Infinite Lives

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Pokemon Black Moon 2 is a great challenge for veterans, if it wasn’t so ethically grey to play
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Pokemon Black Moon 2 is a great challenge for veterans, if it wasn’t so ethically grey to play

REVIEW: This fan-made ROM hack defeats the series usual innovation formula of two steps forward, one step back.

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Harrison Polites
Mar 03, 2025
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Infinite Lives
Infinite Lives
Pokemon Black Moon 2 is a great challenge for veterans, if it wasn’t so ethically grey to play
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Forest-dwelling Mallow is right at home in her new gym: A fashion show.

Who knew Pokémon Moon's aloof captain Mallow lived a second life as a fashion queen? I'm at the fourth gym in Pokémon Black Moon 2. In the original game, it belongs to Elesa, an electric-type trainer seemingly modelled after Lady Gaga. In that game, she battles you on a catwalk, after you face off against three other models en route to her. The music blares, and the whole section has its own electro version of the gym theme in the game — with some vocal work added to it too.

But here, Mallow, a cook and grass-type user, has taken up residence, and is sporting a fully decked out team of six well-trained plant Pokémon. She's also in her usual blue overalls, far from fashion show material. But who am I to judge what's in right now?

These moments of narrative dissonance are common in Black Moon 2, a ROM hack of Pokémon Black 2. Mina, who is a fairy-type trainer and artist, apparently got her pilot's license, taking over …

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