#Regional forms and megas are probably going to be last

[dadjoke-ness]

KANTO FROM MEMORY

If you’ve seen my from memory post, here’s the full Kanto dex! Next up is Johto, so stay tuned! 

For Johto and following gens - I’ll be posting each page individually and then compiling them all at the end, so peek at my tumblr for sneak peeks!

And if you want, reply with gen 1 fusions and a few of my favorite suggestions will be getting a spotlight!

[quartings]

Legends Z-A Thoughts and Theories!

Okay, I was pretty quiet on my opinions for Scarlet and Violet, but I'm confident enough to be very pleased and optimistic for this! Legends Arceus was the strongest Pokemon game we had in a decade, and to see them continue this, bring back Megas, and take an extra year to hopefully make it non-buggy? Makes me so so excited!

On Megas:

It's a bit of a surprise to see Megas back, but honestly? Not too much of a surprise. Even ignoring the inevitability of Kalos remakes, Megas are the only gimmick Pokemon kept around in their spinoffs. It was in Mystery Dungeon, Shuffle, Smash Bros, Pokemon Go, and probably more I'm forgetting! So it was always in the back of Gamefreak's mind and I'm glad it's truly back again!

With Gens 8 and 9 bringing back cross-gen evos, I think they'll focus on only giving Megas to three-stage lines, to not quash the potential of 2nd stage Pokemon getting regular evolutions. So starters and Pokemon like Flygon can get Megas since they can't evolve further, but Pokemon like Tropius and Chimecho probably won't, in case they get evolutions in Gen 10 (That then get Megas)

I also don't think we fully grasp how many more Pokemon can get Megas now, too. Barely any of Gen 5 and 6 had Megas (Seriously only 2 Pokemon between the 228 Pokemon in those gens) and we've had THREE more generations since then!!

Note: We went from wanting a Dunsparce evo, to wanting a Dunsparce Mega, to getting Dudunsparce with mixed fan reception. Now I'm going to be a selfish deluded clown bitch and get my hopes up for a Mega Dudunsparce.

Speaking of starters and Megas, do we think we'll get a mish-mash of older starters for this game that then get Megas (Say, Piplup, Snivy, and Scorbunny) or will we get Megas for the three Kalos starters?

Megas may mean Mega Stones return as held items, and held items weren't in Legends Arceus- new gameplay advancement?

Legends Arceus gave us 7 new Pokemon (most of them cross-gen evos) and a dozen new regional forms. Do you think we'll still get regionals this game, or will the design team be focused more on making new Megas instead?

On the world:

It's been confirmed the whole game is only in Lumiose City- how big is the map?? Hopefully we really do get lots of sidequests, biomes for wild Pokemon, and traversal options.

When is this? We're redeveloping Lumiose City, but are we in the past developing it into its current state, or are we in the present/future developing it into a new solarpunk city? Or neither, and this is a "Paradox" game set in a timeline which doesn't quite match ours?

This doesn't have to be an isekai (as in, we don't have to be time travellers again per se), just keep that in mind!

The "Z" in the logo represents Zygarde, with the black color and green hexagons. So who's the "A"? It's green with green scale/leaf patterns on it. What does it represent? The "Chaos" to Zygarde's "Order"? Is it a 5th Zygarde form or is it a whole new Pokemon?

Meta thoughts:

This further confirms my theory that Gen 9 will last until 2026, where they announce Gen 10 on that year's Pokemon Day for their 30th anniversary, and that's great! I'm glad they aren't overworking themselves too much compared to Gens 6-8.

On them "skipping" Unova remakes: I don't see this as skipping. We've been long overdue for a Z version since Kalos is literally the only Pokemon region to only appear in one release (no third version, no remakes, no sequels, no ultras, no DLC). So we're simply making up for the "deficit" of a third version here, and we can go back to focusing on Unova remakes for Gen 10.

Do you think we'll get any final updates to SV to tide us over until the next LegendZ trailer around August? Maybe a small DLC, mythical reveal, or free update?

Pokemon Adventures skipped the last Legends game, so they'll probably skip this one too? I'm fine either way- at least by skipping it, they won't be too rushed and stressed, and they'll actually have the time to flesh out SV and catch up with ORAS/SM/USUM/SwSh in the full volumes.

But on the off chance they do adapt Legends Z-A, do you think we'll get dexholders named Z and A??

Note for the future- the Yoasobi Pokemon song BiriBiri has a part where they namedrop all the game titles- one part has the lyrics "ABC to the XYZ". Long shot, but if Legends Z-A does indeed have an ABC theming, this could be a crazy bit of either coincidental or intentional foreshadowing!

[ask-directorsada-and-friends]

Professor Lucina Sada was used to giving presentations. She was used to seeing her fellow professors. Sada was even used to being called nuts.

She was not good with surprises. Especially when she was running on 48 hours of coffee and little sleep.

So, as she prepared her notes for her presentation at the conference, walking through the Great Hall of the academy, the last thing she needed was for someone to tap her on the shoulder. So, when someone did, she swatted away their hand, not looking up. Whoever it was didn't seem to get the hint, as they did so again. "Go. away. I'm busy." She growled through gritted teeth. Hopefully this wasn't a poor student she just scared again- Jacq and Salvatore refused to let her live that down.

"You know, it's considered rude to not look up at the person talking to you, mi corazón."

She froze. That voice...

Whipping around, she was face to face with Professor Andres Turo, fellow Pokemon professor, co-creator of the Tera Orb, and... her estranged spouse.

Who was now out cold on the ground following her fist connecting with his face.

Whoops.

Ms. Tyme was NOT happy with her reaction, stating she couldn't have waited until she was in private to punch him?

Hassel, Saguero, Salvatore, and Dendra had to pay Raifort after she won the bet over how long it would take for them to be in the same region before she punched Turo. Miriam is amazed at how fast she moved, while Jacq... he missed the whole thing, having instead chosen to catch up with his brother and cousins over lunch in town.

Kukui, who witnessed the entire thing, was laughing his ass off.

A few hours before the conference began, she went to apologize to Turo. After all, he didn't deserve to be punched (well, he did, just not like that). The moment he opened his door, she ended up punching him again.

Augustine ended up having to sit between the two once the conference began. He'd managed to get them to agree to speak in private later, just for now to please stop punching the man when children are around. Jacq was sat besides Sonia and her assistant Hop- his baby cousin, as it turned out- while Juniper sat with Elm and Birch. Rowan, Oak, and Kukui had found themselves at the other end of the oval conference table, Oak's grandson Blue nearby with Bianca of Unova discussing their friends and their habit of "vanishing without warning anyone". Lucas and Brendan were discussing regional variants and the mysterious 'Hisuian forms' that once called Sinnoh home. She knew Champion Leon of Galar had accompanied his brother here, but he had opted to explore the academy instead, stating he probably wouldn't understand much of what was to be discussed.

Sada figured that as they were all here, she might as well take the chance to explain the strange multiverse she had experienced. Kukui had already been filled in, having dealt with something similar a few years back, so at least he wouldn't think she was crazy... at least regarding this.

"Fellow Professors and researchers, I welcome you to Paldea's esteemed Naranja Academy. As you all know, it is here where Professor Laventon studied and is said to be inspired to create what we now know as the very first Pokedex." The director began, gesturing to a framed photo hanging up on the wall between Rowan and Oak. A man with tan skin, a bowtie, and curly hair smiled back from the image, a plaque beneath it reading Professor Laventon, shortly before his trip to document the Pokemon of the Hisui region. "Since then, advancements in not only what he first documented but beyond in the area of Pokemon research have soared far past what we can expect he ever dreamed of. A computerized Pokedex, studies into baby Pokemon, the rediscovery of the Fairy Type- thought to have been lost since he first documented it- and Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax, and Terestalization are only scratching the surface of what we have done here. Why, our academy's own Jacq Sycamore created the very first Pokedex app to document and study the Pokemon of Paldea and the regional forms that live here." She paused to take a breath. Alright. Time to drop the bombshell she knew.

"And during this time, we have witnessed strange disturbances in space-time. Laventon documented what he called 'Space-Time Distortions' in Hisui, rifts in the fabric of time and space that dragged Pokemon from different places and eras to the location they formed in. We have seen in Sinnoh and Alola that such things are possible- that multiple universes can exist. What I have discovered recently is-"

That was when the door to the conference room opened and someone tumbled inside. Wearing a labcoat (a rather outdated one at that) and a purple hat, the person seemed to be confused and surprised, hugging a bundle of papers to his chest as he groaned from where he landed by Sada's feet.

Sycamore was already helping the man up, but upon seeing his face he scrambled back, letting go and accidentally dropping him. The room was in a stunned silence before Rowan, the most senior professor (or second most senior professor now) spoke.

"If I am not mistaken... Is that Professor Laventon?"

(Hehehehehehe Sada sees Turo- OHKO.

Sees him again- OHKO

so @askprofessorlaventon and I have been planning this for a bit now. If you follow my other Pokemon ask blog, @silentzoroark, you no doubt saw the beginning of this.

[last-lorekeeper]

[A video is embedded. Zinnia is standing next to a smart board (remember those) in front of a classroom full of students. For some reason, some of the students are holding testudo shields.

Zinnia: Alrighty, kiddos! It's time to learn some history! My name is Zinnia or Lorekeeper Zinnia or Professor Zinnia. Whatever you wanna use.

She uses the smart pen to write her name on the board.

Zinnia: I'll be your guest instructor today and I'm here to learn you some Hoenn History! This is just one of several lectures you'll be able to attend to get out of whatever boring class you're supposed to be in. We'll be covering, myths, legends, the ancient past, and even some recent history. You know, to piss Raifort off a bit.

Zinnia clicks a clicker and the smartboard changes from a digital whiteboard to an image of the mural at Sky Tower. Or rather, a recreation of it. The actual mural is too big to make getting a photograph possible.

Zinnia: We'll start simple. If you were born in Hoenn or spent any amount of time researching Hoenn mythology, which you probably haven't given how terrible your world history course is. So much time spent on Hisui. It's a fascinating topic but other regions exist too.

Zinnia clears her throat.

Zinnia: So, who can tell me the names of the Legendary Trio known as the Super-Ancient Pokemon.

Several hands go up. Zinnia makes a big show of deciding who to call on before eventually settling on a student in the back.

Zinnia: You! You look real smart!

The student looks a bit unsure.

Student: Uh... Groudon... Kyarger... and Racaza?

Zinnia: You know what, I'll give it to ya. The names of the Super-Ancient Pokemon are Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza.

Zinnia points to each Pokemon on the mural as she says this.

Zinnia: A long, long, long, long time ago, Groudon created the land and Kyogre created the sea. However, the two Pokemon were at odds with each other. Groudon's sole purpose was to create more land and Kyogre's sole purpose was to create more sea. And neither of them could fulfill that purpose so long as the other existed. Overflowing with Primal Energy, the two clashed, bringing chaos and catastrophe down upon the world. The seas turned, fire rained from the sky. The people and Pokemon could do naught but flee.

Zinnia: It seemed like there was no end in sight for this titanic clash. But then, Rayquaza, Lord of the Skies, Guardian of the Earth, descended from the heavens. Lord Rayquaza's power was enough to overwhelm the two titanic Pokemon, ending the era of chaos and bringing peace to the land. But the story's not over yet. Oh no, we haven't even reached the best part.

Zinnia grins, flashing her fangs.

Zinnia: Thousands of years later, another great Meteor fell. This Meteor bored into the earth creating a massive crater that would later come to house the City of Sootopolis. The crater created by the Meteor overflowed with Primal Energy, enough to reawaken Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre.

Zinnia clasps her hands together.

Zinnia: Once again Rayquaza descended from the heavens but the Primal Pokemon, overflowing with the energy from the crater, proved to be too strong. It seemed all hope was lost and all the people had left was one last desperate wish. The Meteor within the crater responded to the people's wishes and shined with a brilliant rainbow light, transforming Rayquaza into a new radiant form. With this new form it sapped the power from Groudon and Kyogre, resealing them yet again.

Zinnia changes the slide to a stylized graphic of various Mega Stones in an aesthetically pleasing pattern. At the center is a Keystone.

Zinnia: It believed by my people, the Draconids, that this was the first ever instance of Mega Evolution. Yes!

She points at a student who has their hand raised.

Student: Wasn't Mega Evolution created by the King of Kalos firing the Ultimate Weapon 3000 years ago?

Zinnia sits on the desk.

Zinnia: Well, that's certainly one version of the story.

Zinnia lays back on the desk.

Zinnia: In truth, nobody really knows where Mega Evolution came from. There are a lot of different stories but who knows which one is true.

She springs back upright.

Zinnia: Maybe none of them are true. Maybe all of them are. It's a mystery, and that's what makes it so fun. I certainly know which story I prefer but, hey, I'm a bit biased.

Zinnia clicks the clicker again and the slide switches to an image of Sky Pillar taken from the air.

Zinnia: Alongside the Sootopolins, my people built a massive tower to record this story and pass it on to future generations, known today as Sky Pillar. It also serves as an altar to Lord Rayquaza, so that if we're ever in need, we can summon it to protect us.

Zinnia turns the smartboard off and leaps to her feet.

Zinnia: And that's part one. Its basic but its important to know. My next lecture will focus on the various native tribes of Hoenn and their cultures. Oh, and if any of you want to see an example of Mega Evolution in action, meet me in the Courtyard later. Class dismissed. Unless you have Raifort next in which case feel free to hang around for a bit.

The video ends.]

@accessabilityanon Since you couldn't make it. Its all basic stuff but I needed to lay down the foundation for later and I think I made it pretty entertaining.

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Okay so Pokémon Legends Z-A!  What the fuck!  Wow!

One big concern I want to get out of the way first: apparently the game is going to take place entirely within Lumiose City.  And I mean, Lumiose is the biggest city in Pokémon, but what about the whole rest of Kalos?  Also how will we encounter Pokémon?  Surely they’re not all city-dwellers.  I have to wonder if this was a miscommunication, but I guess we’ll see.

Anyway: YES!!  Not only are we getting a new Legends game (PLA was immediately one of my favorite games in the series), but it’s set in the woefully under-utilized Kalos region!  Kalos is a well of untapped potential, and this has the chance to be a very striking way to finally draw it out.  They knew exactly what they were doing when they let that Z linger on-screen.  AND, not only THAT, but the franchise is taking 24 off and saving this game for NEXT YEAR!  Thank God, this is great news for GameFreak’s employees, and if Pokémon of all things sets this precedent it could have a HUGE impact on the industry.

As for why it’s “Z-A”…who knows?  I’m sure at least part of it is the creators wanting to come up with a more unique name, which is fair.  The hyphen makes it seem like a range covering the entire alphabet, which could signify something all-encompassing, and reversing it to go from end to beginning likely plays into the cycle of life and death represented by Xerneas and Yveltal (in this case, death must occur for new life to take its place, or something along those lines).

I’m glad (and amused) that they specifically showed Furfrou in the teaser, as it’s currently one of the last few Pokémon yet to be available in a mainline Switch game.  After this, I believe it’s just Patrat/Watchog and the Elemental Monkeys?  Maybe they’ll toss them all in to finish rounding things out.

Part of me does wonder if the prevalence of Unown in the Presents could be significant…but probably not.  As the world’s biggest Unown fan I adored their sidequest in PLA, but Unown haven’t appeared in Kalos previously and it would make more sense to revisit Zygarde Cells for this sort of quest.

And Mega Evolution!  Honestly it feels a bit weird to say it’s “back” when it’s remained prevalent in everything but the mainline games, but I’ll get over it, I’m still thrilled!  Mega Evolutions in a Legends game!  I have to imagine we’ll get some additional information on it; there’s a good chance the game will feature Kalos’s first discovery of Mega Evolution, too.  On the chance of getting new Megas…I don’t want to get my hopes up, but it would make a lot of sense!  Though I definitely still want new regional forms too.  Maybe I’m being greedy.  But speaking of forms, if the do give new forms to Xerneas and Yveltal, I hope they look better than Dialga and Palkia’s Origin Formes, those still bother me.

I’m personally hoping this one won’t be an isekai.  PLA did end up utilizing it well enough, but I’d still prefer to stay as grounded in this particular time period as possible.  Something about giving you a magic smartphone in ye olde past just feels…I dunno, patronizing?  But since Arceus probably won’t be involved this time and I don’t see any of the XYZ trio opening time portals, I think there’s a good chance of avoiding the isekai angle.  One related thing that brings to my attention is space-time distortions; they’d probably be a poor fit here on a thematic level, so I hope they’re able to come up with a good stand-in.  Maybe Mega energy suddenly flares up in a region and affects the Pokémon?  Will we encounter wild Megas?  Wait, Alphas are still a thing, right…?

Come to think of it, how will the Pokédex be handled?  I really liked the approach of creating the region’s first Dex; perhaps it could be an element of this “redevelopment” process?  I hope so.  Anyway I could list things I want to see for hours but I think this is sufficient to communicate what sort of headspace I’m in regarding this announcement.  Hon hon hon baguette Prism Tower, everyone!

[thefcguy]

Since you asked me. Who do you think will be in the Pokemon Legends Z-A starter line-up?

That's something that has been living in my mind rent free for the past few days.

It took me a while to have my guesses, but after so many videos and many things I researched, I have my own set of ideas.

(there are possible spoilers here below)

First things first, I want to say that, although it is possible that the final starters have new regional forms, it is equally, if not more, probably that the starters will instead have mega evolutions. Mega evolution is the most beloved mechanic and many people wanted more starters (besides Hoeen and Kanto) to get megas.

And since it has been rumored that Jynx will get a mega due to audio files found in pokemon home, probably more pokemon will be getting new megas.

The megas instead of regional forms makes so that the starters for Legends-Z are none else than... the regular Kalos starters.

Considering this is probably set after Legends Arceus, it is very possible that Lumiose reasearchers already have the means of capturing their own region starters.

Besides, Delphox and Chesnaught deserve some more attention. And, it was always a bit ironic the region of megas didn't have starters with one.

But, in case we have starters from other regions, my assumptions are.

Grass Starter: Snivy. I am 99% sure that, if we have starters from other regions, Snivy will be the grass one. Snivy was inspired by European Empires (like Emboar was inspired by Chinese and Samurott by japan), the fleur-de-lis and it is a pure grass type in it's final form. It can both get a regional form or mega with a secondary Dragon type.

Water type: Piplup. Besides being one of the most beloved water starters, Empoleon was inspired by Napoleon. Gamefreak would be fumbling bad. Since Empoleon already has two types, and is already very French, I think it would work best with a mega.

Fire Types

Torchic: Simple, the rooster is the symbol animal of France. Besides, since the starters will probably have megas instead of regional forms, having one of the starters with a known mega would probably be good advertisement for the game. (Mega Blaziken fans would be interested in buying the game and checking new evos).

Litten: Litten is a starter that has basically nothing to him. No mega, no gigantamax and so on... (just a Z-move, but, people don't care much about it). Since he basically has no fun gimmick. Game Freak could give him a new fun mega! They probably would keep his type, though...

Scorbunny: It turns out that soccer is really important to France. Besides, since he is pure fire, a secondary type could also help him out. I can imagine a Fire/Fairy mega or regional form with a magician theme (France has magicians, and magicians use rabbits for their tricks).

Last, but not least, wanted to state that this pokemon game is probably inspired by a renovation Paris went through beween 1852 and 1870. So, there might be something related to that period.

But, deep down, none of us can be sure of what starter we are going to have. All we can do is... wait and see...

[ourpokemonteamtournament]

Hello and welcome to Our Pokemon Team Tournament. We've seen a lot of Pokemon tournaments on here but only for finding the most popular or just for an individual type.

So here we are! We want to form Tumblrs Pokemon Team.

I'm New:

Hello fellow Tumblr Pokemon Trainer! Sorry if your favorite is already eliminated by the time you find us.

We are currently in Round 72 of Phase 1! For all the currently open polls: Round 72 Masterlist

New Polls Weekly on Sundays at 5:15 pm - 7:00 pm EST

1 poll will be reblogged daily with propaganda of the Pokemon featured in it.

Please reblog if you vote on a poll to help us get as wide a net as possible.

Propaganda/Anti Propaganda is allowed and will be reblogged

How It Works:

We will use a random number generator to select the 1v1 match up.

New polls will be up every Sunday and there will be 6 1v1 polss, a Form Bracket poll, and 1 all-out matchup poll between last weeks losers in a Losers Bracket.

Every poll will be open for the whole week.

In the event of a tie, both Pokemon will move forward.

Shiny Explanation

We keep going until there are 10 Pokemon left. Then there will be a weekly Elimination Match-Up poll with the winners being locked in until we have our team of 6 with the other 4 being our runners-up.

What?

We will be going through EVERY Pokemon: all 1025 Pokemon, each form/alternate form, and every Shiny form.

For example of what will be in the running: All parts of the evolutionary line, all shiny forms, all regional variants, all unique special/event Pokemon(ex Cosplay Pikachu), Mega forms, Paradox Pokemon, Ultra beasts, Legendary/Mystical Pokemon, and Dynamax forms.

Form Brackets: If a Pokemon has multiple forms or asthetic variations, it will first be put into a Form Bracket to widdle down all the forms until the most popular is chosen. The most popular form will then be put back into the main competition. If a form loses but wins the Losers Bracket, it will be added back into the tournament alongside the most popular form.

Not in the running: No Shadow or Alpha Pokemon. Any Anime or Card game unique Pokemon. No spin off exclusive Pokemon that were not obtainable in a mainline game.

Propaganda:

If you would like to use any posts/art as propaganda of any currently battling Pokemon please tag or @ us

If you want to, our asks/submissions are also open for propaganda.

How long will this take?

Honestly? I have no clue. Probably a really long time. For reference, this tournaments first round of polls started on Jun 25th, 2023!

Whats the Goal of this?

If anything, give anyone that wants to a way to use this team in a Pokemon game and see if it'll actually win a league. Also, see if this team will be as chaotic as Tumblr itself is.

❤️🖤🤍

[imthepunchlord]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[slothfuzzz]

Pokémon Z-A: My thoughts & Predictions!

(Plus some Fakemon!!!)

While much was revealed in the trailer on Pokemon Day, the visuals and content told us enough about what may potentially be in the game. Partially from the fact that it's another installment in the “Legends' ' series of Pokemon games with the last one being Legends Arceus, we will probably expect similar gameplay. That being a more open world breath of the wild or monster hunter formatted game with lots of action and scenic graphics. Which at least for me as someone who is a huge fan of open fantastical environments I'm excited about.

Also, the fact that the last Legends game set the president learning about the past of the Pokemon world. This makes me hopeful that we'll learn a lot more about the events of what happened before Pokemon X & Y. both came out in 2012. Before I continue, here's a bit of context on X & Y conceptually as past Pokemon games.

Pokemon X & Y take place in the Kalos Region which is based in France with architecture like the tower in Lumiose City being insured by the Eiffel Tower. Also, the choice of Pokemon that were introduced in that game as well as the debut of the newest type at a time fairy. This game has gone down in JRPG infamy for introducing Mega Evolution as well as the amount of incomplete content it had which segway into my main point of writing this.

What will be answered in the new game? And what will be introduced into the games going forward?

Both of these questions are what I'll be using to guide my hopes & predictions of what potentially will be in this newest game.

New Pokemon:

The full visual of all the Pokemon introduced in X&Y.

Like I stated before XY was infamous for having only 72 new Pokemon. But it is revealed later in the original games that many Pokemon died in a war in the Kalos region's past. So theoretically if there is some type of time travel or Pokemon restoration mechanic there is the possibility some of these “extinct” Pokemon could make a comeback with their first debut in this game.

Time travel:

As stated at the start the last Pokemon Legends game involved time travel with the protagonist going to the past of a different region of the Pokemon world. And from the fact that we see in the Pokemon Z trailer two distinctly different maps of Lumiose City one that looks old and the other looking modern, I am led to believe that this could potentially nod towards a past and future jumping through time aspect to the game. Which depending on how it's implemented could be great.

Expanded character lore:

Through the past and future mechanics that are being added too, we could see past Pokemon characters (gym leaders, trainers, rivals, etc.) either fulfill their dreams from past games or find out who their ancestors and/or children are. It wouldn't be the first time Pokemon has done this. But generally whenever they bring back characters from past games or introduce characters that are related to other characters they almost always get really good reception. Especially since they are usually the opposites of the character they are based on personality which could lead to some entering in game dynamics.

AZ’s Floette:

So probably one of the biggest unanswered questions that's been in the Pokemon community for a decade if not more at this point is what happened to AZ Floette? Does it have an evolution?

For context, AZ is a character who created a machine that would revive his Pokemon that tragically died in the Pokemon war of Kalos past. He did this by using the love of other Pokemon to power the machine. Thus bringing back his beloved Pokemon but with a different more gothic form.

What's interesting about this is that even after we see Floette return to see AZ before flying away once again, it never evolves.

But there was concept art that was leaked several years ago of a potential Floette evolution that was drafted at Game Freak so there's still hope that we may not only be able to catch this mysterious Pokemon but also unleash its full potential.

Closing thoughts & Concepts:

Honestly, I think it will be pretty difficult for this game to disappoint me. Even though I have to wait till 2025 (which will break the Gamefreak year schedule of releasing a Pokemon game) I am okay with that if it means I finally get to experience a Pokemon game that is complete on release. For the past several years Game Freak has released a game and then some DLCs when all we want is the whole game all at once. And while the DLC content can be nice it should feel supplemental and nonessential like if I don't get it I am missing core content but that is a whole conversation in itself.

Out of excitement and the fact that whenever a new Pokemon game is announced I always love creating some Fakemon to see how accurate my predictions for the game may be and/or what concepts may be implemented but with my spin on it. Below are a few different Pokemon forms that I came up with for Pokemon that I hope will be in the game. I am fully aware that they won't look like my iterations but I have fun making them as an artist and Pokemon fan.

Quick sketch I did of Floette Evolution Ideas:

(may come back to these as game approaches release)

Paradox Vivillon I called “Iron Seasons”:

Alternative Furfrou Trim mock-ups:

(Ancient & Future Trims)

[tethrarisms]

if you could write pokemas villain arcs, what would you do? and what do you realistically hope to see in future villain arcs? all i really want at this point is archie and maxie sygna suits

Hi, anon! Thanks for asking and sorry in advance about the long post, I'm releasing my full potential for this question weofwoewo

Well, first, I can understand why they're using Team Rocket over and over in order to manipulate other teams, it works just fine for them, but at the same time I find it a bit repetitive, so I'd avoid that for a new whole arc across generations. The plots would be focused on their own respective regions instead of a main theme. BUT there will be a common theme going on, and that is *VILLAIN ADMINS*

PS: let's just assume Paulo is always involved in these stories, but since he got his own prologues, I won't be focusing on him.

- For Kanto, of course, Team Rocket would the main antagonist. I wouldn't give another alt to Giovanni since he has three pairs already, so I'd focus on other characters. I thought of giving the main trio each a legendary bird just like Galar did but then again, Blue has too many sync pairs, he doesn't need one more. Personally, I'd give an alt to Green (maybe a Jigglypuff?), and since I also adore Brock, I'd give him a "competitive" sync pair (Omastar or Kabutops, perhaps). Lastly, a Cloyster for Lorelei just because. Plot-wise, I'd insert Jessie and James again (and would bring back their event), introducing some kind of character development for them. They're also getting new alts, a Seviper for Jessie and a Cacnea for James. They'd help Giovanni steal some of Lear's technology (or simply stealing money from a random competition, there's plenty of them) at the start of the story, but they'd face a situation that demanded some altruism/heroism from them, forcing them to change sides momentarily and thus frustrating Giovanni's plan, who would be oblivious to their good deeds. Still, Giovanni would get away with some advantage because it's him.

- Johto would follow the consequences of Giovanni's success at stealing info, maybe something regarding the legendary beasts. Since Kris already got a Suicune, I'd give shiny beasts (just like the event) to Lyra (Suicine), Ethan (Raikou) and Silver (Entei). The story would be focused on Silver and Giovanni's relationship (and I know it's cliche but come on, it's the angsty, delicious food we love to see) and also Ethan's bond with Silver. Lorelei and Clair would assist them just because it's my super rare ship and there's so little content on them ;-; Instead of Jessie and James, however, the spotlight would go to the other admins and their sync pairs' debut: Petrel (Weezing), Ariana (Arbok) and Archer (Golbat). See the similarity with Jessie and James? Except that they wouldn't be around. We could also get some hint that Ariana is Silver's mom (if we can get confirmation that Cyrus was the boy who wrote about Rotom, we can have that as well idc).

- NOW BRACE YOURSELF! IT'S TIME TO GO WILD FOR HOENN AND HARDENSHIPPING. First off, nothing against Zinnia and Steven but FUCK THEM. NO ZINNIA AND STEVEN STEALING THE PROTAGONISM FROM MY ECOTERRORISTS. The story could be anything as long as they're following the events of the last Hoenn arc, in which Archie and Maxie agreed on a truce. Except that the legendaries are insane and obviously would end up fighting again. I think Jirachi could be involved, kinda causing trouble bc of the wishes, and that would be the reason they'd fight. I know it's biased af and unrealistic to give alts to villains only, and although there's a hint that Archie met a Jirachi once, I'd do that for either May or Brendan (probably Brendan bc May has far too many alts jfc). Doesn't mean our ecoterrorists are not getting anything, though. That's right, they be getting a primal form for their respective legendaries. BUT the new sync pairs? ADMINS. IDC THERE'S A MEGA-SHARPEDO IN THE GAME ALREADY. MOVE YOUR ASS, GRIMSLEY, SHELLY IS ALSO GETTING A M-SHARPEDO. Tabitha and Matt are also joining the game with sync pairs (Torkoal and Relicanth. Doesn't make any sense but I can't just give them another Sharpedo and Camerupt pls fighting for my life here ;-;). The ending would be gay af idc. It would be so gay Steven and Wallace would feel embarrassed. (Wallace will get a new sync on the next rotation, sorry, Wallace). Also also, next rotation, we're also getting sygna suits for Archie and Maxie, and they be matching!! Any pokémon is alright, as long as they're related. Maybe.. Oh, Plusle and Minun??? Since they're opposites but also red/blue?? I've seen fanart of these alts too now that I think about it!! Perfection!!

- *heavy breathing* Bear with me, we're getting into sensitive territory now (at least for me). Sinnoh... Sinnoh, my beloved *gumball crying meme* Okay, okay. So... Okay let's go with unhinged Arceus. Let's go with bitchy Arceus trying to interfere with Pasio because it was not its creation. Let's go with Arceus forcing the protagonists and Team Galactic to work together to stop its little tantrum. And that would be perfect for Cyrus to bond with the admins. Yes, all the admins are getting sync pairs! Mars and Purugly, Jupiter and Skuntank and Saturn and Toxicroak. But you know who elseeeee is getting a new alt? *evil laughter* I'M GIVING CYRUS A ROTOM. YOU KNOW SOPHOCLES'S FRIEND'S ROTOM? FUCK THAT FRIEND. THEY DIED IDGAF. ROTOM IS ALL ALONE AND WHO WILL TAKE CARE OF IT NOW? THAT'S IT. THAT'S MY CYRUS FTW *explosions on the background* I also love Cynthia but plssss, no more alts oewifewoiwoi and what do you mean the protagonists need new alts? Okay, give Arceus to Lucas whatever.

- Unova, OBVIOUSLY, will have Ghetsis and N involved. But we're also getting Zinzolin and Cryogonal, and perhaps one ninja from the shadow triad (once again, I love you, Grimsley, but you're stealing ppl's signature pokémon ;-;). I also need Colress to go "tee-hee" with the war crimes just because it's funny. Diantha may have stolen Keldeo, but let's give the muskeeters to Rosa (Virizion), Nate (Terrakion) and Iris (Cobalion) (sorry, Pasio's main character). I'd love to introduce the triplets with the elemental monkeys but let's be honest, between the triplets and the submas, who on Earth would not go with submas? Ingo getting a Chandelure and Emmet, a Galvantula or Eelektross. Almost related but not quite, Roxie deserves an EX SO BAD. Roxie is getting an EX. Plot-wise, Ghetsis is after the muskeeters because he wants power and that's it. Family drama unfolds, N will suffer again yadda yadda. Ingo and Emmet are super involved tho. Because I said so. Next rotation, it's the triplets' turn, sorry.

- Oof, let's move on to Kalos. We just recently had a story that I found super boring booooo. Obviously, I'll go with perfectworldshipping, only with more drama. Sycamore getting an alt bc he was supposed to get one LAST MONTH AND HE DIDN'T, THAT'S HOMOPHOBIA. I know this is unpopular opinion but maybe an Aromatisse or Slurpuff. I like these Pokémon and I think Fairy is a type that matches Sycamore. You know who else we getitng? That's right, you were never able to play with AZ's Floette, but this ends NOW! AZ is making it into the game. Drasna and Malva are also debutting as playable characters (it's just a matter of time, after all). Regarding the plot... wouldn't it be chaotic fun if Lear's Hoopa met with a different Hoopa? *evil laughter* yes, I'd force Lysandre to work with the protagonists just for once, jfc, stop being such a little bitch and help them keep Pasio beautiful and less chaotic thanks. Calem is getting Hoopa just bc Serena has too many pairs already.

- I must confess that I haven't played the games from this point on cause I can't afford them anymore but let's try my best with the little I know about the next regions. Alola will be once again focused on Guzma and Lusamine. But I want to give the spotlight to Team Skull and not the Aether Foundation. Maybe, MAYBE, we can work with Giovanni, forcing the teams to fight in order to prevent him from bringing the rest of Rainbow Rocket to Pasio. But why Selene and Elio are so underappreciated in this game????? I'll most definitely give them alts. Zeraora is going to Elio and Blacephalon, to Selene. Melmetal goes to Guzma bc I said so.

- Galar already has a hint that Rose is making it to the game this year, so I'll just assume he'll be involved in whatever. Leon already got Eternatus, so I really don't have any idea of what could be possibly used as a plot device to move things around. Just please give someone, ANYONE, a Cinderace. No more alts, tho. Galar had the spotlight just this month, that would be insane and I can't take any more crystal wall characters, PLEASE, and I say that with tears in my eyes because I love Leon.

- No idea what's going on with Paldea aside from the professors abandoning Arven. I just need Rika and Clodsire, Larry and Komala, and whatever Geeta's signature pokémon is. Sorry, I don't know much about this region and I'm trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible until I can finally play it someday.

Aaaaand that's it. I'm not normal about pokemas as you can see =D thank you for the opportunity to go wild for them <3 have an excellent day/night!

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Sygna Suit Diantha

"Why is Hilda in the dress, that doesn’t fit her!  Diantha should be in the dress because she’s the elegant actress!  No I didn’t read anything in XY or any event in Masters, so I don’t care that Diantha specifically stated she hates playing the same achetyped role over and over, or that Hilda’s interested in acting and is clearly playing a role despite being the same person, it was bad and stupid and Diantha should’ve gotten Diancie, because no one should ever have a Pokemon not native to their region, WAAAAAAAAAAAH”

Great, here, you can shut up now, Redditor.

General Overview Diantha arrives as one of the last few Zone setters, bringing with her Rock Zone.  This one feels wildly overdue, given how...frankly awful Rock-type damage tends to be?  Between it, Ice, and Poison, I’d say that’s the bottom 3.  Well okay, Normal’s probably worse off, but of the types DeNA even bothers making...

What makes Diantha essential is Trip Wire 2, mega evolution, and this zone.  These three traits alone sell her as one of the most effective and valuable options to supplement an F2P team.  Cakewalk is downright plentiful among F2P options, with so many common grids getting absolutely blasted by its presence.  Among them, Rock types have it worst because any instance of Rock Tomb on their moveset means you’re getting hit with this whether you have better options or not.  And Diantha can hit -4 speed just by taking first sync.  Her grid can outright hit -6 speed if 2/5.  Additionally, her buddy move is spectacular, hitting all foes for -2 defense, and granting her own team +2 defense, per hit.  Considering the vast majority of Cakewalk users are physical, this makes her a godsend, not just skyrocketing the Rock-type options to tremendous damage potential, but also allowing her to very adeptly support units like Sophocles and Tate, who appreciate the defense/speed drop combination.  AoE effects also mean it’s finally, finally viable in CS. Your best pick before now was Dojo Gloria, who could only hit one target at a time.  No longer.  Now you will learn.

And if you don’t see the obvious problem: like most Zone setters, Diantha is better than those she would support.  She, too, is cursed with Cakewalk, but has all the utility to make it work, with much better starting stats and far better self-sufficiency, getting all her needed offensive buffs from a passive skill that activates per move.  She’s so optimized her trainer move is designed to be used late, as one of the effects copies defensive buffs to special defense, making her a well-rounded tank.  Add Lithic Healing as a 2/5 node, and you have a unit that can run an effective sustain set for Gauntlet.  Solos, I imagine, are definitely possible.  She can even fast-ramp for second sync with trainer move, hitting -2 cooldown.  To say nothing of +2 physical moves up next.  It’s pretty easy to take a look at the broad picture of Diantha and think wow, this is a top tier, best of the best unit.

Don’t get ahead of yourself.

Diantha’s DPS is Buddy Diamond Storm, which is only active while her field effect is in play.  If Zone goes, so does it.  Her sync multiplier’s natural effect is also based on Rock Zone rather than her stat buffs or debuffs, meaning Diantha is supremely reliant on her Zone for all forms of damage.  If the Zone goes, so does her damage.  And the real nail is that Diantha almost needs to lead Rock Zone.  She has no buffing, and your ultimate goal is going to be getting stat drops.  You really don’t want to set up on Rock Tomb, so you’re likely pulling Diamond Storm right away.  Which means running out that much faster.

I like this Diantha, don’t get me wrong.  Diancie’s tied as my favorite mythical (Meloetta’s the other), I love its shiny, this is a great look for Diantha, and I do think she’s fantastic.  But also, this is a unit much like SS Giovanni.  On paper, it’s overwhelming and almost nothing but positives.  In practice, I think people are going to run smack into this issue and get stuck.

Move Level and EX? Given the Zone reliance, 3/5 is a pretty hard requirement for Diantha to be completely self-reliant in Gauntlet, or she runs out and can’t finish the job .  5/5 is possible, to extend the duration by a turn or two, but it’s not essential unless you’re a solo chaser.  If you’re not interested in her damage, 1/5 gets all the utility she could ask for.  As for EX, it depends.  A 1/5 Diantha can offer plenty of support for her allies, and doesn’t need EX.  But if going on the offensive, EX is not required but is recommended for full damage as a Tech sync nuker, and the added defensive stats to potentially solo content.

Team 1: SS Diantha, SS Brock/Grant/Gordie/Kukui. Hop/Ingo/Hilbert SS Brock, Grant, and Gordie comprise the Sad Rock Type Trio in my roster, all needing Cakewalk and being generally underpowered sadsacks.  Diantha saves them all effortlessly.  Fast and easy speed debuffs, fast defense drops from buddy move, Zone.  They’re ready to go.  Hop is sufficient for SS Brock, and potentially Gordie since he can buff his own speed, but Hilbert is a more generalized option.  Grant needs weather as well, so you’ll likely want to go with Ingo.  Also I remembered this late, but Kukui’s getting EX so he’s not just locked to Leer and Accelerock Staggering 4.  He also gets Cakewalk and needs Diantha, but is perhaps a little more flexible due to Leer letting her emphasize Rock Tomb until she’s ready to deploy the Zone.

Team 2: SS Diantha, Classic Blue/SC Hilda, Lodge Dawn/H!Caitlin Diantha is, legitimately, a one-woman army.  All her own offensive needs are covered in her kit at base.  Her DPS is fantastic so long as Zone is active.  As such, she wants for exactly nothing.  So dual striker comps are really valuable, especially if you’re getting her 1/5 for just utility and won’t have MPR.  Classic Blue stands out as an example, packing Hyper Beam for tremendous damage support.  He also gets Dire Hit All+ to cover his own crit rate, while Lodge Dawn can be used to buff team’s speed and keep the gauges rolling.  As an alternative, H!Caitlin and SC Hilda are a fun combination in which you will never see Mega Diancie.

Team 3: SS Diantha, Sophocles/Tate, Hilbert/Sonia/??? Sophocles and Tate don’t get perfect support benefits from Diantha, since they don’t care about the Zone.  But, they do love the speed and defense drops that occur as a result of Diantha’s presence.  All they need from there is a proper supporter, like Hilbert or Sonia.  Or, should all go well, someone with Electric Terrain or Psychic Terrain that is also support.  When are we getting Terrain supports?  I feel like we’re overdue now.  Maybe they’re waiting to give us an actually good Hail support first?

Final Thoughts SS Diantha is a powerhouse, having spectacular damage, great self-sufficiency for buffing, and tremendous and valuable team support.  The biggest issue she has is just the heavy reliance on Zone.  I think people get used to the idea of not needing MPR on these field effects to clear stages, but as the primary damage dealer, I think Diantha’s going to be seen as an exception.  It’s such an overwhelming requirement for so much of her kit.

[doubleddenden]

Admittedly with this whole Armor Evolution I've decided to go into, I'm now faced with a dilemma

A. I've gone against the very thing I initially set out to do with my region originally- that is, a game without an overnight reliance on a gimmick to use as a crutch.

But being fair, if things go to plan, the armor evolutions will actually be pretty low in number compared to the amount of new fakemon and such you'd normally get. Last I did math, there's roughly 3 to 4 gens worth of new Pokemon to work with that won't require said gimmick, whereas armor evolutions so far only encompass about... 40 to 50? The region would be huge, it's an entire coast line, so it kinda has to have a lot to work with.

But also, in theory, the mechanic wouldn't really do much different in comparison to a cross Gen evolution or something. There's plenty of drawbacks to encourage you not to keep your pokemon in that form forever, and also with exception to a very select handful related to story plot, there's not really any numbers added to BST, just rearranged. Sure, it might seem a tad unfair to have access to a fully evolved starter's bst in the teens, but theoretically so would other trainer including gym leaders, rivals and such. It wouldn't be advantageous to keep it turned on constantly in that regard either, because then that makes catching pokemon harder. The beginning early 30s might seem like a cake walk, but eventually stats would start to even out and you'd have to actually use strategy again.

Plus, it's just... fun this way? I thought Dynamax was stupid because it just makes your pokemon bigger and it's just for a limited time, even with new forms. As much as I love Megas, I wish I could just keep them as is forever and treat them as new pokemon. Zmoves and Terra are cool, but not as fun as gaining a new form.

Armors in this regard would just give you more new Pokemon to enjoy semi permanently. A type change can open up your team to new members you wanted but couldn't have because of type overlap. In the event a starter evolution isn't to your liking, you can just swap to another form that is. This just opens up more doors to have fun.

But I'm still a hypocrite lol. At least it has potential to be fun.

B. It'll be a LOT like Digimon I guess. But... is that a bad thing? I like both.

As a kid, I used to pretend Flamedramon was a Pokemon anyway so I could play with it and my Pokemon toys. Likewise, I would give Pokemon additional evolutions just like Digimon- well before megas were even thought of- example being Metal Charizard or War Charizard, etc.

The region is meant to be a playground for me to mess with and explore all of my childhood fantasies about my favorite things in one place. In that regard, why shouldn't I indulge in that a bit if I can make it fair and balanced?

C. I'm now fighting the urge to make Flamedramon a Pokemon again for the first time since i was 7 lol. I think I might try it anyway, or at least indulge and try to incorporate what makes it such a cool design into a cool poke/fakemon.

I mean it'll probably never become a real playable fan game anyway, so it's just me playing with toys again except I'm making them in ms paint.

[lighthouseas]

Me overanalyzing the opening to a kids show

Ok, so here’s some stuff I think most people noticed in Pokemon Journeys op 4:

PAUL PAUL PAUL PAUL

Clemont and Bonnie

Greninja

Horace

Lisia & Wallace

Other rivals and shit

Chloe doing a Pokemon performance/contest

OK NOW TIME TO OVERANALYZE IT

Paul returning possibly means Cynthia’s prediction coming true about Ash and Paul facing off again?? I mean I forget her exact words but during the episode where Ash says goodbye to Paul she mentions something about the World Championship or something along those lines.  This STRONGLY indicates Paul is competing in the world coronation league and that him and Ash are going to face off.  I suspect they’ll create some plot points with Paul being impressed about Ash having a mega, a z-ring, and being able to use gigantamax/dynamax.  

I think I heard somewhere Paul has a mega too so if that’s the case then he might underestimate Ash’s abilities to mega evolve his Pokemon.  BUT ALSO, if Paul has a mega, that means he was able to form deeper, more meaningful bonds with his Pokemon (since that’s the only way to properly mega evolve), so he has changed quite a lot since DP.

Additionally, Paul will probably meet Goh and think he’s not strong enough to face off against him and will only want to battle Ash and him and Goh will probably have a little rivalry going lol, if journeys doesn’t do that I’ll be pissed

Clemont and Bonnie is...interesting.  I honestly don’t know where they’ll go with that but hell I’m still excited bc I love my little electric babies.  My guess is Clemont is maybe competing in the coronation series since he’s a gym leader?  Or maybe it’ll just be a filler episode, idk either way I’m hype- also Goh and Clemont interactions PLEASE they’re both pure cinnamon rolls and would have the best friendship

GRENINJA RETURNS OH MY GOD.  IT HAS BEEN 6 YEARS WTF.  Anyways, I’m so excited.  I think what Pokemon might do is have Ash use Greninja and Greninja’s battle bond ability as a trump card against Leon or maybe Paul.  Will Ash catch Greninja again? I hope.  I cried so hard when he left lmao.  Also, there might even be issues with Ash USING battle bond since now he has a Lucario which can mega evolve which also requires having a strong bond with your Pokemon.  So maybe we’ll get Ash having conflicted feelings about Greninja returning and also a Greninja and Lucario rivalry? That would be sick we need that

HORACE X GOH YES YES YES YES ok i’m hype for this because Horace x Goh is an underrated ship.  Ok I’m not JUST excited for shipping I’m also excited because we didn’t get much insight into Horace’s character, all we know is he was Goh’s childhood friend.  Maybe Horace has joined Project Mew and him and Goh work together somehow? Maybe Horace is researching something to do with space/the moon (the reason I say this is because in the op, he appears during nighttime while under a spotlight looking up at the sky with his Bayleef).  So idk.  HYPE

Lisia and Wallace definitely means some sort of Wallace Cup which leads into my next overanalyzation.  Also I’m so excited to see Lisia because CONTEST IDOLS YALL?? ALLIE HAYDEN?? Sorry I love PDtL

Ok, leading into my next point, with the Wallace Cup, and Chloe putting on a performance...we can definitely expect the return of Dawn for that, maybe as a mentor for Chloe or something.  Additionally, if you look closely, Chloe is not only wearing May’s contest outfit from ORAS but her Eevee is also wearing Serena’s Eevee’s clip that she had when she used to perform.  This teases the return of both May and Serena, which would make a whole lot of sense considering last we saw her Serena was heading to the Hoenn region to pursue coordinating.  And, waddaya know, May is a Hoennian coordinator, as well as being 1 of 2 major Pokegirls who haven’t returned yet (besides Misty who returned in Alola).  Maybe we’ll see May, Dawn, Serena and Chloe all facing off in the Wallace Cup, with the first 3 acting as mentors towards Chloe in her search for a path to follow when she grows up.  

Ok I think I’m done- no I’m not there’s more but anyways.

[husbandomail-archive]

Honestly XY Megas is one of the all time Pokémon mechanics ever.I loved the fact megas was built of trust and love between the trainer and Pokémon.

I know a lot of people want them back(including me) but I don’t think they ever will unless we get a x and y remake which I would love.

I get you with the open world thing cuz I don’t people many if any open world game so sometimes my unfocused brain gets bored if I don’t have direct orders on what to do.

I don’t know if u played arcues but for me Im struggling to complete it idk why but I cuz cant lol so I hope I don’t for this game.

And yes the teams team skull and big bad guzma will all ways be favs becausw of the goofiness.HOWEVER how this was balanced out was with the Aeather paradise plot making it serious when need be and to show a more looming threats hiding underneath.

Team yell was so lazy I don’t even think they gave it more than a minutes thought.To me it was also like they wanted to replicate the vibe of team skull but failed miserably.So I hope they bring it back with this regional evil team and make them super evil again.

And with the badges thing I’m split to be honest. It does make sense for people to do it at different times seeing as they might live closer to that gym and it’s never stated to have an order(like you said with other trainers and brock)but to make it just makes the build up less important?Like I could go to the last first and takes away suspense.Idk to be fair you could do that in let’s go eevee I think?

(God my writing is everywhere lol)

I have a trainsona as well I just cant hack the children thing.it makes the game better imaginging I’m dealing with all this shit and it fun thinking of me and my Pokémon bonding lol.

I just hope the graphics are good and the world looks good instead of blocky.

Now I’m sorry for rambling lol.

I haven't finished Arceus yet either! I'm ruled by my hyperfixations, so when they switched I wasn't really able to keep playing, but now that I'm Back On Pokemon I'll probably get back to it lmao. a friend sent me a shiny Chimchar bc it was my first pokemon, so I'm really excited to have him lmao,, I've also seen plenty of spoilers by now and omg. Giratina is my favorite legendary, I Must See It Again

I get what you're saying about the gyms too! the final gym leaders always feel like strong obstacles bc you've already come so far, they're the last thing standing in your way,, I've felt that same way about the E4, since they've started letting us challenge them in any order? facing Lucian in Diamond definitely felt a lot more intense bc I HAD to fight my way through others to get to him, and I don't mind it in Unova bc it was the first time we could choose the order, but since then it's just been a lil bland imo. But maybe that's also just bc it's been constant too? I wouldn't mind alternating leagues, or being able to challenge them in any order on rematches.

speaking of evil teams and all that. I know very little will ever hit the personal level of "holy SHIT team rocket's boss is the LAST GYM LEADER," and "MY RIVAL IS THE SON OF TEAM ROCKET'S BOSS????" but. I'd love to have more of a personal relationship with the evil team? maybe a rival who gets sick of losing to you, so they join the villains? or a character like Colress, who's only with them for his own reasons and is still clearly interested in you too. again, I do adore N Harmonia, so I'm partial to his role in everything too lmao. a part of me is hoping that the professors end up involved, bc I think it would be super cool.

I do think SWSH had a lot of potential; Rose did have a point, but the story pacing was a total mess. like,, Galar's air is apparently so toxic that the poison-type Weezing gained a regional form to PURIFY the air, they could've done sooo much with the base ideas they have there.

most of this talking is just the Writer Brain I can't turn off though lmao, I love Pokemon more than basically anything and it's been a constant throughout my entire life; I'm beyond excited for these games and I can't WAIT

AND DON'T APOLOGIZE FOR RAMBLING, THAT'S MY LINE LMAO

[regallibellbright]

POKEMON! Note that I have seen very little of the alleged leaks and would like to keep it that way.

Definitely the Legends Arceus engine, at least for environments. I guess they developed it planning to use it for both? I’m 99% sure Legends got delayed due to COVID but I’m still concerned about that turnaround gotta say.

Seems like we’re finally going to see what Pokemon School entails, including actively calling the Pokemon journey an independent study program. Checks out but also now I’m going to be laughing at how the Gen 1-8 protags just. Don’t attend school. They decided they were all gonna major in Pokemon BEFORE they got their first Pokemon, and I respect that. I would, too.

Sounds like the legendary storyline will be unconnected to the gyms, then? Interesting. Let’s see how that one plays out, because it could work VERY well if it’s executed effectively. And what the third story will be. Hm. No hints of a Regional Team so I’d assume they’re either in the legendary storyline and this focused on characters from the school/gym one, or they’re storyline three. (Would like a non-battle mechanic like Contests again, but the minigames for raising those stats tend to be nightmares for me so maybe it’s for the best. I straight up can’t do BDSP’s poffin game.)

I love Penny already. There’s definitely a difference in the character models between this and Legends Arceus, so that at least suggests there were two teams. (Personally I prefer the Legends style but eh, they’re fine either way, these seem to fit the environment stylization or lack thereof a bit better. I just want Pokemon to lean into even further stylization and cartooniness. The environments will always be the least important aspect and that is 1000% the right priority there, but I think going higher color saturation and even lower ‘realism’ works better. I don’t want the Pokemon to look more ‘realistic’, I want the world to fit the Pokemon designs better. But Gamefreak does not have enough time and their resources are thoroughly on character design and animation, not environment. So that’s a ‘I wish they would but they’d need an actual fucking break from the grind’ sort of wish. LET THEM DO SOMETHING ELSE FOR A BIT.)

We saw three new Pokemon (well, two and a regional form of Wooper) and I love them all. Sounds like Paldean Wooper might be Ground/Poison? It is now my baby.

Last generation’s battle gimmick gave us a mainline game form using the classic Fat Pikachu design. This generation’s battle gimmick will give us a mainline game form with Flying Pikachu. Calling it now, Gen 10 will give us a Surfing Pikachu. And I will welcome it.

As to the gimmick itself… it’s fine. New typings seems like it could be interesting. I don’t bother getting attached to these things anymore we all know they won’t stick around. It’s fine. Standardized add-on per typing probably makes it easier on them than Mega Evolving or Gigantamax did and I reiterate: Gamefreak needs a fucking break. And anyway, why bother with unique designs for a mechanic that we all know won’t stick around?

No confirmation of the new Eeveelution the Pokemon Instagram was maybe hinting at. Ah, well. If we are getting one, its time will come. If not, Pokemon Instagram was trolling, that does hapoen.

Makes sense that they’re further refining raids - it was a mechanic from Go that made A LOT of sense as a multiplayer aspect going forward, and there’s definitely been room to tweak things more.

I DID see months back that the legendaries were gonna be bikes, and it does seem to work really well seeing them in action like that. Hilarious, but I like it, it’s cheesy but so is Pokemon. Also, I LOVE Miraidon’s LED eyes. They are perfect. I will love it and squeeze it and name it something adorable. Friend.

In conclusion: POKEMON.

[reversemoon255]

(This is the final of a three-part series chronicling the development and ideas behind “Dungeons ‘n’ Dragonites,” a Pokémon DnD campaign. This last entry will be about the final string of encounters, some of the later ideas for story elements, and a deep dive into the overarching themes of the campaign’s Starters. Speaking of, the fantastic art of them, along with many of the other original Pokémon seen here, was done by @extyrannomon on Twitter, and I highly suggest you check them out.)

Dungeons ‘n’ Dragonites - Phase 3: Fauxchemine

Like the Queen Durant, the Steelix/Glacix fight would have been a transitory battle between phases of the campaign, taking place right before the Starters were about to evolve for the final time. Glacix was an idea I came up with early in development. As Rock, Steel, and Ice have a relationship throughout Pokémon, having Onix evolve into a specially tanky Ice-Type rather than the physically tanky Steelix made sense. This was also a design I put a lot of work into the actual proportions, like stretching its face vertically as Onix is circular, and Steelix is horizontally stretched. Also, as Steelix has two long spikes on every other segment, Glacix has four smaller spikes in the same pattern.

Glacix was also the first of the four penultimate boss encounters before the close of the campaign, each representing one of the four sacred beasts of Chinese mythology. I thought it would be a pattern that players could recognize and possibly plan ahead for. Glacix was always planned as the Phase 2-to-3 transitory boss, but I actually had roughly prototyped the other three before I realized Glacix fit into role of the Azure Dragon (which I was missing).

The second of the bosses, representing both the Black Tortoise and Rare Variants, was a Dire Torterra. The idea was this Torterra was symbiotic, housing a Sudowoodo instead of a tree, and hiding its identity was a shiny Altaria capable of Mega Evolving thanks to the Key Stone that had replaced one of Torterra’s stone spikes. This was a rough concept, and I’m sure it would have changed drastically by the time the players would actually encounter it.

Third, representing both the White Tiger and Ultra Beasts, was Shora (from Shodo and Tora, the Japanese words for calligraphy and tiger). A pure white tiger that paints floating, metal stripes above its body with its brush-like tail. This was an idea I was very happy with, though I lacked the artistic abilities to render it effectively. If I remember correctly, the markings above its shoulder were based on the Kanji for Tiger. I also hadn’t settled on an ability for it, which was key for depicting Ultra Beasts in this campaign.

And the last of the penultimate bosses was Phanic, being a second Ultra Beast and representing the Vermilion Phoenix. Sadly, I had little planned for this guy apart from some concept designs, like the rest of them. I was working on these as the campaign was starting, and didn’t pursue finishing them after its premature conclusion.

Phanic (from Phoenix and Panic) is actually an Ostrich. If you picture a phoenix, you typically imagine great plumes of feathers around the head, wings, and tail, which are all things Ostriches specifically lack, and I wanted to subvert that typical depiction. I liked the idea that when it was startled, it would scatter its feathers resulting in an exclamation point forming using the spot on its face. It was supposed to seem unassuming compared to the many larger and more imposing bosses, though just as dangerous. Also, it was Electric-Type because it is frequently “shocked” *Ba-dum-tish.*

=====

Let’s talk about our players. One of the backstory elements our Grass Trainer, Ethan, had was that his parents’ restaurant was struck by lightning and destroyed some time before he went to school, and saw a Pokémon at that time. This left him with a fear of lightning (ironically picking an Electric-Type Starter). With this knowledge, and as I was using Ultra Beasts, I altered his backstory slightly so that it was caused by a Xurkitree, and would eventually encounter one during the campaign with his victory over it (probably with a lot of Wisdom Saves) curing his phobia.

Johnny, our Fire Trainer, had a goal of becoming an entertainer, but was vague about what kind. I had an idea for a “Streamer” Trainer Class he could run into. Someone who uses their Rotom Phone to live stream battles and get reactions and advice from their chat. (Let’s face it, if Pokémon were real, this would totally be a thing.) There was also DJ Tomomitsu, who runs Stelopy City’s Trainer Radio, and was a Gym Leader. The idea was to present a bunch of different Pokémon-based entertainment ideas and professions and have him decide which ideas he liked and wanted to pursue.

While our other players were aiming for careers, Orion, our Water Trainer, was more interested in exploring his relationship with his family. His father in particular; both he and his wife being high-ranking executives for Silph Co., and raising their children to also be successful. However, Orion had always wanted to be a Trainer, and it was his parents that prevented him from adventuring. I had it that his father was so against the idea was because he, too, was a Trainer in his youth. But not a successful one, failing many more times than he succeeded, and didn’t want his son to suffer the same disappointments as he did. His partner was Rhyperior, btw.

Lastly was our Fairy Trainer, Arthur. He wanted to be a Gym Leader, and cited specific interest in the Galar League. He also mentioned in his back story that his father was belligerent and against the idea. While the Leaders of the Galar League are entertainers by profession, if you look at the list of Gym Leaders and Kahunas in US equivalent regions, almost all of them have a profession and run Gyms on the side:

(Restaurant Owner, Museum Curator, Artist, Model, Business Tycoon, Pilot, Actor, Teacher, Rock Star, Mayor, Shop Owner, Police Officer; 12/15)

It felt like a hobby, rather than a career, and I ran with this idea as it seemed like Arthur and his obsession with the Galar League hadn’t noticed this fact (nor had his player), but his father had and was pushing him into a sports-based career (one that is usually lucrative and has off-seasons) so he could have a well-paying job and time on the side for his interests, similar to Orion’s father.

Though, no DM can control their players, and even by the end of our fist session I could tell I would have to change some things. It’s just good to have some idea of where to lead everyone, and adjust as you go.

=====

There’s one more Pokémon I want to talk about before we get to the Starters.

This is Necrotiti (Combining Necro with the Egyptian God Nefertiti), an evolution of Cofagrigus, evolving if it’s holding an item called the “Ceremonial Jar” (literally a jar filled with Yamask’s human intestines). It was meant to evolve from the Yamask they could catch during their museum field trip. The reason it exists is... silly. It’s another instances where I wanted to surprise my players, and giving the “Gardevoir Treatment” to what I consider the creepiest Pokémon was funny (which I feel is a reason I cite a lot). And I was really happy with this design, which is why it got commissioned.

A lot of the original ideas I had for this campaign were meant to either surprise or creep out my players. Everyone I was playing with knew Pokémon very well, so I had this fear that if I presented them with a standard adventure they would either become bored or be able to easily predict where things were going. Having a Pokémon adventure within a single city, having it be more a mystery than a collect-a-thon, and using new Pokémon were all ways I came up with to keep interest high and have them guessing as to what would happen next.

Back to Necrotiti, despite having a sarcophagus Pokémon, we didn’t get a mummy. I wanted to make the body effeminate without being overly so, which is why her body is very geometrical in specific areas. For the mask, I went with a typical Egyptian Nubian motif mixed with some of the overall design elements and basic lines from Yamask, and the colors and patterns from Cofagrigus. But despite how much I like it, I don’t know if I would have used it. It didn’t match the Mutant Evolution concept, with its only similarity being that it’s a rare occurrence.

Onto the Starters: Epipesis has evolved into Drachenura (from Dragon, Lichen, and Meganeura). Grass Starters are typically based on extinct animals, and Flymph’s line is based on a Meganeura (an ancient species of giant dragonfly). Apart from some bulking out and additional colors, the lichen sacks in its tail are now yellow, as the plant matter has evolved with it. It supplies it with so much energy that it has to constantly move while the sun’s up to burn it off. Its tail tip is also based on the X-15, the fastest aircraft to date, as it was designed to be the fastest Grass-Type.

Steared has evolved into Auradiat (from Aura, Auroch, and Radiate). Now a Fire/Ice-Type, it’s based on an extinct species of cattle found around the time of the Ice Age. Its ability to absorb energy with its horns has become so powerful that they have frozen over. When I was originally designing it, I was actually trying to base it on the phrase “Irish Bull” (meaning a paradoxical statement), but as I kept working on it, it became more and more Minotaur-like, so I kept the Fire/Ice-Typing and dropped the more abstract elements. As I did, I actually made it more bull and less Minotaur since all Fire Starters are bipedal, and I wanted to try and avoid that.

Knaval has evolved into Chivalazuli (from Chivalier, the French word for knight, and Lapis Lazuli). This was probably my favorite example of features naturally changing as it evolves, with the antenna growing longer and the shield and lance growing harder (going from carapace, to stone, to crystal). Some of the things you might not have noticed at first glace were his forelegs becoming sub-arms on his chest, him gaining the lobster nose and it becoming a face guard, and how his eyes recess into his head. Also, almost every Starter is symmetrical (apart from patterns), with the only exception being Torterra, so I designed it to be asymmetrical throughout.

And Uteteo has evolved into Makutah (from the Aztec naming scheme used for their Gods of wealth and abundance and Utahraptor). He’s Fairy/Flying, with the gold adornments that first appeared on Uteteo now on his head and arms, giving him a more bird-like appearance. The idea was to have him naturally evolve from a Dinosaur into a bird, with the leg bands making them look more like talons, and the face mask giving him a beak. Also, he starts out with the singular sickle toe raptors are known for, and gets a new one every evolution, ending with a full set.

The thing that sets these Starters apart from ones you’d find in the games is that these are designed to be a team. As such, there are a few themes they all share to help reinforce that. (This ignores Utaw, but) All the Starters, throughout their evolutions, have a distinct yellow detail on their heads (eyes, nose ring, and antenna). Furthermore, once they reach their final stages, they share colors between them, with Drachenura having red on its extremities, Auradiat having blue neck fur, and Chivalazuli having flecks of green in its gemstone. And on top of that, they also all have two overarching themes. First is they all represent different time periods, with Drachenura being pre-humans (Precambrian), Auradiat being prehistoric humans (Ice Age), and Chivalazuli being more modern (Medieval Period). Secondly they all represent DnD, with a Dragon(fly), Auradiat filling the role of a minotaur and its connection to a labyrinth/dungeon, and the adventurous knight who traverses them.

There’s also reasoning behind their types, as all three’s secondary Types are also strong against their usual counterpart (Grass and Electric are both strong against Water, Fire and Ice against Grass, and Water and Rock against Fire). Furthermore, Electric, Ice, and Rock are all strong against Flying, which is the reason behind Makutah’s Type (a joke against the player who joined late).

Makutah does fit into these themes, but more loosely as it was created later. Utaw and Uteteo lack the yellow facial details (though they do have yellow eyes), only really achieving this during their final evolution. He also doesn’t share any colors, as Fairy is outside the usual threesome. It does somewhat fit into the themes of the others, but not as cleanly. Utaw, being a Dinosaur, is still pre-humans, but closer to them than Flymph is, and having Aztec themes puts him past Medieval and closer to the Renaissance in terms of human history, but is very close compared to the other time gaps. Also, the gold was partly to fit him into the DnD theme, representing treasure.

=====

One of the first things the players were told at the beginning of the campaign, and was reinforced throughout, was that Pokémon from outside the Wellou Region were mysteriously popping up all over the place, with the Ultra Beasts being the most extreme example. As to the cause, there were a number of red herrings. Silph Co. employees could occasionally be seen in areas where UBs were with strange equipment, Tomomitsu could occasionally be found before something would show up, and there were a few other strange characters like the Regional Champion or Silph Co.’s president. The only definite thing they would know was that there was a strange, creepy, grey Charizard that would occasionally appear when they took something down.

However, it would eventually be revealed that the above were only trying to understand what was going on, and prevent the appearances of such dangerous Pokémon, like our heroes. And as a massive Ultra Wormhole appears above the city, they come face-to-face with the true mastermind. Not an evil team, or a lone conqueror. Merely a single, twisted Pokémon. And our heroes have interfered with its fun long enough.

“You stare up at the now familiar form of the grey Charizard, which stares back with unblinking, dead eyes... Its mouth stretches wide, wide enough to swallow you whole, and a hand appears. And another. And another. Four skeletal hands pry its maw open from the inside, stretching it until its skin falls down to settle on its hips. What looks down on you now, with a single, glowing eye, is a monstrous form made of bone and rotting flesh. And witnessing the four of you before it, it lets out a high-pitched, chilling laugh...

“‘Fofofofofo...’“

Fauxchemine. A sadistic Ultra Beast capable of warping time and space to its will. All the disturbances throughout the town, all the strange creatures that have appeared, all the monsters sent to terrorize our heroes; all the result of its twisted sense of fun, and the consequences of getting in the way of it.

So there’s a running joke among my friends that we all “hate” Charizard. Not actually, but it’s always pushed in marketing with new forms and such, even though its popularity has been dropping steadily over the years. As such, I thought it would be somewhat cathartic to have the big bad they have to beat up at the end be related to Charizard. ‘Chemine’s skeletal nature comes from trying to cinematicly picture the encounter in my mind, with the eerie image of the mouth stretching open from the dialogue earlier. With bone white and rotten greens, the skin wasn’t meant to reflect Charizard as a shiny, but rather with all its color drained from it, as it’s more a puppeted skin than an actual part of the Pokémon. And as many Pokémon draw inspiration from Kaiju, ‘Chemine does, too, specifically calling back to an Ultra-Kaiju named Greeza with space warping abilities.

It’s Steel/Dragon with Thick Fat. When planning encounters, especially this late into the game, Auradiat made things tough since its offensive Typing is insane, and that combination made it resistant to all of the Starter Types except Fairy. This was supposed to be the toughest fight in the campaign, so I wanted to build a Pokémon that would be difficult to deal damage to. A swift Pokémon able to warp around the field, summoning Ultra Beasts or other versions of Charizard as adds or for specific attacks, I wanted this to be memorably difficult.

Oh, and the name? It’s meant to rhythmically sound like “Pokémon,” with the ‘faux’ symbolizing its disguise, and the ‘mine’ representing its personality. Everything in this world is its to play with.

But that giant Ultra Wormhole wasn’t just for show. Part-way through Phase 2 our players were sucked through a Wormhole themselves, both they and Fauxchemine bearing witness to a titanic creature as they did, and upon its defeat, it is let loose upon the city:

Standing over 100ft tall is Wreknarogg (from wreck, to destroy, Níðhöggr, a massive world-ending creature from Norse mythology, and Ragnarok, the end of the world). A massive symbiotic group of four Pokémon from a dead world, the whale-squid Bayleige, the parasitic Serrasite, and the barnacle Rhizocano. This was actually the first symbiotic Pokémon I designed, and its creation sparked the others like Shiinotic and Torterra so this wouldn’t be the first time our players encountered one.

Whales are the largest creatures on Earth, so using one as the base for a kaiju-sized Pokémon fit. It also helped that the prototype designs for the Cloverfield monster were based on a whale, so I had something to go on. Secondly, I really like a lot of the eldritch design philosophy, and a lot of those are based on sea creatures, which is where the combined squid elements came from. Also, when I was prototyping the design and trying to make it creepier, a friend suggested having a parasite coming out of its blowhole, which is what sparked the creation of Serrasite and Rhizocano (as whale’s are known to have such parasites in real life).

This was a design very inspired by the world it was supposed to inhabit. Coming from a desert world where they are the only living things remaining, they symbiotically support each other to stave off their own inevitable death, with Bayleige able to create rain with its ability and Rhizocano able to make artificial sunlight to feed Serrasite. Serrasite then gives energy to Bayleige to allow it to keep moving, and Rhizocano takes energy from Bayleige. It’s an incomplete system where energy is slowly lost over time.

Stage 2 of the final boss wasn’t supposed to be as intense as the last one. A gimmick for this fight was, at the start of every round, I was going to roll a D100, and an event would happen. They would be things like their friends showing up with healing items, trainers they knew joining the battle, wild Pokémon they’d befriended getting in pot shots, etc. It was meant to be a fun, celebratory, “you’re at the end of the campaign” fight rather than an intense one off the back of another. I was even considering having everyone use their full parties.

But after it’s defeated, a thick, dark haze enshrouds everyone. With their allies gone, and left with just their Starters, our players are alone in a dark void. I did say there were four Pokémon earlier...

And the final encounter is Wreknarogg (Core). The Pokémon who brought the three titans together, and controls them while siphoning off some of their energy to survive. Similar to Phanic, this was another unassuming Pokémon. Designed to resemble a virus while calling back to aspects from mythical Pokémon like Jirachi or Manaphy. I understand it might not feel as climactic as there wasn’t any set-up compared to ‘Chemine, who was shown throughout, or the previous Wreknarogg, who was foreshadowed, but I wanted a 3-stage boss fight, and this felt like a good way of concluding it.

While stage 1 was supposed to be difficult, and stage 2 was meant to be fun and call back to the long journey, stage 3 was an un-losable, cinematic fight with a somewhat somber tone to it. It was the final fight, the end of it all, and there’s a certain level of sadness that comes with that in accordance with the jubilation of completion. It was also meant to see how much everyone had grown; how would they handle this encounter? Fight it? Catch it? Persuade it? Maybe I haven’t listened to enough DnD finalés, but in how many can you beat the final boss by being nice to it and calming it down?

=====

And that’s the end. There would be some sort of epilogue, picking up with our characters some months or years later, but that’s not something I could write without witnessing the actions of the players. I was debating having everything that came from an Ultra Wormhole be sucked back in after Fauxchemine’s defeat, including the Starters (pull a Digimon Tamers), but as Wreknarogg came from a dead world I thought that a little cruel.

And to end things how I usually do; Overall, despite not getting off the ground, I was very happy with this project. I’m the type to pick up and drop projects frequently, and the fact that I stuck with and continued to work on it for months was something I was really proud of. It was also a great learning experience on many levels. And who knows; maybe I might do something like this again in the future...?