#(I NEED TO ACTUALLY CATCH UP WITH POKEANI)

[torchickentacos]

Discuss. Pokeani traveling companion nightmare blunt rotation options. Long post under cut, I put way too much thought into this.

Detailed thoughts under cut.

Faba. Look, I never watched all of SM so I can't speak for his anime counterpart, but going off of gameverse Faba, there is zero way that adding him to ANYTHING will improve it. I feel like I don't need to explain this one.

Nicholai. He's a furry (not a negative) who dresses as pokemon while trying to catch them (that's the negative). He also refuses to call shorts anything but knickerbockers. Traveling with him means you'll be hearing about knickerbockers and scaring off pokemon with giant zigzagoon costumes before you can even catch pokemon.

Baron Alberto. You get to decide if he's a lickilicky or not. I feel like I don't need to explain this one much, either. Just watch the darkrai movie.

Brandon. Okay, look. On one hand, you can travel with him and just fly places in the Battle Pyramid (which flies, by the way). On the other hand, he might yell at you ("NOOOOOOO") and you might have to make occasional pit stops to haunted ruins where kids get posessed by the king of pokelantis. You also might get crushed by a Regirock in his presence. But hey, you'll have an uber.

Butler. Diane will not be there to travel with you guys, which I think turns Butler from a powerful companion to a cringefail magician without his wife to keep him in check. Diane needs a raise. You might get absorbed by Meta Groudon if you choose to travel with him. However, if you have beef with Team Magma, he'll be ready to prove himself to them. This could be either a pro or a con depending on how he goes about this. Historically it has been a... decently large con.

Brianna. Look. I could make her worse. I could fix her. I could make her an actual character, but it's honestly funnier to just keep her the exact same. She's probably a largely normal, nice girl outside of her Brianna-ness, but if you choose to travel with her then Drew will be there too so you have to watch her Brianna all over the place. Also, this means traveling with Drew, which could go very many different ways. He himself barely escaped this list, if only due to personal bias. This one's a real coin flip. On one hand, she (probably) won't get you killed like Butler or Brandon might. On the other hand, Brianna. (/affectionate. I love Brianna. Something's wrong with her <3.) Safer bet but also has potential to be an incredibly annoying, cringeworthy bet that gets you stuck watching and subsequently dealing with tween relationship drama.

Charon. Another self-explanatory one I think.

Seymour (clefairy guy). Look, this guy's just annoying to me. I don't have any concrete reasons to have him here, other than the fact that he annoys me personally.

Anime Bill. He just creeps me out. That's all.

Kenny. So, look. I won't be too harsh on Kenny here, most of my Kenny hate is a joke (I don't actually hate him but hating on him is something of a meme with my friends), but I'm also not sure he'd be my first choice of a travelling companion. He's kind of whiny and likes to get a rise out of people. He's a petty and largely joking addition but also, he could be pretty annoying. I could fix him though.

Morrison. Loud. Likes sandwiches. Largely forgotten by the fandom because nobody watches Hoenn/AG for anything but the coordinators or battle frontier brains. He's mostly on this list for being loud.

Tommy. Yeah.

Hunter J. Also... yeah. Have fun getting arrested for associating with a criminal. I'm sure some of y'all would risk it all for her, though 👏

Harley. Even if you're on his good side, whatever that side may be, you're still going to have to be around his Harley-ness, and there's no guarantee that you won't be called upon to help him ruin the life of a ten year old. He gets a gif instead of a plain image. 80/20 chance you end up in his burn book (a canonical thing that he owns).

Roderick. Again, nothing WRONG with him per se, but he's an old guy who lived on an island with wynaut for 40something years, and his only confirmed pokemon is a bellsprout iirc. Roderick also just kind of watched a couple ten year olds presumably die and he seemed disproportionately chill about it, so there's no guarantee he'll be much help in an emergency. If not for May, Drew would have drowned because Roderick was not much help. Go watch Who What When Where Wynaut. Also, he's Paul's grandfather. Not canonically, but... trust me. He does have a boat, though. So that's cool.

Sid. Actually, there's nothing wrong with Sid other than not respecting personal space much and not being able to tell when someone's not interested. Go watch Destiny Deoxys, by the way. Fun movie THAT I COULD FIX DEAR GOD LET ME FIX IT. If you don't know my issues here then send me an anon and I swear to god I'll get into it, I always have this rant locked and loaded. EDIT: Sid is also now on this list because his google images was a weird adventure I don't wish to go on again. I got this image and no others. RIP anyone who tries to look up images for any pokemon anime character ever.

Zero. Weird emo with professor/father figure issues (???) or just issues in general, honestly. Really wants Giratina's power. Invented Siri. Wears a onesie. Failed star wars villain.

Dr. Yung. Did anyone even watch the mirage island special? I did. I still don't know what happened in it. Those 30 minutes of my life are a nonexistent blur. Something about Mew and Mewtwo, idfk. Traveling with him will get you into some shit, but it'll be incredibly forgettable shit that the fandom largely is unaware of. He's also evil, by the way, but kind of looks like a sad wet cat when he's not in evil mode.

Kevin. He's just kind of boring. His sister's way cooler. He's just Kevin. When I looked him up for images, the fourth image was a really buff, bipedal bidoof, which tells you about Kevin, I think.

Greta. Fire. Explosions. G r e t a .

[thelediz]

Psssst...given that pokeani has gone completely off the rails, how abt dropping that big rant abt the "Ash assistant coach in Galar battle league" au you shall never write? It's been living rent-free in my head ever since you mentioned it bc I love mentor Ash and I bet you'd do more justice to Galar in bullet points than pokeani did in its whole journeys run :3c

Oh, be careful what you ask for... I have pages of bullet points and half a page of prologue.

For those of you who don't know (or remember a side-comment I wrote in an author's note three years ago - seriously, my dude, wow), at the start of Journeys/end of Alola, I came up with an AU to carry on Ash's story. But it was an idea for a series, not a story, so it sits in my documents untouched.

So the basic deal is this: Galar has a different kind of league to the rest of the Pokemon world. In Galar, trainers compete as teams, rather than individual trainers. Each team does have a captain – the one who is supposed to be the best, and ultimately becomes champion – but it becomes clear over the series that the greatest trainers in Galar are the ones with the best support teams.

The advantage to having a team, instead of just working alone, is that you can have a lot more pokemon on a 'regular' team. And they belong to the group, not just the captain. This allows more flexibility, but as Ash points out to the team, it also means you can’t form as close a bond as more traditional trainers would. (This is potentially the reason why Pikachu can gigantamax safely without a dynamax band - because they have such a close bond)

The team we follow in this series is Team Eight - the eighth team for this year's league.

It's quite a large team, made up of seven team members in total:

The Captain, Victor. Our player character, and essentially the Gary of the series. He’s a natural when it comes to pokemon battle, charming and likeable, but confident to the point of being arrogant. His character arc is learning that natural talent won’t get him by forever, and he needs his team to make it to the top. (Friendship hooray!)

Active Trainer Hop. The current champion’s little brother, Hop was supposed to have so much promise. He was great with pokemon as a kid—they all love him—and Leon had so much faith in his baby brother. But on the battlefield, Hop is average at best. He’s nowhere near Victor’s talent, let alone as amazing as everyone expected. His character arc is learning not to stand in others’ shadows, and to believe in his own quieter power.

Active Trainer Gloria. Our female player character, and a very loud, slightly violent young woman. She’s actually the strongest battler of the team, but is also incredibly lazy when it comes to training. She’s not that interested in the league, mostly using the challenge as a chance to see and explore the world. Throughout the journey, she becomes a protector, often standing with Ash while Victor and Hop run off to gather artefacts or whatever, and discovers her true passion is as a bodyguard and organiser.

Groomer Goh. A blatant attempt to reengage children with Pokemon Go, Goh’s passion is collecting pokemon for the team to use. His goal is to catch one of every kind of pokemon, so that no matter the situation, he will always have the right ‘tool’ to hand. When his pokemon aren’t being used by active trainers, he farms them out to gyms and jobs, earning cash for the team. His arc is learning that pokemon are friends, not tools. (Pet safety, hooray!)

Medic Chloe. Originally just tagging along with Goh because someone needs to keep her childhood friend in line, Chloe discovers a love of cooking and medicine, discovering that she enjoys watching pokemon grow and become stronger.

Coach Kiran. A Dark-Type Trainer with a bad attitude, but a heart of gold. He’s normally a field agent of Chairman Rose’s security division, and it’s a requirement that all agents do at least one season of coaching duty as a kind of community service. He hates it. He brought Ash on to essentially do his job for him, but since Ash doesn’t really know how Galar works, he still has to lead the way and provide exposition. His arc is learning the limits of how far he’s willing to go to protect ‘the good of all’, and that kids aren’t that bad, really.

Assistant Coach Ash. He signed on because he wanted to see Galar, and learn about the different league, but he’s actually really enjoying helping Team Eight discover who they want to be. He battles with the active trainers, accompanies the support team on their trips, and generally enables their journeys. He forms bonds with some of Goh’s pokemon, who eventually become known as 'his' pokemon despite the fact they belong to the team.

Team Eight were supposed to be the real up and comers, but Hop’s lack of skill in a very public moment made them seem very unimpressive, and now no one really expects anything of them. Of course, they work their way up through the ranks, meeting rivals and defeating gym battles, until Victor can eventually challenge Leon.

The idea was that it was going to retain Sun and Moon's group dynamic, fade Ash out of the spotlight while maintaining his status and strength, and make a bit more out of Galar's story. Also play with Leon's relationship with Hop because you know I'm a sucker for family relationships.

But yeah. I'll leave it there for now. Hope it didn't disappoint!

[sigulary]

Thanks for always teaching those around you to keep trying. Be it friends, rivals, pokemon or even.... Team Rocket!?

Keep going on Ash.

Something to celebrate this twerp’s first league win after 20 whole years!!!

[sundaeserenade]

Just something I saw on twt, but do you prefer to have the starters as bulba/charmander/squirtle or Pikachu/eevee for reguri?

o interesting!! I prefer to have their starters be bublba/char/squirtle because pokemon yellow is more pokeani to me, which is fine!!! but i like red and green to be as close to their game counterparts as fucking possible.

and i just hc that red found pikachu pretty quickly in viridian forest. and green caught eevee kind of in the middle. and didn't think much of her, but eevee was very kind to him through his journey. and offered her support. and green slowly warmed up to her.

he never used her in battle...even though she could evolve into 3 types. but, by spending time with her throughout the years, eevee has shown that she has no want or need to evolve. so green respects that and is perfectly fine with it.

i like green's relationship with eevee to be the culmination of green understanding that it's not about evolving a pokemon as quickly as possible or catching pokemon repetitively to get the best stats. or training them hardcore so that they're the best of the best.

it's about the bond that you share with them. and green's bond with eevee is the symbolism of that lesson. that's why he loves her so much and she's always out, like pikachu is always out for red.

for red, i just hc that it was him and (whatever kanto starter) for a while starting out. and i actually hc that at the beginning, red was nervous and upset on his journey, bc green ran off and left him. so red made some clumsy mistakes and was just nervous about it. like he wanted to go on the journey, of course, but!! it was overwhelming a little bit.

and pikachu was there to just help him through it. help him see that he could do it. give him that confidence. pikachu did his best to help red understand that he is very talented and strong. and red learned just how wonderful and beautiful a friendship with pokemon can be...bc they're just real true friends! they're true friends who are loyal and don't leave you. or change their mind out of the blue that they hate you...so red really loved that. he loved that he could trust pikachu to always be by his side.

so yeah im. sorry for the long response, but those are my thoughts. i like their pokemon to teach them lessons. like their starters teach them other lessons, too but i've already rambled LMFAO

[themattress]

Because of Iris’ return in Pokemon Journeys coming up, I wanted to look over Best Wishes again, specifically 20 recurring plotlines / characters that AREN’T Ash and his Pokemon (since that’s all the Pokeani fandom really cares about in any given series and I’m tired of it).

IRIS:

Of course, we need to start with Iris. She was introduced in episode 1, in a way that linked her to the appearance of Zekrom (a legendary Dragon-type Pokemon) which made it pretty clear that the original intention was to have Iris play a substantial role in the show's Myth Arc. Unfortunately, the Myth Arc ended up having to be changed, so all the foreshadowing of Iris' role in it early on amounted to nothing.

Fortunately, Iris' character arc is still exceptionally handled. She meets Ash and formally establishes her character in episode 2. A few episodes later, in episode 9, she reveals the most basic details of her backstory and her motivation to become a Dragon Master, plus reveals the problems she is having with her Axew and her Excadrill.  Episode 30 resolves her problem with Axew, while episode 36 resolves her problem with Excadrill. She gets an Emolga in episode 27, encounters a problem with it in the very next episode, and resolves that problem in episode 43, with the following episode 44 providing her with a new breakthrough with Axew and an even greater victory with Excadrill that shows just how much her hard work has paid off. Axew has another breakthrough in episode 87, where he's actually able to knock down Cynthia's Garchomp!

Episode 34 reveals that Iris is afraid of Ice-type Pokemon, a fear that is resolved much later in episode 83 (thanks to her rival Georgia, ironically enough!) Episode 58 is an episode that makes it much clearer what the common threadline in Iris' arc is and what will be the thing that helps her become a Dragon Master: learning to better connect and empathize with others, both people and Pokemon, usually through overcoming her own personal problems that are serving as empathy blocks. Her greatest test comes in the form of her selfish and ill-tempered Dragonite, a plotline that runs through episodes 91, 92, 93, 94 and 99.

Episodes 102 and 103 are the climax of Iris' character arc, with her returning to both the Village of Dragons and Opelucid City, showing just how far she's come with both a flashback to her childhood and her present-day actions, and the revelation that she's slated to inherit Opelucid Gym from Drayden finally made to both her and the audience. My only quibbles here are twofold. Axew may be more powerful now, but he's nowhere close to being a Fraxure let alone a Haxorus, and yet the Village Elder still gives Iris a passing grade even though she specifically said Iris needed to raise Axew to its full evolution. And nothing in BW itself actually provides pay-off to the Opelucid Gym revelation: Iris isn't ready to take over the Gym quite yet so she keeps traveling with Ash and Cilan and we never see nor hear about her returning to fulfill her obligation until Journeys. I suspect this wouldn't have happened if the original Myth Arc was maintained and/or Decolore Adventures! never happened, so I suppose it's yet another consequence of executive meddling.

Decolore Adventures! did at least give us a coda on Iris' dynamic with Ash plus a meeting with Clair that led directly into her post-BW special, which does a good job capping off Iris' arc by having her connect with and catch a Gible with ease, while her Dragonite is able to go toe to toe with Clairs' own. It’s certainly a lot better than what poor Cilan got.

I think my biggest complaint with Iris' arc is simply that the writers neglected it for a lengthy period of time - there's basically nothing for her between episode 58 and episode 83, unless you count that bizarre Bouffalant episode, which I don't. This made it even more awkward when B2/W2 made her the Champion, which meant that the writers suddenly needed to go from zero to eleven in their handling of her by giving her a fresh Dragonite out of the blue.

However, unlike many in the anime fandom, this is far from a deal-breaker for me: the usual messiness of being a merchandise-driven show is not enough to keep me from considering Iris as one of the best-developed heroines in the whole Pokeani. And her as the Champion of Unova in Journeys is only going to vindicate me on that point of view.

CILAN:

Cilan is a victim of the producers and writers being too literal-minded. As a Gym Leader that Ash faces in episode 5 and who then joins him as a travel companion, Cilan is BW’s equivalent to Brock just as Iris is its equivalent to Misty. But unlike with Iris where they evolved and improved upon the way she was written compared to Misty, Cilan just played the Brock role straight in that he has no personal arc, no real character growth at all. He never makes any strides to become an S-Class Connoisseur, nor does he ever have any real engagement with his “rival”. He’s there to be the “adult” figure in the group, and little else.

Even in his post-BW special where he meets Brock and the post-XY special where he meets Clemont and Bonnie, he’s the exact same character as he started out as. And mind you, I really like his character! But it’s still disappointing that it never grew into anything more. 

TEAM ROCKET:

I have said a lot about Team Rocket's time in Unova elsewhere. Long story short: they're amazing, being stylish, badass and competent villains who actually progress the plot rather than the pointless, so-called comedic characters who had been running on fumes throughout the Diamond & Pearl series. The only times they felt inconsistent were their transition from black uniforms back to white uniforms and the episodes that immediately followed where they were just doing mundane crimes again (it thankfully didn't last, since they're back to serious undertakings to conquer Unova under the supervision of Dr. Zager in episode 37), and their return in the first half of Episode N where they suddenly have their Meowth-shaped hot air balloon and original motto back, return to "blasting off again" instead of escaping on jetpacks, and possess two new and highly underdeveloped Pokemon - Frillish and Amoongus.

Other than that, Team Rocket always keeps things fresh with the various missions they undertake. Their first mission (with them in black uniforms) to harness Dream Energy and weaponize it in combination with the Meteonite is done in James Bond-esque super-spy fashion with a touch of noir mystery. Their second mission to rob Nimbasa City’s Pokemon Center and escape on the Battle Subway is a straight-up heist thriller, with a more minor spy element in Meowth’s role. Attempting to draw out and capture the Forces of Nature on Milos Island is an epic mythic fantasy, trying to open up a time portal on Twist Mountain is a science-fiction adventure, and the climactic mission involving Meloetta, Abyssal Temple, the Reveal Glass and the Forces of Nature’s Therian Formes is straight-up Lovecraftian horror. And then there’s their battle with Team Plasma in Episode N, which is refreshingly even-handed and with some great chemistry shared between them and the maniacal Dr. Colress. 

Honestly, Team Rocket’s plot might be the most successfully executed one in the entire Unova Saga, which makes it all the more disappointing when Decolore Adventures! regresses them back into incompetent irrelevance. We never got a proper Team Rocket villain arc for the anime back in Kanto and Johto, so it’s great to finally get one in Unova. 

TEAM PLASMA:

Team Plasma is alluded to by Giovanni as “a mysterious secret organization operating in the Unova region” in episodes 1, 2 and 7. When they show up wearing their crusader outfits in episodes 23 and 24, it was supposed to set them up as major players in the Myth Arc throughout the series, with them pursuing their self-righteous goal of “Pokemon liberation”. 

However, the B2/W2 games scuttled the original plan for the Myth Arc, and as a consequence Team Plasma only reappears in Episode N (they are specifically a presence in episodes 112, 114, 116, and 119 through 124), now in their more villainous-looking terrorist outfits and not dressing “Pokemon liberation” up as anything but a way for them to take over Unova and then the world. Team Plasma is on the whole well depicted and their plotline well written (honestly moreso than the primary source material), especially in regards to Dr. Colress who is behind the development of a mind-control device that will forcibly “liberate” Pokemon from their trainers and pursues this objective with his trademark amorality plus a deliciously sinister and hammy attitude. Conversely, Ghetsis is the weakest aspect, coming off as just a generic villain rather than the absolute bastard he is in the games, and even worse barely doing much of anything in spite of being Team Plasma’s alleged leader. Beyond performing the ritual to awaken Reshiram from the Light Stone and his role in N’s backstory which is tap-danced around for the most part anyway, he’s just the boss of Colress who’s in on his plan.

As I’ve said before, liking the Team Plasma arc we got doesn’t mean I’m not going to be disappointed on what might have been. B/W’s Team Plasma is inherently more interesting that B2/W2′s Team Plasma, after all, and them pursuing Pokemon liberation as a noble goal rather than an evil goal could have provided some interesting situations, especially in regards to Pokemon like Ash’s Snivy and Ash’s Tepig / Pignite. Their rivalry with Team Rocket also would have been more interesting, since they would seem like polar opposites (Team Rocket is all about Pokemon exploitation for human greed, after all), whereas the rivalry we got centered around the two groups being fundamentally the same.  But at least Team Plasma exited the anime the same way they entered: being talked about by Giovanni. That kind of puts it into perspective just how badly Team Rocket overshadowed them in this series, huh?

SANDILE / KROKOROK:

Before being caught by Ash, the sunglasses-wearing Sandile / Krokorok was a recurring wild Pokemon who sought to defeat Pikachu, appearing in episodes 3, 12, 20, 23, 66 and 67. He was enjoyable in this role, but I’m confused as to why the writers abandoned him for such a lengthy period of time. His sudden reappearance at the end of episode 66 is so long after his previous appearance that many viewers are likely to have forgotten about him at that point! 

THE FORCES OF NATURE:

After the destruction of the Meteonite, Giovanni learned his lesson - if you want to take over Unova, skip the threats and just straight-up use the super-powered thing you’ve obtained. That’s where the Forces of Nature - Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus - come in. Through episodes 58, 59, 60, 61 and 62, Team Rocket attempts to draw the three legendary Pokemon out on Milos Island and capture them. This fails, but in episode 88 they discover that Meloetta’s song is the key to unlocking the seal on the Reveal Glass, which can summon and forcibly control the Forces of Nature. They finish recording the song in episode 97, obtain the Reveal Glass in episode 98, and take control of the Forces of Nature in their Therian Formes in episode 99, putting the Unova region in the greatest danger it’s ever put in across the whole series. This was a very well-executed plotline, as was the one that tied into it... 

MELOETTA:

I love Meloetta; she’s one of the most endearing Pokemon characters in the entire Pokeani’s history. Introduced in episode 84 and hanging around the sidelines of episodes 85 and 86, she takes center stage in episode 87 and remains a guest-star party member of Ash and his friends all the way through episode 99. The mystery behind her and her song and what Team Rocket wants it for, her development as she goes from timid and shy to energetic and bold, and her emotional send-off are all perfectly handled. What’s particularly interesting is that Meloetta’s arc is actually a retooling of what Takeshi Shudo wanted to do in Johto, with Celebi coming out of the GS Ball and following Ash and his friends around while being sought by Giovanni. Shudo died a few months before this arc was written, so it’s definitely a tribute.

ZEKROM:

Oh boy. Not since Ho-Oh has a legendary Pokemon had such a memorable introduction and then amounted to nothing in the Pokeani. Zekrom’s debut in episode 1, which continued into the start of episode 2, ultimately just served to nerf Pikachu, since the further plans for Zekrom in the show’s Myth Arc didn’t pan out. There is focus put on Zekrom and Reshiram having statues in the Village of Dragons, but the Village of Dragons doesn’t end up mattering to either Pokemon. The effect Zekrom’s energy had on Pikachu returns in episodes 23 and 24, but the matter is settled once the Meteonite is destroyed. Most egregiously of all is episode 66, where Ash and friends join Cedric Juniper in exploring the Black Hero’s Ruins and discovering the Golden Dark Stone, a tool that the Black Hero used to summon Zekrom. This is an obvious Chekhov’s Gun, but it never goes off, because it’s never seen again after the heroes leave the Ruins. It’s the GS Ball 2.0, except mercifully limited to just one episode.

As part of N’s full exposition on the Heroes Legend in episode 112, Ash flashes back to his encounter with Zekrom at the start of the series, reaffirming that he’s basically the modern-day Black Hero since Pikachu was chosen by Zekrom to carry its electric legacy. Despite this, we still never see Zekrom except in the opening of episode 125...in a dream sequence.

RESHIRAM:

Reshiram, by contrast, lucked out. While its role in the original Myth Arc also didn’t end up happening, it still got to play a central part in the Myth Arc by combining its role from the B/W games with Kyurem’s role from the B2/W2 games, being a central focus of Episode N and being seen or heavily discussed in episodes 111, 112, 120, 122, 123 and 124, plus the dream sequence at the start of episode 125. Sadly, Reshiram isn’t all that impressive when it’s on-screen despite the anime’s best efforts. The Forces of Nature come off as more formidable.

THE HEROES LEGEND:

I believe that the Heroes Legend about the Black Hero representing Ideals and the White Hero representing Truth comes off better in the anime than Zekrom and Reshiram themselves do. It’s first alluded to in episodes 23 and 24, with Team Plasma talking about “the Hero”. In episode 66, we learn a lot about the Black Hero and how he pursued Ideals alongside Zekrom through Cedric Juniper’s exploration of the Black Hero’s Ruins. 

In episode 111, Cedric calls in to reveal that he’s discovered the White Hero’s Ruins and is currently excavating it, setting Ash and his friends off on their quest to get there. They meet N in episode 112, who explains the legend of the two Heroes in greater detail, with the obvious subtext being that Ash, who had an encounter with Zekrom, is the modern day Black Hero who stands for Ideals while N, who had an encounter with Reshiram, is the modern day White Hero who is seeking Truth. In episode 119, we see that Team Plasma is spying on Cedric’s excavation of the White Ruins, and we learn why in episode 120: they want Reshiram to be the leader of their Pokemon army they plan to conquer Unova with, and N was deliberately raised to become the White Hero in order for this to happen. But Reshiram sensed this evil desire and angrily retaliated by burning down Team Plasma’s castle on N’s coronation day. In episode 121, Ghetsis reveals that Cedric has uncovered the Light Stone, which is Reshiram’s dormant form. With both it and Dr. Colress’ mind control machine, Team Plasma can re-awaken Reshiram and forcibly put it under their control; no N required.

In episode 122, we learn that the original Truth-obsessed White Hero became a self-righteous tyrant, and this is what pitted him against the Black Hero. This is why Reshiram was so angry with Team Plasma’s attempt to make N into the new, similarly tyrannical White Hero. But after Ash and N finally reconcile their Ideals and Truths and then work together to save Reshiram from Team Plasma, Reshiram is put at ease on the current state on humanity, as now the Black Hero of Ideals and the White Hero of Truth are able to co-exist peacefully. 

THE BADGE QUEST:

Ash’s Badge Quest in the Unova region goes through episodes 5-6, 14-16, 18, 22, 25, 51-52, 59-63, 69-70, 80-82, and 85-86. It’s mostly fine, but there are two major issues: the first one being the battle with Skyla in Mistralton Gym that has a horrible story attached to it that actually contradicts the entire central theme of the B/W games, and the other one being that the 8th badge being won from Roxie at Virbank Gym instead of Drayden and/or Iris at Opelucid Gym is a transparently obvious and jarring change of plans due to B2/W2-based executive meddling, and I say that as someone who likes the two-part battle with Roxie. 

TRIP:

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a somewhat snobbish preppy boy travels through Unova in order to become its strongest trainer, since he idolizes Champion Alder. However, Alder himself ends up challenging his preconceived notions of strength, which makes him angry and conflicted until he finally learns that the journey and those he shares it with are more important than the destination. That sums up Trip's character, but it also perfectly describes Cheren from the B/W games, whom Trip is a clear stand-in for. Trip is Cheren combined with traits of previous rivals like Gary and Paul; not all that original of a creation.

In spite of this, he was used frequently enough early on (episodes 1, 10, 22, 34, 41, 42, and 54) that he started to forge something of his own identity, and if the original Myth Arc had been maintained and he still continued the Cheren role in that it could have led to some great things. But something changed around the time the Donamite episodes were being made. It seems like around that point, the negative fan reception to Trip for allegedly being a Replacement Scrappy to Paul came through and the writers accommodated it (the head writer never seemed to care much for Trip anyway). He was humiliatingly beaten in the first round again, by Bianca of all people this time, and once again left rather than stick around like the other rivals. In the Junior Cup, his character arc was rushed to a conclusion and he was very blatantly replaced as Ash's main rival by Cameron, who is introduced by running into the frame right after Trip walked out of it. There was nothing else left for the writers to do with the character but ax him off in the first round and have him leave for a third time; this time for the Unova League Tournament, as the first opponent that Ash defeats. OUCH.

Trip deserved better, but the fans and writers just wouldn’t let him have it. :(

BIANCA:

With Bianca, we have kind of the opposite situation to Trip - whereas there we had an OC whose characterization and development was clearly taken from one of the B/W games’ rivals, now we have one of the B/W games’ rivals whose characterization and development is so wildly different from the source material that she might as well be an OC! Appearing in episodes 13, 26-28, 41-44, 51, 64-65, 72-75 and 105-110, Bianca was clearly a favorite of the writers’ due to the comedy they could provide with her, and to be fair she can be genuinely amusing with her zany shtick. However, I feel like the writers missed the forest for the trees here, since on the whole this is a poor representation of Bianca’s character from the games.

Bianca could be flighty and clumsy and scatter-brained and not the strongest trainer around in B/W, but she was also insightful and empathetic and willing to look on the bright side of any situation even when dealing with her own troubled self-esteem. She was sheltered for a long time, and yet this makes her that much more passionate about broadening her horizons rather than shying away from a challenge. She even saw the bigger picture when few others did, and this allowed her to become an apprentice Pokemon professor. The anime’s rendition of Bianca is....not this. She’s a ditzy, hyperactive joke dispenser and a punching bag of a rival ala Barry from Diamond & Pearl, and in spite of her overexposure she never contributes to the Myth Arc the way her games counterpart did. It’s to the point that in the one episode where she’s written in-character with the games version and adapts a situation from the games, episode 51, you still kind of want to side with her father because everything you’ve seen of Bianca thusfar suggests that he’s right: she’s not ready to be a Pokemon trainer yet.

She doesn’t fare any better than Trip when it comes to how she ends up, either. Right after Trip is defeated by Ash at the Unova League, Bianca ends up defeated by Cameron, and she ends her first-ever Pokemon journey collapsed onto the ground and sobbing. Bianca is a great character for bouncing off of others in the anime, but taken on her own, she’s a mess.

STEPHAN:

Introduced as seemingly just a character-of-the-day in episode 31, Stephan returned for the Don Battle tournament arc of episodes 41-44, then in episode 71 which segued directly into the Donamite tournament arc of episodes 72-75, and finally the Unova League tournament of episodes 105-110. An easily likable guy, he also surprisingly ended up being Ash’s most successful rival in all of BW, since not only was he the most impressive trainer but he also had a full character arc about becoming a renowned and respected enough trainer so that everyone knows exactly how to say his name. This arc is especially central to the Donamite, which he wins by defeating a rival of his own, Montgomery. It’s honestly bizarre that the writers were able to pull Stephan off so well despite botching Trip and Bianca so badly.

CAMERON:

To this day, I am baffled as to why anyone on the writing team thought that Cameron was a good idea. He shows up out of nowhere to replace Trip as Ash’s biggest rival in episode 95 (after Ash has already collected all 8 badges, mind you!), then faces Marlon at Humilau Gym in episode 96, and finally shows up at the Unova League tournament in episodes 105-110 where he not only defeats Bianca, but also defeats Ash. Cameron doesn’t work not only due to how late in the game he appears but because he’s too much of an idiot while also becoming too successful in spite of his idiocy. It’s especially insulting that he defeats Ash even after he only is able to enter the Unova League because of Ash (thrice-over, in fact!) and after bringing 5 Pokemon to a 6-on-6 battle (which should have been grounds for disqualification!) He’s not interesting, he’s not funny, he’s not likable...he’s just awful.

VIRGIL:

Appearing in episodes 104 through 110, Virgil exists for two reasons: to promote Eevee-lutions and to be the winner of the Unova League, mercifully defeating Cameron to do so. Aside from that, he’s just a bland “cool guy” type of character. But for some reason, he really caught on in Japan, and even became the star of a Movie 16 tie-in special. Go figure!

GEORGIA:

Iris’ rival Georgia was introduced in episode 36, and reappeared in episodes 41-44, episodes 72-75, episode 83, and episodes 92-95. The self-styled “Dragon Buster” serves as a cracked mirror to Iris - both girls are hot-tempered, insecure and hypocritical, but Iris has a firmer grasp on reality than Georgia does while Georgia has a firmer grasp on herself than Iris does. Across the series, they help each other develop as both trainers and people: their first encounter helps Iris fix her problem with Excadrill, their time together at the Don Battle makes Georgia begin to see Iris as a worthy rival whom she wants to see become a Dragon Master, their time together at the Donamite makes Iris begin to take Georgia more seriously as a trainer, their team-up at the Ferroseed Research Center cures Iris’ fear of Ice-type Pokemon and nudges Georgia outside her usual comfort zone, and their time together at the Junior Cup makes Iris realize the problem she has with Dragonite and Georgia realize that she needs to train Beartic further to raise its defenses. It’s a very healthy (and hilarious) rivalry.

The one real problem I have with Georgia is that because of the executive meddling forced onto the show, she doesn’t get one last solo episode to round out her appearances and send her off properly. The last we see of her (discounting the final ED theme) is at the Junior Cup, meaning that she is MIA for the entire third/final year of the series. Both she and her frenemy Burgundy (who share golden chemistry) deserved better than that. Oh, and speaking of... 

BURGUNDY:

Cilan’s rival Burgundy lands squarely between Trip/Bianca and Stephan/Georgia when it comes to how she was handled. Unlike Trip she always sticks around after her losses in the first round of every tournament she competes in so we get to know her better, and unlike Bianca she was invented as a comedic character so her mostly being used for jokes isn’t as unwelcome. But sadly, unlike Stephan and Georgia she doesn’t truly challenge her rival at all, nor does she learn anything from their so-called rivalry. Cilan is an A-Class Connoisseur, Burgundy is a C-Class Connoisseur, and this never changes. Burgundy becomes slightly more respectful toward Cilan and less good at covering up her crush on him, but that’s about it, and it’s still dwarfed by her hilariously vitriolic attitude toward everything. And like Georgia, she also doesn’t get a send-off episode in the third/final year due to executive meddling.

I blame the writing for Cilan more than I do the writing for Burgundy here. If the writers had let Cilan have his own character growth and commitment to advancing as a Connoisseur, then he and Burgundy could have shared a rivalry more on par with Iris and Georgia’s. But as it stands, Burgundy is a wonderful character who is also a huge wasted opportunity as a rival. 

LUKE:

I’m bringing up Luke because I really don’t think he was supposed to ever come back after being a gimmicky side character for five straight episodes (40-44). But then B2/W2 introduced Pokestar Studios, and how could the writers NOT bring back their amateur filmmaker character then? Him winning the film festival at Pokestar Studios actually gives Luke something of a character arc in the series despite it not being intended at first, and the producers must have realized that because he is rather tellingly included in the final ED theme’s big circle of friendship in spite of only showing up in six episodes. 

N:

N is the focus character of, well, Episode N, showing up in episodes 111, 112, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, and 124. The anime version of the character combines his personal development from the B/W games with the supporting protagonist role from B2/W2, and while that’s certainly disappointing to everyone who had hoped to see N’s antagonistic role as King of Team Plasma adapted into the anime, I think that the series nailed his actual character. It isn’t quick or easy for him to accept that views he has long held as truth may not be true and that the relationship between people and Pokemon isn’t as disadvantageous to the latter as he believes. But we see him gradually open up his mind and heart to Ash’s Ideals, which influence his perception of Truth until he at last becomes the Hero of Truth he was meant to be, one who won’t fall prey to tyrannical self-righteousness like the original Hero of Truth did. Even with the change to the original plan made, both N’s character arc and his role within the Myth Arc were well handled. The anime certainly did him better justice than other adaptations (I’m looking at you, Pokespe, and your creepy-ass dark-eyed N from the B/W Chapter!)

[smilingperformer]

Animevibe Pokémon Shield Run log, part 2

So, Day 2, and my second partner: getto daze! And I checked I won't be able to catch my third one til at least first gym is done so... this will be fun! |D

But also gotta mention how replaying SwSh games gives me such a good reminder of how beautiful this game is, and what a good OST. Ah, man.

I feel like I appreciated Marnie's introduction here a bit more this time around... also, she smiled. :D

Oh, and my chosen number revealed! (Try to figure out what it references to, it's quite simple)

Plus, dude, wtf, you don't just quit your job for watching TV!!

And so my journey to Milo's gym started... how did it go? Well... badly.

While I did do quite well against Bede with my Golett overpowering his team easily, against Milo I am... real darn weak. Ground/Ghost + Water type against Grass types? Bad. Very bad. And my next capture option is after Grass Gym Badge has been gotten.

But I won't give up! I have found out that I am actually a bit underleveled, so I must figure out a counter-attack against Milo's Gym. I have checked that Golett can learn ice type moves, one of them through TR, so I'm gonna figure out if I can do some max raid battles to obtain some.

So yeh. Current situation: Grass Gym 1, Me 0. I'll get you Milo.

(Cue the training arc that happens after gym defeat in Pokeani~)

The rules of the run:

1. The player can only have 6 Pokémon in total for the whole run, with the possibility of using an egg ‘mon if one of the determined 6 is a late capture. In SwSh, that would be Toxel.

2. The team used in this run was randomized through generator, using the criteria of the team needing to have a chosen starter line. For this run, I’ve chosen Sobble.

3. The randomizer determines which of the 6 Pokémon on your team evolve and which do not. Same applies for starter.

4. No grinding allowed. Must battle trainers, but must avoid avoidable battles

5. Can only enter gym matches with the amount of Pokémon that the Gym Leader one’s battling against has on their hand. Ie. Milo has two, I must only bring two.

6. Cannot use potions, instead must heal through Pokémon Camp or Pokémon Center, or berries. Anime never shows Ash and co. using potions during battles.

Below are extra rules to spice things up that I haven’t applied for this run due to knowing I ain’t capable for them with my team:

Apply Nuzlocke rules of Pokémon fainting meaning it’s gone for good.

Add regional bird as one of the 6 Pokémon for the whole run.

Make every single member on your team be Gen 8 Pokémon. I haven’t done so for this run, thou most are gen 8 anywho.

Must become a Champion without losing a single match in the tournament. If one loses, they can still finish it, but the run would be considered officially finished theme wise if one loses at any point during the league.

[its-whitetomorrow]

Pokemon Journeys feelings... not such a “journey”

Uh so I have lots of stuff going on, health and such... and I’m behind 3 pokemon episodes and really doesn’t bother me sadly

Just looks pretty boring tbh and after I checked today uh it’s even worse than general regularity

Goh will just randomly catch more pokemon, one episode is Team Rocket randomly caring for a patch of earth with a mecha apparently (hopefully framed as their free time but probably random and not clarified huh), the upcoming “spy” episode probably a filler nothing cool that it has potential to be and Goh doesn’t even have a reason to use a spy pokemon when his evolves... Team Rocket could but of course they are not being utilized like that *sight*

Oh and yes, apparently Suicune is being chased by random hunters (AGAIN, legendary chased by hunters but Team Rocket isn’t around for some reason and they can never come up with appropriate tech as of late.. just nets) and it’s actually owned by Goh now. DUH. Legendary pokemon that’s not a threat like Eternatus is in a ball and stashed away at the park... and won’t be used for anything important or plot relevant I guess so we might as well forget about it!

About Koharu... she seems to be in a transition state from unique pokeani girl to a tired regular pokeani girl as part of the three-some and invested in pokemon or specific pokemon activity - probably following in her father’s footsteps after all... meh, REALLY? Oh and right, from all Pokemon available she got an Eevee - the damn Eevee being featured yet again and owned by a female

I think the series has identity crisis. It IS being innovative (kinda), yes, but it is trying to cater to everyone while at the same time afraid to do something truly huge and unique. 

1. It fixed Team Rocket quality problems/why are they even still employed? problem while retaining their *irrelevance* in the series and plots. At the same time they’re considered “problems” by other members which is damn conflicting - simply because the tradition states they need to be third wheels when confronted with other rockets? Idk honestly, it puzzles me. It doesn’t make any sense. So are they contributing somehow or not? If not why are they being employed and given missions?

2. They do the “all regions” premise and bring back nostalgia, old characters, or places from old series. At the same time they AVOID *iconic* places and make many locations/scenarios exclusively game-based in order to cater to game nostalgia or new players from Let’s Go - for example. Also, those returns don’t mean anything, they are pretty frequent but don’t influence plot. It’s like you’re given something and then it turns out you were not, let’s forget about it again. Oh, and not even Team Rocket can bring back their old mottos to spice things up. DAMN IT.

3. Goh catches pokemon... no, he spams pokemon... and not even legendary can resist his awesome allure and powerful pokeballs. But it doesn’t bring any development, it doesn’t have any purpose after all, it’s just there to cater to Pokemon Go players and “collectible” mindset of a fan

4. The collectible mindset and no plot aspects are very prevalent, also lots of silly fillers (sometimes bordering on questionably appropriate which makes it more akin to franchises like Yokai Watch)

5. At the same time there are no ridiculously-intriguing SILLY plot bits and returning characters. You know, like in Yokai Watch...

6. But... they did experiment with “segments” - those weird two part episodes with openings in weird places and they seemed to work pretty well, even Team Rocket got cool relevant segment roles. At the same time... no, they won’t introduce returning segments in accordance with lore and with lots of silly plot bits or something, just regular pokemon episodes.

7. Hey but they still have Ash, he takes part in this competition to become top 1 and he seems like such veteran trainer now. This is sort of continuation of the old saga and caters to long time fans (kind of), this is also the plot so they have an ongoing plot (boring and stale as it is atm)

8. Team Rocket also spam pokemon with their gacha machine (which is a gacha similar to Yokai Watch gacha...). This is actually pretty cool and innovative, also huge potential and helps them become legit threats when needed. Only... eh... really sounds like the series DOESN’T need them to become legit threats! So the gacha becomes useless in the long run. I guess that’s the end of it, won’t be used in plot or even utilized in Team Rocket scheme bigger than their weekly filler battles. MEH!

9. Legendary fest, legendary on the openings all the time, more legendary fillers. But yeah exactly they are fillers - so just the collectible aspect of it

10. But wait, there is big plot too - they did the Galar arc. But even then it had some inconsistencies and was rushed, Rose just crash-landed and... is gone. Maybe dead lol. TR didn’t really matter while at the same time properly characterized and given orders by Giovanni off-screen. 

11 ... and yet Team Rocket only has a bazooka even when sent by the boss and informed about their target... because god forbid team rocket use “non-traditional” means even though Original Series TR used bazookas, lasers and energy fields (both the TRio and other members!). 

12. Also, TRio’s balloon seems to be something that’s considered “old” now (not modern enough for new audiences if you will, and I agree with this sentiment) and thus sparsely used. But they didn’t really replace it with something new, Sun and Moon at least had Bewear, here... nothing. No truck, no car, no jet, no jetpacks, no boat, no modern aircraft with steam or small TR blimp, nothing.

13. We have school so normal kids can relate. Koharu has a normal family, often showcased. But not much is known about her school in terms of plot... and why Goh is free to drop out of school... and still be part of it... and now Koharu will probably drop out of school too... pretty confusing. What was even the purpose of the school in the first place. I believe I know why Ash is not involved in a schooling system, probably because pokemon trainers who start early on are not required to attend but... well yeah in lore explanation/plot seems like a must here!

14. Oh and yes, almost forgot! They don’t really do Galar and thrive on cheap nostalgia. This is not a Galar-based series. Not even framed as Sword and Shield series. But hey, actually, sometimes they do Galar which seems like it’s gonna become more relevant and prevalent but not really, bad call! Back to Kanto, sometimes other completely random places in other regions, less frequently Alola and Unova... for some reason :) But then we gotta promote the heck out of Sword and Shield material so let’s introduce major characters from those games and create an “arc” (I wish...) or some one time “huge” event in Galar again. Back to Kanto and regular formula, soulless pokemon collectibles again. My head is spinning god damnit!

15. Ash and Goh are supposed to do Pokemon research work but mostly they are having random adventures and taking part in competitions... like in every other series. The research part is basically catch a Pokemon/help a pokemon and tell the professor about it, nothing interesting to learn, nothing to discover or unravel. The professor and his assistants are bore, why do they even exist and they are ORIGINAL characters created for this series specifically, mind you! Sounds like they just needed an excuse for the cast to locate legendaries (because it’s lazy writing lol) and someone who will pay for their flights. I wonder why Team Rocket and Giovanni can’t detect all those anomalies... LOL.

Ok, someone tell me this is normal and NOT an identity crisis? You can’t have everything in one magical formula but at the same time reset the clock every single episode and leave a viewer with a completely stale "traditional” formula requiring him to forget and adjust their expectations yet again (yet... all those exciting places in the whole pokemon lore and world we could visit... in a relevant way... all those legends that could actually contribute... in a relevant way... all those returns... and so on). Because then it becomes saturated, conflicting and unexciting.

They need to decide. They are either like Yokai Watch with fun returning silliness and inconsequential returning segments, where cool plot bits, ongoing side stories and development are prevalent and brought up but never serious enough to shake up “weekly” status quo and make you expect a huge ongoing plot out of this. Or... they are like Pokemon of the past, more realistic approach to the game lore, stories with morality and weight not a silly fest treated like it doesn’t matter, series with actual ongoing plot only better written, with fixed mistakes, more innovative and even braver than in the past. They can’t be both, those are mutually exclusive!

[the-kawaiifan]

Throwing my hat into the Gou’s gender discussion

Im about to school you about Japanese pronouns and how they work.

Now, a pronoun is a word that implies a person without specifying their name. There are primarily 3 depending on who’s talking about who.

First person- I or me

Second person- you, y’all

Third person- he, him, his, she, her, hers, they, them, theirs, etc.

And depending on the language, these pronouns could signify things like gender, status, age or respect. English doesn’t play honorific games with its pronouns, but it’s third person ones do signify the gender of its subject.

Japanese works a little bit differently. We’re not gonna talk too much about the honorifics system today, since it’s not relevant to this discussion. In regards to gender, Japanese can gender it’s pronouns, but doesn’t have to. There are gender neutral options, and often times those options are the default. Pokeani could very easily have had Gou go by “watashi” and “Gou-san” and it wouldn’t be unusual.

But that’s not what happens.

Now, I bring up the topic of Japanese pronouns because a lot of people may be concluding Gou’s gender based on English subtitles. Truth be told, it’s not unheard of for subtitle person to change the pronouns to suit however they see the characters and/or to further their own agenda. If the viewer needs subtitles, they likely don’t speak Japanese and wouldn’t catch the change. With this in mind, I decided to watch the episodes myself and keep my ears peeled.

I can now say with confidence that Gou uses male pronouns and subtitle person is doing their job right. Gou uses the first person pronoun 俺 [ore], which is masculine. Ash uses this pronoun too. Most shounen protags use it actually. Interestingly, depending on the context, ore can make one sound like they are gloating, or superior. It kind of makes that scene on Lugia even funnier, huh? In other contexts tho, ore can sound much more familial. Keep this in mind as these two grow closer in the future.

Now, that’s a first person pronoun. Something you would choose to say when referring to yourself. Being a Japanese learner rather than a native speaker, I haven’t quite caught any specific third person pronoun being used toward Gou, but I have caught one moment. Delia referred to Gou as “Gou-kun”. The kun suffix is for young boys. How does Gou react to being called male? Promises to care for Ash and poses like a bishe.

Now, it should be noted that using masculine pronouns does not always mean one is male. There are always exceptions, in English and Japanese. A girl can absolutely use pronouns like “boku” and “ore”, though she will come across as tomboyish. This means Gou’s gender identity is still open for interpretation. A cis male with feminine features? A trans guy? Non binary with male pronouns? All valid. Any of these reads still make him undoubtably queer.

Let’s just pray the English dub doesn’t make Gou a girl just for the sake of heterosexuality. Or, worse, the anime pulls a “was secretly a girl all along” 50 or so episodes from now.

Please don’t do that.

[asiryn]

this post is going to be very rambly, so i apologize in advance. if you’re potentially interested in my liveblogs, and/or interested in hearing a bit about my current life and disability issues, tune in. if you aren’t, then....keep scrolling i guess XD

(if you just want the current liveblog schedule, scroll to the bottom)

[and this got predictably very long, so i’m gonna put it behind a cut for convenience] 

up to recently, my main liveblogs have been about the pokemon anime, with a few other shows, books, and especially video games sprinkled in here and there. essentially, waaaay back in yonder year of 2014, netflix added the first season of pokemon, the indigo league, to their site, and i, in a fit of nostalgia, made the veeery questionable decision to watch all of the pokemon anime---rewatching the stuff i hadn’t touched since i was kid, and then continuing on into the unknown, and watching all the seasons from gen 3 onward that i had missed due to dropping out of pokemon. i only really started actually making liveblog posts once i hit gen 3, then i stayed consistent-ish from then onward. (for the curious, i’m up to sun & moon, and i have 44 episodes left until i finish it (i’m not ready ;;;; ), and then netflix actually just dropped the first 12 episodes of the newest series, pokemon journeys, so....56 until i’ve caught up with the dub XD)

so, all of y’all who climbed aboard with those liveblogs are probably already aware of Who I Am, at least a little. (....this is making it sound like i’m Some Big Name in liveblogging, but i’m not really anything of the sort, just so we’re all on the same page XD) at least, in terms of the fact that i’m physically disabled, suffer from chronic pain, etc. but recently, i’ve joined two new fandoms, and i’ve begun liveblogging spop and my next life as a villainess. and my spop posts in particular are already becoming some of the most popular posts i’ve ever done (like wow, you guys). and i think part of that popularity is due to the fact that these are two pretty recent, pretty popular fandoms (tho i do also like to think that i do make good content XP). but the point is that quite a lot of new ppl are coming across me, and idk how much, if any, of you have taken the time to look at my bio or anything. so i guess....part of this post is just some ruminations, but also my way of letting you know more of what you’re getting into. 

so, for those who don’t know: hi, you can call me kiryn, i liveblog stuff sometimes, and i’m physically disabled. i suffer from intense, constant, chronic pain. it stems from a bone disease called HME, or hereditary multiple exostosis, if you’re curious (i have a severe case of it, joy of joys). the short version of what that means is that i have a lot of bone spurs everywhere on my body, and they....cause me a lot of pain. basically, i cannot do any kind of sustained activity without the already significant, never-ceasing pain that i feel cranking up to unbearable levels, and basically i’ll be rendered immobile. i do have pain meds that i take, and that very much help to take the edge off, and make it so that i can function at all (bc, believe fucking me, w/o them, i wouldn’t be able to achieve even the little i can do), but even with them, it only makes a dent in my pain levels, and again, sustained activity makes up that difference very quickly. 

now, the gist of this stuff i’ll mention from time to time, but....i don’t usually go into much detail about it (and this post is probably the most detailed i’ve been about my condition in years). bc, quite frankly, it’s depressing. (and seeing as i also already have clinical depression, that’s definitely not something that i need more of XD) i participate in fandoms for escapism, and bc i don’t really want to think about that crushing mountain of reality. i’ve had this condition since birth, and i’ve literally lived my entire life in constant pain, and i honestly have no fucking idea what it even feels like to be painless. and what’s even worse is that it’s a degenerative disease---essentially, the bone spurs are wearing down my joints, so....my entire condition will just keep worsening as i get older. (and no, surgery to remove the spurs isn’t really an option.) i’ll be 29 next month, and i can already tell you, i’ve been feeling that decline sharply. when i was a kid, i could still run. by the time i was a teenager, i couldn’t even do that anymore; the best i could manage was a jog. now....i don’t think i could even do that. 

i guess the main point in why i’m saying all this, is that for the last year especially, i’ve been dealing with the worst downward swing that i’ve had in years. in my late teens and early-mid 20s, i got into a pretty good rhythm, of knowing my body’s limits, how to budget spoons to accomplish things, etc. but now even that fragile equilibrium has been thrown out the window, and i’m currently struggling to learn the new limits and rhythm of this downward swing that is unfortunately now my reality. even before, i was pretty limited on what i could accomplish, but even that narrow window has shrunk even further. so basically, i’m in the testing zone still. and it’s a very slow process, bc once i exceed the limit, my body breaks down, and now it takes me even longer to recover. as an example, i used to know that i could wake up in the morning and get ready to leave the house in 20-30 mins. now? i need at least an hour, which involves me pushing through a wave of agony to be able to take my pain meds in the first place, and then wait for those meds to kick in and the pain to die down enough to move without feeling like i’m moving through a wall of spikes. (and that’s just the start of every day for me, and before even throwing in all of the other variables)

so, coming back to the liveblogs......obviously, that’s affected by all this too. if you’ve wondered why there’s been a gap between me finishing up spop s1 and starting s2....that’s why. partly, i didn’t expect how analysis-heavy i was going to get on spop; pokeani just doesn’t tend to be as consistently thematically deep, so those liveblogs took far less out of me than spop has, and pushing myself to finish 5 episodes in one day....well, it was too much. and the thing is, it’s obviously unhealthy for me to continually push myself to the point of total breakdown, so...that’s where learning my new limits comes in. so, these past few days, i’ve been thinking, and essentially trying to better figure out how to do liveblogs like this without pretty much killing myself in the process (bc i honestly do love making them....i mean, if i didn’t, then it really wouldn’t be worth the literal pain it takes to make them XD). and also there’s a component of managing my anxiety-brain, bc leaving things Unfinished stresses me out, and so when coming to terms with the fact that it’s going to take me awhile to finish one show....knowing that i’d be leaving others hanging....Doesn’t Help XD

so, here’s what i’ve got so far (and obvs, this is subject to much tweaking in the future XP)

currently, i’m watching 4 shows: pokeani, good omens, villainess, and spop. villainess rn is the least of my worries, bc 1 ep is coming out a week, so it’s not demanding a lot of my time. 

for the other 3, here’s the preliminary schedule i’ve sort of hashed out:

- pokeani sm103-106

- spop s2

- pokeani sm107-110

- spop s3 

- pokeani sm111-114

- spop s4

- pokeani sm115-118

- spop s5 

- pokeani sm119-122

- good omens

- pokeani sm123-126

- [catch up block] (i don’t have a good track record in keeping up with ongoing shows, so if i fall behind on villainess, this is where i can catch up)

- finish pokeani sun & moon [sm127-146] (the league starts on ep 128, so i’d rather not experience any big interruptions in the battles XD)

basically, i’ve given myself a limit of 4 pokeani eps in a single session (bc as stated, they don’t take as much out of me), and with spop, the most i’ll let myself watch in a row will be 3 eps (s2 will probably be broken up into a 3/2/2 block, s3 a 3/3 block, and s4&5 will be a 3/3/3/2/2 block).

now, keep in mind that i’m very deliberately making no guarantees about specific days, bc who even knows, but at the very least, scheduling and talking it all out like this will help me to better manage my spoons, and if you’ve actually read this far, then you’ll know the method in the madness and why i’m doing things this way. XD the vague goal is to get in a least 1 liveblog session a week (plus a bonus of the new villainess ep on saturdays)---at least for the shows. i’m still having to working out what i’m going to do about video games....maybe i should just go on a ‘once a week’ model for all my hobbies across the board XDD

in the next couple of days, i’ll be posting that in-depth look into all the ships of villainess (it started as me just pecking down a few thoughts while i was taking a social media break due to the Current Events, but now i’m at the point where i’m like, i’ve put too much effort into this to not post it, damn it XP), and then depending on spoons, i’ll try to start in on that schedule this week, so stay tuned for some pokeani! (again....i’ll try to hit at least 1 liveblog a week before i start trying to get more ambitious XDD)

in any case, if you have stuck through to the end, thank you very much. your support means a lot to me 💖

[gaycey-sketchit]

(Gary anon) I don't doubt that if the group didn't have Gary, the raid would have gone differently. But, that doesn't necessarily mean it would have gone 'better'. (If the other challengers not even making it to the cave is anything to go by. Heck, barring Moltres, the other raids just whittle down to just Ash and Goh rather quickly) Heh, I actually seen two recent videos talking about Gary's character concerning this episode on Youtube; not negatively. Just retrospect.

.

(Part 2) I think some get why he's acting like his with Goh, but it clears how much 4kids left its mark. (Really hope Johto gets fully subbed one of these days, it's the remaining missing puzzle concerning his development. I can catch some words, but I still need full context) His next appearances is crucial to having people get a 2nd look at him. (This was a much knock down for Goh. The OP makes me think he'll have a raid together with the leaders, or tag along some mission)

(Part 3) (with them and he needs to be in top shape here) I get wanting to hear "pathetic" come out of his mouth; but *that shouldn't come with his whole character regressing. (*Already have a few iffy on that when it comes to JN Gary) He's not going to be Champion, might as well give him some official title to highlight his status. Gym Leaders teach too and strives for trainers to get better. (Japanese side of the fandom keeps saying Gary feels older, regardless of age. xD) One of the most

(Part 4) disrespectful moments in the entire anime. xD I guess that's karma for happen with Kangaskhan. (Evolution speculation is back in the mix: We haven't seen Boltund in the anime yet and I remember seeing merch on it some months ago) Like Infernape, I don't see Greninja rejoining Ash's current roster, but I could see it returning to him permanently. (Unless other plans are set for him, Paul is either the last Ultra Class battle or the 1st round of Masters 8) I'm in the former

(Part 5) ;Masters 8 feels like it'll consist mainly of Champions, plus Raihan and Lance. If the tournament battle format is how I think it will go, Paul's better off ending Ultra. Since there's some signs of Iris gaining a spot, I'm not entirely sure about Alder. Hope he at least gets something. (I pretty much expect every return from here-on-out to be done in rapid succession compared to last year. There's a few companions left unmentioned)

Yeah. At any rate, from a writing perspective it served its purpose, and we got to see our spiky boy, so I figure it's whatever.

Yeah, a lot of people not even making it to Articuno goes to show that it would've been brutal one way or another. Gary's skill helped.

Ooh, analysis videos? Glad people are talking about that, even if I am probably too picky about whose opinions on Pokeani I listen to to ever seek out Pokeani Youtubers, unfortunately. (I literally am too autistic for it, and I can't really put why I'm like this into words beyond that. I’m just weird and protective about my special interest I guess xD)

I suppose so... honestly, from what I've gathered Gary's (Shigeru's, I should probably say, but you know what I mean either way) whole thing is a bit better and also way funnier in Japanese. The way he acts haughty and antagonistic and then calls himself boku just couldn't translate into English because we don't have Japanese's array of personal pronouns with different connotations, and that coupled with the dub playing up his antagonism/making him more abrasive in the first season... any subtlety is lost. Gary's still one of the best and funniest characters but. You know. (I would like to watch more of Pokeani subbed someday. I like the dubs--I love the 4Kids dub, and the TPCI dub is fine--but I think it’d be interesting.)

Anyway! Yeah! I wonder when his next appearance will be. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long... we withstood twelve years without a single appearance outside of brief silent cameos, but my threshold has been reached and I just vibrate in anticipation for his appearances now xD

Yeah, sometimes a character just needs a little personal growth knocked into them. It's fine.

Yeah.

I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing him achieve that! I think he’d be good at it, though I imagine much like Blue in the games, his restless soul would be a problem sometimes. It’d at least be good for him to have a home base. 

(Talk of Gary potentially taking over the Viridian Gym reminds me there’s a fic I’ve been meaning to read where he does that, and it’s explicitly an act of reclamation because it’s a fic about his Mewtwo Trauma--what I did read of it was very good, the trauma portrayal just felt a little too real and I was not in the headspace to handle it emotionally when I came across it. You might know the one--it’s Recovery Takes: by Essence_of_Silence on AO3. Big fan of their work and how it hits my feelings with the force of a freight train.)

I get that! Along with his more mature personality, it’s probably partly because his JN design is based off Blue’s HGSS look and Blue was in his mid-teens in those games.

Yeah, the disrespect! I laugh every time I think about it.

Oh? I hadn’t realized Boltund hadn’t made an appearance yet! Interesting!

That makes sense!

Yeah, him being the last Ultra Class battle sounds right.

Should be very interesting! Excited to see how things play out in Journeys’ (probably) final year, I know this leg of the anime has been a very divisive one but I’ve had fun :)

[tiniest-hands-in-all-the-land]

Can you tell us about your Until Dawn au?

Gladly! It’s not anything spectacular, but it’s a fun idea totinker around with, anyways ^^

So it’s basically just Until Dawn with all the UD charactersreplaced with the Pokemon characters and a few changes to the storyto fit around the world of pokeani, with the character roles going asfollows:

Ash - Josh

Misty - Sam

Brock - Mike

May - Ashley/Chris (interchangeably, ‘cause in some instances I want her to be in Ashley’s position, and in others, Chris’s, for reasons I’ll get into in a bit)

Dawn - Jessica

Jessie - Emily

James - Matt

Meowth - Chris/Ashley (same thing as May)

Pikachu - technically serving both the positions of Hannah and Beth, but namely Hannah

and then the old flamethrower man dude can be like an older, rugged Officer Jenny who’s long since retired lol

Oh, I should probably mention that everyone is in their 20′s orolder at the time of this au. Also, since I came up with this aubefore I watched XY (and I never bothered with BW whoops),unfortunately those travel companions will not be there. So let’sjust say, for the convenience of the story, that they had otherarrangements and couldn’t make it

From here on out, this is gonna get super LONG, and super SPOILERYFOR UNTIL DAWN. So if you don’t know jack diddly about UD, and youdon’t want to be spoiled, I’d recommend holding off on reading thisfor now. So I’m gonna put the rest under a read more so I ain’tclogging up anyone’s dash with my dumb au

So basically, instead of a bunch of rowdy college kids staying upat a cabin to party and sex each other all day and all night, it’sgonna basically be like this:

Ash won a pokemon league and became a pokemon master (finally),and won a cabin on top of Mount Silver…? I think was the place Iwanted him at…?

ANYWAYS, he’s celebrating, all his friends are there (at leastthe ones I mentioned above), they’re all having a fun dandy time,and eventually Ash conks out from exhaustion. During this time, whoelse but Team Rocket decides to stick their noses where they don’tbelong in hopes of ‘congratulating’ Ash by means of stirringup trouble and capturing Pikachu. (they do mean well, and they areactually super happy for him, butchaknow–they’re kinda the mastersat fucking things up royally)

As they’re trying to make their epic getaway, though, thesnowstorm outside blows them way off course, and they end up droppingPikachu just before they crash into the trees. They’re all fine,Pikachu included, but Pikachu’s a far ways away from the cabin now,and has to try and make it back on his own, cause the others sure asfuck ain’t gonna find him in this weather

On the way, though, some monstrosity catches sight of him andchases him to the edge of a cliff. Pikachu ends up falling off (Withthe old Officer Jenny trying to save him and failing), but hesurvives the fall. Unfortunately, he has no way of letting the othersknow of his location, since he’s so far out and so far down intothe depths of the mountain, so he’s deemed missing by theauthorities

Fast forward a year, and suddenly Ash is inviting everyone (TeamRocket included) back up to the cabin to celebrate the memory of hismissing/probably dead best friend. Everyone is a bit unsettled goingback, but go anyways, if only just to try and help out Ash in any waythey can. 

A couple problems they notice through the night, though, are 1.Their pokeballs don’t seem to work (Ash claims that cell towersrecently put up on the mountain are messing with the technology) and2. There seems to be a certain bloodthirsty killer up on the mountainwith them :o

Throughout the night, the eight are eventually split up intopairs, partly because of their own volition, and partly because ofTeam Rocket being there and causing suspicion. For instance, Dawn haslike zero sympathy for the Trio and doesn’t want anything to dowith them, so Brock takes her up to the guest cabin. Jessie and Jamesgo out on their own (either exploring or James forgot a bag orsomething, I haven’t decided). Meowth doesn’t deem it necessaryto accompany them (the trip there wore him out, he claims–inreality, he’s just fucking lazy), so he sticks around with May,Misty, and Ash.

AND THAT’S WHEN SHIT GOES DOWN

Dawn and Brock are the first to be attacked, unbeknownst to theothers, and Dawn is presumed to be dead by Brock (shes fine tho) bythe time he reaches her. He then goes on a quest to find theperson(?) who hurt his friend to bring the great fist of JUSTICE downon them. The quest leads him through an abandoned pokemon hospitalwith a very shady past (which, admittedly, I haven’t put too muchthought into), and also delves into the mysterious transformation ofpokemon who have died into a very vicious and hostile ghost-typepokemon that has only ever been spotted on the mountain (and you cansee where this is going for a certain mouse pokemon who has beenmissing for over a year)

Back at the cabin, Misty takes a bath, and Ash, May, and Meowthplay with the spooky spirit board that tells them that Pikachu’sdisappearance was no accident, but was actually planned (which makesMeowth suuuuper uncomfortable and guilty). So Ash has anunderstandable reaction to this thing that he believes the other twohave made up in some attempt to make him feel better (?), and May andMeowth eventually get knocked the fuck out by Mr. Spooky Clown Man.

May wakes up a little later and finds that Ash and Meowth are bothmissing. After some searching, she finds them in a shed outside, bothtied to a wall with a buzzsaw aimed right at them. Mr. Spooky ClownMan comes over the intercom and tells May that she can only save oneof them from being ripped in two. So she’s sobbing cause shedoesn’t want to have to make this decision, Meowth’s sobbingbecause he knows that he ain’t the one she’s gonna choose, andAsh is sobbing because LOLL WHOOPS EVEN THOUGH MAY CHOOSES TO SAVEASH, SHE ENDS UP SAVING MEOWTH BECAUSE THE BUZZSAW SAYS SO

So uh. May’s super traumatized and heartbroken about watchingone of her best friends getting killed. But. She’s also growing ateensy bit suspicious of Meowth, seeing as how she distinctly choseto save Ash instead of him, and how Jessie and Jamesare conveniently away from the area during theattack and show up conveniently after said attack.So in her mind, she comes up with this elaborate hypothetical schemethat she believes the Rockets are planning, and tries to take theinitiative in stopping said plans by keeping Meowth along with herwhile she tells Jessie and James to go find help (under the guisethat she’s keeping Meowth with her as insurance that they don’tgo ditching everyone).

Jessie and James go on a little adventure over the mountains afterdiscovering that their balloon has mysteriously been torn to shredsand all the fuel has been mysteriously emptied out. After discoveringthat the cable car house leading up to the cabin is in shambles, thetwo come across a radio tower. They manage to get a hold of somehelp, but that’s when the tower decides to suddenly keel over andtrap them in the mines, oh fun!! In the mines, Jessie is holding onfor dear life to the rail of the tower, and James tries to pull herup, but can’t reach her. He asks if she trusts him, and that hebelieves he will have a better chance at reaching her from the ledgebehind her. She hesitantly says yes, and allows him to jump, but thejump is the last bit of force needed to send the tower tumbling tothe abyss, Jessie along with it. YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW FUCKINGDISTRAUGHT JAMES IS.

Jessie’s fine tho. Turns out she got caught in the wires duringthe fall, and manages to make it to safety afterwards. Then she goeson a spectacular, fun filled adventure through the mines discovering bits and pieces asto what happened to Pikachu after he went missing, and also runninginto Rugged Ol’ Jenny.

May keeps her suspicions to herself until the very end of the Mr.Spooky Clown Man escapades, where they’re both put into anotherdeath trap, and Meowth ends up being the one with the gun. Then itall comes out, and you can imagine how pleased Meowth is to hear thatthe only reason May separated him from his friends and quite possiblygot both of his friends killed during this horrific night was becausethat she thought they devised this whole thing.

THEEENN THE TRUTH COMES OUT, AND MR.SPOOKY CLOWN MAN IS ACTUALLY ASH, WHO’S APPARENTLY LOST HIS SHITAFTER LOSING PIKACHU. SO UM. HE’S FUCKING PISSED AT TEAM ROCKET FORTAKING PIKACHU AND PROBABLY GETTING HIM KILLED. AND HE’S ALSO FUCKINGPISSED THAT HIS FRIENDS DID PRETTY MUCH NOTHING TO HELP PIKACHU.

IT’S DURING THIS TIME THAT MISTY ANDBROCK MEET UP WITH EACH OTHER, THEN MEET UP WITH THOSE THREE.

YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW FINE AND DANDYEVERYONE IS TO HEAR THAT THEY’VE JUST BEEN THROUGH THE WORST NIGHT OFTHEIR LIVES JUST FOR A STUPID PRANK THAT ASH DECIDES TO PULL ON THEMIN A SICK FORM OF REVENGE.

Anyhoo, Brock breaks the news thatDawn’s fucking dead (supposedly), he and Misty decide that Ash is notallowed to be on his two feet for the rest of the night until helparrives, and Meowth decides, ‘fuck you guys, you’re all awful, immago find my friends’

During which time, Jessie manages tomake it back to the cabin after being attacked by the Hostile GhostPokemon, and Rugged Ol’ Jenny is not far behind, quite literallycarrying Meowth back with her, cause 'nah you’re not allowed to beout on your own at this time of night—dontcha know there bemonsters?’

Annnnnnnnnnd the rest of the storybasically pans out just like how Until Dawn pans out.

SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG. I JUST NEEDEDTO PUT IN MY CHANGES IN ORDER FOR EVERYTHING TO MAKE SENSE. BUT YEAH.THAT’S MY DUMB UNTIL DAWN AU.

I partly reallllllly wanna write itout, but also—that would require writing out and reworking thebackstory  of the penitentiary/mines. And also somehow incorporatinga sense of choice in the story. Which I don’t think I have the skillto do lol

I have some ideas about possibleoutcomes, such as what it’s like if a character dies, if some die butnot others, if no one dies, or the emotional and eventual impact ofsaid deaths (for example, if Brock shoots Jessie after discoveringthat she has been bitten by Hostile Ghost Pokemon, Meowth will be soovercome with shock and grief and anger that he’ll lose allsensibility and rational thought, which will eventually lead to hisown demise at the hands of a Hostile Ghost Pokemon mimicking James’svoice; versus if Brock doesn’t shoot her, and both Rockets are justsuper livid and untrusting of the twerps for the rest of the nightand Meowth has enough sense to make good decisions about suspiciousJames-sounding monstrosities), but I won’t put y'all through any moreof that lol

While I don’t plan on having this beingsuper shippy, I plan to have mentions/small discussions ofPokeshipping pining (possibly, haven’t decided whether I want thisone or not), Lustshipping, Contestshipping, Appealshipping,Rocketshipping pining, and Krazyshipping pining (lol whoops)

I also have a couple other au’s withinthe au, one of which Meowth takes the position of Beth and fallsalong with Pikachu at the beginning, and another where Pikachu iswith the group and someone completely different falls. But both ofthose au’s are very underdeveloped; this is the only one I’ve put any real thought into lol

but yeah. I think I’ve said all I cansay about this. It’s a dumb idea, but I think putting charactersthrough horrible situations is a great way to explore their psycheand toy around with what kind of decisions they might make instrenuous situations. Or at least I like to tell myself that in orderto justify myself for putting my favorite characters through absolutehell and back.

[smilingperformer]

I feel like I don’t actually need to rewatch subs tonight. I’ll rewatch the ep again with subs tomorrow or something :D Just so I can make sure I did remember the dialogue correctly.

So yeh, watched the first episode of new Pokeani on official Pokemon Youtube channel, man did it feel great. I was meant to talk about Pichu’s story today anywho, so the official subless rewatch is good enough! No screencaps this time around, not feeling like it XD And youtube vid has imprinted japanese text on the left top corner so lol

So. Where to begin.... maybe by the fact that Pichu is freaking adorable? D: AAH krhm. So. No info was given on how Pichu came to be or whether it was recently born or anything, but it was explicitly said to be alone in the forest, with no friends and all. And then, by chance, Dogas/Koffing cause Pichu to slip down a cliff, with a softish landing to a Garura/Kangaskhan. Pichu dear was spooked thou, might have been first time he saw one? Then the baby Garura decides to have a chat with Pichu, and eventually once its time for the Garura heard to get going, Pichu at first just looks at Garura in confusion, but then the mother Garura decides to, well, basically adopt Pichu as her own lol. It’s so cute, and I’m glad Pichu ends up becoming such quick friends with the baby Garura. They skip on months ahead to the day when Gou and Koharu’s camp happens, and Pichu’s still part of the family. That is so heartwarming, to see Garura take in a Pokemon as her child without any question. Such a motherly Pokémon, I think I gained new love towards this Pokémon ♥

Pichu and the baby act like such brothers and honestly, it really reminds me off how Pikachu always took care of Togepi, Nebby and Larvitar/Yogiras for example, and how it was such a brother to the likes of Pochama, Dedenne, Kibago/Axew and ofc, Bebenom. Like, that trait seems to carry over from this life he had with Garura family and that is just so..... so awesome to see!

I find it quite amusing how Pichu did sort of meet Gou first before Satoshi, but it was in a way where both Pichu and Gou just saw the same event of Mew saving Garura’s child (which is probably why Pikachu would be protective of baby Pokémon! :D), so not like, really meeting up. But they were in the same area and Gou and Koharu most def did look in the direction of Garura’s family. Didn’t seem like Pichu ever laid eyes away from his family so, no point in thinking theories of Pikachu remembering someone like Gou from the past. :D Just neat how the fate between Pikachu, Satoshi and Gou was so close to happen all those years ago, yet didn’t. :D

Why does Pichu end up leaving the Garura family then? How did it end up becoming Satoshi’s Pokémon if it enjoyed its life with the two. Well. The time skips on ahead, saying it’s been several years, and both Pichu and Garura’s child have grown. So... Mama Garura is now having trouble carrying two big children. And it shows, Garura is visually exhausted, and it shows in Garura’s child as well, both seeming down, like the overweight is affecting them both. Pichu clearly cares for the two, and it tries to get off, but being the motherly being Garura is, just won’t let Pichu go. So Pichu then... leaves.... during the night.... while they sleep ;___; Without a word! GOSH that’s touching, he knows Garura’s health is on the line if he stays, gooooosssshhhh I love this so much.

Then it becomes so emotional and every freaking time Pichu starts evolving just as it says Pi-KA-chu is so damn beautiful, awesome, and awesome narrative. It valued the friendship it had with Garura family so much. And he seemed so freaking happy to have become a Pikachu ;V; Silently farewelling the family, as he runs off.

Then I guess weeks pass until Okido caught him and he became Satoshi’s Pokémon, it wasn’t shown so it’s still up for people to make guesses or headcanons on. A shame, but it’s fine. I do find it possible there could be another ep down the road actually focusing on how Okido ended up catching Pikachu, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Like, all in all? I loved this backstory of Pikachu, as we now know he was indeed a Pichu before becoming a Pikachu, and had a happy life until his surrogate family’s health was in line, and it decided to leave them for their own sake. Pikachu you are so wonderful AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

Sniff... I’m gonna go play some Pokemon Sword now, I think I caught Pikachu yesterday (perfectly a boy), gonna see if it’s Hardy like Satoshi’s Pikachu is because i god DAMN want to catch a Pikachu like him now... damn it lol

Anywho... be sure to support the official upload of the new series, as they do intend to continue this trean with each new episode every week. Do remember, they’re temporary uploads, to make up for possibly missing an episode on sunday’s airing. I’ll put official japanese Pokemon channel to source tag so it’ll always work!

[themattress]

I can’t relate to the Pokeani fandom. At all.

As I’ve said before, my view on each series goes like this: OS > SM > BW > AG > XY > DP

But the Pokeani fandom on all corners of the internet seems obsessed with enforcing a rigid conformity where the view is this: XY > DP > AG > OS > SM > BW. They’ll generally let it slide if someone places OS ahead of AG, which is liked less now than it was in its heyday and is just considered average while the OS has a strong Nostalgia Factor, but if you dare to place OS ahead of DP and/or XY then that Nostalgia Factor becomes a derogatory insult to be thrown at you: “you only like it better 'cause you’re blinded by nostalgia, you genwunner!”

4chan, Twitter, Tumblr, Youtube, Deviantart, Serebii, Bulbagarden...you name the site, and you’ll find these fans congregated there. Their view on the anime is treated as objective fact, as common knowledge to be adhered to. And dear sweet Arceus, does it get tiresome to see.

I like the OS best because I think the Kanto saga, the Orange Islands saga, and 1/3 of the Johto saga (mostly stuff Takeshi Shudo’s name is on + the Johto League tournament) has a special, authentic quality to it that hasn’t been fully replicated, because Takeshi Shudo was such a fascinating guy. I like SM second-best because I think as a full series it’s technically the best put-together and most consistently well-written, with a lot of heart behind it. And yes, I like BW, the oft-cited “worst Pokeani series ever”, third-best because I think there is more to the Pokeani than just Ash and his supposed “character development” (read: his development as a trainer to convince longtime fans that the Pokeani is a continually developing story as opposed to a metaseries with wildly different creative visions across each show which are always aimed toward newer generations of kids rather than these fans, hence Ash staying 10 years old against all logic). When I put Ash aside as a factor and look at the show, it’s a strong one for most of its run, only running into trouble in its last year due to executive meddling enforced on it since the Pokeani is unfortunately a merchandise-driven series.

But despite well-founded reasons for my views, I’m constantly being told I’m wrong, and that I need to like the shows I don’t like nearly as much (actually, I do enjoy a sizable chunk of AG, especially its Battle Frontier arc, and the Mega Evolution side specials and ensuing Zygarde arc in XY were an unexpected delight). This makes me throw the question right back at the fandom: what is behind their love of AG and (especially) DP and (especially especially) XY?

And I think I know the reason: I’m a casual player who is also casually watching the anime. While the majority of the online fandom are competitive players who are treating the anime like they do the games. They project themselves on to Ash and/or his Coordinator/Performer female companion and want to see serious competition and battling on-screen. Even though battling is NOT all there is to the franchise - far from it, since it was basically conceived of as an excuse for RPG gameplay while the priority was exploration, collecting and trading - it’s basically all there is to these fans. And - increasingly so - AG, DP and XY are tailor-made for them, putting the emphasis on battles and the acquisition of power for those battles (hence the obsession fans have with how many Pokemon Ash catches, how good they are from the start, how long it takes to train them onscreen, how many of them evolve, how many of them fully evolve, what kind of strong moves they have, how will he form the ideal “team”, etc.) Rivals to defeat and tournaments to win are a primary focus of these shows, and this speaks to these fans’ real-life experience with the games. Things like “Character development” or “stuff happening” are, to these fans, measured by how strong the characters become as trainers or as Pokemon, and how many significant battles are waged. When the focus is on fun, humor, exploration, adventure, or realistic growth as human beings as it is in the OS under Shudo, BW and SM, then these fans grow bored, because they can’t relate to that.

So all of this, in addition to the entitlement they feel as adult viewers of an anime series oriented toward children (specifically in Japan) and thus has no obligation to cater to their desires, is why these fans relentlessly hate certain Pokeani shows and insist they are bad as an objective fact, while loving other certain Pokeani shows and insisting they are good as an objective fact. And honestly, it speaks to a large problem in the fandom of the franchise as a whole, but that could fill up another post entirely. Bottom line: the Pokeani fandom online really could use some perspective and self-awareness so that they stop making people with diverging interests feel unwelcome for daring to like the “bad” shows over the “good” ones.

[smilingperformer]

SM082 - Thoughts, shorter ver!

Because it’s way too hot to write full-on thoughts but I really want to talk about two events of the episode specifically: Amamaiko’s journey to Amajo and our beloved Rocket Gang! Let’s get started with newest episode:

Won’t You Give Us a Dance Dance Evolution?

When we first saw previews, the episode seemed to not really focus on one character, but throughout the episode, it was clear Mao and Amamaiko were the focus of the day. The theme being PokeDance, the episode consisted of fun scenes with different kinds of PokeDances (and with Satoshi not understanding the concept of Dance... hey, he never did, even if he tried doing it in XY, it makes sense he did what he did!), one being Alola Hula, which is pretty much Pokemon version of Hula Hula Dance! The Old Lady from the Market is finally named as Moani, as Mao and Amamaiko are apparently regular customers at her stop.

But the two sure get inspired by the dance, as they are now practising it for the little Competition at Pokemon School! Even Mao’s Papa lets her off from work early to practice for the dance. Alola Hula seems so fitting for Amamaiko. Shame they can’t showcase their dance in the end, thou Amamaiko being so tranced with the dance sure helped them out of Rocket Gang’s latest scheme! Speaking of Rocket Gang!

They heard Mao and Moani talking about the PokeDance competition while selling Malasada Donuts, and thus started planning on kidnapping all of the Pokemon at Pokemon School. All because Musashi wanted Back Dancers for her show, Kojiro and Nyarth agreeing! First time they do a scheme on School land. I sure hope Kukui does some preparations to improve security. But their scheme, ah!

Their scenes were so lovely to watch, it’s also fitting for Musashi to be so entranced with dancing, considering her career as Performer Musavie! She danced a lot during her Kalos journey!

I want to quickly mentioned how I loved Suiren’s PokeDance performance, and I think she’d do great in Contests/Showcases! Maybe a lil foreshadowing. Or maybe I’m overreading. Tehee.

Back to Rocket Gang thou! Ohmygod I never thought I’d be so happy to see their old days of crossdressing return! I now realise I truly missed it!

Kojiro looks absolutely stunning and Musashi looks absolutely amazing in her suit! I keep thinking about Smooth Criminal when seeing her in that outfit and just... ah. Nyarth’s outfit is a reference to some japanese puppet play of sorts, apparently. Saw it linked on twitter.

Their scheme was kind of a typical one, but considering Satoshi hadn’t been trapped liked that since well, long time ago (I think XY had similar ‘Pokemon here and Trainers there’ scheme but I don’t remember clearly), I don’t blame him for not remembering about such occurance. Amamaiko being in a Alola Hula trance of kind thou, she didn’t listen to their instructions and is actually free! So she’s their only hope! Sort of similar to SM018 where Amamaiko evolved from Amakaji! This time Amamaiko is a threat to the plan thou, when last time they didn’t think Amakaji could do anything, until it evolved and double slapped the hell out of them lol.

Some may find it lazy, but it’s sort of a nice touch to make Amamaiko’s evolution episodes have similarities with each other, with added scenarios like Amamaiko’s actually being capable of doing something. Althou, it seems like they prepared for a flaw in their flawless plan (8D), and welp.

Amamaiko gets trapped in Basketball net. Which by the way... was very poorly animated? It literarily had three frames when coming down from ceiling like they usually do. Wonder if this episode’s animation production somehow had trouble? Because some scenes were gourgeus, but this bothered the hell out of me.

But y’know, Rocket Gang obviously thinks Amamaiko’s no longer a threat with her slapper hair trapped. But her legs are still free. :)))) Nyarth, you done goofed. Even more when he tells them exactly how to break the cages. I think he’s been too used to saying his thoughts out loud lol.

Mao and Lilie take action right away, Nyarth trying to fix his mess-up by catching Amamaiko before reaching the top of the cage. Considering Amamaiko cannot use any of her moves atm (her moves involve hands and her hair pretty much!), Lilie helping her out by causing Nyarth slip with Shiron’s Powder Snow was good thinking.

But oh boy, the scene we’ve been waiting for! Since Amamaiko only has her legs free, she’s using them to break the cage! And each time she’s kicking, she’s actually learning Stomp, confirmed by Kukui! You guys know what that means!

HERE WE GO!!!!

OH!

MY!

GOSH!

This whole sequence! ;____;

I told you guys Amajo is happening the moment we had the title Dance Dance Evolution! This was the very first evolution episode I watched without being spoiled, only having speculated of her happening, being super anxious, and then crying out of happiness when it happened ;v; And this is most definitely my favourite evolution sequence in Pokeani up to date! Why? Because it actually shows what’s being changed when evolving, and in what way. It’s not just blue aura changing form. This is something that is extreme norm for Digimon and love it a lot there, and I think I like this evolution scene even more! Sure, quite Magical Girl inspired, but I don’t mind one bit!

I do hate how my mind keeps thinking Waifumon because of watching Vinesauce Vinny’s Pokemon Moon playthrough. God damn it.

Anyway, I love Amajo’s design, and her voice changed exactly how I pictured it to be! And I freaking love how Nyarth is self-aware of the fact that once again, Mao’s partner evolved under their watch, and is gonna screw them up! And oh boy. Amajo’s legs are strong!

Also freaking love how Kojiro says that Amamaiko evolved into a Queen Pokemon! That is beautiful! Oh! I just realised Amajo means Queen of Fruit! Niiiice that explains the Berry Tiara!

Let’s try to end this post thou: Amajo Trop Kicks Nyarth into the other Basketball net in the room, and breaks the cages, letting everyone free! While it looks like there’s gonna be a Alola Squad VS Rocket Gang battle, Kiteruguma comes and grabs the naughty kids back home :)))

Episode finishes with an upgraded MokuShot combo ending up being Amajo’s PokeDance performance, and considering how strong her legs are now, it’s a nice showcase of how much more powerful MokuShot is now as well! Just look what it did to Satoshi:

Cracks on the floor..... someone needs to renovate the place. That was one powerful MokuShot.

End of the episode! Erm. Amajo caused me to talk for a bit long apparently. I just really started adoring Amajo when I finally evolved my Amamaiko in Ultra Moon. She’s so badass!

The episode as a whole was a bit on the weaker side. While I truly enjoyed it, animation was lacking in some places compared to the quality we’ve had throughout the series. I can’t help but be bothered by it. I can definitely see the people who watch Pokemon for battles not enjoying this episode but eh. I’m not one of those. I watch for characters, and their interactions. And this episode did that to me!

But it was nice for Mao to debut the full Amakaji evolution line, and I’m extremely happy for her! Next step for her journey would be either getting Z-ring, or something happening with the Aina Cafeteria that could be devastating, or a step-back. I’m not sure. Catching another Pokemon is a possibility as well, thou I wouldn’t bet on it, considering the big cast of characters!

The episode as a whole kinda seems like it could work as a basis for future Contest/Showcase debut in Sun & Moon series. This is definitely me being wishful, but considering how they introduced Gyms, it’d be approriate for Kukui to arrange an introduction to Contests at least!

When it comes to next one to evolve.... Ashimari? Mokuroh? Those are my two guesses!

Pokeproblem post-segment shows Amajo looking sad with her apron being too small now, to which Mao respondes by promising to fix it to fit her again. It’s a nice nice scene <3

Next week, Sauboh is back, and accidentally minimizes Satoshi, Lilie and Mamane, who end up going on an adventure outside the School Yard with giant-sized Pokemon around them!  And apparently Sauboh trying to capture them in a clear pokeball as well!

Also with a return of Ganbalilie hairstyle, with Lilie’s usual outfit! That is wonderful combo! Also...

I can imagine this Persian being the same one from Nyabby’s episode, SM007! I could be wrong, but it would be a nice callback!

SM083 - Satoshi Minimizes

Looking so forward to this episode! Cya all next week!

[smilingperformer]

SM073 - Thoughts

I think I’ve calmed down from Friday enough to write this now... let’s see. I’m not sure you guys even need me talking about this episode. It was so good!

It is finally time for Rocket Gang to go get themselves their very own Z-Ring! I’ve been waiting for this ever since I started watching this series almost a year ago now, and I was so god damn happy to finally see it happening. This also marks the start of Ula’Ula Island Arc, and I found it brilliant to start with Rocket Gang instead of Satoshi. Who, btw, is absent until the very last 10 seconds of the episode! This hasn’t happened since Diamond & Pearl’s first episode, if I remember correctly.

(This post is getting so god damn long because there’s lots to discuss so, I’m actually gonna put a cut here! To save your dashboards from this freaking long post! I hope it works for mobile people as well, if not, I apologize. I think I’ll continue on doing this in the future as well!)

Anyway, they head to Ula’Ula Island in search of Island King/Kahuna Kuchinashi/Nanu, who appears to be old acquitances with Rocket Gang Boss Sakaki/Giovanni. This is a detail I didn’t expect to be canon in Pokeani until the news hit, and I’m looking forward to learning more about this! Sakaki told the Trio (and Sonansu :D C’mon, it’s how Narrator said it) that they might be able to get a Z-ring from him, which prompted them to go on the Air Balloon ride. Which hasn’t appeared in Sun & Moon after it’s very early appearance in episode SM005! Great to see them still having it! (They did reference it in last episode so I guess it was expected!)

We then cut to a local Island Library to get us introduced to the character a lot of people had been waiting for to appear: Meet Acerola! She’s shown to be working at the said Library, and starts reading a book about the Greedy Lapoo to two young kids, who, according to VA cast list, are called Nene and Piko.

I must say, I love the designs of these two, and even if they seem to end up being CotD types, I’ll most likely be enjoying whatever screentime they’ll give us of them.

But, this scene also serves as a plot element teller as well, in addition to introducing these three characters to the story. In short, it’s a story about a ghost that stole people’s items, who then ended up being hated by people, because of it’s greedy nature. Thus, the name the Greedy Lapoo. It was then sealed away by a local Island King, and was never heard of again.

Anyway, we cut back to Rocket Gang, who are preparing to make good first impression with the Island King with some Malasadas. They get their disguises on because of the place they’re heading to being a Police Station, and when they get inside, oooooh boooyy. It’s what we’d expect from Ula’Ula Police Station.

It’s filled with dozens of Alolan Nyarths! Talk about over-kill. And they all get their eyes on one thing: the Malasada. Poor Rocket Gang.

That’s when we get to see the Island King thou! Meet Kuchinashi/Nanu! Or well. We know he’s the guy, but our dear buffoons don’t. So when they ask to see the Island King, well... you know what happens. I made a huge screencap post on it, but to put it short: he outright lied to them that Island King is away and may not be coming back for possibly a year! What a jackass! But I already fell in love with his characterisation at this point, so full points on perfect introduction. He clearly likes to avoid his Island King/Kahuna duties, which fits the game profile as well.

So, Rocket Gang loses all hope and head off. We then cut back to Acerola and co., who have finished reading the book, and decide to head to the tomb stone that is said to be the fairy tale’s Greedy Lapoo’s. However, Rocket Gang has decided to mourn their bad luck at the very same place, and when Musashi loses her temper and breaks the tomb...

Meet The Greedy Lapoo the Gengar! The fairy tale turned out to be true, and the Island King’s seal on the ghost is now broken. Way to go Musashi! Thou, tbf, she had no idea of such tale. I originally though it’d be a Totem Gengar, but then I realised that there’s no such thing in the games, so it’s probably something else that makes it so much bigger. Pokeani can do some interesting stuff with the Pokemon Universe anyway!

Anyway, Gengar steals Rocket Gang’s Dark Z-crystal, and then heads to Acerola and co, who had just arrived to the place. While the two kids are scared as hell, Acerola shows that she’s not.

I just noticed I’m rambling about all episode details again, but it’s hard not to. New characters were introduced, and as a huge fan of Acerola, I was stoked when this episode had so much focus on her! it’s great! Anyway, she gets kidnapped by the Gengar, who then proceeds to go steal stuff from random people around the Island. Acerola’s Mimikyu, who she calls Mimi-tan, tries to rescue her, but to no avail.

Mimi-tan gets thrown into air by Gengar, and while falling, Acerola jumps to catch it. Why thou?! I haven’t said it yet, because it’s actually revealed at the end of the episode, but Acerola’s Mimi-tan is an actual Ghost of a Mimikyu. So it wouldn’t really get hurt, would it? Then again, this is the first time Pokeani explores actual ghost pokemon, so there’s much we don’t know. We might learn more during this arc thou! I certainly hope so!

But y’know, this is where we start to see the good side of the Greedy Lapoo Gengar. It shows to be worried about Acerola after her fall, and when Acerola shows it she’s fine, he’s quite happy! Turns out, Gengar very much likes Acerola, and when Acerola tries to tell him to take her back home, he selfishly refuses, and tries to convince her to stay. When Acerola keeps on denying it thou, even when gengar shows the Dark Z-crystal that it stole from Rocket Gang, Gengar loses it. This is where I’m actually kinda spooked.

WHAT IS IT DOING??? Trying to put Acerola inside it? How rude is that??? Mimi-tan is unable to do anything, oh boy am I proud of the following moment:

Musashi came in and actually saved Acerola! Considering her dialogue earlier about how she can’t stand Gengar being so selfish with his liking to Acerola, I want to believe she actually did this to both save Acerola, and get the Z-crystal back. And it was really well done! Kinda reminded me of Satoshi and Pikachu thou lol. The pararrels between Satoshi and Musashi are increasing! They then mock the poor Gengar in hilarious ways, seriously, Rocket Gang’s writing in this episode is top notch and I have never loved them more in an episode.

Gengar then starts chasing after fleeing Rocket Gang (which actually seems like a lure plan???) and when Nyarth tries to counter-attack, Gengar possesses him. Spooky stuff. Musashi quickly orders Mimikyu to do something, who uses Wood Hammer on Nyarth. Ouch. Musashi cares for Nyarth, but she’s always been rough on rescue plans.

But then Gengar posseses her! And this honestly looks sort of scary at this screenshot. It kinda reminds me of a certain ghosts from Sonic Adventure 2 thou... : D Kojiro is shown shook, and he definitely doesn’t do hasty moves when it comes to rescuing Musashi. This is definitely something Satoshi’d do as well, and god damn it. Kojiro does come up with a perfect plan, and it shows how good of a trainer he is: Hidoide’s newly learned Dark-move Knock-Off is perfect counter for Ghost type, so he orders Hidoide to hit Musashi with it, gently. Musashi only gets a headbump from this so, all good. Except Gengar is mad as hell now. XD GG!

Then the best scene starts! Kuchinashi comes to see the situtation with Acerola, tells the Rocket Gang Trio that they’re actually better than he initally thought, so he throws them a Z-Power Ring! And then we get to see the god damn gorgeus Dark Z-move! it’s darn powerful looking, and man, the faces Musashi, Kojiro and Nyarth have while seeing Gengar get sucked into the Blackhole Eclipse is very, very well done. It shows both amaze and spookyness in them. This is the first time they’ve done the Z-move now, and oh am I glad they actually did it together. Even if Kojiro was the one to wear it, the energy def came from all three of them. This is the best outcome I could have hoped for the Z-move and I’m pleased. Very pleased.

Acerola then realises that Gengar was actually lonely instead of being greedy, so she decides to be friends with it. A happy end and all! Judging from Kuchinashi’s dialogue, this seems to be a norm to Acerola. Acerola also spills the beans about this old man being the Island King Kuchinashi to Rocket Gang, who aren’t very pleased with his trick. But Rocket gang also spills beans on being from the criminal organisation, where we realise Kuchinashi does indeed know Sakaki. And yet, he lets Rocket Gang keep the Z-Power Ring. Fits him.

In the end, Acerola’s Mimi-tan rewards Musashi with the Mimikkyu-Z crystal, which I bet is because Mimi-tan is greatful for Musashi saving Acerola earlier. It makes sense in my head at least. And imo, she deserves it. So, Rocket Gang ends up with a double-prize this episode: Z-Power Ring, and a new Z-crystal! Ii Kanjii indeed!

At the end of the episode, we finally have our appearance of the real main character of the show, who’s finally heading to Ula’Ula Island himself as well! It’s time for his third island adventures!

I’ll cya all next week, when Satoshi gets to battle Kuchinashi (all thanks to Acerola convincing him), Kuchinashi gets a call from Sakaki himself, and Lugarugan’s Red eyed Beast mode returns! Until then!