#I think this form came out in BW2?

[pokemonfrommemory]

Hell YEAH he’s resolute

[satoaiandsonaze]

Just thought I'd do this because I'm bored af rn!

Thinking about the Pokémon Iris would have if we knew she extended her team in the anime, and here's what I came up with.

Pokémon we've seen in the anime and on her team:

Haxorus, Excadrill, Dragonite, Emolga, and Gible that she would evolve to Garchomp and obtain a Mega Stone for it.

Pokémon we've seen in the anime but not in her team:

Goodra, a Pokémon Iris probably caught not long after she became the Unova Champion. It was seen in her return episode along with Gible and a shot of Clair as well.

Pokémon she probably caught outside of screen time in the anime:

Hydreigon, because she tamed Shannon's Hydreigon in the episode where she, Ash, and Cilan visit the Village of Dragons, and seems to have connections to the Deino Evolution line. Druddigon, because Clair has one as well, except Iris's would be normal colors and not shiny (I also kind of hate the Shiny Druddigon's colors). And having both a Hydreigon and Druddigon as well as Haxorus means that Iris would have all three of the Psuedo Dragons of Unova.

Pokémon she should've caught in the anime:

Shiny Lapras, because both Lance and Clair have a shiny Pokémon added to their Dragon entourage, so why shouldn't Iris? She has a Lapras in the BElW 2 games, and it would help Iris conquer her fears of Ice Types. And later, she might go to Circhester and have Melony help Iris obtain Max Mushroons for Lapras to reach it's hidden Gigantamax powers. And the purple Lapras just looks plain cool.

Pokémon I PERSONALLY think Iris would have:

Leavanny, because Leavanny is normally an agile Pokémon, and it would help Iris learn how to use Ash's wild battle tactics. Archeops, because Iris has one in the BW2 games, and I think Iris having a revived Jurrasic Pokémon would be so cool! Dragalge, because this Kalos Pokémon would be a fun story for Iris. Dragalge's first form, Skrelp, is a Poison and Water type, so Iris would be against catching one, but Ash would probably convince Iris to catch one anyway. She would then do it, and when Skrelp evolves into Dragalge, Iris learns that when Skrelp evolves, it loses its Water type and turns it into a Dragon type, leaving Iris feeling very silly, and this would definitely be something Ash would tease for her.

Last category on this list. Since Ash and Iris are extremely close to each other, Ash would probably let Iris borrow some of his Pokémon. Here're a couple I KNOW she would ask Ash to borrow:

Snivy as fully evolved Serperior, because as a Snivy, Iris has battled with Ash's Grass Snake Pokémon before, and it is probably the one Pokémon in Ash's BW team that is the most connected to her Trainer's Dragon Master friend. If and when Snivy becomes a fully-evolved-and-fully-powered Serperior, it would most likely be one of Ash's strongest Pokémon ever, and Iris would love to battle with it! And surprisingly, Lucario as well, because Iris is most likely interested in Ash's Aura Pokémon after most likely watching Ash's entry battle against Raihan, and then watching his battle against Cynthia in the semifinals of the Masters 8 Tournament in the series. Lucario would also sense - with his Aura - that Ash trusts Iris and would be willing to share his Aura with her. And maybe at one point, Ash might even let Iris use Lucario's Mega Evolution powers as well! Who knows?

Well, that's all I got! Glad I could get this out of my brain and share it with you. If you have any other ideas, let me know!

[trans-clown-catgirl]

pokemon community hot take; i don't think Ghetsis and Colress had a power imbalance or that their relationship was abusive at all. more detail underneath the Read More because this came out longer than i had anticipated.

i don't think the abusive dynamic many people portray is exactly accurate, i get that ghetsis IS abusive and a total piece of shit, undeniably, but i don't think Colress was subject to that. i think that yes he was taken advantage of, yes he was manipulated, but i think to a degree, Colress knew that. after you beat him in the postgame, Colress tells you that he hated Ghetsis from the very beginning- ''For one thing, I detested Ghetsis from the start!", he makes it very clear that the only reason he cooperated was for his own benefit, to further his own research. the idea that Ghetsis abused Colress holds no ground in my personal opinion, Colress shows a lot of autonomy and ability to act on his own, namely, he sabotages Neo Team Plasma by giving you a device specifically intented to remove the Crustle barricade at Seaside Cave guarding the Plasma Frigate. you can't just say that it was on accident, because it would be a cosmically impossible coincidence for him to give you not only a device meant to energize Pokemon, after he had already shown you it can be used to move Crustle, but also have it break after a single use. if he wanted you to just have a silly little device to energize pokemon for your own personal use, why would he not just give you the colress machine he used back at Castelia City? he ALLOWED you to go into the Plasma Frigate and intervene, he willingly sabotaged them with seemingly no hesitation, and his confidence never once falters during the whole ordeal, not from the moment to met him to the moment you battle him.

it's also worth noting- Colress is an exceptionally strong trainer, much better than Ghetsis. he's shown to have a lot of battle experience, and his postgame team is incredibly competent, possessing Pokemon with full item builds, an eviolite Magneton, a pseudo legendary in Metagross, the single best Rotom form in Rotom-Wash, and a Magnezone which is a Pokemon with a LOT of amazing traits, and one he uses in your third battle with him, at the Frigate.

you could say it's just this good because it's a postgame team, because it's simple game design, but in his Frigate battle he still has a Metang, the eviolite Magneton, Magnezone, and an Air Balloon Klinklang (which is unusually clever item usage for an NPC, getting rid of Steel's Ground weakness). he's a smart, competent trainer, as opposed to Ghetsis who is incredibly impulsive and driven by anger. not to mention, Colress knows how to operate the Frigate in detail, which Ghetsis is never shown to do. so by all means, if facing aggression from Ghetsis, Colress can put him in his place and remind him he holds no power over him, that their relationship is one of mutual benefit, and that he's not going to be ordered around, he's not subject to Ghetsis' whims. he's a better trainer so his pokemon are more than apt enough at providing self defense, he's smarter than Ghetsis, he knows the inner functionings of the very ship they're on better than Ghetsis does, and overall he holds every advantage possible he could against Ghetsis. and his lack of hesitation to sabotage Ghetsis, how openly he states his hatred for that man, the way he later intervenes in the Rainbow Rocket episode of USUM simply out of sheer hatred for Ghetsis more than any affiliation to the Aether Foundation, even going so far as to steal the Master Ball that Ghetsis had stored away after his defeat at the end of BW2, despite knowing damn well the Shadow Triad still follows Ghetsis and acts in his steed, Colress was never powerless against Ghetsis.

he didn't just grow a backbone later, he's always been like this. he's not a victim, he was just as guilty of the things that happened in BW2 as Ghetsis was. he's morally gray, that's the point of his character- being a Chaotic Neutral who can be either a great asset or great threat depending on who makes the most compelling argument to him as to how he should go about things, how to conduct his research. Ghetsis convinced him one way, then the player convinced him the other way, and he's stayed on that path since, purely because no one has really made a good enough argument for him to do anything as reprehensible as the things he did in BW2. he's not iron-clad, obviously! in USUM, he develops the N-Solarizer and N-Lunarizer, used to fuse Solgaleo and Lunala, with no concern as to how ethical the procedure may be, even stating he has experience with Pokemon fusion, showing that if he does regret what he did, it's clearly not to a strong emotional level. he wasn't forced to do what he did, there wasn't a power imbalance, and while i do respect the narrative weight of how some people portray his relationship with Ghetsis, i think that as far as the game goes, it's very unsupported and it shouldn't be stated as fact, like some people say it is.

tl;dr: Colress is not a victim, and i personally think people who argue as such completely miss the point of his morally gray nature and ability to be swayed into doing horrible things by anyone who makes a compelling enough argument and gives him the resources he needs. Ghetsis is still a scumbag, he still absolutely abused N and did horrible things, he has victims, but Colress is NOT one of them.

[mewintheflesh-2]

Would Nikey recruit some of the other Pokèmon villains to his cause or would they be on the side of the resistance?

I feel like Team Aqua and Magma would be against them for obvious reasons.

Team Skull is just there and Team Rocket is doing things in their own dark corner.

Team Plasma, Galatic, and Flare could join them as admins with their whole “Taking Over the World” stick.

The Aether Foundation/Lusimine would have mixed feelings. She probably would not like the sky destroying the world made for her beautiful Ultra Beasts, but that would give her motivation to work for Nikey so she can still have sunlight for her enclosure.

QUICK WARNING I might’ve gotten a few of these out of character for the leaders. Specifically Ghetsis and Lysander, those are toughies and enigmas to me, but I tried my best! (I’m so sorry Ghetsis enjoyers)

In one of my previous headcanons posts I did state that Winona is working with Archie and Maxie to help create sustainable life on Earth again.

Team Skull would be just as they are before, just a bunch of hooligans making things way harder than they need to be for The Sun’s Children. Plumeria doesn’t want them messing around with Winona or any of her colleagues though, they’re dealing with enough already.

Team Rocket is of course up to no good stealing peoples Pokémon and money. They’re still operating without a leader though, as Giovanni never came back to Team Rocket, so they’re just treated like regular ol’ criminals. Speaking of Jail, it’s actually a pretty decent place to be since Winona began her leadership.

Team Plasma… Oh Team Plasma. It’s always been a thing with me that Mikey had always hated Team Plasma with all his heart, ESPECIALLY and almost specifically Ghetsis. So when Ghetsis came walking into Nikey’s office all those years later, he nearly had a goddamn heart attack. I mean hey, the dude nearly killed him, and WAS going to kill him if N didn’t step in. (Events of BW2).

Nikey is very uncomfortable with Ghetsis and still thinks he’s a goddamn creep. Ghetsis kept getting way too close for comfort in his visit to Nikey, so much so that Nikey himself started to not be as handsy with people as he normally is even months after he visited. (again, hes not handsy in a sexual way).

He either: 1. Very reluctantly decided to work with him and distance himself as much as possible from Ghetsis, or 2. Threw him into the worst jail cell he had on hand and kept him there for god knows how long. (Can you blame him? Like I said the man nearly killed him.) That or he banned him to live under the gloom. God knows Winona wouldn’t accept him into The Sun’s Children. Maybe Ghetsis starts to cook up his own plans… :)

Team Galactic was reformed after the events of Spear Pillar as we saw in DPPT (and BDSP if you want to count those) under the command of Saturn. As it’s new form was (and I believe I’m remembering correctly) an energy company as they once masqueraded as, Winona would absolutely be working with them as to keep the abundance of artificial lights under the smog lit and working properly. Can’t have a total black out now can we?

As for Cyrus, his whole ideal world was one without spirit or emotion as he was unhealthily dealing with his own mental health issues and took it to the extreme. I don’t think he’d want anything to do with Team Nightsky, especially after the events of Spear Pillar.

As for Team Flare, I don’t really have a good gauge on what the team as a whole acts like, much less their admins. I don’t even really remember their names. But Lysander, if I remember correctly, was similar to Cyrus in a way that he took his own issues with the world and decided to deal with it in an extreme way. He’s a philanthropist who genuinely wanted to believe in the good of people, but it just kept backfiring as he realized just how awful people could be. So he took it to the extreme, trying to end the world and make it more beautiful by be-ridding it of awful people (if I remember correctly). Considering how awful Nikey is, I don’t think Lysander would have any desire to work with him, especially after his loss in Kalos.

And last but not least, The Aether Foundation. I’d always avoided Lusamine’s game counterpart as I believe that her anime counterpart is much more how she actually is, my own personal opinion. As a result I don’t have a good gauge of her in SM/USUM, despite being my first Pokémon games. But I do know that her desires did not stem into most of the rest of the Aether Foundation’s, especially Wicke’s, so I will be speaking on that instead.

The Aether Foundation as we know is made to help endangered Pokémon recover and release them back into the wild. As I’ve went into detail into how the world was effected by the smog in my headcanon posts, we know that wild Pokémon are struggling immensely. This is something Aether has dealt with a lot in terms of natural disasters effecting many Pokémon at once, so they have quite a bit of experience with this. Winona would absolutely work with them to help and rescue wild Pokémon and help them recover. Building more paradises across the world in places Winona does not have reach. If I remember correctly, at the end of SM/USUM, Lusamine does start on a better path, so I have my doubts she’d work with Nikey, and as an extension Team Nightsky, at all. If she decided to stray off that better path for whatever reason, I think she might if she burns through her other options first.

Faba, however, is an enigma to me.

Really quickly I would like to point out that since Nikey had gotten stuck in the past, he would have an opportunity to defeat all of these evil teams himself, which I actually believe is what happened with Team Flare kudos to a reddit comment I received two months ago. So I thought for a moment it’d be interesting for Lysander to originally think Nikey was a good man before his rule, but then I realized that would break my reality of Nikey having accidentally traversed realities instead of just time traveling. I might change Nikey having saved Kalos, I might not. Who knows! I think it’d be interesting for Mikey to see his future self on the news held as a hero for saving the world. Maybe that’s when Mikey realizes Nikey might be having a change of heart. :)

ANYWAYS there is absolutely a gang of assassins out for Nikey’s blood, have fun with that! He’s very cautious of new recruits/people he doesn’t trust being near him. He already has 15 attempts to his name. He rarely lets people come into his office for meetings, unless it’s someone he trusts. Even then he doesn’t really fully trust anyone. Unless it’s- *COGHCOUGHCOUGH* sorry what was I gonna say? Don’t remember ;) Anyways you can imagine why he was so shaken up about Ghetsis being in his office. He got a lot more strict with who he lets into his office after that.

WHOO BOY THAT WAS A LONG ONE. This was really fun to write! Though I might’ve written some peoples actions out of character for them. Honest mistake! Hope you enjoyed reading this!

[electrivolt]

poke.mon Favourites!

FIRST GAME: yellow, it was my first console as well getting the gameboy color! fun fact i had a pikachu limited edition one that for the life of me i haven’t been able to find anywhere, it had pikachu and pichu on the sides and one of pikachu’s cheeks was overlapping with the on/off light of the gameboy, and it was semi transparent. it was cool as fuck i miss that gameboy :(

FAVOURITE SPINOFF GAME: mystery dungeons and rangers, to be even more exact explorers of sky and shadows of almia/guardian signs. mystery dungeons was my silly childhood dream of getting to play exclusively as a ‘mon and when i first played rangers it blew my mind how different it was and yet how cool it all was, both gameplay, story and the setting itself because getting to be a ranger was one of the coolest things i could think of. i still think a lot about those games they were just so good. 

FAVOURITE EVIL TEAM: team galactic, always team galactic, they still seem like one of the best teams to me to this day. they feel like one of the most actually dangerous teams of the games i’ve played that actually shows it, the lake bombing still sticks in my mind with how memorable that was not to mention spear pillar!! great team 10/10 nothing will top it for me

FAVOURITE TEAM LEADER: painfully obvious but cyrus, i could go on a 1 hour yt video essay on why he’s in my humble opinion the best team leader out there. i just think he’s neat and his ideals are smth wild and yummy to explore

FAVOURITE STARTER: rowlet because i love decidueye and ghosts are some of my favorites all around, but like. i could pick one for most gens. i love totodile i love turtwig i love snivy. help.

FAVOURITE BOX LEGENDARY: giratina. that’s my favorite legendary all around it’s never gonna be topped really

FAVOURITE POKEMON: can’t pick just one and go but i can narrow it down to very few ones actually excluding legendaries- luxray for sure, the whole line really but like. i love lux isn’t that obvious. big electric cat my beloved. mimikyu is another BIG one, i love mimikyu to death it’s just a lil guy that wants to be loved just a cute lil ghost that did nothing wrong AND THEN there’s gengar i love that mf it was actually my fave ghost type before mimikyu came along. espeon particularly is also a big fave though i don’t? really know why somehow?? but it’s my favorite eevolution all around. AND hisuian form zoroark i love that bastard ( to volkner’s dismey :) ) it’s such a cool regional variant concept ok-

if i had to mention legendaries ( other than gira ) there’s the obvious zappy bird and i’ll admit the galarian version is also p cool, the dogs are also pretty cool and lugia is one of my big favorites as well. there’s probably a few more but between technicalities of legendary vs mythical and all i can’t just sit here naming everyone

FAVOURITE PROFESSOR: admittedly i don’t really pay too much attention to the professors usually, but i think it’s rowan, i’d like him to be my grandpa

FAVOURITE RIVAL: barry my dear adhd crackhead child. i do remember using to like hugh a whole lot too as a kid when i first played bw2 but i cannot for the life of me remember why. i have to replay those games

FAVOURITE CHAMPION: cynthia! she’s always been great and so memorable, i just can’t help but be attached to her especially as my first “real” elite 4 challenge. steven is pretty close too for being weird

FAVOURITE CHARACTER (if not already covered): for obvious reasons it’s volk here but roark is neat too :) ( also for obvious reasons ). grusha and allister too though i got attached to these weird lil guys and i rlly want to go back to writing them if the mental illness allows me

FAVOURITE STORY: MMMMH WELL. i love the original dppt a whole lot, bw is also something i’m attached to a lot for many reasons, so i’d say those two are tied. i do have to add legends though because that fucked so hard

FAVOURITE MUSIC: i don’t. really pay attention a lot to the music but i guess the gym leader theme in galar is neat. some other stuff like the poke.mas remix kinda count too honestly and i really like some of the stuff in the og gen4

FAVOURITE REGION OVERALL: sinnoh all around. by extention hisui as well, like sinnoh already held a special place for me because it felt so alive and special with that care put into what is its own culture and the dedication to legendaries, and i love to have gotten hisui and to get to see the origins of so much of current sinnoh. unova is also a big favorite nearly as close to sinnoh with how much character it has and i have a lot of good memories of those games

[xgoldenlatiasx]

You guys want some random ass OC lore? Well you’re getting it anyway here we go

BASICALLY: Blake and Gold used to be the same character.

Waaay back when Colored Skies was my main project and I still considered Al my trainersona, Blake was a character I was forming in my brain. This was before I changed my name or even realized I’m trans so it was a LONG time ago. They were going to be my B/W protag from the start except the story was based off White so they would’ve ended up getting Zekrom instead of Reshiram. Basically, they were going to be Al’s kid, like Gold is. They had the Ho-Oh feather and everything.

The OG Blake was like Gold is, a rambunctious teen who wanted to live up to their mother’s legacy. Maybe a little less self-absorbed. I think in this old storyline Al didn’t go missing, she was just chilling in Nuvema rooting for her kid after they set out on their gym challenge.

OG Blake’s relationship with N was COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from how current Blake’s is. N was gonna end up like a big brother figure to them who kept trying to keep them out of Team Plasma’s affairs, but they refused to let him carry out his plan and kept butting in to conflicts with Team Plasma.

And man the final battle scene was gonna be extremely different too. N reluctantly agreeing to challenge them to decide the world’s fate yada yada and then after the battle Ghetsis tries to hurt them but then Al storms her way into the castle and kicks the guy’s ass. Then she sees all the shit N went through and was like “NEW SON ALERT” N still ends up leaving but Al assures him he’s welcome to visit her and her family in Nuvema anytime. Then I imagined once BW2 rolls around he’s tired from his two year journey and goes to stay with them.

Basically what happened was I began to start losing interest in Al, she obviously didn’t represent me anymore as I came to terms with my gender identity. Sure I could’ve just revamped her character, but at the time my family was already super familiar with her (I’d been telling them about my Pokémon fan story for YEARS, ever since I was a kid, obviously they’d want to keep reading it) and at the time I was terrified of them finding out I’m trans, so I didn’t want to out myself by completely changing the character they were so invested in.

THEN!!! Sword and Shield were announced, over the months as new mons were introduced I was like “hey, new gen new me, I’m gonna completely revamp my trainersona” and boom that’s how the new and current Blake came to be. Originally, they were just gonna be a silly self-insert, I didn’t plan for their story so get so deep. But years later we’ve come full circle and now they’re my B/W protag once again, except this time around they’re a depressed college dropout who’s tired of Everything.

There��s still aspects of the OG Blake I’ve implemented here and there- Obviously, Gold has the Ho-Oh feather thing, personality-wise he’s very different but like I said he’s still trying to live up to his mom’s legacy just like in the old version. Except instead of cheering him on from back home his mom has gone poof.

August (my BW2 protag) also picked up some of OG Blake’s qualities, personality-wise she is actually quite similar to them. She also sort of got that “younger sibling and older sibling” dynamic with N. (N is a lot more present in the Unova Fates version of BW2, instead of only appearing at the Ghetsis and Kyurem battle he’s kind of like a traveling companion for August most of her adventure.)

And also!!! There is one more character that’ll show up in Unova Fates that ends up with the same team I had in my original copy of White (OG Blake’s team). Remember the Trainersona Challenge I did where I created an AU where Blake joins Team Plasma but secretly helps the player take them down?? Yeah that’s a concept I’m gonna be revisiting to say the least :)))

okay HOLY SHIT if you read this far bless you and I hope my insane ramblings didn’t bore you to death.

[doubleddenden]

I do complain a lot about the many, MANY flaws Pokémon as a franchise has, especially given how they've treated fans these last few years in the name of Mach speed capitalism.

But despite all of that, I do still enjoy Pokémon. It's hard to let go of all the fun times I've had, and it's equally as hard to forgive the state of the games in terms of quality.

Still, below is more of a positive retrospective of my time with the series. I'd like to think that despite it all, and despite a soulless corporation running things now, I do have mostly positive memories here, even if it's hard to tell sometimes.

My first game was Snap on the n64 with my family, and I remember being the first among my older sister, mom, and dad (who to be fair struggles to comprehend a remote control these days) to actually beat it when I was... 5? I think.

My first main game was Silver on a blue Gameboy Color, and my first Pokémon was a Cyndaquil... that I released after a prank from my friends- but then my first REAL Pokémon was a Cyndaquil in Crystal that would carry me all the way to Red, level 90 something- and funnily enough, I'd just realize my best friend I'm the world at the age of 6 or 7 was... a girl, during the height of my Cooties Scare phase. Still, I miss that Typhlosion now. It's gone now due to the battery in the cartridge dying and the actual cartridge itself becoming damaged and eventually lost in a move. I wouldn't truly defeat that same gen 2 Red until the 3ds Era, in my college years on virtual console Silver, and I feel like the female Typhlosion I have from that is the same as I lost way back when.

My favorite Pokémon main game of all time, though, is Black and White 2. Gen 5 was an underdog gen, and I guess I strongly attached to it during my teens because I had a bit of an underdog complex- everyone hated it at the time for daring to not have gen 1 in the game at the time, and everyone hated me for- well, existing and being born "different" (read: neurodivergent, overweight, ugly, poor compared to my classmates, etc), so I guess I identified with it to some degree. It was the first gen I truly took an interest in for leak seasons, and to this day still has some of the best stories, characters, cities, and Pokémon designs. BW2 being my absolute favorite in terms of Pokémon variety and availability, team composition variety, difficulty, balance, and just the sheer amount of stuff to do- including the POKÉMON WORLD TOURNAMENT! Where you could battle all the past gym leaders and champions! It was also the gen I started to have fun and be open with classmates and multi-player, and I appreciate the friendships I forged from that.

Of course if BW2 is my favorite game, then it should be obvious Unova is my favorite region. Unova was the first non Japanese region in a main game, and for some reason- I guess Murica familiarity- I really saw it as home. BW2 especially with Aspertia City, Floccesy Town, and Floccesy Ranch really resembling where I was born and raised down south. Anvil Town too- despite being mostly empty- served as a wonderful setting to first ever completed fan fic I ever wrote. Humilau and Undella Bay are probably still my favorite towns sheerly for the colors, music, vibes, and events that happen there.

My favorite starters are- wouldn't you know it- the starter Trio from Legends Arceus, another favorite- albeit unpolished, but very fun game. I still think I prefer base Decidueye and Typhlosion, but Hisuian Samurott is my all time favorite starter in terms of design and inspiration. In fact, it was the first pokemon I actively set out to shiny breed for. I even let it learn Sacred Sword, because both normal and shiny forms look so badass with their swords and armor. Muramasa, my original from Legends Arceus, quickly evolved and came in clutch against MANY alpha Pokémon and delivered the final blows to Volo's team, Giratina, and Giratina's Alt form. Dojikiri, my shiny, had a bit of a rough start leading my Blueberry Academy team, but it became one of my go tos for beating the BBE4 and Champion Kieran.

Speaking of Shinies, my first ever shiny Pokémon outside of Red Gyarados was actually a shiny Loudred in Runy when I was 8 I think. It was pink and holding... I think a Pecha berry- I think at the time I thought it was a Pinkan Pokémon like from the Orange Islands, and I had caught it. Unfortunately, I didn't know just how rare this was and got tricked by a kid I thought was my friend into trading it to him, thinking it was bad. I never got it back.

But, I think fate made it up to me- my next shiny would be an Eevee I hatched from an egg in... I think Diamond or Platinum. That Eevee eventually became an Umbreon, and I still have it at level 100 all these years later. It's a subtle design change, but I sincerely think it's probably one of the best shinies ever.

And of course one of my absolute favorite Pokémon- despite coming from a base game I DESPISE for annoying characters and railroading- is Corviknight. Corviknight feels like an absolute love letter directed to me- sue me, I love edgy Pokémon, and I've been tired of pretending they're not cool as shit. I love that it's a gigantic raven you can fly on- ravens are my favorite birds, and one actually play a huge part in one of my original stories. My Corviknight in particular was probably my favorite to use in a champion fight, because despite hating Leon as a character, I loved the final fight between my Corviknight and his Charizard, giving me similar goose bumps I'd feel when pitting my weaker starter against my past rivals' stronger ones.

The best battle gimmick- even though I feel like we really don't need anymore- was far and away Mega Evolutions. The designs were amazing and gave a lot of old and forgotten Pokémon MUCH, MUCH needed refreshing coats of paint, with my absolute favorites being Mega Lucario, Mega Gengar, and Mega Charizard X. I know it's devisive among fans, but really my favorite thing about Pokémon is evolving and changing my Pokémon to become even stronger than before, and although XY was piss your pants easy, I still adore the concept of the power of friendship allowing your Pokémon to EXCEED their limits. It's a shame GF hates it while even the anime and other Spinoff games STILL use it, because there was a ton of potential there and a ton of really great designs lost for... no real good reason, tbh.

My favorite spinoff I think is Colosseum- hence why I keep begging for Colo3. I had the game as a kid, but I never truly beat it until AFTER SwSh really made me question if I was still a fan- spoilers, I was and am, SwSh, GF, and TPC just severely burned me and I needed something refreshing to light my fire again. My favorite thing about Colosseum is that it just takes the already existing battle mechanics and cranks it up by turning every battle into doubles that forces you to think strategically- also, I just really admire it for not treating the player like a kid. The premise is awesome- you're a rebellious anti hero that just defected from an evil team and stole a device to let you steal pokemon, so you use that as a force of good to take back and heal the poor, abused Shadow Pokémon and teach them to love again. Plus, I love having Umbreon and Espeon as starters and how Orre allowed Johto pokemon to actually shine and exist outside of Kanto's shadow. Fun, unique, challenging- I would KILL for another side game as daring as this to exist again.

I have a bit of a bias towards the battling games- I did enjoy PMD Explorers, Ranger, Pinball, etc, but I think I've just always loved how custom each playthrough of a standard pokemon game felt. No matter how many times I replay, I can usually come up with a team of Pokémon I've never used before- I still keep almost all the Pokémon and teams I've had since... I'd say, I was 10, since Ruby or so. I try to keep them grouped, too, so I can go back and see my team I used in Leaf Green, Black 2 run 1, run 1 of Ultra Sun, etc, and lately I even have space reserved for teams used in DLC. Sort of my own "Oak's Lab" situation, except there's a lot of Samurott swimming around.

I like the gameplay so much that it even got me into fan games like Uranium, Xenoverse, Opalo, Realidea System, Bushido, and I'm keeping track of a bunch more on the horizon. My love for it even brought me to really fun clones like Nexomon Extinction and Coromon- I just love catching and raising monsters, man, and I love turn based games.

I think if I would have an IRL team based on where I grew up and loosely using the games as a basis, I'd have Johtonian Typhlosion as my starter, Corviknight for the crows and other corvids, Tauros for the cows, Mudsdale for the horses, probably a Poliwrath for a water type cuz frogs are everywhere or possibly a Blastoise a family member would hand down, and of course a shiny Umbreon- I have it in the games, and I've always had dogs in my life, so its close enough.

If I had a team solely for battling currently, probably my Shiny Hisuian Samurott, my tera Stellar Ceruledge, Electivire, Dusk Lycanroc, mega Scizor, and Hydreigon.

Anyway, this was just a neat retrospective. Like I said, I do still have a deep love for Pokémon, as much as I wish I could cut ties with it sometimes (and I'm sure as much as my friends wish I'd shut up about it, I'm sure). When I express negativity toward it, it's not from the same place as those guys that think Pokémon should have stopped after gen 1- definitely not, fuck Kanto at this point. No, it's from a place that knows it can do AND HAS done so much better. I'm definitely not afraid of it ending, they're too rich and make too much for that- no, I'm afraid of them never putting in quality care that the franchise DESPERATELY needs ever again simply because they know they could literally sell incomplete builds and people will buy them, and simply because twitter hive minds will jump anyone that take any slight criticism of the World's Richest Franchise (for close to a decade) as a personal affliction upon their honor and religion.

But like I said, I still enjoy it. Happy 28th Pokémon. Please be kinder to us fans. I have so many wonderful memories that I hate have become tainted by bugs and awful business practices, and I want to feel happy to be a fan again.

[zaptap]

btw i still think theyre going to do unova remakes this year. for a second there i wavered a bit since i realized they could do something with johto first (hgss is older than gen v after all) but i think after indigo disk bringing unova back into the spotlight, it makes more sense to keep that going right into the next game (and there's no pattern yet for second-round remakes, since we've only gotten lgpe. could be total coincidence they did kanto again before sinnoh)

as for whether the remake will even be any good? idk lol. maybe they'll get ilca to do the bare minimum again. or maybe they'll decide not to after how much of a mess bdsp was (i feel like theyd rather not have to come up with special rules for pokemon home transfers again)

and to me legends arceus was one half of the sinnoh remake (the part where they add a lot of new stuff and bring newer pokemon to the region, which bdsp lacked) so they could do another legends game. they could continue the trend of focusing on a mythical and maybe do genesect or victini, or maybe base it on that merged dragon legendary we never really saw? idk

really hope though that they just... do a normal remake again. recreate the world and story of the original game, yes, but add to it. let us have pokemon that didn't exist when the originals came out, add new pokemon forms, etc. i really miss the old remakes being in the same style as the brand new games of the generation and able to communicate with each other, instead of this thing theyve been doing since lgpe where everything is in a weird bubble by itself

at the same time though i liked legends arceus and it'd be nice to see something like that again. my theory has been that it came about because game freak maybe got a little too ambitious working on a more traditional sinnoh remake (trying to work something like the wild area into sinnoh, maybe settling on making five of the areas more open, and ultimately deciding it was too different--or had some ideas to make it even more different--and spinning it off into something new while hiring ilca to cover the expectation for a "normal" remake since they'd be abandoning that)

and now, after having already done the split-model remake with bdsp and legends arceus, would they do the same thing again? i think with scarlet and violet's open world, having it be similarish to those games probably won't happen (also they absolutely wouldn't have terastalization and tera raids--if blueberry academy is in unova and has a special tera orb to enable all of that, that means it isn't in the rest of the region). but they could still have it be more linear while being stylistically similar to sv, as opposed to what bdsp did

ANYWAY how about this actually: have the type of remake we got with frlg/hgss/oras (where there's plenty of new stuff and you can get pokemon that didn't exist in the originals) and then throw in some kind of Dream World inspired side story area with legends arceus mechanics. that would be really cool

.......also there's the whole question of like. what the fuck are they gonna do about bw2. those games went above and beyond the usual third version deal. different story, different starting area and map progression, different protagonists. they can't simply tack on some alternate clothing options and throw in the kyurem/kami/etc forms and call it good. that would be unacceptable

would they put both games in one? would they sell the second as dlc? would the paired games, instead of black remake and white remake, be bw remake and bw2 remake? (would that even work?) or would they really just ignore bw2 as much as possible? honestly with the way game freak's been these days i feel like that might be most likely unfortunately

for the past few years ive been wanting to replay gen v, but with these remakes coming... well, in the past i've replayed rs before oras and played yellow before lgpe, and that was fine, but when i replayed platinum before bdsp came out it just felt like i was playing the same game again except worse. like i think i'd rather have played bdsp and then platinum. so i'll wait until after the remakes before doing that i think (or at least until we have an idea of what we're getting) (not that i think i'll have time to get around to playing those before then anyway)

[mothwithapencil]

moth omg I love your analysis so much!! could I ask for some of your Ghetsis headcanons?

Yeas 😈😈😈 sorry for the late response but I've been pondering this ask.... Idk if this will have any particular order to it but here's some:

He has PTSD (he's just like me) (this one is arguably canon, most strikingly by the quote "I have a memory that has continued to haunt me. Just one. That unpleasant look in your eyes reminds me of it")

As a child he used to be a lot like N— a lover of nature and pokemon; a general positive outlook on people, pokemon, and life... It's part of why he can't stand N (he sees himself in him and doesn't like that)

My good pal vivi has convinced me he has Sturge-Weber Syndrome type 2. If you don't know what that is, like I didn't, here's part of the convo:

He's prone to breakdowns often, with varying intensities and for different reasons. Colress notices the signs when Ghetsis is about to spiral, and takes it upon himself to take him to a quiet, safe place and help bring him back down gently. Ghetsis appreciates it.

The Shadow Triad have been with Ghetsis since before N came around. Ghetsis saved and adopted them before he had his grand downward spiral and became the Ghetsis everyone knows today. They knew him when his heart was still pure, and they know the hurt he went through. They never give up on him for this reason. Ghetsis never manipulated them or treated them poorly, they just really genuinely love their dad. They're the only 3 of his kids he really enjoys the presence of.

Due to a combination of sensory issues and chronic pain, almost everything he owns is loose-fitting, soft, and/or silky in texture. His BW outfit is like this, but his BW2 outfit is more form fitting. He doesn't like it, but tries to ignore it. It doesn't work and he just gets extra irritable. He has the bed of a princess in a barbie movie. Luxury shit. Comfy. If he could his entire wardrobe would be nightgowns and giant shapeless cloaks

Colress made and attached a robotic arm for Ghetsis shortly before the events of BW2. Finding out about the state of Ghetsis' right arm before this was certainly A Moment! He regularly receives checkups from Colress afterwards, where he makes sure he's adjusting well and cleans the arm if needed. On the inner part of the arm the words "Colress Machine" are engraved on it. He can use his right arm, but he's not fully adjusted yet

Because he only had one fully functional arm, he had Colress help brush and tie up his hair. Even after getting his robotic arm, he still prefers that Colress do his hair. It's comforting!

I have many, many more where this came from... Feel free to ask about any of these or anything else Ghetsis (or Colress) related you can think of :)

[kakusu-shipping]

💕 + pokemon

Yes time to go off!!!

Pokemon's my favorite place for shipping because no one can be normal here when it comes to naming their ships. We've been around too long. We don't do name mashes here. We do Ferrishwheelshipping. We do Cafemochashipping. We do Checkmateshipping. We are off the rails and I love it here.

I will not be using ship names in my list, for I do not know all of them. Also this one got really fuckin long so under the cut it all goes.

Call back to my OW version of this post, Molayne is in the same boat as Junkrat. Any Molayne ship is a good ship. He could smooch anyone, at anytime, and I would agree. I could also see all of these happening in the same universe, as I see Molayne as very non-monogamous and affectionate

Molayne/Sophocles was my first, Lil Soffy and Big Mo my beloveds. I think they're so sweet. Molayne's fanbase is already so niche tho that there's no romantic content for them.

Kuikui/Molyane/Guzma is fantastic. Besties to polycule pipeline.

Guzma/Molyane and Kuikui/Molanye solo are both also pretty tight. Especially anime Molyane/Kuikui, the bullying is real.

I've seen Molyane/Nanu a handful of time, good stuff good stuff

Molyane/Faba? Quality, cute. Only ever seen it once

I've seen Molyane/Cyrus lately, sense Sophoclese has adopted Cryrus into his found family in masters, and I'm all for that as well.

I have no idea how to organize this list so we're just gonna go and see if I can clean it up as we do

I've been a Hilda/N shipper sense I was a small child, and I will be sticking by it till I die

Same vein Bianca/Cheren in BW2? Cuties my beloved besties

Masters got me on Cheren/Lear tho and that is so fucking *chefs kiss* honestly

There was a time in early gen 7 where I wish shipping Nanu and Looker and I'm still thinking about it too this day. Old men cops

Nanu and Grimsly are bitter exes on again off again type deal going on and I love that for them

I am not immune to the vanilla ass Red/Blue wtf his name is Gary mother fucking Oak. Especially their Alolan honeymoon forms. There was a bit for a while there when Let's Go came out where everyone declared Trace their child and I'm still on that

Brock/Oliva from the Sumo anime was very cute I do think Brock deserves a super cool rock girlfriend

In the same vein tho Oliva and Grant are the same personality type in almost every way, so I think Grant/Brock should be another common ship

Grant/Brock/Oliva rock type polycule WHEN Gamefreak. Cowards.

Cilan/Brock after that anime special where they meet up and hang out and cook I just think they'd get along

On anime Cilan, Cilan/Ash was very cute

Ash/Gladion is in the same area to me as just cute times

Ash/Goh then is peak just cute Ash ships though and I think it's mainly because Goh is very much in love with Ash

In that same vein Ash/Clemont in the XY anime was just as cute? Clemont crush on Ash?? Peak

Kuikui/Ash from the Sumo anime is also so?? I could not explain to you I just think Sumo brought out Ash's goofy stupid little boy vibes immaculately, especially around Kuikui

Colress/Ghetsis is very funny to me personally they dynamic of knowing everything about your shitty boss/old friend and using it to piss him off is peak.

The recent rise of Submas content got me to ship Ingo/Emmet and that's just on you, the fandom, who keep putting them on my dash

Ingo/Emmet/Elsa/Skyla - Ace/Aro/Lesbian/Bi polycule train my dearly beloveds

I've posted about Emmet/Volo a few times. I have no played the game Volo is from but I know of his homosexuality and I think Emmet should beat him to a pulp and make out with him at the same time

Ingo/Volo as a one night stand that Volo never stops messing with Ingo about is also very funny I don't post them often but I do love them.

Sophocles/Clemont is very cute thank you Pokemon Masters for the blond nerds who kiss food

Same vein Sophocles/Cryrus *chefs kiss* the age gap the seeing your younger self and the potential in another the healing the growth the chance to change and feel. Gorgeous

Sycamore/Lysandre is underrated and under used the way the interact in Masters makes me crazy they are dating for sure

Kiawa/Mimo from the sumo anime yet again I think the way he fawns over her is so so so cute he loves her so much

Gordie/Milo??? I don't know where this ship came from but I love them both we are a polycule their content is so cute

Hau/Gladion is very important to my me/Lillie self insert and I think they're lovely

To be a little basic yet again Archie/Maxie is very good

But also Archie/May/Maxie is even better

Not as serious but there's a scene in the BW anime where Alder flirts with Cynthia and I just think they should go on a date

I think Nessa/Sonia/Leon/Raihan are a polycule for sure

I also think Oak and Agatha are divorced

Here I'll put ships involving Pokemon separate just for the sake of it

Burgh and Leavanny are husbands. Lawfully wedded bugs

Someone got me into Whitney/Miltank (bonus the trainer that stops you when Whitney is crying is also her girlfriend they're a polycule)

Kuikui/Incineroar eats up brainspace

Guzma/Glisopod as well

Plumaria/Salazzle is also right there

Completely me alone in this one but I'm obsessed with Drayden/Axew and I could not tell you why

Hapu/Golurk as well the way it holds her in the anime is really good

I am not immune to the allure of Ash/Pikachu btw it is probably my second favorite Ash ship

Same vein Goh/Cinderace is very cute

Clemont/Luxray was so???? Yes correct sweet lovely

Pikachu/Meowth has been showing up on my dash lately and I'm slowly getting into it as well

In general Pikachu/Mimikyu ships get me every time I love them

Mew/Mewtwo very cute very soft healing and calm and snuggles and all that

I am not immune to the dark/light symbolism of Darkrai/Cresselia fantastic obsessive yandere chances as well

Same vein is Xerneas/Yveltal

I am also not immune to the sun/moon symbolism in a Gengar/Clefable ship

Entei/Heatran those are my parents my father and mother I love them

Chespin/Oshawott/Scorbunny cutest starters shipping

Raboot/Morgrem edgy boyfriends

Same vein Raboot/Quilladin/Drizzile anime/gamer boyfriends

Really any of the Inteleon/Cinderace line together is *chefs kiss*

[ghostie-gengar]

Ok so i have had this idea of an AU where N has like an actual known mother for like so long and i just. i have to get it out i need to so here’s a very very watered down version of her story with events that are so unlikely but whatever i just (warning it’s really long despite being a summary so prepared to get smacked with mom lore)

so. Her name is helen and she is a very nice lady. like SUPER NICE like you could break into her house and she’d be like “oh hey :) would you like some cookies i can put on a pot of tea” but also not a doormat. she Would Not hesitate to tell ghetsis off or smack anyone who hurts her kids.

anyways helen and ghetsis met in their mid to late teens, became friends (somehow :/ ghetsis was quite the charismatic young guy i imagine) and got married in their 20s. after a couple years twins!! im sure i don’t need to tell you how that happened. anyways concordia and anthea popped up and they were quite the handful but helen absolutely adored them and ghetsis was just kinda like “ok whatever children”

oh also im not sure if i’ll keep this but helen can sooooort of understand pokemon and N got that ability from her

oh also btw helen and ghetsis formed team plasma together see helen’s idea was to create like a pokemon relief center kinda like a sanctuary idk and ghetsis’ branch of family was kinda like a cult that thought humans and pokemon should be separate and ghetsis wanted to use that for more power and saw helen and was like “i can use this :)” anyways moving on

One day helen and ghetsis were taking a lovely stroll and they came across these young triplets who were homeless and helen was like “mine” so they adopted them and ghetsis twisted it to make it seem like He was the cool one who saved them so they’d listen to him (shadow triad)

this is kinda where team plasma begins to seem more evil and helen is catching on but she’s like “noooo ghetsis wouldn’t do that” (girl you’re wrong)

anyways once concordia and anthea are like eight or nine a little natural harmonia gropius pops up!! and helen is overjoyed cuz like she secretly always wanted six kids and now one two three four five six!!!!

she and ghetsis are also quick to notice how much n looks like ghetsis and ghetsis is mentally like “haha yes mini me >:D”

Then team plasma is very clearly a cult like helen can’t even deny it anymore and she tries to bring it up to ghetstink but he just waves her off like “now now dear don’t be silly” and she’s like >:(

ghetsis starts taking about making n the king of team plasma and helen’s like “well only if he wants to right” and ghetsis is like “no”

he only wants to use N more when he figured out N could understand pokemon cuz like he’d babble to helen’s minccino (oh yeah btw helen has a minccino)

theeeeeeeeeeen helen walks in on ghetsis being mmmmmmmmmmmm not good to concordia and concordia and anthea are both crying and helen is like “DUDE” and makes him sit down and have a serious talk about proper parenting which ghetsis also brushes off

then after a couple of days, concordia and anthea run away and helen is obviously absolutely devastated and she and ghetsis look for weeks. months. And no sign of them. ghetsis is like “well i guess they’re dead nvm then” and helen is like “DUDE” and she looks in the girls’ bedroom and finds a note from the girls that tells her to keep n safe and not to worry about them

after thinking about all the crap stuff ghetsis has done lately helen takes n in the middle of the night and runs. no looking back. bye bye ghetstink :( and life is much better honestly

she lives in that trailer in lostlorn with lil baby n and her plan was to wait for him to be able to walk and fend for himself and then they’d both go look for concordia and anthea but until then peaceful forest life playing with pokemon

And ghetsis upon waking up and seeing his wife and kid is gone he’s very upset. after a few years however he’s walking in like white forest or something and stUmbles upon concordia and anthea and he’s like “frickin sweet man” and snatches them and they are Not Happy but when they get back to the castle and see helen and n are gone? they are So Relieved those two got away even if they had to stay there

Anyways once n was three or four he was fine he could walk and he loved to wander around and make pokemon friends and he’d always come back to the trailer

one day ghetsis was walking through lostlorn for no particular reason and he came across n playing and recognized him immediately and was like “Oh My God No Way” and committed grand theft natural right there on the spot

but before he left he left a note for helen to find that said “did you really think you could hide forever” just to rub salt in the wound

anyways helen is like man it’s getting late i wonder where little natural is and so she gets a pidove to go look for him and the pidove brings back the note and when she sees it. tears. literal tears and sobbing she’s like “oh my god he has him He Has Him” and then she’s like “k you know what? Imma go get him i will go GET my child from this stinky man watch me grab my coat and i will get back the boy and if he has the girls too i’ll take them too and”

and then!! The shadow triad appear in the trailer (they all have names that only helen bothered to learn) and they’re like “hey so we kinda have strict orders from ghetsis that if we see you in the castle or anywhere near team plasma we kinda have to tell ghetsis and he’ll hurt n so maayyybe don’t?”

and helen is like crap. like genuinely there is no good solution cuz if she goes and fails to get the n back ghetsis would hurt n and if she did get the n back ghetsis would hurt the shadow triad and so she’s stuck and she has no choice but to just let everything happen

But!!! This story has a happy ending!!!

so i didn’t mention this cuz my thoughts are all over the place but helen likes to paint and so in order to cope with everything she painted her kids and they’re like really good anyways

N meets her at some point after bw2 cuz he was in lostlorn and it was raining and zoroark ran into her trailer and he was like “zoroark you Cannot Be Here we need to go” and helen walked in and she recognized him immediately like she was internally like holy arceus above that is my son that is my son that is my

but N doesn’t remember her like at all so she doesn’t want to say anything in case she overwhelms him and N is like “i am so sorry for coming in here my zoroark just hey you know what i’ll just leave”

Meanwhile she’s trying not to cry and she’s looking from n to a painting of n she did and she’s like holy arceus and she’s like “nono you can stay for tea until the rain is over”

And n had also noticed the painting and he was like that’s literally me but didn’t want to say anything

So n stays for tea and they have a lovely chat and helen is like this is literally my son and he has no idea who i am and then the rain stops so n leaves and helen is just like. Sad

But then n comes back another day and stays for tea again cuz they kinda became buddies and n is about to leave but he stops. at the doorway and slowly turns around and is like “i feel like i know you from somewhere” and helen is like “???” about to cry again

And you can like see the gears turning in n’s brain and he just freezes. and he looks up. And he’s like “.......mom?”

tears. Everywhere and both of them are sobbing and hugging each other and helen’s like “omg you’re so tall look at you how you’ve grown” and more tears and they literally hug for like hours while helen tells the story and helen was like starting to calm down and n’s like “btw connie and anthy are alive” and she just starts crying again and then they go to the house in driftveil so helen can see the girls and everyone just starts crying the girls are freaking out cuz they never knew what happened to mom and rood was there and crying like “mistress helen you’re alive ma’am” and just. big group hug and the shadow triad probably teleport in there for like five minutes and helen will absolutely not let them go without hugs even if they still work for ghetsis and yeah. that’s the very long summary of n’s mom imagine how long it would have been if i like actually wrote it professionally ok bye

[21cnz]

hell ues talk about pokemon. idk much abt pokemon and i would love to hear abt it even if it doesnt make much sense to me

here you fucking go. Part 1 out of two because it's gonna be a loong post. also yes i habe evidences to support all of this if needed.

ok so. pokemon lore. or how i see it because really we know nothing.

~3000 years before 2017. Two brothers are reigning on Kalos aka France. A.Z and someone else. They are guardians of two dragons aka reshiram and zekrom.

A.Z's brother decides to move to a new land, Unova (New York but larger.) there are already civilizations here so yikes but yeah. They notably build a castle that will also serve as a grave for the king.

War happens in Kalos, AZ's buddy dies. He decides to play god and revive him by using a life/energy draining genocide weapon. both sides of the war are entirely dead, AZ's buddy doesn't want to talk to him, the activation of the weapon caused atrocious damages in the entire world : the sea rises in Hoenn and Unova, submerging the castle-grave of AZ's brother and all the ruins of his civilization, making the region kinda swampy. The energy of the weapon also appears under the form of gems that are now everywhere in Kalos.

Now. the timeline split in half. where AZ activates the weapon, and where he doesn't.

where AZ doesn't activates the weapon, the games goes on without much lore until BW, where we learn about N. N is a kid who got ostracized and abandoned very young (~5yo) because he can talks to pokemons. He is find by Ghetsis, who realizes that this ability was shared by AZ 3000 years ago, (this take place in the 2010s) and goes 'hmmmm ! i could act like this kid is descending from the old kings so the pey will listen to him and i will puppet him into dominating the region !'

The thing that isn't explicit, itst that Ghetsis was a cult leader long before the game. There's a dialogue in the XY games saying that 'a weird man and his trops' came long ago asking to find the legendaries of the region. He got guided into the forest where they presumably are ; forest in which it is highly supposed that N lived as a kid. So, he was searching for something powerful that could impress the people, and found N.

Now, they're back in Unova, Ghetsis adopted (Maybe not officially ?) N and then the BW games happens : cult stuff yada yada. N is basically confirmed to descend from the old king ; the crown he wears for cult stuff is very similar as the king's, they look alike, a poem describing the king in the ruins is basically N's portrait. There's also a guy named Colress in BW2 who is gonna be important later.

sun and moon ! aka where the timeline is starting to fuck up. Because it's in this game that other timelines are proved to exist.

Then, SWSH, which are extremely important, because of the apparition of a creature named Ethersomething idk. Ethernatus i think ? edgy shit.

Edgy shit is said to be incomplete. it looks like a pile of dragon bones. Parts of its body are scattered across the region and extremely powerful in energy, so powerful it could save entire countries from crisis.

Also there's a cop named Looker in the DP games. who is also going to be important later.

[emile-hides]

Legendary Pokemon I think are actually Ultra Beasts

This vaccine is kicking my ass and while being on Tylenol every 4 hours is helping, I still feel like I could fade to dust any minute now.

So before that happens I want to share my very correct take on what “Legendary Pokemon” are actually Ultra Beasts or Pokemon from other Dimensions, sense Lunala and Solgaleo are both confirmed Ultra Beasts, yet still labeled as Legendary Pokemon.

Deoxys

This one’s pretty much canon

I mean Alien Parasite from a meteor? Basically another dimension

Has a lot going on compared to other Pokemon

Form changes? Even more going on. 

Tornadus/Thunderus/Landorus

Look to similar in their basic forms

Incarnate forms have a LOT going on yet again

None of them feel natural to Unova

They’re more so based on Japanese myths than anything New York-esc, they don’t even fit the main legendaries in being Chinese based?

 This could be said for all Unovan legendaries tbh. None of them feel native to Unova.

Kyurem/The Original Dragon

Remember in BW they got Kyurem’s backstory “wrong” and said it came out of a meteor that crashed in Unova? Then they “fixed” it in BW2 with the original dragon brothers myth thing?

Splitting apart and fusing back together feels VERY Ultra Beast

The fusion versions of Kyurem have way too much going on

What if The Original Dragon myth is made up and Kyurem is a space parasite like Deoxys?

The dex has been wrong before.

Arceus

This would fix the whole “What came first, The Pokemon or the Egg?” thing from DPP

Arceus’ egg came from another dimension

Again. A lot going on in it’s design.

I just think the idea of God being an multidimensional being is cool and spooky

Giratina

Lot going on

Alternate forms

Has already traveled Dimensions

It’s two forms meshed would look a lot like Arceus just saying.

Regional Variants but across dimensions.

Manaphy

In my opinion stands out compared to other little mythicals

It’s the gem and the coloring I think

But more importantly it can breed, but instead of making other Manaphy, it makes Phione?

Phione is a Manaphy pre-evolution who’s evolution method is only available in it’s home dimension

I love the idea of a rare mythical Pokemon actually being like it’s home Dimension’s version of a Pikachu or smth

Hoopa

Hoopa unbound is wild man I cannot even start with that thing

It’s Hoopa’s fault we keep getting every legendary in every game including Ultra Beasts

Pokemon Masters basically confirmed Hoopa can pull from multiple dimensions

Rings are just mastered Ultra Worm Holes and I just think that’s neat

Regigigas

Okay WHERE did this thing come from?

Way way WAY too big

Can breed?? Maybe?? Where’d the level 1 in Platinum come from??

Made other Pokemon, possibly trying to feel more at home in it’s new dimension??

This one’s a shot in the dark but honestly it’s characteristics feel very Ultra Beast stranded and confused.

Eternatus

The one that started this train of thought.

Crash landed in Galar out of a Meteor 20,000 years ago? Sounds Ultra Wormholey to me.

Much like Guzzlord just showed up and started making a mess of everything

Acts more like a frightened wild animal than an all powerful Legendary beast

Again has WAY TOO MUCH going on but in a more chaotic well functioning way

[fallenpkmntrainer]

Honestly, the answer is a hard "no."  But this question actually got me thinking a lot about why I started this blog in the first place, and I feel like I should answer the question "Why not?" 

Please excuse me, because it is an extremely long answer.

It is hard to watch Leaf suffer, but that's the entire point. For me to give her a happy ending, you'd first have to think about how I would do that, and what that would imply.

The clear answer is that Red needs to give up his spot as the definitive hero, and Leaf would need to be coded back into the games in his place.

But if Red was erased from Leaf's world forever, what would happen to this blog? To this story? It wouldn't be FallenPKMNTrainer anymore. It wouldn’t be Fallen Leaf. It would become just a normal "Ask Leaf" blog. 

But this isn't supposed to be the usual Leaf ask blog. This isn't supposed to be the typical, easy-to-digest, fandom-wide fantasy where I can pretend Leaf exists as the hero of her world, or alongside Red as his equal.

I wouldn’t even consider this my own alternate universe. 

It is just my interpretation of what really happened. Not just about what happened to Leaf, but what happened in real life.

I can't lie to myself and create a world where she's the hero. To run away to my own self-indulgent world where she gets her happy ending would feel disingenuous. I would be actively ignoring her erasure. I would become complacent, and wouldn't feel the need to speak out.  But this blog, and Fallen Leaf's story as a whole, is my way of speaking out.

This is my form of closure after realizing how badly Game Freak hurt me, and thousands of others, by saying that a girl will never be the hero, no matter how much love and hope she puts into the world of Pokémon. 

It has always just been Red. And so she will always be met with a boy named Red, and only Red.

And that leads into the reason why, despite him being sentient during the Magic Anon event, I still portrayed Red as inhuman and heartless.  He has no love in him to make him real. He lacks a soul, free will, and the human experience.  He is the epitome of Game Freak’s intentions, their nostalgic bias, their corporate apathy, their misogyny. 

When Red was given the opportunity to speak, he refused to say a single word directly to Leaf, only speaking to dehumanize her. He treats her like companies do with their products: like a replaceable object. 

He did not care about the sentimentality players have towards Leaf, and considered it acceptable for her to be erased because Lyra would take her place as the next hero. Essentially, considering the girl player characters as expendable and interchangeable, rather than an important representation of a young girl’s gaming experience. 

The meta reason why Red took Leaf’s voice during the event is because when you allow heartless people to justify themselves, when you attempt to see their side, you silence their victims.

You choose not to hear or believe the victims, in favor of those who have hurt them.

Despite this, some people might have hoped that, upon gaining sentience, Red would have shown a sympathetic side in this story. Maybe some were rooting for this event to give Red not just self-awareness, but a soul and compassion towards Leaf, allowing him to somehow make peace with her, despite being the living embodiment of her death. Even after the event is over, there may be some disappointed people who still feel this way.

I feel like this comes from predefined expectations and sentimentality towards Red as a character, and I want to do everything within my ability to subvert and abolish this.

If I have somehow given any hope for humanity within this version of Red in my writing, I have failed in expressing my beliefs.

I cannot give him a conscience or heart, because the nature of his creation inherently conflicts with it. 

But I cannot erase him, either.

Even if this Leaf was "saved,” there are hundreds of thousands of other Leafs still gone, and millions more soulless Reds where this one came from.

And if you were somehow able to hack and "fix" every copy in the world of HGSS, BW2, SUMO and USUM to include Leaf as the girl boss option, even that would never undo Game Freak's intentions.  It will not undo the pain that was caused. It already happened, and it will happen again.

As long as that heartless intention exists, so will the idea of “a boy named Red.”

But Red is not the problem. He is not a villain you can defeat.  He is the decision, and your anger should not go to him, but to those that made that decision.

We are not responsible for fixing the mistakes The Pokémon Company has made. These are the choices that have been made, and they have committed to their decision. 

And this story is my means to condemn that decision, just as imprisoning Red is Leaf's way.

Thank you for reading.

[danwhobrowses]

A Personal Rant before Sword and Shield comes out

I’ve sat idly by for months, tried to weather a few negative responses but given that it’s now 6 days from release and I’m hearing that devs are getting literal death threats I’m going to put my foot down

If you’re already shitting on a game that hasn’t been released yet, you are all juvenile bitches, and I’m about to tell you why.

Before we begin, I’m not saying that you’re not allowed to dislike a game, that happens, but usually it happens after you play a game, not before.

You are viewing this game through a keyhole and judging the room and what you’re seeing is not worthy of this much hate. Let’s start with the big one Dexit: Not as Big as You Think Having No National Dex is of course not ideal, but it doesn’t ruin the game. Let’s Go has no National Dex, all it had was Alola forms and nobody whinged about it. Ruby and Sapphire didn’t have a National Dex until FRLG, and nobody whinged about it. Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Moon do not have a National Dex And Nobody Whinged About It Do you know why? Because it’s not actually a big deal. People who complain about it are bandwagoning because ‘Dexit’ is a meme, its name literally parodies an event in current Britain that many people don’t actually want to happen.  Now currently, the anger of Dexit is that Bulbasaur and Squirtle are not in it, which frankly is hilarious because the last wave of bitching was ‘Kanto mons are getting all the new stuff’. You wanna know how many main series versions Bulbasaur and Squirtle have not been in? Seven, only way to get them is trade and event. The other complaint is that there’s ‘only 400′ Pokémon. Remember those days where people were fine with 150? 400 is huge, in fact it’s 3 less than USUM and it’s not accounting for the Gigantamax forms Don’t let headlines fool you either, Sun and Moon had 302 Pokémon, it’s far from the ‘lowest dex number since 2003′. Do your own research with these things. Kalos’ regional dex was 151, BW2 was 300, BW 153, Sinnoh 210, RSE has 386 and GSC had 252 Don’t get me wrong, it smarts that some Pokémon isn’t there, but it’s not a dealbreaker, like let’s be honest here. For a good year and a half all your pokémon are gonna do is sit in an unused cartridge or a PC box, you’re literally whining about the fact that you can’t move your perfect IV Pokémon from one box to another. You could simply just let them stay in Let’s Go or USUM, you don’t have to use Bank or Home on continued subscription for that, so your complaints are only set on the foundation that you feel like you have to continually pay to not transfer your Pokémon, Finally, people act like these Pokémon are deleted forever, they’re not, this is for spacing to make sure this game doesn’t break down from the sheer mass of models and textures it has to maintain in a massive open world space, the local and online camping and battles. Just use the Pokémon that are there! There’s new Pokémon don’t you wanna try those? You can also look at FRLG or Emerald and consider that maybe more Pokémon will get patched in once the game proves to be stable. I don’t think you’ve noticed, but the Nintendo Switch isn’t as powerful as the other consoles out there, sometimes it runs like shit. Believe me on that one, Switch is still in a very buggy development phase. Let’s Go was kept small to test it’s capability and Sword and Shield can’t just fly in and give you all 1000 Pokémon just so one of the ones you want can be in there

You have to be much less obtuse with this, I mean this was a long time coming. You’re gonna have to live with the fact that not every Pokémon ever can be supported on one game alone. Disk, Download, Cartridge and Patch Sizes have limits in Compliance, you can’t just throw everything at it. Waah, the New Pokémon Don’t Look Good They do, you’re being petty. It happens every version, the people dislike the starter evolutions or just one in particular. Remember all the Oshawott hate? This all comes and goes because people have simply gone on the first instinct that ‘new and different is scary and should be shunned’ You’re that Simpsons meme when young Homer accuses Grandpa of not being ‘with it’ I won’t spoil to those who haven’t seen it, but I like the new starters, and some of the new Pokémon will need some growing but not every Pokémon looks good at first glance. If Mr Mime, Hypno or Gastly came out nowadays they’d be crapped on so much for lacking creativity or for looking weird. Look at Drampa as well, thing looks like Falkar from The Neverending Story, when I first saw it I thought it look weird but now I like it. You should offer these things time And actually fall back on past experience, you’re reacting like this isn’t the same thing that happens every version; the dex gets leaked, people whine about the evolutions, people get over it and accept that they overreacted. hIgH QuAlItY aNiMaTiOnS I’ve seen that video, 2 clips and you judge a whole game how classy of you? If you don’t see improvement you’re blind. You can’t shit on a game for keeping the battle animations, you can’t expect every Pokémon to move their own unique way to the exact position of the body part the opponent needs to get hit by, that’s just unrealistic. You’re also failing to equate to the new moves and all the new movesets. You have to ensure that each Pokémon is capable of calling this animation as well. The second clip in that video was Hop and Hau having the same rigging, and once again, that’s not abnormal. Rigging is not easy either, do it wrong and it sticks and deforms texture. There’s nothing wrong with Hop having one animation that matches Hau’s, you’ll probably find that many models actually have similar rigging as previous games. Because it’s not that big of a deal and it saves money, as an example look at Disney they copied hand-drawn motion and stuck a different character on them, Robin Hood’s Little John dances just like (animated, for those too young to know otherwise) Jungle Book’s Baloo The thing you’re also ignoring from that clip is the graphical improvement of Hop compared to Hau, Hau looks like a balloon with a smiley face but Hop’s face has depth and his mouth actually moves like a normal person, his clothes have far more contrast and complexity, but no just zero in on one fighting animation and one rigging that’ll surely be worth abusing a game that’s not even out... B-But Charizard I’ve already explained this before but Charizard is Leon’s main, it’s obviously going to have a Gigantamax, ergo it’s also going to be in the Dex. Does Charizard get a lot? Yes, but the reason is because Charizard is popular. One of the rarest cards is a Charizard Hologram Card, Charizard is one of the first version mascots, it is one of the most recognized Pokémon Ash has in the anime Reality of the matter is that like Pikachu, Charizard is a recognized Pokémon for all ages, it appeals to a demographic that’s not playing In Layman’s Terms: that part is not for you A reality you really need to face. Pokémon is a game for all ages, so elements of the game are not always going to be tailored to your age range. The gimmick of Dynamax and Gigantamax is for merch sales and young children because it’s got an audience there, you can’t expect the Biggest Entertainment Brand in the World to simply shut out a large fraction of its demographic just to appeal 100% to you And again, it’s not a big deal, so there’s a Charizard there, just save a Stone Edge and be done with it, if you hate Charizard so much this’ll be catharsis, but in actuality you’re complaining because it’s something to complain about Kanto are getting Everything That went down like a lead balloon didn’t it? Reminder that the first Gigantamax forms were Galar Pokémon, so you can’t really say that anymore. There are Galar forms from non-Gen I Pokémon too I assure you, but the reason Kanto gets a lot of them is because Kanto is the oldest. Let’s not pretend that other gens don’t get love either Or should I remind you of Mega Ampharos, Scizor, Heracross, Houndoom, Tyranitar, Blaziken, Gardevoir, Gallade, Mawile, Aggron, Medicham, Manectric, Banette, Absol, Garchomp, Lucario, Abomasnow, Steelix, Sceptile, Marshtomp, Sableye, Sharpedo, Camerupt, Altaria, Glalie, Salamence, Metagross, Latias, Latios, Rayquaza, Lopunny, Audino and Diancie? It’s true that the Johto starters could use something, but I don’t think they’re being purposefully ignored, perhaps the right design hasn’t come along. Rather it be done right than poorly wouldn’t you agree? The Devs Should’ve Done <Insert Thing Here> People who say this kinda stuff have no idea how a game is made. I have a First Class Bachelor’s degree in Computer Gaming and Animation Technology and I can tell you that none of the stuff you want them to do is easy. Even getting grass right is a complete hassle. You want small insights you should watch Corridor Crew react to Good and Bad VFX, they tell you about the mechanics of CGI a few times on those vids. This is what annoys me with the prior swipe at the Battle animations and rigging, even with 2 years this is a heavily massive workload and Game Freak have only recently expanded the team that work on Pokémon which makes communication much more widespread and difficult to manage, likewise they are working on other games too they are not just Pokémon, currently their next IP is why Toby Fox was able to do a bit of music for Pokémon, because he’s collaborating with them on another game. The work doesn’t stop, most of these people are overworked and still doing overtime, they bring out a good product and all it gets is ‘but it should have this’, and unless it’s a huge part of the game that’s needed to function then that’s really disrespectful Before you start critiquing on what the people making this game ‘should’ve done’ perhaps you should try to make a game yourself, because it is not easy even for pros, I call back to Toby Fox because creating Undertale took 32 Months to create, that’s 2 years and 8 months for those slow with math, it also took 3 years before it could be ported to Switch because the Engine couldn’t support the platform, Pokémon has less time to do that, greater graphical and animation quality to achieve and more characters to battle, attacks to animate and more songs to compose. Conclusion: You’re All Just Bitter I’ve already seen it happen recently but this group of people senselessly bashing something because of ridiculous demands, expectations or arguments based on a lack of understanding all combine into something I’m simply calling the ‘Bitterness Fandom’. It’s people hating for the sake of hating and trying to bring something down just because it’s been a popular force for so long, and it’s not just Pokémon that’s getting it It’s already been happening to Star Wars. The Last Jedi and Solo were great films but the Bitterness sank its fangs in and act like neither are as good as the original trilogy (like killing Snoke without knowing anything about him and Phasma before she could do anything is any different to killing Sidious and Boba Fett in Jedi or Maul in Phantom Menace and Grievous in Revenge of the Sith), a lack of awareness to reality and the desire to complain for the sake of complaining continues to infect Star Wars. We even have a thing called ‘Star Wars Fatigue’ Star Wars can’t release a film every year because of ‘Fatigue’ but Marvel can release 5 MCU films a year and nobody bats an eye. Those frustrations aside, I refuse to let the Bitterness sink in without me calling them out, because you are not Pokémon Fans. If you were you’d know that having no National Dex isn’t new, you’d know that the graphics have improved and leaks of the game happen every time, you’d know why Charizard is popular and that some features are not intended to be targeted at you Shock and Horror to the heavens above but games can’t do everything And if you’re that naive to think so then you’re clearly not doing your homework So let’s throw out an absolutely WILD suggestion shall we? Let’s decide our opinion on a game After playing it? Because shitting on something you don’t even have hands-on experience with it is a fragile pedestal to put yourself on. If we all think it’s bad then, so be it, but I sincerely doubt that is the case When my copy of Pokémon Sword gets delivered to my house I am going to enjoy it because I will not let petty and incorrect statements sway my feelings and I swear to Arceus if you think the Bitterness will bring down Pokémon that easily then you did not see the queue to the London Poké Center that had been amassing since midnight and was forced to stop taking more people when the doors opened What should matter is how you enjoy the game, play it before you judge it And honestly, don’t send death threats, why we need to tell you that is beyond me, the ones who made these games are people who have worked their asses off day in and day out to provide something you aren’t even going to play because one Pokémon isn’t in it, the irony is not lost on me when I say this but deep into the very bottom of my heart: Grow Up. If you don’t like the game, don’t play it, don’t bother people about it, we don’t need your shit here Enjoy the Game People

[ladylyra]

Hey so I'm trying to make human versions of my Pokemon but I'm having trouble with desgines do you have any advice? Like what's your process for making them

Long post!

First off I’d say it takes practice. I definitely like a lot of my newer gijinkas than my older ones. I have an ugly flaaffy gijinka that gives me flashbacks that i vow to never repeat due to just how bad it was. that was like 2014. but besides that, i have some general tips:

1. design based on personality: look at your pokemon’s nature and characteristic. think about some traits you could connect to those. for example, my cinderace kyle is bold and stubborn, and i always saw cinderace as a sporty pokemon (obviously) so a dumb yet well-meaning jock came to mind instantly. i think its much easier to design for a character if you have an idea of who they are rather than just on design alone. i usually only do gijinkas for nuzlockes because thats when i focus more on character (and am thus more inspired.) just brainstorm who your pokemon are! you have your own style, so if your pokemon was a person, they would, as well!

2. what inspired the pokemon, typing, ect: my vanilluxe gijinka acai wears a jacket and winter-esque clothes because he’s an ice type. my azumarill lucas is a surfer bro. think about how the type of your pokemon would influence how they’d dress if they were a pokemon. some pokemon practically hand a concept to you; samurott, for instance. research the pokemon and find out what it is based off of! 

3. look at other gijinkas people make: self explanatory. take a look at what other people are doing for the same pokemon. this can either make you want to do something similar or make you think, “wow, these people are so wrong, let me do it better”

4. expose yourself to different fashion: honestly, this is a general oc tip. i remember in middle school my sketchbooks were full of dudes in t-shirts because i didn’t know anything about male fashion because i was a girl and didn’t really care to expand my horizons. then a realization dawned upon me. i love cute boys. i can DRAW cute boys. to properly draw them, i must also give them good outfits. i had to go out of my way to expose myself to something i wasn’t super familiar with beforehand. just apply this logic to a broader scale, involving different cultures and media. my cofagrigus richie is partially inspired by fe dancers. pull your outside knowledge when you design a character and if you think you don’t know enough to execute a concept, do some research!

5. dynamics: if you’re doing a team, your team bounces off each-other most likely. my thievul gijinka felix wouldn’t be the “dad” he is without the rest of the team there to be subject to it. think of what your characters mean to each other. this should give you a better idea of who they are and thus help influence their design.

6. just look at the pokemon: swoobat has that puffy blue neck of fur. how does that translate into a human design? well, it could be anything! a scarf, or, in my case, i made it the collar to a jacket. swoobat doesn’t have much body detailing, so i kept it simple with a long jacket that could somewhat imitate the lack of detail while still looking like i tried (i also just like semi-formal looking attire, but thats another story.) what about swoobat’s wings? well, they could be long sleeves, or maybe even a cape. if you can narrow down the individual parts of a pokemon’s design to it’s own outfit equivalent then you should have an easier time combining them into one. by the time i decided i wanted to make yuki wear a jacket, it was easy to decide to make the pink tail of swoobat’s design into a belt for said jacket.

7. go crazy go stupid: ok. sometimes you look at a pokemon and go “wow, this is so simple, where do i even go with this.” i ran into this with umbreon. umbreon has rings and a black coat, but doesn’t have much body detailing. i didn’t really have any idea where to go with it. i relied solely on who i thought wess to be when i designed his gijinka. i also had inspirations on deck in the form of christoph (bw2) and brendan’s contest outfit because by this point i wanted wess to be some sort of pop idol. sometimes you really just have to go with your gut. again, this isn’t just a design, this is a character!

hope this helps! dont be afraid to mull over designs and brainstorm! i’ve been doing gijinkas for a while so they kind of just come to me without thinking of the exact process.