Crucible of Ideas

Zaydolf tells you that he has seen a strange light shining from Mars.

When you land on Mars, you can go east.

After going east, there are paths to the north, east, and south.

The north and east paths are blocked off for now and the east path leads to a sidequest so going south is the way that advances the story.

Going south, you come across some ruins.

In the middle of the map, Anne and Zaydolf are reading some tablets, and they conclude that there's intelligent life on Mars.

A mysterious voice interrupts, telling you that there was intelligent life on Mars, but now all that remains are their creations and the degenerate remains of their species, similar to the Eldones.

Anne and Zaydolf demand to know who the being is, but it urges them to discover for themselves what happened to the Martians.

Then, a bunch of dark beingsnote talk in keyboard-mashing language, then tell you that they can't let you proceed.

You fight them in a double battle, and you can choose Anne or Zaydolf as your partner.

There are 3 of them you have to fight, and they use Pokemon found on Mars.

After that, Zaydolf tells you that he received a transmission from the north side of Mars, and then he and Anne leave.

Now, the path to the north is open.

Going north, there are some Nices running around who spout random nonsense about the Martians.

There are some paths that go further north, and there's some ice forming as well.

Eventually, you start to encounter Mars Shades, the remains of Martians who once were.

They talk about defending Mars, and they also battle you using Pokemon from Mars.

You eventually reach more ruins, which you can enter.

When you enter the temple, you see that Neil has also constructed a shortcut from the temple to the ship.

But the right way to go is north, which takes you to a mountain with a few Mars Shades running around.

Some of them also talk about ascending and leaving their bodies behind.

You run into Anne, who tells you that something terrible must have happened to the Martians.

The mysterious voice chimes in again, telling you that something promised them prosperity but ripped their souls away, and then promises to show itself soon.

However, some Mars Shades have followed you, and you have to fight 3 of them in a double battle with Anne.

The first one uses a bunch of random Pokemon, the second one uses a sun team, and the third one uses a rain team.

Going further up the mountain, you can fight some Mars Shades as Pokemon themselves, similar to the Transformed.

They are wild so you also have an opportunity to catch them.

You also find Zaydolf, who figures out that HE was the one who destroyed the Martian civilization, and that he needs to get revenge for their sake.

You then fight 3 more Mars Shades in a double battle with Zaydolf.

The first one uses a bunch of random Pokemon,the second one uses a hail team, and the third one uses a sandstorm team.

At the peak of the mountain, you come across a temple, where the Physical God Mars resides.

He tells you that he was the one speaking to you, and he sent you this signal so you know what HE plans.

Mars also gives you the actual backstory of the Martians.

Basically, the Martians used to be an advanced race, but when they first went to space, HE came to them and gave them promises of power.

However, what ended up happening was that the Martians' lives were used to fuel HIS purpose, and that some remaining ones became shades.

He urges you to not allow the same thing to happen to Earth or the universe.

However, Mars knows that if you can't defeat him, you clearly can't make it very far, so he battles you to test you.

Mars boasts about being the god of war and knowing every military tactic known to mankind.

His team consists of Lycanmars, Cypecker, Trinvasionote , Marsarriornote , a Roman variant of Falinks, and Cobalion.

After you beat Mars, he is proud of you for surviving, and tells you that the next stops are Venus, Mercury, and the Sun.

...

-Mars Side Quest-

This side quest becomes available once the north path opens, as the east path opens as well.

You have to go east until you find a Mars Shade, who gives you some backstory.

He tells you that the Martians built a bunch of machines to do stuff for them, but then got carried away and "let idleness control them".

After beating the shade, you can go to the Mars Mine, a big cave.

At the bottom of the mines, you find Marsortured, who explains what the Martians did.

The Martians created Marsortured because they listened to HIS promises and thought they could go above life.

When the Martians died, Marsortured was left behind.

You have to fight Marsortured in a battle where he uses 5 Pokemon found on Mars and also uses himself as a Pokemon.

After that, you can catch Marsortured and find a Martian Orbnote .