History VideoGame / PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness

* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: The fight against Cipher Commander Exol on top of ONBS serves as a very rare case of this in the series. Lose to him, and the game will continue rather than causing a white-out, with him walking off with the data rom he took from Nett ([[WhatHappenedToTheMouse and leaving the story]]). Beat him, and while he'll be frustrated, he still has the data rom and will leave with it anyway.

* BagOfSpilling: While the player character is separate between the two games, a few returning [=NPCs=] have had their levels fall ''hard''. Miror B. is inexplicably missing his trademark Ludicolo quartet until an optional postgame fight, and is nowhere near the level seen in his endgame appearance in ''Colosseum'' until said fight. The same is true for various other Trainers fought (as ''XD'' starts with Level 10 opponents instead of 25/26). Eagun's Pikachu takes the largest hit, as in ''Colosseum'' it was Lv. 50, but in ''XD'' it's only Lv. 12 (and it's actually implied to be the same Pikachu). Though Eagun states before battling you that it's his first time in five years, so the reduced level is probably supposed to represent Pikachu being out of shape.

''Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness'' is a SpinOff game in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series, developed by Creator/GeniusSonority and released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube in 2005. The game is a sequel to ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', released on the same system.

* MythologyGag: One trainer within Mt. Battle tells the player that she heard about another trainer who used the same team as she did. Sure enough, the Pokémon on her team are Chimecho and Cacnea, the same team Team Rocket's James from the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] had during the Hoenn saga.

* FuturisticPyramid: The Cipher Key Lair is a pyramid shaped building.

''XD: Gale of Darkness'' added a few new features, such as "Poké Spots", small areas where you could lure and catch wild Pokémon, and a method for mass purifying Shadow Pokémon. In addition, Shadow Pokémon now have a much greater variety of moves than just Shadow Rush and there are more to catch than before.

* ShoutOut: An item called the Reed Flute which can snap a Pokémon out of confusion is a shout out to a Muslim belief where in a person is much like a flute make from a river reed. Cut from its source and wanting to return where it came from, and can make the sweetest music when properly wielded.

* PerkyFemaleMinion: Lovrina is so this. As mentioned above in ObfuscatingStupidity, while she may act like a stereotypical ValleyGirl she is more than capable among Cipher's R&D considering [[spoiler:she led the development of XD001 itself]].

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Beating Naps will cause the fight with Lovrina to trigger at the elevator to the lab’s entrance. The only PC is past her, and there’s no way to level grind or buy items, so if your party isn’t strong enough to beat hers, you’re completely stuck if you saved your game after beating Naps, thankfully Losing to Lovrina sends you back to the entrance of the Lab meaning you aren’t screwed completely.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Beating Naps will cause the fight with Lovrina to trigger at the elevator to the lab’s entrance. The only PC is past her, and there’s no way to level grind or buy items, so if your party isn’t strong enough to beat hers, you’re completely stuck if you saved your game after beating Naps.

** If you evolve the Shadow Togepi, the Elekid you can trade it for won't have any special moves and just be a plain old Elekid.
** Averted with the Shadow Pokémon themselves -- you may only have one or two chances to Snag a given one, but you can track down Miror B. later on, who will have whatever Shadow Pokémon you missed out on. Trainers who can be rematched infinitely (such as the final boss or the Hexagon Bros.) keep their Pokémon, generally.

* OffModel: A few Pokemon still suffer from this. The notable one most likely being Jolteon which sports a pale greenish-yellow tint similar to its shiny version instead of its usual orangish-yellow one.

5 years after the events of ''Colosseum'', Team Cipher has reemerged with a new mysterious boss and renewed vigor. They bided their time to further perfect their tainting process and managed to create Shadow Lugia, the most powerful Shadow Pokémon of all and allegedly immune to purification. Thankfully, a group of CrazyPrepared scientists feared for this eventuality and also spent the time and money to create numerous countermeasures, such as a new Snag Machine and a more efficient purification process.

* SurpriseCreepy:

* OverlordJr: [[spoiler: Ardos and Eldes are Greevil's two sons, though only the former truely believes in what Cipher stands for.]].

* PerkyFemaleMinion: Lovrina is so this. As mentioned above in ObfuscatingStupidity, while she may act like a sterotypical ValleyGirl she is more than capabile among Cipher's R&D considering [[spoiler:she led the development of XD001 itself]].

** Other minor activities include the Colosseum battles in Pyrite and Realgam Tower[[note]]By the end-game, Pyrite Colosseum will be a cakewalk unless you have other Pokémon at around Level 20 that need some experience[[/note]], completing the Mt. Battle challenge, obtaining ans completing all 50 Battle [=CDs=], and clearing all eleven Battle Bingo cards. Of course since the game does not show your progress towards HundredPercentCompletion, this is more for the sake of obtaining [[BraggingrightsReward bragging rights]].

** Similarly Ancha the star newscaster from ONBS, [[spoiler:is the one who had the battle against Wes's imposter filmed at the very end of the game, saving his reputation.]]

* PuzzleBoss: Battle [=CDs=] are optional fights that put you in various scenarios with preset teams of Pokémon. Many of these are puzzles that require you to select specific move combinations during certain turns to achieve victory.

* BalanceBuff: Shadow Pokémon have been made far more useful. There are more Shadow moves for them to use with various effects, they resist opposing Shadow moves to help with Snagging, and the type is now an InfinityPlusOneElement that's super effective against almost everything.

* MyopicArchitecture: To prevent Michael from interfering with his plans, [[spoiler;Greevil]] lowers a barrier made from unbreakable glass to separate them. However, said barrier is easy to get around; just exit the room, go down the hall and enter where [[spoiler:Greevil]] is through a side door.

* PerkyFemaleMinion: Lovrina is so this. As mentioned above in ObfuscatingStupidity, while she may act like a sterotypical ValleyGirl she is more than capabile among Cipher's R&D considering [[spoiler: she lead the development of XD001 itself]].

* BonusBoss: Two characters can be battled in the postgame whose teams are more powerful than the final boss's:
** First is Miror B's final battle on top of Gateon Port's lighthouse, where all five of his Ludicolos are Level 57 while his Shadow Dragonite is at Level 55.
** Then there is Battlus atop Mt. Battle. His team has Eon Duo Latios & Latias along with pseudo-legendaries Metagross and Salamence with all of his Pokémon being at Level 70.

* OutsideTheBoxTactic: Due to the fact that any Shadow Pokémon knocked out immediately go to Miror B., and he does not bother to level up his non-Shadow team members [[spoiler:until the BonusBoss battle for the Shadow Dragonite]], rather than immediately catching a Shadow Pokémon like the game suggests, it's often easier to knock one out, then hunt down Miror B. and tank/sweep through his pitiful Ludicolo collection while focusing on catching the Shadow Pokémon instead of trying to fend off more powerful regular foes while doing so.

** When you first meet Miror B., his team is at a level that's a slight challenge. If you rematch him for Shadow Pokémon outside of the BonusBoss fight at the end, his core team is still at the same level as his first appearance, making him a more and more trivial battle as you progress through the game. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] for all of the Shadow Pokémon fought for a second time; they explicitly cannot gain levels (and thus level grind) until they've been purified.

* CeilingCling: Just like in ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', Cipher Peons tend to hang from the ceiling just out of sight while waiting to ambush whoever passes by. A grunt on Citadark Isle decides to chill inside an elevator to get the jump on you as you exit.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Downplayed, as Shadow Lugia is the only antagonist of the two. ''Colosseum'' featured Ho-Oh during the ending and gave him to the player for beating completing a certain Battle Mode challenge with a team from the Story Mode after purifying every Shadow Pokémon. Shadow Lugia, on the other hand, is a villain in the main story, during which it is also available to be caught.

* CeilingCling: Just like in ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', Cipher Peons like to hang from the ceiling just out of sight while waiting to ambush whoever passes by. The final area even has a grunt waiting inside an elevator to get the jump on you.