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Those letters stand for eXtra-Dimension; it wasn't intentionally made to resemble the Emoticon.

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness is a Spin-Off game in the Pokémon series, developed by Genius Sonority and released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2005. The game is a sequel to Pokémon Colosseum, released on the same system.

5 years after the events of Colosseum, 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 Crazy-Prepared 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.

Similar to its predecessor, the gameplay revolves stealing Pokémon from the bad guys in the Double Battle format. Despite the Darker and Edgier look presented by the cover, XD scales things back a few notches by replacing the Anti-Hero main character with a Kid Hero named Michael, and cleaning up Orre so that it's not quite as gritty as before. The plot this time revolves around "XD001": a Lugia transformed by the reborn Cipher crime syndicate into a Shadow Pokémon supposedly immune to purification.

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 and there are far more to catch than before.


Tropes present in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness:

  • Abhorrent Admirer: Cipher Peon Rixor is a fan of the newscaster, Ancha. During Cipher's invasion of ONBS, he can be found trying to get Ancha's autograph.
  • Aerith and Bob: Just like in Colosseum, there's a handful of trainers with normal sounding names like "Michael" or "Lovrina" for trainers...but most of them have absolutely weird names like "Snattle", "Ardos" or "Greevil", to name a few.
  • Ascended Extra: Miror B. went from relatively minor but memorably quirky Starter Villain to a decent sized part of the plot and gameplay in XD.
  • Anti-Frustration Features:
    • One for Pokédex completionists: The majority of endgame Shadow Pokémon are of species that, while they can be found in the wild in FireRed and LeafGreen, have notoriously low (1-5%) chances of appearing (and some have the added annoyance of being found only in the Safari Zone). Additionally, the Hoenn Dex Pokémon unavailable in Emerald (Surskit, Roselia, Meditite, Lunatone and Zangoose) are available here, eliminating the need to trade with Ruby and Sapphire.
    • In Colosseum, Shadow Pokémon could easily KO themselves using Shadow Rush, since it deals recoil to the user. Here, while some Shadow moves do hurt the user, they cannot cause the user to faint (Shadow Half and Shadow End reduce the user's HP by half its current value). Tracking down missed Shadow Pokémon is also easier, since they'll go straight to Miror B. for an immediate second chance rather than requiring you to wait until a postgame rematch.
    • Much like in Colosseum, several Shadow Pokémon have had their catch rates adjusted. This time though all adjustments were to increase catch rates, including every member of the final boss's team except Shadow Lugia.
    • The saving feature from Colosseum is removed where accessing a PC is required and is replaced by traditional saving methods found in the mainline Pokémon games.
  • Art Evolution: The graphics have notably improved since Pokémon Colosseum. Human characters now have smoother, higher-quality models with more facial animations.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: Robo Groudon. Sure, Chobin looks awesome and gets boss battle music in it, but it doesn't make him a better trainer (though he does evolve his Sunkern and get two more Pokémon when you first battle him with it). Every time you defeat Chobin when he's controlling Robo Groudon, it malfunctions and starts smoking from its mouth.
  • Bag of Spilling: 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.
  • Balance Buff: Shadow Pokémon have been mechanically overhauled to make them more useful in battle. There are more Shadow moves for them to use with various effects instead of just Shadow Rush, they resist opposing Shadow moves to help with Snagging, and the type is now an Infinity +1 Element that's super effective against almost everything.
  • Book Ends: The game begins with you getting the Snag Machine. If you Snag every Shadow Pokémon and beat the Final Boss, the game ends with you putting the Snag Machine back on its stand, never to be used again.
  • Boss Bonanza: Lovrina rematches you near the beginning of the final area, while the end is a nearly uninterrupted series of boss fights. Once you reach the top, Snattle rematches you. After beating him, you can fight Ardos right away, but you'll likely need to heal after Snattle and the Door to Before is rigged with a Cipher Peon encounter. After Ardos is a rematch with Gorigan, followed by a brief interruption in the bosses with a Cipher Peon battle. The boss fights resume with Eldes, Shadow Lugia, and finally Greevil.
  • Boss Rush: The Orre Colosseum consists of 7 challenges, the final round of each being against a boss from the game (Not just the Cipher Admins, but also ones like Robo Groudon Chobin). They can be re-challenged freely, too, but bear in mind these are those "enemy team is scaled to yours" kinds of fights, so you'll likely need to import heavy-hitters from other games.
  • Brick Joke: Some with the minor background characters of Colosseum, actually.
    • First, and plot relevantly, the lady who lived with Es Cade during Colosseum is revealed to be a Cipher Peon in XD, which makes sense Es Cade, or rather Evice, was Cipher's boss in Colosseum. In XD, you need to distract and then fight her.
    • Second, and really minor unless you remembered every minor trainer's dialogue involves a cooltrainer in front of the Agate Village Pokémon Center. In Colosseum, it's a male named Dury (Takato in Japanese), who's a battle-able trainer. In XD, the cooltrainer is a female named Cida (Takami in Japanese, for maximum Stealth Pun) who explicitly mentions she's the younger sister of Dury and has come to the village to study like he did because she's jealous of how strong he became after studying here.
    • Next is Makan, who did have a minor role in Colosseum as Perr's grandfather, is essential to defeating Cipher in this game.
    • Similarly Ancha the star newscaster from ONBS is the one who had the battle against Wes's imposter filmed at the very end of the game, saving his reputation.
    • Lastly, is the story from an old man in The Under in Colosseum where he discusses that some guy got VERY RICH from mining in The Under, and left and hoped he did it for good. This is foreshadowing Mr. Verich or rather Grand Master Greevil of Cipher, who most definitely did NOT use it for good.
  • But Thou Must!: When you first meet Miror B., he will ask if you want to join his group. Answering "Yes" will have him explain how you don't really want to, looping back around to the option prompt.
  • Ceiling Cling: Just like in Pokémon Colosseum, Cipher Peons tend to hang from the ceiling just out of sight while waiting to ambush whoever passes by. A grunt in the ONBS raid chills in an elevator and gets the jump on you as you leave; a grunt on Citadark Isle does the same.
  • Cool Versus Awesome: "Operation Zero", Battle CD number 46 that can be found on the final boss' desk after defeating him once. It pits an Eevee and all five of its (then-known) evolutions against Mew.
  • Chekhov's Gun: After beating Robo Groudon Chobin early in the game, a frustrated Kaminko decides to scrap the Robo Kyogre in production and demands that Makan get rid of it. Makan, seeing the potential in the machine as a high-speed boat, fixes it up and gets it working, and it turns out that it's the only way to get to Cipher's base on Citadark Isle.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
    • While Miror B. returns in this game and is no longer part of Cipher, and Evice is stated to still be behind bars, what became of the other Cipher Admins from Colosseum is never mentioned. And while Folly and Trudly still work for Miror B., Reath and Ferma are absent.
    • Wes and Rui, the leads from Colosseum, only get vague mentions, and there is no indication of what happened to them after the end of their adventure.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Hexagon Brother all wear colored outfits that (mostly) correspond to the type of Pokémon they primarily use. Resix wears red and uses Fire-types, Blusix wears blue and uses Water, Yellosix wears yellow and uses Electric, Purpsix wears purple and uses Poison, and Greesix wears green and ues Grass. The only exception is Browsix; while brown would match Rock- or Ground-types, and he initially has a Shadow Baltoy (a Ground-type), he uses Normal-types.
  • Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: 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 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 snagged.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: One room in Cipher's lair on Citadark Isle is a lava puzzle that you solve by pushing steel crates to the ground. With the lava blocked, the ground instantly cools enough to walk on, and the crates don't show any signs of getting red-hot either. You are told it's too hot to approach the chest if you try to get it before you drop the chest, and the peon who drops down as you're about to run through the door says he got hot waiting for you, but that's it.
  • Cool Ship: The Robo Kyogre is an Olympus Mon-shaped Humongous Mecha reworked into sea craft. It's the only way to get to Cipher's base.
  • Crutch Character:
    • Shadow Pokémon have moves super effective against everything but one another, but they can't level up until they're purified.
    • Poochyena gets Bite and Dig for decent coverage early on, but it will quickly get overshadowed by other Shadow Pokémon you catch.
  • Cue the Sun: In the final cutscene after you defeat the Final Boss, the clouds dissipate and the sun breaks through, likely symbolizing the end of Shadow Pokémon. It makes sense in-universe too, since Cipher was actually artificially causing the storms surrounding their headquarters. Once the protagonist shuts down their operations, the machine is presumably turned off, calming the weather.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Cutting the Knot: Rather than challenge you to a battle for your Snag Machine, Team Snagem instead just knocks you out with Gloom's Sleep Powder and steals it while you're asleep.
  • Damage Over Time:
    • Shadow Pokémon who enter "Reverse Mode" in battle take damage at the end of each turn.
    • Non-Shadow Pokémon take a little damage at the end of each turn while the "Shadow Sky" weather is active.
  • Darker and Edgier: Ironically enough, from Colosseum. In XD, Cipher is quite obviously playing for keeps: they've got an army of more Shadow Pokémon than ever, led by a Legendary Pokémon so corrupted that it's form has been dramatically altered; they're pulling off dramatic, showy heists in full-view of the public; and they're pushing Shadow Pokémon so hard that Michael has to steal them back from innocent people.
  • Defeat Means Friendship:
    • Lovrina, Snattle and Gorigan all come to respect you once you defeat them in the Endgame+ colosseum.
    • Eldes starts to respect you before you fight him, and ultimately brings down Cipher and performs a Heel–Face Turn after his defeat.
  • Defeat Means Playable: Several Battle CDs are "double-sided" discs, which in practice means that winning Side A unlocks access to Side B. Side B lets you use the team that you were originally fighting against on Side A, though there are occasionally differences for balance (e.g. Latios and Latias have Soul Dew when you're fighting against them on Disc 47, but lose the item when you use them on Disc 48).
  • Demoted to Extra: Many characters in Colosseum get little or no plot mandated screen time and are only present to avert No Endor Holocaust. The list includes Silva, Beluh, and Dash the Athlete, who all had major, if short, appearances in the previous game, are now at best random NPC's (Silva, Beluh) or part of an optional post-game sidequest (Dash).
  • Department of Redundancy Department: You can end up with two Electabuzz in the game. One from evolving Zaprong the Elekid obtained from trading the purified Shadow Togepi, and a Shadow Electabuzz to snag from Ardos. You're better off using an evolved Zaprong than the Shadow Electabuzz, as not only does the traded status grants Zaprong the extra experience points, but it also comes with the three Elemental Punches, granting much better coverage than Ardos' Electabuzz.
  • Developer's Foresight: Bonsly, which is playable in the game’s mini game, knows Struggle. This is likely to guard against a game crash if it’s hacked into the player’s team outside of the game (Doing it with Munchlax will crash the game though).
  • Disappeared Dad: Your dad is explicitly said to be dead ("passed away").
  • Disc-One Nuke: Espeon once again, if you choose to evolve your Eevee into one. It's arguably worse due to the lower starting levels, but this Espeon has access to Bite for added coverage. Jolteon may count as a milder example, also being a fair notch above the early game foes statistically.
  • Dub Name Change: Michael is "Ryuto" in Japanese.
  • Enemy Mine: Gonzap keeps his word by returning Michael's Snag Machine after being defeated, and explains that Team Snagem doesn't need to make things difficult for Michael; since Michael is trying to take down Cipher himself, they're both on the same side. They even end up helping Michael out later on.
  • Eternal Engine: The Cipher Lab returns here but is swiftly overshadowed by the Cipher Key Lair, which is the new place where Shadow Pokémon are created.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Greevil may be the leader of Cipher, but he still cares for his sons. His son Eldes even convinces him to disband Cipher.
  • Even Evil Has Standards:
    • Subverted. Dr. Krane gives Naps, Lovrina's number two and brother, an earful about the misdeeds he's committing with Cipher. Naps acknowledges that it's evil, but still refuses to quit. Apparently, Poochyena soccer is the bare minimum to remain employed in his line of work. note 
    • Played straight later with Hordel who signed up for Cipher but was horrified when he actually saw the Cipher Key Lair. And later with Eldes, who put up with a lot out of loyalty toward his father but drew the line at blowing up Citadark Isle to get rid of Michael.
    • When you first meet Miror B. and he asks you to join his gang, he won't accept a "yes" from you because he can tell your heart isn't in it, and he says that you need to think hard before taking on a life of crime.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Prof. Krane and Mr Verich's character models never open their eyes. Eventually subverted with Verich, or rather Greevil as just before the final battle, he opens them to reveal his huge, yellow eyes.
  • Final Boss Preview: The same Alakazam that saves Jovi from Zook's Zangoose (which coincidentally is also fought later on in the game) is on Ardos's team when you fight him. It's even the same level.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • One of the citizens of Gateon Port notes that Mr. Verich has a lot of money as his name suggests. Not to mention his powerful bodyguards.
    • When Zook is at the factory acting as a gatekeeper, he questions how Gorigan heard of the fact that he was flaunting his Shadow Zangoose in Gateon Port, leading him to get punished. It's because he showed off that Zangoose right before the Grand Master Greevil's eyes, under the guise of Mr. Verich.
  • Funny Afro: Miror B. still has his Poké Ball-esque afro. It seems to be even larger than it was in Colosseum.
  • Futuristic Pyramid: The Cipher Key Lair is a giant pyramid-shaped building with a black glass exterior.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: After you snag and purify all 83 Shadow Pokémon, if you go re-battle Greevil, you get a little additional scene in the ending. It has Michael, looking at the no-longer-needed snag machine, which is lying on a table in the lab. However, after the credits roll and the game re-starts, he's still wearing the machine. Hard to explain, since a plot point of the game ensures there is data for Michael without the machine programmed in.
  • Goggles Do Nothing: Gorigan has two pairs of goggles. One he wears as intended, the other he wears on his neck.
  • Golden Ending: A minor one after you snag and purify all the Shadow Pokémon. The last cutscene has an addition where Michael's in the lab, looking at the now unneeded snag machine, lying on a table.
  • Goldfish Poop Gang: The Hexagon Brothers are a group of six Cipher Peons with colorful outfits and very little competence. They show up occasionally to slightly inconvenience you.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Two scientists who have designed a method for serial abuse of Pokémon use "gosh" and "gadzooks."
  • Got Me Doing It: At least one of Lovrina's henchmen has so picked up Lovrina's habit of constantly saying so all the time.
  • Green Hill Zone: Agate Village returns from the first game and is just as green as ever.
  • Ground Punch: This is how Earthquake is animated depending on which Pokémon uses the move. The user punches the ground and ripples travel out to break the ground under everyone else.
  • Hailfire Peaks: The desert wreck of the SS Libra combines Ship Level with Shifting Sand Land.
  • Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: 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 (and leaving the story). Beat him, and while he'll be frustrated, he still has the data rom and will leave with it anyway.
  • If My Calculations Are Correct: Cipher Peon Snidle always quotes probabilities, which are clearly just pulled out of thin air. The only one that seems accurate is about how likely you are to wreck their plans if not stopped.
  • Inconsistent Dub: When Colosseum was translated, Battlus had his name changed to Somek, but his name is Battlus in XD.
  • Infinity +1 Element: Shadow moves are not effective against other Shadow Pokémon, but super effective against everything else. This makes Shadow Pokémon both very useful when used by the player and very dangerous in the hands of NPCs.
  • Informed Ability: Razell and Dazell are hailed as great performers by all the sailors in the Krabby Club and are even good enough to perform on TV. All they do is juggle color-changing pins.
  • Joke Character: One of the Battle Bingo cards only contains Pokémon with a secondary Flying type. One of them is a Gligar... whose only move is Earthquake. Earthquake doesn't work on Flying types. And if you plan out your moves wrong, you could be forced to catch it just to have enough EP to continue.
  • Karma Houdini: The main villains get off scot-free in the end, even being free for battle in the postgame.
  • Lethal Lava Land: Citadark Isle is a large island with a volcano which is home to Cipher's headquarters.
  • Level in Reverse: The Cipher Lab returns from Colosseum, now renamed from Shadow Pokémon Lab. It is explored in reverse here, with Ein's lab (the last room in the previous game) now being one of the first parts visited.
  • Lighter and Softer: While Orre still has some dark patches, it's far less bleak than in Pokémon Colosseum. The region isn't as much of a wasteland with grass and trees growing and water spreading, there seems to be more Pokémon League presence in the region, while one Wretched Hive is shut down and the other has a now clean white building in it whose inhabitants are dedicated to being helpful. The game makes it pretty clear that Wes shook up the region's status quo pretty good.
  • Locomotive Level: The Outskirt Stand returns complete with its diner inside an old locomotive engine. However, it does not play quite as big a role as in the first game.
  • Luck-Based Mission: To win Battle CD 8, you are required to get Critical Hits to overpower the opponent's Cradily and its Defense boosts. The Zangoose you're given knows Focus Energy and is holding a Scope Lens to help increase your chances to land the crits, but you still have to rely on getting multiple random procs to overpower the enemy.
  • The Man Behind the Man: Greevil is this to Evice. Chief Sherles states that Evice was only the boss of the Orre branch of Cipher.
  • Meaningful Name: In Japanese, the hero's default name is Ryuuto, which is very close to ryuutou, which are sacrificial lights placed on an alter to the gods. In English, he's Michael: "who is like God?". His other default English names are Adam and David.
  • Mickey Mousing: Each time he's fought, Miror B. snaps his fingers in time with the first percussion pause of his battle music. There are even stars coming out of his fingers as he does it.
  • Myopic Architecture: To prevent Michael from interfering with his plans, 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 Greevil is through a side door.
  • Mythology Gag: One trainer within Mt. Battle tells the player that she heard about another trainer who used the same team as she did. The Pokémon on her team are Chimecho and Cacnea, the same team Team Rocket's James from Pokémon: The Series had during the Hoenn saga.
  • Nerd Glasses: Chobin wears the spiral variety, and is also Blind Without 'Em.
  • Never Say "Die": It's made blatantly obvious that Cipher used Shadow Lugia to outright murder the S.S. Libra crew down to the last man, but since this is still an 'E' game, the story does its best to gloss over this fact.
  • No-Gear Level: Team Snagem steals your Snag Machine after the S.S. Libra, forcing you to fight Shadow Zangoose and Shadow Nosepass normally until you get it back.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Some bimbo doesn't get a job as an Admin in the lab coincidentally. Lovrina must be one crazy scientist, especially if she claims to have made XD001 unpurifiable. She just pretends to be a Valley Girl so people underestimate her ginormous brain. She still maintains a Genki Girl demeanor in the postgame, so she might be a very high-functioning Genius Ditz.
  • The One Guy: Area 4 of Mt. Battle is almost entirely comprised of female trainers. The one exception is Area Leader Boyden and he lampshades this right before you battle him.
  • Optional Boss: All but two encounters with Miror B. are optional, as he'll only show up at a Colosseum if you fail to snag a Shadow Pokémon. And catching all the Shadow Pokémon is itself optional outside of 100% Completion, so nothing is stopping you from ignoring Miror B. if he shows up.
  • Outside-the-Box Tactic: 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 until the 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.
  • Overlord Jr.: Ardos and Eldes are Greevil's two sons, though only the former truly believes in what Cipher stands for..
  • Percent Damage Attack: The Shadow move "Shadow Half" reduces all combatants' HP by 50% — friends and foes all included. It also requires an additional turn to recharge after use.
  • Perky Female Minion: Lovrina is so this. As mentioned above in Obfuscating Stupidity, while she may act like a stereotypical Valley Girl she is more than capable among Cipher's R&D considering she led the development of XD001 itself.
  • Permanently Missable Content:
    • Picking the wrong questions in an interview (you have to answer all completely truthfully) will make the Amulet Coin inaccessible without trading; you instead get a much less useful item that can be found elsewhere.
    • If you don't return Kandee to her mother in ONBS before Cipher invades the building, you can't get a Soothe Bell without trading it in from another game.
    • The Shadow Voltorb is missing a flag that makes it respawn should you lose to Miror B in the first battle at the Cave Poké Spot, which locks you out of catching it. And as Shadow Dragonite requires you to catch all other Shadow Pokémon, being unable to acquire Voltorb means you are locked out of Dragonite too. No other Shadow Pokémon you can lose to while still progressing through the story is missing this flag, so you cannot be locked out of them.
  • Port Town: As its name would suggest, Gateon Port is a port town on the seaside.
  • Post-End Game Content:
    • Aside from being able to have rematches with several Trainers across Orre (the teams of which are all at Level 50) there is the Orre Colosseum, snagging any remaining Shadow Pokémon you did not obtain on the first try from Miror B before being able to battle him one final time to snag his Shadow Dragonite, purifying all the remaining Shadow Pokémon, and the Lucky Egg quest.
    • Other minor activities include the Colosseum battles in Pyrite and Realgam Towernote , completing the Mt. Battle challenge, obtaining and completing all 50 Battle CDs, and clearing all eleven Battle Bingo cards. Of course since the game does not show your progress towards 100% Completion, this is more for the sake of obtaining bragging rights.
  • Properly Paranoid: Professor Krane spent five years studying Shadow Pokémon and how to purify them on the off chance that Cipher would re-emerge. His concerns are proven to be justified when Cipher goons show up to kidnap him and stop his research.
  • Puzzle Boss: Battle CDs are optional fights that put you in various scenarios with preset teams of Pokémon on both sides. The vast majority of these are puzzles that require you figure out a specific order of operations to execute so you can achieve victory.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Hexagon Brothers are a group of Cipher mooks found outside of the Shadow Pokémon Lab that are barely competent at their jobs. They all have names related to a specific color (with "six" at the end), wear different color uniforms related to their names, and use Shadow Pokémon whose types are related to said colors. For example, Resix sports red and has the Fire-type Houndour.
  • Recurring Boss: After you run into Miror B., can be randomly encountered at the Colosseums. He'll have any Shadow Pokémon you missed snagging when fought, giving you a second catch at them.
  • Recurring Riff: A segment of the Cipher Admin theme from Colosseum can be heard during the opening cutscene with the S.S. Libra.
  • Running Gag:
    • The Hexagon Brothers can't do roll call to save their lives.
    • Eagun's exaggerated ineptitude with computers, as proven by the antics related to him either accidentally sending a blank e-mail or him accidentally sending e-mails that are cut off.
  • Saharan Shipwreck: The SS Libra is discovered in the middle of Orre's deserts. XD001 dropped it by accident while carrying it to Cipher Key Lair.
  • Sequel Hook: Once you beat the Big Bad and win the game, Ardos storms out of Citadark Isle vowing to resurrect Cipher. If defeated in the Orre Colosseum (accessible in the Endgame+), he also brands you as Cipher's Biggest Enemy and notes that he will be watching you.
  • Shifting Sand Land: Of course Orre is a vast desert region.
  • Ship Level: The desert wreck of the SS Libra.
  • Slasher Smile: Greevil flashes one once he is no longer hiding his status as Cipher's mastermind.
  • Sleazy Politician: Snattle's dreams of governorship over Orre were all-consuming for him — so much so that he joined with Cipher to achieve it... and stayed onboard because Evil Feels Good.
  • Start My Own: Miror B. is no longer a Cipher admin, and has started his own evil organization. It consists of... him and his two minions.
  • Status-Buff Dispel: Aside from the series's existing "Haze" move, the Shadow move "Shadow Shed" instantly dispels barriers like Reflect and Light Screen from the opposing party.
  • Superboss: 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.
  • Surprisingly Creepy Moment:
    • Moreso than Colosseum - the game starts out much more lighthearted, and Orre's been cleaned up quite a bit. Then the wreckage of the Libra is discovered, with its crew members' fates left unknown, but are heavily implied to be dead.
    • In Colosseum, you start in the south-eastern corner of Orre and work your way northwest, while in XD you work backwards. The game keeps you waiting before you make it back to familiar locations like Phenac City... so as to maximize the dissonance when you realize that there's something not quite right.
    • When you first visit Phenac City, it looks the same as it did in Colosseum. Then the NPCs start saying very strange things to you, the shop is revealed to be closed, and Justy, the person you were sent to warn about Cipher, immediately laughs off your concerns. All the while, the background music gets more and more distorted as you wander around the city.
  • A Taste of Power: Right after the introductory cutscene, you're treated to a battle where you control a Lv. 50 Salamence against an NPC's Lv. 50 Metagross. It's only a simulation, however — your real starter Pokémon is a Lv. 10 Eevee. Incidentally, a Salamence is one of the Shadow Pokémon that can be caught in the endgame.
  • Third-Person Person: Jovi and Chobin both speak in the third person to highlight their youth and general immaturity.
  • The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Citadark Isle, Cipher's base. It's located on an active volcano surrounded by near-untraversable ocean currents (which you learn are generated artificially) with a perpetual storm overhead. It's enormous, to the point where almost half of the game's Shadow Pokémon are found within it.
  • Too Awesome to Use: XD is the only game in its generation where Sacred Ash can be obtained without real-life event items, as a prize for clearing Battle CD 46. It instantly heals all your Pokémon to full health, including fainted ones, but the only way to get another one is to start a new game.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Prior to Generation IV, the only notable thing about Shadow Togepi was that if you evolved it before trading it, you'd only get a normal Elekid. After Generation IV introduced both the Physical-Special split and Togekiss, with its massive special attack, competitive players noticed Shadow Togepi has Tri-Attack, which was now an immensely useful move.
  • Unintentionally Unwinnable: 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.
  • Vice City: The downtrodden and nearly lawless Pyrite Town returns like it was in the first game, though it's been cleaned up a little.
  • Villain Forgot to Level Grind:
    • When Ardos defeats Zook in Gateon Port at the beginning of the game, his uses a Level 44 Alakazam. When you battle him on Citadark Isle near the end of the game, his Alakazam is the same level.
    • 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 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. 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.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: The head of Cipher is Mr. Verich, who plies everyone who frequently patrons the Krabby Club with free drinks. Nobody suspects his true intentions.
  • Vortex Barrier: Citadark Island is surrounded by artificially strong currents and a nearly impenetrable fog. Only one ship which belongs to the leader of Cipher is capable of reaching it in one piece. At least, until the Robo Kyogre is operational, which becomes the protagonist's way onto (and off) the island.
  • Welcome to Corneria: Averted. As you progress through the story, NPCs will have different remarks on what's been happening. For example, if you return back to Krane after Snagem steals your Snag Machine, both him and Lily will notice it, even though you're not required to talk to them during that part of the game.
  • Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: Dr. Kaminko's inventions are all useless junk, but at least three people actually bought them:
    • A man in Pyrite bought ten "Poké Poles" only to later realize that they were just a bunch of red-and-white-painted metal rods that don't actually do anything.
    • A man in Phenac bought the "Power-Saving Refrigerator", which stops refrigerating whenever the door is closed. He can't understand why his food is spoiling so quickly.
    • A man in Agate bought the "Unhealthy Sandals" and wonders why he's feeling so sore all the time. You'd think the name alone would have tipped him off...
  • You Don't Look Like You: Snagem members Wakin and Agrev have seemingly swapped bodies since Colosseum.

Alternative Title(s): Pokemon XD

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