Just as they nearly set foot out the door, Ness's father calls the house, and gives Ness some words of encouragement.
Upon reaching the summit, King gets scared and runs back home. Ness finds Picky sitting under a tree, and escorts him back home. Just then, a pillar of light shoots from the meteorite, and a bee-like creature emerges and introduces himself as Buzz Buzz, before explaining the kind of future he had come from and the prophecy of three boys and a girl who will defeat the alien fiend Giygas.
On the way back down the hill, a man named Lier X. Agerate tells Ness about something he dug up deep underneath his house (that being the Mani Mani Statue). Further back to Pokey and Picky's house, a silver alien emerges from the sky, vowing to crush Buzz Buzz for foiling Giygas' plans. Buzz Buzz protects the three boys from its psychokinetic attacks with PK Power Shield, and defeats the Starman Jr. without breaking a sweat, before explaining what kinds of enemies Ness will be fighting from here on.
Back at their house, Pokey and Picky's father Aloysius sends them upstairs to their room before following them and giving them both a spanking. Coming back down, he then tells Ness how sick he is of his family living next door, due to a loan he gave them and the poverty they now live in because of that. His wife, Lardna, then takes her turn to speak to Ness, telling him that he is too soft on their sons.
Buzz Buzz, for no apparent reason, then hovers in front of her face, and she mistakes him for a dung beetle and swats him. With his last breaths, the insect tells Ness about eight spots on Earth that he must visit in order to channel the Earth's energy to defeat Giygas, before giving him the Sound Stone with which to record each location's melody.
Part I: Onett
Ness borrows a map from the town library to locate Giant Step, the first of the eight Your Sanctuary locations. It's on a plateau not far away, but the cave leading to the top is blocked off by a locked shack and the surrounding fence. The Traveling Entertainers, who have been living there for the time being, tell Ness that it's been locked because someone named Frank wrecked it. He then goes to Town Hall to speak to Mayor B.H. Pirkle, but instead is confronted by a police officer who explains that he's busy taking care of problems such as the meteorite and the Sharks gang, before kicking him back out.
Ness then goes to the local arcade to confront Frank, the Sharks' ringleader. After doing battle with him and his robot, Frankystein Mark II, Ness earns his respect, and he shares what he knows about Giant Step before advising him to speak to the mayor.
Back at Town Hall, Pirkle gives Ness his words of gratitude, before giving him the key to the Traveling Entertainers' shack. Ness goes back there and unlocks the door, before proceeding into the cave and eventually battling the Titanic Ant, who had been guarding the spot with its life.
Upon visiting Giant Step, Ness catches a glimpse of a small cute puppy, before recording the first melody with the Sound Stone.
Back at the cave's entrance, a police officer confronts Ness, pointing out the Do Not Enter sign on the fence, before demanding that Ness meet him at the police station. Ness then spends the night at Hotel Onett, and is telepathically contacted in his sleep by a girl named Paula, who begs for him to come rescue her.
The next morning, Ness makes his way to Twoson, only to find the road blocked by two other police officers. He then goes to the police station, where the cop and Captain Strong are talking. He speaks to Strong, who then explains why the road to Twoson is closed. Strong asks him if he would really like to go to Twoson, and then escorts him into a room with five other cops. The officers duel with him one on one, except for the last one remaining, who just leaves without a fight, before Strong himself takes him on. Ness prevails, and Strong radios the two cops blocking the road to Twoson and orders them to let him through.
Part II: Twoson and Happy Happy Village
Upon entering Twoson, Ness makes a stop at Burglin Park, where he is confronted by a man named Everdred, who battles him before telling him about Paula's kidnapping by a chubby boy (Pokey) and a man clad all in blue (Carpainter). He then warns Ness to hurry over to Happy Happy Village in order to save Paula.
On the way there, he stops at the house of an inventor named Apple Kid, and gives him something to eat and $200 with which to invent something. A mouse that Apple Kid had been keeping as a pet thanks him and gives him a phone with which to receive calls from people, before he continues his way to Happy Happy Village.
Upon reaching Peaceful Rest Valley halfway there, the first bridge across the river that Ness comes across is broken. Continuing up the side of the river, an iron, pencil-shaped statue blocks the way, and Ness goes back to Twoson in defeat (as if he couldn't just swim across the river, which is neither freezing nor moving too fast to swim in)... and receives a call from Apple Kid along the way, asking him to meet him back at Burglin Park to check out something he invented.
The invention in question turns out to be a device with which to erase anything shaped like a pencil. With that in hand, Ness returns to Peaceful Rest Valley, eliminates the pencil statue, and fights the rest of his way to Happy Happy Village.
Upon arriving, the village is overrun by a cult known as the Happy Happyists, who have painted everything blue. Ness passes through another cave from the one he crossed into the village, to the cabin where Paula is being held captive. Paula gives him the Franklin Badge, with which to reflect electrical attacks, and explains that it is the key to fighting Carpainter, since he has the power to control lightning.
Emerging from the cabin, Ness is confronted by Pokey, who has joined the Happy Happyists and tells him about the position that Carpainter had given him. He leaves, and several fellow members that were accompanying him proceed to fight Ness.
Back in the village, Ness enters the church and makes his way through the masses inside. He enters Carpainter's room, who then mock-offers to make him his right-hand man, before proceeding to fight him. Upon Defeat, he tells Ness that he just wanted to have a normal life, and shows him the Mani Mani Statue behind him, which had caused him to start doing all kinds of weird things. He gives Ness the key to Paula's cell, and Ness makes his way back out of the now nearly-empty church. Outside, Pokey approaches him, and tells him that he woke up from a really bad dream, and asks Ness if he could forgive him. He then walks away very slowly, only a few paces, before turning around and basically calls Ness a sucker for believing him, before running off.
Ness continues to Paula's prison and sets her freen. Paula joins Ness, and the two of them explore a cave within the village, where they fight Mondo Mole and record the melody of Lilliput Steps.
Ness then brings Paula back to Polestar Preschool in Twoson, where her parents live and work. Paula speaks to her parents for one last time before getting ready to set off to Threed with Ness.
Upon leaving the school, Ness is confronted by a man who tells him that Everdred would like to speak to him back in Burglin Park. Ness meets him inside his house, and he tells Ness that while he would like to hire him for an illicit job, he knows he'll refuse. Instead, he gives Ness a wad of money, before vowing to steal the Mani Mani Statue that Lier X. Agerate dug up.
At that time, the tunnel to Threed is swarming with ghosts, making it impassable. Ness and Paula instead hit Chaos Theater and speak to the Runaway Five, who tells Ness that they can't leave due to the amount of debt they're in, before giving him a backstage pass. Ness and Paula go into the theater, and watch the band play a number, before speaking with Manager Poochyfud and paying off their debts with the money Everdred gave Ness.
Finally able to leave once and for all, the Five give Ness and Paula a ride to Threed, since their tour bus is too loud for any ghosts to bother.
Part III: Threed, Winters, and Saturn Valley
Threed is dark and overrun by ghosts, zombies, and other monsters. After parting with the Runaway Five, Ness and Paula head to the graveyard up north and fight their way through, but are stopped by two zombies in particular, whose gaze pierces their souls. Returning to the main part of town, they spot a scantily-clad woman heading into Threed Sunset Hotel, follow her into a room, and end up surrounded by zombies.
Upon awakening from unconsciousness, the two of them find themselves inside a chamber underneath the cemetery. Paula then sends a telepathic message to someone far, far away.
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In Winters, a boy named Jeff wakes up in the night at Snow Wood Boarding House, after receiving Paula's message. His dormmate, Tony, catches him and warns him that it's against the dorm rules to sneak out in the middle of the night, and that if he intends to leave, he should at least grab some stuff from the locker room.
Downstairs, the two of them pay a visit to Maxwell Labs, who is working an an invention at the moment. Labs gives them a locker key, but it turns out not to work so well. They return to him, and he presents them with the now-completed Bad Key Machine, which opens any door especially if the key is bad.
After taking some stuff to bring along for the trek down south, Tony helps Jeff climb over the gate, and he heads into the nearby drugstore. Inside, a woman gives Jeff a pack of bubble gum, and he shares a stick with a monkey inside the shop. The monkey blows a bubble with it large enough to hover into the air momentarily, and then joins him.
The two of them head south to the edge of Lake Tess, where people have camped to watch out for the legendary sea serpent Tessie. Jeff spends the night inside one of the tents, and the following morning, he and Bubble Monkey stand at the edge of a small peninsula, where the monkey elevates himself into the air with a bubble before Tessie emerges from the water and gives the two of them a ride across the lake.
Back on land, Jeff and Bubble Monkey spot a wooden maze built into the canyon, built and owned by a man named Brick Road. After passing through, he speaks to Brick Road, who asks if the maze was way too easy. He then tells them about how he builds dungeons for a hobby, and aspires to make himself into Dungeon Man, the first combination of man and dungeon in history.
Jeff and Bubble Monkey continue their way south, passing through a cave, before meeting a female monkey that Bubble Monkey falls in love with. Jeff then passes by a series of large stone formations called stonehenge, before reaching the laboratory where his father, Dr. Andonuts, works. Jeff speaks to him for the first time in years, who then makes some small talk, and then tells him about his work on something called the Phase Distorter with which to connect two points in space and time. The scientist then shows Jeff another, older invention of his, called the Sky Runner, which he then uses to fly to Threed.
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Upon reaching his destination, he hovers the Sky Runner above the spot where Ness and Paula are imprisoned. It crashes through the ground, but Jeff's not seriously injured. He introduces himself to his new friends, and then uses the Bad Key Machine to open the door leading out of the chamber and back outside.
Exploring Threed for a bit, the three of them come across a living circus tent, which they proceed to fight. Upon defeat, it disappears and reveals a pair of zombies guarding a trash can, who then flee. Inside the can is a jar of fly honey, the favorite food of Master Belch, who in turn is responsible for the zombie plague taking place here.
Returning to town, Ness receives a call from Apple Kid about a new invention of his, Zombie Paper, designed to attract zombies and render them powerless. Some of the stuff gets delivered to the party by a Mach Pizza deliveryman, and they place it inside a real circus tent serving right now as the Zombie Relief Corps. They spend the night at Threed Sunset Hotel, and overnight, the zombies plaguing Threed, including the two that were standing guard north of the cemetery, gather inside the tent and end up on the floor, unable to get up.
North of the cemetery where Ness and Paula were previously unable to pass is an underground passage leading to Grapefruit Falls, but crawling with ghosts and zombies. When the party emerges, a man selling food tells them about a place called Saturn, not on any map but accessible through a cave leading through the canyon wall and inhabited by weird pink creatures known as Mr. Saturns living in cylindrical metal huts with red, cone-shaped roofs.
Here, Ness and co. explore for a bit and talk to the residents. One of them in particular tells them the password to Master Belch's Base behind the waterfall further north up Grapefruit Falls, and then tells them to wait three minutes after giving the password in order to enter.
The base is actually a factory of sorts, with puddles of green slime everywhere. Along the way, two Mr. Saturns are chained to iron balls to process jars of fly honey moving down a conveyor belt. Eventually, the party meets Master Belch, the mastermind behind the zombie infestation in Threed, and give him the jar of fly honey they found back in Threed before proceeding to beat him down. Belch then tells them that while they may have won, Giygas has managed to get the Mani Mani Statue into Fourside, and that things will get pretty bleak there soon.
The party leaves through a small cave that Belch had been sitting in front of, emerging on a plateau back in Saturn Valley. They wash off the gunk from their battle in the local hot spring, and then a Mr. Saturn offers them some coffee.
While enjoying their drink, Ness reflects on how the journey started, how much stronger he's become since then, and where things are about to go once they finish up. They then take on a nearby cave, defeat a giant weed known as the Trillionage Sprout, and record the third melody with the Sound Stone, before heading all the way back to Threed and taking a bus to Dusty Dunes Desert.
Part IV: Dusty Dunes Desert and Fourside
Somewhere along the road in Dusty Dunes Desert is a traffic jam that prevents the bus from continuing to Fourside. Ness and his friends have no choice but to explore the desert on foot. During their trek, they come across a log cabin, home to Gerardo and George Montague, who run a nearby gold mine. While they speak to them, Gerardo asks if the party has any food to spare, and they kindly oblige. He then offers to return the favor with gold if he finds any.
At that point, the traffic has cleared up, and the party proceeds further east to the city of Fourside. While exploring the city, they go to see the Runaway Five again at Topolla Theater. It turns out that the band is once again in serious debt, and the party returns to the gold mine in Dusty Dunes Desert.
The mine has come a long way at this point, but is now full of five giant moles and lots of other monsters running around. The party enters, and defeats each mole one by one.
Coming back out, Ness and his friends trek back to Fourside, but George catches up with them in his backhoe to give them a diamond that Gerardo found in the mines. Ness uses this to pay off the Runaway Five's debts, and he and his friends watch their last performance at Topolla Theater.
By the time they leave, the Fourside Department Store has its grand opening, and the party decides to do some shopping there. Before they leave, the lights go out, and a green alien seizes Paula and heads up to the manager's office, asking Ness to meet him up there. A battle ensues once Ness and Jeff confront it, and then the defeated Department Store Spook tells them that Paula is now in the hands of Mayor Geldegarde Monotoli.
Ness and Jeff visit the Monotoli Building, and discover that Pokey and his father Aloysius have been given positions there. Ness greets Pokey, who then tells him about how good a life he has there, before having his bodyguards carry him and Jeff back into the lobby and warn him never to appear in front of Pokey again. They attempt to ride the next elevator up to the top, but the operator of that one is unable to go anywhere.
The two boys then leave and go to Jackie's Cafe, and a woman tells them that she heard a noise outside. Back outside, Everdred lays next to the building in a heap while people gather around him. Ness speaks to Everdred, who then explains that he managed to steal the Mani Mani Statue from Carpainter to sell in the big city, only to have it stolen from him by Monotoli. He then tells him the secret to enter Moonside through the cafe storeroom.
Moonside is a black reflection of Fourside, with neon colors outlining the streets and buildings. Everything that everyone says is incoherent, and the only way to get from one section to another is by talking to Warp Men clad in Hawaiian shirts and with bleach-blonde hair. A sailor guards the final way towards the Mani Mani Statue, and demands to see a shadowy man with connected eyebrows and a golden tooth.
In front of the Mani Mani Statue, someone stands who looks like Monotoli but claims not to be him before vanishing. Ness and Jeff then proceed to battle with the statue, eventually finding themselves back in the storeroom once they shatter it into pieces.
Upon coming out of the storeroom, Ness receives a call from Apple Kid about an invention that can make yogurt but is currently only capable of making trout-flavor. He's sent the machine to him via Escargo Express's Neglected Class. Outside the cafe, a monkey tells Ness and Jeff that a man named Talah Rama, who lives in the cave where he and other monkeys live, is done fasting and would like Ness them to come see him. The monkey teleports away, and then the person who was supposed to deliver the Yogurt Dispenser arrives and tells you that he accidentally left the machine behind after visiting the monkey cave, and refuses to go back for it, insisting that you go pick it up yourself. He leaves, and then Monotoli's maid, Electra, tells you that she's been looking all over for exactly what she heard them and the deliveryman talking about.
Ness and Jeff then head to Talah Rama's grotto in Dusty Dunes Desert, where they navigate a series of caves each guarded by a monkey who wants something or another. Eventually, they meet Talah Rama in his chamber, who proceeds to explain the concept of destiny to them, before giving them the Yogurt Dispenser. He then has a monkey within the same room meet them back outside to teach them PK Teleport alpha.
Back in Fourside, Ness and Jeff return to the Monotoli Building, in front of which Electra asks for the Yogurt Dispenser and then takes off with it inside. The boys ride the elevators back up, this time the whole way to the top, and fight robot after robot on their way to Monotoli's office. In the room just before, they are confronted by a particularly tough robot that they're unable to beat by themselves, but then the Runaway Five burst in, and Lucky ducks behind the robot and flips a switch to simply turn it off.
Inside Monotoli's office, Paula assures Ness and Jeff that Monotoli is not really a bad person. Monotoli then tells them how weak he is now that the Mani Mani Statue has been destroyed, explains that the statue shows people illusions and brings out the evil within them, and that he hid it inside the storeroom in Jackie's Cafe in an attempt to seal it away, but came back time and time again to look at it. During his visits, the statue had given him orders such as not to let Ness and his friends go to Summers or the pyramid in Scaraba. He apologizes for the worry he had caused Ness and Jeff, and assures them that he has not harmed Paula in any way, before opening a secret door leading to his helicopter pad.
Just as Ness and his friends are about to step onto Monotoli's helicopter, Pokey takes off with it, telling Ness how too slow he is and how he has no more use for Monotoli now that he's good again.
Ness and his friends then leave the building with the Runaway Five. Along the way, Ness receives a call from Apple Kid, who now knows about Giygas and plans on working with Dr. Andonuts on the Phase Distorter.
Back outside the building, the Runaway Five give Ness and co. another ride back to Threed. Back in the graveyard where the it previously crashed, the Sky Runner has now been fixed up. Jeff gives Ness and Paula a ride back to Dr. Andonuts' lab, where they are greeted by Bubble Monkey and his girlfriend, and Dr. Andonuts tells them about the Rainy Circle in the cave that Jeff previously passed through on his way to Threed. The party battles Shrooom! inside the cave, and Ness then records the fourth melody with the Sound Stone.
Back at the lab, the Sky Runner has been modified to travel to Summers.
Part V: Summers and Dalaam
Jeff pilots the Sky Runner to Summers, and it crashes on the beach. The party isn't seriously harmed, though.
Evidence is everywhere that Pokey has beaten Ness and his friends here. Inside the Cultural Museum, Ness and co. look around at various things from Scaraba. There is one room in particular, though, where access is denied, but the person guarding does offer to show the party in exchange for any jewelry they might have.
In the port village of Toto in the east part of town, Ness asks a sailor for a ride to Scaraba, but he is too embroiled in marital problems to help out. He tells the party to speak to his wife, who is in the Stoic Club. However, said club only accepts new members after they call their phone number first. The party asks various people in town, and then receive a call from Tony from Snow Wood Boarding House, who asks for the player's name.
Inside the Stoic Club, the captain's wife offers the party some Magic Cake. They follow her outside to her vending cart, and then end up having a dream of sorts.
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Up in the airborne island of Dalaam, Prince Poo is about to undertake his final trial. He is sent to Mu, the Land of Nothingness, to meditate. There, someone tries to trick him into returning to the palace before he's actually supposed to. He remains in place, and is visited by a spirit of one of his ancestors, who proceeds to continually dismember him alive, until only his mind remains... and follows suit.
His training complete, he returns to the palace, and his master tells him about his destiny. After listening to him, Poo then teleports to Summers to meet Ness and his friends for the first time.
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With a tiny ruby on Poo, the party visits the Cultural Museum again. There, the person guarding the special room accepts the ruby, and allows them in with him. Inside, Poo reads a heiroglyph explaining the story behind the Scaraba pyramid and the secret to opening it.
On the way out, the receptionist's phone rings, but the receptionist isn't there to answer. Ness takes the call, and it turns out to be from someone named Mr. Spoon at the Dinosaur Museum in Fourside. The party teleports there, but he asks them to obtain him an autograph from the celebrity singer Venus, who is currently performing at Topolla Theater, and states that he doesn't care what it's written on.
The party goes to see her, and then meets with her personally in the locker room. She signs a banana, which the party brings back to Mr. Spoon.
Mr. Spoon then tells the party that he saw a giant monster rat in the sewers. The party enters the room he stands in front of, and heads down the manhole inside. The rat in question turns out to be guarding the fifth Your Sanctuary spot, Magnet Hill.
Next to Magnet Hill is a treasure chest containing a Carrot Key. The party teleports to Dalaam with it, and feed it to a trio of black rabbit statues guarding the entrance to a cave there. Said cave leads to the sixth Your Sanctuary location, Pink Cloud.
Back in Summers, the party returns to the captain in Toto, and he finally gives them a ride to Scaraba. The voyage is mostly peaceful, but eventually, the ship is attacked by a fire-breathing sea serpent known as Kraken. The party defeats him, and the ship makes it safely to its destination.
Part VI: Scaraba
After exploring the village that they arrive in, the party heads south towards a sphinx guarding one of the pyramids. In front of the sphinx are five circular tiles arranged in a pentagram pattern. The party steps on each tile in the order specified on the heiroglyph, and the pyramid opens up.
Deep inside the pyramid is a tile that opens up a hole disguised as a sarcophagus. Down the hole is an artifact known as the Hawk Eye, which Ness takes, before proceeding towards the exit.
Back outside, a man known as Star Master visits the party, asking Poo to come with him to learn the ultimate PK power.
After Poo leaves, the party speaks to a nearby native, who gives them the key to Dungeon Man up north.
Inside the tower is a long and winding maze upwards. At the top is the face once belonging to Brick Road, who is now infused with the tower as Dungeon Man. Ness and co. speak to him, and then head back outside. Dungeon Man tags along until getting caught in some palm trees through which only the kids are able to pass. The party finds another native nearby, who tells them how to cross the ocean to Deep Darkness and warns them how dangerous it is there.
The party ventures up Dungeon Man again, eventually coming to a part which they previously couldn't access, where they find a yellow submarine among other things. They bring the submarine outside, and ride it to Deep Darkness.
Part VII: Deep Darkness, Tenda Village, and the Stonehenge Base
This is where the Hawk Eye serves its purpose, to light up the darkness for which this place is named. Along the winding road, the party comes across the same helicopter that Pokey took off with back in Fourside, now ruined beyond repair. They also meet Master Belch once again, now assuming the name Master Barf. They battle with him, and Poo returns and finishes him off with PK Starstorm alpha.
Eventually, the party finds a cave known as Tenda Village, home to many small green creatures who are too shy to do anything. There is a rock over the hole leading further on, but the Tendites' shyness prevents the only one capable from removing it.
Back outside, Ness gets a call from Apple Kid about yet another invention, but Apple Kid is abducted mid-call. The party teleports to Winters, now under direct attack by the aliens, and fights their way all the way from the north down to Dr. Andonuts' lab. There, Apple Kid's pet mouse gives Ness an Eraser Eraser, with which to remove an iron eraser-shaped statue blocking the way into the base under the Stonehenge.
Deep underground is a room where Tony, Apple Kid, Dr. Andonuts, a Mr. Saturn, and others are trapped inside some glass cells. In the room after stands the Starman Deluxe, whom the party fights in order to free all the captives.
Now that everyone is free and the base is evacuated of all personnel, the party speaks with everyone who had just been freed. Apple Kid tells them about a book called Overcoming Shyness, which can be found at the library in Onett. The party goes there, checks the book out, and then returns to Tenda Village with it to show to its elder.
Having helped solve the Tenda tribe's shyness problem, Ness then receives another call from Tony to confirm whether the name the player entered back at Summers is correct. The party then takes a dip in the hot spring, and then accepts a cup of coffee from a Tendite. Like in Saturn Valley, a voice speaks to Ness reminding him of how powerful he has become at this point, after many encounters, farewells, victories, and defeats he and his friends had experienced.
The particularly strong Tenda removes the boulder blocking the way to Lumine Hall, the seventh Your Sanctuary location. The party also receives a special dish to bring with them, called a Tendakraut, which smells bad but tastes great to Tendas. They climb down the hole, speak to a sentient rock, and then navigate through a maze where they eventually fight the metallic and electrical guardian Electro Specter.
Inside Lumine Hall, Ness's thoughts scroll across the wall, in large dots of light comprising each character of each sentence. He then records the seventh melody with the Sound Stone, before he and his friends jump down one last hole that lies before them.
Part VIII: The Lost Underworld
After much exploration in this vast land of dinosaurs and palm trees, the party will be admitted into a fenced-off Tenda refuge in exchange for the Tendakraut. There, a rock will speak to them, explaining how Ness will become one with the universe once he visits all eight Your Sanctuary locations and listens to their melodies.
Further along the way, the party will come across a cave, inside which the floor is covered with green moss and a silver tentacle can be spotted.
Eventually, they find the volcano in which the Fire Spring resides. Guarding it is the flaming Carbon Dog, who turns into Diamond Dog halfway through the battle.
After listening to the final melody, Ness sees a flashback of the day he had been brought home for the first time as a baby while a music box plays the eight combined melodies, before finding himself, either naked except for his baseball cap or in his pajamas (depending on whether you're playing Mother 2 or Earthbound respectively) in a physical manifestation of his mind.
Part IX: Magicant
In this magical landscape, Ness finds people and things of his past and imagination, such as snowmen that he once built as a kid, his younger self, kids he used to play with, and enemies that he had vanquished during his journey. The world changes color each time he talks to someone. His family promise to let him stay with them for as long as he'd like. Everdred tells him that he reminds him of himself when he was younger, and then vanishes. Pokey sits on a couch somewhere and complains about how much better a life Ness has than him. And in a small hut reside five humanoid birds known as Flying Men, embodiments of Ness's courage. In front of said house stands a small cross marking the grave of Buzz Buzz.
After exploring the populated part of this world, Ness enlists the help of one of the Flying Men, and sets off on a path infested with monsters. Along the way, he finds his other self, clad in his normal outfit, who then offers the baseball cap that's implied to be the source of his psionic powers.
Flying Man dies in battle along the way. At the end of the path, Ness finds a silver tentacle, which brings him to the Sea of Eden. Three Krakens inhabit this part of Magicant, but the real battle awaiting Ness is against the Mani Mani Statue, standing on a small island in the northwest part of the sea. This is where Ness contends with the evilness in his heart, which he must overcome in order to defeat Giygas.
Upon defeating the demon, Ness is spoken to by a mental version of himself, who tells him about a machine called the Apple of Enlightenment, which is currently in Giygas's possession but has foretold that Giygas's plans will end in failure as Ness becomes one with the universe. Ness then figures out that, now that he has overcome his evil side, he and his friends must go to Saturn Valley.
Magicant fades from existence as Ness derives new power from each of the Your Sanctuary locations and learns PK Teleport omega. He then awakens back in Fire Spring, minus the Sound Stone that he had been carrying up until now. After his friends say a few words, the entire party teleports to Saturn Valley.
Part X: Endgame
Back at Saturn Valley, the party meets Dr. Andonuts and Apple Kid, and see a machine resembling a silver Mr. Saturn. This is the Phase Distorter II that they have been working on. The original was stolen by Pokey, who also kidnapped several Mr. Saturns while he was at it.
The party gives the Phase Distorter II a test drive, but it fails and they all end up charred. Dr. Andonuts tells them that in order for it to work properly, they need an element called Zexonyte, which can only be found in meteorites. Ness knows exactly where to find one of those.
In Onett, everyone has locked their doors as darkness envelops the town and aliens run around. Only Ness's house remains unlocked, but even in there, the lights are still off.
The party heads up the hill back where the meteorite landed after paying Ness's family a visit. They pick up some Zexonyte, and return to Saturn Valley.
There, they spend a night at the hotel while Dr. Andonuts works on applying the Zexonyte to the Phase Distorter II.
The next morning, they get back into the machine, and succeed in traveling to the moss-covered cave in the Lost Underworld. Star Master appears, and grants Poo the power of PK Starstorm omega.
Another Phase Distorter appears, from which Dr. Andounts, Apple Kid, and a Mr. Saturn emerge. Dr. Andonuts explains that this one, the Phase Distorter III, is capable of traveling through not only space but through time as well. This spot on Earth is where Giygas is attacking from, but from a long time in the past. Unfortunately, in order to travel to the time in which Giygas is, Ness and his friends have to be turned into robots, as the Phase Distorter III destroys any organic lifeforms that pass through it.
In the time which the party travels to, now as robots, the cave is foggy and lifeless, but swarming with aliens. Ness and his friends follow the path, and eventually come to an opening in a rock wall.
Inside is a path comprised of pulsating tubes of flesh. The party continues forward to a dead end. Except, that the dead end is actually where Giygas is resting. An eye-like entity with Ness's face emerges. Pokey appears before the party as well, piloting a spider-like mecha, and tells them how weak they really are and that Giygas, instead of being the wielder of evil, is now the embodiment of evil itself.
The party battles with Pokey and Giygas, before Pokey tells them that what they're fighting isn't Giygas' true form. The real Giygas is so terrifying that the party would be too paralyzed with fear to be able to run if they saw it. A machine called the Devil's Machine amplified his power so much that he is no longer capable of rational thought.
The Devil's Machine turned off by Pokey, the party continues to battle him as he unleashes such an immense power that its true form is incomprehensible. Pokey eventually reappears to taunt the party, and dares them to scream for help like the pussies he takes them for. This gives Paula the idea to pray for everyone's support back on Earth.
In Saturn Valley, the Phase Distorter II returns, and Dr. Andonuts, Apple Kid, and the Mr. Saturn accompanying them emerge. The former two speak to Gerardo, the miner from Dusty Dunes Desert, while the Mr. Saturn goes off to fetch his kind to gather with them and pray for the party.
Giygas becomes unstable, and starts spouting incoherent things.
In Summers, the one of the band members of the Runaway Five gets Paula's message, and the entire band prays for Ness and his friends.
In Twoson, Paula's father receives her prayer while conveniently near Polestar Preschool, and gets his wife and the kids to come out and pray.
In Snow Wood Boarding House, Tony hears Paula's plea for help, and runs downstairs to get Maxwell Labs. The two of them return upstairs to where a few other dorm residents are gathered, and they all pray for Jeff's safety.
In Dalaam, a young woman awakens from a dream in which Poo dies, and prays for his safe return.
In Onett, Frank has already gotten a job at the burger joint. Paula's plea reaches him, and he lends his support for Ness's sake.
At Ness's house, Ness's mother, sister, and dog hear Paula's prayers, and pray for Ness's safety.
Paula's next prayer is devoured by Giygas. Just then, though, the player lends their support, and defeats the fiend once and for all.
Pokey appears one more time as Giygas collapses, but says that he is going to run away.
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Back outside Giygas' lair, the roboticized versions of Ness and his friends lay battered. Their souls return to their real selves back in Saturn Valley. Each of the four kids awaken and begin to say their goodbyes. Jeff remains in Saturn Valley with his father to work on new projects. Poo teleports back to Dalaam. And Paula asks Ness to escort her back to her home in Twoson. Ness obliges, and then returns to his own home in Onett after parting with her.
Back at home, Ness and his family celebrate his victory and safe return home, and look at the many photographs taken during his travels.
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One night, Ness hears someone knock at his front door once again. It's Picky, delivering a letter from Pokey, who vows revenge on him and his friends one day.
THE END?
(Mother 3 is next, either this weekend or this coming Monday.)
-The underlying message in Earthbound, according to Zerodius, according to Jake.
Before I begin, I'd like to mention that, months ago, I had drawn a lot of similarities between the plots of Earthbound and Popotan. And now is a better time than any to describe them (for anyone in general reading this), before I go onto the real content of this entry.
Earthbound:
1) Ness's Sound Stone, which allows him to record the melodies at each Your Sanctuary location.
2) Three self-contained arcs (and a prologue) to start the game, each with their own town(s), debut character, situation, and Your Sanctuary location.
3) Next arc involves various things going on in both Dusty Dunes Desert and the city of Fourside, including Paula being forced apart temporarily from Ness and Jeff. This is where things become less and less formulaic.
4) Poo joins the party much later than Paula and Jeff.
5) Ness visits Magicant after recording all eight melodies with the Sound Stone.
6) The party revisits Saturn Valley and Onett one more time before the final battle.
Popotan:
1) Ai's ability to communicate with Popotan, or dandelions.
2) Four self-contained episodes, each with their own character of the week and situation.
3) Episodes 5 and 6 are connected to each other, with Mai and Mea being left behind at the end of 5 as the girls' traveling mansion moves on with just Ai and Mii. 6 is all about the four of them finding each other again. Things become less formulaic from there.
4) Episodes 8 and 9 continue the character-of-the-week formula with Nono, the daughter of a Shinto priest, and Mai, the daughter of protagonist-Mai's former friend Konami. 9, however, is the first of a four-episode arc designed to wrap the series up.
5) After ten episodes of a journey that had been going on long before the story began, the girls finally get to meet Shizuku, the goddess they were looking for, in her magical garden.
6) From there, Ai, Mai, and Mii each travel back in time to meet with one of their old friends, before realizing how unhappy they are now that they no longer have each other... and continuing their journey once the opportunity arises.
Now, for the real purpose of this entry:
Prologue:
Ness is asleep one night when a meteorite lands on a nearby hill and wakes up everyone in town. He goes outside to see it for himself, and there are police everywhere. Halfway up the hill where it landed, the police have blocked the path, but Ness also meets his nextdoor neighbor Pokey, who is bugging them to let him through. After talking with him for a bit, Pokey promises to tell Ness more about it the next morning, and Ness heads back home.
Later that night, Pokey knocks frantically at Ness's door, waking him and his mother and sister up. Ness answers the door, and Pokey explains that while the police had left, his brother Picky had gone to check out the meteorite. Ness agrees to help Pokey find him, and then gets ready to leave, bringing his dog King along with them. Just as they nearly set foot out the door, Ness's father calls the house, and gives Ness some words of encouragement.
Upon reaching the summit, King gets scared and runs back home. Ness finds Picky sitting under a tree, and escorts him back home. Just then, a pillar of light shoots from the meteorite, and a bee-like creature emerges and introduces himself as Buzz Buzz, before explaining the kind of future he had come from and the prophecy of three boys and a girl who will defeat the alien fiend Giygas.
On the way back down the hill, a man named Lier X. Agerate tells Ness about something he dug up deep underneath his house (that being the Mani Mani Statue). Further back to Pokey and Picky's house, a silver alien emerges from the sky, vowing to crush Buzz Buzz for foiling Giygas' plans. Buzz Buzz protects the three boys from its psychokinetic attacks with PK Power Shield, and defeats the Starman Jr. without breaking a sweat, before explaining what kinds of enemies Ness will be fighting from here on.
Back at their house, Pokey and Picky's father Aloysius sends them upstairs to their room before following them and giving them both a spanking. Coming back down, he then tells Ness how sick he is of his family living next door, due to a loan he gave them and the poverty they now live in because of that. His wife, Lardna, then takes her turn to speak to Ness, telling him that he is too soft on their sons.
Buzz Buzz, for no apparent reason, then hovers in front of her face, and she mistakes him for a dung beetle and swats him. With his last breaths, the insect tells Ness about eight spots on Earth that he must visit in order to channel the Earth's energy to defeat Giygas, before giving him the Sound Stone with which to record each location's melody.
Part I: Onett
Ness borrows a map from the town library to locate Giant Step, the first of the eight Your Sanctuary locations. It's on a plateau not far away, but the cave leading to the top is blocked off by a locked shack and the surrounding fence. The Traveling Entertainers, who have been living there for the time being, tell Ness that it's been locked because someone named Frank wrecked it. He then goes to Town Hall to speak to Mayor B.H. Pirkle, but instead is confronted by a police officer who explains that he's busy taking care of problems such as the meteorite and the Sharks gang, before kicking him back out.
Ness then goes to the local arcade to confront Frank, the Sharks' ringleader. After doing battle with him and his robot, Frankystein Mark II, Ness earns his respect, and he shares what he knows about Giant Step before advising him to speak to the mayor.
Back at Town Hall, Pirkle gives Ness his words of gratitude, before giving him the key to the Traveling Entertainers' shack. Ness goes back there and unlocks the door, before proceeding into the cave and eventually battling the Titanic Ant, who had been guarding the spot with its life.
Upon visiting Giant Step, Ness catches a glimpse of a small cute puppy, before recording the first melody with the Sound Stone.
Back at the cave's entrance, a police officer confronts Ness, pointing out the Do Not Enter sign on the fence, before demanding that Ness meet him at the police station. Ness then spends the night at Hotel Onett, and is telepathically contacted in his sleep by a girl named Paula, who begs for him to come rescue her.
The next morning, Ness makes his way to Twoson, only to find the road blocked by two other police officers. He then goes to the police station, where the cop and Captain Strong are talking. He speaks to Strong, who then explains why the road to Twoson is closed. Strong asks him if he would really like to go to Twoson, and then escorts him into a room with five other cops. The officers duel with him one on one, except for the last one remaining, who just leaves without a fight, before Strong himself takes him on. Ness prevails, and Strong radios the two cops blocking the road to Twoson and orders them to let him through.
Part II: Twoson and Happy Happy Village
Upon entering Twoson, Ness makes a stop at Burglin Park, where he is confronted by a man named Everdred, who battles him before telling him about Paula's kidnapping by a chubby boy (Pokey) and a man clad all in blue (Carpainter). He then warns Ness to hurry over to Happy Happy Village in order to save Paula.
On the way there, he stops at the house of an inventor named Apple Kid, and gives him something to eat and $200 with which to invent something. A mouse that Apple Kid had been keeping as a pet thanks him and gives him a phone with which to receive calls from people, before he continues his way to Happy Happy Village.
Upon reaching Peaceful Rest Valley halfway there, the first bridge across the river that Ness comes across is broken. Continuing up the side of the river, an iron, pencil-shaped statue blocks the way, and Ness goes back to Twoson in defeat (as if he couldn't just swim across the river, which is neither freezing nor moving too fast to swim in)... and receives a call from Apple Kid along the way, asking him to meet him back at Burglin Park to check out something he invented.
The invention in question turns out to be a device with which to erase anything shaped like a pencil. With that in hand, Ness returns to Peaceful Rest Valley, eliminates the pencil statue, and fights the rest of his way to Happy Happy Village.
Upon arriving, the village is overrun by a cult known as the Happy Happyists, who have painted everything blue. Ness passes through another cave from the one he crossed into the village, to the cabin where Paula is being held captive. Paula gives him the Franklin Badge, with which to reflect electrical attacks, and explains that it is the key to fighting Carpainter, since he has the power to control lightning.
Emerging from the cabin, Ness is confronted by Pokey, who has joined the Happy Happyists and tells him about the position that Carpainter had given him. He leaves, and several fellow members that were accompanying him proceed to fight Ness.
Back in the village, Ness enters the church and makes his way through the masses inside. He enters Carpainter's room, who then mock-offers to make him his right-hand man, before proceeding to fight him. Upon Defeat, he tells Ness that he just wanted to have a normal life, and shows him the Mani Mani Statue behind him, which had caused him to start doing all kinds of weird things. He gives Ness the key to Paula's cell, and Ness makes his way back out of the now nearly-empty church. Outside, Pokey approaches him, and tells him that he woke up from a really bad dream, and asks Ness if he could forgive him. He then walks away very slowly, only a few paces, before turning around and basically calls Ness a sucker for believing him, before running off.
Ness continues to Paula's prison and sets her freen. Paula joins Ness, and the two of them explore a cave within the village, where they fight Mondo Mole and record the melody of Lilliput Steps.
Ness then brings Paula back to Polestar Preschool in Twoson, where her parents live and work. Paula speaks to her parents for one last time before getting ready to set off to Threed with Ness.
Upon leaving the school, Ness is confronted by a man who tells him that Everdred would like to speak to him back in Burglin Park. Ness meets him inside his house, and he tells Ness that while he would like to hire him for an illicit job, he knows he'll refuse. Instead, he gives Ness a wad of money, before vowing to steal the Mani Mani Statue that Lier X. Agerate dug up.
At that time, the tunnel to Threed is swarming with ghosts, making it impassable. Ness and Paula instead hit Chaos Theater and speak to the Runaway Five, who tells Ness that they can't leave due to the amount of debt they're in, before giving him a backstage pass. Ness and Paula go into the theater, and watch the band play a number, before speaking with Manager Poochyfud and paying off their debts with the money Everdred gave Ness.
Finally able to leave once and for all, the Five give Ness and Paula a ride to Threed, since their tour bus is too loud for any ghosts to bother.
Part III: Threed, Winters, and Saturn Valley
Threed is dark and overrun by ghosts, zombies, and other monsters. After parting with the Runaway Five, Ness and Paula head to the graveyard up north and fight their way through, but are stopped by two zombies in particular, whose gaze pierces their souls. Returning to the main part of town, they spot a scantily-clad woman heading into Threed Sunset Hotel, follow her into a room, and end up surrounded by zombies.
Upon awakening from unconsciousness, the two of them find themselves inside a chamber underneath the cemetery. Paula then sends a telepathic message to someone far, far away.
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In Winters, a boy named Jeff wakes up in the night at Snow Wood Boarding House, after receiving Paula's message. His dormmate, Tony, catches him and warns him that it's against the dorm rules to sneak out in the middle of the night, and that if he intends to leave, he should at least grab some stuff from the locker room.
Downstairs, the two of them pay a visit to Maxwell Labs, who is working an an invention at the moment. Labs gives them a locker key, but it turns out not to work so well. They return to him, and he presents them with the now-completed Bad Key Machine, which opens any door especially if the key is bad.
After taking some stuff to bring along for the trek down south, Tony helps Jeff climb over the gate, and he heads into the nearby drugstore. Inside, a woman gives Jeff a pack of bubble gum, and he shares a stick with a monkey inside the shop. The monkey blows a bubble with it large enough to hover into the air momentarily, and then joins him.
The two of them head south to the edge of Lake Tess, where people have camped to watch out for the legendary sea serpent Tessie. Jeff spends the night inside one of the tents, and the following morning, he and Bubble Monkey stand at the edge of a small peninsula, where the monkey elevates himself into the air with a bubble before Tessie emerges from the water and gives the two of them a ride across the lake.
Back on land, Jeff and Bubble Monkey spot a wooden maze built into the canyon, built and owned by a man named Brick Road. After passing through, he speaks to Brick Road, who asks if the maze was way too easy. He then tells them about how he builds dungeons for a hobby, and aspires to make himself into Dungeon Man, the first combination of man and dungeon in history.
Jeff and Bubble Monkey continue their way south, passing through a cave, before meeting a female monkey that Bubble Monkey falls in love with. Jeff then passes by a series of large stone formations called stonehenge, before reaching the laboratory where his father, Dr. Andonuts, works. Jeff speaks to him for the first time in years, who then makes some small talk, and then tells him about his work on something called the Phase Distorter with which to connect two points in space and time. The scientist then shows Jeff another, older invention of his, called the Sky Runner, which he then uses to fly to Threed.
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Upon reaching his destination, he hovers the Sky Runner above the spot where Ness and Paula are imprisoned. It crashes through the ground, but Jeff's not seriously injured. He introduces himself to his new friends, and then uses the Bad Key Machine to open the door leading out of the chamber and back outside.
Exploring Threed for a bit, the three of them come across a living circus tent, which they proceed to fight. Upon defeat, it disappears and reveals a pair of zombies guarding a trash can, who then flee. Inside the can is a jar of fly honey, the favorite food of Master Belch, who in turn is responsible for the zombie plague taking place here.
Returning to town, Ness receives a call from Apple Kid about a new invention of his, Zombie Paper, designed to attract zombies and render them powerless. Some of the stuff gets delivered to the party by a Mach Pizza deliveryman, and they place it inside a real circus tent serving right now as the Zombie Relief Corps. They spend the night at Threed Sunset Hotel, and overnight, the zombies plaguing Threed, including the two that were standing guard north of the cemetery, gather inside the tent and end up on the floor, unable to get up.
North of the cemetery where Ness and Paula were previously unable to pass is an underground passage leading to Grapefruit Falls, but crawling with ghosts and zombies. When the party emerges, a man selling food tells them about a place called Saturn, not on any map but accessible through a cave leading through the canyon wall and inhabited by weird pink creatures known as Mr. Saturns living in cylindrical metal huts with red, cone-shaped roofs.
Here, Ness and co. explore for a bit and talk to the residents. One of them in particular tells them the password to Master Belch's Base behind the waterfall further north up Grapefruit Falls, and then tells them to wait three minutes after giving the password in order to enter.
The base is actually a factory of sorts, with puddles of green slime everywhere. Along the way, two Mr. Saturns are chained to iron balls to process jars of fly honey moving down a conveyor belt. Eventually, the party meets Master Belch, the mastermind behind the zombie infestation in Threed, and give him the jar of fly honey they found back in Threed before proceeding to beat him down. Belch then tells them that while they may have won, Giygas has managed to get the Mani Mani Statue into Fourside, and that things will get pretty bleak there soon.
The party leaves through a small cave that Belch had been sitting in front of, emerging on a plateau back in Saturn Valley. They wash off the gunk from their battle in the local hot spring, and then a Mr. Saturn offers them some coffee.
While enjoying their drink, Ness reflects on how the journey started, how much stronger he's become since then, and where things are about to go once they finish up. They then take on a nearby cave, defeat a giant weed known as the Trillionage Sprout, and record the third melody with the Sound Stone, before heading all the way back to Threed and taking a bus to Dusty Dunes Desert.
Part IV: Dusty Dunes Desert and Fourside
Somewhere along the road in Dusty Dunes Desert is a traffic jam that prevents the bus from continuing to Fourside. Ness and his friends have no choice but to explore the desert on foot. During their trek, they come across a log cabin, home to Gerardo and George Montague, who run a nearby gold mine. While they speak to them, Gerardo asks if the party has any food to spare, and they kindly oblige. He then offers to return the favor with gold if he finds any.
At that point, the traffic has cleared up, and the party proceeds further east to the city of Fourside. While exploring the city, they go to see the Runaway Five again at Topolla Theater. It turns out that the band is once again in serious debt, and the party returns to the gold mine in Dusty Dunes Desert.
The mine has come a long way at this point, but is now full of five giant moles and lots of other monsters running around. The party enters, and defeats each mole one by one.
Coming back out, Ness and his friends trek back to Fourside, but George catches up with them in his backhoe to give them a diamond that Gerardo found in the mines. Ness uses this to pay off the Runaway Five's debts, and he and his friends watch their last performance at Topolla Theater.
By the time they leave, the Fourside Department Store has its grand opening, and the party decides to do some shopping there. Before they leave, the lights go out, and a green alien seizes Paula and heads up to the manager's office, asking Ness to meet him up there. A battle ensues once Ness and Jeff confront it, and then the defeated Department Store Spook tells them that Paula is now in the hands of Mayor Geldegarde Monotoli.
Ness and Jeff visit the Monotoli Building, and discover that Pokey and his father Aloysius have been given positions there. Ness greets Pokey, who then tells him about how good a life he has there, before having his bodyguards carry him and Jeff back into the lobby and warn him never to appear in front of Pokey again. They attempt to ride the next elevator up to the top, but the operator of that one is unable to go anywhere.
The two boys then leave and go to Jackie's Cafe, and a woman tells them that she heard a noise outside. Back outside, Everdred lays next to the building in a heap while people gather around him. Ness speaks to Everdred, who then explains that he managed to steal the Mani Mani Statue from Carpainter to sell in the big city, only to have it stolen from him by Monotoli. He then tells him the secret to enter Moonside through the cafe storeroom.
Moonside is a black reflection of Fourside, with neon colors outlining the streets and buildings. Everything that everyone says is incoherent, and the only way to get from one section to another is by talking to Warp Men clad in Hawaiian shirts and with bleach-blonde hair. A sailor guards the final way towards the Mani Mani Statue, and demands to see a shadowy man with connected eyebrows and a golden tooth.
In front of the Mani Mani Statue, someone stands who looks like Monotoli but claims not to be him before vanishing. Ness and Jeff then proceed to battle with the statue, eventually finding themselves back in the storeroom once they shatter it into pieces.
Upon coming out of the storeroom, Ness receives a call from Apple Kid about an invention that can make yogurt but is currently only capable of making trout-flavor. He's sent the machine to him via Escargo Express's Neglected Class. Outside the cafe, a monkey tells Ness and Jeff that a man named Talah Rama, who lives in the cave where he and other monkeys live, is done fasting and would like Ness them to come see him. The monkey teleports away, and then the person who was supposed to deliver the Yogurt Dispenser arrives and tells you that he accidentally left the machine behind after visiting the monkey cave, and refuses to go back for it, insisting that you go pick it up yourself. He leaves, and then Monotoli's maid, Electra, tells you that she's been looking all over for exactly what she heard them and the deliveryman talking about.
Ness and Jeff then head to Talah Rama's grotto in Dusty Dunes Desert, where they navigate a series of caves each guarded by a monkey who wants something or another. Eventually, they meet Talah Rama in his chamber, who proceeds to explain the concept of destiny to them, before giving them the Yogurt Dispenser. He then has a monkey within the same room meet them back outside to teach them PK Teleport alpha.
Back in Fourside, Ness and Jeff return to the Monotoli Building, in front of which Electra asks for the Yogurt Dispenser and then takes off with it inside. The boys ride the elevators back up, this time the whole way to the top, and fight robot after robot on their way to Monotoli's office. In the room just before, they are confronted by a particularly tough robot that they're unable to beat by themselves, but then the Runaway Five burst in, and Lucky ducks behind the robot and flips a switch to simply turn it off.
Inside Monotoli's office, Paula assures Ness and Jeff that Monotoli is not really a bad person. Monotoli then tells them how weak he is now that the Mani Mani Statue has been destroyed, explains that the statue shows people illusions and brings out the evil within them, and that he hid it inside the storeroom in Jackie's Cafe in an attempt to seal it away, but came back time and time again to look at it. During his visits, the statue had given him orders such as not to let Ness and his friends go to Summers or the pyramid in Scaraba. He apologizes for the worry he had caused Ness and Jeff, and assures them that he has not harmed Paula in any way, before opening a secret door leading to his helicopter pad.
Just as Ness and his friends are about to step onto Monotoli's helicopter, Pokey takes off with it, telling Ness how too slow he is and how he has no more use for Monotoli now that he's good again.
Ness and his friends then leave the building with the Runaway Five. Along the way, Ness receives a call from Apple Kid, who now knows about Giygas and plans on working with Dr. Andonuts on the Phase Distorter.
Back outside the building, the Runaway Five give Ness and co. another ride back to Threed. Back in the graveyard where the it previously crashed, the Sky Runner has now been fixed up. Jeff gives Ness and Paula a ride back to Dr. Andonuts' lab, where they are greeted by Bubble Monkey and his girlfriend, and Dr. Andonuts tells them about the Rainy Circle in the cave that Jeff previously passed through on his way to Threed. The party battles Shrooom! inside the cave, and Ness then records the fourth melody with the Sound Stone.
Back at the lab, the Sky Runner has been modified to travel to Summers.
Part V: Summers and Dalaam
Jeff pilots the Sky Runner to Summers, and it crashes on the beach. The party isn't seriously harmed, though.
Evidence is everywhere that Pokey has beaten Ness and his friends here. Inside the Cultural Museum, Ness and co. look around at various things from Scaraba. There is one room in particular, though, where access is denied, but the person guarding does offer to show the party in exchange for any jewelry they might have.
In the port village of Toto in the east part of town, Ness asks a sailor for a ride to Scaraba, but he is too embroiled in marital problems to help out. He tells the party to speak to his wife, who is in the Stoic Club. However, said club only accepts new members after they call their phone number first. The party asks various people in town, and then receive a call from Tony from Snow Wood Boarding House, who asks for the player's name.
Inside the Stoic Club, the captain's wife offers the party some Magic Cake. They follow her outside to her vending cart, and then end up having a dream of sorts.
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Up in the airborne island of Dalaam, Prince Poo is about to undertake his final trial. He is sent to Mu, the Land of Nothingness, to meditate. There, someone tries to trick him into returning to the palace before he's actually supposed to. He remains in place, and is visited by a spirit of one of his ancestors, who proceeds to continually dismember him alive, until only his mind remains... and follows suit.
His training complete, he returns to the palace, and his master tells him about his destiny. After listening to him, Poo then teleports to Summers to meet Ness and his friends for the first time.
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With a tiny ruby on Poo, the party visits the Cultural Museum again. There, the person guarding the special room accepts the ruby, and allows them in with him. Inside, Poo reads a heiroglyph explaining the story behind the Scaraba pyramid and the secret to opening it.
On the way out, the receptionist's phone rings, but the receptionist isn't there to answer. Ness takes the call, and it turns out to be from someone named Mr. Spoon at the Dinosaur Museum in Fourside. The party teleports there, but he asks them to obtain him an autograph from the celebrity singer Venus, who is currently performing at Topolla Theater, and states that he doesn't care what it's written on.
The party goes to see her, and then meets with her personally in the locker room. She signs a banana, which the party brings back to Mr. Spoon.
Mr. Spoon then tells the party that he saw a giant monster rat in the sewers. The party enters the room he stands in front of, and heads down the manhole inside. The rat in question turns out to be guarding the fifth Your Sanctuary spot, Magnet Hill.
Next to Magnet Hill is a treasure chest containing a Carrot Key. The party teleports to Dalaam with it, and feed it to a trio of black rabbit statues guarding the entrance to a cave there. Said cave leads to the sixth Your Sanctuary location, Pink Cloud.
Back in Summers, the party returns to the captain in Toto, and he finally gives them a ride to Scaraba. The voyage is mostly peaceful, but eventually, the ship is attacked by a fire-breathing sea serpent known as Kraken. The party defeats him, and the ship makes it safely to its destination.
Part VI: Scaraba
After exploring the village that they arrive in, the party heads south towards a sphinx guarding one of the pyramids. In front of the sphinx are five circular tiles arranged in a pentagram pattern. The party steps on each tile in the order specified on the heiroglyph, and the pyramid opens up.
Deep inside the pyramid is a tile that opens up a hole disguised as a sarcophagus. Down the hole is an artifact known as the Hawk Eye, which Ness takes, before proceeding towards the exit.
Back outside, a man known as Star Master visits the party, asking Poo to come with him to learn the ultimate PK power.
After Poo leaves, the party speaks to a nearby native, who gives them the key to Dungeon Man up north.
Inside the tower is a long and winding maze upwards. At the top is the face once belonging to Brick Road, who is now infused with the tower as Dungeon Man. Ness and co. speak to him, and then head back outside. Dungeon Man tags along until getting caught in some palm trees through which only the kids are able to pass. The party finds another native nearby, who tells them how to cross the ocean to Deep Darkness and warns them how dangerous it is there.
The party ventures up Dungeon Man again, eventually coming to a part which they previously couldn't access, where they find a yellow submarine among other things. They bring the submarine outside, and ride it to Deep Darkness.
Part VII: Deep Darkness, Tenda Village, and the Stonehenge Base
This is where the Hawk Eye serves its purpose, to light up the darkness for which this place is named. Along the winding road, the party comes across the same helicopter that Pokey took off with back in Fourside, now ruined beyond repair. They also meet Master Belch once again, now assuming the name Master Barf. They battle with him, and Poo returns and finishes him off with PK Starstorm alpha.
Eventually, the party finds a cave known as Tenda Village, home to many small green creatures who are too shy to do anything. There is a rock over the hole leading further on, but the Tendites' shyness prevents the only one capable from removing it.
Back outside, Ness gets a call from Apple Kid about yet another invention, but Apple Kid is abducted mid-call. The party teleports to Winters, now under direct attack by the aliens, and fights their way all the way from the north down to Dr. Andonuts' lab. There, Apple Kid's pet mouse gives Ness an Eraser Eraser, with which to remove an iron eraser-shaped statue blocking the way into the base under the Stonehenge.
Deep underground is a room where Tony, Apple Kid, Dr. Andonuts, a Mr. Saturn, and others are trapped inside some glass cells. In the room after stands the Starman Deluxe, whom the party fights in order to free all the captives.
Now that everyone is free and the base is evacuated of all personnel, the party speaks with everyone who had just been freed. Apple Kid tells them about a book called Overcoming Shyness, which can be found at the library in Onett. The party goes there, checks the book out, and then returns to Tenda Village with it to show to its elder.
Having helped solve the Tenda tribe's shyness problem, Ness then receives another call from Tony to confirm whether the name the player entered back at Summers is correct. The party then takes a dip in the hot spring, and then accepts a cup of coffee from a Tendite. Like in Saturn Valley, a voice speaks to Ness reminding him of how powerful he has become at this point, after many encounters, farewells, victories, and defeats he and his friends had experienced.
The particularly strong Tenda removes the boulder blocking the way to Lumine Hall, the seventh Your Sanctuary location. The party also receives a special dish to bring with them, called a Tendakraut, which smells bad but tastes great to Tendas. They climb down the hole, speak to a sentient rock, and then navigate through a maze where they eventually fight the metallic and electrical guardian Electro Specter.
Inside Lumine Hall, Ness's thoughts scroll across the wall, in large dots of light comprising each character of each sentence. He then records the seventh melody with the Sound Stone, before he and his friends jump down one last hole that lies before them.
Part VIII: The Lost Underworld
After much exploration in this vast land of dinosaurs and palm trees, the party will be admitted into a fenced-off Tenda refuge in exchange for the Tendakraut. There, a rock will speak to them, explaining how Ness will become one with the universe once he visits all eight Your Sanctuary locations and listens to their melodies.
Further along the way, the party will come across a cave, inside which the floor is covered with green moss and a silver tentacle can be spotted.
Eventually, they find the volcano in which the Fire Spring resides. Guarding it is the flaming Carbon Dog, who turns into Diamond Dog halfway through the battle.
After listening to the final melody, Ness sees a flashback of the day he had been brought home for the first time as a baby while a music box plays the eight combined melodies, before finding himself, either naked except for his baseball cap or in his pajamas (depending on whether you're playing Mother 2 or Earthbound respectively) in a physical manifestation of his mind.
Part IX: Magicant
In this magical landscape, Ness finds people and things of his past and imagination, such as snowmen that he once built as a kid, his younger self, kids he used to play with, and enemies that he had vanquished during his journey. The world changes color each time he talks to someone. His family promise to let him stay with them for as long as he'd like. Everdred tells him that he reminds him of himself when he was younger, and then vanishes. Pokey sits on a couch somewhere and complains about how much better a life Ness has than him. And in a small hut reside five humanoid birds known as Flying Men, embodiments of Ness's courage. In front of said house stands a small cross marking the grave of Buzz Buzz.
After exploring the populated part of this world, Ness enlists the help of one of the Flying Men, and sets off on a path infested with monsters. Along the way, he finds his other self, clad in his normal outfit, who then offers the baseball cap that's implied to be the source of his psionic powers.
Flying Man dies in battle along the way. At the end of the path, Ness finds a silver tentacle, which brings him to the Sea of Eden. Three Krakens inhabit this part of Magicant, but the real battle awaiting Ness is against the Mani Mani Statue, standing on a small island in the northwest part of the sea. This is where Ness contends with the evilness in his heart, which he must overcome in order to defeat Giygas.
Upon defeating the demon, Ness is spoken to by a mental version of himself, who tells him about a machine called the Apple of Enlightenment, which is currently in Giygas's possession but has foretold that Giygas's plans will end in failure as Ness becomes one with the universe. Ness then figures out that, now that he has overcome his evil side, he and his friends must go to Saturn Valley.
Magicant fades from existence as Ness derives new power from each of the Your Sanctuary locations and learns PK Teleport omega. He then awakens back in Fire Spring, minus the Sound Stone that he had been carrying up until now. After his friends say a few words, the entire party teleports to Saturn Valley.
Part X: Endgame
Back at Saturn Valley, the party meets Dr. Andonuts and Apple Kid, and see a machine resembling a silver Mr. Saturn. This is the Phase Distorter II that they have been working on. The original was stolen by Pokey, who also kidnapped several Mr. Saturns while he was at it.
The party gives the Phase Distorter II a test drive, but it fails and they all end up charred. Dr. Andonuts tells them that in order for it to work properly, they need an element called Zexonyte, which can only be found in meteorites. Ness knows exactly where to find one of those.
In Onett, everyone has locked their doors as darkness envelops the town and aliens run around. Only Ness's house remains unlocked, but even in there, the lights are still off.
The party heads up the hill back where the meteorite landed after paying Ness's family a visit. They pick up some Zexonyte, and return to Saturn Valley.
There, they spend a night at the hotel while Dr. Andonuts works on applying the Zexonyte to the Phase Distorter II.
The next morning, they get back into the machine, and succeed in traveling to the moss-covered cave in the Lost Underworld. Star Master appears, and grants Poo the power of PK Starstorm omega.
Another Phase Distorter appears, from which Dr. Andounts, Apple Kid, and a Mr. Saturn emerge. Dr. Andonuts explains that this one, the Phase Distorter III, is capable of traveling through not only space but through time as well. This spot on Earth is where Giygas is attacking from, but from a long time in the past. Unfortunately, in order to travel to the time in which Giygas is, Ness and his friends have to be turned into robots, as the Phase Distorter III destroys any organic lifeforms that pass through it.
In the time which the party travels to, now as robots, the cave is foggy and lifeless, but swarming with aliens. Ness and his friends follow the path, and eventually come to an opening in a rock wall.
Inside is a path comprised of pulsating tubes of flesh. The party continues forward to a dead end. Except, that the dead end is actually where Giygas is resting. An eye-like entity with Ness's face emerges. Pokey appears before the party as well, piloting a spider-like mecha, and tells them how weak they really are and that Giygas, instead of being the wielder of evil, is now the embodiment of evil itself.
The party battles with Pokey and Giygas, before Pokey tells them that what they're fighting isn't Giygas' true form. The real Giygas is so terrifying that the party would be too paralyzed with fear to be able to run if they saw it. A machine called the Devil's Machine amplified his power so much that he is no longer capable of rational thought.
The Devil's Machine turned off by Pokey, the party continues to battle him as he unleashes such an immense power that its true form is incomprehensible. Pokey eventually reappears to taunt the party, and dares them to scream for help like the pussies he takes them for. This gives Paula the idea to pray for everyone's support back on Earth.
In Saturn Valley, the Phase Distorter II returns, and Dr. Andonuts, Apple Kid, and the Mr. Saturn accompanying them emerge. The former two speak to Gerardo, the miner from Dusty Dunes Desert, while the Mr. Saturn goes off to fetch his kind to gather with them and pray for the party.
Giygas becomes unstable, and starts spouting incoherent things.
In Summers, the one of the band members of the Runaway Five gets Paula's message, and the entire band prays for Ness and his friends.
In Twoson, Paula's father receives her prayer while conveniently near Polestar Preschool, and gets his wife and the kids to come out and pray.
In Snow Wood Boarding House, Tony hears Paula's plea for help, and runs downstairs to get Maxwell Labs. The two of them return upstairs to where a few other dorm residents are gathered, and they all pray for Jeff's safety.
In Dalaam, a young woman awakens from a dream in which Poo dies, and prays for his safe return.
In Onett, Frank has already gotten a job at the burger joint. Paula's plea reaches him, and he lends his support for Ness's sake.
At Ness's house, Ness's mother, sister, and dog hear Paula's prayers, and pray for Ness's safety.
Paula's next prayer is devoured by Giygas. Just then, though, the player lends their support, and defeats the fiend once and for all.
Pokey appears one more time as Giygas collapses, but says that he is going to run away.
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Back outside Giygas' lair, the roboticized versions of Ness and his friends lay battered. Their souls return to their real selves back in Saturn Valley. Each of the four kids awaken and begin to say their goodbyes. Jeff remains in Saturn Valley with his father to work on new projects. Poo teleports back to Dalaam. And Paula asks Ness to escort her back to her home in Twoson. Ness obliges, and then returns to his own home in Onett after parting with her.
Back at home, Ness and his family celebrate his victory and safe return home, and look at the many photographs taken during his travels.
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One night, Ness hears someone knock at his front door once again. It's Picky, delivering a letter from Pokey, who vows revenge on him and his friends one day.
THE END?
(Mother 3 is next, either this weekend or this coming Monday.)