#Kalos kinda sucks

[crystalelemental]

Friends...it is with a heavy heart that I must announce...I think maybe sometimes the Pokemon anime is good.  I'm crying also.

Maybe watching the various seasons for so long has lowered my tolerance threshold, but we've been watching the Hoenn series and got through the first two seasons of it, and it's...good. Like actually pretty good.  I did like Alola a lot, I'll grant you that one, but I think that's more comparative and enjoying the general group going on.  Hoenn feels, like, legitimately good.

To keep up my usual cred, I am attributing this largely to May, who, in an effort to be as incendiary as possible, I am going to refer to as "Serena but good."  While I enjoy the Alola collective better as a group, May is the best companion Ash has and it is not close.  She's goofy, she's snappy without being mean, she's just a fantastic personality to follow, and her dynamic with Ash feels the strongest.  Having been through a lot of seasons with the lad now, Ash is at his best when he's a petulant little shit.  Kalos is boring because it's just constant action hero Ash with one (1) instance of being a bit of a brat played for drama as "This isn't the Ash I know!" which really only reinforces that Ash/Serena is a garbage pairing because girl, he has been like this for at least 80% of this journey, what are you on about?  By contrast, Ash in Hoenn is this delightful mix of an absolute brat, constantly arguing with May about his gym battles taking priority and being bullheaded and stubborn, but also being more competent as a trainer than he initially was back in Kanto, so his exploits and successes feel much more legitimate.

I think part of this is also the contrast of how bad May initially is at all this.  When you're playing the games, you take for granted that you're just shown the moves your Pokemon knows, but in a functional setting like the anime, it makes sense that there's time you have to dedicate to know this stuff.  May likes Pokemon, she wants a companion, but she doesn't...know anything.  She never really put in the time, and she doesn't know their basic attacks or how to give a command.  And that's a really interesting starting point for a new trainer, that both gives Ash a more significant role as an experiences trainer providing advice (which she will stubbornly refuse at multiple turns), and recontexualizes his earlier performance.  Ash is presented as a complete dingus in Kanto, but by comparison, he put in the work.  Even with an unexpected Pikachu he knew what it could do and how to lead, even if it wouldn't follow.  I think it's great to showcase this kind of discrepancy.

It also (as my wife pointed out) contrasts well with Max, who is a walking encyclopedia of how things work.  He has incredible book knowledge of types and moves and Pokemon broadly, but as a young kid, lacks the functional experience Ash has, and is constantly surprised by what he can do.  The fights may still cheat a bit, but my tolerance threshold has absolutely been lowered for this by now, and it makes for a neat presentation to have Ash pull out some of this nonsense that Max would never think of because he's so by the book.  It feels a lot more reasonable to have Ash doing nonsense in this context, rather than just "Oh that Ash is just so clever" when no one's surprised by it.

But back to what's important: May.  I think what's important to note about May is that, despite her initial lack of knowledge, she's not incompetent.  She does pick up moves, but only around the time she decides to pivot into contests.  At that point, she not only starts to learn the moves of her Pokemon, she starts to know how they interact and how to create a combination that dazzles a crowd.  And unlike Serena (a phrase I'll be using a lot here) who just does the show, she still gets to battle.  Battle experience and know-how is just as important to the contest circuit, and while she's not doing a gym challenge, you have a good sense that May is able to really play the battling game well.  Her victory over...shit, is it Grace?  The Medicham girl who is supremely annoying.  It's a clever victory that is, to be honest, kind of in the Ash style of using particular traits of the attack to your advantage.

But by the same token, May's still inexperienced and it shows.  She bombs her initial contest battle because she wasn't prepared.  She hits frequent mistakes because she's in a rush to do something.  She gets arrogant over her two consecutive victories, and overestimates what she can do, leading to an embarrassing defeat with Bulbasaur.  May encounters her fair share of roadblocks, but unlike Serena, her roadblocks are character moments.  Serena tended to fail based on accidents.  Fennekin accidentally trips over its ribbon, or Eevee accidentally slips and they have to recover, and so on and so forth.  When May loses, it's because she's being stubborn, or she's being rash.  May has clear character flaws that others point out; Drew is quick to identify that May is often indecisive and it throws off her Pokemon's confidence in what they're expected to do.  But that same rash nature is also how she pushes ahead and keeps herself going, so it cuts both ways.

And of course, there's her dynamic with Ash, which occasionally gets played up because male protagonist/female deuteragonist.  What I like is that their dynamic feels very sibling-like.  It's the same kind of petty arguments that May and Max get into, and the same kind of well-meaning attempts to give advice or encourage, and the same kind of stubborn refusal to hear it and irritation at feeling condescended to.  It is a great dynamic that really builds on the characters and makes their connection feel organic and sincere.  You know.  Unlike Serena.  Who kinda just fawns over Ash while he does nothing of particular note, resulting in a dynamic I could not describe in detail despite watching three seasons of it.

I think what I'm getting at is that this cast feels really natural.  I think a lot of Pokemon seasons tend to have partners and characters that feel very...gimmicky?  You know, like Clemont's "The future is now thanks to science" bit you get every goddamned episode, or Bonnie's stupid "You're a keeper bit" and Clemont's canned embarrassment response.  Or Brock, who is the sole thing holding back the Hoenn group.  You can count on most episodes having a pretty girl that Brock is going to be weird about, and you can count on Max taking over Misty's old job of pulling him away.  By and large, May and Max lack that kind of gimmick.  But they do have bits.  Max has his poindexter bit of being super knowledgeable about book stuff but also super snooty about it, particularly toward May who often doesn't know this stuff.  Meanwhile May is a goober, and her running bit of pretending to be a newscaster and commenting on what's going on around them admittedly gets me every time.  It's cute, and it's varied while still being very much the character's Thing.

To my surprise, this...might be my favorite iteration of Team Rocket, too?  Kalos Rocket felt like they leaned too hard into serious villainy to be a fun appearance each episode, while Alola Rocket did alright for themselves but largely by having longer stretches of just not being around.  Hoenn's been a fun interpretation, and I think it's because they're a good balance of relatively harmless and actually funny this time.  I'll admit, this time around they're gimmicky, repeating like the same plan at every gym battle episode, and having every theft prefaced with Meowth attempting to explain why this is a good gift for the boss.  The difference is that the gimmicks are elevated by how they're handled, as they start to catch on to the fact they're doing the same things and it never works but find ridiculous ways to justify doing it anyway, and Meowth's stories becoming more and more detached from reality until even James is pointing out that this is a stupid idea before being roped into it anyway.  Like, they're actually funny this time.

Rivals!  I kinda like that Ash doesn't have a battle rival.  He's met some people, but it's not like an ongoing thing.  I appreciate it.  May's rivals are all really good except one.  I do not like Medicham lady.  But like...the mom with the Flareon, who's part of a big fanclub for contest participants?  That's neat, I like that.  Also her daughter is like a savant, the kid should compete.  The Dusclops kid was interesting, though holy shit his family is a disaster.  Drew is a fun kind of arrogant rival, being fairly full of himself but not a dick.  He does give May legitimate advice for the smacktalk he does, and seems to genuinely care about her development and performance.  My wife is deep in the throes of contestshipping at present.  I'm not as deep, but it's a cute pair.  I think keeping him as the recurring rival was the right call.  The others have some stuff going on, but I like having a rotating cast of people just out there, with only one real focus.  Serena's rivals were...look, I only remember Shauna.  I know there were others, but the attempt to make them stand out didn't work, you kinda have to commit to just one.

The Pokemon of the season are pretty good.  The personalities of the Pokemon can help bring out a lot in the show, and I think Hoenn's strength is that it's got a high concentration of lunatics.  May's Torchic is our sweet child with one braincell.  Wurmple was cute as a Wurmple though lost a bit on evolution.  Skitty is an absolute delight.  Bulbasaur is precious.  Corphish is an energetic loon.  Torkoal's an over-emotional disaster creature and I love it.  I do think they could do a bit more with interactive traits between the Pokemon.  The only one I can really think of was Corphish being jealous of Grovyle, and Corphish stealing Torchic's food and then Combusken being like "I can kick your ass now."

The gym leaders!  Roxanne feels pretty unchanged, so nothing to comment on.  Brawly got a lot, and I kinda like what they did with him.  Wattson is hilariously passed over, they didn't even try.  Flannery, to my frustration, they did a pretty good job with.  Norman's a bit played up but I do appreciate that he's where May's obliviousness comes from.  And Winona was unfortunately far too hinged.  Lacks the lunacy of her ORAS counterpart, less invested.

The background stuff with Magma and Aqua is largely fine.  I appreciate that it's integrated well, and that they're kinda just following the games' path on this one.  It's a nice nod to me, as someone who tend to prefer the games, and I like that they get play a little early instead of tossing it all in at the end of the region.  Though one thing that was funny, the first episode absolutely used different names for Tabitha and Shelly, which threw me.  I remember being like "okay these are just anime folks," but then they show again and used the right names and something about that tickles me.

I dunno, we're having a pretty good time with Hoenn!  I'm...kinda surprised by it.  Ash has officially grown on me, something I imagine will give @alphakuriboh and @megazardx2 a smug satisfaction.  May's not quite favorite protagonist now for me, Dawn is still very much my girl though we'll see how the anime does her character, but May did secure her place as my wife's favorite.  It's good enough that I'd legitimately taken the stance that Masters should consider just using anime May's personality over games May, because I can legitimately say this one's just more interesting.  Could do without Brock, but nothing is perfect.  Two more Hoenn seasons to go.  The last one's the Frontier as I understand it, so I'll finally get to learn, like, anything about the original Frontier set.  Fun times ahead, I suppose.

[okkalo]

jingyuan he so yummy😋

EXACTLY AND BEST BELIEVE I SOENT ALL OF MY BEGINNER MONEY (iforgorwhatrhecurrwnxyiscalledingame) ON HIM

but also argenti hotter 🫶 i will be waiting for his and blade’s rerun 🫶🫶

[wildflowercryptid]

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME OLEANA IS GETTING INTO MASTERS SOON OH MY GOD??????

look at her... miss oleana, i am begging you to leave rose and give me a chance—

[dysfunctionallygrey]

Do you have any cool Pokemon headcanons???}

ME???

POKEMON HEADCANNONS!???

*explodes*

(sorry for the late reply BTW)

Here are some I don't really see often, and one I consider very interesting and not too thought of:

Pokemon Schooling headcannons!

(For the champions specifically, Under the cut!)

Red

He finished public elementary school and then immediately disappeared for the mountains. Literally living my dream.

What else does he need.

Blue

Continued schooling at a private high-school while being a gym leader, then went to uni in Kalos to be a Pokémon professor.

Lance

Homeschooled from elementary to high school by his dragon clan. Then went to a private prestigious university in Galar (The same one Cynthia and Steven would eventually go to.)

Wallace

(He counts, he's the champion of my heart)

Secular Private school kid, all his life. (like meeee) Probably didn't go to university in favor of Contests, since he blew up in popularity around his mid teens.

Steven

Rich kid, private elementary school, private international school abroad and then abroad again to a uni in Galar. (all non secular)

Cynthia

Her family is rich but not that rich, Public elementary school and then secular private high school. Then obviously abroad in Galar.

Alder!!

I imagine a small schoolhouse for him in Floccessy town, where he schooled for elementary where his mom taught at. I don't think he got any higher schooling than that because I headcannon he went on his Pokémon journey on his teens and kept the title of champion for a long while.

N

(If I'm counting Wallace I'm counting him too)

Homeschooled.

Actually homeschooling is an overstatement. He learned maths, of course. Ghetsis probably found out he was a genius in maths and fed into it because he thought it would be useful for later.

Then how to read and write, some basic words and simple things and then the rest was just blatant propaganda to brainwash N into thinking all Pokémon trainers suck.

Iris!!!

She reeks of homeschooled kid whose spark hasn't been crushed by bullies. A very outdoorsy girl who goes out to play, do her workbooks for an hour and then pop out to play or train even more.

For high-school though I think she'd attend Blueberry academy.

Diantha

I'm not saying she's a nepo baby, but she is a non-secular private school kid who went to Uni in Kalos.

Professor Kukui

Public Elementary school, Public highschool, scholarship to a fancy schmancy private university.

Leon.

Hear me out:

ACE kid.

He became champion really young so he probably didnt go to normal school as a kid, so ACE it was. He was enrolled there, but he never really showed up except if you counted him coming in once a month to get his Paces and pace tests

For the uninformed, Ace is a school system focused on self learning.

They give you a short workbook called a PACE that is essentially a week or twos worth of lessons, a goal chart that you have to set yourself which is basically a little calendar where you write your goal page, usually 3 - 5 pages and then you finish it at the end of the day.

If you are ever done with a goal or page, you go to the scoring station and then score it yourself.

Once you're done, you immediately take a test for all the stuff you learned.

That's basically the gist of it, but Leon would do his Paces in between training sessions, once the week was over, the finished paces and pace tests would go to the teacher to be graded.

Geeta

She went to Naranja/Uva and it kinda strikes me as a good private school with functioning bathrooms so we'll go with that.

Holy fuck that was a lot I hope you and the 5 people enjoyed

[marshmalleaux-queen]

It kinda sucks that you get a whole dorm room in Scarlet/Violet, and you don't even get to do the one cool thing every student would do with their dorm room - personalize it!!

So I spent an absurdly long time painstakingly editing someone's character out of a screenshot of the empty room, until it looked pretty much seamless...and then proceeded to just scribble over it anyway dkjfg. This is just a concept of what my trainer Sierra would have in her room. It would take way too long to clean it up, so it's just gonna look sketchy for now -u- But I really like what I did with it!

details/descriptions under the cut!

On the bed: Two lavender pillows, two throw blankets, a shiny Minior plush, and a shiny Torchic plush. If you were to interact with the bed, the text would say "There are a few small red and green feathers on the bed..." Sierra's Hawlucha sometimes takes naps there with her kdjfg.

On the left wall: A Froslass poster, inspired by a drawing I once received as a gift.

On the center wall: A map of Paldea with lots of sticky notes, photos, and articles, all connected by strings. Here she keeps track of things related to her search for new Mega Stones (specifically one for Bisharp).

On the right wall: A whiteboard with random notes and doodles. The one of Sierra and her Bisharp is the most prominent

On the shelf: Four frames of Gym Badges she's earned (Sinnoh, Hoenn, Kalos, Galar) - Galar's are tucked away in the corner, as she's a bit ashamed of the experience (she quit before fighting the E4 in Galar, due to the pressure/anxiety of her biggest matches being televised) (also I cheated and copy/pasted transparent PNGs of those badges sorry dkjfg). On the right side are several binders, all containing her research on Mega Evolution.

On the desk: (from left to right) A Litwick lamp, with the charm from her Team Magma uniform resting against it; her work laptop that she uses to file reports and contact her boss, as well as some scattered papers; a plain bright desk lamp; a microscope and more loose papers; several Mega Stones (Cameruptite, Garchompite, Medichamite, Altarianite) and crystal samples she recovered from her trips to Area Zero.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

FR it’s actually crazy where are the itoshi non enjoyers at…im crying is your latest reblog also in ref to him bc if so you’re so real

REAL the lives are all connected the multiverse just is like that yk (pause yuki protag and he regains his past memories that kinda cooks) LMAOO because he would be so hyped like “oh yeah im that man the super cool ninja ladies love me fish (idk what equivalent would go here) fear me”

SIBLING GOALS PLEASEEEE LMFAOO king of kalos yuki…its giving insane aura

No because im just hella paranoid LMAO fortunately tumblr seems a lot chiller than other platforms but SHSJSB THANK YOUUU even a a tumbler inactive acc I’ll be the number one Mira defender o7 call me Oliver aiku the way I defend LMAOO ok Twitter is actually insane like INSANE insane I fr only use it because some official accounts like to update there and there’s also some really nice art there but other than that absolutely 0 interacting because that’s like reddits younger sibling

LMFAO no actually Nagiy/n just gatekeeping the love sorry only room for one couple!!! /j but so real it adds depth to the whole world if people don’t get that they can leave!! IM CRYING nagi outing Reo like that is so funny

It’s like Isagis the angel and aikus the devil of the little consciousnesses consultants (bro what are they referred as ykwim like when they pop up on your shoulders) LMFAOAOAOAIAH THE BIKE LINE IM CRYINGGFGG stop that bright back so many memories I can’t

Your brain working so hard it’s foreshadowing for you LMAOO before I even read I was already thinking “I bet he’d be annoying af but eventually their daughter warms up to bug boy and they fall in love” HAHA wait why is he lowk giving igaguri vibes though….like not for igaguri to be inserted in as him but just purely on a vibe comparison standpoint….(grandfather nagi he alr acts like one NOW /j)

I was fr laughing so hard imagining that like it’s a classic poorly drawn picture done from like five colors of crayon but because of Barou gyarados and defeated Mr Mikage it’s almost 75% red LMFAO THE TEACHER PLAYING CPS IS CRAZY and she finds out like “wait your the former champions kid??????” OOOOH OMG no wait they have their son and readers like “omg he reminds me sm of my cousin…maybe this is a sign he’s always with me” BYE I started at new kiyora so long I forgot what s1 kiyora looked like LMAOO I see the vision!! It’s even funnier when you think about how Nagi and kiyora beef with each other now LOL

AHAHAA guys so im actually reader like ACTUALLY now /j this’ll be a very immersive read but LMAO on the flip side imagine reader also just trying to catch some random pokemon and for whatever reason she’s separated and just not with her own pokemon (idk maybe she’s setting up their campsite so everyone left to gather supplies or train or whatever so she’s just alone with all their traveling stuff) and some pokemon pops up that she wants so she just eats through Karasu’s entire quick ball stash and eventually catches it on like the last ball and Karasu comes back like “BRO WTF” LMAOA ok but another tally for a Karasu L HAHA first it was hioris ducklett now it’s the quick balls (maybe yayoi made fun of him before in a sibling way like this is why I’m gym leader not you cuz you suck)

AHAHA dumbass x dumbass power of friendship imagine his abomasnow also has a bunch of moves that inflict confusion on itself LMAOO or it’s just general super susceptible to anything that might inflict that status because it’s already confused 24/7 but WAITTTT this should just be a real series atp THE OVAS fr just have an entire expansion of the verse we all cheered if you have the time/motivation PLEASE MAKE THE OVAS wait this is Lowk becoming orv orv also has side stories (i haven’t read them oops) wait im laughing imagine hiori in a full safari zone fit BUT why not combine both ideas…hioris pokemon have a dispute INSIDE the safari zone LMAOO maybe he goes in to settle a dispute in there and while he does that his pokemon have to wait outside to which they start throwing hands (probably swanna starting it like we should go in and look after him and protect him from the pokemon inside or sth and they can’t figure out who they should send in to follow since a full team of 6 is too inconspicuous and then that just spirals into plain old fighting) WAIT I WANT A TABIEITA DUMBASS EPISODE does this warrant another notion folder (idk how notion works so I hope ykwim)

BAROU VERSION IN THW WORKS WOOHOOOO YES NIKO INTRO homeboy Niko coming in clutch, as aiku would say LMAO

HSGDJSS guys why’d she phrase that like peregrine and hollyhock are already dead….guys??? Ok but it’s ok someday I trust it’ll come into existence!! Speaking of did you end up deciding what you’re doing for the event?

Barou would truly appreciate the graphics “thanks for honoring my death maybe you’re not a donkey” LMFAOOEO sorry I’m having too much fun with this au and I’m not even the one writing it

BLLKS2 TRAILER!!! YES I DAW bruh the up close and personal screen of shirtless sae sends me but LOWK THE CHARACTERS LOOK PRETTY GOOD FOR THE MOST PART?? Omg Karasu our man got his justice!!! I agree I love how he looks!! Glow up from some of his initial manga panels LMAO I’ll admit the cgi somehow looks even more cgid (specifically the zoom in on Isagis feet with hiori in the back) and some animation sections feel very screenshot additional time-esque but WHATEVER (they also looked really oiled up in that one top6 shot like why are they sparkling like that) like you said s1 wasn’t unwatchable but some parts of the trailer feel even choppier, specifically with the lip syncing? Like when Nanase talks and when Rin and Shidou are beefing it’s giving like Pac-Man ass mouth but I’ll live with it the Karasu moments are saving me (the last shot of otoya in the trailer where he’s staring into our souls has me rolling though he kinda looks like he’s ON something but it’s ok) WE’LL LIVE

STOP NOT THE YOTD NAME DROP IM CRYING but FR!!! At least we have content and I bet for panels it really matters it’ll look fire! The way they did otoyas aura was kinda cool too!! But THATS WHAT IM SAYING where’s all the money they’re raking in going?? Like what….i kinda wish they’d splurge and go with a bigger studio but maybe they’re contractually bound to eightbit ugh but im sooo excited for s2!!!!! Maybe after this s2 they’ll finally put their eightbitussy into it

Im still kinda losing it over the fact that it’s 14 eps though? I’ve seen some people speculating saying maybe they’re doing another two cour division and it’s just for cour 1 but we’ll see….if it’s just 14 eps of super crunchy quality I won’t be as ecstatic though LOL but I think there’s also a chance they’ll refine it before release? Because actually the end credits scene for epinagi got refined in the Amazon prime release iirc so they gave Karasu and hiori a glow up (that locker room scene) and they look a lot less crunchy so manifesting…

- Karasu anon

YESSS IT WAS ABOUT SAE DHKSDKSJS i’d drop a piano on him in every life 🥲🙂‍↕️ nah because the itoshis occupy the same space as nanami jjk in my mind like i can see where the appeal comes from but they need to be humbled so i must hate

pursuit otoya def has a hat (he probably got it from karasu let’s be real) that just says “women want me magikarp fear me” but then reader’s magikarp loves him and no women want him thereby proving the hat completely wrong 😭

nah because king of kalos yuki…i need him tbh…he’s another one (kinda like reader when she retires) where he had to give up battling for personal issues so nobody’s ever beaten him in an ACTUAL league battle either 🤩 like lowkey bro could’ve been champion too the world will never know!! so he def commands insane respect (makes tabieita slandering him even funnier like do y’all know who you’re talking to rn)

all of my mutuals post relevant twitter screenshots so i get it secondhand HAHA avoiding the bad and receiving the good 😏 agreed it has mega reddit vibes for sure i’m scared of it…PLS you are the aiku of this verse we love to see it

imagine nagiy/n dueling tullireo “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us” FJSKDJJS real talk though i agree when a story is this long it’s impossible not to have background dynamics going on!! it adds to the fun anyways people who don’t get it just will have to miss out ig!! PLSS nagi has 0 chill he does not gaf he’ll out anyone…imagine reader asks reo for recommendations afterwards or smth LMAOOO he’s like how did you know you don’t even have any psychic types and she’s like uhhh my aegislash?? which is technically correct but from then on reo is super paranoid around aegislash because thinks it can read his mind 😭

HAHAHA wait shoulder angel/shoulder devil isagi/aiku goes so hard (consciousness consultants is cracking me up) their dynamic is so funny…wait this means aiku HAS to know barou in the past ☝🏻 maybe since he’s the one who gives reader her keystone after seeing her houndoom with its houndoominite he’s like “i knew this asshole with a houndoom who also had houndoominite what a coincidence” and reader’s like “not really that’s barou we’re related” and aiku’s like???

okay lowkey i was thinking niko but igaguri fits so well i’m crying 😭 pursuit sequel where it’s an igaguri x reader and we’re nagiy/n’s daughter real and true (new it trio reader + igaguri + kurona) /j ofc HAHAH but fr i think it would be so cute imagine her bringing him to meet nagi and reader and reader’s just like “i’m so proud of you for continuing the ‘dating losers’ trend in the family” and nagi’s like “yup 👍” because he’s accepted he’s a loser atp LMAOO omg nagi would def be that grandfather that lets you get away with whatever when he’s babysitting you and gives you like caramel candies or smth KFCJSJKS PLSS him sitting on a porch in an ugly ass sweater (from when reader or reo attempted knitting and used him as a guinea pig) in a rocking chair with tea i’m crying

sometimes a family is a man, his wife, his best friend’s father who his wife destroyed in battle, his wife’s vaguely homicidal hellhound, and his wife’s cousin watching over them disapprovingly from heaven 🥹❤️ i hope you like mr mikage’s mustache and barou’s hair i worked hard on them /j LMAOAAOAOO anyways i was crying making this i hope you appreciate it (also the ribbon on houndoom is because her mega stone is tied on her neck with a ribbon by barou when he gives her to reader but obviously nagiy/n’s child exaggerates things and yassifies houndoom to the max…the teacher pulls up expecting some cute weak little puppy pokémon and is met with THE houndoom who killed the leader of team x himself i bet she pisses her pants)

HAHAHA I LOVEEE GIVING KARASU L’S he truly cannot win…okay wait that’s so pokémon anime coded her using all of karasu’s quick balls to catch her phanpy and karasu comes back and is like um?? so he makes reader repay him but she doesn’t have that much money and she has to go around battling random people for enough cash and that’s how she gets to know phanpy LFJDJSJFH karasu’s gentle parenting at its finest he’s like “i hope you learned an important lesson today 😐” and she’s like “yeah apparently my phanpy knows rollout 😄” karasu just gives up atp 😭

ZANTETSU WITH A PERPETUALLY CONFUSED ABOMASNOW IS SOOO FUNNY TO ME AND SO CANON!! lowkey the side stories would be so fun especially because we could show more characters like zantetsu who don’t appear in the main story…maybe yuki taking his pokémon to aryu to get groomed or smth 🤔 PLSS THE HIORI IDEA I’M CACKLING 😭 imagine the tabieita ova is just otoya trying to teach karasu how to rizz girls up but he keeps getting rejected so karasu’s like bro you suck let me try and he gets a date on the first try FHDJDJSJ omg or we could have one of yayoi and karasu as kids…i had an idea for an otoya one but tumblr deleted half of my response for some reason?? like i had literally responded to your ENTIRE ask and just went to look something up and when i came back tumblr was like lol fuck you redo the entire thing 😰 WAIT possibly the same otoya one or maybe a diff one but just an ova of him being a chris prince stan and trying to follow the chris prince regimen ™️ but his muscles give out and his pokémon are like HELL NO or it’s like him just buying chris prince merch for an entire chapter 😭 or a tullia and loki ova when they go on a date and it’s just tullia being like “huh i wonder what reo’s doing rn…hold on why do i gaf…” (sneaking in the tullireo agenda as always) LMAOAOA NO FR i never read the side stories either but this is literally orv pokémon edition like maybe we WILL reach that 1.5 million word count /hj

AIKU IS VILLAINOUS IN THE BAROU VERSION HE’S SLANDERING EVERYONEEE so far lorenzo, barou, and niko have caught strays his inner monologue is cracking me up though 😭 fr homeboy niko ALWAYS comes through for the gang we love him!! aiku would be nothing without him

NOOO THEY’RE NOT DEAD DEAD i’m just pursuit brain rotted so once i get more of the oaeu and requests out i’m going to work on that for a while!! HAHA dw i’m having sm fun with it too it’s such an entertaining au with so many possibilities!! PLEASEEE barou’s like ok i guess it’s acceptable because it’s aesthetic you get a pass this time 😒

SADLY NOOO NO IDEAS YET actually ykw a pokémon theme would be really fun and in character atm!! i’d have to think of how to go about it but that is def one option (it’s coming up too AHH so i have to get to cooking for real!!)

agreed it’s not as awful as people are making it out to be!! a lot of the trailer was still frames too so it just looks choppier because it’s not an entire scene in motion yk…the budget is apparently higher than s1 so i doubt it’ll be worse than s1 if anything it’ll just be the same!! AND KARASU LOOKED SOOO GOOD THEY DID HIM JUSTICE i can’t wait to see him in action…i will forever mourn the thought of him with jet black hair and pretty violet eyes though 😩 purple/black karasu you will live on in our memories/99% of fanarts + colorings 😭 i feel like the blue falls a bit flat like he’s kind of just giving “isagi’s sexy cousin” atm HAHAHAHA but it’s all good he’s fine either way!! tbh yk me i’m just waiting for s2 for the edits anyways and if editors can make fire stuff out of manga panels they’ll def cook with whatever the anime gives us!!

speaking of edits do you know those tik tok sounds with the usa eagle screech i NEED people to start editing karasu with it because yk bird LMAOAAOOA JUST IMAGINEEE i don’t think he gets a bird aura panel until NEL (this is what i went to look up when tumblr glitched out for you to get a sense of how far i got) but i am investing i need people to get to WORK idk how no one has seen the vision yet!!

hmm i think if it’s only 14 eps they’ll definitely either go crazy or they’ll do two cours 🤔 tbh more content is more content i’m just hype to see my boys back on screen 🤩 the animators always yassify nagi so i’m chilling because there’s a high chance he’ll look good for the most part JFKSK i’m worried they might mess up barou because they seem to be allergic to him slaying but i still have faith!! ACTUALLY YKW i’m waiting for everyone to crawl out of the woodwork remembering how much they like nagi once they’re reminded of how cool he is…like NUH UH go back to the kaiser glazing hole you scrabbled out of leave nagi ALONE i have been here through everyone slandering him he’s MINEEEEEEEE (insert wolf ripping its shirt open meme) /j

anyways if it seems like i missed anything i’m sorry tumblr hates me so i probably thought i responded and didn’t LMAOAOA i think my og response was more fleshed out but alas…😓💔

[juliamex3]

headcanons of what I think the anipoke cast is up to in the future

Ash - Still traveling the world, on a journey to become a Pokemon Master, cuz ofc he is. He's changed his approach and focuses more on learning about Pokemon, but will still never say no to a good battle. Fights hard to stay World Champion. Occasionally still works for Cerise

Misty - She's still the leader of the Cerulean City Gym but she's slowly working up her way to becoming a Kanto Elite Four Member

Brock - Pokemon Doctor! Has been all over the place helping out at different Pokemon Centers over the years

Gary - He's a Pokemon Professor! Well known for all kinds of insane discoveries. He works under his Grandpa and eventually takes over the Lab. Still has a rivalry with Goh.

Tracey - He's Garys assistant now, make sthe lab very chaotic. Started taking art commissions on the side

May - Well known Top Coordinator who has won multiple Grand Festivals! But she still comepetes in contests and travels with the hoen coordinator gang

Max - Gymleader, he's taken over the Petalburg City gym! Dunno what his type though is, he can mix em if he wants to

Dawn - Also a well known Top Coordinator with multiple wins, and she still occasionally competes in contests. I like the idea of her getting into fashion and designing.

Paul - Either a Gym Leader or an Elite Four member, maybe even Sinnoh Champion, but definitely still battles

Iris - Contiunes to be Unovas champion, trying to snatch Ashs world champ title and learning about dragon types on the way

Cilan - S class connoisseur! Still likes traveling but also stays in Striaton a lot to help out in the café, though he doesn't act as gym leader anymore

Serena - Reining Kalos Queen and Pokevision influencer! Also her and Lisia are a pop star duo

Clemont - Not a gym leader anymore either, he's focused more on his inventions and becomes pretty well known for it

Bonnie - New Lumiose Gym Leader! I like to think she tried out both gym battles and showcases when she was old enough to go on her own journey, but ended up being drawn towards batrling a lot more. I also like the idea of her beconing Kalos champion eventually

Mallow - Pretty much took over Ainas Kitchen and started branding out their name to other Alola Islands

Lana - I kinda like the idea of her getting interested in acting after the gig she and the other sm girls had, still fishes with her dad for fun

Kiawe - Akala Islands newest Kahuna! Contributes to keeping the Alola league tournament alive as well. He doesn't have much time to help with the farm anymore but still delivers milk every morning

Sophocles - Works at Pokemon NASA, far off from going to space but he'll get there

Lillie - I am very attached to Lillie being a teacher at the Pokemon school, but I also like the idea of her writing books. Either way she does something booksmart tm

Gladion - Works at the AF, got sucked into the family buisness and researching UBs after Lillie the Nihilego

Goh - Cerises assistant still working for his own Professor title and more than mildly upset at the fact Gary managed to get there before him, he specialices researching species that were discovered more recently and has an always increasing of his own Pokemon to look after

Koharu - Since she doesn't have a canon long term goal, her story line was moreso about figuring out what she wants to do, that kind of makes her a catch all character. I can see her do anything really she works with whatever. Ik she helps out her dad as a research fellow at the end of the series and I also like her getting more into contests but I don't really think she does either of those forever? I like the idea of her doing photography, it's artistic in the opposite direction of what her mom does

[lorekeeper-backset]

I've come up with a guy for Pokemon Investigations. For those who are not in the know, this is an AU where Looker quit Interpol to stay in Kalos with Emma and do Private Detective-ing for real.

His name's Thorn (name subject to change) and he's a new hotshot Interpol agent that's been assigned to be Anabel's partner/subordinate. He's always looking to prove himself and kinda lives in Looker's shadow since he's basically replacing him. So when Looker comes back into the equation due to happenstance he immediately jumps at the chance to one up him and in the process jumps to wildly incorrect conclusions.

He's a grass type specialist because grass is weak to poison and Looker used to have a Crogunk as his partner so it kinda represents that he's kinda so sucks (sort of Sebastian Debeste-esque but not quite to Sebastian's extreme) but his partner Pokemon is a Roselia, which is grass/poison, which poison is neutral towards, to represent that he does have the potential to be as good as Looker if he'd just stop trying to be someone he's not.

[lussterpurge]

I'm just realising i never asked you abt your Alain hcs so... Tell me your Alain hcs 🔫 🦆

(the number of times i typed s instead of a in alains name: 2. One for each a)

HI TUMBLR DELETED MY ORIGINAL RESPONSE TO THIS BC IT HATES ME so uhm. Lemme dig in my brain again.

SO. In my head Alain is non-binary. She uses she/he pronouns! She’s AROACE!! Meaning no shipping sorryguys although I respect some pairings.. except marissonshipping dont be freaks guys sorry. She’s Paldean-Kalosian too! She also has two facial scars. One over his nose (A result of Lysandre’s Pyroar) and one on his bottom lip. The bottom lip one is bc when he’s nervous he bites his lip (very strongly), and considering he has a little fang it left a tiny scar.

She likes to do her eyeshadow, although she kinda sucks at it. Mairin paints her nails, but she picks at them a lot when nervous, so Mairin’s constantly repainting them.

During the Kalos anime (and TSME specials) he’s 15-16, and during the M8 episodes he’s 19-20!

His Charizard is nicknamed Thorn (Like the uhm. Eragon dragon I believe?) and the metagross in her team nicknamed Cobalt was gifted to her as a gift from Steven! He also has a ribombee nicknamed Pixie by Mairin which decided it was gonna stick with him during a trip to Alola.

He still works with Sycamore (his official dad now btw), trying to unravel Mega Evolution, but nowadays he usually keeps a low profile, barely ever going out, always looking behind his shoulder, and is acutely aware of everything happening around him.

His scarf was a gift from Sycamore, while his dangly earring was a gift from both Cosette and Sophie!

He still loves battling, but after the Kalos crisis he gave up his key stone alongside Thorn’s Charizardite X, but he later got a set of accesories that held these stones again. It was a group gift! The necklace Mairin and Steven got, and the stones were courtesy of Sycamore!

Btw in my head she wasn’t fucking humiliated by Leon in M8. She still lost but it was a PROPER FIGHT.

TY FOR THIS I LOVE TALKING ABOUT HIM IM VERY NORMAL

Have some screenshots I edited too!

[imthepunchlord]

Do you think X and Y need to get a remake already?

Well, technically BW should be next but I'm also dreading it thanks to BDSP, and as Gen 5 was the peak of Pokemon's pixel art and thinking that it'll go 3D and it's up in the air how good it'll look... yeah I'm not that excited to see it.

But a remake of XY, I wouldn't quite want what they'd probably do, cause most likely it'll be a match for match remake but I want changes to XY.

The biggest thing I want for XY is for the story to be reworked up cause I wasn't satisfied with XY's story. Most enjoyment I got out of XY was enjoying traveling through Kalos, and it's frustrating cause I think if they had more time they could've had something better. Well, story for all of pokemon.

But like, I wanted to see Malva in Team Flare then get surprised to learn that this tough admin is ONE OF THE ELITE FOUR MEMBERS which like, bruh, you realize she's been holding back this whole time. Essentially toying with you and could've knocked out any time she wanted.

I wanted Team Flare to be funny. Like, how can they be designed to be so flamboyant and fashion oriented but nothing comedic was done with them. Thankfully Skull came next.

I wish Lysandre's reasoning was better or they did something to work off of it, cause he talks about how ugly the world is so it needs to be destroyed and remade to what he thinks is better and I'm just like

Kalos is beautiful and everybody is nice. Where is this coming from Lysandre? Maybe a good chunk of the League should've been made to be assholes in some shape or form. That could offer why Lysandre thinks Kalos sucks.

I also wish I got to see Lysandre getting the legendary, and that there was better build up of them cause it feels they're included last minute. And I wish poor Zygarde got included and more present and did something. Like, I enjoyed Rayquaza coming in to tell Groudon and Kyogre to calm the f down. I enjoyed Giratina arising and kidnapping Cyrus mid speech. Given the lore, Zygarde should've appeared.

I wish the "friends" were done better if they were a must to be included, they all seemed kinda pointless and a little annoying. I'm also annoyed that the rival gets pokemon but they don't show up on their team, like, what was the point of that if they're not used? They get one of the fossil mons, not on the team though. They and Shuana get a Kanto starter, not on their team though, so what's the point? Also RIP those 2 other boys, no starters for you!

...actually yeah, they didn't even get the Kalos starters. I guess Sycamore just has favorites, sorry guys.

I also question why the Kanto starters are even there, outside nostalgia. Like, if there were to be starters to be gifts to you, for sure Snivy and Piplup would've made sense given they're based on French royalty. That's why Serperior was one those gates.

I'd also want to see the Swords of Justice to appear in Kalos in some way given they're based on the famous French musketeers. Maybe they should've been the big legendaries here since Yveltal, Xerneas, and Zygarde don't really feel that tied to Kalos. Maybe them being hostile to humans could confirm Lysandre's views, and oh man, just imagine if you were dealing with Team Flare AND the Swords of Justice and you befriend Keldeo and through that friendship, Keldeo unlocked that power or evolved or whatever, and it shows the big three that oh, maybe there is something for human-pokemon relations and for things to be improved but Lysandre stays stubborn and things escalate, and the Swords of Justice work with you to stop Lysandre and save everyone.

I'd also hope to see Galar and Paldea a little incorporated into Kalos, either in pokemon, culture influence, and lore. Especially Paldea as it seems that was the region that Kalos went to war with a long time ago.

I also would love more mega evolution, but for it to be tweaked. Keep it for pokemon that need a boost of power and not popular mons who are already solid, with only exception being starters; which I am surprised that the Kalos starters didn't get megas. Uh, let mega evolving be more common and not restricted to late game and post game. Also really work off you get the ability through the bond, so you need your pokemon at a certain friendship point to mega evolve and can't just do it right away. And just call them mega stones. I always found the "insert pokemon name-ite" to be kinda silly.

But I also get why it's not being continued. It is a little bit of a shame cause that was my favorite of all the new gimmicks.

I'd also love to see regional variants for Kalos. Like, the dragon Torchic line I drew out, Kalos was the region I had in mind, with the Gallic Rooster as unofficial symbol of France (which might be why Torchic appears in XY), and I believe the cockatrice I tied it to is of French mythology. And in general, for every remake, I think it'd be a lot of fun if they updated the dex to include regional variants that could plausible exist there or make sense to.

Anyway, I'm not sure XY needs a remake now, but I do think it needs an overhaul, which I've heard that we were supposed to either get Z or XY2, but they got cut because there was no time to make it. Which, I do wish we did get Z because that third version is always the superior one, able to have more time and add more stuff in and make tweaks so it goes better, and XY I think needed those tweaks. It's a beautiful region and I like the dex a lot, but I didn't enjoy it for the story or characters. Most of them didn't even stick with me, nor could I remember their names.

Unfortuantely though, remake wise, Pokemon just likes to copy and paste typically, and if BDSP is going to be the new norm for pokemon remakes, it's a remake I don't want for XY, or BW.

[galar-abortion-clinic]

🍀🧠🥊🎓 For Jules, Mauly, and Rory! Just curious about these three!

(Jules is getting his own post since someone else asked about him, so stay tuned. Same twat time, same twat channel)

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

Conceptually, both Mauly and Rory are two sides of the same coin. At first I only had Mauly, but I decided to extract a few traits from her and squelch those out into their own character so that her personality wouldn’t feel so totally neutered by incompetence. She’s a little more idealized, whereas Rory is my worst fear of what I could turn out to be, or how other people might perceive me

Mauly is impulsive, brash, self-serving, and arrogant. She’s unapologetically angry, horny, and human. Rory is all of those things, but deeply insecure and constantly overcompensating. He’s pathetic and he makes me sick. Basically he boils down to “sid vicious if he were a bit less of a dick, purely because he’s subdued by cowardice”

Design-wise? Kalos’ rendition of the Punk Guy/Girl trainer class, man. I fell in love instantly. Also this one specific tank girl page:

Good shit

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

Mauly takes no shit. Sure, that might mean she leaves a bad taste in some people’s mouths, but she knows when she deserves to be treated better. Something I’ve always struggled with has been not standing up for myself because I’m worried it’ll hurt or inconvenience other people. Mauly says fuck those other people, It’s not my job to accommodate anyone else’s existence by minimizing my own. Her whole arc is about self-acceptance through ambivalence. “Even if i don’t love myself, i can’t change who I am. You’re not going to change me either, and you look stupid for trying”

Rory’s best use to me is catharsis. I’ve shoved all the shit I hate about myself into this guy and exaggerated it by queefzillion, and it feels reassuring to see him being knocked down a peg for behaving like a little wart. It also feels kind of nice when he still manages to find occasional kindness in spite of his many, many glaringly hideous flaws.

🥊 - What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Mauly was one of those kids who every adult in her life would describe as “so creative” and “a free spirit”, which is actually grown-up code for “this poor bastard’s gonna be a starving artist and we’re hiding our disappointment”. If she had the means to create more often, she’d have a lot of fun honing her craft and fully leaning into art as an outlet for her angst

Because she’s so hands-on and skilled at improvised patching and the like, she often gets stuck with repair responsibilities by the other schmucks she lives with. She doesn’t mind slapping duct tape over stuff several times over or whacking things with a hammer til it fits right, she just would prefer not being assigned that job by other people. Never tell her what to do

Rory’s nimble fingers don’t only make him a passable thief, but also a possibly-not-the-worst musician. He’s never played for anyone else, which might be why he kinda sucks, but it’s one of the few things he keeps to himself instead of bloating to give his delicate ego some padding. His songbook is loaded with edgy cringe, but its the sort of raw soul-bearing stuff that reminds you there’s a person in there. Not a great person, but a person

Anyway something he hates doing is uhhhhhh giving to charity,

🎓- How long have you had the OC?

Mauly’s been around ffffforrrrrr i wanna say maybe two years now? For a long time she was just an idea in my head, i didn’t wanna touch that idea til i knew exactly what i wanted to do with it

Rory’s my freshest OC, only been around for like a month. Not even. Could still use some fine tuning

Bonus: some VERY rough first drafts of Mauly that’re a little closer to the source material (excuse the positively grimy state of the paper, i dont take very good care of my sketchbooks)

[crystalelemental]

Full tier list is here, breaking down the E-tier. I'll be honest, a lot of this tier is where I have general frustrations that aren't enough to make the significant dislike of F, but I have. Problems.

In case anyone was wondering, I am not going into the same depth as the last one.

Zinnia: neat concept, horrid execution. Delta episode sucks and she exudes nothing to me.

Hau: inoffensive but incredibly boring. Don't like the USUM decision to force him into serious battling.

Marnie: should be interesting as your rival, but all the neat stuff went to Piers, so she's super bland.

Malva/Siebold: Kalos E4 members I do not respect.

Gaeric/Calaba/Liam: Pearl Clan members I don't really care about.

Hugh: "You're about to feel my rage." Shut up, dweeb.

Kofu: bland.

Mina: uninterested, also your trial sucks ass.

Sophocles: I will never forgive Festival Plaza.

Molayne: couldn't care less.

Marlon: Centrist.

Burgh: Not flamboyant enough.

Magnolia: should be great! Unfortunately Galar decided to kick the only old lady professor we ever had to the curb for her hot granddaughter. Thanks for that.

Trevor: Dweeb, sucks at his only interest.

Maylene/Norman/Ramos/Wattson/Blaine: uninteresting Leaders.

Lana: Specifically bad in games, anime iteration is much improved. Games all she seems to do is go on about swimmers, which weirds me out.

Wulfric/Ilima: meh.

Giovanni: Loser lord supreme. Never accomplished a single goal his entire life. Literally had an entire criminal empire that kept Kanto in thrall that he probably inherited from his father, and lost it overnight to a ten year old boy and his rat. They keep trying to imbue him with some grand evil importance but he continuously shows us even in Masters that he is an impotent garbage man. I hear the manga makes him neat.

Juan: pointless, they should've done something more interesting to replace Wallace's gym.

Cress/Cilan/Chili: there's a reason you three weren't taking on Plasma.

Clemont: I actually do not like him, and the anime didn't help.

Bea: where are your organs?

Oleana: Actually really frustrating, because people seem to only like her for being blandly conventionally attractive, but she exudes nothing of a personality despite wild over-dependence on a man, and abuses Bede for personal gain. Hate her.

Misty: Never liked her, sorry.

Surge: Bootlicker.

Jacq: Man, I think it's just the "app designer" thing, but he rubs me the wrong way so bad.

Salvatore: actually inoffensive, but they give him nothing at all to work with.

Nita: I kinda like the Maison sisters, but Nita feels bland.

Buck: literally forgot his name.

Lucy: very little knowledge. I did like the anime iteration though.

Argenta: little to go on.

Benga: Kinda hate him after Masters had him talk to Lance. "You haven't been through enough to fight me, middle aged Champion man!" You are like twelve. Cool your jets.

Ortega: needs his ass beat. Not in like a bullying way, but in an "Eri needs to have a very blunt conversation about how manners work."

Mela: I am not compelled. Outfit is atrocious.

Victor: the unfair one. It's Reddit's fault.

Sina/Dexio: I never liked them to begin with, but then someone posited that Diantha could've used her acting skills to do their faux superhero thing in XY to keep infiltrating Team Flare and now I'll never forgive them.

Noland: eh.

Selene: cute outfit, nothing to work with.

Trace?: I hate the Let's Go rival. He's so bland and non-confrontational in every way. He exudes nothing to me.

Chase: Pikachu sucks, deal with it.

Elio: He gives me monkey child vibes. I do not like monkeys.

Juliana/violet boy: Really uninspiring protagonist designs.

Bellis: all you do is talk in different languages at random without reason and I hate that gimmick.

Wicke: exudes nothing but bad vibes. My wife caught it too and we agree, she should've just been evil.

Charon: at least a little funny in how boring he is.

Faba: bland and too expendable, easily dupes people into getting over Lusamine in USUM.

Archer/Ariana/Proton: Team Rocket just sucks, man. Nothing going on at all.

[pastries-and-pokemon-cafe]

I get a lot of customers coming in and asking me questions about Macaron (my Slurpuff). Lots of people asking me if he's really shiny, if I got him from a breeder, if I bred him myself, the typical fare. His story is a little more complicated than being a designer 'mon bred specifically to be shiny (a practice that I do not condone or support).

I was on vacation in Kalos when I was finishing up culinary school as a little treat for myself, since I wanted to learn from the masters how to make my own Poképuffs and, y'know, just kinda try real Kalos cuisine for myself. I was taking a little hike with Custard for some exercise, when we see an undersized yellow Swirlix in a patch of grass. He had cuts and scrapes all over, and he looked kinda skinny. I didn't see any other Swirlix nearby, and the little guy didn't look very happy or healthy, so I pulled out some of my emergency snacks and offered him an Orange Berry. I was worried he'd be scared and run away back into the grass, but he hopped right over and helped himself to the treat... And then immediately tried to hop into my bag to get at the rest of my snacks. One trip to a Pokémon Center later to check if he was registered to any trainers, and I had an unexpected new friend to bring home with me.

Now Macaron is a healthy Slurpuff who loves nothing more than helping me at the café (and eating). Custard and Macaron are best buds, too. Probably something to do with Custard being there when we found him, and them essentially growing up together as a result. So while I don't support shiny breeding, I do support giving homes to wild shiny 'mons if you stumble across them, because there's a lot of research that shows that they're commonly abandoned by their mothers in the wild for a variety of reasons, most of which boil down to survival instinct. It sucks, but that's nature.

[redolentgrove]

Bijoux, talk about one of your earliest relationships!

"Relationships?" Bijoux rubbed her arms nervously, recalling something from not too long ago…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been the first day of high school, senior year. A Flareon stood in front of the Cinccino-taur, hands balled into fists.

"Bothering me again, Legs?" The fire type's long ears fluttered, and she rolled up her sleeves angrily. "You're gonna have to learn the hard way, then! Thought I made things clear about what I think of you…"

"Not this again… look, I just need to-"

"Shut up!" The Flareon smacked her hands together menacingly. Let’s get one thing straight here, Legs…"

"Must be you, then, because I’m a lesbian." Bijoux's facial expression didn't change one bit, her arms folding in a sense of satisfaction.

The Flareon let out a sharp cackle, eyes widening as she caught herself… actually smiling? Her face flushed and she glared at the Cinccino-taur, before her ears flattened and she began laughing more kindly.

"Damn it!" the fire-type growled, tail whipping the air around her. "You know what, uh… what's your name actually?"

"Bijoux." The Cinccino's brow perked. "Uh… and you're…?"

"Fiamma." She smirked toothily, offering her right hand in greetings, Bijoux responding with her left hand. "You know what, respect. I can't even be mad; that was incredible. The quickness, the deadpanned expression… you're alright."

"I'm… sorry." Bijoux let out a bashful chuckle, retracting her hand after the shake and adjusting her glasses a bit. "I don't know where that even came from-"

"Don't apologise. Seriously." Fiamma shook her head, stepping alongside Bijoux and clapping a hand across the back of her shoulders. "Haven't had a laugh like that in a good long while. Thanks; I needed that. C'mon, let's get you to class before you're late. Oh, and by the way, actually, better make that zero straight things between us, Legs..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So basically, we started talking more after class and that's how I made my first girlfriend. Kinda dumb, I know, but we actually dated for a couple weeks before we ended up separating. It sucked, but at least that was about the time I figured out I still liked girls. I actually was still in the middle of transitioning, so I wasn't exactly, like, out as a girl, and I kinda just, accidentally dropped a bombshell trying to get her off my back."

"Turns out the main reason she did such a one-eighty that day was that she… kinda had a crush on me but didn't want to actually say anything to anyone because she was a bit afraid of admitting she was bi. And hearing me say things as plainly as I did, actually gave her a bit of courage to talk about her own sexuality, and made her feel more normal. We stayed friends after the breakup, and she ended up being prom queen along with her boyfriend at the time, a Furfrou named Benoit. They ended up going to college together somewhere in Kalos… haven't heard anything since. I hope she's doing well..."

[a-tale-of-legends]

I know I just made a post about ocs replacing Malva and all, but I also want to discuss Malva actually staying as a part of the elite 4( within the context of my au)

To put it simply, publicity. The league already looks bad there supposed to be lack of action against team flare. If it comes out that Malva, an Elite 4 member, was a part of Team Flare, there would be a total uproar, a riot even, and the league just can't deal with that after the damage that happened with team flare. So they let her stay. Which is still bad, of course, letting a terrorist be in such a high rank that is the elite 4. But things are already as bad as they are. It's kinda ya doomed if you doomed if you do kinda if situation, at least in my eyes.

I think, with this in mind, maybe instead of Malva being on the run like I initially planned, she is still an elite 4 member for a period of time, however, she is slowly phased out, which ultimately leads the way for Phoenix to take her place?

I think this would be interesting cause it sucks. It sucks that Malva is shielded by her position in the league. It sucks that she essentially gets to go home scott free. Sure, Dante kinda did, but he was 1) never an actual member of team flare and has actively gone against them and 2) he still got some sort of punishment for helping Lysandre. Malva doesn't exactly get that? I can see her being under surveillance and she did ultimately lose her job, but again. Kinda got off scott free. Maybe after she is no longer and elite 4 and kinda faded into obscurity she actually gets arrested, but by then it wouldn't mean anything. And that sucks.

I can only imagine how frustrated Jude would feel about everything. Having to work with malva still, having Malva get no real consequences. It makes them livid, and kinda question why they're still a champion? But then they remember all the bullshit in kalos and go "ah. That's why". Fortunately Phoenix comes along, and they get along great!

So yeah. More food for thought.

[oranberryorion]

team flare kinda sucks... dude.. kalos isn't even real

kalos is very real!!!!!!!!!!!!! so is team flare!!!!!!!!!!! thats why im here!!!!!!!!!! spreading the word of beauty!!!!!!!! you wouldnt understand!!!!!!!!

-🔥