After doing some digging (heh), I realized that there’s a Dig Site we can currently access that isn’t tied to the main story and is also free! So today’s business will include unlocking that and getting a catch there. Probably some other stuff too, who knows.
To get to this new, secret Dig Site, we need to come to the Fossil Guild! As long as we’re here, Benji cleared out his fossil case for the first time in ages. Also, this guy sells BB Masks now. BB beeeee.
What we need to do is talk to the Info Clerk. After some testing, I determined that each time you enter the shop, he’ll select up to two new pieces of information to tell you about. Every time he talks to you, he’ll either say something about one of those or something about a piece of information he gave you on a prior visit. Since you NEED to talk to him for the Dig Site entrance to appear, this part of the process was a real pain.
This isn’t the quest Benji needed to get, but it is one that will net him some money and some Battle Points, which are always helpful. It’s meant to be taken on way, way before this, so I’m not too concerned about difficulty or anything.
Buddy, I have bad news for you.
Wait, how does he poach fossils? Can’t you dig up literally any of them?
That aside, this is him. Where did you get that gun, bro?
Awww not fair, I want a Lambeo!!
As you may have noticed, that Lambeo was Rank 2. I hope you can forgive me for not taking screenshots.
To be honest, this would’ve been a nice quest to remember existing back when I was grinding money for Fossil Chips. Ah well.
Ha, I’ve deliberately prevented Benji from getting the education he needs to help Nick Nack. We’re safe.
Aha! That’s what I was looking for! Let’s go investigate these Mole Holes.
A ladder! I haven’t thought about this area in genuine years, so the wiki was very helpful while I was doing this.
That’s right! A real Secret Tunnel! It has a new name and new encounters, so this is a new area for finding fossils! There’s also a dude here. What’s up with that?
Okay, so this line of dialogue is NEVER explained. What weird birds were they running from??? For the purposes of this Nuzlocke, they were running from a swarm of Togekiss.
Quest attained! We will definitely do that. But first: Encounter.
Another Air Type? Game, please, I already have so many.
A bit further down the tunnel is… this. SO! Quick anecdote. This is probably the least-intuitive puzzle in the entire game, and that is including that time we got locked in the Digadiamond. The solution, as you may have guessed, involves going down the tunnel with the big O sign. However, you have to do it three times. The game gives no indication that you’re on the right track; all it does is tell you when you’ve done it wrong. This flummoxed me so badly that I don’t think I ever finished it when I was a kid. It’s so weird!
Once you’ve passed through the correct tunnel, you’re returned to the beginning, slate and all. This is why it was so confusing--it feels like you did something wrong.
Once you’ve solved the puzzle, the game is nice enough to tell you that you’re in a new tunnel. Let’s see what this one has to offer.
A treasure chest? I see… the plaque at the beginning said something about how you need to be pure of heart to solve the puzzle, right? I bet it was referring to this treasure. Only a thief would open the chest! And while Benji has totally looted places before, today he will turn over a new leaf.
Goodbye, treasure chest!
Like before, you have to do this three times.
There is some difference this time, though! The chest is getting larger, as if to become more tempting. It’s honestly very funny.
That’s probably because you’re referring to a crystal, sir. Those aren’t bones.
Did… did you not notice he wasn’t with you? I am astounded.
Something something “two friggin’ boulders”
There are no VMMs down here, so we have to backtrack all the way through the tunnels. At the entrance…
Thanks for the mask, I guess! Still unclear on if you guys are moles or not and frankly this raises even more questions than it answers.
Sigh. Thanks, Lemo.
Okay, now it’s time to CLEAN.
I forgot to take revival screenshots initially, whoops. It’s Nodo! I ended up tackling some plot before I got full screenshots for them, so the following screenshots are from… the fuuuture.
This is Nodo! Check out those support effects, they’re just as good as Sasha’s! Attacks are just about as underwhelming, but Power Scale is an interesting move that could end up being useful in the future.
Their name will be Scale. Get it? It’s a bad joke. For now, they’ll join the box.
Okay, returning to the past now…
Beth’s dialogue is pretty funny here. Off to Secret Island! Hopefully we’ll find the last component there.
Secret Island has a nice beach, but the main draw is, of course, the crashed spaceship with a conveniently-placed hole. I bet Duna’s already exploring inside.
Hi Duna! The floor patterns here are pretty identical to the mothership. I wonder why this one crashed..?
We didn’t really reshape the entire thing, we just brought back the cool parts. Which, to be fair, IS an entire thing that humans just love doing, so you have a point.
New catch! Benji’s entire box is just going to be air types, isn’t it.
The computer is still functioning! That’s pretty impressive, seeing how disrepaired the rest of the ship is, but I’m not too surprised. After all, the mothership’s computers were still running after, presumably, hundreds of millions of years of no maintenance whatsoever.
Guhnash? That sure is… a name. What is it?
Ah, so the computer sent the crew off automatically. That explains why they didn’t know what caused the ship to malfunction.
… Wait. So when you said that your world was lost, that was LITERAL? Some giant monster just came and ATE it?
That’s terrifying! Can’t wait to inevitably throw hands with this guy.
Ah… I’m sorry your people went through that, Duna. Losing an entire planet to a monster you can’t even stop? That’s awful.
There are multiple rooms in this ship, so I grabbed another fossil as a second encounter. I don’t remember if I actually went through with cleaning it, though.
Not even the Secret Island is immune to the random spawning of VMMs.
That’s… a good question. I guess Richmond could have left it here when he first scouted the island, but it looks really old…
It’s…
the origin of the sandal fossils??????
Okay but I wanna know who left the sandal fossil!!
There are more tablets scattered around the ship.
I’m starting to get an idea of who these might have come from. Did Diggins come all the way to the Secret Island in the past? Before he died?
Ever the scientist, Diggins is.
And that’s the last one. So I guess Diggins must have moved on.
A ‘Prepare for battle’ prompt? That’s ominous. But Benji’s team is as good as it’s going to get!
Wait! If it’s a human, could it be..?
The idol fragment too? There’s no way this is a coincidence. Let’s get back and solve this mystery!
Whuh oh.
Yay! Let's go see the best girl!
