Greevil: The Philanthropist Who Ran Cipher

The big villain of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness spends half the game treating people to meals. Under the name Mr. Verich, Greevil plays a harmless old benefactor in a small port town, escorted by two bodyguards who are really his sons. Behind the mask stands Cipher's Grand Master, successor to Evice, and the maker of a Shadow Lugia said to be impossible to purify.

Contents

• Mr. Verich, Benefactor of Gateon Port
• The Real Head of Cipher
• XD001, the Lugia Meant to Resist Purification
• The Final Battle, on the Citadark Isle Dome
• Ardos and Eldes: A Leader Before a Father
• Greevil at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Mr. Verich, Benefactor of Gateon Port

The cover identity is carefully built. Mr. Verich passes for a fabulously wealthy philanthropist settled in Gateon Port, always flanked by the twins Ardos and Eldes, whom everyone takes for his bodyguards. He keeps the Krabby Club supplied without ever charging a thing, and often enough to buy the goodwill of the entire town.

The scene that introduces him is an act of kindness. Zook picks a fight with Michael and his little sister Jovi; the old man steps in, Ardos puts the thug in his place on the spot, and Verich immediately plays the gesture down in front of the children. He also takes the opportunity to call what Michael accomplished in Phenac City "impressive" — his future opponent is already on his radar.

Short stature, a vaguely monk-like look, a good-natured laugh: every detail of his appearance is there to deflect suspicion. You can measure how well it works by the fallout, because Gateon Port takes the loss of its generous neighbor very hard once the facade comes down. The game takes the time to show that backlash.

The Real Head of Cipher

Cipher resurfaces five years after being shattered, and for good reason: the arrest that had closed the case never reached the top floor. Chief Sherles had indeed put Evice behind bars at the top of Realgam Tower, but he wasn't the organization's real boss.

The timeline, however, remains open. No one knows whether Greevil had handed the reins to Evice back in Pokémon Colosseum, or only took the helm afterward; the game is careful not to settle the question. His ID card fits in two lines: leader of Cipher, Pokémon Trainer.

His personal plan, on the other hand, is spelled out bluntly: build an army of Shadow Pokémon that no purification can ever reach, and hand command of it to no one else. He even lists everything that has thwarted the group's progress — the Cipher Key Lair, the Data ROM, the work of Professor Krane, the ONBS news reports — only to brush the whole list aside in the same breath.

XD001, the Lugia Meant to Resist Purification

The centerpiece of the plan has a code name: XD001. It's a Shadow Lugia that Greevil presents as the very first specimen that no one will ever be able to purify, and that he intends to put at the head of his future army.

The production line, meanwhile, grinds to a halt when Michael shuts the factory down and defeats Gorigan. Greevil then appears on the control-room screen, buries the Mr. Verich persona in front of the very boy he fooled and explains to him that mass production was only a first step, one already left behind.

The same message doubles as an invitation. The Grand Master boasts of Citadark Isle as an impregnable fortress, cut off from the rest of the world by sea and clouds, then dares the boy to come and find him there. The taunt works: Michael climbs aboard the Robo Kyogre and rides the currents all the way to the island.

🔥 Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos: our Legendary Pokémon section lines up the Grand Master's team.

The Final Battle, on the Citadark Isle Dome

Greevil is the game's very last opponent, atop the headquarters dome. True to form, he lets the protagonist get through his entire inner guard before showing himself, and he opens the fight with XD001 itself.

The battle's mechanics are strict and play out in two stages. You absolutely have to snag the Shadow Lugia to trigger the second phase: defeating it without catching it forces you to start the fight over. Once XD001 is caught, you can rematch the Grand Master as many times as you like.

The second phase fields six Shadow Pokémon, three of them Legendary. Greevil's documented roster numbers thirteen in all, XD001 included: Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos sit alongside Altaria, Granbull, Swellow, Exeggutor, Aerodactyl, Rhydon, Starmie, Tauros and Manectric. None of them can hold out against the boy, and the old man is left stunned by the gap.

Ardos and Eldes: A Leader Before a Father

Greevil is a father only on paper. Neither his family nor his subordinates dare question his decisions, and his own sons see him as their boss more than as a parent. A fickle old man with boundless ambitions, he hides beneath an appearance of frailty a strategist whom nothing can bend as long as his garrison holds.

Defeat is precisely what splits the brothers apart. Ardos demands that the island be destroyed, intruder and all, even if it takes down with it all the research gathered on Shadow Pokémon and the group's staff; Eldes objects, refusing such a sacrifice for the sole sake of the leaders' survival.

The patriarch hesitates, then sides with the latter. Greevil turns himself in to the authorities, while Ardos leaves alone to take up Cipher's cause himself. The man whose choices no one dared challenge was, in the end, swayed by the more scrupulous of his two sons.

Greevil at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Mr. Verich in Pokémon XD?
  He's Greevil's cover identity: a wealthy philanthropist based in Gateon Port, with the twins Ardos and Eldes as his bodyguards. He supplies the Krabby Club without asking for anything in return, which makes him very popular with the locals.
• Do you have to catch the Shadow Lugia to beat Greevil?
  Yes. XD001 has to be snagged to trigger the second phase of the battle; knocking it out without catching it forces you to start the fight over from the beginning.
• Can you rematch Greevil after defeating him?
  Yes, as many times as you like, once XD001 has been caught. He remains the last opponent available on the dome of the Citadark Isle headquarters.
• Did Greevil lead Cipher from the start?
  The game doesn't say. It's unclear whether he had left the leadership to Evice back in the days of Pokémon Colosseum, or only took charge of the organization after it was scattered.
• What happens to Ardos and Eldes after the defeat?
  The two brothers clash: Ardos wants to blow everything up, and Eldes refuses. Greevil sides with Eldes and surrenders, while Ardos leaves alone to carry on Cipher's work.

In short

Greevil is built on a contrast: a jolly old man handing out free meals on one side, a leader ready to sacrifice his own employees on the other. Cipher had never shown its true head, and it took one extraordinary Lugia to draw him out. His last decision, to surrender rather than destroy everything, is the only one he didn't make alone.