#aka the one with charizard and leon ^^

[esprei]

a closer look at the Archeops card I did for the September magma session! they're riding home on the subway after a long day of exciting battles! 🚊✨

[i-write-boop-spoops]

Please do halloween headcanons about Leon and Steven ^^

i am well aware that it is 1. past halloween and 2. ages since i last posted but i have been sick (i wasn’t even able to celebrate halloween ☹) and i am a spoopy bitch 365 days a year. plus it’s my blog goshdarnit!

anyways here’s some fun hcs! thanks anon!

Leon

Him and Sonia sed to bring Hop trick-or-treating around Postwick and Wedgehurst when they were younger

Nowadays Halloween is either a cosy affair at home or a party at a friend’s

Pro couple’s costumes HOWEVER you’ll have to organize it because he’s so busy

Partial to a slutty costume on you obvs, but also himself (AKA tits out!)

But not too slutty because he still has a family friendly image to uphold

Not that he’s really posting pictures from a party to his heavily curated social media

If you’re just staying at home, he probably won’t dress up (but will if you ask)

You’ll probably just snuggle up and eat sweets and watch spooky (but not really scary) movies

There aren’t really any children in his building so he doesn’t get many knocks from adorable kiddos on his door

BUT when you move somewhere more cosy and family-friendly

You KNOW it’s a full size chocolate bar house

Leon has a great time handing out sweets to the kids and complimenting their little costumes

Some of them dress up as him and his heart melts

Speaking of children

If you guys have kids you can bet your ass you’re doing a family costume!

Baby’s first Halloween is him in a Charizard onesie, you in a Charmeleon one and baby in a Charmander one

He will continue doing family costumes, even when you have moody teenagers who are "too cool" to dress up

Steven

Halloween wasn’t too much of a thing in his house growing up

But as an adult, he enjoys it a fair bit

He’s not really into the spooky/scary side of it, just likes the fun and cosy vibes (and all the chocolate)

Wallace probably throws an extravagant Halloween party every year, and you and Steven are definitely invited (dressing up is a MUST)

Steven’s Halloween costumes are quite elegant

And yes, he is very pro couple’s costumes too!

They typically involve Steven in a suit (old habits die hard lol)

You’ve been detectives, Indiana Jones style adventurers, a royal couple, space explorers, etc.

The scariest (and naturally, sexiest) costume was when you two went as classic, Victorian-era vampires

One year you went as your birthstones (aka just regular outfits in that colour, decorated with fake gems with matching makeup) and nobody had any idea what you were supposed to be and Steven was VERY aka mildly upset

Also a full size chocolate bar house

Mossdeep isn’t big, so you only get a couple trick-or-treaters every year

It’s good though, Steven is happy to chat with the little ones and the little ones are excited that the champion is chatting to them and giving them big ol’ sweeties

If you have kids, he will gladly bring them trick or treating

And take photos of the kiddos in their cute little outfits

HOWEVER he won’t dress up for it lol

One of your kids dressed up as geode four years in a row and Steven was never happier

[a-real-champion-time]

I should make a proper pinned post, huh? Well, I guess it won’t hurt to try!!!!!

The name’s Leon, Champion of Galar!!! I’m the strongest there is, and I’ve never lost a match!!! My dream is to help everyone become a powerful trainer, because if we all aim for the top then we’ll go on for over a thousand years and never stop our action-packed battles!!!!

My team is well-known, but here they are!!!!

Charizard, aka Ember!!!!!!!

Dragapult, aka Bond!!!

Aegislash, aka Cyllene because she was apparently a famous sword user in Hisui!!!!

Rillaboom, aka Boomer!!!!

Haxorus, aka Spray because she loves to spray water everywhere whenever we’re near the sea or a lake!!!!

Rhyperior, aka Palmer because he shoots rocks out of his palms and my favorite Battle Frontier leader uses one!!!!!!

Now then… Let’s have a Champion Time!!!!!!!!

.

.

.

Heyy, mod stuff here!

my main blog is @a-stone-slab, and I run quite a few other blogs like this, so i might be slow to respond on this one depending on how I’m feeling (sorry!)

No NSFW, but suggestive humor IS allowed in asks (within moderation), but if i deem it too inappropriate or whatever I just won’t answer it.

Anyways, this incarnation of Leon is still galar’s champion, and he is

very energetic

dating THREE people!!! (can ya guess who?)

and is an absolute idiot unless it comes to galar or battles

EDIT (08/31/23): This is a NO high-stakes blog, with very little plot based around it. The occasional small event may happen sometimes, but that's it. Please don't harass Leon for getting lost all the time either, it's annoying having to deal with those asks. If it happens too much I might have to turn off anon asks. Don't make me do that.

Also, crossover blogs and whatnot are fine so long as I don’t need to know the entire lore of the series that is being crossed over! 😊

Edit 10/4/2023: Please don’t mention murder or death or anything on any reblogs of my posts without a Trigger warning or a content warning tag, as that kind of content makes me very uncomfortable. If you don’t want to add it/feel like you can’t, then just don’t interact. I made this blog for fun, I really don’t want to deal with stuff that makes me super uncomfortable while just trying to have fun.

[jaefromunova]

Leon's Mentor and the Birth of the World's Most Famous Charizard

So most of the info I could find about Leon's early years focuses on his actual Gym Challenge (which was crazy, he swept through the whole circuit while taking down a criminal organization, but more on that later). There's virtually nothing about his life before that. Fair enough, man's got a right to privacy.

But the question I keep coming back to is how did Leon get his partner? He already had his then-Charmander when they began the Gym Challenge. Weirdly enough though, there was almost no info about how the two met. I'm no expert on regional dexes but Galar's infamously strict about foreign species, and the Charmander line isn't native to the region. So how did kid Leon get ahold of a Pokemon that's traditionally a starter in Kanto?

Ya boi did some deep digging (AKA I went to the 4th page in DucklettDucklettGo search results) and found this really old interview from just after Leon got his first badge where he mentions that he'd hatched his Charmander from an egg while training with Mustard. The same Mustard who was the longest reigning Champion of Galar before retiring to travel around the world!!!

sidenote- look at those magnificent eyebrows they literally defy gravity how do they do that

I sent Mustard an email asking how he met Leon, and to my surprise, his son sent back a response the same day. Apparently Leon got lost on the way to school one day and SOMEHOW ended up on a Corviknight taxi to the Isle of Armor, where Mustard had just set up his dojo. If it were anyone other than Leon, I wouldn't believe that story.

Anyway, Leon helped Mustard find this baby Kubfu that had wandered off, and in return received an egg that the ex-Champion had picked up during his world tour. Mustard personally flew Leon back to his hometown in Postwick and the same night, the egg hatched into a bouncing baby Charmander.

That was a deep rabbit hole just to find out how Leon got his partner. Hopefully the rest of the biography project won't require so much research...

[epicspheal]

Pokemon Twilight Wings: Episode 7

That was such a wholesome episode and I was screaming (internally) the entire time.

[Image Description: Screenshot of Twilight Wings of Leon and John having fun flying on Corviknight]

First off, I loved the intro where we got to see all of the gym leaders give their thoughts on Leon. I screamed when I saw Kabu working out and laughed so hard at Piers vibe checking the reporter. But what really stood out to me was Opal saying “Well Sometimes, I can honestly tell if he wants to win or to lose”. I screamed at that moment because you know what...it referenced that note

[Image Description: Screenshot of Pokemon SwSh of Leon’s note from Opal’s gym. It reads: “Leon: Fail, Number of correct answers: 1, Your talent in Pokemon battles is beyong anything I’ve ever seen, but you’re rather hard to read...]

And then they just had to drive that point home further with John saying: “The Champion...he’s not really smiling is he.” Like holy shit, they really went there with the subtle hint that there is more to Leon than what we see typically (aka the “unbeatable” champion with the Charizard). Makes me feel better about that one post I made about Leon not being okay even if it’s not 100% correct... Anyways the rest of the episode was so wholesome, I did not expect them to go the route they did but in hindsight it made perfect sense. I loved them utilizing Leon getting lost by having him CLIMB A WHOLE MOUNTAIN (the champion time discord I’m in had an absolute field day with it). They really could have just made it so Leon just briefly sees John with John in the stands but instead they actually give them some quality wholesome time together on Corviknight.  Also can we just appreciate how when Oleana mentions Leon isn’t there yet Rose is just like “whatever”

[Image Description: Screenshot of the Twilight Wings anime of Chairman Rose shrugging to an offscreen Oleana when she tells him that Leon hasn’t arrived at Wyndon Stadium yet]

I died when he just shrugged. I swear Twilight Wings made me appreciate Rose far more than the games ever could. Not only that, but how Rose just rolls with Leon riding in on a Corviknight with a kid.  And when Raihan showed up I screamed. It was perfect and the Leon versus Raihan battle here was FAR better than the one shown in the main anime. It was fluid, the G-max Pokemon had more movement, plus we got to see Pokemon other than Duraludon and Charizard. And then at the end we get to see Gloria and Victor! I’m guessing they’re twins here perhaps? It was nice to get a confirmation this was just before the main SwSh games. 

This was such an amazing episode and an amazing end to such a delightful short series. I really hope they make more to this series!

[Image Description: Screenshot of the Twilight Wings Anime of Leon giving a forced smile to John and the Taxi cabbie who are both offscreen]

[crystalelemental]

“alphakuriboh: I dunno, maybe the view here is more stilted because you whale and I don’t. Not quite the same as Feh where we both whale in different ways. Masters just really isn’t very satisfying to me aside from the fun of playing with the Pokemon characters. I don’t super like how narrowed down you have to play Masters (aka using certain types versus Feh whatever team aside from like Abyssals). Masters I feel does some things really well and other things really poorly and to my mostly F2P Masters play the stuff that does poor is REALLY bad. I went through 18k F2P gems and didn’t get Archie for example, and there was no way to get enough for a spark without spending a pretty penny.

The difficulty spike kinda sucks unless you wanna learn proper strategies and the time battles take compared to Feh makes it a lot more exhausting to keep trying different things.”

Okay, Archie’s a different beast altogether.  For one, he was alone, and for another, he’s basically this game’s version of a Legendary or Mythic Hero.  He’s got a 1% compared to FEH’s 0.67% with triple color share all the time.  I get that it’s annoying you couldn’t get to spark, but counterpoint: FEH wouldn’t have given you that option at all.  It would’ve taken all your money and said fuck you keep paying me and maybe one day you’ll get it.  Archie had a guarantee, but Ashera never will.  Just because it’s harder to get to that spark and you weren’t willing to do it doesn’t make it a worse system, because at least they fucking offered.  I’d take the option over no option at all.

I also don’t agree with the assessment of restrictiveness in Masters.  Yes, you have to play to type matchup, and that’s somewhat restrictive, but you at least have freedom of options within that subset that make it work.  How do you counter something like Duo Lif?  Blue tome with some kind of effectiveness, so sure hope you had Micaiah or Guinivere because just about anyone else ain’t cuttin it.  “Using whatever team” in FEH doesn’t work for shit.  You’re incredibly restricted in FEH, and the only reason it doesn’t matter as much is because the weapon triangle hasn’t been real in years.  I know Reinhardt’s one of your mains, but I promise it used to matter.  Now powercreep is so overwhelming that almost any offensive threat is specifically designed to defy weapon triangle disadvantage regardless.  How is that fun?  Countering by color doesn’t work like it used to, which is by definition a restriction because defensive play doesn’t work.  There’s no such thing as a pure wall anymore, they have to have firepower to back it up.  Masters doesn’t have that problem at all.  I just won a Master Mode league match with an F2P unit using Toxic and Infestation, I can promise you that defensive play works, and that wasn’t even a super-effective matchup.  Masters is substantially more forgiving, because most Support and Tech options can go on any team, the only restriction is on offensive strikers needing to hit their weakness, which...is good.  That there are weaknesses.  Because it means you’re not just immediately outclassed when the next offensive threat comes around.  Leon exists with a Charizard that hits three types, but Red’s still considered top tier because sometimes you just need the Fire and guess who’s stupid good for that.  That’s way less restrictive than FEH’s meta that’s centered around like 3 units (L!Sigurd, F!Edelgard, Nott).

I know I spend on the game, I won’t deny that, but my spending in Masters has been a small fraction of what I spent on FEH to keep up, and it took only 3 months of not paying into new powercreep in FEH for me to suddenly lose standing.  Missing out on Far Save completely screwed me, I cannot compete as well as others solely because I don’t have that tool.  But despite having none of the major players in Masters I have been able to beat some of the hardest content that game throws at me, sometimes using commons.  FEH could never.  To each their own, but this isn’t even a contest on which is the better game to me.

[ihopethisendswell]

How do you deal with it?

Summary: Leon asks Alexis a personal question.

Notes: inspired by this post. Felt that these two would have this talk, given similar but still different situations. Aka: fluffy sunrise with a pinch of angst ft. Oblivious Alexis.

Postwick is nice. It reminds him of home really. Back in Unova. The grassy fields, the open area, the fresh southern air; yeah it reminds him of home all right. So much so that he couldn't help but watch the sunrise from the roof top. Totally not because he had another nightmare.....

Okay maybe, but it's better than just wallowing in himself, yeah? Besides, it wasn't too bad this time. It was just....not great.

But enough about that. He's gotta sunrise to enjoy, and nothing is gonna stop that. Nothing at all-

" Psst! Alex!" Leon's hushed voice calls from below. Looking down, Alexis see's a pajama ridden Leon, with Charizard slippers to boot. Because of course Leon would have Charizard slippers.

" Lee? What are you doing up?" Alexis asks, as Leon climbs his way up on the roof( was that later always there? That would save him so much time-)

" I would ask you the same thing," Leon questions back. He's deflecting.

" Just felt like it,"But he is no better.

Once he's on the roof, Leon plops right down next to him, enjoying the sunrise along side him. Alexis hopes Aunt Cheyenne doesn't think that they're burglars or something. That would be awkward.

So now the two are just sitting there. On the roof. Enjoying the sunrise before them. Well, trying to. Alexis can't help but notice how fidgety Leon is. Awkward even. Though he can't blame him. The bare roof isn't the most comfortable of places to sit. And his face. The man looks like he just woke up, and terribly at that. His eyes didn't shine the way the usually do, which, yeah, could be because he just woke up, but this seems more....troubled. Like something is on his mind. Something bad. Something tormenting him, taunting even. Almost like-

" You had a nightmare," the words come out before he can even think. Dumbass.

" Huh?!"

"W-well, I mean-" shit, he really messed up, " The look on your face! I- I don't know, it's just reminds me of how I feel?" Alexis stutters, not really sure if he's salvaging the moment. Leon's expression says no.

" How did you- I mean, no I just-"

"Hey, it's fine! You don't have to explain anything! I'm sorry I caught you off guard..." Leon is silent for a moment, before giving a short nod.

Things are silent again between them. It's the same as before, but the tension is heavy. He should say something. Should he say something? He opened his mouth once and it lead to shit. But he knows that it's no good bottling things up. Arcues, he knows. So maybe just....keep things small.

" Okay, this is gonna be very hypocritical of me, but,um....do you wanna talk about it?"

For another moment, Leon is silent, his facial expression looks as if he's debating with himself.

" I-" he pauses, " I just- I've been-" he stumbles around, looking for the correct use of words, before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm sorry,"

" No, no it's fine. One step at a time, yeah?" Leon nods, and takes a deep breath-

" I don't think I'm allowed to," he says shyly, not reaching Alexis gaze.

Ah.

That's familiar.

" Okay. That's fine," Alexis hums, " No need to rush things out,hm?"

Alexis shifts a little, properly facing Leon, his arms stretched out to indicate a hug.

" Do you need a hug? O-or someone to hold your hand?" Leon looks at him as if he grown three heads

"What?" Ah. Okay. He never really had to explain this to anyone. Usually it's him that's is asked the question, not the other way around.

" Well,uh, whenever I have nightmares, or just feeling like I'm loosing myself, physical contact tends to help me keep calm and grounded, mostly with Kai, since she's always with me," He shifts awkwardly, " I-I thought that you would like one as well, unless your not comfortable with that-"

"Yes," Leon interjects, " Yes, please, I- I would love that," his voice sound so strained. A bit like at the hospital. Oh Lee...

In one swift movement, Leon was in Alexis arms, hugging him like his life depended on it. He was warm, Alexis realizes. Hm. It's nice.

Once again, silence envelopes the two. Well, not total silence. Alexis is humming now, humming whatever calming melody that pops up in his mind. He hopes it helps.

" How do you deal with it?" Leon asks suddenly.

" The nightmares?"

" Everything," Alexis ponders for a bit, though he knows he has no reason to be. He already knows the answer.

" I didn't at first. I did things that I thought would help, like run away, but that honestly made things worse," he begins to run circles around Leon's back, " When I came home so much has changed that I thought I could never fit in. But then I did. My family and friends helped a lot, and I started to talk to them about stuff. That really helped...."

Maybe playing with his hair can help too? It is easier to comb through....

" Coming here was a big help too. Made me realize the difference between traveling bro escape and traveling for your enjoyment.... and I meet you all. You guys really made me feel a lot better than I was before,"

" Really," Leon mumbles

"Really," Alexis hums, feeling the steady heartbeat of Leon's heart.

Honestly, not the way he thought he'd start his morning, but it's still pretty nice compared to the others-

" Alex, I'm so sorry." Eh?

Leon gently pushes himself away from Alexis, looking at him with guilty eyes.

" I put Naomi and Hop in danger. I put Galar in danger, I should have known better, I'm so sorry-"

" Hey, hey! You know it's not your fault right? You did everything you could-"

" Alex, I'm the- I was Champion of Galar! I had a duty to protect everyone there and I failed! I," he chuckles darkly, " I used a pokeball. A pokeball!"

" You told me you panicked-"

" It doesn't matter if I panicked or not, I should have known better! I should have listened to Raihan's suspicions! I'm just-" Tears begin to fall, and Leon slumps over, defeated.

" I don't want to hate it. Eternatus, I mean. It was as much as a victim as I was, I know that, I just- I can't get it out of my head,"

" Yeah I get that too," Alexis nods, feeling the scar on his right eye, " I felt the same about Hydreigons for a while. I got the scar when I was battling Ghetsis. Ordered the beast to kill me, bascically."

" Arcues,"

" Yeah, it hurt me bad, the reason I had to go to the hospital right after N's farewell. Kai saved my life, then. I never seen her so angry in my entire journey," he smiled to himself, the vivid memory of a rage induced Kai, slamming her horn into the side of an equally angry and hateful Hydreigon. The others where busy fighting for their life's, so N, of all people, helped him get patched up. But that's a story for a different day.

" I didn't need to be a pokemon whisperer to know that that Hydreigon hated it's trainer, to know it was suffering.....but I just couldn't bring myself to see it like that, y'know? Which is ashame because Iris' Hydreigon is as sweet as a button! I also have a young Zweilous back at home. She's been showing interest in evolving, but I was always to scared to do so. But I trust her. So I think I might evolve her once I get home." The sun was long since up,he realize, the greenery of the fields almost glowing in the sun.

" Your feelings are completely valid Leon. It's okay for you to feel this way, it's not selfish," Alexis places a hand on Leon's shoulder, giving it a squeeze, " Though I know just me saying that won't change much. Just know to take it one step at a time, yeah?" Leon nods, sniffling, trying to wipe away stray tears.

" Yeah...yeah okay. Thank you Alexis. You- your amazing, you know that," His eyes seem much more clearer than they were before. Good.

" I've been told that a lot, so I guess I have to believe it, huh?" He chuckles. Naomi and Elliot are the main contributes to that.

"Well yeah! Your kind, and smart, and an amazing battler-"

" Lee, please, it's to early in the morning for compliments," he can feel the embarrassment grow on his face.

"But it's true! And your all those things and more! Your just...just amazing Alex!" Alexis couldn't help but laugh now. Partly because he's embarrassed. Being thrown compliments left and right without stop always gets him flustered.

" Oh. Okay. Um. Thanks, I guess? Sorry, I'm not used to so many compliments at once," he chuckles.

" Well you should. But I'll stop....for now," Leon smirks, which earned a playful nudge from Alexis.

The sun is in its full glory now, and that means that everyone is starting to get up. And by everyone, he means Aunt Cheyenne. He really hopes that she doesn't think that they're burglars.

"Well, the sun's high in the sky! You feeling a little better?" Leon smiles, gold eyes shine like the sun.

" Yeah, I do actually," He smile back.

" Good,"

[pokenimagines]

Leon with an obliviously strong s/o? Like maybe they rescue Pokémon and so the feats they do are just normal to them? Like they're cooing at a very angry Haxorus as they help them free from wherever they're stuck. Picking up a Kommo-o like it's nbd.

So uh, this gave me so many ideas, so I did both an imagine and, at the very end, is a small little ficlet of my initial thought. I hope you enjoy this as it was hella fun to write out!

Leon x Reader: Obliviously Strong

Leon always knew his partner was pretty strong; after all, it came with the job territory.

Not everyone can just casually go up and help pokemon and come out perfectly unscathed, but the trainer managed to do it on a daily basis.

It never really dawned on Leon just how strong they were until they had gone into the wilds together, and the trainer spotted a poor little munchlax on a cliff.

The trainer told Leon to wait for them and scaled the cliff and casually picked up the munchlax and came back down, putting the hungry little pokemon back on the ground.

It didn’t seem like a whole lot until you put into consideration that a normal munchlax weighed around 250 pounds, and this trainer just casually picked it up and scaled-down a cliff with it in one arm.

Leon was a bit starstruck after seeing the trainer in action and asked to be invited to one of their calls so he could watch.

Of course, the trainer was over the moon with this idea since they’d love for Leon to see what they did for a living, the thing that they were most passionate about.

So the next time call came in, the trainer sent Leon a message, and they wound up in the wild area together searching for the distressed pokemon.

It didn’t take them long to find a giant Pangoro throwing things and screaming as it seemed to be searching for something, causing any pokemon or trainer within the vicinity to flee at the sheer sight of it.

This didn’t seem to deter the trainer as they casually walked up as the Pangoro turned to them, and they put their hands up as a peace offering.

They began making small cooing noises as they tried to calm it down, dodging a few flying objects it threw at them.

Leon, of course, was freaking out, and his hand was hovering over Charizard’s Pokeball the entire time, but the trainer told him very specifically to not intervene no matter what.

It didn’t take long for the trainer to figure out what was wrong and managed to call out their Butterfree to put the Pangoro to sleep.

Once it was knocked out cold, the trainer went and managed to extract a poison needle that was embedded in its foot by some other pokémon.

Apparently, the pain of it had made the pokemon panic just a bit.

The trainer just applied an antidote and potion and got up and told Leon they needed to get going before it woke back up.

Leon was again, absolutely starstruck with how cool the trainer had been while dodging those attacks and trying to calm down this giant Pangoro.

Needless to say, he joined them a lot more on their adventures, especially once he was no longer champion and had more time for himself.

Side Story (aka I had to because the idea came to my head):

Leon had been sitting on the couch, flipping through some channels as he cooled off from the day out with the trainer. The trainer had managed to pick up a Kommo-o from some ditch and climbed back up, so they were taking a well-deserved shower. Soon the door to the bathroom was opened, and the trainer emerged with a towel around their neck while wearing some of Leon’s old clothes.

“Hey Lee, move over so I can sit down.” The trainer said with a yawn, still trying to get their hair dry. Leon looked at how his legs were covering the entire couch and couldn’t help but tease them a bit. Despite the troubles they had gone through, they still always loved to banter.

“Make me.” Leon challenges them, and the trainer looked over with a raised eyebrow, wondering if he really just said that. When they noticed the look on his face, they knew immediately he wasn’t going to move without them doing something about it. They swore he was spending too much time with Raihan and was picking up on all of his bad habits. Still, the trainer decided the only way to kick him off his high ponyta was to beat him at his own game.

The trainer casually walked over and stood right in front of him as Leon tried to figure out what they were doing. Without a second thought, the trainer managed to scoop Leon up bridal style and turned around to sit on the couch. Leon just sat there in their lap, still being held as he registered what was going on. He opened his mouth to say something, but the trainer cut him off.

“Next time, don’t challenge me after I picked up a Kommo-o and scaled a cliff.” Was all the trainer said as Leon got real quiet. He’d definitely have to get used to having a partner that as league above him when it came to strength.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Leon really out here trying to steal the role of main character from Gloria like FUCK OFF M8 THATS MY JOB

This was actually my biggest problem with Leon. 

His whole gimmick is that he’s unbeatable, right down to having the Hall of Fame tune repurposed into a battle track for the player’s fight with him. He’s only ever known victory. The trouble is, that never gets challenged until the very end, when you get to fight him. Which makes for a good goal to work to, but as a character, it leaves him boring and obnoxious because he has no weaknesses. I mean, he must, but the story isn’t going to let you see that. With how present Leon is in the story, I mean...he definitely has a personality, but it’s just taken as a given that he’s the undefeatable hero of the story, and the player can do nothing to challenge it until they get to battle him. Which is frustrating for many reasons. He feels like a prop to motivate both Hop and the Player, but not much else. His being an in-universe Charizard fanboy doesn’t help...either way, his “unbeatable” status is used to justify him being the one to handle every action sequence...without the player, like you said. 

First of all, this has never been how it’s worked before. The Champion has always faced the trials alongside the Player. Imagine if Cynthia had sent you on your way when the portal to the Distortion World opened up? Imagine if Lance had barred you from taking down Team Rocket’s base with him. Why should Leon get to turn us away from seeing the action? I hate to say it, but it’s a pretty clear indication of cutting corners. Most of the time, if there��s an action set-piece, the game is very careful to make sure you don’t see it or get to take part. The player never gets to, y'know, play the game, until the very end. Leon always sends you away with a patronizing encouragement to focus on your gym challenge while he goes off to handle the problem. The game suggests that this is because he's an adult and you are a child...but that simply doesn't fly. 

Sorry, we're eight generations into a franchise that has never suggested any functional difference between adults and children in it's universe. It is well established by this point that having Pokemon is all that matters, a person's age has never had any social impact. Or if nothing else, getting your first pokemon is treated as a "coming of age" ceremony, so the player would be just as much an "adult" as Leon. The difference in their age would normally indicate that they aren't equals, but it just doesn't work in this universe, it's an attempted excuse to keep the player out of the action that fails to align with established world-building. It’s patronizing, but it’s also inconsistent, which amusingly bothers me far more. This is also why I don't like it when the games feature police, because that's another aspect of real world society that simply doesn't fit in the Pokemon world. If police exist, why is it always down to the most powerful trainer, aka the Player, to defeat the criminal organizations? 

I’m not sure what it is, but all of the corner-cutting and evidence of deadline fever, all seem to converge around Leon. Nothing sums it up better than the sequence where the Player and Hop storm Rose Tower. It finally seems like the plot is picking up. We all knew Rose would be the villain, has he kidnapped Leon? What’s going on? Who is the evil team? You get there, you fight Oleanna, who acts blatantly antagonistic, and refuses to let the player past...but then when you beat her, you get there to rescue Leon, and...he’s not in danger. At all. There’s no threat. You get still images with no music as Rose outlines his motivation (Which is absolutely bonkers, but never mind that right now) and then Leon just...leaves. Of his own volition. The plot doesn’t go anywhere, and you come away from it thinking, “Wait, did we just break into a megacorporation because Hop was hungry?” 

Later on, Leon fails to catch Eternatus, and the player must step in. This gets completely glossed over and ignored despite being a clear example of Leon’s character actually failing, and showing weakness. He lost. He is not unbeatable, Eternatus bested him. It actually drove me crazy when I first played, because his whole deal is that he’s never been defeated until the player dethrones him. Except. He has. I don’t care if it was a Pokemon and not a Trainer, that should matter! It contradicts everything about his character and then does nothing with that. Then at the end, he reiterates the condescending bit about how the “adults” will handle things, before we transition into the credits...with no Hall of Fame sequence, god knows why. 

[turffieldstadium]

How would Piers, Leon, Raihan, Milo, and Allister react to their s/o's partner Pokemon showing affection and trust to then for the first time? Like, before it's really just been standoffish and ignored them for the most part, then one day it finally decides they're alright and gives them a nuzzle.

Cheers for requesting my favourite thing I’ve ever written ever

Piers

If his partner's Cinccino doesn't like him, it's no skin off his nose. He figured the little thing would grow tired of trying to clean up the tip he called home (his place wasn't even that messy, honestly) at some point - it's no surprise when it started to ignore him.

Okay but tail-sweeping every place he sits is a bit much, he's not that much of a slob.

They learn to live with each other regardless, blissfully ignoring each others' existence, grimacing at each other whenever they were alone in the same room.

Until a thunderstorm hit Spikemuth anyway, while Piers’ partner was away visiting family. Storms never bothered him any, but who knew Cinccino was scared of thunder?

Before Piers could question where Cinccino was after sitting in silence a little too long, a fuzzy ball collided with his stomach, trying to dig its way into his clothes before giving up and settling behind him, tangled in his hair.

Piers could feel the poor little shit's body shaking, whining every time thunder rumbled in the distance. With a smile and a sigh that most certainly weren't out of fondness, thank you very much, Piers shifted on the lounge so Cinccino could tumble in his lap and hide under his hoodie, keeping a hand on its back as the storm passed.

Leon

His Charizard absolutely adores his partner to no end, so yeah it kinda stung when their Crustle didn't appear to have the same feelings toward him. Leon's got a whole array of pinch scars on his arms and legs to prove it.

It seemed every time he so much as breathed in Crustle's direction, it'd give him the stinkeye. And every time it scared the absolute Shit out of Leon.

His partner returns home one afternoon, and Leon's jaw drops at the large chunk missing from Crustle's shell. They tell him they lost a fight against a trainer with a Pangoro, and a strong Brick Break was the cause of the damage.

Crustle refused to leave the house after the loss, often sitting quietly in a pokebed, poking the remains of its shell every so often. While his partner began the hunt for a good replacement boulder, Leon decided to keep it company.

Sitting well out of pinching range, he just. Talked to Crustle. Told it that it was a good battler, that one accident and one loss didn't mean it was weak. And soon, it'd have a brand new tough boulder to call its own! It wouldn’t have to feel nervous going outside!

Leon didn't realise Crustle got up to move until he felt a heavy weight at his side, a shell-less Crustle curled up by his leg.

Raihan

He's not the biggest fan of Fairy-types anyway, if he's honest. His partner's Ribombee turning its little nose up at him wasn't a bother. No, the fact it took to pelting him with Pollen Puffs was the issue.

There's a ton of videos on Poketube of Raihan minding his business only for Ribombee to float up behind him and just wreck his shit. It becomes a meme for a while.

Raihan really doesn't know fucking Why Ribombee hates him so much, until he sees its panicked shiver when his partner's watching him do a practice battle, right as he calls for his Goodra to set up a Rain Dance.

It's then he realises that maybe Ribombee are sensitive to weather. Maybe everytime he set up a Sandstorm or Rain Dance during a battle with his partner around, Ribombee got uncomfortable or scared. Suddenly he feels like an asshole for not noticing sooner - no wonder it hated him.

To apologise, he seeks out Milo's aid in order to make a nice big bouquet of flowers for it. Yes he's giving flowers to a Pokemon, mind your business.

Upon presenting the bouquet to Ribombee (he took his beanie/headband thing and held it to his chest and everything), there's a long, fearful moment where Raihan's worried it won't accept his apology and take the chance to just pelt him in the face with a Pollen Puff at close range.

Thankfully, Ribombee trills and buries itself in the flowers, only pausing to pap Raihan's cheek with it's little teeny fairy-bug hands.

Milo

In his mind he knows that Purrloin tend to be standoffish and independent Pokemon, but his heart's crying over it not liking his company at all. He can excuse it stealing his scarves or gloves - that's in their nature - but leaving the room as soon as he enters just hurts.

Does he try too hard? Is he too intimidating? Is he not doing enough to make it think he cares for it? It can't be his association with all his rambunctious Wooloo, Purrloin seems to love them just fine.

As much as it stings, he just has to resign himself to adoring the little thing from afar, resisting the urge to bury his face in its fur everytime it rolls over to show it's soft widdle belly.

After months of crying over Purrloin whenever it kneaded blankets and blepted and gifted him various scratches, it finally deigns to touch Milo by leaping on his back and clawing its way to his shoulders as he tends to his garden. To Milo's credit, he stood very still and held in his tears like a champ.

He barely has time to try and begin the process of extracting Purrloin from its chokehold on his scarf, before a group of Yamper pups tumble their way over to his feet, all high pitched barks and wagging tails.

In what could be considered a feat worthy of Arceus itself, Milo manages to maneuver his way through the sea of excited pups all trying to chase their new 'friend', and a scared, hissy Purrloin attempting to use its claws to dig all the way through his bloody skin, ow, in order to get Purrloin somewhere less noisy and more comfortable.

After painfully making it inside his house, Purrloin, upon realising it's no longer being harrassed by tiny static fluffballs, retracts its claws and jumps to the floor, purring and rubbing itself against Milo's legs. He'd be happy if he didn't just experience what Giratina's Hell must be.

Allister

At first he assumed that the Greedent was scared of his mask. It made the most sense, right? But even taking it off in private, it never stuck around. Heck, he'd tried to befriend it with berries since Greedents are so food-driven, but it'd just take them and scurry off.

His friend tried to soothe him by saying Greedent's aren't... the smartest, and that it probably just saw him as a means of free food. But did that mean it’d never like him, then?

His Yamask adored curling around his friend’s shoulders - Allister hoped he’d be able to have fun times like that with their chubby little Greedent, too. Okay maybe not exactly like that since Greedent’s are heavy and Allister doesn’t want to die but anyway.

After weeks of no progress - negative progress, in fact, since Greedent stopped acknowledging Allister all together when it realised he wouldn’t give it food - Allister was minding his business doing spooky ghost things outside in the dark (aka, stargazing), until a soft brush at his back had him jumping out of his skin.

Greedent sniffed at him, before deciding to amble onto his lap and curl up with a berry from its tail fluff. Allister wasn’t about to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth but like. What the fuck.

It was then he remembered he was wearing his friend’s coat, one they’d been wearing earlier that day. Did... Did Greedent just not recognise anyone who didn’t smell like its trainer?

Suddenly a lot of things made sense and Allister had the sudden urge to steal all his friend’s hoodies. Or the less illegal route of getting Greedent used to his scent instead. That way sounded easier, and nicer.

[thebladeblaster]

Pokémon: the Dark Circuit (AKA Vanguard Descends season 2)

Chapter 2 Stranded

Aichi’s current team

Level 80 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting

Moves:

Close combat

Solar blade

Swords dance

Future Sight

Level 79 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock

Moves:

Stealth rock

Crunch

Stone edge

Play rough

Level 77 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug

Moves:

Sucker punch

Blizzard

Liquidation

First impression

Level 78 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel

Moves:

Focus blast

Stone edge

Meteor mash

Dragon pulse

Level 85 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon

Moves:

Outrage

Iron tail

Dragon dance

Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel

Moves:

Sacred sword

King’s shield

Iron head

Shadow Claw

In Galar…

Gin sat on top of his throne looking rather unimpressed. He tapped his foot against the ground. Leon bowed before him alongside Oliver who glared at him.

“I don’t see him with you.”, Gin pointed out the obvious.

“This psychopath thought it was good idea to hit him with a tsunami.”, Oliver said.

“Ahem...the tsunami was supposed to bring him to Galar, but it seems something intercepted it and changed his destination.”, Leon said, coughing nervously knowing that their master was rather upset.

“Do you know where he is now?”, Gin asked.

“From what I was able to detect. It’s likely that he ended in Alola considering the direction he was going in.”, Leon answered, trying to stay composed.

“Then, the Quatre Knights shall go to Alola to retrieve him.”, Gin replied, making Leon lower his head.

“I will bring 003v back to us I swear!”, Oliver vowed.

“Also, I have this. In case he’s not there we have a way to flush out 003v.”, Leon said as he raised up a dark ball.

Somewhere tropical...

“Show no mercy…”, Aichi mumbled as he rolled around in his sleep and a small smirk formed on his face.

The place where he was seemed rather tropical. Palm trees dotted the landscape and there was a beach in the distance. He was under the shade of one of the palm trees. It was rather humid, making Aichi sweat uncomfortably. He felt a searing headache through his skull. He felt something rub up against him. Aichi’s eyes cracked open to see what was rubbing up against him. It was Soul Saver rubbing her head against Aichi worriedly. She had a puppy look in her eyes which brightened when she saw him wake up.

“Soul Saver…”, Aichi whispered, looking down seeing a makeshift blanket made out of leaves over him being held together by something.

He looked over to see Gancelot sitting down, almost like he was on watch duty on the ground and he looked over to Aichi. It was Gancelot’s aura holding the makeshift blanket together.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! (You're finally awake mommy!)”, Soul Saver cheered, hugging him tightly.

Aichi accepted the hug sweated dropping. He was still extremely confused as to what was going on. He started to try and get up after being released from Soul Saver‘s hug. He suddenly froze when he realized…

“Luca-Lu...lu...Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (Wait-oh...Uh...you're naked I was about to warn you. Though, it looks like you’ve already realized that.)”, Gancelot said.

“I-I’m naked!?”, Aichi questioned as he blushed embarrassedly, holding up the makeshift blanket almost like a censor bar over himself.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus. Haxorus. (I don’t get why humans get so flustered about being naked. I’m naked all the time and I don’t get all red.)”, Soul Saver said cluelessly.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario...Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (Your clothes are drying up there. They were soaking wet after well...we got hit by a wave.)”, Gancelot informed as he pointed up.

His clothes were hanging from a makeshift rope made from vines.

“Are they dry yet?”, Aichi asked, stills feeling rather flustered.

Gancelot got up feeling the clothes to see if they were dry yet.

“Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (Yeah. They feel kinda hot though. I think we may have underestimated how hot this place is.)”, Gancelot replied.

Aichi instantly grabbed his clothes, getting what Gancelot said. His clothes were kinda hot like when you left a cold drink in a car in hot weather. Aichi simply put on his red turtleneck and jeans. He tied his white shirt around his waist because it was way too hot to wear. He rolled up his jeans and the sleeves of his turtleneck to alleviate some more heat.

“Haxorus? Haxorus? Haxorus?Haxorus? Haxorus? Haxorus? Haxorus? (If your clothes are making you too hot why are you wearing them?)”, Soul Saver asked cluelessly.

“B-because! Humans are expected to wear clothes. And it’s illegal to walk around naked.”, Aichi replied.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.( I haven’t seen any humans around here besides you.)”, Soul Saver replied.

“Still I shouldn’t be naked!”, Aichi replied, blushing nervously.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. (Humans are weird.)”, Soul Saver commented.

“A-anyway where’s the others? Where...are we exactly?”, Aichi asked.

“Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (The others are out looking for people and food. As to where we are from what I’ve heard from the local Pokémon, Alola.)”, Gancelot answered.

“Alola?...Alola!!!”, Aichi replied, blinking, realizing something before freaking out.

“Haxorus? Haxorus? Haxorus? Haxorus? Haxorus. Haxorus. (What’s wrong with this place? It’s really warm and sunny.)”, Soul Saver asked.

“Well...first of all it's really far from Kakusa. Second…”, Aichi trailed off as he looked around.

“I thought this place had become inhospitable after Team Asteroid...they used it as an example to the other regions when they started their plan to take over the world. They shot a bomb here, some sort of special bomb that released radiation that killed all the humans here, but not the Pokémon.”, Aichi explained.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. (Sure humans are weird, but shooting a weird bomb like that to kill them is just mean.)”, Soul Saver replied in a sad tone.

“Yeah, really mean. Considering that umm...how am I still alive?”, Aichi questioned.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (I don’t sense any radiation. It must have been cleared.)”, Gancelot replied.

“That’s a relief. People have been too scared to come back here to check to see if it was gone...it’s really sad. This region used to be a very popular place to vacation. It brought a lot of joy to people.”, Aichi replied.

Gancelot looked down like he wanted to say something.

“Is something wrong?”, Aichi asked.

“Lucario…Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (It’s Ahmes he...he isn’t here with us. He wasn’t here when we woke up I mean. I can’t sense him anywhere nearby.)”, Gancelot answered a bit nervous.

Aichi froze as he heard the news. His eyes widened and Gancelot became increasingly nervous as felt Aichi’s aura change. Soul Saver flinched feeling the same strong emotions through the link. The restraint braces on Aichi’s arms glowed brightly in response now very visible due to rolled up sleeves. A massive negative aura of anger emitted from him. He shook trying to get a hold of his emotions as a dark blue aura leaked out of him. He hugged himself as if trying to contain something within himself.

“Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! (It’s going to be alright, Aichi! I’m sure we can find him! He might be somewhere else in the region! I'm sure he’s okay!)”, Gancelot assured.

Aichi sweated nervously nodding as the dark aura started to recede into himself.

“I-I’ve just got to be calm...I can’t let myself freak out like this. I’ll just cause more trouble if I do that.”, Aichi told himself.

Aichi took deep breaths trying to calm down his own anger and worry.

“It was because I was so weak this happened. I should have had my guard up against 002f! I should have…”, Aichi thought.

“Show no mercy.”, Aichi heard the voice of his father ring throughout his mind.

Aichi grabbed his head and shook his it trying to clear the thought out of his mind. His heart banged loudly against his chest.

“N-no! I shouldn’t be listening to him! I’m not 003v! I’m Sendou Aichi!”, Aichi thought.

“Haxorus? Haxorus? (Are you okay mommy?)”, Soul Saver asked worriedly.

Aichi lowered his arm looking between Soul Saver and Gancelot.

“Yeah…”, Aichi replied.

In Kakusa…

“So, this is the team to recover the champion?”, Kyou questioned.

By Misaki’s side was Kamui and Miwa.

“Well, to be fair she did say it was supposed to be a small team.”, Kazumi replied.

“You can count on us to find bro!”, Kamui said as he pointed at himself.

“Well Emi and her little friend wanted to help, but Misaki refused.”, Miwa said, before Misaki stepped on his foot.

Miwa cringed in pain, grabbed his foot and hopped on one leg.

“Aichi wouldn’t want her to get involved and she has only one Pokémon.”, Misaki explained.

“One mythical Pokémon.”, Miwa replied, before Misaki stepped on his foot again.

“Mythical?”, Mamoru questioned.

“Celebi.”, Misaki replied.

“You know that flying grass not fairy fairy.”, Gouki said.

“Not fairy fairy. So, like how Charizard looks like a dragon type and should be, but isn’t?”, Mamoru asked.

“Yeah, just like Charizard basically.”, Gouki replied.

“That’s not important anyway. What’s important is that we’re going to find Aichi.”, Misaki said.

Kourin fidgeted but said nothing. Suiko and Rekka had knowing looks at Kourin.

“Do you want to help them out, Kourin?”, Suiko asked, before Kourin looked away.

“It’s fine if you come along. If you're not busy with your idol duties.”, Misaki said.

“Yeah, you’ve helped out bro lots of times!”, Kamui added.

“I never said anything…”, Kourin mumbled, still looking away.

“That’s because we all know you love him.”, Rekka whispered smugly.

This caused Kourin to blush embarrassingly and Takuto chuckled.

“Why not go along with them Kourin?”, Takuto joined with a knowing smile and Kourin looked mortified.

The others sweat dropped at Kourin’s reaction.

“You are so tsundere, girl.”, Rekka whispered.

“F-fine! If you want me to come so badly sure!”, Kourin replied.

“...Uh good I guess.”, Misaki replied awkwardly, sweat dropping.

In Alola…

Wingal flinched in pain when he tried to run away from a Beware coming his way. Llew scooped him up running with him under his arm. Llew turned his head back at the Beware shooting water at it. The Beware fell over slipping as it became covered in water.

The area around them had some buildings that looked like they were being slowly eroded away and reclaimed by nature.

“L-lycanroc. (S-sorry.)”, Wingal apologized.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod.Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. (It’s fine. You were really hurt from the tsunami. You are weak to water after all.)”, Llew replied.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc.Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (I just wanted to do something useful. Though it looks like I’m more of a burden in my condition.)”, Wingal replied, looking down.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod.Golisopod. Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! (I don’t think you're weak. You beat a freaking legendary for Peet’s sake!)”, Llew replied.

Alfred suddenly flew in and they looked to him.

“I found a castle up ahead. It’s hard to see through all the greenery but it’s there and it looks like there’s actually people there.”, Alfred said.

Wingal and Llew perked up at the news.

“Golisopod.Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. (See this wasn’t for nothing. Now we have good news for Aichi when he wakes up.)”, Llew said.

“Lycanroc. (Yeah I guess so.)”, Wingal replied.

A camera that looked newer than everything else caught the Pokémon on it’s feed. It seemed to be relaying this back to somebody.

On a screen a shadowed figure sat in a chair. The decor around him looked rather lavish. He held a wine glass in his hand and took a small sip. Another screen showed the feed of a drone flying bits away from Aichi, Gancelot, and Soul Saver.

“To think such an interesting thing just washed up on my doorstep.”, the figure said.

With Aichi…

He shook off his little episode, and focused on finding some way to find Ahmes and a way home.

“Alright, can you lead me to the others Gancelot?”, Aichi asked.

Gancelot nodded, gesturing to Aichi and Soul Saver to follow him. Gancelot suddenly stopped as a palm tree just swung at them. They hastily ducked before the ‘tree’ shot out blue dragonic energy. Gancelot punched at the ‘tree’. This caused it to shake and growl?

[pokeworldrevisited]

Yes tell me about the brother bear au plz it’s sounds so good

Oh boi this… this is gonna be long… trust me, this is the upteenth time I wrote this AU down, it always ended up too long for my liking.

So what I should say first is that even though I said this is based of Brother Bear, it’s also based off other movies or game series that I liked. Brother Bear was just the main inspiration since I was listening to the OST while thinking this AU up. (And not I can’t UN-THINK this AU so thanks OST)

This AU is basically a whole rewrite of the game’s story, since it takes place literally at the start of the game. (Specifically the first time you go into the Slumbering Weald). This is why I keep writing so much for this, there’s a lot to know and add in.

In fact there’s so much about this AU that what would be the Post Game is basically a story all on it’s own.

Here’s a few things to note about this AU before I get into it:

I’m not gonna specify which trainer becomes which Legendary, that’s up to your interpretation 

Seeing as Victor and Gloria would have two separate reactions and additions to this AU, I’ll be referring them as MC instead. If you want me to do some stuff with Victor or Gloria as the MC, just ask

For most of this AU, Hop and MC are in what I’ll call ‘Uncrowned Form’, it’s basically the Hero of Many Battles form but with no battle scars. Their Crowned form also lacks scars.

Brother Bear (Temporary name) AU

Bit of Lore:

You know how important the rusted sword and shield are in game? Well, up that importance by like 1000 here. We know that it’s the sword and shield that basically brought Zacian and Zamazenta from the dead (or at least a very long sleep), they are what give the wolves their mighty powers that cause them to go to their Crowned forms.

So here’s a random question, what would happen if someone were to break the sword and shield?

Oh, and before you ask, this doesn’t mean that the old kings of Galar were also turned into the wolves at one point. That part of history is still the same. Hop and MC just did a bad thing and have to pay for it in the weirdest way possible.

Beginning:

Hop and MC were destined to become the next heroes right from the start, however when they were supposed to first meet the spirits of the legendaries something goes wrong. As in the spirit of Zacian/Zamazenta never shows up to stop the unprepared heroes from going further. And so further they went.

They found themselves at the Shrine and Gravesite of the wolves, where they discover the sword and shield just lying on the ground. And when they find the old relics they make a grave mistake, they accidentally break the sword and shield. And by doing so they severed the sole items that tied the heroes of Galar to the region. (The way the sword and shield break depend on which trainer took which relic or if MC was Victor or Gloria; For example, if Gloria grabs the sword she’d suggest having a little sparring match to calm Hop’s nerves and then bad things happen)

As both a punishment as a way to ensure there’d still be hope for the region against the upcoming Darkest Day, the wolves decide to use what little power they had left to turn Hop and MC into the legendary wolves. Yet to Hop and MC, all they see is the broken relics glowing and the mist around them starting to thicken.

Then, an illusion is created, one that scared the trainers’ poor Pokemon to run deep into the Weald, not to be seen again for a long while. It’s a battlefield, to be specific the first battle against the Darkest Day. Neither of them knew it at the time, but the illusion was showing them what they needed to do to break the curse that was going to be placed upon them. Hop and MC are so focused on the false battle that they don’t realise that the relics were floating, nor did they realise that the wolves sent some kind of blast that got absorbed into their bodies until they felt an explosion of pain strong enough to knock them both out. 

When they wake up, they find themselves in a place they don’t recognise (The Research Lab), being greeted by a Yamper which they could now… suddenly understand. Not too far from them was Leon who was talking to an unfamiliar woman (Sonia) about how he couldn’t stay because he NEEDED to find Hop and MC. But that’s weird, Hop and MC were right there, right? So why would Leon-

It was then that the two now former trainers looked at themselves and realised that they weren’t human anymore… let’s just say they reacted accordingly.

—————

The most important thing about this AU, and why it’s taken me so long to properly write it down, it’s because since this happens right at the start of the game, literally the entire game’s story changes from a kid travelling with their Pokemon to two Adults, two Kids who royally messed up in 100 different ways, and a pupper. (Though Leon doesn’t initially join in on this journey as he was looking for the kids, but a bit of convincing and a promise from Sonia’s part made him decide to help the wolves out)

Hop, Leon, MC and Sonia all go together on this journey for separate reasons:

Leon wants to find his brother and his best friend. Considering that they disappeared not long after he gave both Hop and MC their starters, he feels that what happened was in some way his fault. Of course he’d never let it show, but each new day where there’s no news on the kids’ whereabouts is starting to tire him out. 

Sonia wants to find out what Pokemon Hop and MC are. Her goal isn’t too different from in game, but instead of just looking into the history, she’s finding out more about the Pokemon themselves… then it eventually evolves into researching the history of the wolves

Hop and MC want to both make the adults realise that their not actually Pokemon and they want to find a way to get back to normal. Though Hop leans more on trying to find a way to tell Leon and he’s there and that he’s okay, while MC’s learning of the history of the wolves alongside Sonia in hopes that something from there would tell them what caused the whole transformation to begin with.

As this AU is in my ‘Sibling based AU’ list, it’s obvious that families would be important. There’s actually two sibling/sibling-like relationships:

Hop and Leon being the brothers they always are despite Leon not knowing that the legendary wolf that’s he’s been helping is actually Hop. Meanwhile Hop is overjoyed that he finally gets to see his brother in action 24/7, it’s like a dream come true. 

Then there’s the bond formed by MC, Sonia and Yamper. Yes, they were strangers at the start of this AU, but at the end when everything’s back to normal, these three become extremely close to one another. Sonia behaves like MC’s smart older sister while Yamper is like a excited little brother and the former trainer couldn’t ask for anything else.

Due to always travelling together, Hop, Leon, Sonia and Yamper get much more development (along with Hop getting a completely different character arc than in game for very obvious reasons), however this means that other characters such as 6/10 Gym leaders appearing less while characters such as Bede and Marnie get a different story for their arcs.

This part isn’t really finalised yet in my brain, but one of the main things is that seeing as Hop and MC are Pokemon (and the fact that Leon doesn’t know that Hop’s one of the two Pokemon in question), once they learn how to fight, their allowed to help against the wild dynamaxed Pokemon we just hear about in game. What’s most surprising especially for the former trainers is that their able to beat the giant Pokemon extremely easily.

Not only that but for Sonia’s side of the story, when she sees the statue of the two wolves, she assumes that Hop and MC are actually the legendary Pokemon of the past, or at least closely related to them. And so she starts suggesting more and more that they help against Dynamaxed Pokemon.

It’s not just Leon and Sonia that are important to this AU. But the Pokemon take more of a role than just being travel buddies. The two more important Pokemon for Hop and MC just so happen to be Charizard and Yamper, who have helped the former teachers learn to get around in their new bodies and helped them figure out how to properly fight.

Of course the Wild Pokemon is where it’s at. While wary at first, when Hop and MC got to truly travel the Wild Area, they found that the Pokemon there were surprisingly nice. A conversation here, a battle and a few berries there and new friends were made before nightfall. In fact the former trainers made it a habit of sneaking away from the adults in the dead of night to play with their new Poke-pals.

————–

There’s a lot more about this AU that I want to talk about but if I put it all in one post it’s gonna be WAY too long. This is just the gist of the AU, and I haven’t fully thought out the ending. But here’s what I got at the moment (Note that things might change):

When the Darkest Day comes, Hop and MC flee to the Weald where they find the spirits of the previous Zacian and Zamazenta, who in some way help the former trainers realise that they needed to save the region in the spirits’ steed. So that’s what they do, they fly over to Hammerlocke and fight against the Darkest Day, rescuing Leon from getting hurt from Eternatus’ attack and as a result turning into their crowned forms for the first time.

Once Eternatus is defeated (but flees before Leon has a chance to catch it), Hop and MC turn back to humans, the sword and shield separating from them. However now the relics looked new with little to no damage on either weapon. 

They have to give out one very long explanation to an overjoyed Leon and a confused Sonia about how exactly they became Pokemon in the first place, but once that’s over it’s all happy times. 

In fact the only drawbacks were; 

The fact that Leon basically grounded the two for giving him the heart attack of the century (aka their not allowed to go on their gym challenge until the next year, they don’t even get new starter Pokemon until the champion decides so) 

And the fact that for some reason Hop and MC can STILL talk to Pokemon even though their human again.

So yeah, happy end! …Until two weirdos with dumb hair come to ruin everything for their own selfish desires.

(Sorry is this wasn’t what ya wanted. I had so many ideas that this was the best I could do. But I do really REALLY like this AU, I’d love to do more with it if that’s okay with y’all… and rework on some aspects of this AU I’m not currently satisfied of)

[invictarre-archive]

LIGHT UP THE SKY LIKE A FLAME

Since the Crown Tundra isn’t out yet, and even when it is I’ll likely impose various headcanons of my own onto it, below is a brief outline of Leon’s Star Tournament verse. This covers any and all post-game interactions in which Leon has returned to Galar to take part in these events, and also some clarifications in regards to what I HC the tournament’s rules to be.

Leon has received his official invitation to Galar’s prestigious Star Tournament: a worldwide event where all of the world’s strongest and most recognisable trainers gather in Galar to battle, socialise, and have a generally good time. Naturally, Dani is invited along as his plus one, though with his close ties to the League he can easily get tickets for any other interested parties.

The rules are as follows:

- Battles can be one against one, double pair team ups, or a free for all between four trainers. Anything goes, though of course the usual battle etiquette of not causing deliberate harm to another Trainer still goes. Be as hectic as you want, but keep it under control.

- All pokemon restrictions are temporarily lifted. Unlike in Galar’s Champion Tournament, which only permits challengers to use whatever teammates can be found in Galar or the surrounding areas, the Star Tournament lets Trainers bring in whatever pokemon they want. It’s easier to attract a more worldwide pool of participants this way, and this is something Leon is definitely going to take advantage of. Time to show you bitches just what he’s been doing since he left.

- All battle techniques are allowed. Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax, anything goes. If you can legally use it elsewhere in the world, and you’re confident you’ll be able to keep it under control, you’re free to use it. Go ham.

- You can bring in as many pokemon as you like, but only six may be used in any one battle. 

- Nothing is really ‘at stake’ here. Beating the Champion of any region will not grant you their title, it’s all just for fun and to test each other’s strength. Some people might get a shiny trophy at the end of it if they were really exceptional, but for the most part it’s just a way to show off how well you’ve trained your team.

Leon’s pokemon team/s:

Leon has created three main teams for the Tournament, which will be switched as necessary. 

TEAM ONE - His main. Using a mix of both Galar-born and overseas pokemon, Leon’s performance promises to deliver something delightfully new and exciting, while still maintaining that signature Galar style that kept the crowds invested for so many years.

TEAM TWO - Haxorus makes a return here, as do Charizard and Aegislash, but the other three are all from overseas. Obligatory Marshy inclusion because you know he had to bring his separation anxiety having axolotl along.

TEAM THREE - aka. The one he uses when he wants to show off exactly how much his post-game departure has helped his training. Frosmoth, while caught in Galar, was trained more or less exclusively in Kalos, and all of the others were caught during his travels. This is the most ‘brute force’ of all the teams.

[noro124]

sorry about all the swsh posts in a row, i just like looking at pictures of raihan. 

under the cut i’m just ranting for a while about how i wish leon had more character so feel free to skip that

i keep going in the swsh tag because i’m looking specifically for content of leon being upset. this sounds kinda fucked up at first glance, but it’s because the personality he shows everyone is so one-dimensional!! because he’s gotta be cool & fun & supportive & competitive (but not too competitive) for TV. (because gamefreak made him that way :/ ) & when he loses to you!! you get to see a TINY little bit of him being sad & upset before he masks it all again for tv. 

like his pose when he loses to you? i'm not good at reading body language, but i know a sad bitch when i see one. in the championships, you can DEFINITELY 100% see he is sad before he forces himself to smile for you. (not shown in the images bc i don’t feel like making a gif: he is shaking). & i mean i understand that! losing for the first time in 10 years! it’s understandable that he would be upset. but at the same time.....

dude i think i just want to see like. character development. more character. now here’s a bunch of pictures of leon

smug as hell. wrong too.

^this smile? fake

also whenever you see him in the battle tower, he never smiles at you. he only smiles at his charizard lol

he’s always >:-| face when it comes to you. he’s not happy to see you, he just wants to defeat you to get his peace of mind back.

& when he loses again,

this man is about to cry bc he got his ass kicked by a 14 year old again. & it’s hard to see it in the vid bc it’s covered by text, but his fist is clenched & he’s shaking again. like he’s MAD mad.

& even afterwards, he doesn’t smile at you. he never smiles at you after you defeat him because he’s so focused on kicking your ass but he can’t lol. “we managed to make it one brilliant match!” he can’t even say “a champion time!” anymore. from his updated league card, 

Leon's biggest problem now is apparently coming up with a new signature catchphrase to replace "Let's have a champion time!"

“one brilliant match” bro.... :’)....& even then, “one brilliant match!” exclamation point. positive words. your body language says otherwise, leon. i know they’ve given him an “excited” animation bc i’ve seen it before!! this aint it

arthur meme

saw these comments on the video i screenshotted too. :-) like are you okay leon? do you need to talk to someone? like other people are paying attention to this shit too so i’m not just obsessing about this with no foundation. 

gamefreak i just want to see his real personality please!!!! not the one he put on for tv. & i know that we never will as long as we’re playing from the perspective of a 14 year old because leon is an adult & will not talk about his feelings to the kid that made him upset. he probably talks to sonia or someone else & that’s not an interaction we’ll get to see because this isn’t that type of game! it’s pokemon for kids not Adults Talk About Their Feelings The Game. 

also, nobody’s (aka i have not seen a single post about) acknowledging the fact that leon took an explosion to the entire face. he told his beloved pokemon to save his younger brother & his bro’s best friend & then the pokeball exploded. & later hop was like “oh yeah he got knocked out & was in the hospital for 3 days but he’s fine now” 

like this cutscene was really good & got me to care about leon. why would they make me see this & then barely do anything else with him if not to torment me?

this man is dead.

AND THIS SHOT WAS SO DRAMATIC!!! like i loved it. if they were capable of doing things that invoke strong emotions the whole time, then why did they not.

can i please see this content. leon could have fucking died can i please see it 

so tl;dr i’m looking for this specific content bc i feel unfulfilled by the crumbs laid out in the game. do i care way too much about this? yes, but it’ll go away in a couple days! it’s just topical to me rn since i watched my roommate beat the game yesterday! i know there’s more to leon’s personality than

thanks 4 reading

[epicspheal]

Hey there! Your resent asks about the Pokemon lore/ world building made me wonder how you think daycare centers work, from a more .... professional standpoint, if that makes sense. World building isn't my strong suit, admittedly, and your ideas actually get my creative juices going. ( Also because I know nothing in the medical field so there's also that-).

Hi there ihopethisendswell!

I think my biggest headcanon for Pokemon Daycares is that there would be a lot more specialized centers versus the more general daycares we see in the games. Like in said in my answer about the upkeep of Pokemon the vast differences in biology of Pokemon would necessitate different setups for nurseries, food, and general equipment. All of that can be quite costly for a business. Small Daycares would likely focus on either specific egg group, Pokemon type, animal classifications (like a cat or dog Pokemon only daycare center) or even just certain species (like daycares/nurseries that specifically breed the regional starters or popular cutemons such as Pikachu and Eevee) to help keep the overhead of their business low enough that they could have a profit. There’s also the fact that some Pokemon are natural enemies or have predator/prey interactions so you may not want to have baby Caterpie around a group Skarmory you’re trying to get eggs from. 

Not only would specializing keep overhead lower, it would also increase their market value. If you wanted to say breed a Dratini, you might end up trusting the daycare that only specializes in dragon types versus one that accepts all types of Pokemon. I’d also imagine that some daycares (like those that breed dragons or starters) might be passed down in a family for generations as that’s a really stable source of income.

I think no matter how specialized or general a daycare is they would all definitely do well to invest on a few strong Pokemon that can help with maintaining the peace as if Pokemon are anything like real world animals, mating season can be dangerous. I imagine some eggs would inevitably hatch before being giving to a trainer so having Pokemon with gentle natures around to mother the Pokemon would be useful. On the human side I think they would definitely have some on call veterinarians (with more prestigious centers being able to hire them as permanent staff) that can travel to different daycares to make sure the eggs or baby Pokemon are doing well as well as the parents. We always think of Pokemon healthcare being centered around Pokemon centers, but I think a lot of vets or travel nurses that can go to Pokemon daycares directly. Just like people doctors, veterinarians often specialize in specific species so I could see that happening in the Pokemon world too.

I think a lot of daycares would likely be family owned and operated, with some (particularly dragon centers) being owned by certain clans like the Draconids of Hoenn or the Blackthorn Clan of Johto. I imagine that most of the more general daycares would be owned by universities because they could secure more grants especially since they could be used as teaching centers so the next generations of Pokemon Breeders could get hands on experience with a wide variety of Pokemon (this is helpful for like the person who wants to be breeder but didn’t grow up in a family that ran a daycare).

On the subject of breeding Pokemon, I think most daycares (particularly specialty ones) would have set of Pokemon that are breeding stock aka Pokemon that make the future generations. Like I said Ditto would be very valuable to have, but I imagine there’s also market for retired champions to allow their aces or champion teams to breed eggs. I imagine many people would pay to have a Garchomp, Dragonite or Charizard who’s parents were the famed aces of Cynthia, Lance and Leon respectively. We see this in horses who have won major races are often retired from the track and are essentially just make their owners money by having foals.

[bleuseille]

My Sword team ♥ 

My Charizard is called Salarak because “Salamèche+Tarak” (aka, Charmander+Leon, since it’s Leon’s gift!)

My Corviknight is called Minty bc when it was a Minisange (Rookidee), it sounded cute. She’s also the only girl in my team, rip

Galaga, bc Arctozolt’s french name is Galvagla so really I didn’t look very far (they’re also nicknamed Glagla sometimes)

Léonard ♥ It seemed silly to call my Sobble, whose french name is “Larméléon” just “Léon” so I just..... made it fancier? And boy did it fit much better than I could have imagined.

Balto bc Zacian is a wolf and idk I always think of Balto when I see it

Toxford, because back at the beginning of my game I was like “you know what would be fun? Try and nickname the Pokémon with English-sounding-ish names” and “-ford” sounds it? I guess???

Twiggy, my Flapple, used to be in there, but it turned out I really needed a Fire type and Leon gave me one so, sorry Twiggy 😭