Bittercold

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The Bittercold
The Bittercold with its core revealed

The Bittercold (Japanese: 氷触体 Glacial Body), also known as the Great Crystal (Japanese: 大結晶 Great Crystal), is a giant ice creature resembling a snowflake which appears in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity as the final boss in the main story. It dwells in the Glacier Palace's Great Spire where it attempts to destroy the world. The Bittercold is not a Pokémon, and is the second of a handful of non-Pokémon beings to appear in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, following the Judge of Darkness.

The player encounters this creature immediately after battling Kyurem. If defeated, the player can re-challenge the Bittercold without having to redo the dungeon. When re-challenged, the Bittercold will also keep the same amount of HP from when the player was last defeated.

Role

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When the player, partner, and the others first travel to the Great Glacier, they encounter floating ice crystals suspended in midair. Umbreon and Espeon say that this is because of the legendary "Great Crystal" that is said to reside here. When they reach the top of the Glacier Palace, everyone except the player seems to be struggling to breathe and collapses. Kyurem then saves them and tells them that the Great Crystal indeed lies ahead. Kyurem gives them a treasure chest as a reward for making it all the way there and they leave.

While traveling with the Voice of Life, Hydreigon, to reunite with their partner, after completing Ochre Quarry the player is told that the reason Hydreigon brought them to the world of Pokémon, along with many other humans, is to destroy the Bittercold, a mysterious object that suddenly appeared and is trying to destroy the world. It has the power to make ice and other objects float, which explains various mysterious phenomena the player witnessed previously at the Great Glacier. It is protected at the top of the Glacier Palace by the seer, Kyurem, who obstinately strives to protect the future he sees - even though it is the world's end - by using Munna's gang to stop any humans which come to the Pokémon world. Hydreigon explains that since the Bittercold is made of the negative emotions of Pokémon, any Pokémon that get close to the Bittercold are suffocated by its negative power; however, a human may not be affected by this power.

When the player first arrives in the room where the Bittercold lurks, the wind coming from the Bittercold becomes too much for the player's partner - being suffocated by it, they collapse, unable to fight the Bittercold. Kyurem explains that this phenomenon, known as the Winds of Despair, is what feeds the Bittercold with the negative emotions of Pokémon all over the world.

As the player approaches the Bittercold, they too begin to feel the effects of the Winds of Despair, despite being human. Despite having come so far, the player finds they are unable to take a single step when faced with the Bittercold, even though all the world's hopes are entrusted to them and all are relying on them to save the world. Suddenly, they hear a voice urging them to keep going. Before they have a chance to wonder where this voice came from, they hear another, and another. As the voices of encouragement multiply, they suppress the Winds of Despair and stop the Bittercold from moving. The player's partner states to Kyurem that this shows the world's future can be changed by everyone. The player's strength returns thanks to the power of the many voices of encouragement, and they begin to fight the Bittercold alone.

First battle

At the start of the battle, the Bittercold will be immune to any damage dealt to it. This will continue for a few turns, then that battle ends. The player realizes that none of their attacks are even able to scratch the Bittercold, and begins to waver. That moment of hesitation is felt by the Bittercold, and the Winds of Despair strengthen again. The player's partner urges the player not to get depressed, and that the power of emotions is strong. But that hesitation not only strengthened the wind, but the Bittercold too, and a purple whirlpool of the wind begins swirling from the top of the Great Spire.

The screen then shows everyone in Post Town watching the palace from the top of the hill, and seeing the darkness coming from it makes them wonder if even though they urged the player on, perhaps all hope has already been lost, and that they should give up. But Dunsparce reminds them that not only those in that town, but many others around the world (who can't even see the Glacier Palace) are desperately sending their emotions to the player, and that they should believe in the player and not stop just because they can see the clouds.

Rufflet spots that the purple whirlpool is growing, beginning to panic at the sight. Herdier urges them on, but he wonders to himself why his own words sound hollow, beginning to think that perhaps fate cannot be changed. Back in the Bittercold's room, the player's partner manages to get up, urging the player that despite them being slowly suffocated, they still continued on, so the player must do the same. The player tries very hard to get back up, powered by their friendship with their partner, and then successfully musters the last of their strength to lash out at the Bittercold, cracking its front. The player attacks again and shatters the front part of it, revealing a red core. The darkness around the palace momentarily disappears and a small rainbow appears at the top.

Back in Post Town, the Pokémon notice the rainbow before the Winds of Despair quickly return. Herdier states that despite it being a long time since he last saw it, the rainbow was surely the Rainbows of Hope, a mythical rainbow that instills a strong feeling of hope into any who witness it. Patrat goes off to tell all the other Pokémon about it, and all the Pokémon at the hill, realizing that hope is not yet lost, urge the player to let them see the Rainbows of Hope again. The screen then switches back to the player, who feels everyone's voices of encouragement focused on them again, and strengthened by their emotions, the real battle begins.

Second battle

In the second battle, the player will be able to deal damage to the weakened Bittercold. When the player defeats the Bittercold, it shatters and the Winds of Despair dissipate from the Glacier Palace Crystal Tower once again.

Then the player's partner gets back up again, realizing that the player beat the Bittercold, and the palace starts to crack and break apart, falling from the sky, which then starts the ending of the game. The Glacier Palace is thus destroyed forever; after the main story's ending, it cannot be accessed again.

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Personality and characteristics

The Bittercold does not appear to be a sentient being that is aware of what it is doing. Rather, it is simply an object formed from the negativity of Pokémon.

Attacks used

The Bittercold manipulates the Winds of Despair to perform three different attacks, all of which deal typeless damage and have 99 PP each. They are all called IconKanji2MD.pngUNUSED in the game's code, despite them being used, but the names are not displayed in-game.

  • IconKanji2MD.pngUNUSED - Damages the player in the room and also causes confusion.
  • IconKanji2MD.pngUNUSED - Damages the player in the room and reduces the player's Attack and Special Attack.
  • IconKanji2MD.pngUNUSED - Damages the player in the room and reduces the PP of all the player's moves by 3 each. This move has the strongest attack power out of all of Bittercold's moves.

Trivia

  • The Bittercold is the only final boss where the player fights without their partner.
  • It is similar to Dark Rust, Dark Matter and the Void Shadows in that they can be fought, but are not Pokémon.
  • The Bittercold is very similar to Dark Matter in nature and purpose, but there is no known relationship between the two.

In other languages

Bittercold

Language Title
France Flag.png French Néant Gelé
Germany Flag.png German Kältekern
Italy Flag.png Italian Glacies
Spain Flag.png Spanish Ente Gélido

Great Crystal

Language Title
France Flag.png French Grand Cristal
Germany Flag.png German Riesenkristall
Italy Flag.png Italian Grande Cristallo
Spain Flag.png Spanish Gigacristal


Characters in the Mystery Dungeon series
Red HeroPartnerCaterpieMetapodWhiscashLombre
GranbullXatuGardevoirShiftryPelipperCelebi
Team A.C.T.Team MeaniesFull list
Blue
DX
Time HeroPartnerWigglytuffChatotLoudredSunfloraBidoofTorkoalLapras
GrovyleCelebiDusknoirDarkraiPrimal DialgaPalkiaDrowzeeUxieArmaldo
Wigglytuff GuildTeam SkullTeam CharmTeam AWDAmp Plains tribesFull list
Darkness
Sky
WiiWare See here
Gates HeroPartnerAzumarillDunsparceEmolgaHydreigonKeldeoKyuremMunnaGurdurrTimburr
MeloettaUmbreon and EspeonVictiniVirizionQuagsireScraggy
PawniardSwannaBittercoldFull list
Super HeroPartnerAmpharosArchenCarracostaKrokorokKrookodileLegendary beasts
BeheeyemNuzleafXerneasYveltalVoid ShadowsDark Matter
ArmaldoBidoofCelebiChatotDunsparceDusknoirEmolgaGrovyleHydreigon
LoudredMunnaQuagsireShiftrySunfloraVictiniVirizionWhiscashWigglytuff
Expedition SocietyStudentsTeam A.C.T.Team SkullTeam CharmTeam AWDFull list


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