Pokemon Dark Cry Guide: Unravel The Mystery Of The Legend Of Giratina

The story of how Pokemon Dark Cry came to be is almost as grand of an adventure as the game itself! Pokemon Dark Cry has been in development for over ten years, but at some point, the unthinkable happened and hackers stole the game’s code.

The project continued on and off for a few years before quietly dying an abrupt death, and that’s how it stayed… Until now. If you’re into your Pokemon Romhacks, you may have heard of Hacksrepairman, a skilled coder who restores and revives unfinished Romhack projects.

Pokemon Dark Cry exists in its finished state because of him. Thanks to his efforts, we have another great Pokemon adventure to play, featuring the legendary trio, Jesse, James, and Meowth.

Story Synopsis

Team Rocket have set their sights on the Trion Region and are here to cause havoc by stealing powerful rare Pokemon. On your journey across this new region, you’ll make new friends and battle against Jesse, James, and Meowth from the TV series.

Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, wants to access the Torn World and capture the Legendary Giratina that resides there. With its limitless power, he wants to enslave the region.

Prophecies speak of a Chosen One that will stand against evil and stop this plan from coming to fruition, and in Pokemon Dark Cry, that Chosen One is you! Will you answer the call and save the region from peril, or will you falter and let evil prevail?

Key Features

• Pokemon from Gen I to Gen IV
• A brand new region to explore
• Several unique Fakemon
• Adaptive difficulty system (more on this later)
• Jesse, James & Meowth play a big part in the story
• Eeveelutions in the wild
• Innovative Recap System that shows you key events that took place before you last logged off

Do You ‘Over-level’ Your Pokemon?

Pokemon Dark Cry was a previously unfinished project before Hacksrepairman took it upon themselves to finish it. It seems the previous developer added an odd anti-cheat measure.

I can’t verify these claims, but allegedly, evolving your Pokemon before the first battle with your Rival on Route 601 triggers an error where you’re accused of cheating. Some Trainers like to Over-level at the start of their journeys, but you may want to avoid going too crazy with that in Pokemon Dark Cry.

Download The Correct Version

A few versions of Pokemon Dark Cry: The Legend of Giratina are floating around online. I can’t give you download links, but the version I’ve used for this guide, and one I can confirm works, is from http://hacksrepairman.blogspot.com/

Welcome to the Trion Region

In this section of the Guide, you’ll find an in-depth route through the entire game. Every essential item and battle is documented, but I’ve noticed that Pokemon levels differ on subsequent playthroughs.

I can’t find documentation on this anywhere, but your opponent’s levels are influenced by your own. I’ve listed the levels of every important battle all the same, but yours may differ depending on your party’s progression.

Longhorn Village

Longhorn village is a small, humble town where a would-be Pokemon Master like yourself begins their adventure. The main building of note in the village is the Professor’s lab to the north. When you’re ready, head there to choose your very own Pokemon.

Remember Your Town Map!

Visit your Rivals house, and their sister will give you the Town Map. It’s optional, as you can view these maps in Pokemon Centers, but it is helpful.

Pick Your Starter Pokemon

Curiously, you don’t see the Pokemon beforehand in the lab, only their types. These are your options, depending on which type you pick. You can’t change your mind without resetting the game, so choose carefully.

• Grass Type: Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Turtwig
• Water Type: Squirtle, Totodile, Piplup
• Fire Type: Charmander, Cyndaquil, Chimchar
• Electric Type: Pichu

Please pick your favorite, as you’ll have plenty of opportunities to spice up your team later. If you want to make the beginning of the game easier, avoid the Grass Type. The first 2 Gyms counter Grass quite effectively as they are Bug and Flying types.

The Pichu is unique as it’s the Ukulele Pichu of Pokemon Ranger fame and has experimental moves.

With the Town Map and your Pokemon, you can head north into Route 601.

Route 601

Route 601 is a simple area connecting Longhorn Village with Mt. Hydronic. Every Pokemon here is LV5 or lower, and you can always run back home if you need to heal your party. On your way to Mt. Hydronic, you’ll encounter your Rival, who will challenge you to a battle:

• Rival (Starter LV5)

Your Rival’s starters will always be a direct counter to yours (Mine had a Totodile to counter my Cyndaquil, for example). I recommend leveling up your starter to LV7 before battling to ensure you give your Rival a sound thrashing. Once your Rival is defeated, you can continue north to Mt. Hydronic.

Mt. Hydronic

Mt. Hydronic sucks! This place is awful for an intro area, thanks to the Rock types and your lack of ways to deal with them. Don’t let this area put you off the rest of the game, as this place feels like a completely different modder created it.

A trainer called Gary to the north near the signpost has a LV8 Magnemite. As it’s Steel, It’s almost impossible to hurt until your starter Pokemon learns an attack that isn’t Tackle. This is a horrible inclusion so early, and design choices like this and the terrible traps are (thankfully) absent once you exit the area.

Trap Zones

There are three sections in Mt. Hydronic covered in cracked tiles with a single safe route through them. One false step, and you’ll fall through the floor and have to backtrack to try again. These are the safe routes through each one.

Trap Section #1

From where I’m standing (pictured), the path is: up, up, left, left, left.

Trap Section #2

From where the line starts (pictured above), the path is: down, down, left, collect burn heal, down, left, down, left, down, left, down, down, down, right.

Trap Section #3

From where I’m standing (pictured), the path is: down, left, down, down, right. Once you pass the tiles, head up the ladder and talk to Elize.

Introducing Elize

Elize is one of the main characters in Pokemon Dark Cry. She challenges you to a battle to test your potential:

PKMN Trainer Elize

• Growlithe (Fire) LV10

Growlithe is dangerous because it knows Bite, a Dark move, so you can’t rely on any Rock or Steel types you may have caught in the area.

After your fight, head to the crossroads, as you can now use the door to the north. When you’re outside, head north to Atlernion City.

Atlernion City

Before you do anything in this town, I advise you to heal in the Pokémon Centre.

Venture Into The Torn World

An old man near the entrance to the town offers you a place to rest. It’s creepy, but sleep in his house, and you’ll trigger a dream sequence that transports you to the Torn World.

Torn World

Traversing this section of the Torn World is one giant puzzle. You can fumble your way through, but if you get stuck, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to progress.

From the starting island, jump over to the west-most platform. It’s a big gap, but a platform will appear when you get close.

Walk to the southeast corner, and jump east over the small gap. Jump across the small platforms and then to a hidden platform to the east. Just like before, this hidden platform will appear when you’re nearby.

Jump east off the next platform onto another hidden platform. Continue northeast, and when you can’t go that way any further, head west which triggers a new permanent platform to appear right by the beginning.

Jump over to the previously inaccessible area, and you’ll hear a loud roar forcing you to wake up.

Back In Atlernion City

When you wake up, it turns out the old man is a Team Rocket member in disguise! He challenges you to a battle:

Team Rocket Member

• Ekans (Poison) LV13

In this house, there’s a Pokeball upstairs. When you interact with the Pokeball, you’re given 2 choices. If you steal it, the Pokemon inside becomes a LV2 Grimer. If you offer it to Nurse Joy in the Pokemon center instead, She gives you an LV2 Shiny Oddish. Much better!

Interact with the Gym, and you’ll be told the leader is in Purity Forest. If you want to go there now, it’s through the clearing to the north.

Purity Forest

The highlight of this area is a Celebi! Stay calm; it’s just a statue. The trainers here have Pokémon around LV12.

The place is easy to navigate, but this is what the door looks like here, as it’s easy to miss. (pictured)

You’ll encounter Jesse, James, and Meowth (the ones from the TV series!), harassing the Gym Leader for her Combee. After singing their famous intro, you’re challenged to a battle.

Team Rocket Jesse and James

• Seviper (Poison) LV13
• Cacnea (Grass) LV13

You’re given a Zinc for winning and the right to challenge the Gym. Head back to Atlernian City unless you want to train.

Atlernian City Gym – Bug Type

The first thing you’ll notice in this Gym is the dramatic level increase. The Trainers have squads of LV18 Pokemon, and the Gym Leader has LV21! This Gym has a cool feature where you ride a mechanical Spinarak. Activate the lever to the right, then the left, and you can take on Gesina.

Leader Gesina

• Metapod (Bug) LV21
• Combee (Bug/Flying) LV21

Gesina’s team will dwarf your level, but don’t worry, she’s a pushover. Metapod only knows Harden, so it’ll take a while to go down, but it’s not a threat. Combee knows Gust which will hurt if you picked the Grass starter, but aside from that, you should be fine.

You earn the Locito badge and Bullet Seed TM for winning.
A previously inaccessible way out of the City is now available to the south through Route 602

Route 602

Route 602 links Atlernion City to Xanateos Cave. There’s little to do here unless you want to train or catch wild Pokemon. Head into the cave when you’re ready.

Xanateos Cave

Thankfully, Xanateos Cave is nothing like Mt. Hydronic and is far easier to navigate. There are no puzzles to worry about; every enemy has LV20 pokemon.

When you reach the 2nd floor, some members of Team Rocket offer to recruit you. Say no, and you’ll be challenged to a battle:

Team Rocket Member

• Koffing (Poison) LV20
• Arbok (Poison) LV20

After the battle, Elize comes around the corner and gives you 10 Trion Tokens. At this point, I strongly recommend healing up, even if it means a trip back to Atlernian City, as you’re not done here just yet. Head deeper into the cave, and you’ll stumble across Jesse and James again in front of the Legendary Fakemon, Regiwater. They challenge you to a doubles battle:

Team Rocket Jesse & James

• Seviper (Poison) LV18
• Victreebel (Grass/Poison) LV18

After your battle, head west and up the ladder. A short walk through the back end of Route 602 will take you to Itacis City.

Capture Regiwater!

You can’t catch Regiwater when you first visit the cave, but you can if you return with all eight badges. If you return to Xanateos Cave via Route 602, Regiwater has moved just a few chambers away from the entrance. If you interact with it, the battle will begin.

• Regiwater (Water) LV50

Regiwater is obnoxiously hard to catch and hits like a truck every time your Pokeballs fail. Although it’s a water type, Regiwater knows Aurora Beam (Ice), Zap Cannonn (Electric), and Ancient Power (Rock), so pick your Pokemon for this encounter carefully. I strongly recommend saving before this battle, as Regiwater makes a potent addition to your team if you manage to capture it.

Itacis City

Itacis City is special as it’s the home of the Trion Token Collector and Regighost, the Legendary Fakemon!

The Trion Token Collector

You can cash in your Trion Tokens in Itacis City. There’s a small house with a vendor offering a small selection of wares, including an Eevee, Mr. Mime, and Porygon.

The Legendary Regighost

You won’t be able to do this until you have Surf and Fly, but you will want to return for this. To the northeast of the City, there’s a ‘Witcher’ that offers you access to a graveyard in exchange for 3 Shadow Tags. The quickest way to get these is to Surf on the nearby lake and swim north around the house.

You’ll find a grand stadium with a man inside who will give you the tags. He says, ‘this place will never be finished for real,’ alluding to this area never being completed. Head back to the Witcher with the pieces.

The Witcher asks for Spirit Sludge next. You can get this from another Witcher on Route 605. The catch is it must be at night, and as Pokemon Dark Cry has its own independent clock, you may have to wait a while.

Fly to Lucivo Town, head west, and Surf across two lakes. The Witcher is on the south bank of the 2nd lake (pictured above). Once you have the Spirit Sludge, you can return to Itacis City and gain access to the graveyard.

The graveyard is home to Regighost. Interact with it to start a battle:

• Regighost (Ghost) LV50

Regighost is a nasty opponent that knows Hypnosis, Shadow Ball, and Amnesia to power itself up. It’s difficult to catch, but the reward is one of the best Ghost Pokemon in the game, so it’s worth the struggle.

Rival Battle

The Gym is open to challenge, but as soon as you reach the door, your Rival will challenge you to a battle:

Rival

• Ghastly (Ghost) LV19
• Starter LV19
• Heracross (Bug/Fighting) LV19

Your Rival gives you HM01 Cut for winning. Heal up if needed, and you can challenge the Gym afterward.

Itacis City Gym – Flying

There are no puzzles in this Gym. After you’ve beaten the 2 Trainers, you can battle Taivas. Turns out he’s Falkner’s father!

Leader Taivas

• Pidgeotto (Flying) LV26
• Skarmory (Flying/Steel) LV26

The scariest thing about this Gym is the level increase. Neither of Taivas’ Pokemon has any standout moves to worry about, and if you were lucky enough to find a Mareep in Route 602, it’s like battling on easy mode.

Taivas gives you Cloud Badge and Double Team TM for winning. After your battle, you can head west into Route 603.

Route 603

Routes in Pokemon Dark Cry are similar in that they are themed the same and only serve as links between key areas. Route 603 is the same, so follow the path until you arrive in Luciva Town.

Luciva Town

Luciva is a compact town, but you’ll want to visit the Bike Shop to speed through the upcoming routes.

Learn Thunder Wave

You can learn Thunder Wave in the house northeast of the Pokemon Center. Many moves in Pokemon Dark Cry are taught this way without giving you the TM to do it yourself.

Want a Bike?

The Bike Shop looks like a regular house in Luciva Town. It’s to the northwest of the Pokemon Center. If you speak to the clerk, they let you have one for free to advertise their products. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me; now you can get around much faster!

Aside from the Bike Shop, Luciva is more of a stopgap than a proper town. There’s not much to do here and no Gym either, so once you’ve healed and bought supplies, head north into Route 604.

Route 604

Route 604 is unremarkable aside from the Togepi that infrequently spawn in this area, so make sure you’ve got some Pokeballs handy. Make your way through the Route, battling Trainers until you end up at Gardivia City.

Gardivia City

Make sure you get HM02 Fly

Pokemon Dark Cry doesn’t shy away from hiding critical items in areas that are easy to miss. Felix lives in the house immediately west of the Pokemart. Pay him a visit as he gives you HM02 Fly.

Gardivia City Gym – Water

There’s very little to this Gym as it’s just a simple walkway with a couple of unavoidable Trainers. If you have a solid Grass type, it’ll help immensely in this Gym.

Leader Cassie

• Staryu (Water) LV26
• Gorebyss (Water) LV26
• Seadra (Water) LV26

Cassie only has three Pokemon, but keep your wits about you. Staryu knows Camouflage, which changes the Pokemon type to Normal. Gorebyss knows Amnesia and Confusion and can set itself up to sweep your entire team with its level difference.

You get the Wave Badge and Water Pulse TM for winning. You can also use Fly outside of battle.

With Fly, getting around is much easier. Fly from Gardivia City back to Luciva Town and head west into Route 605. Your next destination is Shinou City.

Route 605

Route 605 is a short but winding area covered in patches of long grass, so expect plenty of battles.

Shinou City

There’s plenty to do in Shinou City, with a few easy-to-miss essentials if you’re not vigilant. Here’s what you want to look out for.

Grab HM04 Strength

Seda’s house is to the south of the City. Talk to them, and they’ll give you HM04 Strength. You can’t beat the game without this, so make sure to grab it.

Name Rater

If you’ve committed the cardinal sin of misspelling your Pokemon’s names, you can rectify that at the Name Rater’s house to the northeast.

Want a Good Rod?

A kindhearted fisherman will give you a Good Rod if you visit his house. He lives just east of the Pokemart.

Shinou City Gym – Ghost

Shinou City Gym is full of Teleporters. Thankfully, they aren’t a problem, and the layout is so simple they can barely be classed as a puzzle. First, you can choose from 2 Teleporters, and both will put you in front of a Trainer to battle.

Next, take the middle Teleporter and then the one on the right. This will take you straight to the Gym Leader.

Leader Emma

• Haunter (Ghost/Poison) LV32
• Misdreavus (Ghost) LV32
• Banette (Ghost) LV32

Emma has Hyper Potions, and she’s not afraid to use them, so prepare for a long fight if you’re not able to one-shot her Pokemon. Aside from her deep pockets, none of Emma’s team should cause too many problems.

You earn the Spirit Badge and Shadow Ball TM for winning. When you’re ready to leave the City, take Route 606 to the south and follow the path to Rocky Village.

Rocky Village

Rocky Village is a tiny pitstop with a couple of useful buildings.

Ricks Stone Shop

You can find Ricks Stone Shop to the west. He sells a small selection of evolution stones, which are expensive at 2100G a piece.

Move Deleter

If you’ve messed up your Pokemon moves, you can remedy that here. The Move Deleter lives in a house to the south.

Route 607

This is another typical Pokemon Dark Cry route, but there’s a lot of long grass. You’ll be forced to fight many Pokémon here as a lot of them have moves to prevent running, like arena trap.

There’s a small gap between 2 trees where your Rival awaits you. Talk to him to trigger the battle.

Rival

• LV27 Golbat (Poison/Flying) LV27
• LV27 Haunter (Ghost/Poison) LV27
• LV27 Starter LV27
• LV27 Heracross (Bug/Fighting)

Your Rival has Hyper Potions, which are annoying, but his team has no dangerous attacks to worry about. After your battle, continue along the Route until you reach Granite City.

Granite City

Learn Rock Slide

You can learn Rock Slide from a lady in a house to the southeast.

Want a Glaceon?

A scientist in a house to the north will give you an LV20 Glaceon if you talk to him. I don’t usually use Glaceon, but it feels powerful in Pokemon Dark Cry, and it was a Pokemon I relied on all the way to the end of the game.

Granite City Gym – Normal

Surprisingly enough, Granite City is home to a Normal-type Gym instead of a Rock one. You can challenge the Gym whenever you please, but Elize is waiting outside to challenge you before you do. When you’re ready to face Elize, this is her party:

PKMN Trainer Elize

• Seadra (Water) LV29
• Vibrava (Ground/Dragon) LV29
• Arcanine (Fire) LV29
• Manectric (Electric) LV29

Elize’s Pokemon don’t have many dangerous attacks, so you should be OK with a type advantage. Elize gives you HM03 Surf for winning, but you can only use it once you’ve beaten the Gym.

It’s Quiz time in this Gym, and each Trainer asks a question. If you answer correctly, you can walk by without a fight. If you’re wrong, you have to battle. If you need the EXP, you can purposely answer incorrectly. I’ve included the answers to each question and the Pokemon you’ll need to fight if you get them wrong below:

Tucker: Remoraid evolves into Octillery, is it true? Yes.

• Girafarig (Normal/Psychic) LV27

Tina: Azurill is a Water Pokémon, is that right? No.

• Togetic (Fairy/Flying) LV27
• Raticate (Normal) LV27

Lisa: Ninjask evolves into Shedinja, is it true? Yes.

• Pidgeotto (Normal/Flying) LV27
• Furret (Normal) LV27

Jovan: Dunsparce is a ground type Pokémon, is that right? No.

• Sentret (Normal) LV27
• Linoone (Normal) LV27

Leader Armando

• Loudred (Normal) LV34
• Snorlax (Normal) LV34
• Vigoroth (Normal) LV34
• Linoone (Normal) LV34

Armando’s trump card is his Snorlax, without a doubt. Snorlax hits like a dump truck with Headbutt and is incredibly tanky. It also knows Rest, Yawn, and Snore, so you’ll be put to sleep repeatedly and punished if you don’t swap out.

This is a brutal Pokemon if you don’t have a fighting type, and Armando loves his Hyper Potions too. Depending on your squad, this is the hardest Gym in the game.

If you emerge victorious (well done!), you earn the Common Badge, Facade TM, and can use HM03 outside of battle.

Granite Museum

Granite Museum is right next to the Pokemon center. A guard tells you you’re not permitted downstairs because you’re not strong enough. How insulting. Sadly, this area is incomplete; if you return after the League, you’ll only find an empty room.

Where To Go Next?

From here, your next destination is Regran Town, but you need to go through Nightfall Forest to get there. There’s an error here as this location is called Nightfall Forest when you enter it, but it is called Miracle Forest on the map. Fly to Shinou City, and head north through Route 608.

Route 608

Route 608 has two exits. If you head northwest, you’ll end up in Nightfall/Miracle Forest. If you head northeast, you’ll end up in Glowshire City.

You want to go to the forest first, so ignore Glowshire for now. A misleading signpost on this Route says Glowshire City is to the east, but that’s incorrect. You have to travel a decent distance north before heading east, or you’ll travel in a circle.

Miracle/Nightfall Forest

This area is large, but the path is linear. HM06 Rock Smash is also up for grabs here, and it’s bizarrely well hidden! Focus on getting to the forest exit as the HM is closer. Beyond the forest is Route 609 and Regran Town.

Find HM06 Rock Smash

You can get HM06 from this Trainer (pictured above). To get to him from the Regran Town entrance. Go south and east whenever you can until you reach a large lake. Cross the lake with Surf and head east until you find them.

Regran Town

You’re only here to challenge the Gym, and it’s free to enter when you arrive. You can also get the Super Rod here.

Want a Super Rod?

Franky the Fisherman lives to the north of town. He will give you the Super Rod if you chat with him.

Regran Town Gym – Grass

There are a few trainers in here scattered around the easiest hedge maze ever made! Seriously, it’s impossible to get lost, so battle the Trainers and face Lamar.

Leader Lamar

• Nuzleaf (Grass/Dark) LV38
• Torterra (Grass/Ground) LV38
• Breloom (Grass/Fighting) LV38
• Leafeon (Grass) LV38
• Victreebel (Grass/Poison) LV38

Lamar’s team has a couple of nasty counters to protect his Grass Pokemon. Torterra knows Earthquake which will obliterate any Fire types. Breloom knows Sky Uppercut, which will smash your Pokemon out of the sky if you use Fly!

Once you’ve defeated Lamar, you’ll get the Leaf Badge, Giga Drain TM, and you can use Rock Smash outside of battle. Once you’re done in Regran Town, Fly back to Shinou City and walk onto Route 608. Instead of heading into the forest, go north as far as possible and east into Glowshire City.

Glowshire City

You can’t do much in Glowshire City for now, as it mainly serves as the entrance to the Pokemon League. That entrance is north through a small gap. The guard will let you pass once you have all eight badges.

Pokemon Egg Seller

To the east of the Pokemon Centre, there’s a house where you can buy Pokemon Eggs. You’re not told what they are, but they are well worth the investment as they each become a random starter from the beginning of the game!

TM Seller

You can buy TMs from the TM Sellers house just above the Pokemon center next to the lake. Some great moves are up for grabs here, including Thunderbolt, Earthquake, Flamethrower, and Hyperbeam. Some of them are expensive, but this is a great place to buy powerful attacks.

You’ll come back here later, so head east into Route 610.

Route 610

Your next destination is Pyrite City, but you must go through Molt Cave. Molt Cave is on this Route, and you’ll need Surf to get there. Confusingly, both areas on either side of the cave are named ‘Route 610’.

Molt Cave

Strength is required to traverse one small path in Molt Cave, so it’s impossible to proceed without HM04 from Shinou City. Fortunately, the cave is small, with no puzzles to worry about. You’ll reach the exit here before you know it, and a short walk will get you to Pyrite City.

Capture Regifire

If you revisit this area after you’ve got every Badge, you can battle the legendary Fakemon Regifire. He’s behind a smashable rock near the exit, so you’ll need HM06 Rock Smash.

• Regifire (Fire) LV50

Like its Aqueous and Ghostly counterparts, Regifire hits hard and is absurdly tricky to capture, even with Ultra Balls. It knows Zap Cannon, Flamethrower, and Amnesia. Amnesia makes both attacks incredibly dangerous, but it’s a powerful Pokemon and well worth catching for the Pokemon League.

Pyrite City

There’s a ton going on in Pyrite City, including a Gym to challenge and a battle with your Rival! I recommend visiting the Pokemon Centre when you arrive, as you’ll trigger your Rival if you step too close to the Gym.

Learn Metronome

If you go to Sarah’s house just south of the Pokemon Centre, she will teach your Pokemon Metronome.

Move Relearner

The Move Relearner lives east of the Pokemon Centre if your team needs some fine-tuning.

Sun Stone Vendor

You can buy Sunstones from the house to the far east. You can’t buy these from the regular Stone Vendor, and they cost 2100G each.

Rival Battle

Your Rival will appear if you step on the tile before the Gym. He immediately challenges you with the following team:

Rival

• Golbat (Poison/Flying) LV38
• Starter LV38
• Rapidash (Fire) LV38
• Gengar (Ghost/Poison) LV38
• Heracross (Bug/Fighting) LV38

Pyrite City Gym – Dragon

This Gym is full of grand halls filled with Statues. There’s no way to get lost, but oddly enough, most of the trainers have Pokemon that know Thunder Wave, so you’ll be paralyzed constantly.

Leader Marcus – Dragon

• Seadra (Water) LV42
• Dragonair (Dragon) LV42
• Aerodactyl (Rock/Flying) LV42
• Altaria (Dragon/Flying) LV42
• Salamence (Dragon/Flying) LV42

Naturally, this fight is a lot easier with a decent dragon counter. If you still have space on your team, I recommend the Glaceon you picked up in Granite City.

You earn the Dragon Badge and Dragon Claw TM for winning.

Once you’ve done everything in Pyrite City, head into Route 611 toward your next destination, Xenolight Town.

Xenolight Town

What a cool name for a location! There’s no Gym, but there’s plenty to do here.

Learn Explosion

If you really hate your Pokemon, you can learn Explosion in a house to the north.

Mushroom Vendor

If you were wondering where to get mushrooms for the Move Relearner, a man outside to the southwest of the town sells them.

Learn Sword Dance

Sword Dance has always been superb for setting up your Pokemon to sweep entire teams. There’s a man with purple hair next to the Pokemart that teaches it.

Learn Counter

Counter is an excellent Fighting move if you’ve got a strong Pokemon who can wield it. You can learn it from the martial artist west of the Pokemon Center.

Pokémon Day Care

This Day Care doesn’t have the usual backyard they usually do, but it functions the same. Come here if you want to try your hand at some Pokemon breeding.

Entrance to Mt. Reversal

You can enter Mt. Reversal right now if you want, but as it concludes the story with Team Rocket, I recommend waiting until you’ve got every Gym Badge. If you choose to leave, head onto Route 612.

Route 612

This is where the naming errors get confusing. There’s another Miracle Forest on this Route, and you need to go through it to get to Willsum City.

Miracle Forest

Miracle Forest is in the shape of a giant horseshoe, and right at the top, the legendary Pokemon Raikou is chilling on the grass! You can challenge it, but you’ll be fighting against the escape artist’s most dangerous weapon. Roar.

• Raikou (Electric) LV40

Raikou is an absolute nightmare to catch because it knows Roar, which will scare your team out of the fight. To make matters worse, if this happens, Raikou will flee! Mean Look is a great way to lock Raikou into battle, and ghost Pokemon like Ghastly typically know it.

After Raikou, you can continue south to exit the forest. Once you’re out of the woods, Willsum City is dead ahead.

Willsum City

Willsum City is home to the final Gym on your adventure. Once you’re done here, you can take on the League from Glowshire City or tackle Mt. Reversal for your chance to capture Giratina!

Climbing Boots

These boots were originally meant to play a large part in Dark Cry, but they function like the Rock Slide HM. Roni’s house is just south of the Pokemon Centre, and she will give you the boots if you speak to her.

Moonstone vendor

If you require Moonstones, you can buy them from the house southwest of the Pokemon Center.

Learn Body Slam

You can learn Body Slam in the house just west of the Gym.

Willsum City Gym – Psychic

There are a few buttons in this Gym to open doors. Fortunately, there’s a master switch on each Mewtwo statue, and they are impossible to miss. When you enter, battle the Trainer in the hall ahead and press the switch on the wall behind her.

This opens the door to the southwest, press the button inside and head up the carpeted central path. From there, either side room houses a Mewtwo statue that opens every door giving easy access to the Gym Leader or the other trainers if you want the EXP.

Leader Gala

• Jynx (Ice/Psychic) LV45
• Alakazam (Psychic) LV45
• Xatu (Psychic/Flying) LV45
• Gardevoir (Psychic/Fairy) LV45
• Espeon (Psychic) LV45

Alakazam is definitely Gala’s best Pokemon, as it hits hard and can soak up a lot of damage. It knows Calm mind, which increases its ATK and S.P ATK stats, so if you can’t beat it fast, it will hit you extremely hard.

You get the Magic Badge and TM29 Psychic for winning.

Where To Go Next

Now you have all the badges, you have a few choices. You can head south into Route 613 to battle the Trainers, but there’s nothing else here. Something may be added in future versions of Pokemon Dark Cry, but that’s not the case for now.

You can go to Glowshire City and challenge the League, or Xenolight Town and Mt. Reversal to defeat Team Rocket. I’ll explain both areas, but as I went to Mt. Reversal first, let’s start there.

Mt. Reversal

You can access Mt. Reversal from the moment you reach Xenolight Town, but you’ll have an easier time after you’ve earned all 8 Gym badges. If you’re up for showing Team Rocket who’s boss, head inside. You need Surf to cross the small lake by the entrance, and the area is packed full of Team Rocket Grunts to battle.

After the first Team Rocket Grunt, if you head north and into the door, there’s a free Ultra Ball up for grabs.

There are a lot of empty chambers in Mt. Reversal, which were initially meant to hold story content. Some house a single Grunt to battle, so it’s still worth checking them out for EXP, but ultimately, there’s one single path through the entire area.

You’ll spot Jesse, James, and Meowth when you leave the main chamber. Interact with them to start a doubles battle.

Team Rocket Jesse & James

• Wobbuffet (Psychic) LV37
• Dustox (Bug/Poison) LV37
• Chimecho (Psychic) LV37
• Mr. Mime (Psychic/Fairy) LV37
• Cacturne (Grass/Dark) LV37
• Seviper (Poison) LV37

Once you’ve defeated the delinquent duo, enter the door behind them. You’ll see your Rival and Elize battling Team Rocket Grunts. Up the staircase next to them, you’ll see the Team Rocket Boss standing before a Portal to the Torn World. Speak to him, then follow through the portal.

Torn World Revisited

As before, you can fumble through the Torn Worlds’ simple puzzles, but here’s what you need to do if you get stuck.

From the first island, jump to the platform to the west.

The way off the 2nd island is very cryptic. Walk off the west side as I have (pictured above) across an invisible path. Jump across the small stepping stone to the west to reach the 4th island.

From here, you can see the stone you need to jump across to from the south edge. Oddly enough, you must press ‘A’ to jump instead of just walking towards it like normal. You need to do the same to get off the stepping stones too.

Finally, follow the stepping stones pressing A to jump each time until you come face to face with Giovanni and Giratina!

Team Rocket Boss Giovanni

• Nidoking (Poison/Ground) LV41
• Luxray (Electric) LV41
• Kangaskhan (Normal) LV41
• Rhydon (Ground/Rock) LV41

As I mentioned at the start of the guide, there is some adaptive leveling in Pokemon Dark Cry. Giovanni may only have 4 Pokemon, but they were five levels higher than mine and were a nightmare to take down.

Giratina patiently waits for your battle with Giovanni to conclude. Your Rival and Elize leave and unsubtly hint that you should take on Giratina if you’re brave.

If you’re ready for the toughest wild encounter in Pokemon Dark Cry, challenge Giratina! If you need more supplies, you can leave the Torn world before you battle if you don’t mind backtracking.

• Giratina (Ghost/Dragon) LV50

If you’re going for the catch, I hope you’re willing to eat a few Earthquakes on the way! Giratina knows Dragon Claw and Destiny Bond and is a nightmare to capture, even with Ultra Balls, so save beforehand. If you’re wondering why Giratina looks odd in Dark Cry, the sprite is the origin form of the Pokemon.

When you’re ready to leave, backtrack and interact with the shard at the start. That set piece concludes Team Rockets’ part in the story. All that’s left to do now is challenge the League! Fly to Glowshire City.

Ready To Challenge The League?

With all eight badges in your possession, you can talk to the police officer guarding the passage north of the City. Show him your hard-earned badge collection, and he will let you through.

Showdown With Elize

When you step across the gap where the police officer is, Elize will rush in and interrupt you. As it turns out, she’s also on her way to challenge the League, and you’re the perfect sparring partner.

PKMN Trainer Elize

• Glaceon (Ice) LV36
• Flygon (Dragon/Ground) LV36
• Scizor (Bug/Steel) LV36
• Kingdra (Water/Dragon) LV36
• Manectric (Electric) LV36
• Arcanine (Fire) LV36

Elize has full restores and uses them a ton. I counted four in my battle, but she could use more. After your battle, heal up and prepare to face the game’s longest routes.

Route 615 & Route 616

These Routes contain everything you would expect from a Victory Road. The only difference is there are no caves or puzzles this time.

These Routes combined are enormous, and even though it’s impossible to get lost, you’ll be worn down by the sheer amount of wild Pokemon and Trainers. You’ll need a Pokemon with Surf in your party to navigate the area, but you’re closing in on the Pokemon League.

Below a large rock on one of the islands is a Pokeball containing Hyper Beam. It’s impossible to miss as it’s on your way and is an excellent move for Normal types. Wild Pokemon are strong around here, so prepare to spend a lot of healing items or a few return journeys to the Pokemon Center in Glowshire City.

Showdown With Your Rival

Just before you enter the Pokemon League, your Rival springs out of nowhere and challenges you to a battle. Thankfully, he heals your team before you start:

Rival

• Crobat (Poison/Flying) LV37
• Starter LV37
• Snorlax (Normal) LV37
• Rapidash (Fire) LV37
• Heracross (Bug/Fighting) LV37
• Gengar (Ghost/Poison) LV37

Just like Elize, your Rival has a generous supply of Full Restores. Snorlax is a massive pain, as your Rival will always heal it when it’s close to being KO’d. Snorlax knows a plethora of horrible moves, including Body Slam, Sleep, and Sleep Talk, so a fighting move works wonders here.

The Pokemon League

The League in the Trion Region has one key difference from the mainline Pokemon games. You can choose what order you battle the Elite Four in. As is standard, you can’t use a Pokemon Centre between fights, so plan accordingly.

Elite Four Kody – Ice

• Dewgong (Water/Ice) LV40
• Cloyster (Water/Ice) LV40
• Glaceon (Ice) LV40
• Mamoswine (Ice/Ground) LV40
• Lapras (Water/Ice) LV40
• Walrein (Ice/Water) LV40

Kody’s team has hard-hitting Ice attacks like Aurora Beam, but a combination of strong Electric and Fire attacks will demolish his entire squad.

Elite Four Tana – Fighting

• Gallade (Psychic/Fighting) LV42
• Hitmonchan (Fighting) LV42
• Hitmontop (Fighting) LV42
• Hitmonlee (Fighting) LV42
• Machamp (Fighting) LV42
• Hariyama (Fighting) LV42

Gallade knows Sword Dance, so try and defeat it before the battle spirals out of control. Hitmonchan gave me the most problems in this battle because it knows Sky Uppercut and will blow your bird Pokemon out of the sky.

Elite Four Oscar – Ground

• Quagsire (Water/Ground) LV44
• Camerupt (Fire/Ground) LV44
• Torterra (Grass/Ground) LV44
• Steelix (Steel/Ground) LV44
• Claydol (Ground/Psychic) LV44
• Flygon (Ground/Dragon) LV44

Oscar has a unique lineup for a Ground Team! All of these dual types mean there are plenty of weaknesses to exploit, so hopefully, you’ll have an easy time.

Elite Four Megan – Electric

• Lanturn (Water/Electric) LV44
• Luxray (Electric) LV44
• Ampharos (Electric) LV44
• Magnezone (Electric/Steel) LV44
• Electivire (Electric) LV44
• Jolteon (Electric) LV44

A decent Ground type will go a long way against Megan, but she will open with Lanturn, so have a water counter to lead your party into battle.

Champion Mitchel

• Skarmory (Steel/Flying) LV48
• Ninetales (Fire) LV48
• Empoleon (Water/Steel) LV48
• Gengar (Ghost/Poison) LV48
• Absol (Dark) LV48
• Gardevoir (Psychic/Fairy) LV48

Mitchel is the creator of the original Pokemon Dark Cry, and it’s awesome that he’s the champion of his own game! Skarmory leads Mitchels team into battle and will throw down Spikes if you don’t kill him in a single hit. Come into the fight with an Electric-type to take it out quickly.

Besides that, you’ll need a team with good coverage to compensate for your level deficit, but after the battle, you’ve concluded the story and beaten the game!

What Happens Now?

There’s something charming about Pokemon Dark Cry, whether it’s the simplicity or compact story. Sadly, once you’ve beaten the League and Mt. Reversal, you’ve seen all the title has to offer. Who knows?

More may be added one day. Even the best adventures must come to an end, even if they leave you clamoring for more.

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