#and then tynamo just sticks around for the rest of time

[acatpiestuff]

@critterbitter OK so

First off:

Yes this is a fully pokemon world

THE BOYS AREN'T POKEMON THEYRE JUST NORMAL ASS SEALS/SELKIES because i think its funny. Because of this decision, Arceus has no idea how they got here but is now sweating cause it doesn't really know how to make them leave.

this technically means that theyre an invasive species?? i guess but eh

Drayden is here in this AU, but he's on vacation (gone fishing) [GONE WRONG]

the boys are good at hunting for fish

this means that the fishing in the bay they appeared in has been SUFFERING when it comes to fishing because these damn seals are hindering them

Ingo found litwick in a shipwreck and just kind of visits its shipwreck until he figures out what pokeballs and battling is

tynamo convinced Emmet not to eat it, and now just kind of follows Emmet around. (they are friends :D)

Later on, perhaps maybe a year into the seal guys terrorizing the port, I think Drayden just goes like "damn this vacation fucking sucks" and goes up to the seal boys and is like:

"So y'all are able to be humans right" "sure" "I guess" "I'mma be absolutely real with you two, I need you to find a hobby other than stealing clothes and things from everyones boats, and depleting the fish population. Do you know what battling is" "Hunting someone for sport" "Absolutely incorrect. Anyway take this ball. You can catch pokemon creatures in them. You then make your creature and another creature fight each other. Go. Please" "okay"

(AND then the boys proceed to get really good at battling. Poor Drayden just sits in his boat with his head in his hands, and is just like damn. Now the seals can extort MONEY from us too why did I do this)

THIS WAS A VERY CONVOLUTED REPLY BUT YES they DO EVENTUALLY GET ALL THEIR TEAM MEMBERS IT JUST TAKES A WHILE BECAUSE THEY GOTTA FIGURE OUT WHAT BATTLING IS FIRST

maybe later later later on they acquire a boat for themselves too... hmhmmhhmhhmhmhmm...

[emile-hides]

My Hero Pokemon AU

Basic title because I cannot think but I’ve decided I’m just gonna go ahead and rewrite the entire plot of My Hero Academia (current anime) as if it was like... a spin off of the Pokemon Anime? Took place in Pokemon?

Pokemon AU but more than just what Pokemon everyone would have, it’s plot. I’m just not writing it.

This is going to get long and rambley and I have no cool art to pace it out I’m literally rewriting an entire anime plot, but if you’d be so kind as to stick with me that’d be super cool.

So basics are as basics do, Toshinori Yagi is the Pokemon Champion of this world. He’s like the Pokemon Master, he’s more than just a strong battler, he’s also helpful and spends his time growing the bonds between Pokemon and People, making Pokemon more common amongst a world where the idea of keeping a Pokemon for something other than battling was absurd.

There are three ways to get a Pokemon;

The most old fashioned being at 4-6 years old your parent or parental figure will give you an egg from one of their Pokemon, and it’s your job to care for it until it hatches. 

Likewise, a parent or parental figure can also simply pass down a Pokemon from their own team onto a child at age 4 or older. Typically the older Pokemon is more of a guardian for the young trainer than an actual partner

Finally, you can take a Pokemon Personality Test and be gifted a Pokemon by a local professor or even the champion if you reach the right requirements, and pay a kinda hefty fee.

The last option is what Katsuki Bakugou did on his 4th birthday. He was gifted a Cyndaquil. Unlike the usual timid behavior for it’s species, Katsuki’s Cyndaquil was constantly picking fights. The flames on it’s back were always full strength. The two were perfect.

Izuku’s parents were a little more old fashioned. His father is a traveling Pokemon Trainer who’s partner is a Flareon, while his mother’s partner is an Espeon. The two opted to pass an egg from their partners down to Izuku.

He was the only kid in his class who had an egg, and was bullied for it, as he was the only one who couldn’t battle. And of course, the greatest battler of his grade was Katsuki Bakugou, who’s Cyndaquil took out even hand-me down Pokemon.

Still, he believed in the greatness that would hatch from the egg, and cared for it diligently. When his Eevee hatched, the two already shared a closer bond than any other trainer at Izuku’s school.

Eevee, however, was not very strong. He didn’t win any battles at school, and Izuku tended to hesitate as a trainer. Despite his many notes on battling, he could never get the hang of telling Eevee what to do in time. Katsuki loked down at him because of this.

Here’s where I stop being a storyteller for a hot second; The log accident between Katsuki and Izuku is replaced by Katsuki’s Cyndaquil loosing a battle to a wild Pokemon and fainting for the first time. Katsuki wasn’t prepared for this, he didn’t have anything to make Cyndaquil better, and it was actually Izuku and his Eevee who chased off the wild Pokemon and found Oran berries to heal Cyndaquil.

Obviously, neither of them liked that. Because you know. Angy boy has to angy. So Katsuki and his Cyndaquil both hate Izuku and his Eevee for... helping them. Because they don’t need help. They’re strong all on their own. Fuck you Deku.

By middle school Bakugou is still the best battler in his grade and grades above, his Cyndaquil is now a Quilava, soon to be a Typhlosion, and he’s setting his sights on the elite Pokemon Trainers school; UA Highschool.

On the other hand, Midoriya’s Eevee has blatantly refused to evolve any time Midoriya brought it up, and is now more like a house pet than a partner Pokemon. Midoriya has also failed to catch any new Pokemon. He does, however, have notebooks on type advantages, teams, strategy, and move combos. Eevee and Midoriya spend hours researching the perfect next partner to match Eevee. They too want to go to UA.

But that’d be impossible for an unevolved Pokemon as weak as Eevee. And with no other partners to help out it seems like a pipe dream.

Enter All Might, Champion and Pokemon Master. Who’s secret star Pokemon is an unevolved Scorbunny.

In this AU it’s not the act of saving Bakugou from getting his Quilava stolen by a Team LOV Grunt that sparks Toshinori’s drive to train him; But instead, the sync he has with his Pokemon. Both he and Eevee ran into the battle, a loosing battle, against a trainer they could not beat, without saying a word to one another. They both HAD to help. They both HAD to battle.

The connection between Trainer and Pokemon is what really matters, especially when using One for All, which is like a Z-Crystal or Mega Stone. It acts a lot like the Sync moves from Pokemon Masters. The trust between Trainer and Pokemon is gathered and released in an all out attack. It comes with the backlash of draining a Pokemon and Trainer’s life force if used too much. Like a Life Orb in the games, but less number values.

Toshinori and his Scorbunny train Izuku and his Eevee to inherit this power. Any Pokemon can be strong, evolution or not. It’s all about trust and care. A true trainer wins with the Pokemon they like, as Toshinori’s master once taught him.

Okay this post is getting... ridiculously long and we’re barely though episode like 3 when I said I was rewriting the whole plot I meant it. Thankyou to all who have stuck with me thus far, I’ll speed run Class 1-A’s Partner Pokemon real quick for you.

Yuga Ayoama - Carbink he hatched from an egg, he hopes one day to see it evolve into a Diancie

Mina Ashido - Her first Pokemon is her Salazzle she got from a Personality test, but her always out of it’s Pokeball her partner is a Grimer she caught in middle school. She thinks she’s the cutest Pokemon in the world, and likes to dress her up. She also has a Sliggoo who loves hugs.

Tsuyu Asui - Her main Pokemon is her father’s Politoed, though she’s always surrounded by water types. She can be seen cradling Tympol and Poliwag like babies. She also has a Drizzile.

Tenya Iida - Current owner of the family’s Aegishlash after Tensei had the his team stolen and corrupted by Team LOV. Before then his number one Partner was a Shelmet, traded with his brother to evolve into an Accelgor just before the entrance exam for UA.

Ochaco Uraraka - Hatched a Ralts from her parents, upon entering UA it was still a Kirlia. After interning under the Ace Trainer Gunhead it evolved into a Gallade.

Mashirao Ojiro - Specializes in fighting types, his main Pokemon is a Mienshao, though he also has a Mankey and Monferno who are constantly fighting one another, Meinshao, being the oldest, is typically the one to break up these fights. The joke here is his Pokemon have more personality than he does.

Denki Kaminari - Pikachu from a personality test. It’ll evolve into an Alolan Raichu. He also has a Blitzle with Lighting Rod as it’s ability along a Tynamo and a Toxel (Amped) who are both still in training. Very baby.

Ejiro Kirishima - Wants to be a Dragon type gym leader. He has a Druddigon that hated him he caught in middle school, because that’s Crimson Riot’s ace Pokemon. His first Pokemon was his dad’s Gigalith who acts as a dad to his Druddigon.

Koji Koda - His first Pokemon was a Buneary he hatched. It hates him, to this day, it’s best move is Frustration. It wants to be a battler, they only went to UA because it signed up for this school behind his back. He wanted to be a Pokemon Breeder. He also has a Happiny and an Audino.

Rikido Sato - His mom gave him her Pikachu as a starter. It’s currently an Alolan Raichu from the amount of sweets he’s given it. He also has an Alcremie he nursed back to health when it was injured, and a Ribombee.

Mezo Shoji - Has his dad’s Cinccino, an Aipom, and a Grapplot. They’re all very calm and quiet Pokemon, usually just hanging off him in various ways. Cinccino will beat the ass of whoever didn’t clean their dishes in the dorms, though.

Kyoka Jiro - Toxtricity (Low Key) from her dad, and a Mime Jr. that’ll evolve into a Mr. Ryme. She wants to be a strong battler but she also wants to preform in Pokemon Musicals and Contests.

Hanta Sero - Bug type trainer, his two current out of the ball Pokemon are a Caterpie and Sewaddle that are always on his shoulders. His first Pokemon was a Grubbin, currently a Vikavolt. They all know string shot and like to cocoon him whenever possible. On the hunt for a Wurmple next.

Fumikage Tokoyami - His first Pokemon was an Inkay he befriended. Sense evolving into a Malamar it refuses to listen to him, tending to act on it’s own or even hypnotize him to keep him from getting in it’s way. He also seems to attract wild Murkrow whenever he’s outside.

Shoto Todoroki - His Pokemon will get full indepth looks later in the post just know his starter was a Tepig from an egg his dad gave him. The rest of his team are ice types like Weavile and Glalie. He also cares for his mom’s Frosslass and Frosmoth. His room is full of Snom.

Toru Hagakura - Has her mom’s Alolan Ninetails, along with a Kecleon that is almost always invisible. Her Kecleon and Tsyu’s Drizzle are best friends.

Katsuki Bakugo - Obviously his Typholsion which evolved during entrance exams. He also has a Magmortar, a Larvitar he’s training, and a Ferrothorn he has for type coverage.

Izuku Midoriya - We’ll go over the growth of his team in a second, just know for a very long time (around midway though where season 3 is) Eevee was his only Pokemon. Now he has a Breloom as well.

Minoru Mineta - Has a Crogunk from a personality test that poison jabs him everytime he says or does anything pervy like Brock from the Pokemon anime. He also has a Zygarde Core he claims is an extremely rare and very powerful Pokemon.

Momo Yaoyorozu - Magearna is her staple Pokemon, her father bought it for her when she was very little. She also has both a male and female Indeedee.

This is all current as of season 5 teams, so some backstory on where some Pokemon came from may happen later.

That took...longer than expected... Back to plot!

I can’t take too long to talk about the USJ Incident, because it’s not the biggest deal and I’d have to go into pro-hero ie Ace and Veteran Trainer’s Pokemon, along with League of Villain stuff so we’re gonna gloss over this for just a hot second.

Just know LOV is the evil team in this AU. They want to take down the Pokemon League, and AFO wants the OFA gem Toshinori passed down to Izuku.

Sports Festival aka Battle Tournament time:

This is mostly Shoto Todoroki growth and learning.

His father, Enji Todoroki, is an Elite Four member who wants to overthrow the Champion and take his throne. Of course, he never could, so he married rich, Rei Todoroki, and harshly trained his children to be Pokemon Champions.

Shoto’s Tepig, currently a Pignite, is a the direct offspring of Endevor’s Emboar, and he refuses to use it in fear it may evolve and become exactly like his father. Shoto only uses half his team, and distances himself from his one true partner to throw away his father’s legacy.

Pignite, however, demands to battle Izuku and it’s fullest, even when Shoto refuses to allow it.

Izuku is the one to convince him that it’s HIS partner! His FRIEND! That he can trust his Pignite and if he’s too scared to evolve it it doesn’t HAVE to evolve! It’s fine as a Pignite, it fights for YOU Shoto! Put your trust in your partner!

This pushes him to not only use Pignite, but the Pokemon his mother entrusted him with as well, such as her Froslass.

All the meanwhile, Iida discovers his brother, current leader of the Iida Gym, was attacked by Team LOV, his Pokemon were stolen, and he was gravely injured.

Team LOV uses Shadow Pokemon, Pokemon who have closed off their hearts to humans and attack without mercy. Battles end in death, for both the trainer and the Pokemon. Tensei is lucky to still be alive.

All that remains of his trusted team is the family’s Aegishlash, their Grandfather’s first partner, and a trusted Iida family member. Tensei, unable to fully battle without his full team, passes on the Iida family Pokemon to Tenya, along with the promise to one day guard the Gym’s name.

This arc is almost completely without Stain and I genuinely don’t know how to really... incorporate him correctly. His morals are kinda weird to me and getting that to work around Pokemon would be hard. So I’m just making him a Team LOV admin. Sorry Stain, I know you stand for better than this, but I just... Can’t work with it.

Queue Tenya Iida’s bad boy arc, as he goes hunting after Team LOV with plans to shut down the entire organization single-handedly.

Of course this doesn’t work out and he end up in a fight with Team LOV Admin, Stain, who proceeds to kick his teeth in using dirty tactics and shadow Pokemon. This is the most OOC thing that’ll be in this AU I swear I’m so sorry Stain...

During this fight Midoriya starts to really see the backlash of using OFA at it’s limit, as both he and Eevee end up passing out from exhaustion, allowing Stain to get away, landing them both in the hospital.

Grand Torino doesn’t have words to teach Midoriya how to use OFA correctly, he simply gives him an egg and is off on his way. He’ll figure it out, he’s a smart kid.

Izuku spends most of his summer training camp caring for this egg, while everyone else is testing battle match ups, double battles, rotation battles, along with facing against type disadvantages and, of course, catching new team members in the surrounding forest.

Which of course brings us to Team LOV’s attack on the Summer Training Camp, and I’m again going to try and speed run their Pokemon partners, and this time I will be sticking to the Pokemon they have as of the attack on the camp, rather than future teams. Meaning I’m skipping AFO entirely right now. Also Nomu are replaced entirely with Shadow Pokemon.

Tomura Shigaraki (Team Boss) - All of his Pokemon are acquired from AFO, including his main Pokemon, Giratina (Altered Form), Dusknoir, and Golurk. The only Pokemon he has of his own is Banette

Dabi (Team Admin)- His ace is a Charizard constantly in it’s Mega-X form. He also has a Shiny Ponyta, Lampent, and a Shadow Reshiram gifted to him by LOV

Toga (Team Admin)- Her ace is a Ditto that tries to transform into people rather than Pokemon. She treats it like a person and calls it her friend rather than her partner. She also controls shadow versions of The Lake Trio; Uxie, Azelf, and Mespirit

Twice (Team Admin)- His ace is a Zweilous, the two heads are constantly fighting and he’s back and forth on stopping them. He’s not a very competent trainer and tends to give double commands. He’s in charge of a Shadow Kyurem.

Muscular (Team Admin)- Could care less about his bond with his Pokemon, they’re all shadow Pokemon. Machamp, Heracross, Hariyama, and Conkeldurr. He also has a Buzzwole, though it doesn’t seem to be a shadow Pokemon.

Spinner (Grunt)- Scyther, Escavalier, and Shedinja.

Magne (Grunt)- Plusle, Minun, and a Morpeko. Supports Spinner in Double Battles, she’s not a direct fighter.

Mr. Compress (Grunt)- Mr. Mime is is ace, he also as a Mr. Ryme and a Clefairy. They all know Metronome and use it even when he tells them not to.

Mustard (Grunt)- Wheezing, Dustox, Stunky, and Amoongus. Very defensive.

Moonfish (Grunt)- Has too many Unown. Are they even his Pokemon? They just kinda surround him and attack all at once. He does not give them any commands. Is he even alive? He doesn’t seem to move much.

Moonfish, Mustard, and Muscular all get captured, their Pokemon are moved into protective custody, Shadow Pokemon are treated and rehabilitated. And of course, Bakugo is kidnapped by the evil team.

During the raid on Team LOV’s hideout, Ace Trainers, Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members manage to contain all shadow Pokemon and transport them to safer facilities, though with plenty of struggle.

All for One fight happens, and true anime style, Toshinori’s ace, Scorbunny, manages to take down AFO’s Giritina (Origin Form), allowing for his capture. With the cost of revealing to the world the toll OFA has taken on both Toshinori and his partner.

I wish I could find some way to talk about the Dorm episode because it and the first episode of season 4 are easily my favorite episodes. They’re just so cute, and it’d only be cuter with partner Pokemon and growing bonds and all that. Please take this moment to appreciate those episodes.

Moving into the Dorms is about the right time for Izuku’s egg from Grand Tirino to hatch! Surprise! It’s a... Shroomish?? Granted he’s a bit confused at first, but Toshinori helps a bit. He won’t just give him the answer of course. What kind of teacher does that?

Izuku realizes he can’t put too much of OFA’s strain on just his Eevee, he need to lessen the weight on his partner. He talks to Shroomish about it, explain how it works and says if he doesn’t want to battle, he doesn’t have to.

But of course Shroomish wants to battle! It wants great power and to be best friends with Midoriya and Eevee!

Shroomish evolves during license training, which I’m not 100% positive how to translate into this AU... I’m so sorry to both the Provisional License (which has some of the best characters) and Stain for just completely glossing over whatever it is you all do but I just wanna keep going I’ve been writing for 8 hours straight now.

Internships time. I know there’s a lot of really REALLY good characters in this arc. Super cool, full of personality and the ability to go ham wild on their Pokemon teams is diving me wild rn but like the story of this arc is also super wild so I’ll spare y’all my ten page essay on Fatgum’s Pokemon, unless you wanna come into my ask box and ask for that spesifically, I will give it to you.

We’ll just do The big Three and move on:

Mirio Togata - His starter was defenetly a Ghastly, currently a Gengar full of love and laughs. He also has a Togekiss, Gliscor, and a Heracross. They’re all very happy, fun loving Pokemon, who trust eachother and Mirio very closely.

Neijire Hado - She started with a Mareep, now an Ampharos, she’s also currently caring for a Smoochum, and a Vibrava. Her Pokemon are constantly full of energy.

Tamaki Amajiki - He got a Smeargle from his Pokemon Personality test as a starter, much like him his Smeargle is very shy about it’s art, only showing it to Tamaki, Mirio, and Mirio’s Heracross. Her also has a Skrelp who doesn’t like to battle, and a Drifblim he hides behind.

Eri is a little girl currently plagued by Darkrai’s nightmares. Overhaul is using these nightmares to create the serum that turns Pokemon into Shadow Pokemon. His goal is to separate people and Pokemon permanently.

Because of her constant nightmares, Eri is terrified of Pokemon, and is always weary around them, especally if they are bigger than her.

Just like in the main story, Mirio and Izuku run into Eri while on patrol, and immedetly know something’s wrong, but can’t do anything, letting her slip back into the hands of Overhaul.

The Yakuza, in this AU, run the Pokemon Daycare as a front, thus they have a lotta eggs. During the raid of the base, Twice’s Zweilious, evolved into Hydreigeon, finds and gets attached to one such egg. He eventually gifts it to Toga.

During the battles of the raid, Overhaul turns quiet a few Pokemon into Shadow Pokemon, including Nighteyes’ ace, Xatu, who in the rage induced by becoming shadowed, attacks and gravely wounds Nighteye.

Mirio’s team does their best as well, but his team are also stripped of their hearts and bonds. Even so, he keeps fighting. He pushes them to please, keep going, for Eri! So she can know the joy of having her own Pokemon some day, and be free of all this pain!

He manages to keep them fighting until Izuku shows up, though by then he’s taken the brunt of quiet a few of his own Pokemon’s attacks and can no longer stand.

When the dust all settals, the Shadow Pokemon are gathered and slept for their own saftey. Eri’s grandfather, the Yakuza Boss, is still in a coma. In his room police find an egg, a gift meant for Eri, her first Pokemon.

But she’s still too scared of Pokemon to accept it.

School Festival time; Time to go after Jiro’s true passion: Pokemon Preformances!

I have a personal weakness for the Pokemon Musicals from Black and White, and it fits this little section here where they all put on a concert with singing and dancing and the whole idea of Jiro and Denki’s Toxtricitys jamming together on stage is making me soft so like

That’s what happens

And it helps Eri get over her fear of Pokemon. Not entrily all at once, but for a moment, just a moment, all these Pokemon having fun, dancing and singing, wearing cute little clothes just... Makes her so happy! 

So.

That’s the plot thus far, as of anime standards, that’s about where I am and it’s almost all my thoughts. I have a few miscellaneous things to clean up, sense I know quiet a few manga bits, so feel free to stop here if your an Anime causual like me.

Also! If I didn’t include someone’s team and you’d like to know, or you want to judge me on my reasons for giving certain people certain Pokemon, send me an ask. I’ll gladly explain. I have explinations. A lot of them.

OKAY MISCELLANEOUS TIME NOW:

Eri’s egg from her grandfather has a Celebi in it, the cure to Shadow Pokemon. I’m not sure when it’ll hatch, but she takes care of it every day.

Mirio actually still has his team! They’re just shadow Pokemon now, so they rarely listen to him and often attack him. He doesn’t particapate in real battles anymore, for fear his Pokemon will hurt someone else, but he still trains and plays with them the best he can! He’s constantly covered in scratches and bites.

Dabi’s charizard was given to him as a Charmander by his dad. His father claimed he wasn’t a good trainer because he cared and cried too much when his Pokemon got hurt, and took the Charmander from him. In this AU, Dabi isn’t believed dead, he just ran away from home after taking his Charmander back.

Team LOV actually made Charizard X, as theories say it’s a man-made mega evolution form and I think that’s cool, and Dabi forced it onto his partner. Charizard ended up nearly killing Dabi with it’s sudden strength.

Kurogiri is a Shadow Marshadow forcibly possessing Oboro Shirakumo, he has no Pokemon of his own, nor does he battle. Shirakumo isn’t dead in this AU, just possessed. Kinda in a coma?

After Twice dies, Toga takes care of his Hydreigeon. The egg he gave her hatches after he’s dead, and it’s a Zorua. She tells it all about Twice, refering to him as the Zorua’s daddy because I just think that’s cute leave me be. Hydreigeon is a VERY good parental Pokemon to Zorua.

With the loss of Muscular, Mr. Compress is promoted to admin and given a Hoopa, which he chooses to confine to it’s smaller, weaker form. It’s the only legendary Pokemon that Team LOV has that isn’t a Shadow Pokemon.

[1863-project]

I’m at the end of my first-ever Omega Ruby run, and I’ve honestly had a great time getting to know Hoenn. I just have to evolve some Pokemon and catch the Regis and Deoxys before I move along (I’m waiting to trade with folks to finish the Dex properly, but I can do that at any point), but I think it’s worth doing a retrospective on the characters and Pokemon I met along the way.

As a region, Hoenn is unique in that it has a LOT of water routes. You spend a large portion of the second half of the game traveling via Surf. The Azumarill in my party, Pikablue, ended the game knowing Waterfall, Surf, and Dive (it also carries Play Rough), and it was one of the most crucial members of my party for transport purposes.

When I won the Hoenn League, the team May (named ‘Hatshepsut’ in my playthrough because we love cool historical figures in this house) had with her was her evolved starter, a Blaziken named Cluck You, along with Pikablue the Azumarill, Pangaea the Groudon, Charles II the Shiftry, Friendo the Latios, and the team anchor, Bastet the overleveled Skitty. I beat Steven because Bastet dodged a Zen Headbutt from Metagross and gave me the time I needed to revive both Blaziken and Groudon in the back, and their fire moves handled the rest. Bastet went on to become the first party member to reach level 100, way ahead of everyone else. She was absolutely incredible and I love her. Her final moveset: Heal Bell (surprisingly useful, especially in Doubles), Thunder, Ice Beam, and Play Rough. She’s a Dragon Slayer.

As soon as I got my hands on the Eon Flute I started running around to check every Mirage location that came up in the hopes that it would be a Mirage Cave. I knew that was where Tynamo was, and I needed Eelektross to complete the Submas team I was building (the other nine members are in SwSh at the moment; Eelektross will hopefully someday join them). On November 30th, my persistence paid off, and I went and caught three Tynamos so I could have the entire evolutionary line in my National Dex in Pokemon HOME. As it turns out, Eelektross still hasn’t been added to HOME because Third Rail has become a vital member of my party in postgame and I love him and he loves me. (I’m just Emmet, really.) The Eon Flute is also really nice in that using it allows you to literally fly in real time over the entire region, and I prefer doing that to using Fly because it’s just so aesthetically nice. Friendo just swoops down and picks me up, and we have a nice time exploring together. It’s especially pretty at night when everything is all lit up. It’s a lovely little feature exclusive to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and it’s so great.

Character-wise, Hoenn has produced some notables. Magma and Aqua are two of the most beloved villain teams in the entire franchise, and the reboots gave them so much more personality and gave the leaders and admins some excellent updated designs. (Years ago, when the remakes were first released, my dash was filled to the brim with Hardenshipping.) I had OR, so I had Magma to contend with, and one of the single most entertaining things in the entire game is Maxie’s losing animation. It’s perfect, it suits his character so well, and it’s just really funny. Also, shout-out to the Team Magma grunt that I met in the Extremely Obvious Hideout who told me how proud he was of kicking his soda habit whilst standing next to the vending machines. I love that guy. In terms of reformation, Magma and Aqua come around very easily when they realize that they’ve had a very bad idea - they ultimately were well-intentioned but made a really horrible mistake and set out to set things right (with the player’s help, of course). It ultimately makes both teams very likeable.

In terms of other characters, not every Gym Leader from Hoenn is a complete standout, but a few are very, very popular. Flannery is a perfect time capsule of 2003 fashion and I love that so much, and I don’t think I need to say much about Wallace. He’s just Wallace. He’s so freaking entertaining. Steven is also a very popular Champion, and he plays a pretty big role in the plot, so you see a lot of him throughout the game. (He and Wallace are also a very popular ship, with Originshipping - named for the Cave of Origin which Wallace has to grant you access to - actually being referenced in Pokemon Masters on, of all days, Valentine’s Day. Make of this what you will, but I’m here for it.) The Gym Leaders all received redesigns as well, with a lot of them benefiting greatly from it - I like Roxanne’s new school uniform so much better than her old one, for example, and once again, Wallace outshines everyone with an ensemble that would go wonderfully at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. I wish we got to know the Gym Leaders a bit more as people, because they don’t get to stand out as characters as much. Galar actually did this very well by allowing us a lot of interactions with the Leaders outside the Gyms and as teammates and rivals in the Galarian Star Tournament. A big part of the reason Wallace is so popular as a Gym Leader here is that you see him outside the Gym multiple times and can even compete with him in Contests. You get to know him as a person more and not just as the eighth Gym Leader, and it makes him a much more interesting character.

In short, here’s how the League stacks up for me:

Roxanne: Benefited massively from her character redesign, which gives her a lot more personality. Would like to see her and Steven interact since they’re apparently friends, which I imagine revolves around going out and licking rocks together or whatever geologists do with their geologist friends.

Brawly: He still isn’t very distinct. He’s a surfer who trains Fighting-types, which is a bit of a subversion since you’d expect Water-types from someone like that, but nothing about him really pops for me.

Wattson: Gives off Grandpa Vibes. Wattson actually gets a lot of expository development via his work on New Mauville and Sea Mauville, where you find out he halted the projects to protect the Pokemon ecosystems in both locations. A lot of employees were angry about this and he was even investigated briefly for stopping the projects, even being called a traitor to the company (which appeared to overwork its employees and prevent them from unionizing), but it was apparently evidently clear that he did things out of environmental concerns, and the employees were able to find work on other projects elsewhere. This actually slots nicely into the themes of the game involving environmentalism and how to ensure the livelihoods of people and nature both.

Flannery: Time capsule from 2003! I was, of course, around in 2003 (I turned 14), and Flannery was at the peak of fashion back then. Flares were in, and I miss that trend so much. For that alone, she’s one of my favorite Gym Leaders in this generation, but I also appreciate that she’s shown trying to find her footing and figure out who she is instead of pretending to be someone else. There’s a certain performative aspect to being a Gym Leader, but it needs to come naturally from them and be an extension of their own personality, not be artificial. I would, however, love to know who her grandfather is. It’s still never been confirmed. (As a side note, a lot of people headcanon her to be Kabu’s niece, since he’s from Hoenn, which is cute.)

Norman: A Dad. More specifically, the player character’s dad. There’s really nothing that stands out about him except for that damn Slaking, which gives a lot of people trouble. I did, however, appreciate the conversation he had with Wally’s father as Wally and the player character departed together, because I’m actually pretty close to my own father (who I’m very similar to in many aspects). I’m 31 years old and I still get emotional every time my parents tell me they’re proud of me. Notably, Norman is the only player character father we have ever seen in Pokemon, though, which is odd.

Winona: In-game, she doesn’t feel like she has much of a personality, although she goes off on aesthetics pretty well. It just weirds me out that that’s her hair coming out from under the helmet and not wings attached to it. She could have been really cool but she gets the short end of the development stick.

Tate and Liza: The two of them intentionally playing up the ‘weird twins’ angle by completing each other’s sentences actually comes across really cutely because they’re kids. You can also run into them in the Lilycove Department Store being children and buying toys, a good reminder that they’re still very young and evidently very skilled for their ages. Battle-wise, my Azumarill knew Surf by this point so I ended things quickly because I’m into Doubles as it is and like using spread moves when I can.

Wallace: I’ve discussed him a lot above, so I don’t need to say much else, but he really is the most notable Gym Leader in the region, and not just because he’s the last one you face. He has a lot of personality and development, you meet him outside the Gym several times, his niece Lisia is also out and about in the game and the family resemblance is notable, and you find an old magazine in Sea Mauville featuring a woman on the cover who looks like Lisia - likely Wallace’s older sister, Lisia’s mother. The entire family gets more development than a lot of the other Gym Leaders in this region.

Sidney: The first member of the Elite Four you face...I’d actually like to know more about him. He seems like an interesting person, and I personally enjoy Dark-types myself so I always appreciate seeing Dark-type users not being portrayed as evil. His upbeat nature is nice, and it’s a pleasant surprise to run into him at the Battle Resort, even if he was only there to track down Steven.

Phoebe: I love how much her appearance contrasts with her Pokemon typing. She’s a Ghost-type trainer and you’d never guess that from her outfit! Her grandmother is the old woman on Mt. Pyre, which is why Phoebe has an affinity for Ghost-Types, and I’d love to see more interactions involving them together. You can run into Phoebe on Mt. Pyre after you beat the League and talk to her briefly - she was likely visiting her grandmother - but sadly she doesn’t get much development outside of that.

Glacia: An Ice-type trainer who we learn next to nothing about. Glacia is mentioned outside of the context of the Elite Four by an NPC in the Mauville Food Court who says she was slurping down ramen so intensely that she broke a sweat, but that’s all we know about her aside from that she’s originally from a different region, and she tells us that herself. Not very memorable.

Drake: Yet another Dragon trainer late in the game, and not one of the more notable ones. Lance and Clair are remembered for being cousins and for being the first Dragon trainers you really come across in the series, and later Dragon-type trainers like Iris (who becomes Champion of Unova in B2W2) and Raihan are carried by their personalities and distinct looks. Drake is just an old sea captain with Dragon-types, and he doesn’t really jump out at me much either.

Steven: A major player in the plot - one of the most active Champions we’ve had in the franchise - and a perpetually popular character. I never minded running into Steven out and about in Hoenn, even if it meant I’d have to listen to an infodump about rocks, and his Champion battle was actually fairly difficult for the team I brought in despite having two team members with Fire-type attacks to handle the Steel. As I mentioned above, it was my Skitty that made the decisive dodge to allow me to bring in the team member I needed to deliver the final blow, meaning this is now the second time in my life I’ve beaten the Champion with an unevolved house cat. (Rick Pratt the Purrloin is a vital member of my beloved Young Ones Galar Championship Team.) Overall, Steven’s a very likeable Champion, and I did enjoy the little detail of the rocks on display in his home - he has them labeled so you can see where he found them, and they’re from every region featured in the games up to that point.

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire also have the Delta Episode, which features Rayquaza (which you’re forced to catch) and a character named Zinnia, who isn’t in RSE at all and is new to ORAS. Besides being named after my favorite flower, Zinnia’s personality is actually very interesting because although she comes across as cheery it’s clear she feels the weight of a massive responsibility and that the cheeriness is covering a lot of pain. Her Whismur named Aster is evidently named after someone important to her who is no longer around, and it’s never revealed in-game who the original Aster was. Whoever Aster was, though, Zinnia misses her deeply. In a 2015 interview, Ohmori Shigeru stated that the original Aster was the person who held the position of Lorekeeper before Zinnia, but we don’t know anything more than that - a shame, really, because that makes for some interesting backstory.

Overall, I had a lovely time in Hoenn, and I’ll be moving on to Kalos in the next few weeks once I finish up this Dex business first. I just wish I got to get to know so many of the characters I’ve met a little better, but I adore the team I put together and I’m super proud of them and all they’ve accomplished.