#...and the massive slugma balls...

[sugarsweets9987]

INBOX TRICK OR TREATING IS OVER!!!

I'm one day late to posting this but YEAH!! I've finished ALL the requests in my inbox

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED!! Selena, Jem, Skitty, Chazi, Asa, Riley, Mel, Wofl, Ryan, one of my irl friends who doesn't have a tumblr but I still made a little doodle for, and the other two participants that I don't have names for but still appreciate so, so much. Yall are all the best. Thank you guys SO MUCH for subjecting yourselves to my silliness and helping me get back into drawing again.

I appreciate yall so, so much. And thank you guys for being so patient with me, especially earlier this week where I was not in a good headspace to be online and had to go silent for a few days. One more time. Thank you everyone for your asks, patience, and literally everything this past week or so. Much love to all of yall. <3

[unovanwithagalarianfashionsense]

Here’s a little OOC content!

So, this is how I interpret how the world of Pokémon operates:

(For reference, it’s also assumed that the games exist in the Pokémon universe, as a way for kids to have a realistic fantasy game. A sort of trainer simulator, if you will.)

1. Not really? They can, but more than 4 moves typically takes longer to perform effectively. The simulators usually restrict it to this to reflect the real-world meta.

2. Legendaries don’t breed, but there are multiple of them. This is because the actual legendaries and mythicals are so powerful that they split their massive essence into smaller, catchable Pokemon to people that they seem worthy, so there’s more than one legendary/mythical Pokémon

3. Yes. Most psychics are sentient, and a large amount of Pokémon are considered intelligent

4. Nope! Most have minor color and pattern differences! The trainer simulators just depict an average-looking Pokémon of the species.

5. Two different species can reproduce, but would only inherit the species-related stats of the parent of the same species of it.

6. Most usually don’t. The International Pokémon League restricts it to 6, so most gym-affiliated trainers stick to that. Battles on routes are usually carried out by competitive trainers, and they usually stick to 6 by choice.

Evil teams stick to 6 as well. Rocket and Flare do it that way because they consider themselves “gentlemen” and “having standards”, Magma and Aqua adopted it to try and gain better PR over the other, Galactic and Plasma believe having more than six is inherently abusive to the Pokémon, Skull is just failed pro trainers and still want to honor the whole six ‘mons thing, Yell literally was composed of gym assistants, and Star is composed of kids who have such League standards ingrained in them from the battling school they all attend.

7. Yes, although many are capable of things similar to lactation, kind of like the real-world platypus

8. Only crackpot atheists tend to deny it, especially given the whole fragments of mythicals thing I described earlier

9. I mean, Caleb and Serena were in their later teens when they started. Everyone starts whenever they want to, be that at age 9 or 90.

10. Yes, see answer #2

11. Catchable Pokémon are all in a different breeding group than humans, so no.

12. Fairly truthful, although since it’s usually written by the lab rats of the Professors, they tend to keep their entries brief, which tend to omit the important bits, like Slugma being able to control their body heat.

13. Cubone is it’s own Pokémon, and it’s fairly common for them to get their skulls from Kangaskhan mothers, they’re also more than capable of getting their skulls from other tragic stories. Again, a case of the Pokédex’s brevity making it technically and inadvertently untruthful.

14. Oak was genuinely named that, and the nature name helped him springboard his career as an accessible way for children to enjoy science with the local parents (and also media ppl). Kind of like Bill Nye or Neil DeGrasse Tyson; does real science, but is mostly there to get kids into Pokémon and science and the gym programs. Other professors just kinda adopted similar business names as a way to appear similarly accessible to kids.

15. Yes, although it’s not literally gaining experience points and precise numbers that is going on; levels were developed as a way to estimate how knowledgeable they are in battle and as a way for TM companies to make sure loose cannon trainers or Pokémon weren’t learning actually dangerous moves.

16. Non-exp related evolutions happen almost exactly like how they do in the games.

17. Most can, and some understand far better than others. Some of the especially bright ones can learn to read and write, and some psychic Pokémon use structured sentences when using telepathic communication.

18. Depends on the Pokémon, tbh. Usually they can, though.

19. They did, but Pokemon outcompeted them hundreds of years ago. They couldn’t be caught in balls or be sent to PC systems, which is why they don’t count as extinct Pokémon, but it’s why scientists know to call Pikachu the Electric Mouse Pokémon.

20. No; the regions in Pokémon are analogous to those countries however

21. Usually not; there’s some exceptions, though. Kanto’s Orange Isles exist, and those gyms are usually not required to take on Indigo, due to accessibility of travel (it’s too far for most pokemon to safely fly). Galar has all the gyms between the two games, but only 8 are required.

22. Shiny Pokémon are differentiated from ordinary Pokémon with color differences by the habit of sparkling and shining, especially so after exiting a pokeball. The dazzling sparkle effect is how it got the term.

23. No. The Delta species definitely exists, and it’s also why otherwise identical Pokémon have different types between regions (especially the fairy types)

24. You get the title of champion, but most trainers tend to retire immediately after and hand it back to whoever they got it from. This is usually because they were just proving themselves, and don’t want to actually take on the job responsibilities of the champion.

25. Two things: A. The reason new regions (as well as their new Pokémon) aren’t made known until they’re released is because of politics. The regions presented in the mainline games (plus Orre, kind of) are all part of a political alliance and treaty that allows for means of international travel and dex recognition, which is the parent organization of the Leagues. Regions aren’t considered actual regions until they join the United Regions. B. The scale of towns isn’t matching the games, it’s scaled down so kids wouldn’t get lost trying to navigate large cities on their own (and also game memory purposes)

IRL Pokémon asks: blog "canon" edition!

Since everyone has varying ideas on what is and isn't canon to their blog, here's a chance to talk about your ideas! What's canon to the games and shows doesn't mean it's canon to you.

Are Pokémon able to use more than four moves?

Can legendaries breed?

Do sentient/sapient Pokémon exist?

Are Pokémon all "standard" as their official designs or is there variation to their appearance?

Do hybrid (cross-breed) Pokémon exist?

Can people have more than 6 Pokémon to a team?

Do all Pokémon come from eggs?

Does everyone believe in mythical Pokémon?

Is it normal for 10 year olds to start a Pokémon journey?

Can legendaries be caught?

Do human-pokémon hybrids exist?

How truthful is the Pokédex?

Does cubone come from kangaskhan?

Why are most Pokémon Professors named after trees?

Do Pokémon have levels?

Can Pokémon that evolve in other ways besides leveling up (stones, friendship, trading, ect.) evolve naturally without those means?

Do Pokémon understand human speech?

Can shiny Pokémon pass down the trait to offspring?

Do IRL animals exist?

Do real world countries exist?

Do regions have more Gyms than just the ones you can challenge in-game?

Why are shiny Pokémon called shiny in-universe?

Are Pokémon strictly the typing they have in canon?

Does defeating the champion make someone the new champion?

What's a headcanon or lore drop you've desperately wanted to talk about but haven't gotten the chance to?

[mikiruma]

im gonna talk abt tf2 and pokemon again bc i can.

scout of course would dig fast pokémon!!! he's probably got a jolteon he loves dearly, maybe even a crobat he was given (as a zubat) in childhood. from who? eyes emoji there are faster pokémon, sure, but a lot are legendaries or bugs- and he's still trying to warm up to bugs. when/if he did, you KNOW he'd be all over ninjask or accelgor. he usually fawns over pokémon he thinks would make him look cool or fit his fight style (ie hit ur opponents the hardest first & dont get touched) but has a weak spot for some of the "cuter" ones. probably tried to lick a vanillish. as staunch a believer i am he'd be from castelia city, i like the idea that he used to be a rocket grunt, or someone who wanted to join team rocket at one point. i was trying to decide if he'd have a type preference but i like to think he's a mixed bag, mostly because every pokémon is cool and exciting to him! if you did ask & he did have to pick, it'd definitely be electric. wait, dragon, obviously... nah, fighting is good. no wa

soldier's partner is obvious! zigzagoon! mostly bc its a raccoon-like lil dude... he probably gives nicknames to every pokémon he sees, not necessarily just the ones he tries to catch. because lets face it, his zigzagoon is the ONLY pokémon that matters to him. well, that and any that catches zhanna's eye. his zigzagoon carries an everstone and is probably stupid high levelled but nobody really keeps track. soldier does initiate a lot of battles, but they're more fun when zhanna's with him too! theyre an inseperable group who probably wreak enough havoc to be considered their own team of hooligans, but who's to stop a happy couple with their adorable op pokémon? also i kinda wrote all that down super quick buuuut zigzagoon also works as a support pokémon for him when his stability gets extra rough, laying on his lap and helping to keep him grounded. he doesnt have any desire to keep more pokémon since he's fine with just 1, but if he had more i think he might get along with loudred or chatot. (chatot would DEFINITELY take some warming up to on his end but i LOVE THE THOUGHT)

pyro loves fire types of course!!! theyre probably the only one brave enough to pet their hotter ones. engineer probably made em special gloves just so they could play with their slugma... its hard to pick favorites, but the ones theyre closest to are slugma and monferno. they also have a solosis who just loves to play! unlike other people who usually just have one pokémon walking with em at all times, pyro tends to keep all three of theirs out of their pokéballs. they worry about them getting cramped or bored, and while its good exercise, sometimes its difficult to wrangle them when solosis has someones hat and slugmas melting through the furniture and monferno found spy's disguise kit.. theyre a big happy family though!! i think pyro would also like fairy types a lot, but if they got a fourth pokémon, theyd probably keep it at a daycare for the sake of themselves and the rest of the team. just in case, they might really want a sylveon or snubbull.

demoman and any pokémon knowing any explosive moves is an obvious fit! i initially liked him and electrode for this, but since part of their biology is exploding unpredictably... maybe that ones saved for battling. or at least not kept at any of the bases. i like the idea of him keeping his battle partners & normal team separate. when he's not drunk, he's a very skilled trainer and actually took a handful of gym challenges when he was younger. of course it started getting tough to balance work and training, but he never intended to get far in gyms anyway- to him it was just a fun challenge where he got to bond with his pokémon. other than his electrode, he's probably also got a charmeleon (whos either causing mischief with pyro's monferno or keeping demo company while he works/naps) and a honedge (who he will spar with sometimes). he used to have several other pokémon, but he eventually didn't like keeping them all abandoned in pc boxes, and ended up rehoming a lot of them. scout probably has a meowth from him, but he wont tell you.

heavy never cared too much about setting up huge teams or amassing a large collection. he never carries pokéballs, but his party is made up of some impressive pokémon. unlike most of the team who catch their pokémon through normal means (trade/gift, fishing, etc), he befriended his naturally. its easy to say one is ursaring, so of course im going to say it. he wont share how they met, but i wanna say he found its egg abandoned and raised it from there. they probably wrestle a lot but theyre always careful not to seriously injure each other. he befriended his mamoswine (then swinub) shortly after, then his abomasnow much later, in between him busting his family out of the gulag & leaving to find work. he left all three in siberia in the care of his family, but has a teddiursa from his ursaring to think of them all by. probably spoils the crap out of em all every chance he gets though, he loves his pokémon as much as his human family and saves recipes for poképuffs & poffins.

engineer wasn't always on board w the idea of a partner pokémon, mainly because he was always into engineering and was sure he'd be too caught up in it to focus on.. well, anything else. sure, when he was younger, he was like most kids and dreamt of being a league champion, but it always seemed to fall through.. until he discovered steel types. he started his journey later than most, but more than anything he's thankful because they help immensely with his work and lighten the load. he has a magneton who.. isn't that bright, but he's cute and thats what matters. he's also got a rotom who occasionally helps experiment with new machines, but mostly just possesses dispensers and rubs itself on everyone and everything. yum, static cling! engie didn't get into battling as much as he thought he would, but he's essentially working his dream job with his best friends (and 8 other dorks) so things are pretty good. this doesnt mean he wont go for human help when hes stumped or burnt out, though! other partner thoughts i had were torkoal, raichu and porygon2.

sniper is probably the biggest pokémon expert out of everyone on the team (well, aside from medic probably.) he's basically a walking pokédex and can tell you all about type matchups. he's also way closer to his pokémon than people realize, and especially closer than any real people. this is especially noticeable with his baby kangaskhan- although with a heavier origin than simply "abandoned", he ended up bonding with heavy over the ordeal. even with more technical aspects memorized, raising this baby was a completely new venture- not one he hated though! he also collects bug pokémon (that he lets scout get close to,when he tries to get over his fear) & has a slakoth that just kinda.. fell asleep on him one time and just never went away. other choices include koamala or krokorok.

medic is like a pokémon professor but fucked up. while he was primarily a human doctor, after losing his medical license, he started to dedicate time to studying pokémon. he doesnt run inhumane experiments on them because i said so. he's working on filling up his pokédex more than anything, and loves listening to others talk about their partners or other species theyve seen. he has his own pokémon too of course! as the team healer its only natural he has healing pokémon like audino and blissey, but he has a soft spot for flying types, specifically the birds. he has way too many pidove. he probably has a massive aviary separate from his medical lab where he keeps more birds, namely pidgeotto, fearow and some starly. he used to travel a lot (especially after being chased out of his hometown), but he saw it as more chances to discover new pokémon. probably has a very illegal form of the pokémon boxes with no storage limit. also probably heard the stories about mew and mewtwo and actually got inspired. probably owns the most pokémon merc, specifically stationery- hey, if ur getting some unethical experiment performed on you by the german guy you tried to rob earlier that night, are you going to pay more attention to his shit eating smirk or his cool ass holographic pikachu pencils??? or perhaps the cutesy eeveelutions stickers on the back of his clipboard???? thats what i thought.

spy looks like the guy who would probably be the least into pokémon, but that couldn't be further from the truth. he's not as wild as scout or medic by any means, but back in his day he was "pretty decent" (a gym leader.) i like the idea of zoroark being his partner, but you know who else is cool??? cofagrigus. gengar. banette. probably the only one on the team to actually get into mega evolving. and the only one with a shiny, but its gengar so we dont talk about that. i wont imply he loves his pokémon over his own family, he's just had a lot on his plate. remember scouts crobat? while hes got a more methodical approach to battling, he doesnt do it nearly as often as he used to. he still keeps his gym team, and though they tend to be more serious than the other pokémon in the base, they do on occasion get into trouble with others, namely pyro's solosis and scout's jolteon. not misbehaving on purpose, just being curious :0 probably uses luxury balls to catch all his pokémon and has an unused love ball with scouts moms name engraved on the bottom. (either for the novelty, or maybe hes trying to find the right one to catch for her??)

[grifalinas]

The Trial of Jack D’Arcy

(I’m gonna start putting the title on these for the sake of context.)

The road to Mauville was long and winding and tedious. My team were all slightly overpowered compared to the surrounding wild Pokemon, and even the few trainers scattered along the way couldn’t offer much of a challenge for us either.

We were walking along over the sea; occasionally, in the distance, I would see the splashing of water Pokemon. How I wished I had a surfer! We could be in Mauville in no time then, not to mention that I could take the time to explore the sea around us. The last region I’d tackled was Johto, which was largely landlocked; I’d forgotten how frustrating it can get to travel a seaside region without being able to explore the sea.

Toward the end of that first day of walking, when I was considering whether to stop and camp now or walk a bit further, I spotted May up ahead. She was taking notes in her Pokedex, but when she saw me she waved and put it away.

“Mr. D’Arcy!” she said, hurrying to join me. I sighed, and decided to let it go.

“What’s up, kid?”

“I’m researching this area for my dad- I mean, for Professor Birch. But I’m glad I ran into you!” She grabbed a Pokeball from her belt. “I’d like to challenge you to a battle! I’m not just a researcher, you know, I’m also a trainer, and trainers battle to get stronger!”

I’d heard variations of that theme a hundred thousand times before, but I was primed for a challenge of some kind so I agreed instantly.

Most of my Pokemon had gotten tired of walking and retreated into their Pokeballs, but before I could select one Coco hopped off of my shoulder and called out to me. She looked determined and pumped, so I pulled my hand away.

“All right, darling, no need to ask twice.”

“Aww, Coco is so cute~” May cooed. “Okay, so if you’re using Buneary, I’ll start with Slugma!”

She called out her Slugma; while she and her Slugma prepared, I took a quick moment to consult my Pokedex. I’d never raised a Slugma before, and it was very different from any other fire type I’d raised.

“Hmm, I thought it’d be part rock type,” I said, while May called out a command.

“Coco, fake it out!” I called, and as the Slugma prepared its first attack, she feinted aside and got close enough to uppercut it; the energy for its attack fizzled before it could go off. Coco dropped back, out of close range, and made a motion universally recognized as ‘bring it on’, while the Slugma tried to reorient.

The Slugma didn’t take too long to beat. Coco leapt up- caught an ember, which scorched her fur a little- and dropped on top of it paw first in a jump kick. It lay in a daze until May had recalled it.

“That was really good!” May said, grabbing her next Pokeball. “Coco is super fast, isn’t she? But that won’t matter with my next Pokemon- Wailmer, go!”

There was an enormous splash, and a massive Wailmer appeared in the shallows. I could see what she meant- Wailmer was super slow, but they made up for that slowness by being able to take a pounding. I would have no choice but to whittle it down, and it would have plenty of chances to hit while I was doing so. Not to mention the terrain: whatever Pokemon I fought it with would have to fight at least somewhat in the water.

I considered my options. Lieutenant and Noir were not equipped for fighting something like that; they were fast, but they had not yet gained the high-powered attacks that a well-trained bug type eventually learned. Spooky was also not an option; his best attack was fire fang, which would do little good in the water, against a water type. That left my choice down to Contrail and Miracle- Contrail had the advantage with flight, while Miracle actually had the ability to bypass Wailmer’s physical defenses, and his teleport would no doubt be-

“Buneary!”

All of this consideration had taken place in the space of a second or two, but my tactics were interrupted by Coco stepping toward the Wailmer again, giving me a determined look over her shoulder.

I nodded. “All right, Coco, if you’re up to the challenge then so am I- jump kick!”

“Buneary!” She crouched and launched herself into the air, parkouring off of the fence to carry herself all the way out to the shallows where Wailmer was waiting, bringing her kick down on the top of its head. The hit did damage- I could see it did- but the Wailmer shook it off, and turned its attention to Coco, still on its head.

May had already called her command at the same time as me, and I could see Wailmer pulling from the sea to create a whirlpool in front of it.

“Now toss her off!” May called, and the the Wailmer bucked, sending Coco flying- there was no way for her to hang on to its slick skin. She landed in the whirlpool, caught in its current, and it molded around her.

I swore softly. Whirlpool was a nasty move, and no way to get out of it, at least not for Coco. She cried out and choked a little at the water swirling around her, battering her while she floated.

“Calm down, my darling,” I called out, and considered my options. I couldn’t recall her, not with that whirlpool in effect. I could only fight around it, and hope it faded sooner rather than later. “All right Coco, use your frustration to your advantage!”

She nodded, and as the Wailmer came at her in a rollout, she caught hold of it and began pounding away with her little paws. It didn’t do much, and she had to leap off quickly or be bowled over, but it was something.

“This is going badly,” I murmured, watching as the whirlpool battered her again. Wailmer was still rolling; it was gaining speed, and would hit harder next time. Not to mention Coco didn’t exactly have anything to parkour off of for a really good jump kick- unless... “Coco! Jump kick when it comes back around!”

She gave me a confused look, and as our eyes locked, I could see understanding hit her. She nodded once, and turned her attention back to Wailmer. It was almost there- so close- come on, Coco...

“Buneary!” As it hit, she grabbed hold of one fin and used the momentum of its spin to launch herself into the air, flipping a few times to speed herself up as she came down hard on top of it.

Wailmer rolled to a slow halt, dazed, and Coco hopped daintily down from its head to the shore, dragging her soggy self to join us back on land. She flopped down in the grass.

“You’ve done so beautifully, precious,” I assured her. “Would you like to rest now?”

She shook her head hastily, and leapt to her feet. “Buneary! Bun, buneary!”

“All right, all right. You can keep fighting.”

“I have one Pokemon left,” May said, grabbing the third Pokeball from her belt. “And it may even outspeed Coco. Go, Grovyle!”

She launched the ball, and out came a Grovyle. At my hip, Dizzy began spouting information, but I ignored her. I didn’t need anything Dizzy could tell me for beating this Pokemon.

“Coco?” I said, and she nodded. “Ice punch.”

May had not been expecting an ice punch, nor had the Grovyle, and faster than either of us could process, it landed, spreading ice across Grovyle’s front and neck. It made a noise of surprise.

“Grovyle! Absorb!”

Green energy glowed along Coco’s fur, pulling over to the Grovyle, but though Buneary was panting heavily now, Grovyle didn’t look in much better condition. I grinned.

“Finish it off, lovely!”

“Buhhhh... neary!” She pushed off of the ground, spinning in midair and lashing out at the Grovyle, at the space where the ice had spread across its chest. It toppled over, and lay still. Coco landed beside it and folded her arms, looking as smug as it’s possible for a Buneary to look while sopping wet.

“That was really well done,” May said, recalling her Grovyle, and then gasped.

Coco’s fur had lit up at the tips, the light of evolution spreading and encompassing her, swirling around her and growing until a Lopunny stood before us. Steam was rising from her fur, the water having evaporated in the energy output, and as we stared, May excited nowhere to what I felt, she struck a pose, flipping her ears over her shoulder with a much more obvious smug look.

She didn’t have long to. I launched forward and grabbed her, lifting her bodily and swinging her around. “Oh my love, my beauty, look at you! Is this why you’ve been sulking? Were you ready to evolve! Of course you were! I’m sorry, precious, I should have realized, oh, look at you! I’m so proud of you!”