#and ‘there’s apparently some kind of legendary pokémon in there’ it’s ok you can just say it’s heatran lol

[goldensunset]

anywayyyyy time to explore reversal mountain!! ooh and bianca is with me so it’s a free-healing double battle dungeon isn’t it… always welcome

[tramon81]

I've been thinking why the Arven Storyline is so good, and I think it's about pacing and delivery.

Pokémon SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also recalling this from memory so might be some inconsistencies but the spirit is there :) .

There's this mild mystery about this guy at the start, apparently he knows your Legendary Lizard and is responsible of it. He also seems that he'd rather not deal with said lizard, foreshadowing or a more classy term, setup. We also end up realising he is the son of the Professor with very little to go on of what this relationship is.

It is implied in NPC dialog that the Professor has been away from the public from a long time, but being the owner of the lizard that you own now he/she actually shows him/herself to you. He/She calls you by student ID, weird. And requests you sometime travel to Area Zero, the forbidden area, where he/she presumably has taken residence.

When you meet with Arven on the lunchroom he proposes that you embark on a quest for, ... Herbs? Herba Mystica that seem to have some weird healthy properties. It is known that he likes cooking but didn't think he was a healthy foods enthusiast, a healthy lifestyle guru. Anyway you consider it.

Later he gets into a fight with Nemona into who's path you should follow. He seems really aggro on keeping you to his mission. Weird.

First mission, after the fight, you find the Herb, ok seems more than just curative bogus, he cooks ya a sandwitch and Koraidon goes ahead and asks for yours. Arven seems apprehensive but you eventually give it to the bikemon and whoa! It got its powers back. So maybe Arven is helping his parent out? Or was this not planned? Wait "you can come out now"? What pokemon did he send and why was it kept a secret? Weird.

Now, for the first "delivery" on all these "setups" this guy's not just a crazy cook in search for the ultimate ingredients, the setup at the cafeteria has its answer in Mabosstiff, the pokemon he secretly sent out last scene. It is stricken with a weakening health condition and the reason his owner is gathering all these ingredients is to cure him before it's too late. This is great for two reasons: 1. We know there is a ghost dog Pokémon with a similar build to it's preevolution and it can evolve so the dog could indeed die and turn into that. Also we now have a reason why he's been so jumpy, he doesn't want you to help him, he needs you to help him. If you ignored him and went with Nemona or that wacky Hacker, He'd be all on his own, and may not make it.

After some more adventures, smth smth setup for weird futuristic/ancient form of Donphan he recognises. Mabosstiff... Is cured! The relief on his face and the tension of the story is relieved as the dog wears again its toothy grin. This sort of thing is actual good storytelling methinks. Simple but effective. What a great... Wait it's not over.

Apparently it is revealed that you must finally go to Area Zero, together with the other cast, it's exciting because there's been so much build up to it, mystery and weird new pokemon. However it is also revealed that, one of the strongest deliveries in the story, Arven has an absentee parent, which made him be on his own... With only Mabosstiff as his family. This is potent. Of course this makes you want to meet this prick, see what kind of character does such a thing, but more importantly, it gives weight to Mabosstiff's recovery, together you saved not a dog, but the only family left by his side.

After you completed all three routes, he shows you the way to area zero. Which you discover about the place and the Professor, fellow of science, too absorbed in it, made a time machine oh so that was the deal with that donphan, oh cool there's more where it came from. There's also some very cool banter with the three coprotags, specially love the one about parents, this stuff is more direct than even Sun and Moon sometimes.

The Professor is acting odd though. Arven is suspecting something's off but doesn't really like the implication. You get swarmed, paradox pokes at all flanks. Another Lizard. Arven also reveals that he was envious and blamed Mirai/Koraidon for his parent's absence as there seems some unknown trust finally building up between them at the end of the scene. You enter the lab and finally get to meet...

Oh.

AI Sada/Turo. The professor died in an accident, standing in their place is an imperfect cold and robotic replica of the deadbeat progenitor. This "delivery" if you didn't have it spoiled just, hits way different that all others, the person who you probably hate by now, is long gone, no happy or cathartic reunion, no Arven giving a piece of his mind. If he wasn't by now, your friend is now officially an orphan. This copy seems to garner regret from its actions, its work is too dangerous and wants you to destroy it. The one thing that came over its family, its true passion, it is at least able to do away with it. However, you have to battle it as the defence system overrides its AI with this... well, it's pretty much the part of it you hate, obsessed, distant(literally lol it's like a good story above you up there). You beat it as your friends and Arven come to see the machine terastalize its insides or smth and it blocks your pokeballs and send the aggresive Legendary agaisnt you, completely unarmed you try to do something but your Sandwitch friend the MotoLizard achieves his battle mode. This makes things even, however you tetastalize him into even more of a dragon and oneshot him.

Last scene, AI is defeated, however for the machine to be over, "it" has to be over too. Arven pleads for it to stay, but it decides to go to its paradise, its life work and creation takes it to a different time in a final act both selfish and selfless sacrifice, In front of its son. Finally, "the climax".

You see, this all lead up to this, every setup and every delivery. Arven has finally faced the memory of his Father/Mother and it, in consecuence, has faced him. A bit of a somber note, but hey this is a treasure hunt, what about his treasure. I can't believe I'm saying this but this is one of the best implementations of "The friends we made along the way" trope I've seen. You see Arven has this factor of "afraid of ending all alone" that is implied a bit through the game, he is a bit abrasive but has a good heart. The last scene(Not the Ed Sheeran one) shows him on a understandable horrid mood when suddenly both Penny and Nemona suggest to go to eat, he is hard to get at first but this sense of now, connection to these people, propels him to join (Also Lizard nudge).

This is actually, even if way more contained, a bit on par with explorers of sky for best writing pokemon ever had. At least in my view on the matter what do you think?

[gouthepro]

Monopoly and Music

heyy so this was my first firstfriendshipping fic i ever wrote so yea hope you like it

Gou's POV.

It was crazy. Me, Ash, Koharu and her cousin's Max and Juliet were all hanging out in the living room at the lab.

Max and Juliet were fighting over who got to pick the next song that we were playing on the TV over YouTube connected to our phones.

Koharu was sitting at the other end of the sofa I was sitting on reading a book while I read through the instructions for the Monopoly game I had just spent ages setting up on a small tables in front of me unused since no one knew how to play it.

Well technically not unused since Ash was sitting crossed legged on the board that was still lying on he table playing some app on his Rotom phone.

I smiled to myself a bit at the scene playing out in front of me wishing it could last forever since even though the TV was playing a meme version of the Thomas the tank engine theme that Max had put on ten minutes ago, it was strangely peaceful.

Ding ding

I looked down at my phone at the sudden dings that were my notifications then giggled a bit when I spotted who was texting me. Ash. For even though he was sitting right in front of me it was apparently much easier to text me.

I unlocked my phone and checked my messages

Ash: is it just me or is this photo the truth?

Ash: 

       Immediately I realized why Ash had been so quiet of course he was making a meme of course he was!

I decided to copy his actions and reply over text.

Gou: yup but where did you get that second photo?

Ash: you sent it to me remember

Oh that's right I did send him that photo ages ago...

Gou: anyway why are we texting your literally right in front of me?

Ash: errr...

"Errr... I don't know?" Ash replied finally speaking I rolled my eyes and laughed "Of course only you would do that Ash!" Ash grinned at me like he'd just won the lottery "Yup I'm one of a kind!" I smirked at him "Probably a good thing." I teased.

That was when Koharu looked over at us and gave us probably the most confused-annoyed look I've ever seen me and Ash locked eyes for a second and burst out laughing.

As we were recovering from our laughing fits Koharu, Max and Juliet's nan opened the door to the room and yelled "Juliet! Max! Koharu! Can I speak to you quickly?" The three shot up and began to leave the room only pausing for long enough for Juliet to pause the music (still Thomas the tank engine by the way) and for long enough for Koharu to give me and Ash another weird look that set us off laughing again the second they left the room.

"OMG I cannot believe-" Ash began before dissolving in to laughter again "I know right! That face though!" I wheezed out through deep breaths, eventually we both regained normal control over our breathing I started to speak again "So what should we do untill the others get back?" I asked.

Ash seemed to deeply think about this for a second before shrugging and saying "I dunno" I rolled eyes and shook my head at him "Ok well let's just talk then."

"Sure what about?"

"Umm I don't know?" Now it was my turn to be on the recieving end of an eye roll suddenly before either of us could say anything the TV started playing a song called Crazy NCS release, Juliet or Koharu must have put it on since I know for a fact if it was Max we'd be hearing a meme like "road work ahead, ah yeah I sure hope it does" or something.

Either way it wasn't long before Ash started singing along to Crazy "When there's no hope hiding, No chance concealing, What deep down i felt for you."

Without realising it I joined in. "I regret for loosing, The one who loved me, For who I can't go back to."

Ash grinned at me and continued. "Walking through all the dust, Memories in flame, A past we simply let fade."

The grin on my face now mirroring the one on Ash's I continued. "But I don't close the door, Waiting the chance, For when we'll be back again."

Ash's face turned excited as he began the chorus. "You make me feel so crazy, Still in love with you."

I also turned excited as I continued the chorus. "You make me feel amazing, When I'm next to you."

Ash's voice grew louder as he sang. "You make me feel so crazy, My heart breaks for you."

Making my voice louder I rounded off the chorus with. "Can't help but knowing, That I'm still in love with you, You make me feel so-"

We were both silent as I finished that last line and the music in between the first chorus and the second verse played and then Ash continued "When there's no hope loving, For you who saw me, Before I knew who I'd be."

I then continued chiming in just as Ash finished singing the last note of be. "What I have around me, Means nothing to me, If I can't share it with you."

Raising his voice a little less than last time Ash sang. "Walking through all the dust, Memories in flame, A past we simply let fade."

Trying to imatate Ash's pitch I continued yet again with "But I don't close the door, Waiting the chance, For when we'll be back again.'

Belting out the words slightly higher than the way he did in the first chorus Ash sung the second chorus. "You make me feel so crazy, Still in love with you."

Once again copying Ash's tone I sung. "You make me feel amazing, When I'm next to you."

A new expression appeared on Ash's face for a brief millisecond before he continued. "You make me feel so crazy, My heart breaks for you."

And as I finished the last words I realized something we might just be singing a song so eachother but what we were singing was true. "Can't help but knowing, That I'm still in love with you, You make me feel so-"

The music played, mine and Ash's eyes were locked my ice blue ones staring in to his hazel brown ones suddenly without even knowing what force was propelling my body I leaned forwards at the same time Ash did no clear goal was visible in my head but somewhere deep down I knew what was happening and I was ecstatic about it the only remaining gap between me and Ash closed and our lips were touching and perfectly fitting together creating that most incredible feeling that you might get when kissing your soulmate or the one you love.

The latter applying to Ash and Gou the two were really feeling the magic in this one tiny gesture of pure true love...

Then the moment as quick as it began was over as the music stopped and the sound of Koharu, Max and Juliet's noisy footsteps and chatter came towards the door, the two boys pulled apart from eachother blushing as they quickly re assumed the positions they had been in before the others had left and in perfect timing too Koharu and her cousins entered the room to see Ash on his phone and Gou reading the Monopoly instructions.

In fact the only sign that anything had ever happened was the huge blushes on their faces and the music being different to before.

"Sorry we took so long." Apologized Juliet "You see our Nan took longer to ask us than we thought she would." Gou looked up "Oh don't worry about it we were fine! Right Ash?" Ash also looked up "Yup we sure were!" Koharu nodded "That's good then I was half worried you'd have gone off trying to jump on another legendary Pokémon!" She laughed before Max spoke up "So guys what should we watch now?"

Ash looked over at him "Just put that meme back on it was funny!" He called leaping off the board "Got it!" Replied Max sitting down next to his sister who had already began to find the meme Koharu sat back down on the opposite end of the sofa to Gou and picked her book back up off the right hand arm of the sofa and continued reading everything was the same as if nothing ever happened except.

Ash walked forwards a few steps and sat down on the left hand arm of the sofa right next to Gou and just as the meme was starting he whispered to his friend and crush "Crazy?"

[rankakiu]

Thoughts of the Droid: Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

Hello, people of Tumblr! How life treats you? As always, I hope very well. On this occasion, I bring to all of you my review and opinions of the film: Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. Although I know in advance that my review is late, I could not resist the temptation to share my opinions with you. After all, this platform serves this purpose.

Finally, continuing with the review, it is surprising that this film is considered the first adaptation of a videogame to the big screen to be totally successful, both at the box office, as well as in the criticism and acceptance of the audience. It is certain that? Well, I invite you to stay and read my review to find out.

WARNING: NOT SPOILER-FREE. Read at your own risk 

Entering already in full in the review, What do I think about the movie? Short answer: fun and entertaining. It does not waste seeing it on the big screen. Now, we go with more details.

Characters: Perfectly constructed to please the spectator. At this point, I would like to highlight the magnificent work that actor Ryan Reynolds did, since he was apparently born for the role of Pikachu. Through his voice and facial expressions, he gave life to a Pokemon as classic and loved as Pikachu is. He plays his role and with that, achieves another interpretation worthy of admiration, just as he did a couple of years ago with the character of Deadpool.

For its part, the actor Justice Smith delivers a character, who is not as charismatic as its protagonist but delivers a character well enough built to care about his life, his decisions and how it unfolds in the history. Justice Smith delivers, at first, a character who has renounced all dreams and has adopted a conformist attitude, where he does not care what happens with his life. For later, that his character, in his journey, evolves into a character that little by little opens his heart, with which he creates new friendships and where he also changes his perspective of life and even finds a new vocation to which wants to dedicate. This duo of actors is those who carry mostly the weight of the film and in return deliver good memorable characters, with whom the viewer can sympathize quite well.

Of the rest of the cast, although they are not as developed as the main duo, at least they are quite friendly, each of them has a charisma that makes it impossible to hate them or that one as a spectator does not feel that their presence is redundant.

History: Entertaining, but a little more effort would not have hurt. Of course, I admit that I'm facing a story that honors the genre of mystery and detectives. It is, in a basic sense, a police-type story, where little by little we are presented with clues so that our characters (and in passing the audience) form a scheme of events that allows them to solve a case. Not only that, but I also recognize that the story perfectly presents motivation to our protagonists to be involved in the mess. We have Pikachu, who has lost his memory, and only resolving the case can find out who he is. In the case of the character of Tim Goodman, his motivation is due to finding his father or to be certain that happened to him. Lucy Stevens sees, in this case, the opportunity to achieve her dream of being a reporter, but as she spends time with Tim and Pikachu, she becomes a true ally and helps the duo, because that's what she wants ... of course, without ever forgetting her goal, which is the story simply goes to the second place on her list of priorities, which speaks very well of the character and that is not just a kind of walking ambition.

As for the villain, Howard Clifford and his motivations ... Eh, I feel that they could work much more, as they deliver an unmemorable villain and in fact what you remember most about him is that he passes his mind to the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo. Although there is something that I liked about the villain and that is that when he uses Mewtwo's body, it becomes a real threat. Basically, it's like a little taste of seeing an alternative scenario of "'What would happen if Mewtwo is a bad guy?" And his plan, in a certain perspective is quite cruel, since the pokemon reduces them to mere bodily recipients, taking away their free will, his personality, feelings and above all breaking the bond of affection that these creatures have with humans.

And as for humans, Howard basically condemns his own race to be trapped in a body that is not theirs and what is worse, in the body than their companions were once. Truly a terrible plan, motivated by a belief, apparently noble, but deep down is a true spectacle of horror, where someone decides for everyone without taking into account the opinion of others.

In general, the story is well thought out, but not without its mistakes. Although luckily or for the good work of the writers, the story works well within what they want to propose, of course, without forgetting the comic moments that work wonderfully and the dramatic moments that serve to further explore the facets and psychology of the characters.

Visuals and special effects: Without a doubt, special effects stand out to give life to the city Ryme, which looks largely like a highly futuristic city, but do not doubt that we could see something similar in a few more years. On the other hand, the city also feels realistic to present several facets of a very large city, where we have different places to explore. Of course, without forgetting that the city also has its dark side, especially the Pokemon fights, where they are totally clandestine. In addition, you can truly appreciate a healthy coexistence between humans and pokemon, where both races work side by side on a daily basis to keep the city prosperous. It is in its purest sense, a kind of paradise, of utopia that shows that both parties can coexist.

As for the design of the pokemon, I feel that most of them work quite well. But there are also some, that despite having respected their classic designs to one hundred percent, definitely not very good, and in this case, I think that the pokemon of Mr. Mime and Psyduck are the most suffer from this problem. Even so, you feel the effort they put in to make the pokemon on a more realistic plane, so to speak.

Action: This is the point where I believe I will be most critical. I do not doubt that the fight between Pikachu and Charizard was exciting and overwhelming since it had a genuinely comical outcome. However, in my opinion, we should have seen more fights in this style. The fight between Mewtwo and Pikachu, that was disappointing, since Pikachu fled more than he fought. Ok, I agree that a normal Pokémon is not a rival to Mewtwo, but I also believe that they could deliver an action sequence that was more developed. In this fight you have to Pikachu only uses an attack against Mewtwo and nothing else. Although that, the various scenes of escape and persecution, such as the forest (where the Greninja make their appearances) are very attractive, they keep you on the edge of your seat and you want the protagonists to escape from such terrible enemies. The action is decent, but it leaves you asking for much more.

In conclusion, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, despite its problems, is a very entertaining film, it is in its essence, a fun and interesting trip to see. To be the first live action movie of this franchise, the result is a real pleasant surprise. So while I give this movie 3 out of 5 Pikachus coffee fans. If ultimately you are looking for a fun time or want to see a new perspective of Pokemon, without doubt, this movie is for you.

Greetings

Rankakiu

[thoughts-of-a-bibleophile]

bit of a rant/review of pokemon the movie i choose you

Ok. Can we talk about the Pokémon movie? It was a beautiful fucking mess.

Why?

Let me preface this by saying I am a huge Pokénerd and am a fan of the games and anime (I haven’t watched it in years but what I have seen recently I enjoyed). Saying that, I also am someone who won’t take “well it’s just a kid’s show/movie, it doesn’t have to be good” as an excuse ever, especially with well-done kid’s movies are coming out every year at this point.

Anyway. if you are curious, for some reason, about my opinion of the latest movie in the Pokémon franchise....continue reading.

Also. SPOILERS BELOW.

So. Like I said previously. It was a beautiful, terrible hot mess.

A h o t mess

Let’s start with why I thought it was terrible (and weed out the butthurt fans right off the bat)

Story wise, there were issues. Since they crammed the entirety of season 1 into it with different characters and picked the best episodes of the season as story points.

Like I would compare it to The Last Airbender movie in how over-stuffed it was in story, since that movie also tried to an entire season into a movie, but I can’t compare them because The Last Airbender movie is actual garbage and this movie is.....not that.

Main complaint is movie length. Why is it so short when it could have been so much longer and filled with more character interaction and development?? I’m not asking for Pixar quality because I’m not expecting Pixar, but if you’re gonna introduce us to new characters and expect us to love them and miss them when they leave, give us a bit more to go on than just snapshots of their journey. Speaking of snapshots, though, I did like that little touch of Verity going through her phone to show the moments they’ve all been together -- clever, time-saving story-telling choice, that.

“No one watches/plays Pokémon for the story/characters” -- WELL I DO. THEY’VE DONE IT IN THE PAST AND MADE A MEMORABLE STORY AND GAME FOR US, SO THEY CAN DO IT AGAIN. Have you even SEEN Pokemon Mewtwo Strikes Back? BECAUSE BOI THERE WERE TEARS AND IT WAS THE BEST.

Just...The reason the other Pokémon movies worked so well/better is because we knew the characters involved aside from Ash. If we’re being introduced to new characters in this movie, give us a reason to care about them.

There was also just very little tension because I knew that they were just highlighting parts of the first season (or so), so whatever problem they had would be worked out by the end. Also, because it’s Pokémon and Ash is an OP MC.

My boi Sorrel tho

I love Sorrel, though. A+ dude. I wish he had more screen time because he's such a cute little bean and I FUCKING CRIED when his Luxray died HGHSJJJJjdee (but does he only have Lucario?? Like I know he was too afraid to love a Pokémon after Luxray, but boy are you seriously going on your own with one mon???)

I was also happy to see that he found Articuno, but WOW these kids are lucky because together they’ve all seen like four legendaries (Entei, Raikou, Suicine, Ho-Oh) in the span of a year (or so?) Some people, apparently, don’t see legendaries EVER and these kids see FOUR? I know it’s because plot but dang.

Verity (like the lake!)

Verity (ha her name is Verity and she's from a region with a lake named Verity lol) kind of just reminded me too much of Misty with her Pokémon being water types. If they were gonna add that little background about her mom, I wish they would have done more with it. Like...explain how she uses water types because her mom loved water types. She uses a Piplup because her mom has an Empoleon. I just wanna know MORE about her. GIVE ME MOREEEE DANG IT

I also def thought they were gonna have her mom as someone we've met in the games/show before, but no. Just random, faceless character we never see/meet.

Angry child Cross who is essentially Kacchan from My Hero

Can we talk about Cross for a second?

Yes, he’s an asshole, but, especially with that little redemption arc, he’s not EVIL. Like I know they needed someone to set off all the bad things, but this boy doesn’t have an evil heart. Just say....like a darkened heart or whatever because if he was evil he wouldn’t get a redemption arc like that. He’s just a proud asshole who believes in strength over friendship.

Honestly, true antagonist is Marshadow because WOW SOMEONE NEEDS TO COOL THEIR JETS. I was also incredibly confused as to if Marshadow was good or bad.... Like they say its a guide and someone who restores the balance or fixes the Ho-Oh feather, which sounds like a good guy, but this little bitch was stirring up all the trouble and ends up being the main villain like good lord what is going on.

The animation, the colors

Damn I forgot how good the battles look. Like DAMN. So much tension for a battle I know Ash is gonna win. So much hype when LITERALLY NO ONE UNDERSTANDS TYPE MATCHUPS LIKE A PIPLUP VS A PIKACHU THE PIKACHU WILL WIN IDIOTS

Ahem. But I'm probably thinking too much like the games and not the show which kind of throws the games out the window so whatever.

But yeah, man, I forgot how beautiful something can be when it goes onto the big screen. Like, the Pokémon anime has always had a certain look, a certain charm to it (yes, even in the Sun and Moon series), but it just looked so great and beautiful and gorgeous and lovely on the screen and I’m honestly excited for it to come out on DVD/BluRay whatever so I can see it again.

Ok...it’s not Your Name or a Ghibli film. But...it’s still a very pretty Pokémon movie and it touches my nostalgic, nerdy heart.

ALL THE NOSTALGIA

You read my complaints above, but I will admit that, while it was a bit ridiculous to cram the entire first season into one movie, I enjoyed that it was a celebration of sorts of the show from its beginning? Which was honestly great. They had all of the best, most memorable moments from the show (the pilot -- obviously, finding Charmander, Bye Bye Butterfree). I was near tears a few times with all the nostalgia, guys.

I wish they had brought back Misty and Brock if they wanted to really really celebrate the first season, but c’est la vie.

AND THEN THAT THEME SONG GAVE ME LEGIT CHILLS. I DON’T CARE THAT IT WAS REMIXED. I HAD CHILLS. GOOSEBUMPS E V E R Y W H E R E.

I saw the theme song remix on YouTube prior to seeing the movie and I felt all the nostalgia then, so you’d think I wouldn’t get chills when I saw it.

Welp, we’d both be wrong then. Because ALL THE CHILLS. ALL THE HYPE FOR THE REST OF THE MOVIE. IT WAS GLORIOUS. (imma put it on repeat after i post this, tbh.)

Other things that don’t really have a place elsewhere

Also, this was pretty much the X-Men days of future past of Pokemon. Tbh. Because, unless this is just AU first season? (I can’t remember if this was confirmed to be just the alternate universe first season), it’s like they’re saying well, here’s the NEW beginning of the show so now we can do whatever we want woo! (Jesus I sound like Kukui)

Speaking of doing whatever they want...

PIKACHU SAID WORDS??? ENGLISH? WHYY???????????? I WAS SO CONFUSED AND WONDERED IF MY SODA HAD BEEN SPIKED

I know they were trying to do the throwback to Mewtwo Returns (BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT WAS ONE OF, IF NOT THE, BEST MOVIES AND SO DOES THE POKÉMON COMPANY) and we all want to remember why we love Ash and Pikachu so much and why THEY care about each other so much. But....that was.......strange. Maybe the Japanese audience liked it more because that seems to be the only opinion they really care about, but I know I wasn’t the only one in the theatre just staring at the screen in confusion asking what the actual f u c k was going on.

Last things

I may have my complaints -- that I’m throwing out into the ether just to get them out of my head -- but that doesn’t mean I disliked it.

It’s still Pokémon and I’m still a fan and everyone will still be fans regardless of any issues with the movie, any story problems, any characters featured (or lack thereof **MISTY AND BROCK).

With its beautiful animation, particularly in the battles, and gorgeous set pieces, because WOW did you say some of the views they had?, it was nice to see Pokémon celebrated with an old story told with a fresh coat of paint.

This movie may not be the best. It may not be Pokemon: The First Movie Mewtwo Strikes Back (honestly, most movies aren’t that, so that might be a bit unfair to say.) But it’s still got that Pokémon charm we all know and love and has some pretty cool characters along the way. It’s definitely something that every Pokémon fan, young or old, new or a veteran, should watch and enjoy. Because, despite its flaws, it reminds you of better times, nostalgic times.

It reminds you of that first time you played the game or watched the show, when your biggest choice was your starter Pokémon and adventure was just outside the door, waiting for you to take the first step.

(Yes, I’m basically saying nostalgia is what powers this movie, but we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary, so of course there will be nostalgia.)

Some fandoms can’t say they’ve been around for over 20 years -- but Pokémon, with its die-hard fans and ever-growing fanbase who will support just about anything that comes out relating to the games/show, can. And the movie understands that. It understands that just about everyone who sees it will put on their hat, grab their Pokémon, and sit in those theatre seats like we’re all excited 10 year olds waiting to go on our own journeys, waiting to revisit the world of Pokémon regardless of how good the movie is. And that, the strength of the fans and the perpetual love of the series, in my opinion, is the greatest strength.

[gascon-en-exil]

The interminable generation war of the Pokémon fandom is not something I’m inclined to wade into, not least because I am one of those strange individuals who play the games in part for their stories and worldbuilding. As reliably underwhelming as those attributes of any given game in this franchise may be, it’s nonetheless evident that Gamefreak puts some effort into elements of the franchise that aren’t competitive tournaments or Battle <name of building>s or gimmicky mini games. Sometimes. 

As such, in the spirit of my modest contributions to the FE and Zelda fandoms on this blog and as further proof that I am capable of judging aspects of video games aside from the desirability and inferred sexual prowess (or lack thereof) of their men, here follows my current opinions on each of the regions of the main series...so nothing about Orre or those Ranger spin-offs or whatever. And yes -  regions rather than generations, so the remakes will be grouped with their originals.

So. Very. Blaaaand. As with Archanea from Fire Emblem and the NES Zelda games I can respect the historical significance of the Kanto games; hell, unlike FE and Zelda I was actually following the series back when RBY were in their prime...and yet they are so unremarkable. Kanto feels utterly devoid of distinctive personality despite appearing in all of the first four generations, and even today there’s really nothing I can say about it beyond the relatively realistic villain team and the emphasis on modernization in contrast to Johto. Supposedly, anyway...it’s more like Kanto cares less about historical preservation which I suppose is probably the closest these games comes to commenting upon the real world inspiration for the region. Combine this with a contentious roster of Pokémon - some are great and still hold up today, some are meh, and almost all of them get disproportionate amounts of exposure and new toys in later generations, for better or worse - and an infamously loud fanbase wearing some very thick nostalgia goggles and you’ve got a setting I have no interest in revisiting. I absolutely wouldn’t put another round of remakes past GF, though 

(But having the protagonist and his rival hook up in their later years was a nice twist.)

Not much more developed than its predecessor, but the Johto games benefit immensely from throwing in Kanto as a bonus (sort of) postgame region, both for the aforementioned contrast and for the additional content. Sure, the level curve is kind of screwy, the Pokémon could be better (Johto has my least favorite starter line-up, for instance), and Kanto feels half-formed in Gen II, but it’s not bad for what it is. I like that these games are set three years after the first ones, in that it conveys a sense of the passage of time - something that would only get more vague as the series progressed. I’m not much interested in the nods to Japanese culture and folklore strewn throughout Johto, but at least the region is identifiably Japanese. Also, the implementation of elements like a day/night cycle and days of the week appeal to me, even if in practice they’re more annoying than anything else. And I know the entire internet agrees with me, but HGSS did substantially more for Johto and Kanto than FRLG did for Kanto. That’s kind of sad, honestly.

While I’m bringing up remakes, I would however like to disagree with most of the internet and say that ORAS were good remakes - good enough to where I could actually finish Alpha Sapphire when the original left me so unimpressed that I actually stopped playing the series outside remakes until Gen VI. The beloved Battle Frontier (which doesn’t seem all that interesting? Someone explain the appeal of this thing to me) may be missing and you can’t re-challenge gym leaders and various other things you can only do in Emerald, but on the flip side the story development is much improved and better paced - yay for convenient cutscene warping - and the Delta Episode provides a decent postgame capstone. What’s more, Hoenn is absolutely beautiful in the remakes, looking as lush and tropical as it ought to and no longer bogged down with water routes that are a slog to traverse or much backtracking. Soaring is a wonderful addition as well that shows off the region and cuts down on HM usage, and the DexNav is excellent for reducing the tedium of catching them all (or some approximation thereof when stupid things like event legendaries and untradeable-on-GTS version exclusives still exist).

I haven’t even mentioned the villain teams. I know full well that Tumblr is ahead of me on this one, but they are so gay. I picked up the gayer version with Matt outright professing his love for men (somewhat ruined when you consider that he’s talking to a ten-year-old...ick), but via extensive research *ahem* I’ve learned that Omega Ruby has its moments too and that Teams Magma and Aqua are best enjoyed as a pair. Their goals may be patently stupid, but they all learn something at the end of the day and can go home and have an orgy together. I haven’t even mentioned the Steven/Wallace subtext one of my mutuals cued me into, which is sweet revenge indeed for Emerald fanboys whining for years about femme Wallace with his predictable team becoming champion in that game. It’s enough altogether for me to forgive the game for constantly teasing Brendan/May - because obligatory heterosexual romance doesn’t have to wait for a little thing like puberty.

The only region for which I can’t really give a full assessment. I started a playthrough of Platinum on emulator, but the game felt so slow and clunky that after the second gym (which I’ve read is an especially dull and pace-breaking stretch) I couldn’t bring myself to play any more. I’ve watched speedruns and video reviews of this game, and they’ve only confirmed my initial opinion and caused me to hope that most of Sinnoh’s copious issues will be addressed in the inevitable remakes. The over-reliance on HM slaves (poor Bidoof...), unintuitive region layout, periods of severe environmental slowdown in the form of marshlands and deep snow, and other factors do not appeal to me at all, and while I know Platinum fixed this particular problem I assume that the Diamond and Peal remakes will not have to contend with a limited roster as they did. The characters could do with some work as well: Barry seriously needs to calm down, I still don’t know how to feel about Fantina (will she be Kalosian? What about in the Japanese and French versions where she’s apparently from an English-speaking country?), and Cyrus really doesn’t work as the charismatic leader he’s built up to be. Say what you will about the Hoenn villain teams or Team Flare having idiotic goals, but at least I can say what those are. I still got nothing on Team Galactic caring about Prof. Rowan’s evolution research or stealing energy or what have you. Sinnoh is severely in need of a second - or third, I suppose - draft. 

Confirming that Volkner and Flint are a couple would also be nice. Just throwing out ideas.

When I downloaded White and Black 2 for emulator I didn’t expect to be very impressed by these games. Unova is the MURICA FUCK YEAH region, as we all know, and I shouldn’t have to point out to my regular followers that that fact alone would be enough to unfavorably prejudice me against the place. And yet, in spite of that, it works for me. A big part of that is that Louisiana is absent from this loose celebration of the US as interpreted by Japan; there’s an oil baron dressed like a cowboy, a Californian or Hawaiian surfer bro, a gay (or straight hipster, hard to tell these days) artist with a loft gym in Castro the Village Castelia City, a Southern mammy for some casual racism that was actually too casual for international release, counterparts to Coney Island, Broadway, Hollywood, and American sports, and numerous Pokémon like the Trubbish and Vanillite* lines inspired by the shallow consumerism that passes for culture in the US, but nothing representing my own stubbornly French state. I’m actually warier about the bizarre attempts to insert bits of medieval and early modern Europe into the region via PETA-by-way-of-the-Knights-Templar (what) Team Plasma and the trio quartet of legendaries based on les Trois Mousquetaires. Did whoever came up with those not get the memo about where the series was going next?

With that said, although I’m not as enamored with N as some people his characterization was if nothing else a step up from anything that had come before. While Ghetsis and Plasma make no damn sense aesthetically until the sequels they are intimidating villains who raise serious questions about how humans treat Pokémon...that are naturally never considered in their full complexity because friendship or something. As I stated with Johto I do like the sequel model of region development since we get to see how Unova has changed over two years. I also appreciate the season mechanic that only appears in these games for lending some variety to the geography, though in execution it’s kind of a pain.

*But hey, I’m thankful at least that this is I think the only region that lets you catch (decent) Ice types before lategame. I will absolutely take the ice cream with a face.

Perfect, or rather just imperfect enough to perfectly capture the essence of France and its culture in this silly world of fantasy cockfighting. Unashamedly biased I may be, but as Kalos gets a lot of hate online I feel the need to push back against popular opinion a bit. X and Y were in my opinion the first games where GF really went all in on characterizing a region, because everything from the preoccupation with aesthetics (Character customization! Dog Furfrou grooming! Petting and pampering your Pokémon! Meticulously kept jardins à la française! Serious philosophical discussions on the fleeting nature of beauty! Team Flare...ok, never mind, they’re kind of dumb) to the discerning restaurant culture to the general ambivalence toward glorious and gloriously wasteful institutions like monarchy and their lavish châteaux feels so familiar to me. And how could I forget the Fairy type, a type tailor-made to vex the sort of posturing bro gamer sorts who somehow maintain their bro-ness while openly playing Pokémon. Could any region but Kalos have delivered that so beautifully? Well, now that I think about it, are the Japanese aware that the French are characterized as feminine in the English-speaking world? Regardless, I could go on, but this post is long enough as it is.

As I said before, Kalos isn’t entirely without flaw. Team Flare might be a hair less ridiculous than Team Galactic, but that isn’t saying much. The troupe of rivals, such as they are, aren’t much better, and others like Sycamore and most of the gym leaders are woefully underutilized. The Kalos Pokédex is overstuffed, and while I enjoy its subdivision into three regions that not-so-coincidentally recreate the Tricolore it is nevertheless a pain for those who like to fill up the Dex as they go along in a game. The developers were still clearly learning how to deal with the camera in a 3D space as is evident in certain areas like Lumiose, and certain features like the roller skates are awkward to use. Not the Exp Share, though - call me a lazy casual, but that thing makes team-building so much easier and actually incentivizes doing so rather than just relying on one overleveled Pokémon with good coverage to solo everything. Oh, and we never got a Pokémon Z, or more importantly an extension of the map that would include southern France. Poké-Gascogne, please, Game Freak.

Really, it’s hard for me to criticize X and Y because I quickly come back to everything I love about the place. I’m actually replaying X right now, inspired as I was by this project and lacking anything else to play before USUM comes out next month. Speaking of which...

I may not have any personal attachment to Hawaii, but I have to give GF serious props for taking the best gameplay and worldbuilding elements of Kalos and replicating them on an even greater scale. Alola is a vibrant and extensively-realized setting for a game, and I’m not even taking into account that we’ll be getting an AU version of it or something like that in the upcoming games. Sun and Moon fascinate on their own with their deep characterizations that touch on such surprisingly dark topics as child abuse (in a variety of forms) and the failure of community and, er, social programs, or whatever you’d call the Island Trial and the whole sending-ten-year-olds-out-to-enslave-wild-animals thing this universe has going on. 

There aren’t really any duds in the cast, either: Kukui is drool-worthy, Guzma and the rest of Team Skull are thoroughly silly and also thoroughly sad, most of the kahunas and trial captains are entertaining in their own ways (special props go to Nanu, Kiawe and his hiker boyfriend, and Acerola the fallen aristocrat who’s entirely too perky about it), Lusamine is a demented mother figure so of course I find her compelling, and Hau...taught me what a malasada is? It’s basically a Portuguese beignet, from the sound of things. Lillie is the real star however, and I don’t understand why some fans criticize the games for making the story more about her than about the player character. One of the biggest drawbacks of silent protagonists, and especially silent protagonists that never emote, is that it’s difficult for them to be a part of character-driven storylines, and in a first for the series unless you count N in BW Sun and Moon are exactly that kind of story. Lillie gets a voice and a distinct place in the world and in the lives of the other major players in the narrative, and she has a development arc that follows along with but stands independent from the standard one followed by this protagonist and all others in this series. Meanwhile, the player character...is from Kanto, and is Kukui’s cousin, and Kukui is probably fucking their mother. That’s pretty much it.

I’m a little less enamored with the Ultra Beast plotline as it’s a little too sci-fi for me, and Aether’s presence and purpose in Alola feels unexplored, but there’s still a chance that USUM may woo me on either score. I’m fairly indifferent on the Mega Evolution vs. Z-Moves argument, and I can take or leave Alolan forms - except Ninetales *pets* - but SM made one substantial gameplay improvement I absolutely adore and will hate to see be removed from future games: ride Pokémon. No more HM slaves, yay! Compound that with surfing between islands and some new areas and they’ve sold me on the next games. If the story is as radically different as trailers seem to be promising I can only hope that it’ll be just as engaging as the first time around.

So, if I had to provide a tl;dr by dint of a simplified ranking, it’d probably go as such:

Kalos > Alola > Hoenn = Unova > Johto > Kanto = Sinnoh

I’d expect Sinnoh to get bumped up a few notches in remake form, but otherwise that’s about right.

[puclpodcast]

The Fluff: Autumn Is Coming (a.k.a. My Top 6 Gen II Pokémon

Hello, my dear PUCLonians, and welcome once again to The Fluff. In September we’ll finally be able to use the Time Capsule again in a meaningful manner, by which I mean, without having our Pokémon stuck forever in old games. Gold and Silver are coming out on Virtual Console, and while I deeply feel the lack of an immediate Crystal release, I remain optimistic for a future one.

Gen II is kind of my unfinished Generation: due to various circumstances, I never finished my Silver game way back when, and in my SoulSilver, I could not bring myself to grind my sub-par team up to a level that would allow me to challenge Red. So in my mind he’s still sitting there, waiting for me to come find him. Will I ever? I hope so, and when I do, there’s a good chance I’ll bring some of these to the match: my Top 6 Gen II Pokémon!

Number 6: Chikorita and Hoppip

These Pokémon round out my rankings together, although for different reasons. The first time I played Silver, remembering how much of a good idea it had been to pick a Fire-type starter in Gen I, I chose Cyndaquil to begin my journey. But as my love for Grass types consolidated, Chikorita became my only choice. (Hint: it wasn’t a very good one, to be honest, as it’s by far the most difficult Starter for the Johto games).

When I got Pokémon Super Mistery Dungeon, the personality test said I was a Chikorita, and I was like, yeah, OK, that sounds plausible enough. And then every single person I know, from my PUCL friends to my Mom to my boyfriend, looking at a list of the possible starters for that game, pointed, umprompted, to the Chikorita as the best possible match for me. (My boyfriend called it “that zucchini thing”, but that’s besides the point.) So, apparently, I’m not a Whimsicott, but a Chikorita.

Well, I wasn’t a possible starter, which is absolutely preposterous, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.

I don’t know, Whimsicott… it definitely left a mark. Hence Chikorita’s presence here.

So it’s a vanity thing?

… I suppose.

As for Hoppip, I’ve told this story countless times: Hoppip was the one Pokémon I remember coming across in a patch of tall grass, knowing absolutely nothing about it and never having seen it before, and it filled my heart with wonder and joy. (My heart was a bit disappointed when I caught it and realized it knew no useful moves, but that’s another story.)

With all the other generations after being pretty much completely spoiled by Japan having them in advance or by Game Freak being dumb, I’ve never again felt that wondrous feeling. And I miss it. Hopefully the spoilers for Gen 8 are handled in a better fashion… or I can devise a strategy to stay in PUCL without seeing absolutely all of them.

Number 5: Furret

Furret is one of those Pokémon that hovers around the top of my huge, ever-changing list of favorite Pokémon. But it is not a Pokémon that represents Gen II to me, so it’s a bit low on this list.

Furret is as useless as it is freaking adorable, and somehow learning it is as long as a man is tall does not take away from it.

… wait, what- Oh dear Arceus. This thing is 5’11”?

Yup. You’re used to my Furret plushie being tinier than you, but the real deal is huuuge. I’ve seen people make life-sized Furret plushes online, but so far none have been sufficiently fluffy in my opinion. If an appropriate one was made, you can bet I’d empty my wallet out for it in a heartbeat.

It would essentially be a body pillow.

Yes! The cutest one ever! Furret is definitely a Pokémon I’d choose to have in real life, for its perfect cuddling potential. And its pink shiny is delightful, although the color has lost a lot in the later Generations.

Number 4: Mareep

I guess it’s pretty clear that I love fluffy, sheep-shaped Pokémon.

And rightly so.

So Mareep was on the fast track to being on my team as soon as I met one in Pokémon Silver. While the loss of fluff upon evolving was a bit disheartening, I loved my Flaaffy and my Ampharos dearly, and years and years later, my love was rewarded with a super-fluffy Mega Evolution!

Thoreal the Ampharos sits in a box, waiting for me to find a way to use him properly in OU (I have a good set, just not a good team to go with it), which hopefully will be soon. I hope he and Tapu Cocoa, my Koko, can become fast friends.

I can take care of Ground types for them!

That’s sweet, Whimsicott, thank you. I’ll consider it. Anyway, after a first Generation in which the only Electric type I liked was Raichu, the Mareep line came in and strengthened my appreciation for this type, which, given my fondness for Grass types and their hatred of anything with wings and a beak, is a good, good thing.

Number 3: Celebi

Between my Mew and Jirachi 20th Anniversary plushes sits a Celebi from the same line. It has adorable glittery pink wings, and it has so far refused to let me go back in time to tell myself to buy Google stocks.

Gee, I wonder why.

Much like Mew in Gen I, Celebi was the unattainable dream of Gen II for me, because, much like with Mew in Gen I, Italy was pretty much the only country where Pokémon games were localized and sold in giant heaps, but no distribution events were held. My first Celebi came in Gen IV, in 2011, but the memory of its mystique never really left, and Celebi is pretty much the only onion I love (since I can’t eat most of them).

It’s kind of a bummer that it already had two non-Normal types and it couldn’t become a Fairy type along with me. I’d have been kind of OK with Celebi as my twin.

Really? I always thought you loved the exclusivity.

I do, but for a Mythical Pokémon, I might have made an exception. Now, sure, Tapu Bulu is a strong Legendary, but it has ZERO fashion sense. Unacceptable.

Yeah, Bulu is a good, bro, but… well. Let’s go back to Celebi, shall we? Despite its slightly awkward looong arms, it’s really cute and huggable. Also, we need a billion more time-travel plots, stat. They’re my favorite and I can’t get enough.

Number 2: Suicune

Speaking of time travel plots in Pokémon, Celebi’s mate in that movie I will, absolutely, watch some day (when the warnings about its awfulness from my PUCL peeps have faded enough from my ears) is the majestic Suicune.

Maestrale, my Suicune, was only used in a few VGC matches in a PFTT two years ago. Now I’m gathering Bottle Caps to give it a chance to shine in Gen 7.

Wait, Maestrale isn’t shiny.

No, darling, I was being metaphorical. Suicune is utterly beautiful, with its physics-defying ribbon tails, its flowing mane, its lovely blue shade… ah, it’s so pretty!

I mean, it was on a team with a shiny Whimsicott, so my eyes were elsewhere, but I guess it does look pretty nice, yes.

My love for Suicune is the main reason I resent Crystal not coming out this Autumn. This Pokémon deserves the extra storyline it got in Crystal and in the remakes, and I can’t wait to chase after it again, following the Northern wind.

Number 1: Bellossom

As I’ve mentioned before, I fell in love with Bellossom during its dance in the short that came with Pokémon The Movie 2000. I’ve always loved the Oddish line, and Bellossom was a fantastic addition to it. It is constantly on my list of “Pokémon I wish were more viable in battle”, and as much as Thatch tried during that one episode, I haven’t been able to find a set that satisfies me yet.

Maybe your expectations are too high.

Maybe they are. But when I do find that set, you can bet I’ll be breeding enough Oddish to plant a freaking forest of them, because Bellossom currently has the best shiny in the game. I do have a shiny Oddish already, but her Nature is not ideal, so my little green friend needs a little brother or sister. By the way, there is, out there in the world, one absolutely perfect shiny Bellossom plush. It was made on commission, so it’s not commercially available, but I want to share this awesomeness with you all:

By Sugarstitch on DeviantArt

Isn’t that amazing?

Not as good as a Whimsicott plush, but yes, cute!

With that, I suppose I’m done with Gen II until September. My dear PUCLonians, what are your favorite Gen II Pokémon? What are your fondest memories from that time? Let me know in the comments, and also let me know, if you managed to convince your Celebi to let you travel in time, how the heck you did it. Mine is apparently a real stickler for the rules.

It’s also made of fabric, which I’m sure doesn’t help, but keep dreaming, sister.

Until next time,

The Fluffiest Whimsicott

from The Fluff: Autumn Is Coming (a.k.a. My Top 6 Gen II Pokémon

[kalosstarters]

One-shot: “Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”

Requested by @modeststroke

After winning the Kalos league, Mairin challenges the Elite Four and gets an interesting job offer. But what does she do about it? It seems that when one door closes, another opens. 

A/N: One change to my HC is that Alain and Mairin are not in a relationship yet, even though in my earlier fics they have gotten together before the league. Mairin is 17 and Alain 22. Also, this was supposed to be a short drabble about jealousy, but hmm, it became something else (even though there is some jealousy in it too). Also, I hope none of my readers are Siebold fans because he is quite disgusting in this fic.

“So today is the big day. How do you feel about it?” the almost graduated Pokémon Doctor student Alain asked his best friend, who was getting ready to challenge the Elite Four of Kalos that day. Mairin had won the Kalos league a couple of weeks prior, and she had spent the time between her victory and the Elite Four challenge training hard with the Pokémon she planned to use in the big battles. Chespie the Chesnaught, Bébé the Florges, Bailey the Bayleef, Leafy the Leafeon, and the rest of her team were now as ready as they could be to challenge the four tough opponents before she could take on the champion.

The Kalos Champion had changed a year earlier, and even though she was very young and not allowed to participate in the decision-making in Kalos yet, her Zygarde and Dedenne were pretty much unbeatable these days. But Mairin didn’t let that worry her, because she knew she could do it if she just believed in her Pokémon. Her self-confidence was at a whole new level these days, and Alain was partially to thank for that. 

“Oh, I’m feeling just fine. Of course I’m a bit nervous, but who wouldn’t be? I’m facing the five toughest opponents of Kalos today,” the girl replied to her friend’s question. In that moment, she realized that it was actually happening, and a weight fell on her stomach, but she didn’t let it show.

The first two battles were easy for Mairin. Drasna’s dragons had no chance against Florges’ Moonblast and Chespie’s Dragon Claw, and Siebold’s Water Type Pokémon struggled against Mairin’s Grass types. Alain, who was watching in the stands, was not happy about the way the handsome chef stared at the girl intensely when she walked to shake his hand after the battle, and… was Alain just imagining or was the man’s gaze located a bit too low…? He blinked, and this time he was sure he was not imagining it. How disgusting is that guy, Alain thought in his mind, and made a mental note to tell Bonnie to stop her subordinate from treating women like that. Bonnie might have been young, but she did have everyone’s respect.

Next up was Wikstrom and his steel type Pokémon, and it was a much more even battle than the previous ones. Mairin was down to her fifth Pokémon until she finally beat him. After the battle a blonde girl with Dedenne still in her bag, just like many years earlier, approached her and said:

“Mairin! It’s so good to see you again! You and your Pokémon were battling really hard. One more win, and you’ll get to challenge me, right?”

“Right,” Mairin answered with an unsure voice. She had been confident during her earlier battles, but seeing the champion herself, even if she was a friend, did make her nervous again. 

“Listen… I’ve been watching you here and at the Kalos league, and I can tell that you’ve developed so much since you started your journey. In fact, I have a suggestion about which I’d like to talk at Wikstrom’s retirement dinner tonight. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind at all if you joined us! Actually, bring that Alain of yours too, I’m sure it would do good for him to get out of his office.”

Mairin’s face turned red at her words, and she looked around to see if Alain was anywhere to be seen, but luckily for her, he wasn’t. Mairin had been trying to hide her feelings towards him, but apparently she wasn’t doing a very good job since Bonnie already knew about it. 

“O-ok. I’ll talk to him!” Mairin stuttered her answer. She was getting really nervous. To this point it hadn’t truly occurred to her that if she won, she could have the highest position of them all in the Kalos region. But was she ready for such a huge responsibility? Alain had decided to not take on the Elite Four, and clearly that was working just fine for him. But what did she want to do? She would have wanted to talk about that with Alain, but he had disappeared somewhere. 

Finally, it was time for Mairin’s last Elite Four battle, and her opponent was the new fire type specialist, Mira. Malva, the previous holder of the title, had decided to retire after Bonnie became the champion, and Mira was still a relatively inexperienced in her job, but Mairin was still expecting a difficult battle. She started strong, defeating two of Mira’s Pokémon with Chespie, but then he got a direct hit from a Fire Blast and was unable to continue the battle. Mairin’s Leafeon couldn’t handle Pyroar’s Flamethrower that was strengthened with Charcoal, but after that her Venusaur managed to defeat the Royal Pokémon, and the battle kept going until both trainers were down to one Pokémon. Mira’s Talonflame almost hit Mairin’s Sceptile, who was already badly damaged, but miraculously he managed to dodge, and hit the Talonflame with one last Dragon Claw. The battle was over.

After running to check if Sceptile was all right, and to thank him, Mairin took a look at the stands, and was relieved to see that Alain was there. He had a small smile on his face, and he was clapping with the rest of the audience. Without even thinking, the girl run to greet him, and hugged him forcefully. Alain patted her head awkwardly, and when she finally pulled off, she said, referring to the times they had been traveling together:

“I can’t believe I’ve made it so far! It’s all thanks to you.”

“Give yourself some credit. I or my Pokémon weren’t battling there, you were.”

She just smiled at him brightly, and the smile made Alain’s heart jump restlessly. He knew he would have to talk to her sooner rather than later, but now was not the time, because she still had one important battle to focus on. What he wouldn’t tell her, however, was that during Mairin’s third battle, he had run into Malva, who had been there to see her friend and colleague Wikstrom’s final battle before his retirement. She had asked in her own teasing style if Alain thought his girlfriend would win this whole thing, and how he’d feel about being the champion’s boyfriend. Alain had answered that she was not his girlfriend, and it was none of Malva’s business anyway. Malva had only smiled and whispered something about seeing how they looked at each other before leaving him alone.

Returning back to this moment, Alain realized Mairin had asked him something he hadn’t heard, because he was so caught up in his own thoughts. He asked her to repeat, and she said:

“Bonnie invited me to a dinner tonight. Apparently it’s for Wikstrom or something. Will you come with me? I only know Bonnie there, and honestly, all those famous people make me nervous…”

“Huh? Why did she want to invite you?”

“She didn’t tell. She just said she’d talk to me later.”

“Sounds weird. Do you have to go there?”

“I already said yes… Alain, please… this one time.”

“Ok, fine. This one time. But shouldn’t you be already healing your Pokémon for the final battle?”

“Oh. I guess you are right.” Mairin checked her clock, and noticed that she only had 15 minutes before the final battle, and she still needed to give the revives and potions to her beat up team. Before she left, she quickly squeezed Alain’s hand, but Alain took a firmer hold of hers before she could let go, and did something he hadn’t done before: kissed her on the cheek. After that he whispered: “good luck”. Mairin gave him a confused look, but then managed to send him her final smile before disappearing into the locker room.

Mairin hadn’t had time to talk about her worries regarding the champion’s job before the battle, but it didn’t matter anymore. Bonnie had only lost her Dedenne, while Zygarde (whom she still called Squishy, and Mairin felt it was the most inappropriate nickname for the 50% forme of the Dragon and Ground type legendary in front of her) kept knocking out Mairin’s Pokémon one by one. The battle was over before it had even properly started, and Mairin sighed, partly frustrated, partly relieved, when she called her final Pokémon Chespie back into his Pokéball.

“Don’t be ashamed,” Bonnie comforted her when she approached her to thank her for a good battle. “Most of my challengers can’t even take Dedenne out, but you did. I know it’s a bit unfair to use Squishy, but he just really wants to battle! Anyway, will I see you tonight?” she wanted a confirmation.

“Yes. Alain will come too.”

“Ah, that’s great! I’m looking forward to it!”

In the evening Alain and Mairin arrived to the restaurant Le Yeah where the dinner party for Elite Four Wikstrom was supposed to take place. They were dressed up quite formally for the occasion; Mairin was wearing a green knee-length dress and a silky scarf, and Alain a white blouse and black pants. Their seats were near the current Elite Four’s, and to Alain’s annoyance the water type master Siebold sat right next to Mairin.

“So… I heard you gave the Champion a good battle…” the blonde man started.

“Not really,” Mairin blushed. “I took down just one of her Pokémon.”

“Well, that’s as far as anyone has gotten. Believe me, I have tried… But she has the protector of Kalos on her side.” Siebold sighed. Mairin looked at him sympathetically.

“Maybe one day! Bonnie is my friend, but I know that even she is going to lose at some point. Or then she’s gonna get bored and tries something else.” Mairin smiled a bit at the thought of Bonnie trying different kinds of careers.

“Are you guys talking about me behind my back?”

Siebold, Mairin and Alain turned to see Bonnie, who had put her hands on her hips and was playfully pouting at the group. “Mairin, I haven’t even announced the news and you have already turned against me. I thought you were better than that.”

“Sorry, Bonnie! You know I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure you are going to do just fine when you become the official champion!* But would you care to tell us what that piece of news is?”

“Fine. As you know, as of tomorrow we have one empty spot for a new member of Elite Four. And someone needs to take that position. I wanted to wait until this moment, because there of course was a chance that you might have become the champion instead, but now that I’ve seen all your battles, I’m convinced, that you, Mairin, would be an excellent addition to our team. You even are a specialist of a certain type, which is something we usually want from our Elite Four members. I have already talked with Diantha and she said she would start the paper work immediately. That is, of course, if you want to join our team.”

Mairin looked at Alain in wonder, and she asked if they could talk about this in private for a moment. Soon they found an empty room, and she asked:

“You know I respect your opinion a lot… So, what do you think? Should I do it?”

“It would be good for your development, and you’d of course get paid well too. But it means a lot of responsibility, also outside battle fields. What about your dream of following your grandfather’s footsteps? Would you be OK with not doing it?”

“You are right. Ramos doesn’t currently have other candidates to be his successor. He is going to retire soon…”

After a small break she continued: “You know what? I’m not going to do this. When I battled against those strong trainers, I realized that even though my skills are enough to beat them, I am not ready. There are still so many things I can learn outside the league. And I will still have a lot of time to join the Elite Four in the future.”

“I think that sounds like a good decision,” Alain said supportively, and Mairin was grateful for that. She knew he could trust Alain to support her no matter what she decided to do.

They returned to their table, and Mairin announced her decision to everyone. She told them she was thankful for the offer, but couldn’t take it right now, because there were other things she wanted to experience before committing to a such a responsible job. Bonnie looked disappointed, but was also understanding. They did have other options for the replacement, so Mairin’s decision didn’t really change anything.

The evening continued, and Mairin (after making the relieving decision) chatted cheerfully with everyone close to her. However, when the older people started moving to the bar of the restaurant, she, Alain and Siebold stayed at their table. At first the talk was about nothing special, but after Alain informed them that he’d go to the bathroom, and left the two others alone, Siebold got way too close to Mairin. She smelled from his breath that he too had visited the bar at some point when she hadn’t been paying attention. He set one of his hands on her leg, and asked:

“You are interested in grass type Pokemon, right? I have some at my home, and I was wondering if you’d want to see them…”

Mairin didn’t have any time to answer his question when she saw the murderous eyes of Alain staring at them.

“Mairin. We are going back to Sycamore’s. Now.”

“Wait, what? He was just going to introduce me to… Wait a minute…” she thought she had understood his issue. “Are you jealous?”

“NO, Mairin! You are too naïve to understand… he is not going to show you any of his Pokémon! He’s disgusting, and has been looking at your… chest… the entire evening! And you!” he turned to Siebold. “What the Mew do you think you are doing with a girl who is still underage and at least 15 years younger than you?!”

“Why do you care so much?” Siebold asked him angrily.

“Why? Because it’s a decent thing to do. And because…” suddenly he pulled Mairin from her chair, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her straight on the mouth. At first Mairin didn’t know how to react, but she eventually answered to the kiss, not believing that the thing she had secretly dreamed of was actually happening. The kiss was light and sweet, and it felt right, and the couple was quite annoyed when Bonnie arrived and squealed of happiness: “Are you two finally an item?”

Alain and Mairin seemed to communicate with each other with their eyes, and they eventually nodded.

“I swear, I would have done something soon if you hadn’t realized… But I’m so glad you did!” Bonnie exclaimed and hugged her friends.

“She’s awfully smart for a 14-year-old, you know…” Alain whispered when Bonnie finally went to talk with someone else. Siebold had also disappeared somewhere, and Alain thought he’d talk with Bonnie about the behavior of her subordinate next morning.

“I know. But I’m glad we got this thing straight. I like you a lot, Alain.” Mairin answered, avoiding using the word ‘love’ because she knew Alain enough to know that he might not be ready to hear that quite yet.

“You are not too bad yourself,” he replied.

After a quick kiss, she added, “One more thing, though. Did you really think I’d go with Siebold?

That started bickering that continued until the couple arrived to Sycamore’s lab, where they had to get quiet because everyone was sleeping already. But by the time they got into their bedroom (that they had been sharing because they had noticed that sleeping next to each other kept their nightmares away), they had already forgotten what they had been arguing about, and both slept contently that night.

(*Until Bonnie becomes of age and gets her education, Diantha is the leader of the Kalos government. I HC that the champions also hold the legislative power in their regions)