#I grew up watching Pokemon and watching Ash grow as a person

[shima-draws]

I’m really torn with what I want to see happen in the epilogue miniseries…on one hand getting a timeskip and seeing Ash grown up would be really interesting. On the other hand sometimes timeskips are cheesy and if they confirm any Ash-centric ships as canon I will riot. Yes I know I’m all about shipping but HONESTLY I would much rather them leave that aspect of Ash’s life ambiguous;; I really like the idea of Ash’s story arc being a “never-ending journey” kind of thing. So that viewers can just…interpret what happens to him in their own way rather than having it be outright stated. And this kid can go on adventures forever because there’s not a solid ending to his storyline

[phlurrii]

Out of curiosity, how come you dislike Ash? A lot of people seem to really like him, so it’d be interesting to see another point of view! Feel free to ignore this ask if you’d like tho.

To preface, as I know I’ll see them, if you guys like ash? That’s freaking awesome. Hands down, there is nothing wrong with loving a goober >;3

So Ash Lovers don’t take personal offense to my opinion, because that’s all is it, an opinion that in no, way shape, or form actually affects you X3

Anywho onto said opinion I know I’ll get flamed for!

So Ash just had the personality go a dish rag to me, he’s the most basic, run of a mill, boy protagonist. In the earlier seasons he wasn’t afraid to throw hands and be interesting, but they mellowed him down to be as predictable, 2 note, and “hero will do hero thing” as possible.

Not to mention the constant memory loss. He’s never allowed to grow as a character, I couldn’t ever get invested in anything because bro would forget it all in 20 minutes… and unlike status quo shows, this one is literally about growing to be the very best that ever was XD They wanted their cake and to eat it too, which made it really unfulfilling and boring to me even as a kiddo. They juggled between making him over powered and nerfing him into the floor. I think I gave up completely after the Kalos Championship battle where they shoe horned that loss in.

Not to say I really followed the anime, it was fine, a few episodes here and there I liked… but I purposely stopped watching after that forced loss. I think Ash worked really well for what he was suppose to be, with a lot of his fans being those that grew up with him from a very young age. Which is what he was made to appeal too, but I got into Pokémon at 8-9 years old, so he had no appeal to me in design, motives, growth, or even pokemon choice. Coupled with a lukewarm personality, garishly predictable stupidity, and his flaws just becoming annoying? He’s just not for me.

He was better in the movies at least ;V

Also please no one hate on folks who do love him, he is objectively fine, just not my cup of tea ;]

[ontargetmadders]

I don't know a massive amount about cartoons but top 5 cartoons?

AAHHHH!! Well firstly thank you so much for sending this! I'm a bit of a cartoon fanatic. I guess i just never really grew out of them?? and when I'm feeling sad they just make me feel so much happier so I tend to just recycle and re-watch them over an over again. The nostalgia I get from them is just unreal! So I'm just gonna answer these with gifs and talk about why i love them so much! :D

1. Pokemon

Pokemon has to be the 1st one for me! Just love everything about it! (Although nowadays watching it can be a little tiresome as it's the same plot every episode lol) But it was such a big part of my childhood growing up. The XY series is particular is the best and actually has a good story to it and isn't just team rocket tryna steal Pikachu all the time lol (and my beautiful otp came from it too so I'll love it forever).

2. American Dragon

What's not to love about American Dragon? A kid who can turn into a dragon is pretty awesome tbh. (I even wrote story at uni based on it) And i love how it educates you on Chinese culture. There's not many cartoons or tv shows in general that do. Plus i love the forbidden romance between jake and rose. It's so deliciously painful haha (Cartoons in general do romance better than most Hollywood films lol)

3. Kim Possible

Who didn't watch this growing up?! It was just too iconic! And let's acknowledge just how rare it was/still kinda is to have a female lead in a cartoon too - let alone a redhead as well! (Redheads really don't get much love in media do they) And don't get me started on Kim and Ron. Probably the best friends to lovers relationship to ever exist (I shipped them before I even knew what shipping meant lol). Plus Drakken is the funniest villain ever lol

4. Teen Titans

Teen Titans is literally the only DC thing I like lol. I'm not majorly into superhero things in general but this show is just so brilliantly done and not afraid to go to some dark places. Honestly love cartoons that feel like they're not just for kids and this is definitely one of them. And one of my favourite things about is how each series focuses on them and their own personal villains. (Plus I got the idea for my main WIP from watching this)

5. Ben 10

I'm a big sci-fi lover so a dude that can turn into aliens is right up my street! It's also kinda superhero themed and I love that Ben and his friends are basically defenders of the galaxy too (plumbers as they call it in the show) which is really cool. Also it's one of the very few cartoons that actually let the charcters age and you see the main characters grow up with you which I really like. (One thing I hate about Pokemon - Why did they have to keep Ash 10 lol). But yeah this one was a big part of my childhood too and one I always will come back to

[itcamefromthetoybox]

Beatlemania

I grew up in the 1990’s, which should tell you a few things about me. I grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons, I can’t afford a house, I played Nintendo 64, and, of course, I memorized the theme song to “Pokemon.” Growing up, I loved “Pokemon.” I had Red, Blue, and Yellow, I collected the cards, I watched the cartoon, and, of course, I collected the toys. Recently, my wonderful wife got me one of the new figures as a treat, a figure of a Pokemon I really liked growing up. So let’s see if “Pokemon Battle Figure Heracross” deserves a spot on your team, or if he’s going to the Box.

Ok, I’m not gonna even pretend someone reading this doesn’t know the premise for “Pokemon,” so I’m not gonna get into the plots of the games. I will, however, happily talk about Heracross! Her across is a Bug/Fighting-Type Pokemon from the Johto region, as seen in “Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal.” In the anime, he has a tremendous fondness for tree sap and turns out to be one of Ash’s most reliable Pokemon during his time in Johto. While he’s no Charizard or Pikachu, he’s reliable and can hold his own in a fight. 

Growing up, I was absolutely delighted by Heracross’s appearance. He’s an adorable Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle, whose design makes him have a warm, friendly face. Whenever I saw him, he always looked like he had a warm, simple smile. Normally, I’m not a bug person, but he always seemed so nice and I wanted to hug him.

Now, let’s talk about what the “Battle Figures” are. Basically, they’re just the latest mainstream line of Pokemon figures. The main draw for this line is that the figures are more in scale than has been the case in previous lines. Smaller Pokemon are smaller than other figures, and the largest ones tower over others. Many figures of the bigger Pokemon have special features, such as spring-loaded missiles, button-triggered movements, and other such things that serve to emulate different special attacks. As a whole, they’re a very fun, delightful line that kids will love.

In terms of appearance, Heracross looks like he stepped right out of the anime. His show and game accuracy is absolutely stupendous, and his special feature, which we’ll talk about later, in no way takes away from his looks. He has that adorable face I talked about previously, which still makes me so happy whenever I see him. Every detail on him is both friendly and accurate, while his horn and claws make it clear he can fight if he needs to.

He's shaped like a friend

Now, Heracross is pretty limited in terms of articulation. His only posable parts are in his shoulders, so there’s a wide range of motion there. Heracross’s head cannot turn, and his special feature means there’s no real articulation in his legs. So overall, he has very limited articulation, but I feel like his special feature and great looks more than make up for that.

Seen here directing traffic

Heracross, like all the Battle Figures of his size, has a special feature. If you bend him over, he pops back up, which lets him hit things with his horn. There’s a motor in his body, like that of a wind-up toy, and that’s how the feature works. This, unfortunately, does come with a drawback: due to the nature of the mechanism, Heracross launches his attack the second you take your hand off him. You can’t keep him in position, so getting a pic of him doing the attack is a challenge. This is balanced out by the sound the motor makes when you bed Heracross over, which sounds very much like the sound a beetle makes. I’m pretty sure it’s unintentional, but it’s a really nice touch.

The desperate measures I took to get a pic of the battle feature

Now for the part of the review where I talk about my criticisms with this toy. Honestly, my only criticisms are how Heracross launches his attack automatically and how his head can’t turn. That’s really it. Other than those two slight complaints, I really like this figure.

“Pokemon Battle Figure Heracross” is available at mass retail for about $10 for ages 4+, and I would absolutely recommend him. He’s fun to play with, he’s a perfect size, I like the plastic he’s made of, and his appearance makes me happy. All around, he’s a great toy. I’ve gotten a few of the other figures from this line of Heracross’s size and tried out their features. I’ve never been let down. The line as a whole’s been pretty great, and I do recommend it. Heracross is aimed at kids, but I feel like any fan of Pokemon, bugs, or fun toys would like this figure. Definitely give him a shot. Next time, we’ll be looking at a throwback from a bygone era, so come back and take a look! This is JS signing off and wishing you Happy Toy Hunting!

[dchan87]

Why I M O, Pokeshipping is dead. ( kinda hot take, sorry pokeshippers. )

So, pokeshipping. The very 1st ship in the Pokemon anime’s history. I personally am not a fan of it, I did watch the original anime, and I personally don’t like misty’s character. It was off putting to me.

Now as to what your here for, what killed pokeshipping. There are 3 main contributors to the death of pokeshipping.

1.) The length of time from when misty was replaced to now,

2.) Serena and Amourshipping

3.) The Pokémon sun and moon anime

The length of time from when misty was replaced to now. Now while this might not have been much of an issue if the other 2 bullet points didn’t exist, it has been over a decade at this point, since we last saw misty, meaning that we have a severe lack in character development, and that gives time for other potentially better ships to be created, which leads me to my next point,

Serena and Amourshipping. Possibly one of the biggest ships right now, (which at this point isn’t going to fizzle out anytime soon. ) With Amourshipping going so far, as to introduce a major plot point in ash’s story by having Serena be his childhood acquaintance, many other points that multiple poketubers like Catch ‘Em All Saul, bring up in their videos from years past, to the kiss, and even the writers basically confirming the darn thing.

Amourshipping Confirmed?

So at this point, ( unless they throw all that away, which please. Don’t. ) there is next to no hope of pokeshipping to ever become cannon, which is only further proven by my last point,

The Pokémon sun and moon anime. Now, this is honestly the iceberg that sank the ship, because Brock and Misty returned twice in the Sun and Moon anime, which I’m pretty sure was for let’s go promotion. Now this is where all hope is lost for pokeshipping because even though they returned twice, Misty had literally zero emotional moments with ash whatsoever. No pokeshipping pandering, no flashbacks, nothing. Here’s another video explaining that further.

They did Misty DIRTY!

Now while the only good thing to come out of the re-return episodes was Brock possibly finally finding a girlfriend,

Brock x Olivia

This was the point of no return for Misty and pokeshipping in general. Misty, even though she returned twice, in the most recent anime, had literally no development, and nothing to show how she grew as a character since her absence, her return seems pointless and devoid of substance, and with another ship still gaining popularity at an exponential rate, I’m sorry pokeshippers, but,

It’s time to pay your respects, and move on.

RIP pokeshipping

1997-2023

Why, I M O amour/shipping is dead:

XY has been over for 8 years

Ash is no longer the protagonist.

It's a friggin' kids show.

The guy telling Pokeshippers to move on won't move on himself. It's over. Grow up, you're making yourself look worse every time you send these asks.

I've moved on. When will you?

[stoutduke]

The Future of Pokemon

Now that Ash isn't the main character of the series, at least for now, the future of what pokemon will be is a bit up in the air. The pokemon anime with Ash and now without both catered mostly to the children and the teen demographic. Right now would be the perfect time to grow their demographic and the demographic I'm talking about is older teens and adults that grew up loving and still love pokemon. Right now the issue with the teen and adult fan base is that the anime hasn't grown with the audience, they're hungry for pokemon content that's relevant to them and their tastes. They still love watching pokemon battles and the trainer's journey, but currently it's missing what draws in a more mature audience. It's missing a story that connects with them through personal struggle and growth. It's missing stakes that make you think something bad might actually happen or that grip your heart and make you feel for the character when they succeed, or fail, or stuggle.

I'm not saying to make it something unrecognizable by making it overly edgy or dark because people love how lighthearted the story usually is. Currently, the only people feeding their hunger for that content are fan artists. With Ash no longer being the main character causing such a stir of change for the anime side of pokemon, right now is the perfect time to start working on a story that not only appeals to kids and young teens, but also to the older teens and adults that're hungry for it. I hope that someone from The Pokémon Company sees this so they know that the people that grew up with pokemon still love it and would love to have a show or a manga that includes our demographic.

[sirikyu]

See you later, Ash and Pikachu.

I'm going to feel so silly if Ash cameos in the new anime during the next few months. Or it's announced he's continuing in the movie format. But I'd be SO happy to see them too, so it's alright, I can be a little silly sometimes.

So, Ash and Pikachu's last episode aired on friday 24th mar 2023, and I saw it around the evening of the same day, ~23 years after I saw the first episode for the first time. This duo shaped my entire worldview as a kid, and growing up, even got me to mourn the fact I would never have an adventure as grand and a connection as touching as Ash and Pikachu's. A boy and his little creature friend who understand each other perfectly. It was magical, and it always felt magical revisiting the show. It's so special.

Being an adult and watching the series again, getting introduced to the games and whatever else I missed (like some specials and movies I never fully saw as a kid because they weren't available), I grew to appreciate that I could come back to it anytime and have more adventures to watch. The overall quality of writing, or animation, or personal preferences when it came to stories weren't an issue, because there would always be a ton of stuff to see and to watch. In fact, I started to take it for granted that my favourite guys would always be having an adventure and I'd be able to see it. That was almost one of the core features of Pokemon for me: the constant presence.

So now that the final episode has come and gone, I'm experiencing some real aimlessness about this. I want to have something around to remember them by, I want to save and cherish all the fan art, gifs, theories, music and videos that I can find about them and the anime overall, because I also want to do something to keep them alive in other people's consciousness - and mine. I want to come online and see people discussing them, making stories of them, extending their stay until there's nothing more to say, to think, or celebrate.

I want to remember the good times and rewatch, but I don't know where to even start. Maybe my favourite, Sun&Moon? I'd love to read fanfiction, but I don't know what I want to read.

What is it I'm missing from this ending, or the journey here? I'm sure a lot of people would say "a lot of things", but just personally if I were to write fic, I would dive into Ash's character a whole lot more. Have him have a big adventure that is tied into a revelation about himself and having to deal with unccharted, emotional territory. But I'm also sure that wouldn't be enough even if I could write. I think I just want them to be around, and a lot longer.

They couldn't go on forever, and seeing how many people were unenthused with the last seasons outside major events, and how little I personally had to say about them even though I enjoyed Journeys era a lot, I can kind of see why it didn't continue anymore. I get the feeling the writers just didn't have anything more to tell. However, and this is really important to me, I can tell from how beautiful the last episode is, that they cared. They kept true to the characters, made an effort with the animation, and I was in tune with and touched by the episode's melacholy. It was a beautiful send-off.

I still would have loved to have more involved stories with Ash, shake things up a bit more, see what Ash and Pikachu had to give, as characters, especially in their final stretch... a bit more. Take risks a bit more.

But it's time to go, and I can't help but feel thankful that I feel so deeply about them. This sadness is real and comes from a real caring, as silly as it can feel sometimes. It's a testament to how long-lasting Ash/Satoshi and Pikachu's history and impact is on me.

Goodbye, friends. Thanks for everything.

[bulbagarden]

Hello and happy friday! Today I ask this: what’s your all time favorite pokemon episode(s)? Episodes you could watch- or have watched- time and time again, never getting old? And if you wish to talk about it, why is it your favorite?

GETTING BACK ON OLD ASKS AND STUFF!!

Personally!! I remember a few anime episodes from when I was growing up... I watched different parts of all the seasons, but as a kid I watched (going to make everyone feel old) BW and XY as they were airing?

The one that comes to mind is proooobably the one where Ash and Serena get into a snowball fight? Seeing the Forest for the Trees! is what it's called I think? I guess it's kind of interesting, seeing Ash's reaction to being on a bad streak like that, especially because he kind of... like, 'grew up' from past regions where he reacted like that much more. Hooonestly with the whole series playing out as it did with the dynamic between the two I kind of wonder if there was anything planned? (not that it's really my room to spectulate but)

I don't really know if I'd consider it my favorite exactly, but it's one that stood out to me a lot. XYZ is probably my favorite arc of the anime itself (manga is a different story!), and uhmmmm... yeah! LOL

thank you for asking!!!!

[pokeworldrevisited]

I've been meaning to get back here but I've been rather focused on Fire Emblem these past few months so that's why I was absent. I will try to be on here more often, especially since I want to write about the Double Sun/Moon AU as someone asked. So I'll get to that once I find the right words for it.

However a new announcement just came out and I feel like I should talk about it. It's something I and a lot of people were wondering about since Journeys started and it's finally been confirmed:

Ash is leaving the series.

I'm both parts happy, and worried about this. Happy because I do feel like this is the best point to end Ash's journey in the anime. Mainly since the anime put him in a fairly 'dangerous' position by making him world champion. They can't have Ash go back to his usual formula without backlash but they also can't really write anymore challenges for him that he can't overcome.

Another reason I'm happy is because while I do like Ash's character, I kinda stopped watching the anime as much after gen 5 because I wasn't a fan of how he seems to reset between regions. New team, new allies, new everything. Hell it also seemed like his knowledge in Pokemon would reset too. I always felt like if they did that, wouldn't it have been easier to make a new protag per gen to follow?

Now for why I'm worried... I'm less worried about the new Pokemon protagonists as a whole, but the fan reaction to them. We saw a bunch of negativity every time Goh had even a bit of spotlight. There was controversy where he caught all the Galar Starters instead of Ash, and HUGE controversy when Goh caught Suicune. Sure he started off as a bit of a dick at first but he learned to grow during Journeys. Yet by that point a lot of people already disliked him.

And now there's not one but two new protagonists? I can already hear people going 'I wish Ash was here' or 'Ash wouldn't have done that, these characters suck' at the slightest rookie mistake these two make. Which makes sense. Ash has been the Pokemon protagonist since the beginning, everyone grew up watching Ash journey through the regions on the quest to become a Pokemon master. hell for a lot of us Ash has been around before we were even born. These two will naturally have some rather large shoes to fill if they want to stick around.

So I guess I should ask y'all to not do what a lot of you did with Goh and at least try to give the new characters a chance. Let them make mistakes if their new trainers, wait to see if their character arcs cause them to change. Don't compare every little thing these two new protagonists do to what Ash did.

Personally, I feel like as long as they don't give these two protags the exact same goal as Ash/give them Ash's exact personality, things will be fine. Will be hard to adjust to the change, can't deny that, but if the writings good enough then these two could be great new protags.

[ryuuseini]

I'm reading this and sobbing. I hope yall don't mind me adding onto this since I'm really not a huge BW fan as the rest of you, but seeing love for BW, despite it all, makes my heart grow and know that there is good in the world.

I was a person who really has never returned to BW since its initial launch, though... BW changed how I consumed Pokemon entirely. I grew up at the tale end of AG and the entirety of D/P, and I remember waiting patiently for each new episode, whether it be watching it as it aired or going on my pokemon episodes site a little bit after the new episode was supposed to air. But BW was different. With BW, I couldn't contain my excitement!! It was a new pokemon series and I wanted to know more!!! And I knew the original Japanese was significantly ahead of the dub, so I tracked down the sub and watched that. That was the first time, aside from banned episodes and one episode of D/P, that I decided to watch Pokemon in Japanese because I couldn't wait.

And BW is the only series I have these fond memories of? In 4th grade, I cosplayed as Iris for Halloween because she meant to much to me - as a Black kid desperately clinging onto the idea that "I'm a girl!!" But hardly seeing any representation for myself in the media I watched - because she could battle!! She had a spunky personality I loved!! She looked like me and made be realize that hey, its okay to be me because it doesn't make me lesser, but it makes me awesome. (I was in a predominantly white school where most of my friends who shared my interests where white, so I always had the feeling those were their characters - y’know Ash and Dawn and Misty and May - but Iris felt like the first character for me.)

And I just... I was in fandom at this point, and the reception for BW was... not the best, so eventually I grew frustrated with it. I agreed with people - it was dumb and stupid and horrible. Eventually I stopped waiting for subtitles on episodes and just watched them raw while barely understanding anything. Eventually I stopped watching BW entirely (towards the very end at least) and waited for XY but by that point I was in my edgy preteen phase and gave up on Pokemon.

But going back to Pokemon because, admittedly, I got sucked back into D/P, but it's just... I kept seeing love for BW, and at first I was like "why? It's bad" because that was the popular opinion. But then it became so overbearing and then I saw artists draw BW and ppl talk about their love and... it makes me want to return to those times from back then, because I was truly happy and excited to watch Pokemon.

So, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for being fans of BW.

Best Wishes, y'all

Satoshi's story ending has just made me want to post more BW! stuff because those of you sticking around are all joining me in being fans of characters no longer appearing.

We can keep this fandom alive in fanwork!

[punz4lyfe]

Pokemon Journeys Episode 83 Review

Pokemon Journeys Episode 83. Let’s review:

Honestly surprised how good this episode turned out. When I first saw the leaked title, I initially thought it was just gonna be some pointless filler episode involving Goh catching a member of the Clefable line, probably Cleffa, but once I saw the actual thing, it genuinely surprised me.

I really loved how they handled the topic of denial and acceptance of death, especially in the eyes of a young child like Kirara. When someone close to a young child leaves their life, they aren’t gonna get over something like that soon. They will yearn for the good ole’ times to come back, it will take time for them to accept the change, they will get mad or emotional if they feel everything is going too fast for them afterwards, but if you just give them the time and support, then they will eventually accept what has happened and move on. It’s a part of growing up that everyone goes through, usually at different points in their lives.

And with Kirara, I personally feel they did it well. She still yearned to remain in her familiar zone (watching the stars), grew depressed upon seeing things similar to what she lost (seeing Pikachu and Grookey with Ash and Goh), became angry when she thought outside forces (her mom and the heroes) were trying to make her move on too soon from her lose, and, after being able to vent her emotions in a lengthy amount of time (her outburst causing the Unown to fight Ash, Goh, and Cynthia in a battle so long that it involved 6 Pokemon), she finally accepted the truth, rekindled with herself, and moved on. So yeah, mad props to you, Journeys.

Other then that, Cynthia’s appearance in this episode was... okay I guess. While I’m glad she and Ash didn’t battle since it’s way too fucking early for that, even if Ash were to lose, nothing really sparked interest for Cynthia’s return. Yes, her appearance was supposed to be a reference to her appearances in HeartGold and SoulSilver, but it honestly gets stale when you have to reference the games every single time, especially since we already had a subtle not too long ago with Iris and Gary’s new game-based outfits. We didn’t even get to see any of her comedic indecisiveness, despite having the perfect opportunity to do so with showing her buying the donuts she got for Kirara before meeting her. And I don’t care her Garchomp now knows Scale Shot because it’s honestly a waste for a Pokemon like her, especially since we’ve seen her use more powerful and efficient Dragon-type moves.

But eh, maybe next Cynthia appearance will be cooler. And I’ll give this episode a 9/10. I’ve pretty much already said my hopes and thoughts for next episode in two weeks, but let’s mainly hope Lucario at least gets some better editions to his horrendously trashy moveset.

[anastyartist]

Cilan x Reader Chapter 2 A Fight For Love

This chapter is a bit short but that's because I didn't want to write out the whole battle between Ash and Burgh because that seemed kinda pointless, I've got the next couple of chapters partly done and should be posting those soon but I set myself a typing limit to get these at a decent length for ya'll.

---------

Waking up bright and early ready to go and meet up with Ash, Iris, and Cilan for Ash’s battle against Burgh. You had battled Burgh before, it took you a few tries but you did beat Burgh, and you can’t wait to see if Ash can do the same. Thankfully the day before you all agreed to meet up in the city plaza and head to the gym from there. Excitedly running up to a street vendor for a quick snack you wait and look around trying to see the trio arrived yet. Until a very hyper Ash came out of nowhere quickly followed by Iris and Cilan

“(y/n) aren’t you excited! I can’t wait to get my next badge!” pumping himself up along with Pikachu.

“Yeah Ash, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Burgh battle anybody in a while” When you were first getting your badge you would watch other people’s battle with Burgh to study his moves when you weren’t doing that you helped tend the plants in the gym’s garden.

Quickly you all walked over to the gym, you decided to show them around a little before the battle and also to find Burgh, which you did high up in one of the many trees he sat feeding a sewaddle. Ash called out to him claiming to be ready for their gym battle. Cilan and Iris looked around them at all the plants that surrounded the room.

Hopping down from the tall tree Burgh greeted all of you “welcome to the Castillia Gym” looking pleased as Ash expressed his happiness about the battle ahead.

Everyone followed burgh to the battle arena further inside marveling at all the plants around you especially Cilan “ I’ve never seen so many trees indoors before, it’s amazing!”

“We transplanted the trees from the pinwheel forest, for the bug types benefits of course” helpfully stated “There’s nothing better than lots of greenery for a bug-type pokemon lover,” Burgh said it gives him ‘inspiration’ you just liked it for the plants.

“Why, even (y/n) helps with the plants from time to time” Turning to look at you.

“Oh, so you have a green thumb then (y/n)?” Cilan questioned though Burgh interrupted before you could respond.

“More like a green hand, even when a little flower might not make it they always seem to find a way to make it grow back stronger than ever!” You knew Burgh appreciated your help with the plants, you were proud of it, everyone saw you as rude just because of your personality, sure you had few friends from school but that was it most of your time was either training or helping with the gym. Burgh jumped back from that note to Ash checking to make sure he was ready to battle and with that the gym floor revealed itself. You, Cilan, and Iris took to the sidelines to watch. Burgh and Ash standing on opposite ends of the battlegrounds.

Before anything else happened the referee started his speech about the rules that you’ve heard a hundred times over. Burgh took the liberty of showing his pokemon first before Ash chooses him.

Tossing out his deweeble to start, Iris was a little surprised.

“Look at the rock on deweebles’ back, it’s different from your deweebles’ Cilan” Now you wanted to see CIlan's deweeble it’s always neat to see what rocks deweebels use for armor.

"Oh yeah Burgh's deweeble uses a different rock for its shell so it's faster than normal deweebels" you nonchalantly said, though not helpful for Ash's battle it's a fun fact you remember about Burgh's pokemon. But now the question came to what pokemon Ash would use against it.

Ash chose tepig as his first fighter, you went back a bit to sit on the concrete fencing surrounding the tall trees and plants, it’s where you would normally sit when watching people battle burgh, Cilan and Iris joined you both leaning against it. The referee blew the whistle and the battle began.

Not surprising at all Ash went straight for tackling deweeble trying to knock it over but Burghs’ deweeble is fast to dodge and dig below, getting the jump on tepig. It wasn’t that long of a battle between the pokemon what with ash only trying to get direct hits on deweeble and deweeble dodging quickly because of the light rock material on its back not weighing it down though you will admit ash did get a few good hits on deweeble. But it’s all for not as deweeble quickly knocking tepig out making burgh the winner of the first round.

Cilan commented on Burgh’s technique noting how he used the move rock wrecker so close to tepig.

“Do you think he lured tepig in closer to him?” Iris was quick to pick up on the sneaky move.

“That’s how burgh battles everyone and it helps with how straightforward Ash’s style is on the battlefield makes him easier to get a surprise attack” jumping in on the conversation, after watching so many battles and hundreds of people falling for the same thing you figured ash would too.

“ I take it you’ve seen this a lot (y/n)?” Cilan cocked his head to look at you

“Yeah I’m surprised Ash managed to get that far with tepig” looking over to see Ash call tepig back into his Pokeball, “So Cilan what other pokemon does Ash have, he’s gonna need something good to beat Burgh”

Cilan contemplated it for a moment “ Well he’d either have to go with his oshawott with its water type moves or Pikachu with his iron tail”.

Ash got ready to try fighting deweeble again. The three of you turn back to face the arena only to see Ash call out for his sewaddle, now you have seen a lot of weird combinations in the past but this was crazy enough that you actually fell back on the fence and into the garden behind you out of shock. Thankfully Cilan turned around and hopped over to help you up.

“I guess nobody is ever ready for Ash’s battle style!” Cilan offered as he pulled you back into the concrete fence.

“No kidding, I’ve seen a lot of battles but I think this takes the cake” regaining your balance while holding onto his shoulder to not fall.

With that Ash took direct attacks against deweeble, having far better luck this time, when rocks got thrown his way sewaddle could use its silk to throw them back. Sewaddle was much faster than tepig and got the jump on deweeble knocking its shell off leaving it open to attacks. So with one good tackle deweeble was knocked out. Honestly, this was one of the better battles you’ve seen. Ash was all over the place with his battle style and it was entertaining to watch. The battle went on for a while but to your amazement, Ash won getting his 3rd gym badge and his sewaddle had evolved into a swadloon leaving him more than happy afterward. Though now is when you realized that the three of them would be moving on to the next city soon and the thought of not getting to go out and adventure with them made you sad.

After the battle, you all walked back to their hotel, you got to point out some of your favorite spots and buildings around the city, cilan ask questions about them. Then when you actually got to the hotel Ash and Iris headed in immediately wanting to get a good night’s rest. You and Cilan stayed outside talking.

“So where do you guys think you’ll be going next?” It did matter to you where they went, you just wanted to come with them.

“I’ll take it Ash wants to get to Nambasa city as soon as possible so that’s where will set off to” Cilan remembers how pushy Ash was about getting to Nambasa before, “You know, you could always come with us I’m sure Ash and Iris wouldn’t mind!”

You did consider coming with them, your mom might not be the biggest fan of it. If you could convince her to let you travel but it’s going to take a lot of negotiating with her.

“I might just take you up on that offer, if I’m able to come along I’ll be waiting here for you in the morning” You couldn’t make any promises but you were going to try your best to go.

“Well then I’ll see you in the morning” cilan gave with a soft smiling reaching down to grab your hand bringing it to his lips with a soft kiss “ma chérie”

Your heart stopped for a moment, more out of surprise, this was the most affection anyone had ever shown you outside of your family.

“Well aren’t you mister fancy?” it was honestly the only thing you could think of.

You both shared a laugh and said your good nights before going separate ways. You kept your composure together until you turned the corner and out of sight at which point you ran back to your house with the fattest grin on your face. Mothers anger be damned you were going with them. Besides it isn’t that crazy for someone your age to be traveling the region. Look at Ash, he’s from a different region entirely. When you actually got home your mom was waiting for you, asked how everything went and that's when you told her your idea.

“You want to travel? But what about your dream of being a gym leader surely Burgh could help you with that” putting down her glass of water on the table, she moved the conversation from the living room to the kitchen.

“I know I still want to be a gym leader but how can I be a good gym leader if I don’t see what else the region has to offer?” It was a 50/50 chance of working, and you weren’t that wrong there were still so many pokemon to see.

“I don’t know, after the whole venipede attack the other day I don’t want you to get hurt” a hint of desperation in her voice.

“But mom I handled it! And I had my new friends with me. Cilan had my back that whole time!” You can take care of yourself. You grew up running around the woods facing whatever it had to throw at you and you would be traveling with a group. It couldn't be that bad.

“Stubborn as always huh? Just like your father, okay I’ll cut you a deal you can travel but you have to message me at least once a day so I know you are safe” Giving you a soft smile, things would go either of two ways you would run off in the night without saying anything, or you would stay in the city and pout about it forever.

“Wait really!? Like I can actually go?” Your mom has always been protective of you, you thought for sure that she would never let you.

With a small chuckle, your mom got up from the table walking to her office room down the hall. You followed closely behind. In her office was a little closet that you were told to never open, this was the first time you have ever seen the inside and when she opened it you saw travel packs and sleeping bags,

“Like I said just like your father, we first met while traveling, when we decided to settle down here in Castillia we kept out old packs” Your mom grabbed one of the packs, it was a little worn and made of dark green fabric with patches all over.

“This was your father's and I’m sure he would want you to have it for your adventure” turning to hand it to you.

You ran your fingers across the front and over the many patches scattered across “So dad collected patches too?” You weren’t as close to your dad as you wished, he died when you were young just after giving you your first pokemon, he said he couldn’t wait to see you become a great fighter and have your own gym. At this point you were trying not to cry.

Your mom stepped forward standing in front of you, she raised her hand to caress your cheek and pulled you into a tight hug.

“All he ever wanted was for you to have your own adventure, and that's all I want for you sweetheart, I’m still going to worry about you but that shouldn’t hold you back” hugging you tighter. Whispering ‘I love you’ to each other she handed you the matching sleeping bag. It was starting to get darker out and she wanted you to get enough sleep for tomorrow.

Though you couldn’t get much sleep, you were too excited about getting to travel and see everything. Though after much rolling around and pillow flipping you drifted into a dreamless sleep.

When you woke up it was just before sunrise, your mother came in to get you up and ready with the pack full of everything you would need for a journey even putting an ungodly amount of snacks and a lot of both her and your fathers' old gear. After getting everything ready to go your mom insisted she walks you to the hotel to see you off. You definitely needed it, your nerves were jumbled up and as much as you were excited it was still scary this would be the first time you left Castillia City. Your mom told you stories from her travels with your dad sharing a laugh over the memories. Arriving in front of the hotel you turned towards each other and and shared one last hug, pulling apart she handed you one final object, it was a pocket watch, made out of black metal and a thin silver chain the words ``Time stops for nobody” were carved across, opening the watch showed to be a normal watch though it had blue and white highlights.

“It was a gift your father gave me when we first got together, I want you to have it and take care of it okay?” her voice was quiet and her eyes were glossed over.

"I will mom and thank you for letting me do this" giving a cheeky smile back at her.

Not long after Cilan, Ash, and Iris came out, ready to get back on the road. Cilan was exceptionally happy to see you there waiting.

Hey (y/n) glad to see you could make it" ash ran up to you. Cilan and Iris close behind.

"Ah, so this must be that boy Ash you said was challenging Burgh?" Another reason your mom tagged along to see you off was so she would know what the others looked like, still ever protective.

"That's right ma'am, I even won my battle first try!" Guess Ash was still riding his high from yesterday's battle, pikachu giving a little cheer of its own.

She laughed at his enthusiasm “Well I must say I haven’t seen anyone that excited after a battle! I’ll have to catch up with Burgh and ask”. Your mom turned to face everybody.

“Please watch each other back, I still worry about my little ball of fury here and I want them back safe” she could tell they were just a group of kids, they reminded her of herself when she was younger.

“We’ve had each other back this far, we'll be even stronger with one more to the team!” Cilan stepped up wanting to ease your mothers' nerves.

Giving a hefty sigh your mother let go of you “Okay, make sure you take care of that pocket watch and message me, please? I love you” Kissing your forehead, you hug her and saying ‘i love you’ too.

With that everyone set off to leave, waving goodbye to your mom one last time as you lost sight of her. A new bigger adventure ahead, bigger than you could have ever hoped for.

Iris the tease she was “So, little ball of fury? What's that all about”

“Oh uhh, I use to be a bit of a fighter when I was younger, still kinda am, but I would get in fights because when other kids in school would get picked on I jumped in to help them get away which would end in a fight with the bullies” little bit of a fib, you would jump in without a thought and everyone knew it so people would bait you into fight.

“Wow really? What did your mom think about you getting into fights all the time?” Iris questioned further.

“Eh she wasn’t that happy with me, said I’d get myself into a big mess one of these days if I couldn’t cool my attitude, but around that time is when Burgh let me help in the gym and tend to the plants helped keep me out of trouble” thinking back your mom is probably the one that asked burgh if you could go to the gym, considering you wanted to be a gym leader one day.

“Glad to know that you found a good outlet for your anger, being able to concentrate emotions into a single thing can do wonders!” Cilan chipped in.

It was nice getting to talk about this stuff, everyone started talking about their favorite thing to do, everyone had something different even Pikachu and Axew started making noise no doubt trying to share their thing. It was a great start to the journey and it could only get better.

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Done and Done, hope ya'll enjoy this. Again if there are any errors in the chapter let me know, I try my best to triple-check but things slip through the cracks sometimes.

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Pokemon Character Analysis V2: Iris

I wrote an analysis of Iris’ character a while ago. However, a user challenged me to go more in-depth with my analysis and I did have more points to write about Iris as well. I was able to watch episode 65 as well so I’ll be combining my opinions on the episode with this analysis.

As with all my reviews/analyses, I’ll keep them under the cut. So, if you want to keep reading, that’s great!

Introduction:

As many people that have read my previous reviews and know me, may know I am a huge fan of the Diamond and Pearl games and anime series. I will be the first to say, I know Diamond and Pearl wasn’t a perfect series, honestly, there is no such thing as a perfect series. But as a follow-up to DP, Black and White was definitely a let-down for a lot of fans, either because of completely resetting Ash’s knowledge which was honestly an insult to his DP incarnation, his travelling companions or the fact that he lost to Cameron of all people in the Vertress Conference. BW in some aspects left a lot to be desired.

Nevertheless, this post is focusing on Iris, a companion similar to Goh, a lot of fans love to hate particularly because of her infamous catchphrase “You’re such a kid.” Looking back, this was one of the things that did make me drop the series, keep in mind I was 11 when BW started airing. So, hearing a character that is meant to be the same age or younger than you say "You’re such a kid!” Over and over again, got annoying quite quickly.

However, looking back the usage of that infamous catchphrase was probably exaggerated. Whilst, working past that I still didn’t come to love Iris. Considering, Iris is meant to be one of the main characters and similar to Goh, they are meant to be written in a way that makes us want to see them grow, cheer them on and be happy when they succeed. Nonetheless, when you look at the way they are written and their development it just makes it abundantly clear that Iris and Goh are the victims of poor writing.

Iris’ Initial Characterisation:

The aspect that made me drop the series was Iris’ initial characterisation particularly the infamous phrase “You’re such a kid” which as I mentioned in the introduction, with the benefit of hindsight I can see the usage of it has been exaggerated. Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the fact that it was annoying. Especially, given when Ash meets Iris, he had defeated legendries by this point, acquired 36 badges (that’s including the Orange Archipelago badges) and defeated the Battle Frontier. Whereas Iris may have had good battling prowess and at one point had a 99-battle winning streak, but, her Axew was a newborn with hardly any battling experience and her Excadrill was refusing to listen to her.

Many people use the defence that Misty called Ash a kid yet she doesn’t nearly receive as much hate. To be fair, when Misty met Ash, he was a rookie trainer and Misty was a gym leader, so Misty at least had the position and knowledge to back her up. However, this was only an issue at the beginning of the series and the insults tend to die down, but, that initial characterisation is what stopped me from watching the series since my 11-year-old self did not have the patience for that.

Iris’ Character:

Just like every person has their flaws, every fictional character has them as well – it's what makes us human. Every single one of our favourite characters has their share of flaws that they acknowledge and eventually overcome for Dawn it was overconfidence, for May her naiveté, Serena her lack of direction, Clemont his lack of self-confidence. The list could honestly go on and on. 

For Iris, it was her immaturity. One could look at the fact, her calling Ash out on his own immaturity, her being hypocritical. However, Iris could have easily been using this as a coping/defence mechanism for dealing with that aspect of her personality.  During her time at Opelucid Academy when she was younger, Iris’ immaturity caused her to struggle with forming relationships with the other students and feel isolated. 

However, just like Dawn and to some extent Goh, Iris struggled with overconfidence in the past as well. After Iris caught Excadrill as a Drilbur, the two battled other trainers and Pokémon frequently culminating in a 99-battle winning streak that triggered Drilbur’s evolution. Iris then battled Drayden without considering the possibility that she was outmatched against Drayden and his Haxorus. Iris and Excadrill subsequently lost the battle and Excadrill closed himself off from his trainer.

In this scenario, it was a combination of Iris’ immaturity and overconfidence that resulted in Excadrill’s loss of faith in her as a trainer. As she never considered, his feelings throughout the battle. Nevertheless, overconfidence, when we meet her in the present wasn’t necessarily an issue as the battle, she had with Drayden was probably a humbling experience similar to Dawn’s losses in the Performance stages of Contests. 

The stepping stones towards Iris maturing begin in Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! Which was honestly one of my favourite episodes of BW. Not only as Iris, opened up to Ash and Cilan, but forced her to confront her own issues with communicating and forming relationships with others. Which was honestly a refreshing twist on the rebellious Pokémon story. 

This is what makes Dragonite’s arc and disobedience all the more frustrating as I feel as though, it diminishes Excadrill’s arc and Iris’ development. As Iris, initially, didn’t understand Dragonite’s disobedient behaviour, which, to be fair, I don’t blame her as Dragonite willingly joined her party only to turn around, completely ignore her commands in battle and not even fully acknowledge her as his trainer. 

As I mentioned in the previous section, as the series went on, the insults on Ash’s maturity did die down. This could have been for several reasons, Ash and Iris understandably grew closer as they travelled, Iris began to feel more comfortable with herself and her flaws particularly after her battle with Drayden. I speculate because BW doesn’t really flesh out the characters as much as other series have in the past. 

Although, one final aspect, I find rather strange about her character is her Cryophobia (fear of the cold/ice). Iris’ logic for this fear being that Dragon-types are weak to Ice-types however as Trip pointed out Dragon-types are also weak to other Dragon-types. Yet Iris just shrugs this comment off, and, later we see her battling against other Ice-types and apparently got over this phobia in Crisis at Ferroseed Research! When she was trapped in a room with her rival’s Vanilluxe and commanded it to help them and others escape. I’m aware phobias are meant to be irrational but I have to agree with Trip that even Iris’ logic towards her phobia was a tad irrational. There is a difference between disliking something and being scared of it, as Iris, at one point had stated she disliked the cold. I understand this was probably played out for comedic aspects but it was just strange and stupid. Especially, given the fact in the games and manga adaptation, she owns a Lapras.

Moving on, to the more positive aspects of Iris’ personality. Whilst, Iris may have suffered socially with human characters, she is shown to have found it easier to form connections with Pokémon in general, not just Dragon-types. Iris’ ability to befriend Pokémon, could easily stem from the fact she grew up in a rural area of a, particularly urban region. This aspect of Iris’ character has aided her on several occasions such as Baffling the Bouffalant! Whilst lost in Bouffalant territory, Iris performed first aid on an injured Bouffalant, Iris’ kindness was later rewarded when the Bouffalant helped guide the group outside of its territory. 

Another example of Iris’ ability to empathize with Pokémon, is shown in A Village Homecoming! In which, Iris was able to calm a distressed Hydreigon with the help of her Pokémon. This was honestly, one of Iris’ best moments in the series as it reflected Iris’ growth from her ability to understand a Pokémon’s emotions to her abilities as a Dragon Master. 

In addition to her ability to befriend Pokémon with ease, Iris is shown to be free-spirited (which is probably a result of the environment she was raised in), confident in her abilities and able to speak her mind. Whilst apprehensive of Ash at the beginning, she is shown to care for him as the series continues, this can be reflected in Ash’s battle with Roxie, where Iris opted to act as a cheering squad for Ash similar to what Dawn did for him. 

Iris is shown to be an adept battler, this can be reflected in the fact she once had a 99-battle winning streak and won the Club Battle.  

Iris’ Goal:

Iris’ goal is to become a Dragon Master, however, by the end of Black and White, Iris opts to travel to Johto to battle Clair and following the conclusion of that battle she opts to follow the direction she saw Rayquaza flying. When I look at this conclusion, I’m honestly confused, I have no sense of whether or not Iris is any closer to achieving her goal. Or even throughout the series, we get no sense of how anyone who wants to master any Pokémon typing reaches their goal, a majority of type specialists typically end up in the position of Gym Leader or Elite Four. But Iris never once expressed a desire to be a Gym Leader or any higher-ranking position. Which, makes Drayden decision to choose Iris as his successor, all the more unusual to me. I suppose in one way it gives Iris a position/goal to work towards but given Iris’ free-spirited personality, having someone choose her path rather than choosing it herself feels unnatural.

Additionally, an obvious method to becoming a type specialist is catching Pokémon of the same type you want to specialize in and little more than half of Iris’ team actually consist of Dragon-types. I understand Gym Leaders having at least one alternative type to give their team diversity and cover their weaknesses. As shown by Candice owning a Medicham and Piers having a Toxtricity in his party later in the SW/SH games. But, Excadrill fits the bill more than Emolga as Excadrill is part of Steel-type which covers Iris’ team’s weaknesses to Ice and the newly introduced Fairy-types. That is not to say that I dislike Emolga or anything but it felt like she was an unusual catch.

I think if the writers did a better job as well at establishing Iris’ goals – we understand she wants to be a Dragon Master, but does she want to become a gym leader? A caretaker of Dragon-types (similar to Liza of Charicific Valley)? If they had established this from the beginning, we would have had a better understanding of the direction they wanted to take with Iris’ development.

Iris and her Pokemon:

Now, this is one aspect of Iris’ story that I felt could have definitely been written better, as I mentioned, Iris wants to be a Dragon Master, however, only 3/5 of her team are actually Dragon-types. In addition to this, throughout the series, Iris has attempted to catch Pokémon outside of her type specialities such as Ash’s Oshawott, Tepig and even Team Rocket’s Meowth. Moreover, Iris is meant to be a highly skilled trainer, yet she’s had more disobedient Pokémon than any other main character aside from Axew and Gible the rest of Iris’ Pokémon have been disobedient at some point. Which, kind of reflects poorly on her skills and character. 

Axew:

I like to think of the characters’ first Pokémon or their partner Pokémon as a mirror reflecting their growth. Take May and Blaziken, they mirror one another’s development perfectly as when Blaziken was a Torchic much like May, he was inexperienced and unsure of himself. When Torchic evolved to Combusken, at this point May had won two Contest Ribbons and began to feel confident in her Coordinating skills. Once, Torchic evolved into Combusken he developed that same level of confidence, he didn’t feel the need to compete for May’s attention and wasn’t bullied or intimidated by other Pokémon like Ash’s Corphish. Then Combusken evolves to Blaziken in the penultimate episode, once May had decided to leave the group, travel through Johto on her own and find her own battling style. At this point, May has chosen to become independent and this reflects in Combusken, her first Pokémon evolving into his final stage. My point being I like to think every travelling companions’ ace reflects their character growth and I don’t get that same feeling with Iris and Axew.

The whole point of Iris’ journey was to raise Axew into a Haxorus. For a majority of the series, Axew was Iris’ only Dragon-type and in the sixth episode, he has a dream of evolving into his final stage. After that, the idea of Axew evolving is hardly addressed. As I’ve mentioned, evolving or choosing not to evolve are one method of allowing Pokémon to develop, considering, Axew has expressed a desire to evolve, I think he should have at least evolved into Fraxure before the BW series concluded. As aside from him learning Dragon-type moves and developing as a battler, once, Dragonite’s introduced he’s kind of pushed to the sidelines and doesn’t develop any further. 

Even in Iris’ battle against Clair she opts to use Dragonite instead and develops a telepathic connection with him? (I honestly don’t know). Surely, if Iris is going to develop a telepathic bond with any of her Pokémon it should be Axew, her starter. They could have utilised the battle with Clair as a way for Axew to evolve, they could have still lost but Iris and Axew (or Fraxure) would have developed and deepened their bond. 

In Episode 65 of Journeys, just as many fans predicted Axew had evolved all the way to his final evolution, Haxorus. My only issue with this is why couldn’t he have at least evolved once during his time in BW. I think many fans would have loved to have seen the moment Axew had evolved into Fraxure and later Haxorus. 

Excadrill:

Out of all of Iris’ Pokémon, Excadrill is probably my favourite despite the fact he’s not even a Dragon-type. What I love about Excadrill, is the twist in the rebellious Pokémon story, don’t get me wrong I loved the arcs with Ash’s Charizard and Dawn’s Mamoswine but I love it when they spice up or change the formula. In this scenario, it was Iris’ immaturity and inability to understand her Pokémon’s feelings that caused Excadrill to close himself off. Excadrill’s arc was honestly one of my favourite arcs of BW, as Excadrill acted as the trigger to Iris’ character development. 

Not to mention for a while, Excadrill was Iris’ ace, understandably as in the beginning, Axew was still developing as a battler and Emolga had her little Volt Switch tactic. There’s also the fact, Excadrill helps cover Iris’ team weaknesses to Ice and later the newly introduced Fairy type also being part Steel-type, Excadrill resists Dragon-type moves. Not to mention, Excadrill helped Iris win the Club Battle, battled against Tornadus and Thundrus and drew against Drayden’s Haxorus after losing to the Axe Jaw Pokémon many years ago. Is just a testament, to Excadrill’s strength.

However, I use the phrase “for a while”, since like the rest of the Iris’ Pokémon, once, Dragonite’s introduced they are kind of pushed to the side and don’t develop any further. However, despite the lack of character development following his arc, I still love Excadrill and his story.

Emolga:

Now, Emolga is a Pokémon, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I loved her personality, but my issue is why did Iris need to catch Emolga? Emolga is an Electric/Flying-type, so she doesn’t really aid in Iris reaching her goal nor does her typing contribute strategically to Iris’ team as she doesn’t help cover any weaknesses. Also, aside from her initial disobedience when she’s first caught, Emolga doesn’t really experience any character development, she doesn’t have a character arc like Excadrill or has a rival (aside from Snivy) that she has to overcome. 

I honestly don’t have much to say about Emolga, as they never really gave her story, she just felt like an unusual catch.

Dragonite:

I will be honest; I am not a huge fan of Iris’ Dragonite. Firstly, it felt as though, the writers forgot to give her an additional Dragon-type and just rewarded her with this random Dragonite. Secondly, there is the fact, that Dragonite was disobedient towards Iris despite the fact he joined her team willingly. Thirdly, he single handedly ruins all of the character development Iris had built up to that point. During the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, Iris has tantrums during her battles when Dragonite doesn’t listen to her. His continuous victories, caused Iris to be overconfident, kept using him despite the risks and was surprised when she lost. After the match, Cynthia explains Dragonite doesn’t have complete confidence in Iris as a trainer. My question ends up being, why join someone you don’t have complete and utter confidence in? Did Dragonite see some sort of potential in Iris? I honestly don’t know. I just found Dragonite’s whole arc frustrating as he completely diminished Iris’ development up to that point and undermines Excadrill’s arc.  

Iris has had some of her best moments throughout the series with the other Unovan Dragon-types such as Druddigon and Deino both of which would have been great captures for her particularly Deino as she has a Hydreigon in the games.

Also, HE. SHOULD. HAVE. LOST. TO. DAWN’S. MAMOSWINE!!!! (and I’m not just saying that because I love Dawn and her Mamoswine)

Additionally, for every trainer we’ve had so far, their ace tends to be their starter. However, with Iris at one stage it was Excadrill and later it became Dragonite. During, Iris’ battle with Clair, she develops a telepathic connection with him (I honestly didn’t understand), we’ve seen trainers communicate with their Pokémon, non-verbally but they’ve all tended to be Psychic-types, which is what makes this scenario stranger. Dragonite ends up overshadowing the rest of Iris’ Pokémon and they don’t develop any further after he joins the party. 

If the writers absolutely felt that they had to give Iris a Dragonite, they could have at least done it whilst she was in Johto since Dragonite’s pre-evolutions can be found in Dragon’s Den and Route 45. It honestly would have made more sense than giving her a Gible which isn’t even native to Johto and we haven’t even been given a hint on whether or not Gible is appearing in the next episode.

Pokémon Conclusion:

I know Iris caught a Gible and Episode 65 mentioned she caught a Goodra (which I honestly don’t why they keep giving her the same Pokémon as Ash) but I don’t know enough about either of them to write anything analytically. Generally, I tend to love certain Pokémon because of the way they are portrayed in the anime or whether they belonged to a certain character I liked. Nevertheless, a character’s Pokémon team is meant to help contribute towards their development. However, with Iris’ team it is difficult to say, Excadrill for a short period definitely contributed towards Iris’ growth, but I felt that was ruined by Dragonite’s appearance. It doesn’t help that Haxorus evolved off-screen so we don’t even get to see the build-up towards his evolution. That’s why I feel like Iris’ Pokémon could have been one aspect of her character that could have been written better.

Iris’ Rivals:

We’ve had some amazing rivals throughout the series, some of my favourite rivals include Drew, Paul, Ursula, the list could go on and on. For me a good rival is someone I’m cheering on the main character to beat, I feel disappointed when they don’t and ecstatic and proud when they do. The BW series introduced a plethora of rivals not only for Ash, even Iris and Cilan had their own rivals. 

For Iris, it was a girl called Georgia, who aims to defeat every Dragon-type trainer after suffering a defeat from a trainer at the Village of Dragons. When Georgia, is first introduced alongside Excadrill, I felt as though she was a trigger for Iris’ character development as she unintendedly triggered the events that allowed Iris to repair her relationship with Excadrill. However, it goes downhill, a rival is meant to encourage the main characters to better themselves and work hard to eventually defeat them. Yet, I feel like Iris does this more for Georgia rather than the other way around. Georgia actually captures Pokémon that have an advantage over or resist Dragon-types, rightly complains about Iris’ lack of Dragon-types despite aiming to be a Dragon Master and Georgia actually lives up to her goal by defeating several Dragon-types during tournaments.

If Georgia appeared more frequently and actually battled Iris (because in 2 out of the 3 tournament arcs, she’s knocked before even gets to battle Iris) we would engage with her more as a rival especially if she was someone difficult to defeat. I liked the fact that each of the main characters receiving a rival, however, in story-telling wise they fall flat as after her introductory episode Georgia doesn’t help progress Iris’ character development. Moreover, the characters’ main rivals tend to gain the most development, yet, Georgia hardly develops, she doesn’t accept her losses unless it is a Dragon-type or she blames her losses on circumstances such as the battlefield. Georgia’s pettiness and immaturity, honestly, reminds me of Harley and Ursula.

However, aside from Georgia, characters such as Drayden, Cynthia or Clair I don’t really see as rivals. Firstly, I don’t see Drayden as a rival, I’m not even sure what he’s meant to be, as Iris appears intimidated by him following their battle at the Village of Dragons and her experience at Opelucid Academy. He was the one that recommended Iris go on a journey rather than attend school. Considering, Iris is a child, being treated like this she would get the impression that Drayden doesn’t like her, which, is no wonder she is shocked when he announces his decision to choose her as his successor. In the games, they are shown to be close, as Iris affectionately refers to Drayden as “Grandpa”, I think if they transferred that relationship into the anime, it would have made Drayden’s choice of selecting Iris as his successor feel a lot more natural. 

Cynthia is definitely someone I didn’t see as a rival for Iris, however, given that Iris is a champion now that might change. However, I’ll write with the material I have, it was clear Iris looked up to Cynthia due to her ace being part Dragon-type (which may be why the writers felt the need to give her a Gible). Aside, from their battle and giving Iris advice on her relationship with Dragonite. The two hardly interact, to me Cynthia was more of an inspiration or role model for Iris to look up to.

Finally, we have Clair, who I feel is more of a mentor and role model for Iris rather than a rival. I understand the two had a battle in the BW special, however, that battle felt more like a learning experience for Iris and deepened her bond with Dragonite. To be fair, Clair is an ideal role model for Iris in comparison to Cynthia (despite being a champion) Clair actually specialises in Dragon-types and she is respected amongst other Dragon-users. Although Clair isn’t a rival (at least not in my eyes) as a mentor she helped Iris grow during their brief encounters, the fact that Clair had a cameo in Journeys, shows her contribution towards Iris’ development.

Despite, the fact, BW definitely had a plethora of rivals for the main characters a majority of them fell short, they were either annoying, hardly contributed towards the story or any development or just appeared once. It was refreshing to see, rivals introduced for goals such as a Dragon Master and a Pokémon Connoisseur, as I wasn’t sure how rivals could be implemented for such goals aside from aiming for the same goal as previous rivals. Nevertheless, Georgia was meant to be Iris’ primary rival and aside from her first appearance, she hardly contributed to Iris’ overall development. They hardly battled, Georgia hardly appeared and Georgia didn’t develop much either. All in all, the writers fell short writing a good rival for Iris.

Journeys:

I understand I’m a bit late since Episode 65 aired a few weeks ago. Like many fans, I was impressed by Iris’ growth during her absence, culminating in her becoming the Unova Champion. Although this leaves me a bit confused as to when Iris left the series, she was set to be Drayden’s successor as the Opelucid Gym Leader, now that she’s a Champion does this mean Drayden has to find an alternative successor? It kind of renders the whole homecoming arc in BW, kind of pointless. 

Drayden explains how Iris during her absence from the series continued to meet and battle with other Dragon-type trainers and alludes to the fact she’s caught a Gible (which we knew) and a Goodra, I don’t understand why they keep giving Iris these random Dragon-types that Ash has also caught. Did Iris catch Goodra in Kalos? Did she meet Drasna of the Kalos Elite Four? Anyway, what I like about this whole scene, is despite being Champion, Iris still doesn’t feel as though she has accomplished her goal of becoming a Dragon Master. Whilst, I respect the fact Iris still wants to grow as a trainer, it raises the question of what does it take to become a Dragon Master? Does it differ from person to person? 

Additionally, they’ve explained the ability Iris developed in the BW special, as an ability to read a Dragon Pokémon’s emotions. Which to be honest, I still find it a bit baffling, it's understandable for Psychic-type specialists and to some extent, Ghost-type specialists as Phoebe of the Hoenn Elite Four can apparently communicate with ghosts, but, for the sake of the story, I’ll accept it. 

I was impressed with the battle and comedy aspects of this episode with my favourite moments being the looks Emolga and Pikachu gave their trainers when they were bickering and when Iris and Ash quite literally blew the roof of the gym. I mean to be fair; it should be a requirement at this point that Gyms need an open roof in the Pokémon world just to avoid this kind of incident. 

The battle I was impressed with, subverted some of my expectations and worries, as I thought it would follow the pattern of Ash’s battle with Korrina where Gengar was swiftly defeated and Dragonite took down both of Korrina’s Pokémon. I felt bad for poor Dragonite being intimidated by Iris’ Dragonite (his glare reminds me of Harley’s Wigglytuff) and Ash being the good trainer that he is recalls Dragonite. This bit, I loved as it shows Ash’s compassion as a trainer. We had the bit we were waiting for! Ash actually using Dracovish, I feel as though Dracovish is definitely one of the weaker aspects of Ash’s character in this series as in Episode 63, aside from Water Gun, he didn’t know Dracovish’s moves or the fact he runs faster underwater (although to be fair Dracovish is a new species of Pokémon that people hardly know anything about so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt). I feel if we’d seen Ash training with Dracovish, the build-up to this battle would have been so much better and we could have seen a stronger bond between Ash and Dracovish form.

Part of me is relieved was that Dracovish didn’t go on to defeat Dragonite and Haxorus as the lack of screen-time with Dracovish could not justify that outcome. However, I’m still not satisfied with the outcome of this battle. In my previous analysis, I mentioned that I didn’t want them to pull the same stunt they did with Korrina, and what did they go and do? I understand Ash is also a Champion, however, they built up the fact Dragonite fully accepts Iris as his trainer, her Axew is now fully evolved and is her ace (as he should have been from the start!) and then they go and make her lose! 

Like Korrina, this completely undermines all of Iris’ efforts in her absence and continues my biggest gripe with Journeys being pacing. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ash and I love seeing him succeed but when they build up a character returning like this people were kind of hoping Iris would win or draw with Ash (which would at least minimize the pacing issue slightly). In my opinion, a draw would have been a more satisfying conclusion, as it would reflect on both Iris and Ash’s growth during their time apart in a more positive light. 

Conclusion:

This extended analysis has been long overdue and I think it has allowed me to elevate my opinion of Iris but due to some weird writing choices. I don’t feel that same level of attachment that I’ve felt towards other travelling companions. But writing this analysis helped me see that a lot of the hate towards her is exaggerated. As she has had some great moments and development throughout BW. One of my favourite arcs in BW, was Iris restoring her relationship with Excadrill which was one of the most poignant moments of the series.

Overall, this analysis has not only helped improve my opinion on Iris but when a character we’re meant to like is written poorly, we’re less likely to like them or engage with them as well as you would with another character. This is why I’m having such an issue with Journeys at the moment and why I needed to take a little break from it. Although, I may watch the Gary episode, just to see Infernape in action again! Along with the rest of Ash’s Pokémon! 

[specialagent836]

moral-construct​:

Cyrus watched in silent heedful curiosity at the demonstration of the power of nature being shown right in front of his very eyes. The plume of the ashes grew tenfold in size by the time the tremors started, alerting even the most inattentive visitors to the volcano’s anger. Pokemons cried their worries, pidgeys and spearows flew from the confines of their nests, someone besides him yelled as their rapidash threw a fit and ran, its master gone into a poursuit after it. Chaos ensued. Fear could be felt blooming from everyone’s heart.

Even on Looker’s own. The man’s fears were not hidden as he, too, observed the mountain from the distance. Cyrus in all his lifetime, has never heard of any volcano erupting in Kanto. Who knows for how long Mt Silver had been bottling up its growing rage. No matter how big or small, needless to say a volcano in eruption, which has been dormant for who knows how long, was never a good sign.

A memory… Resurfaced in his mind. Ree, they had seemed fearful of the mountain. Something about a curse, the place being sacred. Looker just reaffirmed it. This mountain was no ordinary volcano. There was something more, something beyond their realm.

The man knew better than to doubt the powers of the godly and the supernatural.

And then Looker gave him a strange look. Cyrus didn’t have time to tilt his head when he was grabbed and tugged. His privacy invaded. His mouth opened but it was as if Looker had read his mind.

He closed it right back. The protest was instead silent and clear on his features. No need to touch him. He could walk and run fine on his own. However Looker had other intentions. Hmph, they had no time to start a fight. Cyrus surrendered. And ran.

He knew how the ashes could be poisonous. ‘You’ll thank me later. We have to get inside. Now.’ Cyrus indeed did not wait to offer his gratitude, heading towards the hotel they were running to. He went ahead and grabbed the door, opening it for them, and kept it open for more people who were, just as them, seeking shelter.

A bigger, larger tremor could be felt. This one was more like an explosion. Cyrus lifted his eyes. The volcano was now spitting fire. He finally closed the door and joined Looker’ side.

“…You are the second person who has explained to me how the mountain is sacred.”

He paused. “If that is really the case, we should expect something more to happen than simple fire and ashes.”

He nods. Watching out of one the lobby windows.

“I have no doubt that there will be more to come after this. Not only will we have to deal with the aftermath of the ash, but we will have to deal with the things on the mountain. I could not tell you what I mean by that. Just that there is a reason no one goes on the mountain anymore. People don’t come back once they go. The only one that I know of that has is Red.”

He searches around the lobby for something to cover his face.

“I will have to back out in it. I, unfortunately, have no lodging in the city and will have to make my way to Celadon.”

A cloth is all he could find. It’ll have to do. He’ll have to get a mask from his apartment if he did decide on heading to Pallet. Which, was highly likely. Someone would have to go at some point.

“Make sure people know not to go outside.”

He looks at Cyrus.

“I know I don’t have to tell you, but don’t follow me. It’ll be too dangerous once the ash gets here. Even if I leave now, I’ll still get caught in it. Also, apologies for pulling you in here. I wasn’t certain you would take my concern seriously so I made sure you got inside by any means. It will not happen again.”

[thefandomlesbian]

Ship Questions!

Hotch/Reid

Domestic 🥰

(Also, I’m a huge fan of all your writings! Thanks for sharing 💜)

Thank you! ❤️

Sorry, this got pretty long!

1.) If they get married, who proposes?

Aaron does. Spencer is very comfortable not being married ever, and it's Aaron's drive to ensure Jack is in good hands in the event of his death that pushes him toward marriage. Spencer doesn't exactly want a wedding, but he knows Aaron is traditional and it's important to him, so he goes along with it.

2.) What's the wedding like? Who attends?

This could go one of two ways. 1.) They elope to Las Vegas so Diana can attend and invite literally no one else.

Or, more likely, 2.) They throw a BAU wedding in DC. JJ is the maid of honor and Derek is the best man. Rossi walks Spencer down the aisle and Gideon officiates. Rossi cries. Jack is the ring bearer and Henry is the flower girl.

A mostly unfamiliar face shows up, strolling up during the reception after the ceremony while Spencer is talking to Rossi and Derek. Spencer recognizes him first. "I don't want you here."

William is holding a brochure, pointing to where Rossi's name is listed as the father of the groom. "I would've come if you had called."

"I didn't want you to."

"You could've called," he insists. "You didn't have to write me off like this."

Derek goes to intercede, but Rossi catches him by the arm. "Hey, Reid," he says, looking quite mild. "There's one fatherly lesson I haven't taught you yet."

"What's that?" Spencer is confused at this assertion.

"How to throw a right hook."

William is on the floor, Aaron is covering Jack's eyes, Emily is cheering, JJ is trying to drag Spencer away, Gideon is getting Rossi some ice for his hands, and Strauss is pressing the bridge of her nose trying to decide if they can somehow make this a lawsuit for the bureau or if this is going to create more paperwork for her somehow.

Aaron invites a handful of old lawyer friends and Sean, who does reluctantly show up. Spencer invites his professors and teachers and Ethan. Several of them greet him with, "Oh, I haven't seen you in so long! You've gotten so tall!" which yields the question who was that person, and the answer is always, "A professor from my first doctorate."

3.) How many kids do they have?

In most timelines, only Jack. Spencer doesn't have any desire to spread his genes with his sketchy health history, and while Aaron wanted a bigger family with Haley, he knows it wouldn't be fair to do this to another child, the inconsistent hours, the lack of presence, and besides, Jessica wouldn't agree to free childcare for another kid. Spencer is okay with not being a father in the traditional way, and he's still someone who is very important to Jack, not to mention Henry and Hank and (insert baby name because I reject JJ naming her second child Michael).

But there is another timeline where they've discussed it. Spencer wants to be a father, and he tells Aaron that, and they aren't really sure how to proceed—with their line of work and histories, they aren't eligible for adoption. They look into surrogacy, but Spencer again doesn't really care to pass on his genetic material, and Aaron is having a very hard time shaking off his Catholic upbringing that makes him feel super duper icky and weird about something of his growing inside a woman he doesn't actually know that well and then that child being his and not part of her. They're at an impasse when, on a case, there's a break when a woman is found disemboweled in the dumpster while her newborn infant is wrapped in a plastic bag. There is no family after identification. Social services comes to take the baby, and they both feel like maybe this is some sign from the universe and they're missing out. Later that night when neither of them can sleep, Aaron rolls out of bed and calls the social services contact, and the baby is still floating around the office, not having yet found a foster family. So they take her.

It's several years of paperwork as they transition from foster parents to adopted guardians of Haley Diana Hotchner-Reid. Spencer steps down from the BAU to become a research professor full-time, and he finds cures for antibiotic-resistant bacterial illnesses. He invents a vaccine for tuberculosis. He has a routine schedule, so he's available for the kids all the time, and Aaron doesn't have to leave his job to have the family he wants.

4.) Do they have any pets?

Usually, no. Aaron is afraid of dogs. Animals don't like Spencer. Aaron grew up in rural Virginia, so he likes the idea of having horses like he did when he was young, but they don't have anywhere to put a horse or farm animals, and while Spencer fantasizes about having a farm, he thinks horses and cattle up close are terrifying. But occasionally they wind up with a cat, or even two cats if they're adventurous, and Spencer does a lot of research to start appropriate fish husbandry with a giant, well-kept aquarium where he teaches Jack all about how to properly care for fish (ie, goldfish and betas don't go in bowls, no fish go in bowls).

5.) Who's the stricter parent?

Neither of them are all that stern. Aaron doesn't know how to appropriately discipline a child. He knows what not to do, but he isn't sure about alternatives, and whenever Jack acts out of turn, he feels like it's his fault for letting Jack down and letting him experience so much trauma that twisted his ability to process his emotions in a healthy way. Aaron doesn't know how to provide structure and support in a positive way, and he tries, but it's hard.

Spencer also didn't exactly have any good parental role models. He does have the ability to learn everything there is to know about a child's interests through reading, and he does that to make connections. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't and Jack has still graffitied the side of the school building and Aaron is having to pay out damages and is trying very hard not to raise his voice and Spencer is like, "Is this what Ash Ketchum would do?" and Jack responds, "I'm thirteen, I haven't watched Pokemon in five years, grow up." Then they enlist a family counselor.

6.) Who kills the bugs?

Neither have bug fear. Spencer will squish roaches and pest bugs as he finds them. However, he thinks unique bugs are quite interesting, and he doesn't kill ants or spiders or crickets. Instead, he studies them. Spiders he always captures and takes outside. Once, Spencer has a piece of paper and a cup and is working very hard on entrapping a beautiful black widow, and Aaron sees it without realizing what he's doing and mushes it. "Why would you do that? Why would you kill an arachnid? She was protecting our home." After that, Aaron lets Spencer handle all the bugs and doesn't interfere since he never knows which ones deserve to live and which ones don't.

7.) How do they celebrate the holidays?

If someone is hosting a Christmas party, they'll attend, but otherwise, they'll stay inside and decorate the tree as a family. Sean is invited to Christmas dinner; he rarely comes. Jessica and her family go to her parents', and Aaron doesn't want to make Spencer uncomfortable by taking him there, so they avoid such gatherings. They make it special with just the three of them, unless another member or two of the BAU wants to squeeze in. Aaron likes to go to midnight mass, and he usually manages to convince Spencer to sit through it one night of the year.

On Halloween, they all go trick-or-treating together.

Easter is the other day of the year Aaron insists they go to church because, "I am nothing if not a Chreaster Catholic." Aaron takes Jack alone while Spencer stays home and sets up a wild egg hunt somewhere in the city, and when church ends, Aaron brings Jack to look for the eggs. Sometimes the rest of the BAU's kids join in.

For Memorial Day and Fourth of July, Aaron grills. Spencer tries once and they spend Memorial Day in the ER and Aaron has to buy a new grill. Likewise, they agree Spencer should not come within three feet of any firework materials, including benign sparklers and the like.

8.) Who's more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

Aaron likes to get up early to brew Spencer's coffee the way he likes it, warm the house up, and start breakfast. Spencer never asks him to come back because he enjoys having the house warm and breakfast ready when he rolls out of bed. But if Aaron isn't feeling well and Spencer gets out of bed to do those things, it only takes a couple petulant grumbles on Aaron's part to convince Spencer to slide back under the covers.

9.) Who's the better cook?

Aaron is a much better cook. Spencer, to his credit, tries sometimes. But Aaron has a better understanding of how palates work and also how not to set things on fire. Spencer knows cooking is technically just a science, but it's a science that baffles him, he'll admit, like paranormal science or theology.

[smoldewott]

I’ve been having a lot of feelings.

TL;DR: Leon represents every kid who grew up playing Pokemon.

When I was ten years old, the Sinnoh games were the latest core series Pokémon games. I remember loving Dusknoir especially, thinking of it as “my partner” the way Ash had Pikachu. I loved the idea of Pokémon contests and watched every episode that had one. I loved the idea of being independent, of going on a journey.

I’m turning twenty-one next January. I still love Pokémon, but now I interact with the series differently.

Pokémon, first and foremost, is a game for children. It’s always going to have kid or teen protagonists. The coming of age story is designed for children. When you beat the champion in any game, a grownup character will tell you you’ve grown so much and how they’re proud of you. I bet a lot of us have some fond childhood memories about specific moments in the games.

As parts of the fan base grow up, though, there’s a question: what comes next?

What happens after you defeat the bad guys? What happens after you enter the Hall of Fame? What happens after you grow up?

The writers have been developing this (or at least trying to) ever since Gold and Silver. Because their protagonists are blank slates, though, it’s hard to write epilogues that get specific. Red becomes a silent recluse. Hilbert/Hilda disappear on a search for N. (I mean, mood, and probably what a lot of players themselves would have done, but it’s also kind of sad to see the world move on without you.) Red appears again to vacation with his rival in Alola. (Also a mood and also what I’d do if I spent three years on an ice mountain, but that doesn’t develop any story about him as a character.)

It’s hard to write about the player characters after they become champion.

Hence: Leon.

Leon is noted for becoming champion at the age of ten. That number is not an accident: it’s possibly the most common age given for when a kid can start their journey. (Note: I love Ash Ketchum. If you wanna make fun of him, make your own post.)

Leon is called unbeatable. He’s never lost an official match. From the outside, this might sound suspicious, but it’s pretty much the same as every player character in every other game. After all, if you lose in a prior game, you’re transported to a Pokémon center and everyone acts like the battle didn’t happen. Protagonists don’t lose, and Leon is no exception.

He’s even got a pair of rivals a la May/Brendan and Wally, Cheren and Bianca, or Hau and Gladion.

But there are two things that set Leon apart from any player character (aside from perhaps Elio/Selene, @Gamefreak you better let us know how the Alola league is doing —) ahem. The first part that sets Leon apart from any player character is that Leon becomes Champion, and he actually stays Champion.

He grows up. He stays strong. He becomes famous, beloved.

This could theoretically be what happened to any of the player characters, after their stories.

So. What kind of person is Leon?

He’s a strong trainer. A given.

He’s a showman, representing Galar’s football-esque league.

He’s responsible: when there’s trouble, he goes to fix it. He doesn’t ask the child protagonists to do the work for him. (Note, too, how his only ally during the game is his rival Sonia.)

But Leon’s most important role in the story of Sword and Shield isn’t that he’s the champion, or that he’s a responsible adult. I mean, sure, those are important, but every champion is important, and Gamefreak has been getting better about letting adults do things.

No, what makes Leon important is that he is our rival’s brother.

That’s the other thing that sets him apart. Our player characters never have siblings. (Yes, I know the character you don’t chose in the Hoenn games has a little brother, but he doesn’t count.) The minimalist family is another part of the blank-slate protagonist design. But Leon, a protagonist who gets to be a person, gets to be a big sibling.

His brotherly instincts aren’t limited to Hop, either. He treats Victor/Gloria similarly: giving them their first Pokémon, teaching them how to catch Pokémon, looking out for them and encouraging them — 

How many of us have done the same when interacting with a child new to Pokémon?

(In 2017, I had a very pleasant conversation with a kindergartner telling me how strong his Wishiwashi was. I like to think we learned at least a little from each other.)

So, to recap: Leon reflects the protagonist archetype. He shows what might happen after a player becomes champion. Leon represents anyone who’s been a Pokémon Master since they were a kid.

And in the end, he steps aside when it’s time for the younger generation to take their place.

Nobody’s saying that adults shouldn’t play Pokémon. At a certain age, though, we have to remember that it’s not primarily for us anymore. As adults, we have influence, and we need to be mindful of how we act around younger players.

Are we being kind? Are we being helpful? Are we giving them a safe place to grow?

After all, that’s what being a champion is about, right?