#and she loses just like cheren

[lyricalchrysanthemum]

Thinking about. Bee and Cherry . Again

[sylviareviar]

hey guys i've been playing through pokemon black and white (i borrowed a copy of white from my local library) and every time i play these games i always do it with a "Pip" and "Fluffy". Since the game would be unplayable if I kept Fluffy as a Swablu, I allow myself to evolve him into an Altaria when the time comes, but the whole point of Pip's character is that he doesn't evolve, because he just can't. Therefore, anytime I play a game that has Piplup in it, I use it without evolving it and treat it as my main Water-type Pokemon, sometimes even replacing my starter.

My question is this: I'm getting to a point in Pokemon White that it's getting a little too difficult for me to keep playing with Pip as he is (if I could only give him custom stats, I'd give him higher bulk and special attack with a small boost to speed so he'd be able to take more hits without being so helpless). Should I evolve him and forget about my little "anime challenge"?

I feel kinda bad, but since White isn't my game anyway, I don't feel as bad as if it were my own game, Pokemon Black or Black 2. I don't intend to evolve him in either of those games. Plus, if I evolve him in White, it would be as though, in another universe, Pip was born with the capability to evolve. I'll be able to teach him moves I couldn't teach him as a Piplup and pass those on to future eggs if I want to do any further breeding. It's just that I keep hesitating anytime he levels up and keep cancelling the evolution.

I've kinda found myself at a crossroads here...

[salsaseth]

After hearing my friend, James bring it up in a call, we started watching Lily Orchard's video about Pokemon to see all the bad takes in it.

When she starts playing the DS games, she uses a mod to smooth out the aliasing and uncap the game's framerate to 60. And gah damn does it look fuckin bad. Even worse is during the 3D games where she uses another mod to smooth out the 3D models and it looks like peeled oranges. Unnaturally smooth. But it does get funny when she talks about the game running like garbage when she's fucked with the game's logic. Like no shit, it's running at a framerate it was never meant for.

Something really funny also begins in the DS games. I don't know why, but she replaces one of the starters with Ralts, cuz she's got some favoritism for Gardevoir. All well and good, but you know, Ralts is weak as shit until it learns confusion and it's still frail. So it gets its ass kicked all the way until it evolves into Gardevoir. But because of how much asskicking it receives, and I swear this is true, she suspects the game is artificially raising the strength of the enemy pokemon, as a way to explain for why's she losing.

Almost as if the game is designed to use a stronger than average pokemon to get you through the early game. ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) Still, I don't fully understand why she refuses to use the regular starters. Especially when you can catch Ralts and Kirlia for most of the games. save for black and white. Speaking of.

One takeaway I've had from listening to it is what she says is more revealing about herself than what is intentional. The most telling thing is when she's going off about the Black and White characters for speaking about their ideals and opinions. I mean, she mashes through that with the A button (VISUAL NOVEL HATER SPOTTED), so it's when she's paying attention. I don't know if she just doesn't know what the game is supposed to be going for, or if she's just purposefully ignorant for the sake of contrarianism, but the game's themes are about truth and ideals. The truth is out there, but the ideals we have shape our perspective of the truth. Even Cheren, who represents the truth, is still shaped his ideal. It's a little more deeper than, 'Characters excited that they all have opinions,' but what do i know?

She rails against these characters, N in particular for having opinions and speaking them out. Meanwhile in X&Y, which its cast and characters are there to mostly stroke the character's dick, she vastly praises and prefers these characters to the ones in B&W. Hmmm. Characters that have opinions and speak them out are hated, while those that don't and heap praise on her are loved. I wonder if this says anything about her?

The video gets pretty boring the longer it goes on. The hot take well starts drying up and it quickly becomes a bad screenshot let's play. "Then I did this, and then I did that!"

That's all I got to report. Besides the shoehorning in of lefty takes. I don't know if it's because she's not funny or if she wields everything with as much subtlety as anvil-nunchuks, but when there's an opportunity to make a joke with a leftist-slant, it's as heavy handed as a Titan's ballsack and as funny as stale bread. I'm a leftist bastard myself, but every time the jokes were shoehorned in, I'm like, "The funny? Where is it?!" Especially when it was about Looker and Nanu. I get not liking the police, but this isn't the time or place for it. Leave the jokes to the professionals. Like my friend Plate. Several unemployment jokes were made at Lily's expense, and each one was funnier than the last.

I'll report back if there's anything worth commenting on. Me and the friends got to the end of Sun and Moon, so we have SwSh and SV left.

And if you had time to read this 'post', Lily, I think you had time to 'post' your resume to get a job ;D ;D ;D

[nonbinaryspy]

Assorted Unova Headcanons

- Since Bianca earns all 8 gym badges after the MC and Cheren, I like the idea that she keeps taking on gym challenges at her own pace/in her way—AKA, even though she hasn't tried to become champion, she just keeps challenging new gyms as they open up. With her focus on research, it doesn't come up often. So decades in the future, after she's become a professor, she's chatting with visitors and makes an offhand comment about how it's funny she could never officially challenge Cheren, given that she already got the basic badge from Lenora.

"You did a gym challenge?" "Oh! Yeah, let me show you!"

Cue the visitors' eyes increasingly widening as Bianca pulls out case after case of all the dozens of gym badges she's earned over the years.

- In a similar vein, though she would tell you she's 'not an artist,' she's been doodling in the margins of every paper she touches since she was young. Once she starts traveling, she's often sketching and taking notes on everything she sees. As a professor, being able to render a quick, half-decent likeness as well as draw precise diagrams becomes a useful skill. She also likes making handmade cards and the like for her loved ones and the trainers she meets.

- Possibly related to the above—Cheren develops hoarder tendencies. Between wanting to keep practical supplies on hand for every eventuality, and being too sentimental to get rid of mementos, he's constantly having to find more ways to store stuff. He also somehow always has whatever people need on hand, whether it's some Pokémon food, a pencil to replace the ones his students are always losing, or painkillers (for his own headaches and when Alder insists on jumping down from high places).

- Like Alder, Benga originally had a Larvesta that evolved. The egg came from Alder's past Volcarona, and he gave it to Benga so he could learn how to raise and care for Pokémon. It was particularly special for Alder to watch Benga grow together with a Pokémon bred from Alder's old partner, though now when he sees Benga with his Volcarona, there's something a little bittersweet about it, given that his old Volcarona can't train with them and appreciate their growth as well.

Despite being such a community-oriented person, Alder usually visits the Celestial Tower alone. When Benga is a little older, Alder takes him along and tells him stories about Alder's Volcarona. He's surprised and touched to learn how many memories Benga still has of it to share in return.

As for Alder's current Volcarona, it was already evolved when he met it; he was exploring Relic Castle one day while deep in his grief, and coming across it brought back strong feelings for him. At first, he had doubts about catching it, as he worried that training the same Pokémon would be like 'replacing' his former Volcarona, and that he would be just setting himself up for the same loss. But his past partner had taught him the importance of cherishing his bonds, so he opened himself up to the new friendship. True to form as the sun Pokémon, Volcarona's light and warmth proved to be like a new dawn for him.

[paeliae-occasionally]

OC questionnaire (Part 2)

Tagged by the wonderful @the-golden-comet.

I separated these questions into different posts because it was a little long. Answering for the siblings. (Apollo+tyro and Marsh+Daimion)

What was the toughest time you had to endure while growing up?

Apollo: The Ponturesi. In order to use runes, the runic has to be destroyed and remade like the god Ezemhaziel was. They… They broke us.

Tyro: In the family of the Ponturesi. They drag you to breaking point and pull you back far too late.

Marsh: Watching Daimion go mad. There was nothing I could do to reach him. I have never felt so helpless.

Daimion: After Hazi I couldn’t do it anymore. I lost myself entirely, knowing I could do something like that just because someone told me to. I was in an asylum for a few years. I am doing better now.

What was the worst day of your life?

Apollo: The day they took tyro for the first time. They were so young and scared, and there was nothing I say to comfort them that wasn’t a lie. I just had to watch as they were dragged away and came back silent and shaking. That was the day I could finally use runes. I swear I will use them destroy that place, if it is the last thing I do.

Tyro: The day Cheren left. I know she became aggressive, she tried to fight back with her runes, but they found her. I just remember her in chains, the fear in her eyes as she was carted away. I never saw her again. I was able to use runes the next day.

Marsh: Hazi.

Daimion: Hazi.

What's your worst nightmare?

Apollo: Watching people I care about get hurt and not being powerless to help.

Tyro: Being taken back to them.

Marsh: Losing Dai to himself.

Daimion: Getting lost again.

If a monster asked you your worst nightmare, what would you tell it and why?

Apollo: Nothing. Knowing you fear them would only make them stronger. My secrets are safer with me.

Tyro: They already know the answer. They have always known, but still I would not give them the satisfaction of hearing me say it.

Marsh: Many call me a monster. I could look in the mirror and tell the truth. I tend not to lie when I can avoid it, just on principle.

Daimion: I have met too many monsters, and none of them deserve my concern. I would tell them that fear is the only route to courage, and the comfort they find in the easy way out only makes them cowards.

Still a few more questions to go, Part 3 it is.

Tagging @poethill, @somethingclevermahogony, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @katenewmanwrites, @drchenquill

@the-letterbox-archives, @saturnine-saturneight and @aintgonnatakethis.

[spacefinch]

Pokemon Incorrect Quotes: Unova Edition

Hugh: *handing out smiley balloons* I have no soul. Have a nice day!

Colress: I don't have one either.

Drayden: Let me see what you have!

Iris: A knife!

Drayden: NO!

Cilan: Fun fact! Blueberries are the only fruit named after a color.

Iris: Star fruit?

Cilan: ♥️ So close! That is a shape ♥️

Colresss: Welcome to physics!

*science project explodes*

*screaming*

Hilda: 🎶 ANNIE ARE YOU OKAY, ANNIE ARE YOU OKAY, ANNIE 🎶

Hilbert: *banging pots and pans*

Hilda: 🎶 ANNIE ARE YOU OKAY, WILL YOU TELL US THAT YOU’RE OKAY 🎶

Teacher: Uh, Cheren, can you read number 23 for the class, please?

Cheren: No, I cannot. What up, I’m Cheren, I’m 19, and I never fricking learned how to read.

Chili: Hi, welcome to Chili's.

Elesa: Hey, I’m lesbian.

Emmet: I thought you were Unovan.

Clay: I wanna be a cowboy, baby!

Alder: Hell yeah!

Clay:  I wanna be a cowboy, baby!

Hilbert: TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN

Cheren: Why are you guys reblogging this in December?

Hilda: TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN

Rosa: TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN

Cheren: It is February, you ANIMALS

Nate: TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN

Emmet: "Average person eats 8 spiders a year" factoid, actually statistical error. Average person eats 0 spiders per year. Spiders Georg, who lives in cave and eats over 10,000 every day, is an outlier and should not have been counted.

Chili: Oh sorry, I fell asleep while I was waiting on you to make me a sandwich.

Cress: Go back to sleep AND STARVE.

Ingo: Perhaps it is the context in which words are spoken that gives them the power of meaning. *yelling* I LOVE YOU, JOLTIK!

Emmet, banging on pots and pans: I DON'T GET NO SLEEP 'CAUSE OF YOU! Y'ALL NOT GONNA GET NO SLEEP 'CAUSE OF ME!

Hilda: Would you like something to drink? *opens fridge* We have water, milk, juice, Joltiks, Dr. Pepper…

Cheren: Joltiks?

Hilda: Joltiks it is, then.

Cheren: Wait, that’s not what I meant—

But she was already pouring him a brimming glass of Joltiks.

Ingo and Emmet: *in the middle of an intense Pokemon battle*

Hilbert: Can I get a waffle? Can I PLEASE get a waffle?

After said battle:

Hilbert, pointing at the losing Pokemon: He need some milk

Ingo: Road work ahead? Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does!

Rosa (pointing at a flock of Swanna): Look at all those chickens!

Ingo: *filming in selfie mode*

Emmet: (in background) Bop it! Twist it! Pull it!

Colress (grinning): I'M GOING TO JAIL!

Cheren: Tumblr is just talking to yourself but with an audience.

Cilan: That’s called a soliloquy.

Cheren: Found the theater kid. Get em boys.

Iris: Hey OP, how do we know you’re not a theater kid?

Cheren: I’M AN ENGLISH LIT MAJOR, YOUR HONOR

Cilan: Eating chips with chopsticks is unironically galaxy brain. Your fingers don’t get greasy and it lasts for longer.

Chili: Fork

Cilan: Oh, yeah, I’m going to stab my crunchy foods and make them fall apart like an absolute absentminded dunce, fool, clown, jester, like a monstrous moron, an idiot of Shakespearean proportions, a cretin.

Cress: Um, you seem to forget that ‘chips’ can also mean fries. And that’s probably what he was talking about, haha

Cilan: I did not forget anything. I purposely ignore the idea of using British vocabulary to do my part in helping it die out.

Cilan: KNOWLEDGE is knowing that a tomato is technically a fruit.

Cress: WISDOM is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Chili: PHILOSOPHY is wondering if a tomato is a fruit, does that make ketchup a smoothie?

Cheren: COMMON SENSE is knowing that ketchup isn't a smoothie.

Ingo: I went to the store and bought Quick Oats. The next day, my brother came back with Instant Oats. I will not be humiliated like this. I must now find an even sooner oat.

Hilbert: I hope nobody is evil

Ghetsis: >:)

Hilbert: Oh no

Elesa: Don’t post your negativity on a positive post.

Volkner: Electrons

Elesa: I should kick your ass.

Cilan: Being alive is great because there are so many different vegetables you can sauté. But then there are also the horrors.

Cheren: People who say ‘oof’ and people who say ‘bruh’ contribute nothing to a conversation.

Nate: OOF

Hilbert: BRUH

Ingo: Early to bed, early to rise, Burger King burger with Burger King fries

Skyla: Later to rise, later to bed, Burger King burger on Burger King bread

Elesa: Eat at morning, eat at night, I participate in a Burger King fight

Emmet: I slap my knees, I slap my thighs, tonight is the night that Burger King dies

Cheren: I currently have seven empty notebooks and I have no clue what to put in them.

Cilan: Put spaghetti in it.

Cheren: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone except you.

Bianca: Put spaghetti in it.

Cheren: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone except you two.

Nate: Put spaghetti in it.

Cheren: I am no longer taking suggestions.

Roxie: *playing guitar*

*suspicious crashing noises in distance*

Roxie: *plays guitar louder*

Hilbert: Big mood.

Emmet: What does that mean?

Hilbert: Well… it means, me too, I guess.

*the next day*

Ingo: I'm worried about Team Rocket using our subway system.

Emmet: Big mood, brother. Big mood.

Ingo: HILBERT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

Hilbert: Z is just a sideways N

N: Please stop it

Hilbert: Zo

Elesa: I can't find my earbuds and Target is closed. This is a nightmare.

Burgh: Put a Durant in each ear and they will sing to you.

Elesa: Not a half-bad idea actually.

Emmet: I go to Home Depot

Emmet: I eat the tools

Ingo: Stop it

Emmet: Crumch

Roxie: Is it cheating to teach Toxic to every member of my Pokemon team?

Elesa: Not at all, I'd love to hear them sing it.

Clay: None of y’all know what propaganda actually is, do you?

Hilda: It’s when a British person takes a good look at something.

Elesa: What are you guys going to be for Halloween?

Ingo: Sad

Burgh: Gay

Skyla: Sexy

Emmet: Goblin

Ingo: What if I was evil and ran towards you at very fast speeds

Emmet: My arms are strong, I would catch you and hug you

Clay: Children, this is dirt.

Nate, Rosa, and Hugh: dirt? dirt? dirt? dirt? dirt?

Hilda: Shoutout to all the people who started saying “same” as a joke once in a while but now use it for the most random things like a car honking their horn at another car.

Cheren: Yesterday a book fell off my desk but instead of picking it up, I just looked at it for a second and said “same”

Hilbert: LOL same

Bianca: Why are we like this?

Cheren: Is there anything better than pussy?

Cheren: Yes, a really good book

Cheren: *plays the keyboard*

Hilbert: Who’s the hottest Uber driver you��ve ever had?

N: Ummm… I never went to Oovoo Javer.

*HAS NEVER WENT TO OOVOO JAVER*

Looker: Where’s the best place to buy fireworks?

Hugh: Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy?

Looker: Where are your parents? Kid’s sketchy, back to you.

Emmet: *screams into jar and then screws on the lid* Everything’s fine.

Cilan: Hi, could I ask how exactly does one accidentally set a lemon on fire?

Nate: Microwave for 40 minutes

Cilan: Why were you microwaving a lemon??

Nate: I read boiling lemons helps cover up bad smells (I wanted to cover up the scent of burnt oranges), but I didn’t own any pots.

Cilan: Did you burn an orange too? How??

Nate: Microwave for 40 minutes

Classroom: *silence*

One of the students: turgle turgle

Cheren: WHO TURGLED

Hilda: Hey everyone, today my brother pushed me, so I'm starting a Kickstarter to put him down. Benefits of killing him would be that I get pushed way less—

Cheren: I get that you're angry, but killing Hilbert is not the solution.

Hilbert: When will Ted himself finally show up to the talk?

Bianca: The final boss

Cheren: Guys, you do realize that TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, right?

Hilda: I will not let Ted hide behind these lies any longer.

Cheren: I love the word methinks. It’s accurate. Me does think. Thinketh me do.

Hilbert: Methinks therefore me am.

Nate (bragging.): I know every digit of pi.

Nate: I don't know what order.

N: He doesn't know what order.

"Hey besties friendly reminder to drink water, feed your lab Rattata, turn off your evil nuclear generator, change out of your dirty lab coat, go for a walk, and take care of yourself!"

“@evilscientist13”

“@evilscientist13”

“@evilscientist13”

“COLRESS WAKE UP”

“@evilscientist13”

“@evilscientist13”

“@evilscientist13”

“COLRESS THE REACTOR”

(during a game of Uno)

Ingo: Brother, please, no.

Emmet: I’m sorry. I have to.

Ingo: Please, I’m begging you, after all we’ve been through?

Emmet: I’m sorry. [places a draw 4 card] Uno.

N: Any questions before I move on?

Porygon: *garbled electric noises*

N: ... Great. I really understood that well.

Elesa: This is camp.

Ingo: What does camp mean?

Emmet: Like when something is so yass and slay

Emmet: Do you think Joltiks take fall damage?

Ingo: Emmet, what the heck?

*at Drayden’s home in Opelucid City*

The Pokemon streaming service profiles read as follows:

Drayden: “Person who pays for the account”

Iris: “Granddaughter (Free pass)”

Ingo: “Parasite 1”

Emmet: “Parasite 2”

Cheren: How long does someone have to be dead before it's considered archaeology and not grave robbing?

Lenora: As an archaeologist, I find this a VERY AWKWARD QUESTION.

Cheren: Answer the question, grave robber.

Elesa: Carpe diem— seize the day

Skyla: Carpe noctem— seize the night

Emmet: Carpe natem— seize the ass

Ingo: Seriously, if you guys don't stop reblogging this, I am going to carpe someone's neck and break it.

Grimsley: Carpe collum— seize the neck

Cheren: Not all math puns are bad.

Cheren: Just sum of them.

Roxie: There is so much panic right now and not nearly enough disco.

Elesa: Where do bad rainbows go?

Skyla: …

Elesa: Prism. It's a light sentence.

Skyla: *groan*

Hilda: If you don't know the difference between "their," "they're", and "there", your a idiot.

Cheren: Well, this is awkward.

Hilbert: I was born ready!

Hilda: You were born in Nuvema Town.

Hilbert: When I was your age… (tells Hilda something he did a few minutes ago)

Nate: A theif

Cheren: Thief?

Nate: Theif

Cheren: I before e, except after c

Nate: Thceif

Cheren: No

Hilda: (singing) A potato flew around my room before you came—

Hilda, Hilbert, Cheren, and Bianca: AAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Hilbert: I'm nuts about these nuts. But you know what I'm also nuts about? My close good friends!

Hilbert: *gestures to Hilda, Cheren, Bianca, Nata, Rosa, Hugh, and N* My close good friends!

Ghetsis: Remember one time I liked you?

N: No.

Ghetsis: Good, because IT NEVER HAPPENED! *evil laugh*

Cilan: Would anyone like some stew? Would anyone like some stew? Would anyone like some stew?

[lilacqiqis]

🌙~Mod Lilac's intro and rules~🪻

Back to pinned post

Hello~ my name's Lilac!!

I'm Viet 🇻🇳

She/her

No specific boundaries... Just don't be a weirdo!! I answer any ask that's just some conversation ❤️

English is not my first language, so stuff might seem out of place , most of my work is not proofread

Ask to be made an anon and me or Mod Qiqi will assign you your requested emoji or name <3

Rules + Fandoms under the cut

! Rules !

-I do not write sexual non con

-No 1ncest (i will write platonic family only.)

-No age gap

-No full blown nswt fics, but i will write nsft headcanons and suggestive

-I am more inclined to write headcanons rather than fanfics, so if you request a full fic Mod Qiqi may answer instead of me as i tend to lose motivation. I'll try my best though!!

-Yandere is OK to request, I don't condone the behavior irl however

-No specific appearance requests (ex:chubby reader, reader with brown hair)

-I don't write for specific clan reader or reader with a specific pokemon

-Boruto doesn't exist in my mind 🤕 All is written up to Naruto TL

-Nothing with p1ss or scat 😭

-I will cut out some characters you request if it gets too long, but you can always request those characters again with the same scenario <3

-No pregnancy hc's implied is alright (a request like "reader asking to have kids" is okay but i don't want to write reader during pregnancy)

-No crossovers (ex:S/O who came from the KNY world into Naruto, reader with MHA quirks in stardew valley)

-No full blown angst, sorry!!

-No cheating or character pining over taken reader

-Be specific with requests no "general hc's for ____" or stuff like that

-GN! or fem! reader only

-No OC's

-No ships

-My rules may not be the same as Mod Qiqi's, so check theirs and perhaps you can request something and they'll answer it

-Rules can change at anytime, always check before requesting

! Fandoms and characters I write !

Naruto (for Uchiha's specify non massacre or not, I will assume the latter if you don't put "non massacre" in the req)

~Whitelisted~(please request! My absolute faves ❤️)

-Itachi Uchiha

-Naruto Uzumaki

-Kakashi Hatake

-Minato Namikaze

-Obito Uchiha/Tobi (If you request Tobi you are also requesting Obito! I will write for his Tobi persona and may add Obito as well. Requesting only Obito will not include Tobi. Non massacre Obito will have a personality more like his boyhood ver)

-Hinata Hyuga

-Sasuke Uchiha

-Sai

~Will write for~

-Rock Lee

-Sakura Haruno

-Tsunade Senju

-Might Guy

-Iruka Umino

-Karin Uzumaki

-Kabuto Yakushi

-Kiba Inuzuka

-Shino Aburame

-Deidara

-Jugo

-Suigetsu Hozuki

-Yamato Tenzo

-Shikamaru Nara

-Ino Yamanaka

Dragon Ball

~Whitelisted~

-Mirai Trunks Briefs

-Trunks Briefs

-Son Goku

~Will write for~

-Vegeta

-Goten

-Android 18

-Piccolo

-Adult Gohan

Pokemon

~Whitelisted~

-Blue Oak

-Red

-Hop

-N Harmonia

~Will write for~

-Bianca

-Cheren

-Barry

Stardew Valley

~Whitelisted~

-Harvey

-Sam

-Haley

~Will write for~

-Sebastian

-Alex

-Penny

Don't ask if i write for a certain character if they aren't here I don't write for them.

[coldslaws]

Honestly Alder is one of the best champions in the entire franchise. The amount of depth and story that is both spoken and unspoken in Alder is genuinely amazing but he gets constantly shoved aside because his battle was "too easy" like that doesn't defeat the purpose of his whole character!

He doesn't change the minds of his opponents through battling, but through words and experiences. He helps and teaches Cheren that not everything is about battling and to not make the same mistakes he's made. He tries to see reason with N because he knew he wasn't going to win, and when everything comes to an end he lets N go because he knows she never had a chance.

He's just this funky lil bug type old guy that's been riddled with grief and pain that causes him to go rusty when the region needed him most, he just wanted to retire.

Though fuck anime Alder, they completely dumbed down his character into nothing but a lazy women's pest. Anime Alder pisses me off and I hate when I see people make posts or headcanons of anime Alder because it always includes how much of a creep he is. Bleh.

- 💌

I KNOW!!! i love him :(( him and n are just like. a thoroughly incredible found family pair. i think a lot of my family hcs make his whole situation even worse and gives him more reason to hold onto hope for n as a person than he already has because like, if lance is his sibling (and following pokespe lore where lance can talk to pkm and tries to wipe out johto), that means he's seen n's exact ideals at play all over before. first hand. he knows how bad it can get yes but he also knows that someone like lance can be rehabilitated because lance did all that awful shit, arguably did more damage than n managed to, and yet now he's successful and beloved and happy.

and then ryuki.. i dunno if ill ever get to address this on rh anyways since it's far out, and i did hint vaguely at it on nhp, but there comes a point in the future where ryuki eventually mistakenly gets someone pregnant, drops the kid (benga) in alders lap, and runs away. ive been dropping hints here and there but because of the dragon clan ordeal, ryuki struggles to connect with his dad ever again after that point, and alder struggles to support his emotional needs, which is what leads to ryu leaving for alola and abandoning benga. alder's family is so busted up and in bits and pieces, and as he grows from this hurt, he becomes a more capable guardian through supporting benga and iris, desperate to reach the hearts of anyone he can and save them from disappearing within themselves. all of that why he insists on helping n despite the nightmare they caused for unova and despite the way n came after him personally. not only did she call him names, demean him, and fight dirty against him, but she helped propagate the myth that he'd killed his best friend. his kindness, spurred on through grief and a miriad of major life experiences, is his weakness and his strength.

and like you said, he's hurting, he's old, he wants to retire. n knows to take advantage of this and, combined with his growing insecurity over the death of volcarona, he doesn't stand a chance. while maybe there was never a shot he'd actually win anyways, given that zekrom was in n's party during their battle, he still holds back enough for n to take notice and for it to linger in her brain even after everything happens. which is what eventually causes her to seek alder out, then join him for training, then become a part of a new family altogether. alder won by losing

like. he's just got so much going on and i think it's really cool. and who doesn't like nice old men or bugs. 10/10 character

and then we all collectively say fuck you pokemon anime for reducing his character

[xgoldenlatiasx]

I don't talk about Blake, Cheren and Bianca enough but like man I SHOULD. they have such a messy dynamic in Facets of Truth that you wouldn't be able to guess just by lookin at 'em cause they're a pretty normal looking friend group but there is serious tension between them

It all kinda starts with their history. It's not like. BAD history. but it's definitely one factor. Cheren and Bianca knew Blake when they were super little, they went to the same pre-school together, and... well, they were the heavily bullied kid. and at the time Cheren and Bianca were kinda just... bystanders to it. also Cheren didn't exactly "participate" in the bullying but he was the Smart Kid of the class so he'd unintentionally put a target on Blake's back when he'd correct them about something with the kinda snarky "erm, actually" attitude he had with everyone. and the other kids in the class would follow along and label Blake as dumb. and I think Bianca would've avoided them just because they were always kinda in the background and like, didn't want to get targeted by bullies either.

and like, they were all like seven so none of this was done in malicious intent, and by the time they reunite when they're 17-18 Blake doesn't blame either of them for it at ALL. like, they hardly even remember it. they are a bit awkward around Cheren and Bianca but it's because they're in a region far away from their loved ones and thrown onto this spur of the moment journey with these practical strangers, not cause of that. Cher and Bianca read it as them still being mad at them for the way they were treated as a kid, though, and it makes them both act a little cautious around them. Cheren just chooses not to address it cause he doesn't wanna stir the pot, and keeps a safe distance, but Bianca keeps trying to sort of make up for it by checking in on them frequently. Blake appreciates the gesture, but they're kinda like "???" and it comes off a little condescending to them and uhh Blake has a bit of a "doesn't-like-being-coddled" complex. it's not enough to make them snap at Bianca of course, but its a little exasperating.

and throughout their journey tensions rise cause it turns out Cheren and Blake have some traits that clash, and it doesn't help that Cheren keeps losing to them. I feel like he also holds some confusion and mild resentment for how casual they are about losing their champion title a while back. like, there are people who work their entire lives for that stuff, and you just threw it away after a year?? he sees them as an obstacle to overcome, and if he can beat this lousy ex-champion he can prove he has what it takes to challenge the actual one. and the fact that he fails to every time is Frustrating.

and for Bianca this is all conflicting cause obviously she doesn't like seeing her friends fight! and she wants to be closer to Blake, she admires them as a trainer, they even give her advice sometimes! but they're extremely secretive and reserved about their past and how they're feeling, and it sends a lot of mixed signals to her. do they see her as a friend? do they think she's annoying? I feel like maybe these two don't butt heads as much as Blake does with Cheren, and maybe get along pretty well most of the time, but there's still Blake's issues with opening up and Bianca's self consciousness putting a wall between them.

part of this also ties in to their relationship with N too, actually. Blake's biggest problem was that they were still actively processing some pretty severe trauma and were thrusted into unfamiliarity in the middle of said processing- in Kalos it was different, they had their Pokemon with them and Hop was just a region away. it didn't feel nearly as daunting. also, they arguably had a better support system for dealing with the stuff that happened with Rose than they did with what happened with Lysandre later on, post Team Flare they only really had Shauna, Auberi and Yveltal to talk to about it but those two were too busy with their own lives, and Yveltal still kept distance from them out of guilt for cursing them and fear of harming them. they had Hop, Leon, Sonia, Bede, Marnie, etc., but... none of them were there for the Ultimate Weapon stuff like they were for the Darkest Day. (and like- Ultimate Weapon was significantly more intense than Darkest Day. people DIED during that)

so when Blake meets N, and he expresses how he sympathizes a bit with the bitterness over what they've gone through, they're like. almost overwhelmingly relieved. sure, he was a stranger, but he wasn't floating awkwardly around them like everyone else was, even if he wasn't there for their trauma it was something. someone they could potentially connect to and not have to mask around. but then the ferris wheel scene happens, the reveal happens, the walls come down, he's king of the evil team they've seen actively hurting people the last few weeks. the betrayal hits hard. and probably just causes them to retreat into their shell even further.

and this only makes the rift between them, Cheren and Bianca bigger. they're frustrated, their patience has thinned, more bitter and sarcastic remarks are coming out more often. Cheren's wondering what the hell their deal is, their lashing out is making Bianca more reserved and anxious. it's a big mess of miscommunication and lack of trust, which is inevitably one of the obstacles Blake has to overcome by the end of the story. they need to learn that even if Bianca and Cheren don't understand, that doesn't mean they intend any harm, it doesn't mean they don't want to be there for them, and that they need to trust the two with some of the more fragile pieces of themself. when the league siege happens, Blake is ready to accept the title of hero of truth and rely more on the people around them, and as they storm the castle Cheren and Bianca (and the gym leaders that Bianca managed to gather) are there to help clear the path to N for them. AAAAGHHHH I'm so normal I swear. this friend group means sm to me

[crystalelemental]

Going on anon because I’ll get flamed for my opinions but replaying Gen 5 sucks

The story drags, pokemon locations are stupid (seriously why is deino only in VICTORY ROAD), you’ll be underleveled for the most part unless you want to Audino grind, and (my most controversial take) I really don’t like BW Bianca and Cheren. N’s alright but since everyone goes “we have different viewpoints :)” anytime N tries to challenge the status quo it’s grating after a while

Somehow I had more fun replaying X than Black, and I’m sure if I said that on Twitter I’d be killed on sight

Also why did the shadow triad walk us across that straight line bridge in chargestone cave and not instead walk us towards the exit, I was so lost and on low hp trying to get out

It's alright anon, you're safe here.

On the point of Cheren and Bianca...I liked them well enough because of when I first played, but replaying they are a lot less compelling. A lot of their dialogue is repetitive and focused on the same beats. Cheren is just "What is the meaning of my strength?" over and over, while Bianca does absolutely nothing but hang back wondering about what she should be doing. It takes the second game for them to truly complete their arc. I can't say they're my favorite. My hot take is I don't think N is that compelling. My wife and I talk a lot about modern games (Galar and Paldea) doing this annoying thing where you're a special person who just shitstomps everyone else's dreams for your personal whims (Hop, Marnie, Kieran), and I feel like Gen 5 is where that really started happening thanks to N. The player is instantly imbued with a sense of being special and superior, because only your Pokemon seems to be super happy enough for N to question what he believes. His response to this is then to seek you out but also act like any refusal you have to his call is a personal affront. He gets kinda nasty about you saying No to any of his questions and probes. And again, the whole situation could be an interesting ethical dilemma, but the game doesn't want to contend with it so anyone who believes the system could have a flaw is just completely out of their minds.

That said, I actually want to talk about the Deino thing because that touches on a fun mechanical thing within the games.

Deino, as a pseudo-legend, is interesting to the point of being downright unique. Its appearance isn't atypical; fully half of pseudo-legends are post-game exclusive. Larvitar is supremely late game, and Beldum only shows up in time for the superboss fight with Steven in Emerald, otherwise it has nothing to do. Bagon shows up only after you've cleared the gyms, it's later than your Legendary. Dratini and Gible are the odd ones out. Dratini can be found halfway through your gym challenge in the Safari Zone if you know where to look and are willing to deal with Safari Zone catch rates. It's earlier access, but harder to complete. Gible can be found after only two gyms, but in a missable location that is visually impossible to identify, but comes with Gabite in Victory Road as compensation if you missed it.

Deino continues the general trend of being just a late availability Pokemon, but loses Gible's early access opportunity. This in itself isn't too atypical. No, what makes Deino fascinating is that it sucks.

Take a look at the performance of the prior pseudo-legends. The the early RBY days, if you found Dratini, you had access to a Pokemon that gets its first evolution kinda early, and can learn Fire, Water, Ice, and Electric coverage, giving it tools that let it handle the majority of the League just fine. In GSC, Larvitar shows up super late, but if you get one and put in the work to evolve (and better, learn Crunch and Earthquake as Larvitar first), Tyranitar blanks fully half of Red's team. In RSE, Bagon shows up late, but if you stall evolution a bit for Crunch and teach it Brick Break, a level 50 final stage is perfectly achievable, and has options to beat the entire E4. With Earthquake you beat Steven, although Wallace is a lot more of a problem. Metagross only shows up post-game, but in Emerald its Steel typing does make it a good response to much of Steven's own team, because he can't really hurt it. In DPPt, Gible's early access room comes with the Earthquake TM, allowing you to set up a monster right away that never really slows down, and with Flamethrower and access to Crunch, answers 3 members of the League independently.

Then there's Hydreigon. As Deino, it offers only Crunch. Dragon Rush is too inaccurate with Hustle to hit anything, and Body Slam offers nothing for coverage. Reusable TMs mean all the cool options aren't available, not that Zweilous can learn any of it. And Zweilous evolves at 50, a level where it wouldn't be unexpected that your team can already beat the League before it evolves once. If you do put in that work, Zweilous...actually goes through the best part of its life, because it can take down Caitlin and Shauntal, provided attacks actually connect. Then you have the long haul of postgame level scaling, trying to get it to beat things way bigger than it through low speed, poor bulk, and Hustle, to arrive at Hydreigon. Who doesn't even learn Dark Pulse naturally, and whose coverage options do not substantially change its matchups. And also because Caitlin and Shauntal are bulky it can't OHKO anything and their coverage is actually good (Golurk will one-shot with Hammer Arm, Musharna has Reflect and Reuniclus can obliterate with Focus Blast). Hydreigon, uniquely, does not contribute much.

I find this interesting as a pivot in game structure. I do think the games are designed with intent for the most part, and Gen 5 feels like a step away from the idea that the big statistical monsters are the most important. I assume this was intentional because Volcarona suffers the same fate, getting a useful Quiver Dance and Heat Wave by 60, but having the same "pre-evo is functionally useless all its life, and doesn't get the other good moves it wants until way later if at all." Bug Buzz at 70 is like GSC Heracross: yeah it's a great move, too bad I'll never reach that level to get it. And despite having Psychic, Marshal has so much Rock coverage it won't get anywhere. Caitlin and Shauntal were handled better by Beheeyem's bulky Calm Mind set, and Marshal was handled best by a +Def nature Rocky Helmet Durant. Which is weird compared to the usual pseudo-legend approach. It makes them feel like a lot more work for a lot less reward.

[ghostchanuwu]

Realizing that a LOT of people in AniRedux has mythicals/legendaries at some point

Leaf-Articuno (revenge buddies really said fuck dragons fr fr)

Lt Surge-Zapdos (given to him as an egg and has had it for the better part of 30 years now)

Brock-Mewtwo (for all of like 5 minutes lmao)

Prof Oak-Mew (they're besties)

Gold-Raikou (hasn't caught but they're chill)

May-Latios (ORAS ride style)

Steven-Jirachi (yk)

Wallace-Walking Wake ('but it's a Suicune I swear' MY GOOD SIR THAT IS A DINOSAUR) (he also had the blue orb for about half a second before it decided to scorch his arm and his left eye leaving him blind in it)

Zinnia-Zygarde 10% (she yoinked a gather cube from Devon Corp and turns out it had enough to make a doggo)

Winona-Shaymin (late ORAS arc,it's her little buddy that also wipes full teams)

Juan-Manaphy (Paldean Royalty/Aristocrat with a literal prince of the sea what could go wrong)

(Frontier Brains are the same except Noland's goes from Articuno to Moltres bc someone needs the fire chicken)

Dawn-Lake Trio (temporary bond in Distortion World)

Cynthia-Giritina (Volo 2.0 but isn't hyper destructive and is just a tiny bit crazy as a treat)

Cyrus-Palkia & Dialga- (temporary under the Red Chain's control)

Riley-Heatran (Mt Stark,Buck originally had it but handed it over since Riley is a much more experienced trainer)

Marley-Darkrai (has been with her since she was very little)

Cogita-Cresselia (ancient woman + moon duck = the best duo)

Hilda-Victini (literally everything about her character screams Victini)

Hilbert-Meloetta (pretty much his co-star on stage)

Colress-Genesect (let the man have his cannon bug he just wants to be silly)

N-Reshiram (BW story plus Reshi just fits him better)

Iris-Zekrom (need to go into AniRedux Iris more since her explanation is loooong)

Bianca-Virizion (PokeMas and also her finally coming out of her shell during Opelucid)

Cheren-Cobalion (he's a teacher but also unleashes everything he has worked for and trained for for the past 8 years on Plasma's asses)

Cedric Juniper-Terrakion (he may be old but he still has a promise to Alder he needs to uphold)

Rosa/Nate-Keldeo (the twins have a pony that is ready to rock)

Ghetsis-Kyurem (self explanatory,it freezes him after he loses lmao)

Sycamore/Diantha-Xerneas (hasn't caught but they have received its blessing)

Lysandre-Yvetal (temporary,he gets yeeted by it after the ultimate weapon fails to fire)

Serena-Magearna (it's the prize for becoming Kalos' top coordinator,it's a replica of the original color one with the only difference being instead of red it's rose gold)

Bonnie-Zygarde (Squishy is eternal,Zinnia 'donated' (Steven took it right before going to Kalos) her cube so Zygarde 100% could happen)

(Ash's legendary/UB encounters are the same from Alola)

Lillie-Nihilego (the counterpart to her dad's jellyfish,her's is shiny)

Lusamine-Pheramosa (PokeMas,it also took a liking to her)

Guzma-Xurkitree (he wants to catch it but the damn thing thinks they're playing 'Wheres Waldo' and its Waldo)

(Galar/Journeys legendaries are the same except Goh gets more Suicune screentime)

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Apropos of rereading old asks, I wanted to know what Toshiro's deal was.

I love the way this question is phrased. What is his deal. He's got nonsense on a metatextual level. He's got nonsense on a character level. All of it's intertwined though so I will give you. the shortest possible summary. It will be long. His arc is also pretty tied up with Zoe's in the early days, so you get to hear more about her too.

Toshiro and Zoe grew up in Castelia City and were basically the only friend the other had. They go to Nuvema Town to get starter Pokemon from Professor Juniper and meet and become friends/rivals with Cheren and Bianca that way.

Zoe and Toshiro keep traveling together after they get their starters. Toshiro starts challenging gyms with his team; Zoe doesn't. Neither of them really have their minds set on a goal or a lofty dream. Toshiro's collecting badges because that's what you're supposed to do, right? Zoe isn't collecting badges because she's too afraid of failing to even try.

They're both starting to crack by the time they get back to Castelia City, and everything falls apart by Nimbasa (4th gym). Toshiro's been thinking a lot about what Team Plasma preaches, and he's begun to project his own apathy for Pokemon training and battles onto his Pokemon. He's worried he's hurting them, he's worried that he's dragging them into something that neither they or he actually want to be part of. He's worried they'd be better off without him. He loves his Pokemon, but he's got a mental block that he can't get around to really understand them. He loses to Elesa and drops everything there. He releases his whole team (including a Watchog that Zoe traded him) and goes off to find out where Team Plasma keeps their sign-up sheets.

Zoe, meanwhile, is having an entirely opposite realization. She's figured out that she's doing her Pokemon a disservice by not challenging gyms and collecting badges, - they clearly enjoy battling, and she realizes they're not getting enough stimulation and enrichment with the low amount of casual battles she's doing. She throws herself into preparing to take on Elesa and finds that her Pokemon seem a lot happier now that she's understanding them better, and now that she's not letting her own fears get in the way of what's best for them.

Then Toshiro ditches her without a word, and him releasing his Pokemon leaves Zoe suddenly having to take care of his Oshawott, who did not want to be released and did not want to go and makes its way back to the last place where Toshiro was. Except he's not there anymore, so Zoe just picks up Oshawott and keeps on her way.

Toshiro isn't really any happier or more fulfilled in Team Plasma, either. He's still letting other people tell him what to do and he still doesn't know what he wants. He misses his Pokemon and feels guilty that he misses them, and he regrets letting them go and feels guilty about that. He accidentally joined a cult. He's still miserable. He doesn't even have an Oshawott to snuggle to feel better. I haven't decided whether he leaves Team Plasma before or after everything really blows up.

Anyway, so everything does really blow up at the Pokemon League, Zoe's got a legendary dragon, Ghetsis' world-domination plans have failed but he escapes jail, N flew off into the sunset with his legendary dragon, and Toshiro goes slinking back to his friends with his tail between his legs like "hey guys I really fucked up there huh". Zoe's pissed at him at him for a while but Oshawott is just happy to be reunited.

Toshiro ends up spending the interim years working as an assistant to Professor Juniper, together with Bianca, who eventually encourages him to start over and try again. He takes Oshawott and heads to Asperita City with Bianca, because she's got a starter and Pokedex to drop off with Hugh, and because Cheren is the gym leader there, and Toshiro figures the best place to start over is by challenging someone who knows him. And after having fucked up a bunch and taking the time to screw his head back on straighter, Toshiro finds that he...does kind of enjoy Pokemon training and battles. He puts together a new team, works hard to understand their wants and needs, challenges not just gyms but the Battle Subway too, where he meets and befriends a girl named Violet, and they take on multi battles together.

Things would be pretty good if Neo Team Plasma wasn't kicking up shit in the background!

But they are, and Toshiro can't stand for that on a number of levels, so he ends up tangling with them more and more. Everything blows up again in Opelucid City, Toshiro encounters the legendary Pokemon Cobalion, who indicates a desire for a partnership to put things right, and off they go to kick ass and take names all the way through the airship and the Giant Chasm, until they get to Ghetsis, and N shows up, and Ghetsis fuses Zekrom and Kyurem, and Cobalion one-shots it. Cool.

Toshiro is familiar with N, of course, both from having been part of Team Plasma and because of Zoe; N met Toshiro once in Accumula Town, but N was more interested in what Zoe's Purrloin had to say. N does remember Oshawott (now a Samurott), though, because every time Zoe and N ran into each other, Oshawott also had some words for N.

I didn't finish playing Toshiro through to challenge the Elite Four and the Champion. I'll have to get around to that sometime, but the most important part of his character arc was him going out and learning to work with and understand Pokemon again, and he doesn't need to beat the League or whatever to do that. Actually the most important part was kicking Ghetsis' ass.

After everything calms down, I think he quits his job as Professor Juniper's assistant and ends up working with Rood, Concordia, and Anthea, in their efforts to take care of the Pokemon that were displaced by all of Team Plasma's bullshit.

--

On a meta level, Toshiro wasn't really a game protagonist when I first created him. Like technically he represented the Pkmn White version that my brother was playing, but Toshiro's team was made up for story purposes. Zoe was the protagonist I played Black with, and her team is the team I used in-game.

When Black 2 came out, my brain was scrambled by clinical depression, and I named my protagonist Violet but never actually had a story or character for her. I played the game and then forgot most of it because, again, clinical depression, and though when I played X I did give characterization to my protagonist there, it wasn't still Sun that I really got, in earnest, back into my Pokeverse. Violet was basically a non-entity, despite how much I loved Unova, and eventually I just decided to push Toshiro into the role of Black 2 protagonist and replay the game as him. Since I was doing runs in the Battle Subway, and the protagonist of the gender you didn't pick shows up there - well, her name is Rosa in-game, but that became Violet, so that my forgotten protagonist could still get her own place in the story.

For thematic and narrative cohesion when considering the whole Black-Black 2 story arc, I think Toshiro works really well as the sequel protagonist, and I'm happy with how it all comes together for my 'verse. But considering a number of my Pokemon OCs originated directly as the protagonists I played the game with, Toshiro's whole deal is. weird. Who is this boy. How did he get here. He's simultaneously the equivalent to both Hilbert and Nate.

--

Also on a meta level it was really funny playing Black 2 where the rival, Hugh, is going off about how much he hates Team Plasma at every turn, and how even ex-Plasma members should not be forgiven in his eyes, and he doesn't understand why Clay is letting the ex-Plasma house keep operating in Driftveil and Toshiro is there sweating his ass off the whole time like "I hope no one mentions to Hugh about how I am an ex-Plasma member." Hilarious.

[bluerosesburnblue]

I was watching a video discussing everything Pokemon Sword and Shield did wrong (mostly in terms of story) and while I think it's a good video for the most part, I do really disagree with the assertion that Hop's arc is good. Hop's arc is as much of a mess as everything else in that game, with some good ideas marred by godawful execution. Especially egregious to me is the way that people assert his arc is better than Hau's in Gen 7 while simultaneously missing the whole point of Hau's character, so I wrote my thoughts down. Comment was too big for Youtube, so I figured I'd post the whole uncut thing here as an analysis post

Hop's arc is still one of the biggest examples of wasted potential in the game. As it is now, it's just a half-baked mashup of Bianca's and Hau's arcs that doesn't do either the "giving up battle and becoming a professor" or "being overshadowed by a famous relative" aspects as well as them

On paper, some things work. Hop trying his best and still not being able to live up to Leon's reputation, but finding what he is good at instead is an interesting idea for a rival, but like I said, both of the main aspects of his arc are done better by prior characters and all Hop does is mash them together in an uninteresting, and sometimes incongruous way. To me, him choosing to become a Professor of all things is the most emblematic part of his wasted potential. Because... why a Professor? He says that he likes to help people, but what about being a Professor specifically is about helping people any more than, say, a firefighter? Hop could come out and say that he wants to be the next Ball Guy and it would fit just as much as his claim that he wants to be a Professor

At no point do we see Hop develop any interest in academic research. Hell, half of the time Sonia shows up to talk about the history of Galar, Hop tries to rush things and steer the direction back to battling anyway. If we take the Isle of Armor into account, then he's not even particularly good at helping or making observations about nature, since he drags us around the island making no progress because he doesn't know the difference between nectar and honey and doesn't think to slow down for half a second. It feels like they only made him a Professor to force a parallel with Sonia, making him the Sonia to our Leon, but it just doesn't make any sense for his personality or interests for him to choose that particular career path

What gets me is that the solution to this is actually presented at the end of the video: Pokemon Battle MANAGEMENT. The game is constantly telling us about how Hop studies battle tactics in order to beat Leon. He's the one making comments about our use of Super Effective Hits or Critical Hits. He's always going on about things like perfecting his throwing technique. The fact that he changes his team up shows his willingness to experiment with various tactics. So why not make him a Pokemon Battle TEACHER? And if that's too similar to Cheren in B2W2 or you don't think it makes sense given that Galar is the only region that inexplicably does not have a Trainer School, then a COACH to expand upon the parallels to modern sports. As it stands now, Hop makes it all the way to the finals for Gym Challengers and loses and just... gives up having anything to do with battle as a career forever, and I don't think that that makes any sense for him at all. He's a great battler, and what better way to utilize his skill, deep knowledge and passion for battle tactics, desire to help others, and deepen the sports aspect of the game than making him some sort of coach for aspiring Gym Challengers?

Compare that to Bianca, whose decision to become Professor Juniper's assistant at the end of the game is actually developed throughout the game. Even after our first battle with her, she's more amazed at the power of our Pokemon than the outcome of the battle, showing early on how her interest is in the actual Pokemon themselves and not necessarily combat. She's always asking questions about the world around her, and in Chargestone Cave we see her stay behind and spend time with Professor Juniper, giving us the implication that they're bonding offscreen and talking about the realities of being a Professor. She also brings up the idea of being a Professor before the postgame where she makes her decision. Hop has none of that, and at times actively goes against it by not really caring that much about Sonia's research

And while Hop's relationship with Leon is still decently well done, I still find it weaker than Hau's similar desire to escape from his family's shadows, and it drives me nuts how often people completely miss Hau's whole character arc and act like Hop having essentially the same core conflict, but with a different outcome, is groundbreaking. To an extent I can understand why, because SuMo's presentation of it is a bit weak (and I say this as someone who's loved Hau since SuMo, but even I'll admit that his arc was done much better in USUM... and was the only arc that was better in USUM), but reducing Hau down to just a happy-go-lucky rival with no real depth while building up Hop is such an insult to Hau and I see the fandom do it constantly

People forget that, like Leon to Hop, we are not Hau's endgoal; Hala is, and as such Hau's main goal isn't to be a Champion, but to be a Kahuna. The biggest difference that I find that makes Hau's story more compelling than Hop's to me is that Hau is already living with the aftermath of Hala's shadow. It's told to us in various NPC dialogue and explicitly in the SuMo postgame, but Hau's father literally left the entire Alola region and his whole family because he was sick of being compared to Hala, abandoning his young son and wife (who we can find in Hala's house) because he couldn't handle the pressure of being seen as a Kahuna's son. Hau is growing up in a broken home, and all he wants to do is succeed where his father failed, not by running from Hala's shadow and tearing apart his home, but by besting Hala and overcoming his shadow entirely. He mentions in the SuMo postgame that being the Champion is something he'd want to do to show off to his father if/when he ever sees him again, and I've always taken that to mean that he considers the Champion title to be an impressive feat that proves that he's left Hala's shadow that he can actually obtain right now, since we're told that the position of Kahuna is for life (so he can only become a Kahuna once Hala passes away)

And because people miss that context, they miss the entire point of his characterization and progression. Hau's cheerful nature is a FACADE. Gladion calls it out when you first meet him. He says that Hau IS strong, but he's kneecapped by not taking battles seriously. Why? Because he's afraid of losing to Hala even if he does give the battle his all, failing to overcome the same pressure as his father that caused him to tear their family apart. He's afraid of failure, so he chooses not to try all that hard, giving himself an excuse if he loses by claiming that he wasn't really doing his best anyway, so of course he lost. This way, he doesn't have to take responsibility for his failures and risk becoming disillusioned like his father did. Lillie's kidnapping is his turning point in both games, where he realizes that by not taking things seriously and trying to minimize his responsibility for failures, he's set himself up to ACTUALLY fail in situations that require serious effort. And it's through this that he learns how to actually overcome Hala as a Kahuna, because a Kahuna isn't just a good battler, but a local leader who bears responsibility. This is part of why I like USUM's additional scene with Hau in the Hau'oli Cemetery during Mina's trial, because he makes it more explicit that his way of doing things before was also hurting his Pokemon, who wanted to win for him but lacked his leadership to do so. It demonstrates how he's changed and how he's learning to reconcile "having fun" with responsibility, how his prior justification of "having fun" wasn't actually fun for anyone and just an escape mechanism to avoid a possibly unhappy reality

And that's not even getting into how Hau's arc fits the theme of the Alola region of family, both its good and its bad. Hau is not an exception to characters like Lillie, Gladion, and Guzma all coming from messed up homes, they just don't draw as much attention to it in the main narrative for him. He represents yet another facade that people put on in response to bad family situations, in contrast to Gladion and Guzma's anger and Lillie's anxiety and withdrawal. Hau is the "pretending everything's fine, don't cause problems" response. He even ties into the sun/moon symbolism, as his concept art notes that he's meant to be the sun to Lillie's moon. Both characters who have lost their fathers, but Hau chooses to remain boisterous and cheerful, like the sun, compared to Lillie's gentle quiet, like the moon

Hop's relationship with Leon isn't even bad, and I do find the idea of him ultimately FAILING in his goal where Hau succeeded to be an interesting twist that could have set him apart, but in comparison to Hau they just don't DO anything with it to relate it back to the themes of the game, and it ultimately comes across as just setup for the nonsensical Professor career swap. There was so much potential to expand the idea into the more sports-oriented aspects of Galar by showing Hop wanting fame and trying to be more showy, marketing himself as Leon 2.0, and trying to make his own fanbase the way that Marnie has Team Yell all in an effort to get his family's attention only for his fans to leave him after a catastrophic loss to Bede rather than just having him lose to Bede offscreen and then feeling bad about being worse than Leon for the rest of the game. They could have tied him more to the "strength" themes that they claim to have by showing him as the SHIELD to Leon's SWORD, with Leon having the offense and power, but lacking the tactical prowess that Hop has, and Hop coming to realize that a slower and more analytical approach can be a different kind of strength when compared to his prior rushing around trying to catch up to Leon. This could all come to a head in Hop choosing to become a battle coach/manager, accepting that he doesn't need the same fame that Leon has to be his equal by taking a less showy job, becoming the shield who protects and helps the newer Gym Challengers in contrast to Leon's sword that inspires them to take action

Bianca has a complete arc that takes her from not knowing what she wants to do with her life, to exploring various options like battle, modeling, and research, to finally settling on research after a game showing her curiosity about the world around her. She has a design and name that make her the White to Cheren's Black and a mirrored arc to him, where he starts out confident about wanting to be the Champion only to start losing faith and having to build himself back up, both arcs fitting into the theme of BW about exploring the grey areas in life, and the unexpected paths. Hau has a complete arc that takes him from a kid who refuses to take things seriously as a fear response to failure brought about by his father's choices to one who takes responsibility and ends up growing into his grandfather's shoes because of it where his father failed. He's the Sun to Lillie's Moon in both design and personality, with a story arc that fits into Alola's theme of family

But Hop has a relationship with Leon that serves as nothing more than setup for a decision that I feel goes against everything we're shown about his character, doesn't particularly tie into the themes of the game, and doesn't capitalize on the aspects that they set up that could have really set him apart from other rivals. I don't even necessarily dislike Hop as a character, and I don't agree with the fandom constantly conflating him with Hau because it's obvious to me that while they do have a number of superficial similarities, Hau's laid-back attitude and inability to take things seriously at the start is the antithesis to Hop's over-exuberant persona and tendency to take things TOO seriously, with their arcs ultimately taking the same idea (family's shadow) in different directions, but I can hardly defend Hop's writing when the end conclusion that they come to with him is such a non sequitur from what we're shown throughout the game. On paper, using his relationship with Leon and the framing of the pressure that professional sports puts on people to set up a career change isn't bad, and I do like how they try to show his struggle with his changing teams, but all they use his relationship with Leon for is set dressing for his nonsensical decision to be a Professor, and that ends up bringing his actually decent (but not fully used to its full potential) relationship with Leon down in my eyes

The end result for me is that Hop ends up lost in the mess of rivals in SwSh, all of whom really fail to live up to their full potential from interesting concepts to me, but at least Marnie and Bede don't actively make me want to rip my hair out the way that Hop's decision to be a Professor does. He's ultimately a victim of SwSh's overall shoddy and rushed writing the same as everyone else, but Hop is the character that I find the most frustrating because the ideas are there, they just aren't pushed to the level that they could be and that's what makes him the biggest waste of opportunity in my eyes

[cheemken]

Im surprised no one asked yet, but unova kids or champions playing fnaf hcs? Youre reblogging a lot of stuff about fnaf lately haha

I'm going w the Unova kids bc they deserve everything <3

But yeah anyways

•Cheren knows the lore of it, watched every video pkmn equivalent of MatPat released abt the timelines and all that and he has his own lil corkboard w his own theories pinned to it

-He gets so into the theories and lore, but he's absolutely shit at playing the game he couldn't get past night 2 of the first fnaf game I shit you not

•Hilbert couldn't care less abt the lore, and he's also pretty good w almost all of the games except SL

-SL creeps him out more than UCN, said he doesn't like listening to Baby's voice and doesn't like how she looks

-he's horrible at noticing the sudden change in ambiance tho as he's so focused on looking at the animatronics

•Bianca doesn't like playing the main games but loves playing fnaf world, she loves their lil chibi models

-surprisingly enough, Bianca likes the Nightmare animatronics more, even their actual models, said that they're like the dragons, looks scary but are actually sweet

-that what she says anyways so she wouldn't be that scared

•Iris is the only one between all six of them to ever beat UCN and Hilbert is so salty abt it bc he couldnt understand everything that's going on w it hahah

-she did say tho that since Geeta was also a fan of it, she taught her all the strategies she needs to know to beat the game

•they made N play the fourth game once, never again after he said it reminded him of his time in his room back at Plasma's Castle

-he played the second game and ended up losing almost every time bc he said he likes the sound of the music box and would always keep playing it

•Hilda loves SB and Ruin, she doesn't like the other games tho

-saying she doesn't like just staying on one place, and it was cool exploring in SB, seeing all the different attractions for herself, and even looking for clues abt the lore to inform Cheren abt it

-was a Roxy apologist in SB, so when Ruin came out her soul fucking ascended, cheering so loudly that Roxy got some sort of redemption arc, but also cried like crazy when she had to deactivate Roxy

-Hilbert has a video of her crying over that scene and he showed it to the others and Hilda said that Hilbert also cried when he saw Bonnie, and she has a video of it too

•while they have their preference over what group of animatronics are better, they can all agree that the Glamrock ones are the best

•i know for a damn fact that these kids listened to the songs, I just know it, and years later they still know the lyrics to TLT's fnaf song I just know it, it's canon

[vaugarde]

very brief thoughts on what i think the relations between the pkmn protags are

red and leaf are twins and blue is their childhood friend. leaf was a prodigy and went on her journey before the other 2, but mysteriously vanished. the trauma of losing her is what made red and blue have a falling out before they reconcile sometime after hgss. leaf has something to do w the mewtwo scandal and is actually the one to catch it.

ethan, lyra, and kris were all friends from childhood and remain decent friends but ultimately are on different paths. kris is a bit of a loner and spends all of her time camping and researching pokemon, she’ll be a researcher in the future. lyra wants to be a pokemon breeder like her grandparents and is on her own journey just to see the sights. ethan is the main protag and becomes champion and also he has a very weird friendship with silver by the end of the games (they get married eventually)

may (birch’s daughter) and brendan (norman’s son) met each other a few times when they were little but don’t really remember. properly befriend each other throughout the game, and do eventually date each other (brendan had the biggest crush on her). they kiiinda have their personalities from the manga but not quite? i did not finish it. but like brendan is into contests while may loves battling and that’s just how they’ve been since they were little.

dawn and barry are childhood friends and extremely close, literally autism/adhd vibing and ride or die. lucas is a newer friend of theirs (only met at the start of the game) and he feels a little out of place considering how long theyve known each other but he winds up fitting in fine. dawn does go missing when she’s sent to hisui however and it devastates both of the boys, especially barry (who had a massive crush on her). idk if dawn ever does return sadly

hilda and hilbert are twins, but mayyybe their parents did that movie trope where they divorced and took one baby each????? i dunno i want them to parallel the gen 1 situation but not exactly. regardless they’re not exactly besties and hilbert hangs out in the battle subway while hilda is the hero of truth and best friends with cheren and bianca. i’m also considering... polyam nuvema trio once they find hilda after bw2 :) also they adopt N into their friend group yay

rosa and nate are cousins, rosa is actually a little older than nate. nate is the protag and best friends with hugh. not many ideas for these three but theyre all close! 

serena is the protag and meets shauna and calem (known each other since childhood) at the start of the game, tbh no real ideas for their whole friend group i think they’re all just vibing happily.

moon is the protag and moves to alola after some sort of disaster in kanto. moon actually feels wary around pokemon (except for her pet meowth) and the move to alola helps her out with that, especially with hau’s encouragement. hau’s good at getting moon out of her shell, and then moon and lillie click really well because of what they have in common here (moon makes a lot of progress before lillie, i imagine she’s in alola for longer before she meets lillie and nebby at the bridge). moon and lillie eventually gay marry yayyyy and tbh i have no idea what sun is doing.

gloria is the protag and is childhood friends with hop like in the game. no real ideas here beyond that sadly, also don’t know what victor is doing here.

i do not know what the sv protags names are lol. but the girl is the protag and she’s somehow the closest with penny, to all of the rivals’ horror. they’re both weird girls. that being said, they’re all super close by the end of the game, they just like to argue over who the protag likes best. nemona and arven especially kinda see her as a little sister as they go through the game. the boy is also there but maybe he’s just doing a normal treasure hunt idk. also this is the violet timeline

[a-tale-of-legends]

It's hard to define what exactly counts as the "old" and "new" protags since they're constantly growing, but here's a run down of how I see the older protag ocs when they were kids....as in actually protagonist.

Jin- Angry, has daddy issues. Wanting to prove themself despite no one asking them to. Petty rivalry with Amber that turned into a big crush. Calms down around Wally, only cause they don't want to scare him. Actively questioning why they- the 12 year old- is fighting eco-terrorist.

Amber/Kohaku - Energetic yet awkward gal, very athletic. Started on the wrong foot with Jin, starting their rivalry....which turned into a big crush ( but that happened a tiny bit later for her). Loves pokemon and wants to know as much as she can about them. Amazing battler but that isn't her priority. Wants to get closer to her dad via studying pokemon ( so she too has daddy issues)

Kenji- Another energetic kid, dreams of being a hero like the famous Red. Very excitable, occasionally loses focus and tends to be reckless. Likes helping in any way he can, even if he finds it boring. "I'm gonna be the very best >:D". Wants everyone, both people and pokemon, to be happy and hate seeing people hurt.

Aiko- Just as excitable as Kenji, though wasn't that interested in battling til Silver called her weak. Not sure what she wanted to do with her life, not sure if she wanted to take up her dad's mantle as a pokemon professor. Stubborn with a strong sense of justice, is not afraid to throw hands.

Beryl- Only planned to be a professor's assistant to Professor Elm. Was not expecting to be the babysitter to two energetic 10 year olds. She takes it the best she can, aiming to fill the Pokedex. They want to prove her older brother wrong, in that being a professor's assistant is worth something. Level headed and honestly very chill, keeps Aiko and Kenji on a leash, while also being the first person Silver properly opens up too.

Danica- Very quiet, borderline creepy girl. Doesn't emote much, no thanks to her scarf covering her mouth and her bangs over her eyebrows. Only friend is Barry, who isn't put off by her at all. Always had an interest in battling and pokemon, and had the goal to be a champion for a while. No one knows what she's thinking, and has an eerieness around her. But she has a good heart, willingly putting herself in danger even at her own risk ( reminder that this girl is 11). May or may not be a bit battle hungry. People think she's the brains for Barry's brawn but honestly they tend to share the same braincell.

Kiran- Son of a problem professors aid, Kiran is Rowans professors assistant that is honestly rather lazy. Rowan forces them to go out with him one day and all of a sudden he's now taking a journey all over Sinnoh, something he was not planning to do whatsoever. But Rowan is insistent that he accompany Danica and Barry so here he is. He's trying ( key word: trying) to fill up the Pokedex for professor Rowan, all while getting wrapped up in Team Galactic which again, he did not plan for. Wants nothing more than to go home and crawl back in his bed....but he would be lying if the situation didn't urk him. Often it is the one raining Danica and Barry in so they can think of a proper plan. May or may not also be trying to stick it to his little sister who somehow has gotten more academic awards than him.

Alexis: A shy kid with big dreams of being champion. Cautious to a fault, Alexis tends to worry about what his journey might bring. He had a right to worry; he is a nuzlocke protagonist. His anxiety and depression grows worse over the course of the journey, but also his ideals and conviction to stop Team Plasma and help N. His friendships with Cheren, Bianca and his twin sister Elliot keeps him together, as well as the surviving members of his team. He's still not in a good mental state by the end of it all.

Elliot: Alexis' rebellious and loud twin sister. She's younger, don't believe her lies. Ready to take on the world and become champion, she wasn't exactly prepared to face Team Plasma and N. However she saw the way they affected her brother and those she cares about and saw red. She has a fighting spirit, and is stubborn to a fault. She hates seeing the ones she loves hurt, and vows to use all the power she has to give those who caused such pain a severe ass kicking.

I think B2W2 and XY are the transition point of the old era to the new, so I won't be going over them here.

Here's the ages of my ocs in their respective game

Jin- 12

Amber - 12

Kenji- 10

Aiko- 10

Beryl- 13

Danica- 11

Kiran- 12

Alexis - 14

Elliot - 14

This is from Emerald/ORAS to BW, if that wasn't clear before.