#Pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sand

[driftingballoons]

Day 1: First Meeting

First impressions are everything. Unfortunately, waking up on a beach means the sand might be a more pressing issue

@heropartnerweek

[crystalelemental]

For months now, I have been replaying the Pokemon games I own, including finishing Let's Go for the first time ever. Today, I am announcing that I...am done. I'm not playing through any of the others. I'm starting to feel the burnout on it. So we're calling it there, and now it's time to talk Opinions. Behold, my current ranking of the games.

S-Tier Crystal is my favorite and I'm tired of pretending it's not. This is purely a matter of nostalgia bias. I don't think it has enough of an argument to be above the A-tier ones along strictly objective measures. I do, however, think Crystal has a lot going for it, and have kind of come around on loving the earliest generations. Being an earlier generation, there are limitations in movepool and a lot of situations where you are constantly working toward something. It keeps the game engaging as you progress through everything, and potentially into the very final area. Even late acquisitions like Misdreavus and Larvitar are great. Mismagius completely stomps Red's Snorlax, and if you decide to invest in Larvitar, Tyranitar is a juggernaut that absolutely wrecks shop, being one of the only pseudo-legends to really live up to the reputation. A lot of the region feels very organic. While there aren't major flashy landmarks, finding Johto Pokemon feels like you need to engage with the new mechanics of time, headbutt trees, etc., and it makes them feel a lot more fun. Gym Leaders never get much development, but I feel like Johto's really stand out, particular with Whitney and Clair who exude a ton of personality in their short appearances. Silver is an excellent rival who exhibits a lot of development, and they even flesh out Blue. Red is a sore spot, but I can forgive them. The game just has a lot that I adore.

A-Tier PLA is legitimately the best game. Like, if it weren't for nostalgia purposes, this would be #1. I attribute this a lot to it just being a Mystery Dungeon game in disguise, but I...think it's the only game to really do something truly interesting. Having your focus be on capturing, and having capture mechanics that are, somehow, actually fun? That's tremendous. Capture mechanics suck in this series, and PLA actually has a fun and dynamic system. Couple that with great lore development for the already strong Sinnoh, and an excellent cast with an interesting story, and it really stands out. Even on smaller measures it rules. Grit is so much easier to understand and control than EVs. Pokemon not evolving until you tell them to makes this the only game where running pre-evolutions is just pure fun. I can find very, very little to complain about. I just wish AoE existed for situations where you get ganked by three opponents at once.

Emerald is stupid fun. I really enjoy this game. Hoenn has the best regional dex additions of any game, it's a very fun region to explore, and I dunno I think some part of me just misses when all moves were physical or special. In part, I think what's fun about Emerald is that it maintains that early generation feeling of really needing to put effort into raising stuff, but everything still having viability. Boosting moves came into play in this generation in a big way, and it was a fun idea! You can get away with all sorts of nonsense with this! I, personally, ran an Iron Defense/Double Team/Baton Pass Mawile into Calm Mind Delcatty to completely sweep the Steven fight. But what really stands out for Emerald is that, despite this, almost every fight is optimized against this strat being a clean win. Brawly's Focus Punch, Wattson's paralysis, Flannery's Sun-boosted Overheat, Winona's Perish Song, Tate and Liza's Double Battle focus, Sidney's Roar/Sand Attack, Phoebe's Curse, Wallace's Rain boosted Water Spout, and Steven's Toxic/Spikes setup. They introduced great tools, but created equally effective counterplay. It makes Emerald feel extremely engaging.

Platinum was the favorite for a while, and I do still love it. But I think it ranks below the previous two tertiary games. On the positive, Platinum continues the strong challenge and design aspect of Emerald. Cynthia is a known brutal fight, and part of this is because Platinum restricts tools in a way Emerald didn't. It forces compliance with a specific approach. Which can also be a bit of a detriment, but there are options that boost, and they stand out a lot more when it's not omnipresent. Pachirisu is funny when it has good paralysis rates, and Thunder Wave isn't a TM you have easy access to. I feel like it also generally structures itself well for keeping on level pace now that Badge Boosting is removed, using Double Battles with trainer partners that heal you each fight to ease the grind. On the negative side...Sinnoh as a region has fascinating lore and a great pantheon of legends, but is otherwise really bland. There aren't that many fascinating regional landmarks, and the gym leaders really do not evoke the same whimsy in me that other regions do. I legitimately struggle to pick a favorite, because no one really stands out to me. It really is a cast carried by Cynthia and Cyrus. I'd also be willing to put Diamond and Pearl really low on here if I could replay them, because the regional dex relies on a lot of new evolutions those games gated to postgame for no real reason. So like...Sinnoh has flaws. I still like it, but it's definitely not the favorite anymore.

B-Tier You know what? Sure. XY was pretty good. As someone who has often identified it as the point the series started its downward spiral, I have had many negative things to say about its general structure and story. The EXP Share was overpowering, nothing in the game's structure changed to accommodate it, and story-wise it feels very disconnected at times and not quite hitting its dramatic mark. But truth be told, I have come around on the merits of EXP Share, and think the story was cooking, even if the final product was a bit undercooked. EXP Share allowed a lot of really low-tier picks, including pre-evolutionary stages, to suddenly compete with the game just fine, in a way previous generations had grown increasingly hostile toward. It lends itself to really fun challenges, using weaker picks and keeping pace just fine without grinding. I think the story can really drag, especially with your friend group and the later segments, but I do see what they were going for with Lysandre and Sycamore, who I've kinda come to enjoy. I had legitimate fun with XY, and that...is not what I expected out of this.

SoulSilver, as a remake, doesn't feel as fun as Crystal. I struggle to fully articulate why, beyond "it feels too different." Which is nonsense, by the way. It's not that different. I think I'm just stubborn. I did have fun with my run, even if a lot of my picks wound up being really unimpressive. Feraligatr rolled terrible Spd IVs, and it showed. But like. It was enjoyable. I even used Lugia, who it turns out is really funny against a lot of Red's team given its bulk. I didn't get Ho-oh but I feel like this game in particular really wanted you to use Legends. GSC kinda do as well; leveling is time consuming, and legends come in at high levels well on par with current challenges. SoulSilver expands this by letting you get the Kanto birds and Mewtwo, as well as the Hoenn legends, both of which are hysterically effective against Red given their ability to set perma-weather over the Hail, ruining his Blizzard spam strat. And you know what? In a series that often relegates legends to endgame and post-game, it's kinda nice to have one where you have a good stretch of access, and where Legends are encouraged to be front and center. I do think it over-relies on HMs, though. The climb up Mt Silver needing Rock Climb now is. A choice. Also the shift in the structure of Red's fight combined with the irritating method of acquiring gym leader rematches makes that last postgame stretch a slog, especially if you don't rely on legends.

But if you want to talk about slogs in postgame, oooh man. Let's talk LeafGreen. LeafGreen is interesting. I, personally, adore it, because it gave me Leaf. I am not joking. I really like Leaf's design, and I don't like being forced to play a male protagonist. It's also nice to have Vs Seeker, and I think by and large the game play comparably to its original version despite mechanical differences. However. It also does some things that take away from the Gen 1 experience. It lacks the same shenanigans that make Gen 1 stand out; you can't have Crabhammer always criting to make up for Kingler's everything else, for example. Again, for main game, this is fine. But once you get into postgame and the rest of the Sevii Isles...the game turns brutal. The League rematch sees a massive level spike that is very difficult to keep up with, short of arbitrarily completing the rest of the Sevii Islands in full. There's really no reason to do this, either; there are very few tangible rewards for it. No real new TMs, maybe an evolution item like Metal Coat or Dragon Scale if you've been using Onix or Seadra this whole time, but it's far less likely you're changing your team at this juncture in this game. But on the third hand...Mewtwo. Much like HGSS, reliance on legends carries you. Should you will it, you can just ignore the rest of the Sevii Islands, and pick up Mewtwo, who can and will sweep the League with a set of Psychic/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Flamethrower. Yes, even the Tyranitar on Blue's team can be beaten if you get that freeze chance like I did. There's a cheat button right there, but if you don't use it, I do feel like it is a massive slog to catch up.

"But performance issues-" yeah I know. Still think the game is generally fun. Scarlet and Violet just...work for me. Open world is not my favorite concept. I don't like the new Zelda games, for instance. But I think Pokemon can make it work, given that they actually have the variety for things to feel different across the region. I think the Gym Leaders have a good amount of personality, and this is the best E4 we've ever had, with some of the best rivals. I think the story is surprisingly strong, which is not what I expected at all. I think that, much like XY, a lot of complaints about "too easy" start to evaporate when you use the really bad stuff and pre-evolutions instead of relying on the early access Larvitar they hand you. I do hate the raid battles, and I think a lot of the story prior to The Way Home can be kinda whatever, I'm personally not taken with Team Star like everyone else, and I think the open world concept combined with every area having a "Beat X trainers to receive reward" makes it feels a lot more tedious than it needs to be. Coupled with the lack of excellent QoL feature from PLA, this game does feel like a significant step backwards. But on a personal level, I would not mind the series taking this direction moving forward. I think it legitimately works, because I can actually play the game without getting railroaded by constant plot interruptions every fifteen minutes for the first time since generation 4. I PLAY THE GAME TO PLAY THE GAME

C-Tier Pokemon Blue can be a lot fun. I think if there's one thing I'm willing to give the Genwunner crowd, it's that there is an argument for this game being the most personality the series had. Later games start to refine systems toward a sense of balance and structure that make them feel more polished, but also more same-y. A balanced game is not necessarily a more fun one. For a separate example, Nexomon 2 is a much more polished game that, mechanically, feels more devoid of personality than its ridiculously broken predecessor. Gen 1 is broken and goofy, but in that, it is fun. Badge Boosting and sleep mechanics and crit chance being tied to base speed and Lance's Dragonite being unable to hurt Fighting or Poison types because of "Smart" AI using Agility/Barrier to target a Psychic weakness thus never dealing damage. All of that is goofy shit that is fun. If anything, it's only low on the list because of its status as an earlier game. Yes, technically there are so many combinations of Pokemon and movesets and stats you could never run the same thing twice. But also, most movesets and pretty clear, and there's only so many times you can run the Kanto mons before they get boring. Coupled with FRLG, it's...hard to always feel like Blue has what I'm after. I like the greater variety of later generations, and I do think Emerald and Platinum's approaches result in more engaging challenges with more to do. Also the region is kinda boring? Is that just me? Kanto's not that exciting.

OmegaRuby is...as a remake, I think it is solidly okay. Emerald is obviously much preferred, but it has merits. It keeps mechanics from XY, which means your weaker picks can still thrive. Luvdisc gaming is real. I do, at times, enjoy this game. But it's also...hard to get into. FRLG I do like slightly better than Gen 1, and while Crystal is my baby, sometimes I am feeling HGSS. I am pretty much never feeling ORAS over Emerald. I say this so profoundly that I have considered playing Ruby recently, over OmegaRuby. I cannot fully articulate why. Having replayed Delta Episode, I do feel like this postgame kinda sucks. It's not that exciting. And like...okay is it bad to say I think a huge part of it is Mauville? I absolutely despite Neo Mauville, that place sucks and I cannot navigate it even now. It bothers me so severely and I could not tell you why I hate it so. I dunno. Maybe I have so little to say because this is like the middle of the pack. It's fine.

Gen 5 is...interesting. It's well loved by fans now, despite being the worst selling generation. And I think that's because it's not a very good game? EXP scaling, really high levels of evolution, and generally high damage from opponents, combined with the ongoing movepool bloat and this era's fixation on Really Hard Boss Fights, resulted in serious gameplay problems that make it more frustrating than most generations. Even story-wise, I feel like it's less profound than it's often made out to be. Despite interesting concepts, the moral dilemma immediately and totally falls on the side of the status quo perception, making everyone who believes otherwise out to be either actively evil like Ghetsis, or just horribly misguided like N. They treat the opposing perspective as more of a joke. So despite a lot of dialogue, and a lot of scenes interrupting gameplay, it doesn't actually offer much more than its predecessors. I can still enjoy Gen 5, but this feels much more like an acquired taste. It does have Caitlin, though.

Gen 8 got a lot of backlash, and while I feel much of it was deserved, I have kinda backtracked on my initial stance. I think Dexit was fine, actually, and argue they didn't go far enough to force players into new approaches. Gen 3 and 5 did the cool thing of basically forcing engagement with the new mons, while Galar played a little too safe with ensuring people the top fan favorites would always participate. It's cowardice is what it is. Galar's real sore spot is one of feeling empty. The region finally takes notes on adjusting for EXP Share, and unfortunately its conclusion is "if we have few fights, we can control for EXP more effectively without the grinding frustrations of Unova." They were right. But this has the side-effect of no area standing out, and Galar feeling much more devoid of experience than its predecessors. The Wild Area in particular is a massive letdown, failing to live up to the notion of catching anything you want by enforcing an inability to catch Pokemon above your level, and a reliance on the den battles which are honestly the worst mechanical decision of the main series, barring one that shouldn't count but does since it's on the list. In spite of that, meeting Gen 8 where it's at can result in a decent time. It's far from my favorite, but I can have a legitimately good time with the overall experience. I just also think it's hilarious to talk into something like Leon with a GMax Butterfree, and just Sleep Powder/Quiver Dance until you're OHKOing his entire party, Zard included.

D-Tier If the chart visual wasn't clear, Gen 7 is my least favorite generation. All the worst decisions happened here. In the case of Moon, its problem is similar to Gen 5. Its story is a bit more worth talking about, but only in regards to the Aether Family. Everything else is really not compelling, yet takes a ton of time to slog through. EXP scaling is back for no real reason, other than backlash against EXP all. Totem fights are particularly annoying, being either just as easily beaten as ever with strong Pokemon, or ridiculous with weaker picks as they become 1v2 fights. Call for Help makes every random encounter potentially devastating if you can't OHKO, just constantly summoning more enemies to keep up that 1v2 pressure on every single fight. Training something new is a constant nightmare. They removed the easy mechanics of Super Training from XY, and offer nothing of value in its place. The game just does not feel engaging. It never has. Nothing mechanically is particularly groundbreaking or fun. It doesn't even lean into this being a region independent of a League; the core of the non-Aether Fam story is that Kukui is building a league, complete with the most sensual Kanto dick-sucking of the series. It betrays its most interesting concept, boiling all of this Island Trial stuff back down to eight type challenges into the same Pokemon League as always. I do not respect these games.

USUM is worse, because it's all of that, but now the story sucks really bad. I'm not lingering on this, you know what I'm talking about. However, I did briefly consider giving this a higher spot than SuMo solely because of gameplay elements that work better. Expanded regional dex means more options to pick from (Which I enjoy because Alola is also my least favorite regional dex barring its legends and UBs), and Roto Powers allowed my Litten to stay unevolved and still sweep Hau. However, Roto Powers are extremely random and finite, and barring some counterpicking options and the application of these skills, some of these boss fights are disgustingly impossible. Ultra Necrozma is brutal in the extreme, being a massive level spike and tremendous BST, all boosted 50%, with obscenely good coverage and boosted super-effective damage. I had a Blissey. I beat it with one Roto Boost and Ice Beam. But like. I remember the first time, and it was basically impossible with the worse team. It's the kind of pivot that grinds things to a halt, and requires going back to buy items if you can't brute force it, which sucks because motion controls on that minigame to get here are wretched. I still do not respect Gen 7.

BDSP is a bad remake. Just on a bare minimum level, they did nothing different. No updated character designs, no little tidbit additions, no changes in where Pokemon appear, no fixings like the old remakes had. But beyond that...its response to growing complaints about difficulty was poor. XY introduced EXP Share, Gen 7 cuts that back with scaled EXP, Gen 8 dials it back a bit, and then BDSP introduces a league with perfect IVs, 252 EVs in relevant stats, and a positive nature. This, by itself, is not intrinsically awful, given the many tools that are added for players to become stronger. Grand Underground is a wild leveling zone, and friendship giving options like sudden dodge and endure effects makes players wildly powerful. The specific problem is when and how it's implemented. Playing this game, it feels entirely like previous generations. Rotate your party, you can win just fine with challenge conditions veterans have been using, etc. Right up until the last minute, where you find out enemies are so optimized, you cannot keep up even at the same level as them. And you're likely lower level. Nothing prior suggested this would be a problem. So now you're forced to contend with significantly worse grinding than any previous game in the series, just to offset this. While it can be argued that this is a player issue, players enforcing arbitrary rules and getting mad the game doesn't play along...I disagree. Pokemon difficulty has always been, in some measure, under player control. You pick better or worse things to suit a situation, you try not to grind to force certain plays, you remove beneficial mechanics you don't need. Pokemon is all about tailoring your experience, and we had two and a half generations of experience trying to circumvent ever expending benefits. And for 95% of the game, nothing suggests this is going to be any different. It's only different right at the end, when suddenly it's so much worse than before, and you're left scrambling to catch up to something you could've seen coming if prior challenges has presented more of a demand. This is de facto a design issue. And it complicates an already intensely disappointing remake, resulting in one of the worst experiences produced.

F-Tier But not as bad as Let's Go. Listen, there's some merit to the concept in Let's Go, but it does too much wrong for it to land. Primarily, it is capture mechanics. The reliance on motion controls results in worse systems than previous games by an unbelievable margin. It was never good, but this pushes into physically painful territory. The fact that catching is not something that can be avoided despite how overpowered Eevee is, solely due to captures resulting in significantly more experience than battles now, and the need for candy to offset opponents having it, is infuriating. And like most post-game experiences, this one is bad, but it transcends the usual due to its gacha-esque style. Every single Pokemon has a mirror match trainer you can face, and they have 150 candy points in like three relevant stats. If you can't keep up, you're dead meat. I put all my candy from the playthrough into Eevee and hit 80 in like two stats. The grind is obscene to the point to unmanageable. I cannot shit-talk the decisions in this game enough.

[dinkyasssongtournament]

so I've gotten quite a few songs! some songs that I'm guaranteed to use, while others are in a bit of a pickle due to not having enough propaganda.

here's the list of them all!

Guaranteed Songs

songs that are guaranteed to get in, due to being the only one song from the franchise that was submitted, and has sufficient propaganda. or I added them myself.

Title Theme from Papa Louie 3: When Sundaes Attack

Donk-Donk from Rhythm Heaven Fever

Distraction Dance from The Henry Stickmin Collection

Guildmaster Wigglytuff from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky

Outskirts from Bug Fables

Carefree Lazy Afternoon (BBQ) from Yo-Kai Watch 3

Grumblebum from Rain World

Case Select from Layton Brothers: Mystery Room

Ooparts -NEO Mix- from NEO The World Ends With You

Loonboon from Plants vs. Zombies

Klayman's Theme from Neverhood

Daycare from FNAF Security Breach

Indulgence from Melatonin

Clown Man Stage Theme from Mega Man 8

Sea Shanty 2 from Old School Runescape

Oopsy-Daisy from Kingdom Hearts

Cool Mixtape from Deltarune

Main Theme from Crazy BBQ

Death 13 from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future

Randy, Mediocre Swan Wrestler from Dialtown

Dog Ending from Silent Hill 2

Riki the Legendary Heropon from Xenoblade Chronicles

Chicken Paradise from Ghost Trick

Mystic Cave Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Hidden Retreat from Tekken 6

Balrog's Theme from Cave Story

Gentle Breeze from Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

The Young Sorceress' Foul Mood from Tales of Vesperia

Draw a Dog from Hylics

Party Island from My Singing Monsters

Metal Bork from A Hat in Time

Underground from Terraria

Into the Box Dimension from Club Penguin

Battle - Tesso from Persona 1

Sly Hunter - Chicago Awaza Mix from Hunting Ground

Flat Zone 2 from Super Smash Bros Series

Unexpectancy Part 2 from Pizza Tower

Not Enough Propaganda

songs that need a bit more propaganda, so if you would send some in, that would be very nice of you!

Underground Hug from Mad Rat Dead

Bonus Stage from Aladdin on Sega Genesis

Pleasure Island Amusement Park from Pinocchio on SNES

Map from Pikmin 1

Clockwork Chasm from Pikmin 3

Food Mart from Tomodachi Life

The Royal Academy of Katamari (Kimitaka Matsumae Remix) from Katamari Forever

Toad Brigade from Super Mario Galaxy

Buoyant Boogie from Splatoon 2

Bomb Rush Blush from Splatoon

Shopping from Splatoon

Flying Man from Earthbound

In That Holiday Mood from Miitopia

STAR ! STAR ! STAR ! from Beautiful Katamari

Prince's Lounge from Beautiful Katamari

Don't Give Up from Touch My Katamari

It's So Wonderful from The World Ends With You

Dreamy Darkness from Kirby and the Canvas Curse

Battle Among Friends from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Preliminaries

songs of the same franchise, so they're put into preliminary rounds before the actual bracket.

Kirby

Slippery Slopes from Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Crystal Dungeons from Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Butter Buildings from Kirby's Epic Yarn

Sand Canyon 1 from Kirby's Dreamland 3

Mario

Strange Company from Super Paper Mario

Shadow Sirens Battle from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Run, Jump, Throw! 2 from Super Mario Odyssey

Undertale

Dogsong from Undertale

Bonestrousle from Undertale

Temmie Village from Undertale*

Katamari

Katamari on the Rocks (Arrangement) from We Love Katamari

One Chip March from We Love Katamari

Katamari on the Rocks from Katamari Damacy

Little Help from Touch My Katamari

Do Re Mi Katamari Do (-rh rehabilitation re-arrange-) from Katamari Forever

Tomodachi

Mii Apartments (Hungry) from Tomodachi Life

Island (Day) from Tomodachi Collection

Miitopia

A Lively Inn from Miitopia

The Great Sage's Theme from Miitopia

Extra Battle (Wonder) from Miitopia

The Legend of Zelda

Majora's Incarnation from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Malo Mart Theme from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess*

Touhou

Gemini Star from Touhou Lostword

Drunk as I Like from Touhou 10.5: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

Ace Attorney

Investigation ~ Opening 2002 from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All

Eccentric from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All

Splatoon

Seep & Destroy from Splatoon 3

#14 crush from Splatoon 2

Happy Little Workers from Splatoon 2

Telephone's Theme from Splatoon 2

Nine out of Tension from Splatoon 3

Mother

Buy Something Will Ya! from Earthbound/Humoresque of a Little Dog from Mother 1

Hi Hi Hi from Earthbound

Sanctuary Gardens from Earthbound

Bean Bean Pork Bean from Mother 3

Fantasy Life

Job Anthem 3 from Fantasy Life

Kigurumi Group Theme from Fantasy Life

Vocaloid

Various Feelings from Project Diva

Doukeshi no Koushin from Project Sekai

*didn't get propaganda before, but now has new propaganda that works

so yeah! good luck!

[wingsofachampion]

I'm feeling homesick, so I'm going to write down some stuff about my world. Maybe it'll make me feel better.

In my world, Pokemon have our own societies, our own dreams, our own hopes. It's not too different from the human world, though we don't really have much of these "government" things. The closest thing are probably guilds. Guilds are groups of Pokemon that work together for a common goal.

There's also mystery dungeons, places where space is all weird. They're divided into floors, and the floors are divided into rooms and corridors. They're filled with both treasure and hostile Pokemon.

They can be scary, but they can be beautiful, too. There's a mystery dungeon I always like flying through, called Rainbow Aurora. It's completely made out of rainbows, and it's super pretty.

Mystery dungeons are really dangerous, but there's Pokemon whose jobs are to help with them. There's rescue teams, Pokemon who go out to help others, delving into mystery dungeons to rescue and help those lost in them. There's also exploration teams, Pokemon who explore the unknown, charting out as much of the world as they can.

There's seven continents. Air, Grass, Water, Sand, Mystery, Thunder, and Mist. Mist is where I used to live.

There's been many disasters in my world. The Meteor Crisis, the Time Crisis, the Desperation Crisis, and the Stone Crisis. But they've all been stopped, thanks to humans.

There's no native humans in my world. Every single one there was summoned their, and had their form changed to be a Pokemon.

Every time a disaster happened, a human was there to stop it.

Humans can do so many cool things. They can make towers that scrape the sky. They can make pictures that move, and you can control. They can connect the whole world. They can go by their special names freely. They can do anything.

I've always wanted to come here, to where humans come from. I've always wanted to be a part of this amazing place. I've always wanted to live alongside humans.

But still...sometimes, I miss my old world. I miss mama and old sis. I miss my old friends. I miss Rainbow Aurora. I miss the mysteriousity in the air. I miss not feeling out of place.

But I wouldn't give up living here in the human world with papa and new sis for anything.

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

also would like if pkmn could have all of their abilities at once instead of just one, mainly cuz i hate how unattainable hidden abilities are. that, n' you could give pokemon that only have one ability (levitate) more interesting abilities. like, give flygon sand stream, or hydreigon berserk. yknow?

There’s actually a Pokémon showdown challenge-only game mode where Pokémon get all of their abilities at once! Also in Pokémon mystery dungeon explorers of time/sky/darkness, Pokémon that can have 2 different abilities automatically get both abilities. I think that making Pokémon have all their abilities at once would dramatically affect the game’s balance in largely negative ways, but it would certainly be interesting to let Toxapex run it’s extremely interesting ability Merciless without losing access to Regenerator

[mrbobbins]

#pokemon mystery dungeon

To the readers who have become invested in my story, I sincerely apologize. I have been receiving strong IRL pressure to stop writing fanfiction and I have finally given in. While I had an incredible experience exploring the setting and characters and I am truly disheartened to relegate this story to the grave, it has been repeatedly and unavoidably brought to my attention that good writing should exclusively be published behind a paywall.

If you have enjoyed reading this story, please click the follow button and leave a review. This would rectify at least in my mind the few months I spent perfecting the prose of a mere 3.5k words.

Thank you for reading,

Mr. Bobbins.

'PMD: Iron and Sand' - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14168264/1/PMD-Iron-and-Sand

[lucretiaslitthenetherland]

Gaming Log for October 25th 2023

Nintendo Wii U

1. Super Mario Galaxy- got the first power star in space junk galaxy

2. Super Mario Bros- game over on level 5-2

3. Super Mario 64 DS- got the first star by beating King Bob bomb as Yoshi

4. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers Of the Sky- started a file as an Eevee and my partner a Vulpix and beat the Koffing and Zubat and joined an exploration team

Nintendo Switch Lite

1. Super Picross- did level 2-E

2. Super Mario All Stars- Game over on the first game on level 8-1

3. Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga- beat dragonhoho and leveled up both Mario and Luigi to level 8 and saved in the village

4. Super Mario 3D Land Bowser's Fury- got a plessy cat shine on bowsers fury and completed level 4-2 on the main game

Nintendo Gamecube

1. Luigis Mansion- caught the butler ghost

2. Super Mario Sunshine- got the shine sprite from protecting the sand egg in Gelato Beach

3. Warioworld- got the teapot in greenhorn ruins and got the last spritling and the last two golden statue peices

[furrygalactaknightpaws]

Something that I’m sure is well known at this point is the fact that in Super Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, the map is largely based off of the other regions in the past PMD games!

The reason I made this post is to say, tag your home continent, be it your first game or your favourite one! I’m from the Grass Continent :3

[kettouryuujin]

A Mysterious Prelude -V2-

[Inspired by @monsoon-of-art's Pokerus AU. This is a revised version of https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/kettouryuujin/690863911438811137?source=share] Akari groaned, head swimming as she slowly came to. What the heck had happened? She’d been on her way to the Guild to report the completion of her latest mission (getting a Caterpie out of the Lush Forest), when she was suddenly falling and…

Why was she in the water? She was still on the path when she fell, so there was no way she’d fallen off one of Lively Town’s cliffs. Grunting, the Dewott heaved herself out of the water, looking around. OK. This wasn’t Lively Town. Lively Town didn’t have a beach like this where you couldn’t see any buildings. Did she fall through one of those Mag-gate things? No, those hadn’t been around for years. So how did she…

“E-excuse me!? Ma’am? Are you alright?” Akari’s ears swiveled a bit as she looked upwards towards the source of the voice… a rather lanky-looking Dartrix. On closer inspection, there were some odd pink patches bare of feathers - almost like someone had tried using a weird replacement for bandages. That, and he was fumbling in the air, looking like he was about to crash (which, let’s be real, is why she could see those patches). The avian landed in the sand with an undignified *squawk*, and the rookie Explorer sprung up, heading over. “S-sir? Are you…”

There was a small groan as the Dartrix righted himself, shaking his head. “Yes, yes, I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m just…not used to flying, that’s all.”

“...not used to flying? But…you would’ve even as a Rowlet…” She tilted her head, bandana shifting slightly as the avian blinked.

“As a - Ma’am, you…oh. I guess you wouldn’t know, but…” A sad sigh. “I - and the rest of the people here - were originally human…”

“What.”

----

The Dartrix - or Professor Laventon, as he called himself - explained how the rifts in the sky (not unlike the one above them right now, she noted dryly) was - for some reason - causing people to transform slowly - and painfully - into a Pokemon. Apparently, lightning was striking every so often, and if it hit someone then they’d start turning into whatever ‘mon was closest to them at the time. Or whichever they contacted next. As she took this all in, Akari could safely say... 

She was incredulous. Humans had been extinct for hundreds of years, so clearly this Dartrix hit his head badly upon crashing. Wait, no, her first aid training said he’d be showing other symptoms from that level of head trauma, so...oh Arceus, was this ‘mon insane?

As she tried to work out how to handle ‘mon of mental instability outside of Dungeons, the Prof. suddenly fell, hacking and wheezing. “OH! Oh jeez, are you alright? Here, let me...” Her words of aid trailed off as she saw one of the pink patches shrink via feathers pushing through it. Pops and cracks echoed from the Professor’s form as he visibly shrunk, falling closer to a normal Dartrix’s size as - OH SWEET GIRATINA!

No-one could blame her for jumping back upon seeing the *Blur* that came out of the Dartrix’s beak. Even the most seasoned Explorers would have to hold down their lunch upon seeing *Blur*, although this was the first time Akari knew of *Blur* coming from puking. Usually it took grievous bodily injury or surgery to make *Blur* visible... oh Arceus, this was all chopped up and it was even wors- Dry heaves. She couldn’t hold them back, and instead used whatever energy she could divert from those heaves into looking away from the *Blur*. Thankfully she hadn’t ate recently, otherwise she’d have had no time to react before giving the apparently ex-human a new coat of...well, green. Yeah, seeing someone grow feathers, shrink, and puke up *Blur* was reason enough to believe they were probably once human.

As she tried to calm herself (and fish out a couple Berries from her bag),  Akari steered her thoughts away from the nausea and towards confusion…and concern. What sort of thing could turn humans into Pokémon… and what could have sent her to a world with humans at all?

[girlbob-boypants]

Top 5 types of fish, top 5 viddie games uwu

Top 5 fish

1. Corydoras. Literally any kind but especially panda cories like unironically best fish they're babies. Get as many as your tank can fit and watch them snorfle the entire bottom of the tank when food arrives.

2. Betta fish. The colors! The personality! The attitude! The desire to fight their own reflection. (Buy from responsible pet stores instead of chains if you can. Better personality and longer lifespan that way)

3. Ember tetras. So small. So red. Their size means more fish per gallon which means more schooling behavior.

4. Congo tetras. Never had them but the fins are so pretty. I'd love a tank for them someday.

5. Goldfish. Genuinely. They're hardy, they're pretty, they can handle cold water. Only real problem with them is they'll eat sand until it kills them cause fish are not smart.

Top 5 video games

1. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Space/Darkness. Listen if this game wasn't a side game in a big title ment for children, it'd be everyone's favorite. Unironically. But it's still my number 1 because I cry whenever Don't Ever Forget comes on. Also can be played on an emulator to make Nintendo mad.

2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords. Everything people claim the first one is, but better cause no bioware involved! The restored content mod is a must, as is a plan to hunt down and murder Chris Avellone once you see how the Handmaiden is treated.

3. Guild Wars 2. But only through season 4. Icebrood Saga was trash (minus Bound By Blood which was the greatest setup ever) and i don't plan on playing end of dragons so no opinions there. But damn. Good gameplay, good story, customizable character, a decent default personality that doesn't leave you feeling devoid while not being overbearing.

4. There are so many games I wanna put in this spot. I'm gonna take the easy option and put Shadowbringers here. Points off for shunting you into a new universe to save your friends and then immediately forgetting about that to have you tour the city for 2 hours at the behest of your kidnapper. And also Vauthry's design.

5. Okami. Only reason this doesn't get a higher spot is cause it's uhhhh. Early 2000s misogyny jokes kind of blasted me when I played it last. Did Not age well. But the animation and art are gorgeous. To the point where it's still brought up in classes about unique animation to this day. And the game play is phenomenal. Also miss Ammy is a lesbian that's all bye

[spiribia]

at the end of pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky after you are erased from time and your partner now alone goes back to the guild and is celebrated and travels telling everyone the story of your adventure and months pass and everything after all that calamity has returned to normal and your partners like i think i’ll take a walk on the beach... and that evening the beach reminds them exactly of the time they first met you and they collapse on the sand and your guildmate bidoof rushes over with concern and your partner just leans on them sobbing and bidoof doesnt know at all what the matter could be and then the end credits just start rolling. was that not messed up

[curewhimsy]

(Refer to the last post)

For some reason I had the idea of “Uta x Taya AU where the story is directly taken from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers” because life is too short to not.

Anyway... outline of Chapter 1!

———

In the once-serene magical world of Ephemera, the flow of time is slowly becoming messed up, and the land is becoming less peaceful as a result. More natural disasters have been occurring, monsters have gone out of control, and more places in the wild are turning to dungeons... Exploration Teams lately have been being formed to rescue people who get caught in these disasters. In Ephemera, it is said that mystical fragments of Time itself, called Time Gears, are responsible for keeping the flow of time in place, as long as they are in their proper areas of origin. It is said that nobody would ever dare to mess with a Time Gear, unless they wanted indescribable disaster to befall Ephemera... ——— One evening, 20-year-old Uta Utane wakes up in this strange world, remembering nothing about herself, or her life up to this point, except for her name. The person who woke her up was Taya Soune, who had found her unconscious on the beach moments earlier. Taya is 20 years old, and lives on his own near a cliff by the sea. He has always been fascinated by lore and legends, and always dreamed of being on an exploration team. However, he always was much too timid and could never work up the courage to enroll himself in the exploration training academy, anticipating he wouldn’t succeed. Taya has healing magic as a specialty, and his offensive magic is water-related and currently quite weak. However, it is a long-range attack. His close-combat fighting style leaves much to be desired as well. Taya had gone down to the beach because he felt sad and wanted to be alone. With him, he was carrying his good-luck charm, a crystal he had found a ong time ago, shaped curiously like a fragment or puzzle piece. Shortly after Taya and Uta meet, they are talking, and Taya is suddenly pushed down from behind and his good-luck charm is stolen from him by thieves who taunt them and call Taya a weakling for being unable to stand up to them. They take off with Taya’s treasure in a nearby cave, leaving him shocked and defeated. In a fit of desperation, Taya asks Uta for help, to which she agrees. “Don’t worry.” Uta says. “I’ll be here for you.” Uta realizes something once she’s in the cave with Taya and they come across their first monster—she instinctively knew she had magic, and how to use it, despite knowing inside that she was from a different world. Uta’s powers are gravity-related and long-range, however she does have some non-magic close-combat attacks. Taya also notices something when he is exploring with Uta. When she’s by his side, he doesn’t feel as scared. He actually feels a bit brave, a bit hopeful. Eventually, the two catch up to the thieves and Taya is courageous enough to stand up to them. He fights them, with Uta’s help, knocks them out, retrieves his treasure, and they run out of the cave together. Once they find the exit, they both collapse in the sand, panting and exhausted... Suddenly, Taya starts laughing. Uta starts laughing too at the sound of Taya’s laughter. “Ha! Did you see that?” Taya asks Uta, smiling. “Did you see... how brave I was? Wow... that... that wasn’t like me at all...” Taya suddenly stops laughing and grows an sentimental expression on his face. “And um... you know... Uta? It really was... all because of you. If you didn’t happen to be there, I... I don’t know what I would’ve done. My treasure may have been lost forever... But instead, you gave me courage...” Feeling emotional, tears start pooling in Taya’s eyes. He begins looking away. “So... thank you. Thank you so much, Uta. Without you, I would have never had the courage.” Taya begins sobbing. Uta pats his back and comforts him. Once he calms down a bit, Taya begins telling Uta why his treasure means so much to him... “Well... not only do I find it to look at, but... it holds a lot of memories and feelings for me too.” He says. “I found this crystal in a cave long ago... well... I guess I could say WE found it, my friend and I. Her name was Saya... she since passed away... but... whenever I look at this crystal, I remember her and all the adventures we had together.” “Oh.” Uta says to Taya. “I’m sorry.” “It’s fine.” Taya continues. “My friend... Saya... She always loved learning about legends and wondering about the world around her. I think I picked my curiosity up from her. Also, look.” Taya shows Uta the perforated edges of the crystal. “This crystal looks a bit like a fragment of something, doesn’t it? As if it could fit into something?” He says. Uta nods in agreement. “When I look at this fragment... I think about the world out there and all the wonder and secrets it holds...” Taya continues. “I wonder, what could my fragment possibly fit into? And to think, that mystery is only but a tiny fraction of all the unsolved mysteries out there. It makes my heart race!” Uta smiles at Taya’s enthusiasm. “And... I have one more thing to ask you.” Taya says to Uta. “Yes?” Uta answers. “Well... you see... I’ve always been too timid on my own, but.. when I was with you, I felt so brave. So... um... I know you just lost your memory and all that but... for the time being at least, would you like to join me in forming an Exploration Team with me?” Taya asks. Uta suddenly feels a bit put on the spot... and for the first time, it does really hit her that she might not be able to permanently stay Taya’s friend... especially since she feels she’s not even from this world. But since she feels maybe she could unlock some clues, and because she wants to help Taya, she agrees. And that’s how Uta and Taya formed an Exploration Team and started their adventures in Ephemera...

[harusha]

by last 2 gens, I meant SUMO and SWSH. I loved XY, but liked SUMO characters better. USUMO could have made great sequels. Lillie as prof. Gladion as champ, Hau as a kahuna. Etc. Would also make the transition to wormhole traveling more realistic if they were set in a universe where the events took place. I loved Gen 2 for letting us see Kanto 3 years later, and BW2 for letting us see what's changed in Unova. Just frustrating with the direction of things

Whoops, sorry anon. I never got the notification for this, so this is probably a week old or so. Tbh, I feel you though. I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but it feels like the mainline games are riding somewhat on name brand at this point. Making games is hard don’t get me wrong, but there’s a lot going on w/ SWSH rn on release.

I love the whole sequel stuff, but my only concern is “canonzing a protag.” Like…look at Alexio/Cassandra from AC:O. Sheer madness in how those arguments go on “canon. Like, I like ambiguity because I can avoid that.

Tbh alongside the sequel idea and the coherency it would bring, I would love it if wormholes let you go to the OG timelines (RBY–>GSC, FRLG/RSE–>PDPT/HGSS->BW->BW2), and that’s why you get hidden abilities, rare Pokemon, and increased shiny chance. They could just explain it as the wormhole changing the Pokemon’s characteristics. RBY timeline is basically “no one had abilities,” hence the drastic changes, FRLG timeline could be “they decided to go with you, and now they changed to fit your timeline.”

 Like they wouldn’t have to put every single region in; they could even just make it to where you visited parts of each region, perhaps the most iconic locations and/or moments, as a post-game/high difficulty thing (everyone is set to lv. 100 and have ideal spreads+sets). Like dropping in on Mt. Silver at the foot of the mountain, and have the area name pop up as “???” and have the player traverse the dungeon (w/ the HGSS encounters but inflated to 80s-90s so the observant veteran player can go “hmm this is familiar”) and have it accumulate in walking in on EthanVSRed on Mt. Silver, and it ending up in a double battle with them. Like that would blow people’s minds and make them realize what the post-game is, a love letter to every single generation so far, and set the stage for the rest of the post-game.

They don’t even have to confirm the canon protagonist for Johto if they just cover them up in snow gear (ie. put a cloak on them and have the hood up), and give them Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Tyranitar, Raichu, and Espeon/Azumarill. The three starters, the Pseudo-Legendary of the generation, Raichu to parallel Red (also small callback to how Ethan was supposed to be Red’s younger brother in the old GBC pamphlet), and Espeon if they want to showcase the OG day/night cycle gen+it being the gift Pokemon and a Easter egg part of Red’s original team. Azumarill is if they prefer to reference the childhood friend.

They could even make this a chance to up the difficulty through the excuse of “alternate universe/wormholes caused their Pokemon to change abilities.” Make Red’s and Ethan’s teams complement each other and have them carry optimized spreads and sets for doubles. Ex. Blastoise or Pikachu with Fake Out and Focus Sash sets up rain and Ethan’s Raichu w/ Air Balloon/Choice Specs and carrying Thunder+Surf and has Lightningrod (wormhole shenanigans gave it a Hidden Ability) and so forth. Give them things such as Magic Bounce Espeon, Dual Screens Meganium, Mega Charizard X (wormholes made it happen), etc. Just showcase them as a bonus challenge and their status as legendary trainers akin to Mameo from Digimon. Perhaps give a reward of something like “Red gave you that extra Master Ball he never used” or a music player from Ethan so you can listen to curated songs from the older games. Or even simply clothes modeled after their original designs (Leaf and Kris outfits for girls and Red+Ethan for boys; or make it all available as unisex outfits where the inspiration is obvious but it’s not exactly the same).

And if they want to make it even more of a nostalgia bomb, have Ethan’s Raichu have a spiky/notched ear to imply that it’s a timeline where the special Pichu evolves and had Surf instead of Pain Split as the special move.

Other iconic moments could be dropping in at Turnback Cave and traversing Distortion World again and saving on Lucas, Dawn, and Cynthia and rescuing them from Giratina. Reward is catching Giratina and a battle against Cynthia, Lucas, Dawn, and perhaps Cyrus. Avoids picking a canon protagonist and arguments over who should have showed up. Focus is single battle gauntlet with each trainer giving a choice on whether you want to heal after each victory (exception is Cyrus).

Have Lucas/Dawn mention how they like trading and that’s why one of them has two starters (or multiple gift Pokemon) to help avoid narrowing down the canon protagonist. Lucas could work in Trick Room (Torterra, Cresselia/Dusknoir, Vaporeon, Magnezone, Heatran, Machamp). Showcases the notorious number of roamers/legendaries in Sinnoh, Mt. Coronet evolution, trade evolutions (GTS), a new gimmick of the gen in Trick Room, and incorporates a gift Pokemon). Dawn could work with Iron Fist Infernape, lead Empoleon w/ Stealth Rock (showcase that infamous entry hazard), Paraflinch Togekiss, Porygon-Z, Lucario, and Glaceon. Gift Pokemon+showcases the (then) new evolutions of that gen.

Have Giratina be like lv. 80-100 with Totem Pokemon stat to explain how in the darn, everyone lost with those sorts of levels.

RSE could be dropping in on Brendan and May going up Sky Pillar and setting Rayquaza off to stop Groudon and Kyogre, and it starts a side quest of following them to experience the climax of the Hoenn Saga. Climax is them itching for a fight from seeing your skills. Have Brendan (Sceptile, Mega Blaziken, Celebi , Salamence, Starmie, and Latias) and team up with Steven and May (Mega Swampert, Gardevoir/Gengar, Latios, Metagross, Jirachi, and Ninetales) with Wallace in a doubles. Both teams have callbacks to stuff like the manga (Brendan with Celebi and Salamence), references the two Pseudos of the generation, the roamers, trading with Orre for the promotions (Celebi and Jirachi for US and JP respectively) and Red/Leaf in Brendan’s case, Wally’s OG signature, or even the OG Mystery Dungeon. Have Brendan wear his Emerald outfit while May wears the Ruby/Sapphire outfit to blur who the canon protagonist is. Bonus fight could be seeking out Archie and Maxie in their atonement/voluntary isolation for a fight.

BW is dropping in on Hilbert and Hilda encountering Kyurem (since it feels wrong to interrupt N’s goodbye tbh). Teams would be [Contrary Serperior, Samurott, Victini, Archeops, Zoroark, and Mandibuzz] for Hilbert and [Emboar, Keldeo, Genesect, Volcarona, Braviary, and Carracosta] for Hilda. Their teams aren’t amazing, but it’s meant to showcase the generation’s fossils, gift/event Pokemon, and version exclusives. Have it be you saving them from the snow and from Kyurem. Have them talk about how they’re thinking of setting off together to find their friend N, and how much they want to see him again. Make it emotional and have them talk about what they’ve learned about Pokemon from him and their interactions on their journey.

BW2 is saving Rosa and Nate from Ghetsis’s murder attack and fight Ghetsis. After you all return to a Pokecenter, have the two of them challenge you to a Rotation and Triple Battle respectively. Rosa runs a rain team with Drizzle Politoed, Octillery, Smeargle, Kabutops, Kingdra, and Ludicolo while Nate runs a Sand Team with Hippowdon, Sand Rush Excadrill, Rhyperior, Garchomp, Scizor, and Gliscor. Have it be a gimmick to where weather is infinite again in this wormhole location since their teams are meant to be a callback to the weather wars of gen v and the stars of those teams.

And have N show up to thank you for saving Rosa and Nate since he was almost too late right as you are leaving through a wormhole. Have the player tell him about what Hilbert and Hilda said and how they want to meet him again+urge him to meet his friends again and have it end with N saying something to the effect of “…I’ll think about it.” and leave it on an ambiguous note to whether he will meet them.

And finally, have it end with Red encountering Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave and have it diverge by you saving him from Giovanni (he lied about quitting and it’s only after you defeat him that he leaves for isolation until Ethan/Lyra/Kris beat him up again). Ends on a note of “this is where it all began.” Reward is catching Mewtwo and battling Red in a single. Here, they can make his team diverge from canon because it’s pre-Mt. Silver Red/alternate universe. Alakazam, Dragonite, Zapdos, Persian, Eviolite Chansey, and Mew. Showcases popular threats of that gen+trade evolution, irony in Red having Meowth’s evolution (Giovanni is associated with Persian b/c anime), the mythical #151 and source of playground rumors, the pseudo, one of the “your reward for exploring” stationary legendaries, etc.

Could even do a bonus of letting you travel to Kalos (but just the port) and meeting Serena and Calem who are both arguing about fashion while waiting for Sina and Dexio. Make their reason for battling you something lighthearted like you interrupting their argument to say “both of your fashion senses suck.”

Have them carry [Delphox, Chesnaught, Tyrantrum, Furfrou, Mega Gyarados, and Goodra] and [Greninja, Talonflame, Aegislash, Mega Kangaskhan, Meowstic-M, and Aurorus]. Showcases starters, Megas, radical gender differences, fossils, popular threats of Gen VI meta, Furfrou cuts, etc.

And if that’s too much, just recreate parts of the legendaries OG encounter dungeons, Cerulean Cave for Mewtwo, Bell Tower for Johto, etc.

Like…Gen VII was the “this is the 20th anniversary of Pokemon” gen and that would have been a great time to pack everything into one gen. Like…they had space for multiple walking Pokemon animations on the cart that they could have taken out or even tweaked these ideas so the dungeons would be slightly smaller (ie. fit to cart) or reduce the weirdly high number of Lillie models in the game. This isn’t an entire region (or regions) either, but snapshots and small locales to revisit. It also incorporates more fights with the Team Leaders at higher levels and difficulty.

Like idk, I made myself sad because I realize this would never happen unless some mad lad decided to create a massive rom hack/expansion, Masuda gets a larger team (and Pokemon stops with the yearly releases so the team isn’t pressured as much), etc.

Idk, I feel like the games for the 20th ani weren’t as good in hindsight for what they made out to be a year of Pokemon. But that’s just me griping again about Alola.

Also perhaps solviing all this gives you a final wormhole where you’re taken to fight Leaf. Give her Clefable (Clefairy’s original yet scrapped mascot thing), Golem, Flareon, Jolteon, Aerodactyl, and Omastar. Showcases fossils, gift Pokemon, other Eeveelutions, etc.

[pmdthecampaign]

Session 2, Part 1-Crux Cove Introduction

((This session I decided will be broken up into 2 parts, because a lot happened in it. The major summary will be mentioned below, but specifics will be split up.))

Last time my players met, it ended with them rescued by two members of the local Adventurer’s Club, Mudkip and Shroomish, who took them to the outskirts of Crux Cove, the campaign’s main city. 

In this session, they spent the majority of the time exploring Crux Cove, joining the Adventurer’s Club, and going on their first mission for the Club: explore one of the region’s most recently opened mystery dungeons known as Crux Cave because of its proximity to town.

For details on part 1 of the session, read on below.

First off, my player for Sir Mixalot couldn’t come, so all of what happened is implied that Sir Mixalot was with them anyways, but didn’t have an active role.

When they reached town, the group first spent some time admiring Crux Cove, for it was impressive. An area of mostly dark rock and sand, colorful houses lined the cove, which also had five docks, all of them mysteriously empty. They could also see an avenue with brightly built shops, and a massive tent on the hill in the shape of a Jigglypuff that Mudkip and Shroomish confirmed was The Adventurer’s Club.

Poor Vito contemplated what happened to him in Tidepool Tower, and had his first homesickness for his human life. Denki and Caesar decided that they wanted to visit the Timburr Tavern after it was recommended to them by Mudkip and Shroomish who needed to return to the Adventurer’s Club. Still, the two also said to visit them any time at The Adventurer’s Club, and wished them well.

The two headed into town and joined everyone at the lively Timburr Tavern, where Timburr and Munchlax worked and served a large variety of Pokemon who came to eat and drink. It was as the two sat that they were joined with an overtly friendly Haunter with a German accent who introduced himself as Häns. 

After talking to them for a while and eventually having Vito join them, they discovered that Häns had originally woken up with the group, but had decided to trail them throughout their actual adventure and disappear when he felt like it so as to avoid the initial danger. The group had mixed reactions to this, but let him continue to hang out with them anyways, even though Häns played a prank on Vito that involved putting him to sleep through Hypnosis after Vito made a slightly ominous comment about “sending him flowers”. Caesar did not help the situation, since he made flowers sprout on Vito instead. 

After that silliness, the group decided they should look for some kind of employment, and decided to visit the Adventurer’s Club after eating and drinking their fill. When they visit, they were first identified by a Diglett, then ushered inside because Mudkip and Shroomish recognized them. At entering, they discovered the Club has only 5 members: Jigglypuff, Mudkip, Shroomish, Diglett, and an Oddish, which the group was surprised about, and asked why. 

Jigglypuff, who is the Head Mistress of the club, explained that at one point in time they had more members who helped keep order and do missions for the Pokemon of Crux Cove, but when calamity struck the world, a lot of them fled and became less willing to be a part of the club. 

The group was further confused, and after some more questioning, Mudkip and Shroomish admitted that “everybody has stayed the same for the past 5 years” and it has made many Pokemon angry and violent, and has caused the Mystery Dungeons to begin appearing on the continent. 

Jigglypuff then eagerly asked if they wanted to join the club as they would be paid, and the group said yes. At that she gave them each their Badges and bags where they can each hold up to 16 items at a time. Vito, who was wary about the specifics after hearing dungeons could be dangerous, tried to question Jigglypuff, but she flounced away to her room without answering. Shroomish then admitted to the group that Jigglypuff is quite eccentric and sassy, and to “never expect her to do what you want her to.” 

The group accepted this, although they were slightly put off because they also saw that Jigglypuff did not treat the timid Oddish kindly, and even declared he was “useless, and not allowed to go into dungeons” and is instead their cook. It was during that exchange that she also blurted an easter egg of how it’s hard for her to get good help, and that sometimes she regrets following in her father’s footsteps, although I don’t know if my players picked up on that. Jigglypuff was only negative to Oddish, however, and that’s all the group could tell about how she treats the members of the Club overall.

After that they were shown to their new room, and the group went to bed contemplating what happened to them and hoping that the next day they could start working and exploring more of the town. 

For Part 2 of the session, see the next post!

[skoodledoodledoo]

Songs that make me cry like a big fat baby every time:

Smiles and Tears from Earthbound

Haven’t played Earthbound or Mother 3 so I’m the fakest fan for this series but the fact that this music STILL ends up making me cry is phenomenal (mostly because I associate it with Satoru Iwata, especially with that “I miss you” line...)

Fate of the Sons of Flame from Mawaru Penguindrum

Shout out to Ikuhara for making me a blubbering, crying mess on December 23, 2011 at like 2am because of boys, trains, fire and fruits, all while this music plays in the background and tugs, no RIPS out my heart strings. Thanks Ikuhara. Penguindrum was the first anime to make me feel so emotional in such a way. I love Penguindrum and I love how much this song just makes me hurt.

Hyori Ittai ~ Lamento for Piano from Hunter x Hunter

Some people who are following me are watching the show for the first time spoiler free on TV right now so I’ll be vague about this but the scene that this song plays in is one of the most heartbreaking things in HxH. Just wait fellas :’)

Kimi no Kikou from Persona 3

Death is sad! It’s always sad! It’s a mellow kind of sad with this song because you know how this story is gonna end because you already know the themes of this game, it’s still sad though. But not a despairing sad, more of a “such is life” sadness. Persona 3′s ending is bittersweet but expected, but it’s okay! Death is just part of life.

Ending Theme Intro from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky

This song is only less than a minute long but it’s full of emotional. Seeing your partner that you formed a deep bond with groveling in the sand because of the sadness they feel for losing you is so tragic. Hearing this song and seeing this scene over and over every time always ends up making me teary eyed.

Life Goes On! (Ending) from Pokemon Mystery: Explorers of Sky

The only song on this list that gives me happy tears rather than sad ones. It’s a triumphant cry, going through all that sadness and suffering in game and finally having things turn out okay. It’s a good cry, a “finally, we did it” cry. A good ending song.

Time to Part Ways from Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon

The PMD series does love to make me cry like a bitch. This game especially considering this game has the audacity to not only pull the rug from under you but proceed to beat you with that rug. The ending to this game is probably sadder to me than the ending to Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky (or at least it makes me cry more lmao). 

Clair de Lune from New Dangan Ronpa V3 (yes, I know it’s a real song ssshhh)

SPIKE CHUNSOFT MAKES ME CRY FOR PMD SO OF COURSE THEY’LL MAKE ME CRY FOR DANGIT GRANDPA. Chapter 1 of this game is the best Chapter 1 of the series hands down. No other first chapter can rival the absolute despair you feel right off the back. Like the previous song this song also pulls the rug from under you and beats you with it. Only this rug ruins a real life song for you so now any time you hear the song you get war flashbacks. Thanks Spike Chunsoft.

(I blame @hells-mansion for this list, I had to cry in order to verify these songs to make this list :’) )

[rp-meme-glaceon]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky Sentence Starters- Ch. 1: A Storm At Sea

"Woah! Wh-wh-whoa! Are... Are you OK?!"

"No! Don't let go!"

"Just a little longer... Come on! Hang on!"

"N-n-no! I can't... Hold on...!

"Where... Where am I?"

"No. I refuse to be paralyzed by this any longer!"

"This is it. I have to steel my courage toady."

"Waah! That was too shocking!"

"...I can't... I can't work up the courage to go in, after all..."

"Sigh... I just can't do it. I'm such a coward."

"This is so discouraging...."

"Oh, wow! What a pretty sight!"

"This is where I always come when I'm feeling sorry for myself."

"Coming here is uplifting. It cheers me up."

"Hey... What's that? What's going on over there?"

"Waah! Someone's collapsed on the sand!"

"What happened?! Are you OK?!"

"You're awake! That's a relief!"

"You weren't moving at all. iwas seriously worried! Do you remember how you ended up unconcious out here?"

"I... I was unconscious? What happened...?"

"I've never seen you around before."

"...But how did this happen? I don't remember anything..."

"You're... A little odd... Are you pulling some kind of trick on me?"

"Well, I do beg your pardon."

"Hey! Why'd you do that?!"

"Give me... Give me back what you stole from me!"

"I only hepled because I happened to be there... Was that the right thing to do?"

"You see, I've always liked legends and lore. I always get excited when I hear tales from the past! Don't you feel the same way?

"Do you have anywhere to go and stay after this?"

"Let's give it our best, (NAME)!"