#also when did he “evolve”?

[intuitive-revelations]

Hmmm....

Thematically i kind of liked that.

But man that plot was... not good.

[seefasterdraws]

captain and the girlssss

[oneluckydragon]

I know it's a story, oh I know it's just a story. But why does it feel like my worst nightmare?

My Explorers of Sky Hero, Echo!

Lately I've been writing a study on her and this paragraph is taken from my rough rough draft. It's a more in-depth exploration of her character/origin/experiences and since I am a huge fan of the darkrai reincarnation theory, this is my personal take on the concept.

I think it's a bit poetic that Echo, in the aftermath of everything, winds up as a dark-type again (and one connected to the moon no less, the irony) as well. I mean, her timeline of lives has literally been this:

Darkrai (New Moon/Pitch Black) -> Human -> Eevee (Evolution) -> Umbreon (Moonlight)

A lot of her evolution into umbreon has to do with her personal trauma/amnesia and also significant influence from dusknoir (who she trusted and cared about), but deep down I feel like her evolution was also partially determined by the fragmented remnants of her original self. She even tried to evolve into leafeon, which obviously, did not work out as planned. Perhaps this is her past lives way of manifesting in her current self, though she is no longer the same pokemon anymore. Maybe it has something to do with self-forgiveness or acceptance? She still has a lot of healing to do, though.

Once evolving into a dark type, Echo slowly starts to regain some of her memories from her time as Darkrai. And Team Wish's new friendship with Cresselia, who is more perceptive than she has any right to be, gives Echo a lot of insight into exactly who she is. This spirals into Echo battling the reality of her past actions alone for a long time because how is she supposed to admit the truth to Sora? That she was the direct cause of their shared suffering? That she and darkrai are one and the same? That all of the pokemon of the future lived in an eternity of hell because she desired it? Of course, she keeps quiet for a long time out of pure fear-- because if Sora rejected her, she'd fall apart. It's a lot to keep secret but what else can she do?

And bonus!! Does Echo's shadow change during each night of the new moon? Hmm. Sure does seem like it.

[waggledoogledoggle]

Ok but just imagine for a sec;

Jed puts his hat on Octavius because he’s talking to Lancelot and Jed is still very protective/jealous abt that and in ACTUAL cowboy culture, putting your cowboy hat on someone essentially means that they’re yours. Not in an “i own you” way but in a “they’re mine/off limits” way. It means you mean a whole lot to them and also that everyone else needs to keep their hands off and their eyes away cause they are yours

like lowkey, its essentially claiming them as your spark publically, and is lowkey a pretty romantic thing to do especially if the recipient knowns the real meaning

however, internet culture only knows one of the very minor options of what it means (as in it rarely means this) which is the “save a horse, ride a cowboy” meaning

So Nicky sees Jed plop his hat on Octavius’s head and he is just flabbergasted

because holy shit Jed that is not appropriate

So Nick takes Jed aside and is like

“Dude you can’t do that”

“Do what?”

“Look, I know about the cowboy hat rule, and it’s cool if you wanna do that, but you can just say you want to go and do that in front of everybody like that, especially if Octavius is in mid-conversation”

And Jed just looks at Nick so confused because what the fuck is he talking about so eventually he winds up asking

“ok, Nick, wait a sec, …what do you think the cowboy hat rule is?”

“You know… ‘save a horse, ride a cowboy’…?”

“…EW NO NICK NO”

“No?”

“NO THAT AIN’T WHAT THAT MEANS AT ALL”

“Wait really?”

“YES! Ok, only on the rarest RAREST of occasions does it ever mean that! Where did you even learn that!?”

“The internet!- oh I see my mistake now.”

Idk that idea is just funny to me

[moongothic]

Hey so also have Sir Crocodile brainrot and have recently reread Impel Down. This is probably nothing at all but it made me question the artistic choice made. Like we dont see Crocodiles full face until Luffy recognizes him. Before that tho he joins in on Jinbei & Ace's convo about Whitebeard and is shown to (non-)react to Boa Hancocks visit. But we only get his face in shadows or see the hook. Which. Why. Oda we know what he looks like and who the guy with the stitches on his face and the hook is. WHY OBSCURE HIM.

My friend, this is what we call a "cocktease"

Okay jokes aside, yes it was an artistic choise. More specifically, a storytelling technique Oda masterfully used to build up hype and excitement to Crocodile's eventual reveal and re-introduction into the story.

So thanks to Ms Goldenweek's cover story (which ran back during Water 7/Enies Lobby) we already knew Crocodile along with Daz, Bon-chan and Galdino had all been sent to Impel Down, when we also learned about Impel Down, Marineford and the Gates of Justice (+ the giant whirlpool between the three locations) to some extent. ((Now of course, if you were an anime-only then you would've had no idea about the former BW members being in Impel Down. And even if you had read the manga you still would've had to actually pay attention to the cover story and its lore, and not forgotten all about it))

So even before Luffy decides he's going to head to Impel Down to save Ace, we know Crocodile's going to be somewhere down there. The second Luffy arrives there, we are immidiately reminded of the fact when Domino mentions Crocodile taking the traditional "bath" new inmates take at the entrance. And as we descend deeper and deeper into Impel Down, with those cuts to what's happening down at Level 6 every now and then, as well as with the Baroque Works Countdown, Oda time and time again keeps on reminding of us of Crocodile's looming presence in the background. This is all absolutely deliberate. Crocodile was arguably the most iconic (maybe not most popular but iconic) One Piece villian at the time, if given an opportunity of course the readers wanted to see him again. But just letting us see him right away would be anti-climactic, and distracting from what's actually important (Ace, and Luffy getting to him as fast as possible). So keeping him hidden could serve multiple purposes:

For one, Crocodile doesn't get to steal the spotlight from the other characters (at least not too early). We can focus on Luffy, Ace, all the new Impel Down characters and the other returning characters in peace, while Crocodile waits for his turn. Another thing is that Crocodile's presence being downplayed gives off the impression that perhaps him being there isn't that important to the story. Thus, him teaming up with Luffy to break out isn't such an obvious twist (and so when that happens, it's ever more hype as a result)

But indeed, the most important part is that by teasing us constantly through out Impel Down, Oda creates hype. He makes us the readers excited if/when we might get to see the bastard, even if it was just a quick little cameo. So when Luffy finally reaches Level 6 and we finally do get that reveal, everyone loses their fucking marbles over the HISASHIBURI DANA MUGIWARA when we finally get to see The Motherfucker Himself. (And indeed, then getting to see him fight alongside Luffy is cool as fucking hell, completely unexpected and absolutely delightful)

But there's also another thing building up to Crocodile's reveal does. Compare his original introduction to the re-introduction

Compare Crocodile at the height of his power and influence, to the absolute rock bottom he has hit. No longer happily laughing while looking down on people (literally), he's filthy, he has given up on life, with sunken eyes and a hollow look on his face, only moved by a thirst for petty revenge (/an opportunity to go out with a bang). He doesn't even get the whole page for his grand reveal anymore, he's been shuffled to the side so the plot can progress on the same page.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

And to some degree, this is kind of meant to be a shocking realization to the readers. That this is not the same Crocodile we remember from Alabasta, that Crocodile died when Luffy defeated him. This is just the husk that remains, a shadow of what was once there. It's a sad sight, and probably not what the readers who loved Crocodile The Villian wanted to see. It's not the epic Return of the (Evil) King they wanted. And that juxtaposition helps, because Crocodile doesn't return into the story as a villian, but as a frenemy/ally-on-thin-ice. And that idea is easier to signal to the readers in a lowkey manner when you do his re-introduction like this.

So yes, Oda refusing to show Crocodile's face until Luffy found him was 100% a deliberate artistic choise. This is fantastic storytelling

[tsuchinokoroyale]

How are you not someone's wife already???

I’ve licherally got no room for a man like where’s he gonna fit??

Not to mention…

[imposterogers]

"Steve says he's retired. He's not retired. He still keeps an eye on his old neighborhood. And when he sees a problem...well...he knows every hero in the city. He might not be doing the fighting himself, but the problems get solved." ~ Daredevil (2016) #4

Yeah, I kind of agree with you. I think they should have had him pass the Captain America mantle to Sam and have him get a new identity.

its almost as if the best most in character and comic accurate choice was staring them straight in the eyes and marvel still managed to miss it 

[raeofgayshine]

I love playing Pokémon in a way that would absolutely kill anyone who knows a thing about the game. No I don’t know most weaknesses and strengths of typings or what I should be using. No I’m not building a well rounded team. No I don’t remember battle to battle what moves are effective against what Pokémon’s even if I just fought them and lord knows I don’t really understand their power or literally any stat my mons have. I am heavily brute forcing my way through this game with my team full of Sunflora fusions because this is Infinite Fusions and I can do that. Yes having everyone a grass type presents problems. No I don’t care! I will beef them up enough they can tank hits until I can destroy whoever I’m fighting and if all else fails I have potions and revives and everything I need on stock to keep going. I do not know what I’m doing but I’m having fucking fun with it!!!!

[apotelesmaa]

My initial off the top of my head wxs Pokémon partners match up would be

Nene - primarina/rotom/hatterene. Primarina is self explanatory, the rotom was originally rui’s but it possesses robonene so it’s hers now, and hatterene…

Emu - bewear/mr. mime/togekiss. Bewear is funny (& similar to the mascot bodyguard), Mr. Mime is self explanatory, togekiss is self explanatory wrt Pokédex entries.

Rui - porygon z/mimikyu/silvaly. I feel like all of these are pretty self explanatory.

Tsukasa - dragonite/sylveon/rapidash. Dragonite is a wxs world link reference, sylveon just fits, rapidash because there is no Pegasus pokemon.

[birdcatt]

random doodles of Them, just me trying to get a thought or 2 out

[waywardstation]

A rather random question that's been plaguing me for the past 15 minutes and I wondered about your thoughts: do you think before he left, Volo left any of his pokemon behind? Some he wouldn't get rid of, like his egg daughter Togekiss, but I can't see him taking Arcanine with him out of Hisui. For one, it likely has a Growlithe partner we never see (due to the pokemon's lore) and probably leaves them with Tuli and Ginter. A full team would attach unnecessary attention for someone on the run.

Very interest thought OP!!! I haven’t thought about it before.

I couldn’t see Volo getting rid of his egg daughter Togekiss, or Garchomp, because these are Pokémon he’s had early on in the game. Our first fight with him, he only had his sweet togepi, and on our second fight, it’s togepi and gible.

And then the third time, when he fights us at the end, suddenly it’s a full team of Togekiss, Garchomp, Arcanine, Spiritomb, Roserade, and Lucario. How did that happen??

These are my first thoughts, so it could change over time, but I feel like this could narratively be explained by Volo realizing that our MC has what he wants, and that’s when he actively decides he’s going to take them down. So he gets a full team together, some of which can speedrun evolution with stones (roserade and arcanine).

I feel like the only Pokémon he has a genuine connection to would be his Togekiss and Garchomp. The others might have been pulled together just for this fight in an effort to overwhelm the MC. So when it’s all done, and Volo decides to leave, he might feel conflicted with these Pokémon that he possibly railroaded just for his own benefit. They did not need to be roped into this.

I could see him leaving some of his Pokémon with Ginter and Tuli, to help assist with ginkgo guild work when he leaves, and the only two he would keep would be his Togekiss, and his Garchomp.

Love this concept OP!! My thoughts on this might change over time from these initial ones; I’ll keep thinking on it!

[vaugarde]

One thing about my worldbuilding that isn't really important, I just think it's cute: the Pokemon anime is a TV show within the main gameverse and it's meant to educate kids about certain Pokemon while telling it's own story that's very, very, verrry loosely based on Red's journey.

[lunarharp]

qify birthday scribblin

[audinite]

pokemon storytelling through the pokemon itself and even the moves is always so good

[rewordthis]

So we are just 3 episodes in and they already fucked up my man’s age! I hate every asshole that messes up with things like that with a burning passion!!!

They even omitted the year of his birth!!! 167 Sol Year! Ah, but they were kind enough to keep the current year (196). Ugh… 😒

As someone who was introduced to the manga back in ‘15-‘16, I find it upsetting that someone felt threatened enough to have the need to change an anime character’s age, like… wtf, bro…? Are you perhaps sleeping better now that you turned him from 29 to 31? Huh? Are you??!!

Dove, it’s clearly; ni-jyuu-KUsai! Yes you, translator! KUsai!!! 😤

[medicaldoctordana]

I so badly want to know the Dana Scully that wrote her thesis on Einstein’s twin paradox theory. I would LOVE to have drinks with the Dana Katherine Scully that had an affair with her med school professor. I crave having a chat with the Dana Scully that dated her teacher at the academy.