#OH DID I MENTION THAT IT'S ABOUT HALF THE TIME OF A REGULAR POKEMON GAME LOL!!!!!

[ladala99]

Pokémon World Championships... The Disqualification Thing Going On

For anyone not in the know, a bunch of people got disqualified on Day 1 of the Pokémon World Championships (Day 2 as well) for having illegitimate Pokémon (Pokémon obtained through cheating devices).

Which for me, watching from the sides and sometimes thinking about getting into competitive but never actually doing so partly because of how much cheating is normalized/somewhat required, is a nice change of pace. On the surface. There’s a lot going on this tournament, though.

Quick history of cheating in the Pokémon competitive scene: it’s been part of it from the very beginning. Pokémon have hidden stats (called IVs - or Individual Values) that just make some better than others and it used to be incredibly improbable to get perfect ones. Especially when you consider older generations allowed Pokémon with event-exclusive moves only obtainable in Ruby/Sapphire in specific locations to compete. A legitimate one came from some machine in Japan years prior. And had random IVs.

Also Legendaries. Most Pokemon you could breed to get a fairly good one, but Legendaries it was all luck. And you have one try per save file. So if you caught Kyogre during the story and it has awful IVs, too bad. You have to play Sapphire all over again to get a good one.

Naturally, some people used cheating devices to get their Pokémon. And because some people did it and got away with it (since you couldn’t really be the luck police. Maybe they really did get a straight 31 Shiny Kyogre. You don’t know they didn’t), others did it too. By the time I was looking into getting into it in the Diamond/Pearl era, there was a perception that if you don’t cheat, don’t bother. You will be at a disadvantage.

Starting with XY and getting better each generation, it started to become sanely possible to get competitively-viable Pokémon in-game. First by making it easier to control breeding and with Legendaries always coming with half of their stats as perfect, then in Sun/Moon being able to raise any stat to perfect, and finally in Sword/Shield being able to fully customize Natures and Abilities, which also affect a Pokémon’s performance and were previously set at a Pokémon’s generation.

At this point, any Pokémon you obtain can be fully made perfect… except if you want the Speed and/or Attack to be the worst they can be instead of the best. Which in certain circumstances, you do. This is relevant.

What is also relevant is how the tournament structure normally works vs how it’s worked this year. Usually, year one of a game coming out is a Regional Dex format. This means only Pokémon that are actually obtainable in the games that just came out are useable. This is an accessible tournament that anyone just getting into the series can play with just the latest games.

This time, though, while the rest of the season used a Regional Dex format, with the small shakeup that certain categories of Pokémon were excluded at first and got included later, Worlds did a much larger shakeup - some Pokémon only obtainable in Sword/Shield and Legends: Arceus are also allowed. And many of these are high-power Pokémon who are practically needed in the current meta.

Most noteworthy are Ursaluna and Enamorus. They both play best at 0 Speed, which isn’t something you can change on the fly. Which for Ursaluna, you can still breed its base form elsewhere and just use Legends: Arceus to evolve it, so it isn’t that bad.

But Enamorus. It’s not breedable, it’s exclusive to the postgame, and it’s a pain to catch. And once you actually catch it, Legends: Arceus calculates stats in a different way so you can’t tell what its Speed IV is until you save the game and move it into HOME. If it’s wrong, you have to play the entire game over again to try again. Oh, and because Legendaries have half their stats perfect by default, you have a 1/64 chance to get one with a 0 Speed IV instead of the 1/32 you’d have for a regular Pokémon.

Did I mention the ruleset was only announced two months before the tournament?

Yeah. Having a multi-game ruleset at the highest level when the rest of the series only required the most recent games was bad enough, but announcing it so late meant people playing legitimately did not have the time to get perfect Pokémon along with all the rest of the theorizing and practicing. If you want to use those new Pokémon, you are very likely to cheat to get them, or get them traded from someone who cheated to get them.

Add in that Worlds introduced new hack-checks never used before. Most people using illegitimate Pokémon have been pretty comfortable not getting caught. As long as it’s theoretically possible it’s been okay. It’s only people snooping in the metadata of those who uploaded their teams that could tell. But now the official hack-check checks the metadata.

Metadata that you cannot check without using cheating programs yourself, by the way. Say you play 100% legitimately and you wanted to use a team with a non-slow Urshifu. You only have Scarlet/Violet, not Sword/Shield. What are you going to do? Trade for one, of course! You get one fresh off the GTS, train it up and you’re ready to go. Right?

Nah, you find out at the tournament that the person who traded it to you cheated it in and you can no longer use it for the rest of the tournament. Shouldn’t have cheated, cheater!

And that’s why this doesn’t feel good even though I have little respect for those who in this day and age still hack in their competitive teams. Changing up not only the barrier to entry but also rules enforcement literally at the final tournament is just not a good thing.

[threefeline]

thank you for the swsh venting because everyone criticizing it being called Toxic Terrible Fans is really awful. like, its not Horrible to be disappointed by shoddy work on your favorite series! the pokemon designs are pretty nice, sure, but its ridiculous to coddle a Million Dollar Company instead of holding them to task for probably overworking their employees for a strict deadline and pushing out an unfinished game.

like i dont expect to get my ass patted for expressing an opinion that a Lot Of Other People Have but its really fucking annoying to have every criticism of this game brushed off as “Oh lol you just hate FUN” like no!!! i hate having disappointment after disappointment on a game that i was really excited for in the first place!! 

i hate thinking to myself “well maybe it isn’t THAT bad” and then finding out through leaks that it IS that bad. The starter evos make me sad(but i guess Grookey is cool), the designs on some of the new pokemon(NOT ALL OF THEM YOU CLOWNS) look Bad, the graphics are shit even compared to earlier pokemon games and honestly what the FUCK is up with the weather in the open area??? They really couldnt have had the landscape be a LITTLE different for different weather patterns what the shit?? 

Like honestly I’m still holding out hope that the third installment of this will be better. please god, i want something to be excited for. 

And honestly yeah, people being like “well GF is trying it’s best” no it’s not, Game Freak is a fucking multi million dollar company and it’s higher ups are working its employees to the bone when they can EASILY afford to hire more people. 

[infini-tree]

FANFIC: against all odds - part 2

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Summary: One time they dwell on the thought of being caught, and the one time they were. It all works out, kind of. (Piqua Mystery Dungeon)

A/N: ‘i make no promises,’ i say, immediately writing the third fic for this au in one week? have I ever mentioned that the first thing I made fancontent of was the first pmd game?

Also, this really is just an opportunity to practice writing more scenes with the boys and figure out their tone.

_____________________________

George recalled a time when his dad called him precocious. 

What does that mean, he remembered saying. 

It means that you’re very smart for your age, his dad replied with a grin. You already get basic type matchups and dungeon theory better than most groups your mom’s mentoring in the guild she’s workin’ with!

The snivy had let out a laugh at the mental image of himself trouncing a bunch of grown-ups. Whoa, really?

Swear on the Lake Trio’s jewels, he said, putting up a hand to his chest, and he let out a little giggle as he lifted him up, up, up.

Experiencing the real thing was a bit of a-- well, maybe disappointment wasn’t the right word. Accurate, but not fitting. Tedious, maybe. The long stretches of nothing in-between took up more time than the actual dungeons themselves. He looked over to Harold, and he knew he felt the same.

The walk was silent and oppressive. George unfurled his vine-tie slightly and something fell out and onto his palm. It was a shiny half of a disc, but upon closer inspection its lustre had flaked away to reveal the clay underneath.

Sometimes he would turn the thing over in his hands, but if he had to be honest he had no idea why he kept the remains of the novelty hypno pendulum.

When the snivy first used it, he hadn’t expected anything to happen. He heard tales of the line being able to hypnotize its foes to sleep, and in the more outlandish stories suggest them to do something. Ultimately, it was a desperate act, and maybe that desperation was the thing that made it work.

It wouldn’t be the strangest thing that happened to them, but it had the distinction of being one of the first.

The latest strange thing was the quiet. Him and Harold knew Krupp-- knew how to get under his skin in record time, how to avoid him, the works. They knew how explosive his temper was-- even for an ice-type!

They also know that he was at its worst when he was quiet, so when the abomasnow didn’t react to the bombshell that was being Captain Underpants, it was... unnerving.

For the past few minutes, the boys were giving each other a Look, nudging the other into asking what was on both of their minds. Eventually, hesitance wore into mild frustration. George sighed, then pointed a glance Harold-wards that meant you owe me before breaking the silence with a long “Uuuuuuuh...”

“Yes?” Krupp cut in.

The snivy flipped the pendulum piece to his other hand. “Aren’t you mad?”

“About what?”

“About, you know-- hypnotizing you?” When no answer came, he prodded with, “Being Captain Underpants?”

The pine needles on his arm adjusted themselves in agitation. The snow on it sloughed off at the sudden motion and the boys had to step around the snow drift that was now on the middle of the road.

“You are mad!” Harold interjected.

The abomasnow’s tail slammed to the ground. “Of course I’m mad.”

“What he means is, we kind of expected, I dunno, yelling?” George explained. “Something about how we’re literally the worst-- anything!”

His pace slowed down. Krupp finally looked back at them for the first time since they explained the whole thing, but the expression was all wrong. His brow was more pinched in confusion than frustration. “What, you want me to yell at you?”

“No, but we’re kind of expecting it and would like to get it over with,” the snivy said with a shrug.

The temperature dropped several degrees. There was the frustration. Harold brought himself closer to George, and he leaned into the fluffy warmth.

“Get it over with--” Krupp spluttered. “We are literally being hunted down by every team this side of the region. Someone claiming to be one of my students from the future is spearheading that hunt and not only are pokemon listening to that, but he ripped my guildmaster title from me in what is essentially a forceful takeover.”

A thin layer of frost began forming on the path.

“I’m sorry I’m not dedicating every moment of my time being the World’s Worst Guildmaster, but some of us here have priorities. Like, say keeping himself and two children from not dying on his watch? From not getting caught?” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you know what they’re going to do to us if they catch us?

“I know those idiotic comics were a parody of the actual stories, but do you know what you’re parodying in the first place?” Puffs of frost breath punctuated each breath. “I know neither of you like applying yourselves, but you have to be at least a little aware.”

Harold had taken to picking at the ground with one of his front hooves. George traced a digit over the edge of the broken piece anxiously. Neither of them spoke up.

“Are you satisfied with that lecture?” And just like that, the frost started to melt. It slowly got warmer. “Because I’m not.”

(The boys never liked the quiet in general. Maybe that was why they were always so offput whenever he was.)

_____________________________

It wasn’t long before Krupp and Captain Underpants started talking. They kind of expected that. More often than not, they would wake up to scratching noises as one of them tried to write in the dirt with one of their pine needles.

What was more surprising was how quickly they had compromised on the whole switching thing.

“I’m good at fighting, and Guildmaster is good at planning travel stuff,” Captain explained as he floated them over to where the stairs were. “Neither of us are good at puzzles, but at least we haven’t encountered any!”

“Just like that?” Harold tilted his head.

The abomasnow ground his teeth in what was his attempt at a grimace. It looked weird on his face. “He said it was a matter of practicality, and working with what we’re good at makes sens-- ACH!”

His body tensed up in pain, and he instinctively held them closer to protect them. Harold began to struggle in his tight grip, eyes darting in every direction to figure out what had hit them.

“Captain? What’s wrong?” Panic began to creep into George’s tone.

“Hey, guys,” a familiar voice cut in.

George and Harold paled at the sight of Erica clambering up on the abomasnow’s shoulder. Even in the gloom of the dungeon, the violet crest around her neck glinted.

And Captain was going down, down, down. They braced for impact.

_____________________________

Erica, out of the boys’ circle of friends, was one of the ones who was more in-tune into their misadventures and ready to lend a helping hand. Erica was also the scariest guildmember-slash-student they’ve ever met; she had a cool head and popped up where you least expected. 

It was honestly no surprise that out of everyone, she was the first one who cornered them, and right between the stairs out of this place, too!

“What did you do to him?” Harold yelled, nudging the abomasnow to his feet. 

Captain looked, for a lack of a better word-- terrible. He looked like one more hit would do him in. While landing face-first would definitely leave a mark, they knew him long enough that it shouldn’t leave him straining.

And that’s when George finally noticed what was in the axew’s hands. In one hand was the three-pronged pounce wand that brought her up there with them, whining as the last vestiges of its power left it. In the other, the spiked two-edged wand also making a dying down noise-- it was most likely the thing that brought them down.

“Relax, I just didn’t want you guys to immediately fly off.”

Still, there were more pressing questions, like, “Why are you helping Melvinborg?” George made a face like the name was as bitter as the duosion’s personality.

“We all... kinda got no choice,” Erica replied with the nonchalance of listing off the day’s errands. The only thing that betrayed her was how she gripped the now-defunct wands in a vicegrip. Then, belatedly, “Sorry.”

“Wait, wait, wait, um-- uh--” Captain rushed forward in front of them, his arms spread out to protect them despite his fatigue. His face was scrunched up in the way he does when he was overthinking and none of them could tell whether it was because of the abomasnow’s fatigue or because he really didn’t know that he settled on, “Before you, uh-- take us in-- Plungerina can we talk, one human-turned-pokemon to another?”

To Erica’s credit, she was only tripped up for a moment before she steeled herself for a bit of improv. “Sure, right after I catch you.” She lunged forward and--

Tripped. Somehow. She poked her head up to look at the one entrance to the room, then seeing that no one was there, she opened her backpack and threw a box at their feet.

“Oh no, I am petrified,” she said, practically announced for all the floor to hear. Then, in a more regular speaking volume, “I hope they don’t take the care package I dropped that has supplies and letters from their friends and family.”

There was a moment of silence as the three of them processed what she said. And when they did, George put it in his satchel. “I... thanks, Erica.”

“You’re not welcome, because you stole from me, remember?” she said with a conspiratorial wink. She turned her attention to Captain. “You got one question before the rest catch up.”

“Do you know what they’re going to do to us once you turn us in?” The abomasnow was concerned, to put it mildly. But his tone reminded Harold of the same one he had when he asked long ago where dad went. Naïve, but you knew deep down.

Considering his talks with Krupp, he probably knows in some capacity.

“I figured you’ve been in tough scrapes like this, but I suppose maybe not?” His arms lowered. Harold looked at him worriedly; his pine needles were still shot up and pierced through his cape, despite the lull.

The axew appraised him for a moment, and she noticed the needles, too. “It’s weird to see you think this hard about anything.”

The boys grimaced at how blunt she was, but its definitely crossed their minds.

“It’s weird to think hard about anything!” Captain laughed.

“To answer your question, no, I don’t,” she frowned. “Knowing Melvin, and by extension Melvinborg, it’s probably something else than the, uh... standard. You know how he is with tinkering dungeon items to be more potent.”

And just like that, Captain’s cheery mood was back, even if it was a little more sedate than usual. The needles settled to its more natural position. “Okey-dokey, thanks Plungerina!”

All four of them tensed up at the sudden sound of shouting.

“Time’s up,” she gave a half-smirk half-smile. “Also, there’s a petrify orb in the package. Gotta make this look convincing, you know?”

“O-- oh!” George floundered for a moment before opening the box and taking it out. It let out a low hum.

“Don’t expect this to be a repeat thing,” she added, in the tone of voice that mean to definitely expect it. She stared at him, sensing his hesitance. “Relax, I’ll be fine-- the other teams are coming up and will bring me back first before getting to you. It’ll buy you a bit more time.”

The snivy was still a bit unsure about the whole prospect, but he held it high anyway. It flashed and it froze Erica in place before disappearing in a puff of smoke. And then they ran for the stairs.

(And then they continued to run.)

[whats-ahead]

The most difficult fankid: Len Birch

Happy birthday to Len! In the past week we work shopped Len again and I don’t even think I made a post about the last time we did because I forgot so here’s current Len and some of the process of how it’s come to these changes. Things hopefully won’t change but it’s Len so it might 

Fun fact, did you know Axel and Len used to be the same character? Years ago (before we started this blog) we had a single chess kid. For reasons we decided to split them into two different characters. One stayed a chess kid (Axel) and we weren’t quiet sure on what to do with the other.

We eventually decided we liked the idea of Brendan as his dad. But that counteracted the fact we really wanted Len to live in Castelia. Mainly due to the fact he was a city kid when him and Axel used to be the same person. It was also due to the fact he was close to Hilda and needed to be somewhere for him to meet. 

So for a while we were just ‘okay his mom is going to be someone from Unova we’ll decide later’. It took long enough for us decide that I named a tomodachi life character in 2013 ‘Unova’ as the placeholder (yes I made all of the adults and forced them together for our kids in tomodachi life). 

Shortly after the ORAS contest designs we thought ‘oh this is perfect we can have Brendan do this for a short while, meet yancy, and have a kid with her’. It’s a crackship it doesn’t need much for it work. We specifically choose Yancy because she was an idol from Unova and fit. If we wanted it to make sense we would’ve chosen Lisia, a contest idol from his region.

Now why is this all relevant? Because we’re scrapping Len (and Larentia as a result) living in Unova all together now. Living in Castelia only made sense for Yancy out of the 4 of them so there wasn’t any point of keeping it? At this point we only kept it so Len would be forced to meet Axel and Lloyd (before was before Axel and Len were a ship if you’ve been following us long enough you’ll remember originally we had Len and Charlotte and scrapped that years ago) but they meet other ways so we really didn’t need to force that. Logically we should change ships to Brendan and Lisia but we like our crackship too much and our Lisia specifically goes out of her way to not have kids so it doesn’t work.

Now the Birch’s live on route 104. Specifically Mr. Briney’s old house. Which is right outside of Petalburg (where 3 other kids in hoenn live). Which of course changes a few things.

Larentia and Gale have always been good friends (another thing that used to be a ship that we scrapped simply because it just was not vibing with us). If anything they’re just closer now. Larentia originally only became a ranger because she knew Gale was there and hated living in Unova (they moved when she was 9 originally so she was never there long). Now she just goes because she misses her buddy.

The biggest change this cases is Adele and Len are now childhood friends. Which is something that logically should’ve always been a thing but we kept avoiding it for whatever reason. The ketchem’s move there when Adele’s 5 and the two become friends quickly. And of course Adele and Brendan are still BFFs (best fucking friends).

We also changed Len’s team. Len now only has a poochyena and we’re scrapping the rockruff/dog team. He befriended said poochyena when with his grandfather and it was scaring his grandfather and his thought was ‘oh this is a friend I’m going to keep it’. 

Because Len only have one mon now that makes contests (for when he does them) more difficult. It cases some issues in his first year but eventually he gets the hang of it. The bigger hung up is grand festivals require 3 or more pokemon so for those he’ll borrow (with permission) his dad’’s, mom’s, and sister’s pokemon. This also means we’re changing his design. We haven’t decided to what yet though. 

Other changes we’ve made that I don’t think I put on here (from the last rehaul not this one). Len only does contests for 4 years he’s traveling, he decides while he likes it theoretically he’s more of a supporter then someone who wants to do it. Then while he’s taking a year off for his sister he ends up joining (and quitting) the poke idol stars reboot while it’s still in development phases. Decides he doesn’t like doing that either and settles on becoming a connoisseur by suggestion of his sister.

Also he Axel Llloyd and 2 npcs have a online dnd group. Len dms while everyone else is a party memeber. Axel and Lloyd obviously know each other but everyone else sees each other as online friends. Axel figures out Len is their online friends right away but Len and Lloyd don’t figure it out till a couple of years. 

For how this changes the timeline it goes the following it

2034-2035 

Len and Adele do (regular) contests in Hoenn together. Len struggles a lot because he’s stubborn and refuses to change the way he wants to do things. Only Adele makes it to the grand festival so the two decided they’re going to try to do their own thing for a year.

2035-2036

Len goes to Galar to try out contest spectacular. There he meets Lloyd and Axel for the first time (in person). Because Axel can tell Len is the DM (through things he mentioned online that related to Len as well as his voice) right away and asks him to join him and Lloyd. Len agrees

Adele, not wanting to travel alone after traveling with her buddy convinces Autumn to travel in Johto with her when she learns she’s also in Johto. The two do super contests together. As for Autumn’s crush on Adele this is when it hits it’s highest and lowest point. At the start Autumn’s all ‘this is great we get to spend so much time together’ and the more time she spends with Adele the more she realizes she prefers her as a friend and grows out of her crush

Also during this time Adele and Harley become texting buddies because it’s a thing Adele always gets along with at least 1 of her traveling companions dad’s and May and Drew’s reaction to them being friends is too funny to pass up

2036-2037

After splitting up Adele and Len decided to go back to traveling with each other in Sinnoh for super contests. This is when they originally meet so much (if anything) changes minus the fact they don’t meet for the first time

2037-2038

(regular) contests in Kanto. Again this doesn’t change much from how it was before

2038-2039

This is when Adele and Len take a year off. Adele to mourn for Gale and Len because he’s worried about his sister who just got in an accident. 

Adele stays for around half a year and ends up traveling (without doing contests) with Jean and Bridge for the second half. 

Len gets offered a job through his mom to be part of the poke idol stars (often referred to as just pokestars) reboot. He takes it and is the center of Treaty for a short while with Noel and Kitty

His pokemon is a shiny poochyena (so sadly cannot use his own pokemon for the role)

He quits right before the reboot game releases which causes a lot of issues. He needed a replacement but fans didn’t want the exact character replaced so they made a new member for treaty

It’s scout he was pulled in by Marina for the role (yes this pisses Penny off) last minute and his character is a shiny pancham (gotta replace the only shiny with another shiny

Because of this his character didn’t get content at the release and was added a bit later. This made fans feels bad for him (as the voice not the character) and he quickly became the most popular voice actor of those introduced in the reboot. He lets the fame get to his head, stops talking to penny and then that plot line

2039-2040

Len’s done with contests and doesn’t want to be an idol. His sister suggests he becomes a connoisseur and he takes to that quickly. Like contests he’s doing his own thing and not following the exact root for that but he still manages to do his own thing well (eventually takes the root of becoming a teacher/guidance counselor)

Still wants to go back to traveling so he joins Adele who’s doing contest spectacular. Charlotte and Elise are here too.

I think that is everything. If anyone has any specific questions about how this changes things/relationships between characters feel free to ask! If anything it’ll make us develop this further and hopefully stick to this 

[cynthiaandsamus]

Game Blondes Crystal Clear Nuzlocke Part 2: A Shining Chance!

“Hey I’m blonde!”

“…I’m also blonde.”

“AND WE’RE THE GAME BLONDES!!”

(Game Blondes Logo by @game-overture)

“Welcome back! So last time on Game Blondes we started our freeroam Crystal Clear Nuzlocke, our rat died in our first battle but we got a lot of other pokemon to replace it, fought a dude with a Shiny Ponyta and made our way halfway across Johto to fuck around. Now we’re gonna go check out Goldenrod since the dude with the Ponyta mentioned it and see if we can start nailing down some badges.”

“Okay so just a note about this game, seems like the trainer battles scale to your badges but the wild pokemon stay around the level they would be… considering the Hoothoot and Psyduck you caught last episode were in the early teens and you still have zero badges.” Cynthia pondered.

“So technically I could just run into a field way down the line and catch something super powerful and ram through the whole game?”

“Well theoretically, as long as you could manage to catch it and manage to live with yourself for cheesing the game that represents my life’s work and career.”

“…fine, fine. Spoilsport…” Samus huffed. “Anyway, I’m making my way down from Ecruteak to Goldenrod, getting a few levels on Danny that Gastly from this guy with four Voltorbs that can’t even touch him. Gonna see if we can find that restaurant the DOOM guy mentioned and if not I’ll see if I can get a gym badge or something. Got a few levels on everyone from all the trainers on this route and got the TM for Rollout, that’s a fun move.”

“You won’t think so later…” Cynthia snickered.

“Well we’re in Goldenrod… shit this is Whitney’s town!?”

“Yup, welcome to Rolloutville, population you.”

“Should we save this gym for last for the memes? I mean that’d be an epic final battle.”

“I’m game, anything to put off going against that crazy cow lady…” Samus grumbled as she searched the town. “Well the train’s here so I can get to Saffron and Kanto, it’d be funny if I got Sabrina for my first badge, bet it’d piss her off to get beaten by a level 10 Gastly.” She chuckled.

“I wouldn’t tease Sabrina too much, she can beat you up without touching you…”

“I’ll hold off on it for now if only because I already have a lot to explore that I’m skipping over and Saffron is ridiculously big. At least I got a bike to travel it a bit faster. Oh and an Eevee sitting on a table, lemme take that…”

“Hang on, lemme see that Eevee real quick…” Cynthia took the controls with a grin.

-10 Minutes Later-

“HOLY SHIT IT’S SHINY! How’d you do that!?” Samus gasped.

“Weren’t you paying attention to the tutorial? Shockslayer said Gift pokemon have a higher shiny rate and the game saves before you pick them up for soft resetting, so if you get a good rhymn down you can reset a lot real quick and get a shiny.”

“That is so cool! I love you Cynthia! I got a White Eevee!”

“This counts as part of your birthday present, I’m not helping you any further.”

“Fine fine.” Samus grinned, absolutely giddy with the white fluffball. “I’m gonna name you… Norman. Cause you’re Normal-type and a smart little white fluffball and we’ve been watching The Promised Neverland lately.”

“Hopefully that’s not an omen for this Nuzlocke…”

“Ah shit is this accidentally in bad taste?” Samus winced. “Well time to go Underground and explore some more of the shops and punch some of these trainers in the throat.”

“…no wonder the Pokemon League denied your application to become a trainer.”

“Well I got a coin case and it looks like this guy is blocking the path to the other hallway so I’ll leave him alone for now, I’ve been warned that some of these guys have huge teams that can wipe me out…”

“Yeah, I read there’s a level 100 Magikarp somewhere in Kanto’s early game, so be on the lookout for steamrollers…”

“Well since I got the Coin Case might as well check out the game corner…”

“Holy crap you can just buy a Master Ball if you have enough coins! And a Lucky Egg too! I definitely don’t have enough time for that but that’s really cool!”

“And you can get some pretty cool pokemon too… too bad you already have Eevee so you can’t get any more pokemon for this town…”

“That’s fine, I’m very content with my Shiny Eevee, lemme get some coins though…”

(Mun Note: Due to Standards and Practices we are not allowed to show Samus gambling in case you’re in a country that hates it)

-One Gambling Montage Later-

 “Well I doubled my coins and officially hate gambling, so  let’s go check out the Department store, I’m sure there’s some cool stuff there, only got that, the Radio Tower and the gym left so almost time to be on our way.”

“Yay! Shopping spree!”

“Oh sweet, here’s the Tradeback NPC, he can evolve my guys, I’ll have to keep that in mind when I get an Upgrade for Porygon.”

“Well there it is, you just need more money…”

“Well I’ll save up and come back, I’ll let Polly stay as she is for now, can’t have my baby growing up too fast. We don’t even have a single badge yet.”

“Damn that’s right, we’ve just been derping around for an episode and a half…”

“Well we found a bunch of TMs at the shop here, keep those in mind, damn I really am broke…  Just gonna stock up on balls, check the radio tower and get out of here before Whitney crushes me for dawdling in her town…”

“Oh wow, an Event Move Tutor, you can learn all those weird moves they give out at events, give it a try and get your pokemon some broken moves~” Cynthia giggled.

“Well Polly learned Barrier, Norman learned Growth and Hooters learned Night Shade, so that’s all cool.” Samus grinned. “Got me some custom pokemon~ Making my way up the tower got a point for the Password radio game thing,  got a Sunny Day TM and a Pink Bow, that’s perfect for Polly, now she can feel even more like a girl and power up her Normal-type moves.”

“Your Trans Porygon is really cute.”

“Give the Amulet Coin Polly was holding to Norman now and at the top of the tower is this CHAOS guy who says he’s the new director of the station and wants to battle… here goes nothing I guess.”

“He… just has a level four Delibird… that’s not very intimidating for a custom trainer for this mod.”

“You have literally no badges and have been picking up pokemon left and right, feel like you’re a bit OP for this early in the game…” Cynthia sighed.

“Well he has a Cleffa too and I got some good money from it, guess that was worth it.  And I got a Nugget, so guess that was just a money pitstop. Well that’s it for Goldenrod, couldn’t find the restaurant but time to go to the next route and catch a new pokemon…”

-A bunch of pokemon Samus has already caught later-

“Oh wow a Ditto! And right next to the Daycare too! Guess I know what this guy was there for…” Cynthia chuckled.

“FUCK it took like all my balls but I got it… why did I want this thing again?”

“Breeding?”

“Breeding!? This is a children’s game I’m not gonna make my monsters have sex, what kind of sick fucks are you trainers?”

“Well you have it now so that’s good.”

“I’ll name it “Brothel” …for obvious reasons. I really need to get some badges so these trainers stop having level like six pokemon.”

“Then pick a gym already.”

“Fine, next town we go to I’ll fight the gym there. Just getting through this forest and catching this Oddish (nicknamed Oddball).  Got the Headbutt TM so I can punch trees like this is Minecraft.”

“Ahhh a Dark Souls reference last time and Minecraft now, soon we’ll be a regular mainstream Let’s Play streamer.”

“Awww man, Bulbasaur pops up here! We could’ve caught the mun if they showed up first!”

(Sad Bulbamun noises)

“This girl says Kurt knows about the Forest Guardian, so better head into town to see what that’s about… oh neat, I don’t have to wait to get Apricorn balls, this guy in Kurt’s house sells them for money.”

“And Kurt passed you off onto Professor Oak about the Forest Guardian thing… sounds like a fetch quest to me…” Cynthia sighed.

“Might as well squash some bugs for my first gym, I mean Bugs seem like a fitting start to me.”

“I mean Bug-types aren’t the most powerful but Bugsy does the best with what he can…”

“Alright Hooters, you’re a bird, you’re in charge of the bug squishing duty.”

“Well he��s got a Scyther at least, that’s cool, but he’s still no match for Hooters!”

“Wow that was quick, you and your boob-themed owl are unstoppable.”

“Well he did poison Hooters and get her down a bit, so if I’m not careful she could faint on the way back to the gym, but I did get my first badge so hopefully stuff gets more challenging from here~ One badge down, seven to go.”

“Fifteen.”

“…what?”

“Crystal Clear has both Kanto and Johto gyms in it, there are sixteen badges, you have fifteen left.”

“…well shit, I better get cracking…”

“Looks like you got a call from the Pokemon League too, they say if you’re in Johto to visit Sprout Tower to get something cool, a “FLASHy” reward… subtle and to go pay your respects in Ilex Forest, that’s probably to do with the sidequest we stumbled on earlier.”

“Well I’m starting to move up in the world, they gotta start recognizing me! Well might as well go down to this Slowpoke Well and catch something. Ooooh there’s breakable rocks here, I’ll teach Dudette Rock Smash and break one to see if I find something cool~

“OH FUCKLE, A SHUCKLE!”

“CRAP! I killed it, it gave me an Encore so I couldn’t get out of the loop… ugh, oh well, guess there’s no use crying over spilled Shuckle. Guess that’s all I can do in the Well without Strength for now… Might as well work my way back up to Violet Town and go to Sprout Tower like the League said, even if I don’t want to go in order, getting that reward would probably be good and get me some more pokemon along the way.”

“Well you killed that Zubat too, so no new pokemon on this route either.”

“WHY DOES EVERYTHING I TOUCH DIE!?”

“At least you caught that Whooper (named Whoop) in Union Cave.”

“Well Whoop de doo. A few battles later and I’m back in Violet City. I didn’t wanna do these gyms in order but I guess doing Flying-types second would be fine since I’m here anyway and have the pokemon for it…I need to get more badges to increase trainer levels so I’m not too OP right away.”

“Dudette, you’re in charge, kill these birds with one stone.”

“Well you’re the same level so I guess you’re not too overleveled, you just have a serious type advantage.” Cynthia sighed.

“Well took down his Pidgey but damn, wasn’t expecting Pidgeotto to have Mud Slap, Dudette’s in the red and her accuracy has gone to shit, better switch out. Do your best Poly! Alright! Two Psybeams and Pidgeotto is down~”

“Another badge and another call from the Pokemon League.”

“This time a warning about not watering wiggling trees, so you can probably get the watering can from that girl we saw in Goldenrod, plus a message about getting Cut from the Charcoal guy in Azalea Town and a note that Professor Elm is very generous so we should probably go back to him too.”

“Okay so we’re doing pretty good for this little neck of Johto, lemme make a list real quick of our goals.

1.       Go up Sprout Tower and get the reward

2.       Go back to Professor Elm and get a reward

3.       Get Cut from the Charcoal dude

4.       Squirt Trees

5.       Talk to Professor Oak about Ilex Forest shit

6.       ???

7.       Profit

“Sounds about right to me, looks like we have a lot to do… NEXT TIME ON GAME BLONDES!”

Samus’s Journey So Far:

(Color-coding the path by episode for now, may or may not continue to do this depending on if it’s a pain in the ass when it starts getting bigger)

Samus’s Current Team:

[btshogwartsauheadcanons]

Don’t Fuck with Love Potion

Pairings: Jungkook x Reader (friends to lovers)

Ratings: Fluff

Word Count: 5.8k

Summary:

“You can ask y/n and Jungkook,” Jimin sighed. The two of you looked around the table. Namjoon was petrified. Seokjin was crying. Taehyung was drunk and crying. And Jimin looked as if he stressed his way to another dimension. And best of all, you guys had an audience to boot.

You and Jungkook looked each other and without even saying, the two of you knew that you were fucked.

You and Jungkook try to prank your hyungs with some iced coffee but a mishap involving love potion makes your plan go horribly wrong.

Featuring: adoptive mother Kim Seokjin, petrified Namjoon, drunk Taehyung, Potion Masters Yoongi and Hoseok, and a very tired Jimin.

A/N: I honestly have no idea how Amortentia works but in here you basically fall for the person you see after drinking. Also, I hope you guys like this :).

Another A/N: I looked through this on mobile and there were like zero page breaks even though I added them for sure so I just went over everything and typed in my own page breaks. 

“Where is she?” Jungkook huffed and ran a hand through his hair worriedly as he waited for you in the Slytherin common room. You’ve snuck stuff into school multiple times before for the pranks you and Jungkook, or sometimes with Taehyung and Jimin as well, pulled on other students. Jungkook himself would admit, though not to you, that you were the better smuggler than he was. Still, it wasn’t like you to take this long. Or maybe it was just his protective instinct when it came to you. 

Just as he was about to leave the common room to go look for you the door suddenly opened and you strolled in with a bulging parcel partially hidden in your robes and a bag of chips under another arm. Jungkook raised an eyebrow at the bag of snacks.

“Really? That’s why your late?” he said, gesturing at the chips.

“What?” you pouted. “I had to miss lunch. And I know you love eating these as much as I do,” you said and passed the bag of chips to Jungkook. He grinned and opened it anyway, you knew him well. Even though your common room was in the Gryffindor tower miles away from his, you often visited Jungkook in the Slytherin common room to bring some snacks.

“Alright, bring out the secret weapon,” he grinned and rubbed his hands as you sat down beside him on one of the couches. You took the carefully-wrapped parcel from your cloak and unwrapped it before proudly presenting the bottle of Firewhiskey on the table. “Nice!” Jungkook grinned and high-fived you.

“You still have the iced coffee with you, right?” you said. Jungkook nodded and reached under the coffee table to bring out two bottles of iced coffee, fresh from the muggle world. He regularly asked his parents to send the stuff over. In all honesty, Jungkook would probably saw his arm off for a lifetime’s supply.

But Jungkook knew others who loved iced coffee. Namely, his hyungs Seokjin and Namjoon. On that same day he received his supply of iced coffee, he sent you a note in class about it. You wrote one word back: “Firewhiskey.” Jungkook probably grinned like an idiot when he read it. He shouldn’t be surprised honestly, you two have pulled pranks on others for years. But there was just something about being able to share the same idea with you that made Jungkook feel giddy.

“How much Firewhiskey should we add?” you asked, picking up a bottle of iced coffee. “One fourth of the bottle? One half?”

“One half should do the trick,” Jungkook said.

“You’re merciless,” you grinned and cracked open the bottle of Firewhiskey. One of the greatest things about the Slytherin dormitory is that no one really cares about the crazy shit they bring in. Once, Jungkook saw someone bring in a huge box of fireworks and no one said a thing.

The two of you opened the bottles of iced coffee and each drank half of the contents. Jungkook really had to control himself to not finish everything. Then, you filled the bottles to the top with the Firewhiskey. The great thing about Firewhiskey was that it barely had a scent too so it was impossible to tell. After a good shake, the bottles spiked iced coffee looked like just regular bottles of iced coffee.

“Seokjin and Namjoon are going to be so drunk tomorrow,” you laughed, leaning back against the couch and taking the bag of chips from Jungkook. He grinned, sat back down beside you with your shoulders touching and reached into the bag of chips as well. “You know, this might be one of our best pranks yet,” you spoke through a mouthful of chips.

“Really? After five years of pranking?” Jungkook asked, taking the bag of chips from you again. You were right to bring some, he was pretty hungry. “Nah, I think our best one was still putting whipped cream on the faces of those kids who made of Hagrid.”

“Or the time we put their beds on the roof of the Astronomy Tower,” you grinned at the memory. Jungkook struggled to take his eyes off you but he grinned as well.

“Oh, that was amazing,” he agreed. “They had to break a window to get them back in. They tried so hard to get us punished for it too.”

“But they had no proof,” you wagged your finger.

“That should definitely go on our Hall of Fame,” Jungkook said before passing you the bag of chips. He always let you have the last of it. “Hey… what if we celebrate our prank tomorrow? In the Three Broomsticks?” Jungkook asked. Right away, his palms began sweating from nervousness but he tried to keep his voice nonchalant. After all, you two went out to Hogsmeade together quite often since third year. But since fourth year, Jungkook started to notice how nervous he felt around you. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint when it started. Maybe it happened when he saw you with pastel blue hair after an experiment courtesy of Taehyung. Maybe it happened when you two walked around Hogsmeade alone on Christmas because you two lost the rock-paper-scissors game for treating others to butterbeer. Maybe it happened when Jungkook felt a bit scared when another guy confessed to you.

Maybe Jungkook realized it when he felt relieved after you said that you turned that guy down.

“Sounds good,” you agreed.

“Huh? What?” Jungkook blinked, snapping out of his thoughts.

“I said ‘sounds good’,” you repeated. “You were spaced out again. Has all that Haikyuu!! Fanfiction finally fried your brain?” you joked.

“Shut up, I don’t even read that much now,” Jungkook shoved you as you burst out laughing. It was a lie though, Jungkook often charged his phone during the afternoon in the Room of Requirement so he could read it at night. “So, want to go tomorrow at 5 or something?” he asked.

“As long as you pay for it,” you smirked and stood up. “See you tomorrow, nerd!” you waved as you left. Jungkook could tell he was pouting slightly as he watched you leave. But that didn’t stop him from yelling “See you tomorrow, nerd!” right before you shut the door.

...

You could feel that your face was as bright as the fucking Gryffindor banners by the time you got to your Common Room. It even took you 10 whole minutes to rack your head for the password before you uttered ‘Blast-Ended Skrewt’ and burst through the door. Once inside, you ran directly to your adoptive mother Kim Seokjin and buried your bright red face in his lap.

“Aish, did you talk to him again?” you heard Seokjin say as he patted you on the head.

“Yeah…” you mumbled and lifted your face up. “He asked me to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow after… studying,” you confessed, careful not to say anything about the prank. As much as you loved your adoptive Gryffindor mother, you loved pranking him just as much.

“Hmmm… maybe you should wear a cocktail dress,” Seokjin suggested. You bitch-slapped him.

“Not. Funny.”

“Fine, fine,” Seokjin waved the idea off. “Well, it could go both ways. You could not say anything about the major crush you’ve had on him for the past five years and continue pining for a good long time. Or, you could actually say something about the major crush you’ve had on him for the past five years and you two could make-out happily in the Shrieking Shack or something.”

“Seokjiiiin,” you whined. “You’re not giving the most stellar advice right now.”

“Look,” Seokjin said, taking both of your hands in his. “Jungkook has been your best friend for 5 years. If you really wanted something more, there’s nothing wrong with saying it out loud. If he’s hesitant about it, he’ll probably tell you right away. It’s Jungkook after all.”

“You’re right…” you sighed. Jungkook really did know you best among all your friends, maybe even more so than adoptive mother Kim Seokjin. Jungkook knew when you were feeling stressed about an assignment or an exam even without you mentioning anything. He could instantly name your favorite Pokemon and anime characters. Once, you had a feeling that Jungkook knew exactly when you had your period because of that time when he brought Honeydukes chocolate to your common room while you were being attacked by cramps. Jungkook pretty much knew you like the back of his hand.

“And if he wants to make-out with you in the Shrieking Shack, he’ll definitely let you know,” Seokjin added. You grabbed a pillow and whacked him in the face.

“Not! Helping!” you fumed. Seokjin laughed and held up his arms to protect his face. Now you didn’t regret spiking his iced coffee tomorrow.

...

“Yah! Jungkook-ah! Wake up!” Yoongi groaned, nudging his underclassman to wake up.

“Five more minutes…” Jungkook mumbled and rolled over to hug his pillow.

“Five more minutes to continue your y/n fantasy huh?” Yoongi smirked and grabbed Jungkook’s pillow.

“Ah hyung! Why do you have to be so mean?” Jungkook groaned despite feeling himself blush slightly at what his hyung said. “I’m getting up.”

“A fan sent you a gift,” Yoongi said, pulling out a cooler underneath Jungkook’s bed that he used to stash his iced coffee. “It’s a whole bunch of iced coffee. I already added it to your cooler and everything.”

“My cooler?” Jungkook sat up. The cooler which had only two bottles in it which had the Firewhiskey? The cooler which was now full of other bottles of iced coffee? Jungkook hopped off his bed and checked the cooler. Sure enough, it was filled with 6 identical bottles of iced coffee.

“Man, you must really like iced coffee,” Yoongi said. “Anyway, I’m going ahead,” he waved and left the room. “Breakfast is almost over

“Shit…” Jungkook cursed and looked through the bottles of iced coffee. It was impossible for him to tell which was which. He bit his lip instead and grabbed six bottles before shutting the cooler. ‘It’s going to be alright,’ he told himself as he began to get dressed. ‘It’s just going to be a 2 out of 6 chance now.’ With that thought, he grabbed the six of them and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

It was a Saturday morning and that meant the Great Hall was filled with students eating late breakfast after sleeping in during the weekend. Jungkook easily spotted you in your bright, Gryffindor-red sweater seated at the Ravenclaw table with Seokjin and Namjoon. Jungkook bit his lip anxiously and headed over to the three of you.

“Wow, someone woke up on a Saturday,” Seokjin gave a slow clap as Jungkook slid into the seat right in front of you.

“Tell that to Yoongi-hyung,” Jungkook grinned, trying to hide his nervousness for a bit, before placing the six bottles of iced coffee on the table. Your eyes widened slightly at the sight and you looked at him in a panic. ‘Six bottles? Why would he bring SIX bottles?’ you thought frantically. Jungkook threw you a look and shook his head ever so slightly to indicate that whatever the hell happened, you had to shut up about it either way.

“Hey, your parents sent you some already?” Namjoon said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

“Yeah, there was a sale apparently and—”

“Kookie!”

Jungkook was quickly cut off when his other best friend, Kim Taehyung, another fifth year from Ravenclaw, hugged him from behind and making him pitch forward. You quickly pulled a bowl of oatmeal from under his face before Jungkook could actually hit it.

“Nice save,” Namjoon nodded at you.

“It was for the oatmeal, obviously,” you joked.

“New iced coffee! Are you going to share with us?” Taehyung asked, jumping up and down while still holding on to Jungkook. Shortly after, Park Jimin, a Hufflepuff fifth year, appeared beside Taehyung as well. Not a surprise since the two, along with Jungkook, were always together. You remembered that time when Taehyung burst into Herbology class when Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were having a class because he wanted to work on a group project with his friends.

“You look like you’ve had enough,” Jimin said before sitting down next to Jungkook. “But then again, it is iced coffee.”

“Kudos to that,” Seokjin said.

“Fine, fine, I’ll share,” Jungkook gave in before passing a bottle to everyone in the table. Taehyung walked across the table to sit next to you before taking the drink from Jungkook. The last one he passed a bottle to was you but not before hesitating slightly.

“Our Jungkookie really is being nice today,” Jimin grinned and mussed the maknae’s hair. “He’s really maturing.”

“Thanks a lot, Jungkook,” Namjoon smiled and opened his bottle before drinking. Seokjin and Jimin did the same. Taehyung was already drinking his. Meanwhile, you and Jungkook opened your bottles slowly and waited for everyone’s reactions before taking a drink.

Then, you saw Jimin frown and put down the bottle he was drinking.

“Did you spike this?!” Jimin looked at you and Jungkook with wide eyes.

“Well, you don’t seem affected by it,” you smiled sheepishly just as Taehyung fell face-first on a bowl of cereal.

“Seems like he is though,” Jungkook said. You pulled Taehyung up by his shoulders.

“Taehyung-ah! Taehyung-ah! Wake up!” you shook him awake. His eyes flew open and he smiled at you lazily.

“Y/n-ah!!” he gushed, slurring over his words.

“Do you feel okay, Taehyung?” you asked. Taehyung nodded twice before wrapping his arms around you and smothering you in a hug.

“I feel greaaaaaat,” he giggled. “Can youuuuu… name your firstborn child… after me?”

“You two made such a huge mistake,” Jimin said, attempting to peel Taehyung away from you.

“Stop it!!!” Taehyung whined and pushed Jimin back in his seat before hugging you again.

“It was supposed to be for Seokjin and Namjoon,” you groaned and tried to push Taehyung off of you yourself. The milk and cereal on his face from his little dip earlier was beginning to stain your favorite sweater. “Jungkook! Help me out!”

“Umm, y/n? I think you need to see this,” you heard Jungkook say. You disentangled yourself from Taehyung slightly and looked up to find adoptive mother Kim Seokjin staring at Namjoon with an expression you thought could only be found in those trashy shoujo mangas that were undeniably your guilty pleasure to this day.

“Oh shit,” you and Jimin chorused.

“Why… does it feel like my heart is beating so quickly….” You heard Seokjin whisper. “I hope he doesn’t notice.”

“Dude, he can literally hear you from here,” Jungkook said before Namjoon clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Shhh…” he shushed him. “I want to hear his voice.”

“You don’t think..?” Jimin gestured at the two of them.

“Yoongi-hyung told me that a secret admirer gave those extra bottles of iced coffee,” Jungkook swallowed. ‘That would have been quite the disaster too,’ you thought.

“Sit down, Taehyung,” you finally pushed your friend off you completely and grabbed Seokjin’s unfinished bottle of iced coffee before giving it a whiff. Sure enough, you were greeted with the smell of the Quidditch field after a day of rain and that ‘Keep it Fresh!’ mint shampoo Jungkook always bought.

“It’s Amortentia,” you said. Jimin and Jungkook groaned in unison while Taehyung happily clapped his hands.

“I want to try!!!” he exclaimed, making a grab for the bottle which you quickly stashed away. Taehyung pouted and sat back.

“But soft!” Namjoon exclaimed, standing up on the table and gesturing towards Seokjin beside you who was covering his blushing face. “What yonder light through window breaks!”

“Sit down!” Jungkook hissed and pulled at Namjoon’s robes. Everyone in the Great Hall turned their way to view all the commotion happening. Namjoon, however blatantly ignored everything and continued with his spiel.

“It is the east and Seokjin-hyung is the sun!”

“We’ve got to shut him up, now!” you ordered Jungkook.

“Got it!” he nodded before pulling out his wand. “Petrificus Totalus!” he yelled as he waved his wand. Seokjin leapt to catch Namjoon’s petrified body before he crashed to the ground.

“NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Seokjin cried.

“Jimin-ahhh… What happened to Namjoon-hyung??” Taehyung clung to Jimin and cried.

“You can ask y/n and Jungkook,” Jimin sighed. The two of you looked around the table. Namjoon was petrified. Seokjin was crying. Taehyung was drunk and crying. And Jimin looked as if he stressed his way to another dimension. And best of all, you guys had an audience to boot.

You and Jungkook looked each other and without even saying, the two of you knew that you were fucked.

...

“So let me get this straight. A third of you are drunk, another third are in love, and you and y/n are responsible for all of this,” Hoseok said as he surveyed the scene in front of him. After a bit of wrangling, threat-making, and bribery, the six of you somehow managed to end up in the courtyard all in one piece. That is, with Namjoon still petrified and currently levitating thanks to Jungkook, Taehyung leaning against Jimin while trying to sing dubstep, and you trying to console a sobbing Seokjin.

“Y/n and I are only responsible for the drunk part,” Jungkook clarified. “The love potion thing came from a secret admirer.” 

“And I’m not drunk,” Jimin added.

“Yeah, what the fuck?” you looked at him incredulously. “Jungkook and I filled half of that thing with Firewhiskey.”

“Skills,” Jimin winked at you.

“But yeah, that’s the situation,” Jungkook said. After some deliberation, the three of you decided that it was best to go to Yoongi and Hoseok for some help. Namjoon and Yoongi were usually the go-to friends whenever something wrong happened but at the moment Namjoon was out of commission. Or more specifically, petrified and levitating.

“Can’t we have one Saturday in peace?” Yoongi sighed. He and Hoseok would often be found dueling in the Hogwarts courtyard whenever Hoseok didn’t have Quidditch practice. That was how you found the two of them earlier but now Hoseok was just looking at everyone worriedly while Yoongi was curled up by the fountain’s edge.

“Apparently not,” Hoseok shook his head.

“Do you think you guys can brew a love potion antidote in the classroom?” you asked. “I mean, Professor Slughorn likes the two of you and I bet he’ll even help you out.”

“How are we going to explain the situation to him?” Yoongi raised his eyebrow.

“I guess the whole being poisoned by Amortentia from a secret admirer sounds reasonable enough,” Jimin said. “Amortentia is illegal in school.”

“It sounds like a plan,” Hoseok shrugged. “But y/n and Jungkook owe me one.”

“You’re buying snacks for us for 6 months,” Yoongi added. You and Jungkook looked each other, weighing the benefits.

“Well, we’re not buying for someone like Seokjin-hyung,” he said, gesturing at the older student who was busy stroking Namjoon’s petrified face worriedly.

“It’s a deal then,” you agreed and shook Hoseok’s hand.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Yoongi butted in. “What are we going to do with him?” he pointed at Taehyung who was playing in the fountain.

“He’ll sober up once he gets tired,” Jimin shrugged.

“Oh by the way,” Hoseok said. “You two need to collect some ingredients. Professor Slughorn is running low on some things we need.”

“Like what?” Jungkook groaned.

“Doxy eggs, which you can find in the Herbology room,” Yoongi said. “Another would be star anise which is just from the Hogwarts kitchens.”

“Jungkook and I can get the Doxy eggs,” Jimin volunteered.

“I want to go with y/n!!!” Taehyung yelled, climbing out of the fountain and running towards you, even tripping twice, to smother you again in a hug. He was soaking sweat and apparently, so were you now.

“Alright, alright,” you said. “What are we going to do with the lovebirds?”

“You can leave Namjoon-hyung with us,” Yoongi said.

“You won’t take him away from me!” Seokjin yelled at him. You pulled him back wit you and tried to pull him back.

“It’s okay. They’re just making a potion to help your prince or whatever wake up,” you soothed him.

“I’m not taking that guy with me,” Jungkook shook his head.

“Fine, I’ll take him,” you groaned.

“Hooray!” Taehyung cheered and hugged Seokjin. “The more the manyer!!”

“I guess our hangout in Hogsmeade later as to wait, right?” Jungkook sighed, looking at you. You felt butterflies hatching in your stomach. All the chaos that happened this morning pushed that thought completely out of your head.

“Yeah,” you nodded and smiled. “Let’s fix this mess quickly so we can leave.”

“Alright, you kids run off and get those potion ingredients now,” Hoseok interrupted, ushering everyone out of the courtyard. “Y/n’s right, we’ll need to brew the potion too so be quick about getting those ingredients. The star anise can come in last but we’ll need the Doxy eggs soon.”

“Let’s go Y/n!!!” Taehyung cheered, grabbing onto your hand and running ahead. You, in turn, grabbed onto Seokjin’s cloak and dragged him along with you.

...

“Can’t this go any faster?” Jungkook groaned as he searched through a clump of valerian plants for Doxy eggs which turned out to be quite hard to find.

“If you can miraculously find a ton of Doxy eggs and somehow manage to collect them without breaking anything then, yes,” Jimin answered. Jungkook looked over at him and found his friend bending over near a Snake’s Mantle plant and carefully scraping Doxy eggs from one of the leaves into a small glass container that was almost half-full. Jungkook’s container only had 2 or 3 eggs in it.

“Just think about meeting Y/n later in Hogsmeade for motivation or something,” Jimin suggested. “Or is that going to be too much of a distraction?”

“Shut up…” Jungkook felt himself blush as he continued to look through the leaves.

“I guess it is a distraction,” he heard Jimin laugh. Jungkook blushed harder and tried to concentrate on collecting more Doxy eggs instead. But he couldn’t help but think about the fact that you two would be in Hogsmeade right now if it wasn’t for the mess that happened this morning. You looked like you were ready to go out this morning actually. Were you as excited to hang out as he was? Or maybe you just saw it as another one of your friendly hangouts?

God, Jungkook just couldn’t stop thinking about you.

“Do you think I should confess to her?” Jungkook spoke up, turning to look at Jimin.

“I think you should have confessed to her long ago,” he replied, not looking up from his work. “Why? Are you planning to do it later?” Jimin tossed him a teasing smile.

“Y-yeah,” Jungkook stammered. “I mean, I was kind of waiting for the right moment and I kind of feel like I should do it soon. Before we run out of time to spend in Hogwarts. I just don’t know if she’ll return my feelings.”

“Jungkookie,” Jimin raised an eyebrow at him. “Have you really not learned anything from all those “friends to lovers” Haikyuu!! fanfictions you’ve been reading?”

“Hey…” Jungkook pouted. “Sometimes they don’t work out. Sometimes the entire friendship gets ruined.”

“Think about your friendship with her,” Jimin said. “Think of all the things you two had gone through. Do you really think your friendship will get ruined?”

Jungkook mulled that thought over. One of the reasons why he didn’t want to push for a relationship with you was because he didn’t want to destroy the friendship you two had already shared. He felt like that in itself was special and maybe he was just being greedy for wanting more. But God, sometimes it felt like you two were made for each other, as corny as it sounded.

And if you felt the same way about him… well, wouldn’t that be wonderful?

“I’ll confess to her later,” Jungkook decided, feeling a swell of motivation rush over him.

“Go get ‘em tiger,” Jimin grinned at him.

...

“Here you go,” you walked up to Hoseok and Yoongi who were busy stirring a cauldron in the Potions room and handed them a small bag of star anise. “Are 12 pods enough?”

“Just right,” Hoseok nodded, taking the bag from you and pouring the star-shaped pods into a mortar before grinding it up.

“My love?! Where have you gone?” Seokjin flew into the room and immediately headed towards a petrified Namjoon lying on the table.

“How long will it take before it’s done?” you asked Yoongi who was focused on stirring the potion counter-clockwise.

“Just a few more minutes,” he answered and looked around. “Where’s Taehyung by the way?”

“Passed out on the staircase outside,” you said. “We kind of just left him there for the meantime. What about Jungkook and Jimin?”

“We sent them to fetch some pumpkin juice from the kitchen,” Hoseok replied, sprinkling the powdered star anise into the potion. It turned a bright shade of pink and began smelling like licorice. “As pretty as the potion looks, Seokjin-hyung and Namjoon are going to feel pretty awful when they wake up so they’ll need something cold to drink.”

“I see,” you nodded.

“Just a few more stirs…” Yoongi mumbled as Hoseok got some cups ready. “And… done!” He ladled the potion into two cups before giving them both to Hoseok.

“I’ll take care of the two here,” he said, gesturing at Seokjin and Namjoon. “You can go ahead and get Taehyung.”

“Thank you so much,” you grinned at them.

“Don’t forget about the snacks you owe us,” Yoongi reminded you.

“I won’t,” you waved at them before heading out the door. You walked down the hallway and then turned right at the staircase where Taehyung was still passed out on the steps. Carefully, you leaned down and shook him awake.

“Taehyung-ah! Taehyung-ah!” you repeated. Taehyung groaned and rubbed his eyes. “Are you sober now?” you asked.

“No Newt Scamander, I can’t go on an adventure with you yet. Buckbeak won’t allow me,” he mumbled.

“I guess not,” you sighed and sat down on the step next to him. Taehyung rubbed his eyes some more and finally sat up.

“Ah! Y/n-ah! You’re here!” he grinned and hugged you again. “Is Jungkookie here?”

“No, he’s getting pumpkin juice with Jimin,” you replied.

“You know Y/n,” Taehyung smiled up at you and leaned against the stairwell. “You have nothing to worry about Jimin stealing your man. Jungkook’s heart is 99.9% for you,” he giggled.

“Yeah right Taehyung,” you rolled your eyes at him. ‘If only that was true though,’ you thought.

“I’m not lyyyinnng,” Taehyung whined, surprising you a little. “It’s truuuuuee. Jungkookie talks about it all. The. Time.”

“Alright…” you nodded slowly. After all the drunk talk from Taehyung all day, it was hard to believe in anything new coming from his mouth. But that didn’t stop you from being curious of course.

“What do you mean he talks about it all the time?” you decided to press.

“Jungkookie talks about his crush all the time,” Taehyung repeated before bursting out into giggles. “And he blushes so much too. Awww, he’s so cuuuuute.”

“Really?” you nodded interestedly.

“He even dreams about kissing you!!!” Taehyung squealed and sprang up. “First he’ll pull you up like this,” he grabbed your hand and pulled you up roughly to your feet with surprising strength. “Then he’ll do this…” Taehyung wrapped his arms around you before bending and lowering you towards the ground. His face was close to yours and your mind went on an instant flashback to all that trashy shoujo manga you’ve read. If Jungkook did this to you, you would probably die.

“Wow, he sure is creative,” you laughed nervously. Just as you heard the sound of something drop. Taehyung looked up.

“Jungkook-ah!”

...

Jungkook couldn’t believe it. You, in the arms of his best friend. He felt the pumpkin juice he had in his hands slip and fall to the ground, startling you and Taehyung.

“Jungkook-ah!” Taehyung grinned and let go of you. “Y/n’s here! I told her all about you!”

“Wait, what?” Jungkook felt his eyes widen in surprise. His heart started racing a million miles a minute as he turned to look at you. “W-what did you say?”

“Shit, it must have come out since he was drunk,” Jimin groaned.

“I told her all about your biiiiig crush,” Taehyung grinned.

Fuck, he did tell her. Jungkook felt his palms beginning to sweat now. Just a minute ago, he was all full of confidence and ready to tell you everything but now… he felt unprepared all over again.

“He’s probably joking about it, I mean he’s drunk after all,” you laughed and stood up. But then, you saw the nervous expression on Jungkook’s face. “Right, Jungkook?”

“Um… uh…,” Jungkook stammered. “I-I have to go.”

“Jungkook, wait!” Jimin tried to grab his arm but Jungkook broke free, pushing past you and Taehyung as he ran up the stairs. He wasn’t ready after all. All his bravado from earlier disappeared completely once he saw you and now he was nervous all over again.

“Jungkook!” he heard you call after him from behind as you ran up the steps as well.

“Th-there’s nothing to see here!” he yelled back as soon as he reached the landing.

“I have to tell you—ahh!”

At the sound of your scream, Jungkook whipped around to find you falling backwards against the stairs. You must have tripped on them again, you always did whenever you two were heading for Astronomy class. Quickly, Jungkook whipped out his wand and pointed it at you.

“Accio Y/n!” he yelled. You stopped falling and flew up the steps before Jungkook caught you in his arms. He held onto you for a while, trying to calm himself down from the scare earlier, before putting you down and letting you stand up on your own.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook asked. Your face was as white as a sheet but you licked your lips and nodded. You were more than alright. If it wasn’t for that Accio charm and Jungkook’s lightning reflexes your neck would have been broken by now.

“I want to tell you something,” you said softly. Jungkook nodded, quietly waiting for you to continue. You took a deep breath before finally saying “Amortentia, to me, it smells like your stupid ‘Keep It Fresh!’ shampoo.” You bit your lip, waiting for his reaction. Jungkook blinked in confusion.

“And what does that mean?”

“Stupid!” you blushed and smacked his chest. “It means I’m in love with you damn it! Don’t you listen to anything in Potions class?”

“Y-you’re in love with me?” Jungkook stammered. Now it was his turn to blush.

“Yeah,” you nodded and smiled to yourself. “And it smells like the Quidditch field after raining. It was from that time when you ran and hugged me right after winning the Quidditch cup against Hufflepuff.”

“I remember,” Jungkook grinned. “You hate the rain but even though you were wearing your favorite sweater and soaked to the bone that day you were still cheering the loudest.” 

“Then I got sick for 3 days,” you continued. “And then you brought me that chicken soup which was surprisingly really good.”

“I may or may not have stolen Seokjin-hyung’s recipe book,” Jungkook smiled sheepishly as he stared at you. Your hair had come loose from it’s ponytail and there were a few messy strands around your face. He reached out his hand and carefully brushed them off. It was such shy gesture that you giggled and leaned nervously against his hand.

“Y/n…” Jungkook whispered. “Can I kiss you, finally?” You smiled and nodded.

“Yes you can, finally.”

You closed your eyes and Jungkook leaned in to close the space between your lips. It didn’t surprise him that your lips felt warm and inviting. That was your nature after all, underneath all the bad puns, sarcasm, and evil prank plotting. Kissing you made him feel as if it was just yesterday you two were young first-years exchanging hoodies and having snowball fights. Kissing you felt like being at home.

“JUNGKOOK AND Y/N SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

Jungkook groaned and stopped kissing you once he heard Taehyung’s voice echo through the stairwell. You turned around to find Jimin and Taehyung giggling from the lower landing of the stairs.

“Shut up Taehyung, you’re blowing our cover!” Jimin laughed and punched his friend.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Taehyung continued to sing and dance.

“Y/n,” Jungkook said and took both of your hands in his. “Would you like to go on a date in Hogsmeade with me after I beat the shit out of Taehyung?”

“Jungkook, I would love to,” you smiled back. Jungkook planted a kiss on your forehead before running down the stairs.

“TAEHYUNG I’M GOING TO GET YOU!”

...

“Ugh, what happened?” Seokjin groaned and rubbed his head. Hoseok was standing over him holding a cup of licorice-smelling potion in his hand.

“Hey, are you back to normal? Still in love with Namjoon?” Hoseok asked.

“Still in love with what?” Seokjin spluttered.

“We were poisoned with Amortentia apparently,” Namjoon spoke up. He was sitting on one of the tables in the Potions room and rubbing his forehead as well.

“Don’t tell me…” Seokjin’s eyes widened. “Did we..?”

“Not as far as I know,” Yoongi spoke up. He was cleaning up leftover ingredients at one of the Potions tables. “Geez, where are Jungkook and Jimin? I told those two to get you guys some pumpkin juice.”

“JUNGKOOK AND Y/N SITTING ON A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

The four of them turned towards the door as they heard what was unmistakably Taehyung run past.

“COME BACK HERE TAEHYUNG!” Jungkook yelled as he ran past the room as well.

“Were those..?” Seokjin frowned and pointed to the door.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Namjoon shook his head and hopped off the table. “I’m going to bed and hopefully not have to wake up until Monday,” he said as he walked out the door.

“That’s a good idea,” Seokjin agreed and followed him out the door as well.

“You’re welcome for curing you!” Hoseok called after them.

“Shut up,” Yoongi said. “It was our fault in the beginning anyway. Who knew that Jungkook and Y/n wouldn’t drink any of the iced coffee?”

“Or that Seokjin and Namjoon would,” Hoseok snickered. “It was funny though.”

“And by the sounds of things, I guess everything went well,” Yoongi shrugged. “And now we know that we shouldn’t fuck with love potion.”

“Yup,” Hoseok nodded and helped Yoongi clean up.

“Want to do it on Taehyung and Jimin next?”

“Hell yes.”

[dipshitcoyote]

*cracks knuckles*

Time to talk loudly and at great length about all the things I came up with for my “what if the Pokemon franchise existed in a corporeal world” AU, this time feat. the pokeani! Which is code for feat. mostly Team Rocket!

Sequel to this post about how daemons might work in the games

Ok so first some quick Pokemon!daemonverse things that the anime would establish pretty quickly (and was probably already some npc dialogues in the games)

- You can tell a daemon apart from a regular Pokemon of the same species automatically (like in hdm canon), and they usually (but not always) settle as the fully evolved form of the line.

- If you throw a Pokeball at a daemon, nothing happens except that you threw a hard round object at someone’s daemon, which is kinda rude.

- Daemons don’t battle, because they can’t use moves that a real Pokemon can. Like, a Charizard daemon could breathe fire and fly, but it couldn’t use Flamethrower or Fly (the move). Similarly, daemons sort of have the same resistances as strengths as a real Pokemon of the same type- if you attacked someone’s Skarmory daemon for some reason you wouldn’t be able to hurt it with a Poison-type attack.

- Daemons also don’t command their human’s Pokemon in battle, but they offer suggestions to the trainers and also do the Anime Thing where they yell out the Pokemon’s name every time it gets hit.

- Probably not directly stated (at least not early on) but you can’t settle as a Legendary. If there’s canonically more than one (Lati@s is the only one i can think of) it’s possible to settle as it. That’s probably a point in one of the movies or something.

- Oh, also Daemon names are probably the same between the Japanese and English dubs? I didn’t try very hard with them though so like. Yeah.

Character stuff

Ash and Sugimi (loosely named after Ken Sugimori as Ash is named after Satoshi Tajiri but also a tree pun bc Sugi means cedar apparently which is awesome because Ash is also a tree pun anyway I’m proud of it)

Sugimi (almost always called Sugi) is permanently unsettled, because Ash is supposed to be permanently 10. Pikachu is still their partner Pokemon! Sugi is usually in the form of the “default forms” of whatever game’s region they’re in at the time. So things like Zigzagoon, Pidgey, Rattata, stuff like that, but she also changes quite a bit to fit the scenario and also into the Pokemon Of The Day in many (but not all) episodes.

Every couple hundred episodes there’s one of those “Is Pikachu Going To Evolve!?” type episodes, but “Is Sugi Going To Settle?!” The answer is no. It’s always no. Also, Ash can never win a league, because in the games the PC settles right after they win, and fans of the anime assume that it would be the same. So, Ash can never win a league because he can never settle because he’s 10. There are a lot of theory bloggers in this ‘verse that are very irritated about this when it comes up.

Ash’s Companions are mostly unsettled too, although some characters (Brock and Cilan, probably) are either settled or very close to settling. The Companion Of The Region (May, Dawn, Iris, etc.) all have unsettled daemons that follow the same kind of forms that Sugi does.

Jessie and Rudayo and James and Rikita

Listen. Listen. I fucking love Team Rocket okay. I’m gonna talk about Team Rocket for a long time, because I love them. They’re gonna be half of this post.

I had to pick Kanto settled forms for both of them because Johto didn’t come out until a few years into the anime. They’re both supposed to be older than Ash, so I figured they’d be settled.

Jessie’s Rudaiyo (Dai) is settled as an Arbok, which makes for all sorts of silly humor in the anime because of her other (real) Arbok, which also exists. The reasoning for this is about as vague as you would expect for Pokedaemons, which is that Jessie holds grudges, prefers underhanded strategies, and favors Poison-type Pokemon.

James’ Rikita (Kita) is an Arcanine! Because I love James. He’s a loyal Team Rocket member and also friend, and since he cares about his Pokemon more than pretty much any other character than Ash (which is a different post entirely) he gets a form associated with protection. Also because of Growlie, his Growlithe companion when he was a kid. Also because he’s primarily a Grass-type trainer and it’s funny to give him a Fire-type daemon. Also because he deserves something warm and fluffy to hug and sleep on. Did I mention I love James?

They get up to all sorts of dumb shenanigans with their daemons as far as disguises, and at least a few times they pull off having Meowth masquerade as one of their daemons, seeing as he can talk and all. It doesn’t work very often, though, because you can still tell he’s just a real Meowth. They probably have to disguise Kita as a bush a whole lot.

Anyway the motto goes like this feat. daemons:

Jessie: Prepare for trouble!

James: And make it double!

Dai: To protect the world from devastation

Kita: To unite all peoples within our nation

Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love

James: To extend our reach to the stars above

Jessie: Jessie!

Dai, with the same intonation: Rudaiyo!

James: James!

Kita, with the same intonation: Rikita!

Jessie and/or Dai, usually together: Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light

James and/or Kita, usually together: Surrender now or prepare to fight

Meowth: Meowth, that’s right!

[sinto-hell]

boys n fashion

i have uuuuuh very specific ways to imagine how the boys look because i’m never satisfied with canon and i Cannot Fucking Draw™ and i scream a lot about fashion so (mostly because what the fuck is fashion sense in otome i’m looking at u dmmd what the FUCK were those yellow socks and that jacket AN ALSO NOIZ’S ENTIRE FUCKING OUTFIT IM SO ANGRY) anyway this got a bit out of hand lmao i love clothes

nathaniel

LOTS OF SWEATERS

wears a shirt under his sweater with the collar poping out

“preppy” but not frat boy preppy. like comfy casual pretty. soft n warm like marshmallow. he looks soft but he could easily deck u into next week

lots warm cardigans 

lots of light wash jeans. doesn’t really wear black or dark colored jeans. also always cuff his jeans

white adidas are the shoes he usually wears to school

he fucking despises flannels they’re the ugliest thing in his opinion

owns a lot of scarves; never wear any of them

he knows he looks good in stripes so he has a lot of stripped shirt

hoodies are for lazy days

one (1) pair of black ripped knees jeans. usually pair them with a creme sweater

also tries to make his hair behave but he just. can’t. so he tries to make it fashionably disheveled.

owns one of those jacket thats like denim but the sleeves and the inside are like a regular sweater and theres a hood god i want one of those

probably has glasses he wears to read

(i remember i saw an artist that basically drew him dressed like this but i cant remember their name so there’s that)

castiel

boi is a punk 

his wardrobe is 90% band shirt, they’re literally almost all he wears

owns 4 my chemical romance shirt

he has two denim jacket: one black with various pins and small patch on it and one light wash with a big ass misfits patch on the back

also probably found his leather jacket in a thrift store

unironically buys those bad translation shirt that says shit like “try my delicious salt beef” or “way the bridge i burn high the way” credit to @mclfutarinotamashi for that one 

90% of his band shirts are really worn out because he wears them so much

owns a pair of og black converse and red doc martens

usually always has his roots showing and has taken a liking in tying his hair in a half bun. sorta. but he mostly live in his natural bedhead

lys once braided his hair and he didn’t like it on him but he thought it was really relaxing

has a fuckton of spiked bracelet and rubber band bracelets, but only wears one or two at a time nowadays. he used to wear a lot more. like. a lot.

black jeans all the way

also ripped jeans

also own two or three big sweater, and one of them his hands just. disappear when he wear it.

lysander

don’t get me wrong i love the victorian fashion but;; it aint realistic

peg leg trousers. google it. he’d wear the heck out of that.

owns a lot of fancy black pants 

he has those weird pants i’ve been looking for, they’re high waisted and really flowy and they’re called culottes. his are black with white stripes and he owns a black only version

he totally owns a green velvet skirt fight me on this

has a lot of scarves and wears them all

has a simple but very nice pair of brown boots for casual days and fucking 5 inches new rocks platform shoes with buckles all over for when he’s extra

a true Goth™

lots of turtlenecks and long sleeve black shirts. did i mention turtlenecks

he totally owns this sweater in green and black

he loves high waisted pants

plays a bit on androgyny, as he knows he’s pretty tall, but also very delicate so skirt  are the fucking shit on him

owns a trench-like coat. with a hood. also long cardigans

sometimes when he’s extra he’ll play a bit into the steam punk territory

experiment a bit with makeup, but only on his eyes, he still shy away from lipstick

he braid his hair to sleep so it has nice waves the next day. cares a lot about his hair actually 

also basically how @veroww dresses him what a babe

armin

oh boi what a mess

lots and lots of hoodies and generally clothes with hoods so he can hide in them and sleep

literally owns this and that (i have that one and it makes me look like a jedi, so another reason why he’d wear it)

nerd shirts. you know the type.

like he has 3 pokemon shirts and 4 marvel. alexy will not let him go out of the house wearing those. the only one hes allowed to be seen with in public is his star wars one

and fucking memes shirt

like he probably has a white shirt with a shiba inu on it

got that shirt that says “why be racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic when you could just be quiet” with alexy so they match

one of these guys that only wears black skinny jeans or sweatpants

 basically nerdy emo

has like. 2 pair of shoes. really dirty vans that he wear everywhere and a nice pair of boots for like. ass kicking purpose. kidding alex probably made him buy them

“vans or converse?” “vans what the fuck am i an animal”

probably owns a trasher hoodie (ok now thats me projecting bc i headcanon the only sport he can kind of do is skating so) (beside SK8ER BOI ARMIN AM I RIGHT)

also yes, a lot of beanies

anything comfortable, really; doesn’t really own a lot of fancy or statement pieces he wears regularly. 

kentin

alex is right ok the military pants looks great and he probably has a great ass in it but jesus boy please change up ur game 

i actually haven’t thought a lot about his fashion sense probs because i dont write him as often as the twins or cas or do i thirst over lys

but @ne-neptune has drawn him with glasses and a big jacket today and im lov

probably owns a carhatt jacket thats a bit too big on him

rolls up his sleeves. always. wether his shirts are long sleeves or short sleeves. he. rolls them up. sip sip THEM ARMS THO

wears a concerning amount of beige and green. 

LIKES KNITTED SWEATERS OK. HE IS SOFT™

has a camo jacket

wears a lot of baggy pants but is also warmin up to more slim jeans, (not skinny bc its too tight and he doesn’t understand how armin and castiel do it) bc he knows his ass looks gr8

finally bought himself a new pair of fancy glasses he think he look ok with. hint: he’s both cute & fucking hot with them and everyone is thirsty.

combat boots all the way. he does own a pair of old converse that are seriously starting to be worn out, but he still wears them sometimes

alexy because i fucking can

now that’s my B O I

Thriftshop Fashionista™

seriously this boy love thrifstores. he once fucking found gucci shit in there. he’s lucky.

vintage/90s clothes aesthestic. 

lightwash jeans with a big belt, weird dad shirt tucked into his jeans

HE TUCKS HIS SHIRT IN HIS JEANS

AND ALSO CUFF THEM WHAT A FASHION ICON

probably also own some peg leg trousers like lysander

his favourite pair of jeans is one he found in a really sketchy store, theres hole at the knees and the bottom of the legs are ripped and there are flower patches going down the entire left side (fun fact: one of my friend has these exact pant he found in a thriftsore and every time he wears them i’m just like. vogue is shook. what a fucking look. fashion icon.)

also probably owns a sweater with roses embroidery

has like 4 denim jacket, each very different; one with patches all over it, one with a giant gay flag on the back, one black with rips in it, and one plain light wash

has one of those weird flashy colored 90s jacket that’s like baby blue and bright orange. it was his mom’s. he stole it from his mom. she let him keep and re question her fashion choices every time he wears it.

weird 90s and dad shirt are his shit. also really big sweaters. weird colors. this boy own a purple knitted sweater with a yellow wolf patch on the back. rosalya hates it. he probably bought it out of spite.

also owns vans. and a pair of combat boots. and a pair of converse. and one pair of black high heels. and orange sneakers. and brown fancy leather boots. and-

he probably steals armin’s trasher hoodie for the aesthetic

also steals his beanies bc what he has like 10

loves embroidered clothes or things with patches or weird flower designs on them

also big ass red sunglasses worn ironically.

vogue is fucking shook by this boy

and that’s all folks

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Yume Twins May 18

See, I’m already making progress. It’s been a while since I’ve done two reviews in such a close span... hasn’t it?

Theme of the month: (U・x・U) Pom-Pom Sunshine

Before we get into this, I thought It’d be kinda fun to look over the description of this months box to help get a feel for the theme. It does play a large role in judging and I usually don’t elaborate upon it outside of name. Keep in mind that I took out the non-important stuff.

“What does Pompompurin and sunshine have in common? They both have a kawaii pastel yellow color! Pompompurin also loves going out and enjoying the outdoors making the most of his day. In this box, you can find many cute yellow items that represent May’s nice weathers and Pompompurin!“

Not to be a downer but I don’t like yellow.

But the point is not to judge the box on it’s color choices but its content, so please keep that paragraph above in mind.

Contest & Yume Prize

As usual, we have a contest featuring some very randomly chosen Sailor Moon facial masks, earbuds, and a puzzle. I’m not complaining though, who doesn’t like Sailor Moon? 

The Yume Prize caters more towards the theme however, which I do appreciate. They usually do pretty good with that. Although, without sounding like a brat, I don’t see how this stuff can cost over 500 dollars other than the high quality being on a name brand product that belongs to its brand; you know, like if you find a toy at an official Disney store, it’s probably going to cost more than like it’s Walmart Disney toy variant?

In fact I can guarantee it because one of my favorite bloggers did a comparison on them a few times....  

Kawaii Culture

I really should be including this more often, so here it is now :3 May’s Kawaii Culture celebrates the very first permanent Pokemon Cafe in Nihonboshi Tokyo back in March. You can shop for Pokemon-themed goods like accessories, toys, figurines, and even get some cute themed food.

Okay! So let’s get along with the review shall we?

Pompompurin Roll Cushion

The second of 3 Sanrio Roll within Yume Twins, last month we got My Melody in the easter-themed box, and next month we’ll get the third and final one of the set. You’ll have to wait for that review to see who it is-  but in the mean time feel free to guess or think up an answer. I wish the image within the booklet didn’t spoil each one though because the shapes made them very obvious. There wasn’t a surprise element for us who subscribe to it.

As I mentioned in the prior box, I love these cute Sanrio, tube-like tsum tsum cushions. They’re so cute and soft.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

These are very simplified, but well made roll plush/cushions. Comfortable enough to snuggle with and use for the head or to rest a limb on. They even go full out with details... by that I mean they included his button.

and by button I mean... button; you know, typical Pompompurin inclusion. If they didn’t want people to know it was there they wouldn’t put it <3<

Kawaii Leisure Sheet

Ironically I just reviewed one of these in the Doki Doki April box. I think this one may be a bit bigger, I didn’t think to compare the two to see like I probably should have. Anyway... as a rehash of DDAB’s sheet, this sheet is for activities you would probably down sitting down outside. The bottom half has a thin layer of Styrofoam, while the top is textured (I assume to wash off dirt or stains).

This game in four styles, featuring Rilakkuma, My Melody, and 2 different Sumikko Gurashi. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Rilakkuma is always cute and I love this design! It feels so.. spring-to-summer vibey. But I also feel like this could work in the fall too. The mat is thin, but it still feels comfortable sitting down on. It could also probably work for several other things, like putting shoes on, or as a plate mat for a room or something. If I was going to the park or on a picnic or something I’d probably bring it.

Japanese Canvas Tote Bag

A mini-tote bag made in India that apparently costs 1,000 yen. It’s not very big but it gets the job done no problem and offers a lot of space. It also has an inner-pocket, which I like because I hate bags that have no storage compartments and just make a mess you need to waste five minutes digging through. There was 5 designs, including this one, two with cats, and two with sumo wrestlers.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

For a bag to get in one of these boxes I’m actually pretty impressed by it. It’s extremely well made and you can fit necessities and more in it, so it’s very practical for all sorts of occasions. I also like the simplistic and colorfully repetitive design, it makes me feel happy.

Cafe Holographic Stickers

I love sparkles, and food stickers! I got pretty excited seeing this in the box, you can see just how holographic the packaging is alone. There are 6 types (Honey toast, a drink, pancakes, a frappe, cheesecake or fruit tart, and a donut), 8 for each. There is also 2 large stickers with a design based on the front of the package.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

First I want to say adore this packaging. It’s so sparkly and shiny, and I just think it’s really cute looking with the cafe items covering the front and back. I like the variety and the stickers are like average stickers, but they do have that holo that everyone loves and makes everything better~

Taiyaki Squishy

Everyone’s favorite item in these boxes (I assume anyway), a squishy! Taiyaki is a baked pastry filled with things like red bean paste or chocolate. They’re super-popular and can be available fresh (which seem more cake/dough-like from what I’ve seen) or crispy pre-packaged ones (which I’ve tried before and really liked).

This was available in strawberry, chocolate, regular, matcha, and... white. Sorry, I’m not sure what a white one would be. It’s like they knew I wouldn’t be a fan of the Yellow color theme for May and gave me my favorite color to appease that.

I know that isn’t really the case, but it’s ironic isn’t it?

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥  

It’s very cute, and I’m happy I got this strawberry-colored one. But I did notice mine has some air bubbles in the rubber/fabric (?), and around the mouth the coloring is lacking. What really killed it for me though, is the fact that it smells like body odor. I have no idea why it would, it’s been in the box and the box doesn’t stink. The inside of the box actually smells good...

Oh, and if you’re curious its a like a... 8 out of 10 in terms of rising speed. It’s quick but not instant.

Chick Kitchen Spoon

This is our final item of the box, and also the featured one. It’s an adorable chick-themed spoon perfect for stirring soups and sauces, scooping rice, tossing a salad, etc. It’s feet are removable- I assume for easier holding and washing.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I love cute kitchen items, so I instantly took to this one. It’s pretty much like any other large spoon you’d have for making foods, but it’s just unique in design- so there isn’t actually much I can say about it. I do like that it stands though, because I hate laying spoons down on various surfaces and either making a mess or worrying over germs and having to get a whole new one.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 4 out of 5. I liked everything enough, I’m not sure what of it I’ll actually end up using because for me personally, it kinda feels like this is one of those “put it aside and come back to it“ boxes. I didn’t instantly say “I’m gonna put that out right away!“, except for the chick spoon for obvious reasons.

Price - 5 out of 5. Unlike the past two boxes I feel like this one was definitely worth the price we pay for them. Two items were small, in comparison to having a bunch of small and cheap items.

Quality - 4.5 out of 5. Everything is spot-on, nicely detailed, etc. I’m only marking this down because of that smelly Taiyaki squishy.

Theme - 2.5 out of 5. The theme was yellow, and two of our pre-picked non-randomized items were indeed yellow. By some dumb luck one of my items is mostly yellow. But two ended up being multicolored, and one was pink (but had a yellowish one in the set). Another portion was pompompurin, who could have been represented more, as well as sunshine, a summery vibe I honestly didn’t feel with this box outside of the vibrant color.

Total Rank: 15/16 out of 20 Cuties. Lately I’ve had complex and uncertain feelings about boxes, but with this one I felt like I liked it more/better even if it left me without that excitement that I look for in a new box.

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Leisure Sheet -  Not only did I feel like this embraced the theme the best, but in general it’s just a super-kawaii design!

2. Cafe Holographic Stickers - I was quickly won over by the sparkly, shiny rainbowness of the packaging- plus the stickers are cute. 

3. Pompompurin Roll - Very cute and squishy-soft, but generic Pompompurin you know?

4. Tote - A repetitive and simple bonsai plant design, but it’s charming.  

5. Chick Spoon - It’s cute but in a generic sense to me, so I thought the other items were much cuter.

6. Taiyaki Squishy - It’s a stinky, but still kind of cute squishy. And Pink, so...

Alrighty, we’ve come to another end of a review. Wasn’t so bad was it? Next will be the usual NMNL, followed by Kira Kira crate. I’m hoping to get those both done within the next few days to try to get myself back on track of posting more often- especially since I got so behind >3<

But if anyone sticks it out with me and continues reading then I’m happy. So until next time stay warmly pompompurin cute!

[puclpodcast]

PDL Week 8 Recap

PDL Week 8 Recap

We have a lot to discuss this week from Playoffs to an interview with The Fluffiest Whimsicott so let’s jump right into Week 8,

DEP vs. NYY: 0-1

NWN vs. BFS: 3-0

HEH vs. NJJ: 4-0

COG vs. VAV: 2-0

TOT vs. SLC: 0-3

PIP vs. BAL: 0-2

HFW vs. JAX: 6-0

ITA vs. DCC: 0-3

LOL vs. MID: 0-1

BLP vs. AUK: 1-0

MIL vs. MIN: 3-0

There were a lot a really close games this week. That had a lot of playoff implications but I go into more detail about that below. This was a week of inter-divisional matches with a division game thrown in and it is starting to make things a lot more interesting. I cannot emphasize how important every match is in the rest of the season. There are 22 out of 24 teams that have a path to the playoffs, while for some it is unlikely or requires a specific string of losses and win it is crucial that you bring you A game every week. Worst case it is just as much fun to crush someone’s dreams of playoffs as it is to make them, but first let’s enjoy a nice week off as we have our final bye week of the regular season. This week was a positional week. A lot of teams got some crucial wins and overall showed how week to week, you can be playing a different team. Playing any team that prepares well and plays well is going to be difficult to deal with. There are no free wins in this league every one has to work to earn every win.

Pick’ems

Pick’ems this week has left us with one person at the top and several only a point behind. There really inst much more to say about it other than the picks have been off from perfect so it looks like no one will be shout out again… unless in the last 4 weeks the pickers miraculously do what has not been done since week 1. We will see how it goes in the remaining 4 weeks before the playoff bracket

Trades

We have 3 more weeks to make trades and they are still coming through so lets go over them.

AUK Lucario T2 TOT Diggersby TOT Diggersby T2 AUK Lucario PIP Weezing T4 Free Agent Arbok PIP Gourgeist T5 Free Agent Froslass LOL Scizor T2 SHS Espeon SHS Espeon T3 LOL Scizor

  AUK and TOT traded Lucario for Diggersby respectively. This trade helps both teams as AUK is hoping this trade will help their team as they make a late season playoff push. PIP dropped Weezing and Gourgeist and picked up Arbok and Froslass. I really like this trade since it gives PIP a grounded poison type to absorb toxic spikes as well as a spike setter in Froslass. The last trade of the week was between LOL and SHS. LOL traded Scizor to SHS in hopes that Scizor can help SHS make playoffs. In return LOL gets Espeon doubling up on Psychic types and adding a magic bounce user to their squad.

Playoff Picture

With 4 weeks left lets start looking at playoffs. I’ll be doing a breif overview of how teams can make playoffs but as we get closer I’ll go into more detail. Let’s assume that you need a 7-5 record to hit playoffs so let’s dive into how each team can make playoffs. It is possible for 15 teams to hit the 7-5 benchmark but it would require some crazy scenarios. Realistically 7-5 will probably make it and potentially a 6-6 team or two.

Tiebreakers: 1. Overall Record 2. Win % in Division 3. Head to Head 4. Best Record vs. Common Opponents 5. Strength of Victory 6. Strength of Schedule 7. Coin Flip

Corsola Cola: There are 4 teams that can reach the 7-5 threshold; BFS, NWN, DEP, and VAV. At the current moment NWN has the tie breaker over BFS even though they have the same record and both teams need 2 wins to achieve playoffs. These teams would also need DEP/VAV to lose 1 game to guarentee playoffs as either 1 or 2. It is going to come down to how well these teams battle in the last few weeks to determine who will win the division. DEP and VAV ideally need to win out to hit 7-5.

Green Tauros: COG has clinched a Playoff spot either as 1 or 2 for the division. They can drop 2 of their last 4 games and still get the number 1 spot due to tie breakers. The real race is between SLC and SHS. SHS is 2 games behind and the last game of the regular season is a battle between the two. If SHS can catch up 1 game and be only 1 game down going into the last match of the regular season then the winner will be the #2 seed and the other can make playoffs in Best of the rest.

Corsola Cola: There are 4 teams that can hit the threshold; HFW, PIP, ITA, and BLP. BLP would have to win out vs. the entire division which is no simple task, but possible. HFW needs 1 win to clinch playoffs and they need to have a better record than PIP to win the Divisin since PIP wins the tiebreaker between them. PIP would need 2 wins to hit the goal and ITA needs 3 wins. This division is fairly clean cut. You need to win out.

Rhyhorn Steakhouse: This division is crazy so I saved it for last because there is a lot to go over. Let’s start with the fact that every team can make playoffs some have a tougher road than other. To hit the threshold, AUK needs to win out, DCC and MIN needs to win 2 games, BAL and MIL need 1 more win and MID would have clinched if 7-5 is good enough. In the last 4 weeks everyone in this division has 2 divisional matches and DCC has 4. Every divisional match is going to be crucial in seeding and the out of divisional matches for some are going to be just as tough and crucial since 5 of these teams are within 2 games of each other. There is no way to know how this will turn out just yet but it will be exciting to follow.

Interview with The Fluffiest Whimsicott

This week I’m joined by the Italian Crusader herself, The Fluffiest Whimsicott!

Clod9: Thank you The Fluffiest Whimsicott for joining us this week. Luckily it’s easier to schedule interviews than battles but let’s get started what have been your impressions on the draft league format thus far?

The Fluffiest Whimsicott: Thank you for having me, it’s quite the honor! As for your question… it’s a lot more stressful than I anticipated, although it’s certainly still fun.

C9: How did your draft go in your opinion?

TFW: Uh… extremely well at the beginning, then it was a panicked downward spiral down to the end. I was confident that with 20 people picking before me, my favorite S-Tier, Mega Mawile, would be long gone by the time my turn came around… but nope, Ravioli was still there! I had a loose draft structure to follow him, but as I kept getting sniped and having to go for my second or sometimes third choices, I found myself scrambling… and at the end I emerged from the deep drafting haze in my head holding: a Hail core I wanted and no one else (wisely) did; Minior; and half of my roster having quadruple weaknesses. I still don’t quite know how it happened, but here we are.

C9: With the season half over, how have things gone thus far and how do you think you will fare in the second half?

TFW: Well. As I have just finished my eighth battle, the season is actually two thirds over for me, and… I have a neutral record, 4-4. It’s worse than I had been aiming for, that’s for sure. And with the opponents awaiting me in the last round of battles… let’s just say at this point I would be quite happy to keep it even.

C9: Who are you most looking forward to battling this season? TFW: The battle I was most looking forward to was the one against Geo, because it was the YOU YOU TEE SEE winners showdown. Ironically (and sadly), it was by far my worst battle, with one crucial distraction and a bit of RNG letting Geo grab the tiny millimeter of momentum he needs to bring any match home (it’s Geo, after all, you breathe slightly wrong and he beats you… and sometimes you do everything perfectly and he beats you anyway, because, have I mentioned? It’s Geo).

 C9: I know I’m looking forward to battling you this week 12, It should be a fun time. Now for the flip side is there anyone you are glad you don’t have to face in the regular season? TFW: Mr. Seth. “Stallmaster���. Vilo. I love the guy, but battling him is the utmost torture. (Which I’m sure he’ll take as a compliment, as he should.) And yeah, I’d say I’m looking forward to battling you, too, but you’re decimating our division and I know I’m going to be in a lot of pain in my final week…

 C9: Why did you choose the team name, Italian Azurills? TFW: Ah… as embarrassing as it is, it’s actually a pun! See, soccer is a huge deal in Italy. It’s THE sport here. And the Italian National soccer team is nicknamed “gli Azzurri” (“the Blues”), because their uniform is a nice shade of blue… the exact same shade as Azurill, as it happens. From there, the pun was irresistibly obvious, and the logo followed suit.

C9: Were there any secret techs that you brought for your matchups that you didn’t get to showcase? TFW: Yes. The most prominent is that I once brought Counter Ampharos, against Geo, but then I choked and neglected to click the move. It would have been quite fun.

C9: Who would you say is the mon you are most excited to use on your team this year? TFW: Well, Mega Mawile was the one I was gunning for, obviously. And I am always excited to use Alolan Ninetales, of course, just because it’s the prettiest Pokémon ever.

C9: You are currently on the Bubble for making Playoffs, do you feel the pressure as you prepare for your last couple weeks/ Do you think you will make playoffs?

TFW: At this point, the bubble is about to pop. Had I beaten Bigby, I would have made an honest and confident try for it. As it is, I’m certainly not giving up, but I am trying to keep my expectations realistic. I honestly don’t know if that makes the pressure better or worse…

 C9: Let’s learn about you as a pokemon Fan. When did you start listening to PUCL?

TFW: September 12th, 2014. (Is it weird that I know the date off the top of my head? It probably is.)

C9:What pokemon generation did you start with?

TFW: Pokémon Red, baby! I am ancient, after all.

C9: What is your favorite region?

TFW: Oh, no. Now I have to resist the urge to launch into an essay! Let’s say Alola, Kalos and Hoenn are all very, very pretty and leave it at that.

C9: Who is your favorite pokemon?

TFW: This one is kind of a cheat question, isn’t it? I’ll give you some bonus answers. Besides the obvious Whimsicott, it’s Leafeon and Alolan Ninetales.

C9: If you had to pick: Attack or Special Attack?

TFW: Tough question. Special Attack, just because I much prefer the types that were Special before Gen IV.

C9: What is your battle style:  Stall/Hyper Offense/Bulky Offense/Balance?

TFW: It’s definitely somewhere around Bulky Offense. Balance if I’m having a good day.

C9: Do you prefer Speed or Trick Room?

TFW: Speed all the way. Trick Room just cost me a very important match, after all, so I’m holding a grudge!

C9: What is your favorite Weather; Hail/Sand/Rain or Sun?

TFW: Sun because of SovietThatch and all the Grass types who thrive in it, but honorable mention to the weather that makes Aurora Veil possible and Alolan Ninetales (vaguely) usable.

C9: Electric/Misty/Grassy or Psychic Terrain?

TFW: Psychic Terrain. I know Lele simply could not fit in a Draft League format, but man, I miss my favorite Tapu.

C9: Favorite status to inflict: Sleep/Freeze/Paralysis/Burn or Poison?

TFW: Freeze is convenient, but just too evil. I’ll say Burn, because it whittles things down while also making physical attackers too weak to OHKO my prettiest Pokémon, who are of course also the frailest.

C9: Have you watched the Pokemon anime? If yes, what is your favorite Theme song?

TFW: I watched the first… two seasons, I think? And my favorite theme song is probably… the Italian one. It was very cheery (and cheesy, but aren’t they all?).

C9: Will you be participating in other pucl events like the Summer League?

TFW: I’ve already submitted my application to be a Gym Leader again this year. I hope I get picked, because it was a ton of fun last year, but if I’m not, I’m definitely challenging the Gyms myself! I just love battling and having fun with everyone in the community.

C9: Thank you once again for joining us this week! Good luck in your future battles! That’s all the time we have this week. See y’all again next time!

from PDL Week 8 Recap

[sylvieusedhyperbeam]

9. Favorite Fire type?

Ugggh.  DAMN, so many tough choices!  these questions are going to be the bane of my existence because i just love so many, lmao.

so to make it easier on me and so i’m not stuck here thinking for a half hour, i’m-a do some honorable mentions because it’s my meme answer and i do what i want.  :T 

Arcanine!

i love the big fire doggo okay.  i remember having one nicknamed buddy in my old pokemon red, and i battled with him all the time in pokemon stadium.  he served me well!  and in let’s go pikachu i really learned to appreciate his shiny form, too.

Typhlosion!

for all my love of all three johto starters, i think typhlosion will probably always be my favorite final starter evolution.  :>  but holy god, has game freak done typhlosion so wrong, man.  sadly it’s not really viable in battle, and to add insult to injury, game freak robbed it of what was once a really cool shiny (its shiny form now is all right, but its former shiny was way better in my opinion).  still, the entire cyndaquil line is goddamn adorable and typhlosion is no different.  :> 

Blaziken

yes, i know that i said in my last post that i find fire starters a bit overrated.  and i still do, but that doesn’t mean i don’t have my soft spots for a certain few.  blaziken holds a special place in my heart i guess, because torchic was my starter in ruby, and i have a lot of really good memories with ruby.  and i just... really like blaziken’s design.  i’m not sure what it is i like about it, like, i can’t quite put my finger on it, but i really love it for some reason.  it’s a fire chicken that can beat up your dad, what’s not to love about blaze, tell me right now.

Flareon!

oh my god, has game freak EVER done this pokemon wrong on so many levels.  i feel super bad for it in that regard, because flareon’s design is so insanely good for being so simple, even if it’s easily the worst choice of the three original eeveelutions.  like, goddamn, for having such a great attack stat and some okay defenses (special def, yes, regular def, ehhh....), game freak robbed it of a decent move pool until about generation five when it could learn flare blitz, which with no access to recovery other than wish it’s still... useless in battle.  jesus christ, game freak, what did flareon ever do to you.

but as i’ve said, flareon’s design is insanely good, and it looks so goddamn fluffy that i wouldn’t mind having a flare just as a pet to snuggle and play with.  :>  it’s okay flare, i still love you.  

THAT BEING SAID....  my favorite fire type, if i had to choose, iiiiis....

Chandelure!

i really, really love this pokemon.  i mean, not only is it suitably creepy enough to fit its ghost typing (its flames literally burn and consume souls, ‘cause, you know, third degree is for fuckin plebs), but it’s just a super gr8 pokemon overall.  i love its design, i love its concept, i love its cry (as well as lampent’s), it’s just such a cute and very reliable poke if you know how to use it right.  in b4 “GLASS CANNON!” yes yes i know, shush.  but that doesn’t mean a chandelure played well can’t catch people off-guard (lmao not that i’m any five star battler, but i’m one of those people who can speak from experience, do not think ‘easy ko’ when you see a chandelure).  and the cherry on top?  it has an amazing shiny that i’d love to hunt some day. 

so yeah!  best fire!!

[puclpodcast]

PDL Week 5 Recap

PDL Week 5 Recap

We return from the bye week and each team has had an extra week of training to help them prepare for their matches. Let’s see how they did.

DEP vs. NWN: 0-6

HEH vs. BAL: 0-2

VAV vs. AUK: 0-1

BFS vs. NJJ: 6-0

TOT vs. BEN: 6-0 (Forfeit)

COG vs. SHS: 4-0

SLC vs. ITA: 2-0

NYY vs. LOL: 0-3

PIP vs. HFW: 1-0

JAX vs. DCC: 0-5

BLP vs. MIN: 0-5

MID vs. MIL: 4-0

This week featured the top 2 teams in each division going head to head in some crazy battles and at the end of it. There is only 1 team left that is undefeated. Geo and the Columbus Gallades atop the standings. This is proving to be a tougher year of PDL than anyone expected. Any team has the potential to take down any other team on the right day.

After 5 weeks of play, lets look at the top 5 on the MVP race. At the top we have Snorlax from BFS with 13 kills and only 2 deaths with a +/- of 11. The next closest is Excadrill with 9 Kills, 1 death and a +/- of 8. Following we have 3 pokemon tied with +/- of 7. Tapu koko with 8 kills 1 death, and Tornadus-T  and Vileplume with 7 Kills and 0 deaths. 7 more weeks to rack up kills and prove who is the MVP this season.

Pick’ems

This week was full of upsets and that caused most people to be less than accurate in this weeks predictions. NWN had a 3-9 upsets along with SLC 2-10, PIP 3-9 and MID 4-8. While people are learning who to pick based of previous weeks anything can happen as the closest person had 10/12 correct. Who knows maybe next week someone will get it all right.

Trades

We had a bunch of trades this week so lets see how things went down.

AUK Terrakion T1 Free Agent Weavile BLP Dhelmise T3 TOT Feraligatr TOT Feraligatr T2 BLP Dhelmise BLP Feraligatr T2 Free Agent Medicham TOT Turtonator T4 Free Agent Granbull NYY Escavalier T4 Free Agent Alolan Dugtrio HFW Honchkrow T3 Free Agent Greninja (Torrent)

  The first thing we see is TheBritishGent relapsing and making more trades to feed his addiction. In all reality we see Power being swapped for more power, and and different mons of the same type being interchanged. I know I can speak for myself when I say that, I looked at my future matchups and saw that the potential for Honchkrow to make an appearance was going to be slim so I looked for another mon that could fill his shoes and off more to my squad overall and I found that in Greninja. I think these changes could have a real impact. Nothing says scary like Weavile or hip like Alolan Dugtrio… anyways lets move on…

Interview with Lynian

This week I’m joined by the trivia master himself Lynian

Clod9: Thank you Lynian for taking the time to answer these questions for the fans. This is your big reveal into battling within PUCL, how is it going so far?

Lynian: I would like to think it’s going well! I haven’t made a complete ass of myself, at least, with some respectable wins under my belt. Adjusting to draft league has been a bit of a journey, but I think I have a good team and a solid grasp on what it can do.

C9: How did your draft go? Were you nervous?

L: I was very, very nervous. I was so nervous, in fact, that instead of typing Thundurus-I, I typed Tornadus-I. Well, what can you do? I recovered, calmed down, and the resulting Porygon-Z pick up has done wonders, so I’m quite happy with how it went. Even if DrShamu stole my Zygarde, forcing me to take Landorus.

C9: What are your goals for this season of PDL?

L: I would like to think that I’ve already accomplished them! I went into this hoping above hope that I might actually pull a single win out, and to my surprise, I’m doing much better than I expected! As we settle into the back half of the season, I think my goals are making the playoffs. I can lose the first round, but I’m going to do my damnedest to make it there.

C9: Who are most looking forward to battling this season?

L: I’m really looking forward to battling the rest of my division. So far, I’ve only fought Geo, and I don’t like the look of my 0% in-division win rate. I hope to fix that, and shortly.

C9: Is there anyone you are glad you don’t have to face in the regular season?

L: R. Sigma, Seth Vilo, DrShamu, and well, you. Sigma has an eerie amount of foresight, Shamu is just a better battler than I, Seth is a stall monster who needs to be stopped, and you are just me but better.

C9: You are also sponsoring the Create a Pokemon Competition. How did that come about?

L: About the time of the UUTC, I was looking over the tentative calendar for the year, especially all of the community events and tournaments. I realized that if someone wasn’t into Pokemon for the competitive scene (cards, battles, or badges), there really weren’t any events for them. As a fan who loves the world and collection as much or more than the actual core gameplay, this didn’t sit right with me. So, I gathered up a few cohorts, and we drafted up a plan so that people who were more into non-battle mechanics could have a chance to shine.

C9: if you had to create a Pokemon what would it be?

L: See, now it feels like I’m being evaluated on my credibility! Well, if I had to pick one of my ideas, I really like the Fire/Grass Pokemon based on pyrophytes (plants that require fire as part of their reproductive cycle) that I have made. I call it Flakseed. It looks like a tank. The other one that I liked was a Psychic/Bug Pokemon called Paramoth, based around the idea of the “butterfly effect.” It was an oversized moth with clocks as wings, and it had a unique ability that applied the crit-boosting effect of Super Luck and the effect of Serene Grace… to every Pokemon on the battlefield.

C9: Why did you choose the team name, Salt Lake Combees?

L: Well, my home state has a relative dearth of sports teams, other than the Jazz, and I couldn’t come up with a good pun for it. I settled on using the Salt Lake Bees, a minor league baseball team, as the base, but I knew another team was taking the Beedrills. Figuring that a minor league team doesn’t need a fully-evolved Pokemon, I settled on the Salt Lake Combees.

C9: Were there any secret techs that you brought for your matchups that you didn’t get to showcase?

L: I think the only secret tech that I brought that didn’t get to see any play was Sludge Wave on Tornadus on my week against Sparky. He didn’t bring any of his Fairy mons, so the tech sat unused. Tornadus also got knocked out in the match against Whimsicott before getting to set off Defog to clear her Aurora Veil, but that doesn’t feel special enough to qualify as a secret tech… Oh! Due to an unlucky crit, I never had the health to pull it off, but I did have Z-Gravity on my Landorus one week, hoping to sweep with the +Sp. Atk boost to my Earth Power.

C9: Who would you say is the mon you are most excited to use on your team this year?

L: Honestly, I have no idea. I’m genuinely excited to use two of my personal favorites in Galvantula and Porygon-Z, but part of me is just happy to see Magmar doing anything at all. NFE Pokemon are really good in this meta, man.

  C9: Let’s learn about you as a pokemon Fan. When did you start listening to PUCL?

L: It’s been just about a year, actually! I dived into the chatroom quick, and the rest is history. One thing to note, I actually listened to all of the Game Corners before I listened to a main show! I was so confused when everyone was talking about this Thatch guy. Snag loves it when I tell that story.

C9: What pokemon generation did you start with?

L: The very first video game that I owned was Pokémon Sapphire. I’m confident my mom just bought it for me when she got my GameBoy because I had watched some of the “cartoon.” Little did she know that I would play it almost exclusively, well past childhood.

C9: What is your favorite region?

L: Alola, full stop. The region was bursting with life. Every area felt distinct, but still one region. People often say that it was too “tropical” or had too little variation, but the consistency was something I found that tied it together more than bored me. Instead of “Pokémon Urban Outskirts #412”, each area felt like it fit. Not to mention the fairly great representation of Hawaii!

C9: Who is your favorite pokemon?

L: Minior, no doubts. I love the goofy little boi. When I first saw it, I was mostly unimpressed by its design, but the gimmick of the ability had me interested. Now, though, I love the swirly glasses and the candy colors! It looks like something that would fly silently, but instead makes airplane noises with its mouth (that would, of course, get muffled by the rock casing). It’s currently my phone background.

C9: If you had to pick: Attack or Special Attack?

L: Boy, oh boy, is this an interesting question. See, besides having two different stats to resist, both attacking stats are affected very differently by battle. See, Attack is a dynamic stat where Special Attack is much harder to influence. Want to boost attack? Swords Dance, Huge Power, Moxie, Defiant, or a myriad of other effects are widely available and usually influence it either by multiple stages or by being easy to trigger. Want to cripple a physical attacker? Intimidate and Burn are also widely available. The reverse is not true. Other than Snarl, how do you effectively drop Special Attack? Most moves to raise it are either rare, or specifically Calm Mind, too, so raising it is hard. All things being even, I like the consistency of Special Attack over the dramatic highs and lows of Attack.

C9: What is your battle style: Stall/Hyper Offense/Bulky Offense/Balance?

L: Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *Cough* The preferred Lynian strategy is 5 sweepers and a pivot. I think that speaks for itself. I like to smash things. :3

C9: Do you prefer Speed or Trick Room?

L: My brain says Speed, but my heart says Trick Room. I think out of specific edge cases (like best boy Stakatakatkatkataktakakatkataktakaktaktaktaktaka), I prefer to have something faster than something that functions under a gimmick in general. It just sucks when your team requires the move in play and you don’t get a chance to set it up.

C9: What is your favorite Weather; Hail/Sand/Rain or Sun?

L: Hail and Sand (outside of specifically my Mono-Rock team) are horrible and I hate them. I think I prefer Sun to Rain, if only because multiple types can flourish under it, while Rain is mostly limited to Water-types. Chlorophyll, Solar Beam, and Flower Gift are some examples of Grass-types getting a nice boost, with the increased damage to Fire-moves giving them a strong edge.

C9: Electric/Misty/Grassy or Psychic Terrain?

L: The terrains are an interesting concept, but I find them more or less bland weather. Grassy Terrain’s passive healing aside, I forget they are in play half of the time. I would think Psychic Terrain is my favorite, but only because Tapu Lele not having to worry about priority is nice. I wouldn’t carry a terrain move if I could avoid it. Maybe for Draft League.

C9: Favorite status to inflict: Sleep/Freeze/Paralysis/Burn or Poison?

L: I think it’s got to be Freeze. You see it so rarely and knowing the sheer defeat that a Frozen Pokémon inflicts on its trainer is just delicious to watch.

C9: Have you watched the Pokemon anime? If yes, what is your favorite Theme song?

L: I have watched the show since I was a little kid, and I doubt there is a theme song from the show I can’t sing other than the Gen 5 ones after the first, and the English version of the Sun and Moon one (I watch subtitled episodes because I have no patience). Hard choice between Pokémon Johto and Advanced Challenge.

C9: That is all the time we have for today! Until next time, Clod-out!

from PDL Week 5 Recap