#anyway remember when bulbasaur looked like this

[tiskycat]

Behold: A Little Guy

[front-facing-pokemon]

[fakemonexperiments]

fakemon concepts

so, you’re still thinking about making one of those pokemon creatures: the question is, what kind of pokemon creature do you want to make?

how to concept

before we get to actually designing the pokemon, you’ll first want to come up with a strong concept. this is what your pokemon is actually about, its core conceit, what makes it special! a strong concept will guide your design and tell you exactly what your pokemon should look like, in terms of physical characteristics, pose, and personality.

disclaimer: pokemon concepts have evolved over the generations, which is really only to be expected from an almost 30-year-old franchise. pokemon concepts will continue to evolve over time. I’m not going to be the judge to say “this looks like a pokemon” or not, mostly because they release new and surprising pokemon every year and I always find myself liking them anyway. these are just a few frameworks that will hopefully help you navigate fakemon design.

anyway.

the fundamentals

pokemon concepts are often made up of multiple parts: where the skill lies is in pairing parts that go well with each other. for example, bulbasaur is a bulb-frog that evolves into a flower-dinosaur. confusing? yes, when I put it like that. but what makes it work is the narrative that ties the pokemon together (a rafflesia growing and bursting into bloom). so,

pick a base concept. easy tier would be an animal, plant, or object (1), but feel free to go further! many of the more anthromorphic pokemon are based around ideas or professions rather than a specific animal. think of snorlax (hungry sleepy animal, not actually a bear) or kirlia (a ballet dancer). pick a base that’s evocative and flexible. the base should be something that would be familiar to a child, if not in specifics then at least in general. (2)

find a secondary concept. the secondary concept does not need to relate to your base concept, but it should have synergy with it, IE they should resonate with each other and make it easier, rather than harder, to understand your pokemon on first glance.

marry these concepts together using a narrative and personality. your pokemon should tell its own mini-story. how does it function in the wild? how does it behave in relation to humans? what are its likes and dislikes? at this point, you may start filling out the laundry list of pokemon traits (post upcoming), like their typing, evolution stage, pokedex entries, stats, and so on. (3)

does this pokemon go with other pokemon? if so, you might need to think about those pokemon too! like real life critters, they can have a variety of relationships, be it mutualistic or antagonistic or anything along those lines. if this pokemon evolves, think about how its core idea evolves through the different stages (as opposed to just getting bigger and more complexly designed). you can go through this process for those guys too!

happy with your fakemon concept? good! now is time to refine your concept further. here is a DIAGRAM I have made for your reference.

pokemon graph 01

you’re probably looking at this like. what the hell does THAT mean??? but you also probably get it from looking at it. all pokemon fall on this diagram somewhere. you should try to stay within the pale red diamond, otherwise known as “the pokemon zone”. here are why I labelled the axes as such:

a zoo animal is a pokemon that’s too familiar for anyone’s liking. it does not necessarily need to be an animal, that’s just the name I’m using for it. this often happens if you lean too hard on your base concept and make your pokemon wayyy too specific. like if you made a mantis shrimp but it’s just a mantis shrimp. yes, it’s very cool, because mantis shrimp are fundamentally cool, but at the end of the day, it’s still basically just a mantis shrimp with no other significant traits. again, “zoo animal” can also apply to more humanlike concepts - this happens when you make a pokemon’s assigned characteristics too clear in its design. remember: timburr has a vest and carries a steel bar, but it does NOT wear a hat and its vest is not high-vis. try simplifying and abstracting if this is you.

a furby is a pokemon that is unearthly to the point of unfamiliarity. I mean, yes, strictly speaking all pokemon are unearthly, but this is a pokemon that’s so unfamiliar it’s hard to parse on first glance what’s going on with it. often this has to do with missing the mark on pokemon design conventions, but the existing pokemon I’d place close to this are actually ultra beasts, which are like this by design. they do this by doing things like having uncomfortably and satirically humanoid silhouettes, missing faces and facial expressions, being full abominations and so on. there are some really interesting things you can do in this space, but you want to still make sure this pokemon is interesting and likeable to a child.

a digimon is, well, a digimon. there are plenty of theses on why digimon are different from pokemon, but personally the main difference is in the scale of design: digimon tend to be much more anthropomorphic and also much more complicated, with the addition of armour and clothing. when a pokemon (such as lucario or gardevoir) is anthro, they aren’t straightforwardly so - they mess with the proportions, they disrupt the silhouette. they also don't straightforwardly add clothes; usually the clothes are baked into the pokemon's fur or skin to give an impression (such as with gumshoos). people fall into the digimon trap when they overcomplicate their design by adding too many elements into it.

a neopet is also, well. a neopet. unlike digimon, neopets tend to be undercomplicated and oversimplified. instead of having the secondary concept, they tend to have a single concept with a personality tacked onto it. not all cute pokemon are neopets, and not all neopets are cute pokemon. for example, eevee looks like it could be a neopet, but is specifically designed to be no particular animal, as well as having a unique concept behind its evolution and relation to other pokemon. if you’ve got a neopet-looking pokemon, try to make its concept more complex (although not necessarily more convoluted).

you might have noticed that I’ve mentioned that certain existing pokemon lean one way or another, but are still considered pokemon. this is because pokemon changes all the time and is constantly pushing the definition of what it means to be a pokemon. as I said, making fakemon is meant to be fun! do whatever! but pokemon official is able to do this because they are aware of pokemon design conventions to begin with. that’s why ultra beasts are Labelled As Ultra Beasts, it’s because they don’t fit the design conventions. keep this in mind when conceptualising your pokemon!

appeal to children

think your fakemon sounds like a fakemon? cool. now you want to make sure your fakemon hits the right tone, and for that, it must be parseable to a child.

like, a kid should be able to listen to your concept and be like oh that makes sense and not get lost along the way. this is because despite the ageing fanbase, one of the cornerstones of pokemon remains being accessible to new and young players, rather than just old veterans. if it’s too complex, streamline your ideas! if it’s too simple, buff up the narrative! every pokemon should, theoretically, be able to become some child’s best friend and companion.

if you’re struggling to figure out how to do this, one thing I’ve found very helpful is actually relying on the frameworks pokemon already gives us in game. that is, your pokemon’s condition!

in-game, pokemon are used in contests, and their condition is part of their judging. for fakemon, this means you can use these stats to guide the appeal of your pokemon:

tough

cool

beauty

cute

smart

or any combination of these! most pokemon (I find) tend to lean on 2 of these characteristics. a pokemon can be large and brutish, but it must be scary in a cool way. in an exciting way! in a “wow that’s so sick I wish I had one of those” kind of way. note also that conditions tend to lend themselves to certain kinds of moves, builds, and stats, but if you’ve been following along with a fakemon in mind that should probably make sense to you anyway.

now that you’ve thoroughly refined your pokemon concept, it’s time to put your pokemon in context.

cultural concepts (and appropriation)

okay, listen. if you are making a fakemon, there’s a good chance you’re thinking of making a fakemon region, or pokedex. like the pokemon company, you’re probably considering basing it on a real-world geographic area and culture. and that’s not bad! but you need to be careful!

I’m not saying that you should only write or make art about cultures that you personally are familiar with, but please for the love of god do not make racist fakemon. I have seen enough racist fakemon for a lifetime. think about the appropriateness of the story you’re telling. are you the right person to tell this story? is this story yours to tell?

as a creator it is your responsibility to research thoroughly any other culture you seek to represent, especially their mythology. this includes being sensitive to their perspective on said culture, which may have religious or otherwise implications that you aren’t aware of. I am once again asking you to be, at the bare minimum, respectful. (4)

if you’re working on a culture that isn’t yours, look into getting a sensitivity reader! I assure you that this is not as scary as it sounds, and could be as simple as asking a friend from that culture to look over your work and point out any blind spots. (if you don’t have any friends from that culture, this should doubly make you question why you’re making fakemon about it, of all things.) please also thank your friend for their time - sensitivity reading is also a job that people get paid for, if you’d like to hire someone instead.

anyway, key points:

if you’re representing a culture or background that isn’t yours, do your research

part of that research may involve speaking to people from that culture or background to actually make the pokemon work

this is not a bad thing and will in fact help you make better pokemon

ultimately the goal of any culturally inspired pokemon should be to celebrate that culture! not to perpetuate racist stereotypes lol

conclusion

a lot of people think that pokemon is often X + Y = Z. they’re not wrong, but it’s actually more like A + B + C + D + E = Z, where A to E aren’t just different things, they’re different categories of things. A might be your base concept. B might be the weird riff you’re putting on it. C might be a personality trait. D is the narrative role of the pokemon. and E is probably the completely broken unique move or ability you’ve concocted for your pokemon that would make it horrible to play against competitively.

make your pokemon rigourously! make them robust! make them fun! and ultimately, please make them a child’s best friend, to go on their pokemon journey with.

footnotes:

(1) I guess a sort of riff on animal, vegetable, mineral, except that pokemon objectmons go far beyond minerals. grass types aren’t all strictly plants, and vegetables do encompass mushrooms though.

(2) a child might not be familiar with the specific parasite that orbeetle is based on, but they do know ladybugs and they do know UFOs. and they’d be like, wow, so cool!

(3) please know that even though I’ve labelled these steps 1-4, you don’t have to actually do them in order. you could start with a typing you want to fill or a narrative in mind, then come up with a pokemon to fill the gaps. start with a design and then make up a personality for it! I’m not the boss of you.

(4) I’m not going to pretend pokemon doesn’t have its own history of cultural appropriation and racism (cc xatu, jynx, etc.). but that doesn’t mean you have to do it.

[wall-eye]

8, 10, 25, 44

8. do you typically remember your dreams if you have them?

i dont! they tend to fade away pretty quickly if i dont intentionally remember them.

10. any unusual fears?

Stick bugs </3 any bug that is masterful at looking like a stick branch or leaf freaks me out. the stick bug meme is fine but i get freaked out at even pictures of them

25. do you collect anything?

Collect is such a vague word. nothing intentionally. I have a bookself full of yarn, i have another filled with various craft supplies, i have a seperate bookself half dedicated to just all the dnd stuff i own (one of which is dedicated to games ive played in, with the notebooks used and to be used and any physical props or toys placed there), i have a Lot of dice and ive started getting either a big d20 or a set for some of the important characters ive played/will play. I have a stack of butcher paper that i gathered over a Long time from work with no real intention in mind, i used to cut out the test print spots on cardboard boxes but i think i tossed all of those out when i reorganized my room? I have several little bulbasaur things around my room, which prob counts as a small collection but i mostly have for decoration purposes. Im slowly starting to get several ttrpg books physically, i want to get artbooks. I dont know how purposeful a collection has to be to count as one or as things you just happen to have a lot/a variety of. this is a lot of words for "i have a bunch of the same stuff. i dont have it to collect things i just Have it but idk if it counts anyway"

44. do you have any blorbos?

so many. Pinkie Pie is the one ive had the longest, Ashton Greymoore has been the top one for a while now, Chilchuck is the newest. I am also very obsessed with characters from our pirate dnd game. i love all our pcs and out of the npcs we've met in game so far, Felix is easily my favourite.

[coolkraay]

Alright it's plushy time!

Here's a photo of all of them together! The only one not here is a little keychain bulbasaur on my bag. It's hard to see all of them well here so let's take a closer look for introductions!

From left to right: Adventurer Pepe, Ardenweald Pepe, IJsbeer (literally ice bear), Danny, Donna, Donny. Apart from Ardenweald Pepe these all stay next my pillow at all times. I've had IJsbeer and the ducklings since I was barely a toddler!

Pokemon, part 1. The Hitmonlee with a Ditto face is called Chimken, the rest just go by there Pokemon names. The Meowth is a little fingerpuppet! All my pokemon plushies are a mix of official merch, stuff found at my local comic store, and older plushies I've had for a while and don't remember the origin of.

Pokemon, part 2. The bigger guys! The big Bulbasaur is called Squimnch. The Rayquaza is the oldest official pokeplush I have. The Celesteela is by far the most expensive plush I have in price, and it's also my tallest! I fricking love her! The Tepig has a fun gimmick where you can turn him inside out so it becomes a pokeball.

The remaining fun stuff! Left to right, top: Raven King, Copia, Asmund the plague doctor, Monji the dust cloud, Mothi the mothman

Bottom: Jerry the skull, Maantje the moon, Augustus Gustavus the Third aka Gus the snail, Pukkel the pimple, Nyangko the cat, Brian the brain, Reddi the robin.

Raven, Asmund and Mothi are all squishables, Reddi has a little sound thing in it that activates by squeezing her but it's loud so I never do. Gus, Nyangko and Monji are all from South Korea! Gus I got at the Coex aquarium. He was so ugly I loved it. Nyangko is actually meant to be a little wrist support thing for when you use the computer but I didn't like that feeling. Monji is special. Celesteela may have cost me the most in price but Monji was only available at a pop-up store in a mall just outside of Seoul for a short time and I happened to be there at the right time! He is technically the official mascot of the group Monsta X but they haben't really done much with that for the past few years.

Anyway that's all of my plushies! I rotate so I'm cuddling a different one every night ^^

[animefankotaro]

Trans Ash and Brock

Ash Ketchum was in his home town of Pallet Town after winning the Pokemon League in Alola. Many friends and family were there to celebrate the victory. Ash's Pokemon were also there enjoying the event by resting, eating, playing, or entertaining guest. It took Ash a while but it was all worth it. Everyone was gathered around Ash who was giving a speech.

“This is the greatest thing to ever happen to me.” Ash said. “It was always my dream to become a champion and now I am one.” Everyone cheered. “I can't thank you all enough for sticking by me the whole way.”

“What are you going to do now?” May asked.

“I'm going to continue my journey and see new places, people, and catch more Pokemon. I may have won a championship but I still need to become a Pokemon Master. I'll do that no matter how long it takes me.”

“When you're old enough have you ever thought about settling down and start a family?” Serena asked with a blush though Ash didn't seem to catch that.

“I'd love do to that. But that's not for a long time. I want to focus on my journey now.”

“Maybe Jessie and James should do the same rather then continue to chase after Pikachu.” Cilan commented. Everyone laughed a bit.

“I think we'll be seeing them blast off for years to come.” Ash replied getting more laughs.

“Hey, Ash.” Brock said. “If you're not ready to settle down yet but know some older women who are just let me know.” However, Misty then took him by the ear dragging him away.

“Look's like you've never change.” Misty sighed.

Any girls here are welcome to marry my brother.” Bonnie said.

“BONNIE!” An embarrassed Clemont yelled.

“Anyway. I'm glad for you all supporting me throughout my journey. As you know a few days ago a rumor went around about me. That rumor was that I am trans. According to Gary Oak the rumor started from a few other guys who were also from Pallet Town like we are.”

“They are. The same ones who started when we did!” Gary yelled.

“Well, some of you already knew the truth so I'll go ahead and say it. The rumor is true. I was born a girl.” Several townsfolk looked around and whispered.

“My birth name was Ashley Ketchum. Not only did I want to be a Pokemon master but also a boy.”

A young Ashley was in the yard playing around. Delia was watching while also on the phone.

“Yes. Ashley just turned 5 not so long ago. She loves Pokemon more than anything and wants to be a trainer like her father. I just wish she had more friends. Her only friend is Gary Oak. Maybe they'll travel together when they're older. Maybe even date.”

Ashley was quite different though. She preferred getting rough over staying clean. One thing she wanted was shorter hair.

“Can I have a haircut, mom?”

“Why do you want a haircut?” Delia asked.

“I want it to look like Gary's. I hate it being long like this. It gets in the way all the time. When I'm a trainer that will distract me when I'm battling.”

“But if we cut it short people think think you're a boy.”

“I don't care!” Ashley pouted.

“Well, okay.”

She grabbed a pair of scissors and a comb and started cutting away. She didn't want it to be a copy of Gary's. It had to be different enough to give Ashley an image. After she was done she grabbed a mirror.

“How's this?”

“It looks great, mom! Thanks. I'm going to show Gary.” With that Ashley ran off.

Ashley also preferred boys clothes over girls clothes. So she got her mom to take her to a store to buy some.

“Remember, Ashley. We can't buy too much.”

'I know. Just a few so I don't have to wear dresses or shirts all the time.” Ash got a few clothes. His favorites were a yellow shirt that had a red stripe and some blue shorts. They weren't unique or anything but he liked them for it's simpleness. They were still boys clothes in the end.

One day Ashley and Gary were pretending to have a Pokemon battle in the backyard.

“All right, Bulbasaur!” Ashley yelled. “Hit it with a razer leaf.”

“Get in the safety of your shell, Shirtle! It will protect you a little.”

“It can't be protected from this. Bulbasaur use whirlwind on that sitting duck!”

“Good move, Ashley but it can't deflect this. Squirtle use body slam!”

“Hey! Your Squirtle can't know body slam yet!”

“Yes it can. My Squirtle is a special Squirtle because it's from my grandfather.”

“Professor Oak!” Ash whined.

“You two play nicely.” Professor Oak said barely paying attention.

“Looks like I win.” Gary gloated. Ashley rolled her eyes.

“Gary can I tell you something.”

“No rematches.”

“No, it's not that. It's just I've been thinking about my name. I don't like it. Can you call me just Ash instead.” Gary raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“Umm, sure. Why though?”

“I think I'm suppose to be a boy. But don't tell anyone okay.” Gary nodded again.

One day Ash was watching TV when a show about trainers came on. One segment was on a trainer named Brock.

“We'll here with 10 year old Brock of Pewter City. So Brock you want to be a Pokemon Breeder?” The boy nodded.

“Yes. Though a lot of people think I might have a shot at the gym one day. I got an Onix not to long ago and we're already best friends.

“And is it true you were born female?” Brock nodded again.

“I knew I was a boy for a while enough. So I changed my identity to that of a boy.”

“That's interesting.”

“If you're not busy later how would you like to go out out with me.” This made the reporter sweatdrop.

“Ummmm call me in 8 years.”

This got Ash thinking maybe she was actually a boy. After some hard thought he decided he was. He then told his mom.

“I'm not your daughter I'm your son. I'm not Ashley I'm Ash. Not only do I want to be a Pokemon master but I also want to be the perfect son too.”

“Oh, Ash.” Delia hugged him.

Back in the present Ash concluded his story.

“So it's all true. I was born a girl named Ashley but I'm now a boy named Ash. I have Brock to thank for that. If it wasn't for you I might have never truly found out.”

“I never knew, Ash.”

“Now you do. Thank you.”

“I don't know what to say but thank you.”

Ash sent up and shook Brocks hand. After mostly everyone left the two said goodbye.

“Thanks for that speech, Ash. If you never need anything I'll be there for you.”

“Thanks Brock. Same to you.”

“And seriously if you know any single women I'm available. Just tell them...” But before he could finish Misty pulled his ear again.

“Enough all ready!” Misty yelled as Brock yipped in pain making Ash laugh.

[karltface]

Ornaments!

Starting from the bottom, this festive trash panda was bagged with a very similar 1970s dog ornament, so I assume it's from the same era.

Gelatinous Cube always rests near a light, because clear green makes me happy. 2 years running.

These brass bells always hung on the door in December, ever since I can remember. Now they have been passed to me. Sorry, Mom.

Yoda is one of those Hallmark ornaments from the 90s revival. I ate, slept, and breathed Star Wars at the time, so we built quite a collection. They've been on here since the beginning.

'round the back is Eneman, mascot of Fleet.... Enemas. It was just too wonderfully odd not to buy.

That's one loaded arm. Up front is an 80s plush ornament of mid-tier cereal mascot Sugar Bear, which still plays a chiptune medley of holiday music when squeezed. Which happens exactly once a year, when I hang him.

Behind that is one from my grandparents' tree, meant to hang above a bulb. The heat would cause the metal whirly thing to spin, reflecting the light. Modern bulbs aren't as hot, so they only work if they're near a vent or something. Pretty cool anyway.

Stocking Bulbasaur looks like he's in orbit.

The skull came in my last mystery box, Garfield is mid 90s with real metal ice skates, and that bracelet was a gift from a friend's kid. It was too small for me.

Doot.

I'm not gonna spotlight all of 'em, but kudos to Hallmark for digging deep enough to give us Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band. That's another spinny one in the background.

I'd just like to note that if you also have this ornament, there's room in that net for little candy canes or whatever.

If the real cats won't play with the ornaments, I'll get the ornaments to do it for me. Boba is making sure it goes smoothly. This thing is posed oddly, but the soft goods capelet is a nice touch.

They're so pretty. And so old. Clear plastics are notoriously brittle, but damned if these haven't held up beautifully in those old popcorn tins. The secret ingredient is crumpled newspaper.

And the main ingredient is Halloween. There's no money pit like holiday decorations, and I've found that repurposing them from one holiday to another saves a surprising amount of money and effort. Which is yet another post, I think.

[sleep-studies-and-pokemon]

#0001 - Bulbasaur

Hey, remember when Bulbasaur was only #001? How things change with a little research and people talking to one another across regions!

Anyway, it was off to Kanto a couple of years back that I started making my sleep study notes. Diana was only lvl 5 as I'd raised her from being an egg and I was only 2 years retired from rangerhood, something I'd studied for. I tell ya, my parents weren't pleased after they spent all that money sending me away to ranger school and I only stuck with it for a short while! But ah well.

I was on a Kantonian mission, armed with a book of the local dialect and a fully completed Pokedex (not from my own studies, just the kind you can get a copy of already completed by whoever does these studies) to tell me where to find what I was looking for!

I heard from locals that Bulbasaur and it's evolutions can be found wandering Viridian Forest and was super excited to be able to camp out in such a lovely place. I stocked up real good on Bug Type Spray (let's face it, this stuff is just Repel but with specific repellents and should not be so much extra than regular stuff or near impossible to get), a reinforced net and lots of antidotes and paralyse heals though...

Under the cut is what I found!

Believe it or not but Bulbasaur are group Pokemon and like to wander in herds, led by a Venusaur. Rarely do Ivysaur join them and newly evolved ones leave fairly soon (that's actually how I got to study an Ivysaur but more on that later...)

It took me a long while to track down a heard of Bulbasaur which was roaming between clearings in Viridian Forest. Luckily I still remember a lot of my ranger training and can put it to good use.

This herd had 14 Bulbasaur and a female Venusaur as it's leader. The sex of the leading Venusaur rarely matters for the Bulbasaur, only that they are strong enough to protect.

I wouldn't describe Bulbasaur as completely docile and they were on edge with my presence, especially since I stuck around all day. Even at a distance I could tell they were watching me carefully and I was doing everything I could to communicate my feelings of friendship without technological help.

The second herd I found had only 4 Bulbasaur and a rather elderly male Venusaur who was not as happy with my presence and regular sprayed Poison Powder at me.

The last was a huge herd of over 30 and it's this one i got most of my data from. The female Venusaur there seemed newly evovled - the colours of her petals still extremely vibrant and her seed mostly unformed. Clearly she had earned a lot of respect in her time pre-evolved though.

Bulbasaur as it turns out have stay apparatus and will mostly sleep for short periods of time standing up. I have to admit I love and am fascinated with Bulbasaur and all Pokemon which are florauna. Watching them stand around drinking up little bits of sunset light and moonlight was very peaceful. The soft 'saur...saur...' of the snoring ones...ahem, getting off track.

When entering REM sleep (Diana is good at detecting when this happens, she is a Drowzee after all) Bulbasaur do tend to lay down, often very close to other Bulbasaur and as many as possible will crowd around the Venusaur.

The whole herd moves very early in the morning, stopping to eat and enter these light dozes every so often. Sometimes a startled Bulbasaur would release a little poison powder when started awake - but this was rare and possibly just a personality trait of the couple I saw it in.

Over the number of weaks I spent with them their cuddling with each other really endeared me to the species. Gently butting your neighbour seems to be a Bulbasaur's sleepy way of saying 'hey, I like you, let's stand here and sleep together'. When laying they tended to give each other a little more space.

Side note: I found a lone Bulbasaur wandering around almost by accident. The swelling of it's bulb seemed to indicate it was close to evolution but I found it strange to see it split off before evolution had occured. When sleeping it often hugged itself with it's vines as if missing the company of other Bulbasaur. It became much friendlier towards me than the herd and slept right next to me on multiple occasions. I theorise that some kind of hiearchy based issue or social dispute may have resulted in this Bulbasaur becoming an outcast.

However, as much as it made me sad, I wasn't there to intervene too much so as a parting gift Diana lulled it into a deeper sleep with Hypnosis so it wouldn't worry so much~ she tasted it's dreams a little and reported that they seemed good - not as good as my curry though I hope! :)

[lavenderbexlatte]

i think i havent even given a review for chapter 6 and 7 so here we goooooooo....................

ch 6 - its so funny how mc is so aware of the guys and feels silly and stupid for being around them. shes trying so hard to put space between them but they have no idea what personal space is. but at the same time they arent overbearing honestly. bless them.

interesting........... mc tries so hard to go unnoticed....... and YET! the bulbasaur man remembers her from a year ago and team K wants her for some reason. also he has an idea of why they want her.... so suspisious and im just dying to know

seungmin and his daughter 😂😂😂😂 i love it

if felix doesnt think its credit card fraud.... then im pretty sure it is credit card fraud

me wondering whats worse than ryujins dad or team k knocking on the door....... yeah i can see how chan standing at the doorway like a parent can be considered worse. he probably knocks on the door like a parent too.

ah yes she doesnt want them gone but she doesnt want to say that she enjoys their company and is grateful for them. i love lack of communication <3!!!!!!!!! shes been too lonely for to long and i FELT that.

mc didnt know the future but she truly played matchmaker by rooming with hyunjin and jisung. she did that. she orchestrated their lil enemies to lovers arc. good for her.

ch 7 - ah yes the two ocean boys trying to sweep mc up into going with the flow. very good stuff. love that.

food stand guy being impressed by mc's game.... yeah me too

its really endearing that the pokemon love jisung that much. i mean he is loveable. i wanna walk down the beach holding his hand too and looking at his cute face with his dumbass smile

ur friend mica is living her best life here banging lee know in the pokemon universe. good for her. she made it.

mc didnt take out the popcorn for the shenanigans that went down between the 3 of them BUT I SURE DID. i loved it. it was lighthearted it was casual but it was wholesome in its own way. jisung and hyunjin.......... so good.

but the real question..... how is this going to change the group dynamic........???? how are other 5 going to feel????? i feel like lee know and seungmin do not give two fucks actually lmaooo changbin is probably like MY TURN WHEN?? idk about felix and jeongin i cant really get a read on them............. idk about yall i just wanna see chans reaction and have a good laugh. i talk about chan like i hate him but i dont, i love him. i just like to see my blorbo suffer a lil bit. for character development.

im excited to see them battle tho. its gonna be fun me thinks and hopefully we find about team k sooooooonnnnnn................ i wanna know this drama i wanna know the secrets

another question... how come there are no file leaks for team k?

i literally can't believe how well you've hit on all the intended points...actually kind of floored-

that is mc's biggest conflict, huh? she wants to be detached, she doesn't think she should get close to people, but then she makes an impression anyway. people remember her. maybe it matters more than she thinks, to just...be nice, and be herself. idk maybe that's important 🤔👁

if felix doesnt think its credit card fraud.... then im pretty sure it is credit card fraud

cannot confirm nor deny that it Is just fraud 🤐💀

and as for the lack of file leaks on team k...why would anyone leak files on themselves? 🤐🤐

[ecreau]

25 Years

Advanced Happy Pokemon day, trainers!⁠

For my second post this year, it would be my starters through the years! It consisted of Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Totodile, Treecko, Piplup, Oshawott, Froakie, Rowlett, and Sobble. ⁠

I am happy that @Pokemon kept me inspired and motivated. Now and then whether it was a small change- from having a curry dex to getting your first ribbon in a Pokemon contest, they were all exciting to me. As an adult, the excitement faded off a bit because of the realization of how jaded the world is, but Pokemon kept my enthusiasm burning. ⁠

⁠From my first game, Pokemon Gold, getting my Totodile and releasing it accidentally to Pokemon Sword's Sobble perfectly trained with lots of curry love from me.

⁠Happy 25 years of Team Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar! Cheers to more exciting regions! Hopefully somewhere in Asia-Pacific~ :D

-

Here are the individual drawings of my starters and stories!

Pokemon Yellow - Starter: Pikachu

Technically Pokemon Yellow was my 2nd Pokemon game next to Pokemon Gold. I love the version so much because I relieved how Ash Ketchum had all the starters in Kanto plus Pikachu following you! 

I remember I got another bootleg version of the Pokemon Yellow and the battery of the game was not working so you could not save my progress. I had to finish the game in a day before my batteries die. Fortunately, I finished the game with Pikachu, Charizard, Blastoise, Ivysaur, Pidgeot, Butterfree and Omastar. 

Pokemon Fire Red - Starter: Bulbasaur

Fire Red was my 4th Pokemon game. I remember when I saw the trailer in the commercial I was imagining myself had lots of money and get the game and Gameboy advance SP. 

Although by that time, I got a drive to save money and happily, I got my first Gameboy Advance using my own lunch money. I miss those days. 

Pokemon Gold - Starter: Totodile

Pokemon Gold was my first ever Pokemon game. It was a bootleg that my father gave me because of a piracy raid as a gift for me haha! So ironic but a fun memory. 

Totodile was my first starter although unfortunately, I accidentally released him because supposed to be the ‘Release’ button was ‘Fix’. 

Pokemon Ruby - Starter: Treecko

After Pokemon Gold, I got a chance to play the newly released games on my cousin’s computer. I was ignorant about the concept of emulators that time. It was also the reason why I wanted to own a computer that time to play the new Pokemon games. Little did I know it was not the legit games. 

Anyway, my 3rd Pokemon game was Pokemon Ruby on an emulator. I remember I wanted to stay in my cousin’s house just finish the whole game. I picked Treecko that time, got to evolve him to Grovyle while fighting Nincada and kept losing to a bug catcher haha! I just got to the first gym and turned off the computer because I had to go. 

Oh memories~

Pokemon Diamond - Starter: Piplup

My first DS game was not my console neither my game. It was owned by my best friend in high school where he knew I love and knew a lot about Pokemon, so while him playing the game I was at his back giving commands. 

I told him to pick Piplup for me and he agreed. We were in the 5th gym when we stopped playing because of our finals. Even technically I did not own any of those, I still felt I played the game. 

Pokemon White 2 - Starter: Oshawott

Together with Pokemon X, Pokemon Black 2 were my first 3DS games. I bought them with my 3DS using my first salary. I waited for this moment where I could buy anything without my parents disagreeing with me. 

I picked Oshawott as my starter and loved him in the game and in the anime! 

Pokemon X - Starter: Froakie

I was so amaze when I bought Pokemon X because it was for me a huge leap from my previously owned games which was back from Pokemon Ruby! I loved the story, all the cities and my new rivals. 

I chose Froakie and never even made it evolve until the last gym haha! Oh memories from Paris (what?)

Pokemon Sun - Starter: Rowlett

If I’m going to pick the best starter I have on my list, it would be Rowlett. I really love owls if only I could have one as a pet. 

I got a Sassy one so I drew my Rowlett kind of judging you from head to toe haha!

If I would pick between the recent games (8th to 7th generations), I would pick the 7th generation. I really loved the anime series and the games because they were fresh of breath to me. It was the first time both series and the games chose different pathways. 

I now want to play Pokemon Sun, again~!

Pokemon Shield - Starter: Sobble

While waiting for the games to come out, I already was saving up for my new Nintendo Switch. When I found out I could preorder the game in advance, I hastily went to my favorite game store in my city and bought a slot! 

It was never a problem to me to buy a game before in that store but when the preorders came out there was indeed a line! I was jumping of joy while holding my game and Nintendo Switch at the same time. 

I picked Sobble because it looks like a chameleon and a little baby for me. Just like Froakie, I only let it evolve after I completed all the gyms. 

-

Pokemon is 25 now! How old were you when you first started playing Pokemon?⁠

-⁠

⁠Please do not repost my artwork/design. Ask me first. ⁠

Thank you!⁠

-

Deviantart | Instagram | Redbubble “Nostalgia is my favorite thing.”

[fromchaosfromscience]

Can Three Idiots Beat Pokemon Infinity (Part IA)

Juuuust gonna let Key’s copypasta’d commentary take over from here, this is what it says on the tin, kiddos! 

TAKE IT AWAY, KEY, BEFORE I KILL YOU

Mmmkay. 

Key here, and this is the beginning of what will probably be one of the biggest mistakes of my life, but here we are.  And Ethan, let it be known that if you edit any of my commentary to make it into dick jokes or otherwise anything that will make me regret not just posting this part on my own blog, I will burn down everything you love right in front of you.

So anyway, it should be noted that we’re going into this fangame completely blind.  I know a FEW things about it from its description, that it’s full of fan mons and alternative/regional forms, which I personally take to be a good thing.  I actually enjoy Fakemon when they’re done properly, which most... nine times out of ten, they’re done well because the Pokemon community is fucking insane when it comes to designs.  I don’t know anything else about this, though, so let’s go ahead and jump on in.

We decided via vote what the player character would be in terms of gender and name.  8)  And yes, it’s a huge inside joke.

Moseying right along (and ignoring Raven’s agonized screams in the distance)...

After waking up in the woods, apparently with no knowledge as to how I got there or what the actual fuck is happening, I’m taken to a little place in a nearby town to rest - and taken back to early 2000s while I’m at it because that music is DEFINITELY from the Pokemon Colosseum series.  I kind of love this already, but let’s get on with the adventure.  I read the note left by Wormwood and head up to his lab.

...Hold up.  Is that a regional variant of Marill?  ;A;  I ALREADY WANT IT. 

But alas, we are just here for our starter, and so the toughest decision of ANY Pokemon game goes underway.

Annnnd it looks like the three starters are actually regional variants of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle!  Ethan is harassing me as I type this to choose Squirtle, so of course that’s not happening.  =D  Eat shit, Ethan.

Charmander it is!  Our first companion on our journey!

Fire/dragon!  Not bad!  :T

Also she has a timid nature!!  Which isn’t bad on a standard Charmander!  No idea if it’ll be worth anything on THIS Charmander, but we shall see.  =D;

And I have to say I’m liking this plot so far.  Like, as cliche as the whole AMNESIA thing is, still, it’s... more interesting than what I’d expect from a mainline Pokemon game these days.  Lmao sorry that’s a little harsh, but moving right along, we’re off to get answers about wtf we can’t remember coming to this tiny island region in the middle of bumblefuck.

On the way to the light house to talk to Professor Thorn, I’m given a quick TL;DR from prospective rival Teal on the Egho Council, who are apparently standing in for gyms in this region.  Cool cool! 

Now given that the Nuzlocke hasn’t started yet, and won’t start until I’m given pokeballs or able to buy them, I take this time to grind Azure up a bit.

And it’s in this battle that I learn her ability is actually Competitive, which... is pretty insane, to be honest.  Hot damn.

......welp.

Guess that means potential death time is now.  =D;;  And because Ethan is a complete dick, he just told me that yes, this does indeed count and the Nuzlocke begins now.  Azure please don’t die.

A couple of trainer battles later though, and I have her at level 7 and I’m feeling pretty good about it.  Annnd our first encounter is...!

A Rattata. 

You know what, I can work with this, it’s fine, I thought to myself going in.  Oh, you’re going to heal with an oran berry?  Well, I’ll just knock you down to red again.  Oh, you’re going to growl at me?  Well, that just sharply raises Azure’s special attack.  So not bearing that in mind at all, I’m just going to attack with Ember like an idiot and kill it.

Yeah.

I botched the first encounter.  :I  I COMPLETELY FORGOT about Competitive and wasn’t paying attention, yes, I am an idiot, cast your tomatoes forth, all tomatoes and shame be upon me.

MOVING ON.

We get to Merchant’s Ridge, where another trainer battle awaits, and a fresh new encounter and hopefully... redemption?  =D;;

Yes!  A pidgey!

please don’t kill it please don’t kill it please don’t kill it

AND AFTER ONLY *ALMOST* KILLING IT, we have found redemption!

No really.

We mosey on over to Searidge Town, but not without being given an Old Gadget and free heals from Lucy, and battling a foolish old sailor who thought HIS inferior boring regular pidgey was a match for REDEMPTION.

It was not.

Very nice town we got here!  And after some exploring, I come across this guy who gives me a... very interesting little tidbit.

....Does this mean what I think it means?  HM.

We get to Stonedust Trail, where we run into none other than...

Ekans!  Who quickly becomes our third member, Scaley!

And after Redeem has a near death experience with poison - that’s quickly amended with Antidote because Professor Wormwood is an absolute angel - we hurry on.

But not without a run-in from...

Oh christ almighty here we go.

Starly, a match for REDEMPTION?  Kiss my ass.  I send out Scaley to intimidate the Patrat she’s carrying, but its bite does a little too much damage for my liking, so I send out Azure to finish the job.  I also end up keeping her out to face down Teal’s Squirtle, whose typing I can only assume is water/flying, but Azure is fire/dragon, so I assume she’ll be okay taking neutral damage from any water moves.

The Squirtle ends up using a move called Nimbus Fist, which doesn’t do a whole lot of damage, but it DOES lower Azure’s accuracy so it turns into a pain in the ass to deal with.  The good news though is that Azure’s special attack gets pretty juiced up from taking enough Nimbus Fists that her ember is enough to whittle off the last remaining bit of health Squirtle has left.

So thankfully, no deaths!  =D;  Y...yay.

I think I’m about played out for the time being, so yeah, I’ll be continuing this in another part.  :T  Pray for us.  No really, pray for us.

- Key

[crispylycoris]

Above is a drawing I did for another, currently ongoing, prompt list! This is for week one of the childhood memories 2021 prompts! I’m actually posting this one as it’s going on because I reached the character limit for the post on Instagram 😭 So I’ll go into more detail in this post under the read more!

✨✨✨✨✨

The prompt for week one was toys/games. And when I think back on some toys and games I think about my GameBoy Advance SP which I think was my first gaming system. It’s like the one in the drawing. Adorned with Pokémon stickers! 😊 I actually used mine as reference and drew the game that was in it when I grabbed it and it was Pokémon pinball: ruby and sapphire edition! And I know there’s a black boarder around the screen but I remembered it as I was finishing coloring Pokémon pinball and it was too late 😭. And I had shared games with my brother, who had his own GBA SP, but his was silver.

For the content of the picture I’ll start from the top and go counterclockwise and I’ll share my memories with the games:

✨On the top we have a little Spongebob waving. 👋[I don’t recall ever playing a GBA Spongebob game, maybe? But he’s here because I had one of those white game cards that was just videos! I think one of the videos was the bubble stand one! Because of it’s a giraffe. And I think another one may have been the one where Squidward gets into an accident or something and Spongebob and Patrick take care of him because of firmly grasp it!]

✨Then of course we have Claire from Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. [I know it’s like now Story of Seasons, but you know, not at the time kinda thing. Anyways, my grandpa, or 公公 (gung gung) (according to google that’s how you write and spell it), got me this game as a kid and I loved it 💖 It’s a wonderful game and I love the art and stuff and caring for the cute animals, the people, the aesthetic, and almost everything about it 🥰 It’s what pulled me into the series and into farming Sims like Stardew 💕 I think I’ve played this game into the 10s of years. And I chose Grey ❤️ I’ll always treasure this game 🥰].

✨Next is a pink lightning bolt symbol ⚡️ from the evergirls game. [I don’t remember what this game was about or even know why I picked this game out. I don’t even know if I completed the game. I think there was some character customization?]

✨Then we have the girl and a dog from the Dogz GBA game. 🐕 [I only vaguely remember this game but it had cute art and I loved it. Though I think it had short gameplay 🙁 I wanted to play with my pup forever... But I think it ends after a certain amount of time? I wanna play it again. And I remember carrying the dog for a bit! And also playing the reversi mini game].

✨At the bottom is Cream the Rabbit from Sonic [I barely remember anything about the Sonic game I played. I think that it was one of my brother’s games. Like I remember her and a light blue character I think was Chao? I remember running from Dr. Eggman as he was chasing me in a flying machine and the art was nice. 😊].

✨Then we have Leaf and a Bulbasaur! 🍃 [I think that Pokémon Fire Red was the first game I had! And bulbasaur was my first ever starter 🥰 But I also remember I was playing a new file in the car and I had over-written all of my progress 💔😭. My second starter is technically charmander... And I remember battling my brother and losing a lot. But I beat one of his Pokémon with a metronome toxic once and that’s memorable between the two of us 😊 I think I still lost though lol].

✨Then we have Michelangelo (or Mikey) from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. [I think this was one of my brother’s games because I don’t recall playing much of it. I picked to draw Mikey because I recall the sewer skateboarding mini game! And I also remember that one time I got some kinda score on it and bowed and like tripped or something and hurt my lip lol].

✨To the right of Mikey we have Mega Man. [This was another one of I borrowed my brother’s game. I honestly don’t know what Mega Man game this is. Maybe Battle Network? I only really remember Roll and a cactus enemy].

✨Then we have the girl character from Mario Golf Advanced Tour. [Again a game I borrowed from my brother. And I guess the girl’s name is Ella? I just looked it up. Anyways I don’t remember progressing the story all too much. I thought it was really cute. And I drew her crying because I only remember getting bogeys lol].

✨Next to her we have a cat as a representative for Catz. [Another game borrowed from my brother. I’m sad I don’t remember much of this game, but it’s probably like Dogz where it’s short but you take care of a cat].

✨Then we have Spyro. [Probably also a game from my brother. I don’t have like any recollection of playing Spyro games at all. Like I think I played as him as he was defending something on a wooden bridge as things were getting shot at him. I don’t know. I included him anyways].

✨To his right we have my game chest which holds some of my games! I painted it myself!

✨And in the center is my red GBA SP! It’s playing Pokémon pinball (I think the Ruby level). And on it you can see that I have Cyndaquil, Chikorita, and Eevee stickers. [I loved this game so much and played it a lot but I don’t think I ever actually got to catch Jirachi 🥲].

I had other GBA games I played but might not have remembered them. Some I do vaguely remember are finding Nemo, Winnie the Pooh, SMB 3, That so Raven, Pet resort, Pokémon games, other harvest moon games, hot potato, and some kinda game that had other games like a racing one and dig dug.

Other games I played in general were like Jack and Dexter, computer games, and maybe Raymon?

✨✨✨✨✨✨

And in terms of the drawing, I’m happy with how it turned out! And I think I’m gonna do lighting like how I did with Leaf’s hair from now on! Sneaking hearts in where I can. And I have just noticed that I messed up Cream by drawing on the wrong layer 😭. But I think that the colors remained pretty much consistent from what I had on my laptop at least.

If you read all that, thank you for enjoying my art and taking a trip down memory lane with me! 💕 Have a wonderful week! 😊

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Pokemon Johto League Champions, Episodes 4-7

In which we meet a familiar old face, and we explore the many ways how Pokemon are cool to the people in their world as well as in our own.

Up to Bat

So, remember back at the start of Johto when we met that energetic baseball fan Casey and I said I hoped we’d see her again during the Johto League? Well, turns out I didn’t have to wait that long! Everyone favorite Electabuzz cheerleader shows back up to challenge Ash once more in Bug Pokemon catching challenge. And man, I really forgot how much I liked her. In a sense, Casey’s an in-universe representation of Ash’s growth as a Pokemon trainer; for once, he gets to knock some hard-earned advice into the head of someone just as scatterbrained and reckless as he used to be. The way Casey pushes her Chikorita to keep fighting long past the point it needs a break is so reminiscent of who Ash used to be it’s scary. A hundred episodes ago, Ash might have been making that exact mistake with his Bulbasaur. Now, thankfully, he’s grown enough to call Casey out on her mistake and remind her that her Pokemon’s well-being is more important than her immediate goals. He even makes the smart call to lure the dangerous Scyther away rather than risk fighting it around Chikorita. It’s a reminder of how far he’s come, and it gives him a rival character who he actually has a healthy relationship with. How’s that for novel? I’ll betcha that Bayleaf is gonna be quite the contender once we finally reach the league, and I can’t wait to see what else Casey’s got up her sleeve.

The Thrill of Discovery

Let’s get one thing straight: Pokemon are cool. The reason this franchise has survived as long as it has is because the critters at its core are just inherently cool. And they’re not just cool to us: they’re cool to the people who live alongside them in this fictional universe. They may be as common as animals, but the humans of Pokemon are just as intrigued, excited and entranced by these critters as we are. And this chunk of episodes has a couple pretty neat reminders of how the people in this world have just as much fun learning about Pokemon as we do. There’s a pair of bickering researchers who disagree over what type Sudowudo is; it looks like a Grass type, but all the research says it’s a Rock type, so what gives? What I particularly like about this episode is how it portrays the importance of questions and examining things we take for granted, even when they turn out true. Sure, the research was right and Sudowudo was a Rock type after all, but the skeptical scientist was right to notice how weird it was that it could seemingly perform attacks of many other types. Without her desire to find out more, they never would’ve found out that it uses Mimic to copy other Pokemon’s attacks. It’s a well-made argument for challenging assumptions and not letting preconceptions get in the way of finding out the truth, and both researchers come out better for it. From now on, they’ll save their arguing for the stuff that matters and focus on the facts instead of trying to beat each other intellectually. One might even say they learned that... facts don’t care about your feelings? Eh? Oh god I’m so sorry end me now.

Ahem. Yes. Anyway, the next episode speaks directly to my weak spot by reminding me how much I used to love paleontology. Prehistoric animals are freaking cool, what do you want from me? And it strikes me just how much weight is given to Professor Oak’s former student finding a colony of prehistoric pokemon still alive in the nearby reservoir. Because, yeah, it would be a big deal to find living members of a species thought to be extinct for millions of years. Just with Ash and company observing them from afar, their subtle awe makes it feel as momentous as if we discovered a living velociraptor up in Canada. And on the complete other end of the spectrum, the carrier Pidgy delivery service in the next episode serves as a fun way to explore Japan’s artisan culture. So many craftsmen pour their entire lives into their craft, making it their life’s work. But as times change and modernity makes some things more convenient, that level of effort starts to feel obsolete. The carrier’s owner sees the world changing and decides it’s better to shut down his business, since planes and emails can do his work with much less effort and dedication. That way, he can retire peacefully and let his grandson choose a different path. But his grandson still wants to keep the business going; even if it’s outdated, it’s still part of his family’s history, and he’s eager to dedicate his life to keeping the craft alive just like his grandfather before him. It’s moments like these where you can feel how special Pokemon are to the people of this world, how they’re more than just glorified pets or fun sideshow attractions. There’s a real beauty to their place in this fictional world, and it’s a beauty I never get tired of exploring.

Best of Team Rocket

-”I should start reading the sports page.”

-”Now I guess we all have to start using baseball terms.” Accept your fate, Jessie. It was meant to be.

-Okay, the timing on the hot air balloon suddenly burning into nothingness was perfect. Ye gods, my sides.

-Oh my god, the tree costumes. You’ve outdone yourselves this time.

-”Extinct, huh? With a face like that, it’s no wonder.” Jessie is savage today, god damn.

-”Why don’t we come back tomorrow with a bigger tank?” “How do you come up with these incredible ideas?”

-”The victory belongs to the spoiled!”

-”I think we’re in for one shell of a fight!”

-”How should I know? I already had my idea for the day!”

-”It may be cloudy, but our motto always shines through!”

-ahahahaha oh my god this is why you invest in flying Pokemon for aerial battles you dingus

Odds and Ends

-Wow, straight up kidnapping. That’s a new one.

-Shot down by a Venomoth. Ouch.

-Lmaaaao, this show really loves its Beedrill swarms.

-”Don’t worry, it’s just a lame Team Rocket trap.” Ahahahaha, he knows them too well.

-Lol, this guy’s literally just an NPC quest-giver.

-Oh my god, it just clicked: Sudowudo’s name is literally “pseudo wood.” This fucking franchise, I swear to god.

-”I agree, yours is the first hand I’ve held in a while!” Alright, that was smooth.

-”But at least it has good taste in vines.” pfft

-”I don’t know what to believe anymore.” “When you do, let me know and I’ll agree with you.” ffs Brock

-Okay but Sudo and Wobuffet have some sparkling chemistry ngl

-Lol, the squirtle watering can.

-This Sudowudo has so much goddamn personality. He’s such a little shit and I love it.

-”Time to dry up, water girl.” aksdjkdfhskdjf how the turntables have

-”That’s what I used to say to get you off my back!” Lol, nice.

-Wingy, Flingy, Dingy and Norman, huh? One of these things etc etc.

Onward ho. See you next time!

[kakitysax]

more jelly alien and human adventures!! maybe they find an abandoned town or something?

This got WAY too long and they ended up not even getting to the town lmao. So like, stick around for part 2. 3? 3. Also once again I did not edit this a lot so it might be terrible shgh

Anyway, I decided that the squishy squids are basically rounder, simpler, smaller, softer versions of these aliens, which I designed for an original story. They call any limbs that they make at the bottom of their spinal cord “peds,” as in, like, bipedal, quadraped, whatever. The limbs they make on the sides of their torso they call “pens,” short for appendages.

Uhhh now that that’s out of the way, story below the cut. And Link to Part 1, if you haven’t read it.

----------------------------------------

The squishy thing dozed on and off through the day as the human continued to trek through the woods. It had its form arranged into six tentacles - four peds, which wrapped above and below the human's arms to join over their chest, and two pens, wrapped gently around the human's neck to keep its head and torso upright. Its head it rested against the back of the human's neck, feeling the rhythms of their cardiovascular system thrumming through their rib cage.

The squishy thing's circadian rhythm was short and light, but it was surprised at the quality of sleep that it was getting, considering the circumstances.

Occasionally the human would ask after it, or the squishy thing would ask how they were progressing, but for the most part the journey was silent.

The squishy thing hadn't realized that it had dozed off again until the human shook it awake. "Hey," they whispered. "Hey. Jelly Bean.”

The squishy thing lifted its head off the back of the human's neck. "Whuzzat?" it asked, rubbing its eyes. "Are we home?"

"No," said the human quietly, and the squishy thing noticed that it was dark. "I think we're going to have to make camp for the night," they continued.

The squishy thing was fully awake now. "Are we lost?"

"No, no no," the human reassured it. "Hardly. But I can't navigate when the sun's down." They crouched down to the ground. "Go ahead."

The squishy thing blinked.

"Hop OFF, Gummy Bear," the human said. "I need you to stay right here so that I can remember where we are. Also my back is getting tired."

The squishy thing started. "Oh! Of course, sorry." It slid off the human's back and huddled on the ground instead.

The human straightened up with a sigh of relief and rolled their shoulders. The squishy thing felt something inside it clench again, remembering all those sinews and muscles and teeth.

The human looked down at it and grinned with all of them. "Back in a sec," they said, then walked off into the woods.

The squishy thing blinked. Where were they going? It opened its mouth, but the human's back was already vanishing between the trees.

It was getting quite dark now. And the noises of the woods echoed around it, life forms that it couldn't see on a planet that it didn't know. And the human had just walked off. Were they leaving it? No, they wouldn't do that. Would they?

The minutes ticked by and the squishy thing found itself growing more and more nervous. Should it go look for them? What if it got lost? The human had told it not to move. What if they got mad? It had never seen an angry human before...there had been several times where it thought that it had, but the humans in question had usually just been playing. That was how they PLAYED. It didn't want to see one angry for real.

What if they had gotten lost? No, they wouldn't get lost. Perhaps they had forgotten about it. Or had decided to leave it behind. Perhaps the navigation thing was just an excuse to get it to stay there while they left it. Or perhaps the human had found other humans while it was asleep earlier, made some sort of agreement to ditch it and leave the planet alone.

Could it blame them? It had been pretty useless so far, hadn't it? Just sitting on their back all day, dozing, always scared, always weaker than it...

Something came crashing through the brush. The squishy thing started, sense-stalks tensing, extending. Human? Maimou? Something worse?

The human stepped into the clearing with a leaf in their hair and an armful of wood.

"You came back!" the squishy thing exclaimed, sense-stalks slackening with blessed relief.

"Uh. Yeah," said the human. They stepped towards the squishy thing and dropped the wood. "I was just getting firewood. Did I not tell you?"

The squishy thing shook its head.

"Oh. Sorry about that." The human knelt down and started to arrange the sticks into a strange little structure. "Hope you didn't, like...worry too much," it said, distracted.

"Oh no," said the squishy thing quickly. No worries here. It wasn't afraid at all. It hadn't thought they were going to leave it or turn on it or anything, this strange and beautiful alien with the lovely eyes and the terrifying teeth.

The human finished its stick stacking and pulled out a pair of rocks. It struck them together sharply, and sparks flew out and LIT THE TWIGS ON FIRE.

The squishy thing screamed, shrinking away, pedal tentacles fusing into something more suitable to run...

The human dropped their rocks in shock. "SHHHH!" it hissed through its teeth. "YO! WHAT GIVES!"

The squishy thing pointed. "F-FIRE! FIRE!"

"Yeah, it's a fire!" the human whisper-hissed. "I'm building a fire! Keep it down!"

"Y-BUILD? A FIRE? On PURPOSE?"

"Shhhhh-sh-sh-sh," said the human, reaching out and making placating gestures with their hands. "Yeah! A little campfire! To keep us warm!"

"A FIRE."

"Yeah."

"Just to keep us WARM?"

"Well, yeah! And to have some light, and keep predators away,  and maybe signal some of our friends."

The squishy thing was starting to calm down, but not much. "But it's FIRE," it stammered. "It's a...an accident! It'll SPREAD!"

The human shrugged. "It's just a little one. I've lit them thousands of times. It's perfectly safe if you do it right, and if you make sure that it's completely out the next morning."

The squishy thing relaxed a little more.

"It's fine. It's under control."

The squishy thing forced itself to relax completely, legs collapsing back into pedal tentacles. It coiled them around itself and frowned at the fire warily. "Are you sure?"

The human snorted. "Y'know, my species survived with nothing but fire for light and heat? For thousands of years?" They leaned back, staring into the flames. "Yours probably did, too, come to think of it."

"Maybe," said the squishy thing doubtfully. "A LONG, long time ago, maybe."

The human rolled their eyes. A common expression of annoyance among their species.

A bit of the doubtful fear from before struck through the fresh and fading terror. The squishy thing had been terrified about something the human found perfectly natural. It must seem stupid and cowardly to them, this savage thing.

It opened its mouth to say something for itself, but then the human snapped their fingers. "Bulbasaur."

"B-beg pardon?" asked the squishy thing.

"That's what you fuckers look like," said the human. "Bulbasaur faces, with little..." the human turned to them and held their hands next to their head, wiggling their index fingers. "Slug eye things. Only without the actual eyes."

"You mean my sense stalks?"

"Yeah," said the human, teeth flashing in a smile. "Whatever you wanna call them." They leaned back on their hands, looking immensely satisfied. "I knew it was a Pokemon. It's been on the tip of my tongue all day."

"What?"

"You were looking at me earlier, you know, right after we jumped the gorge? And it hit me. I was like, 'these things look like some kind of Pokemon.' And I spent all day trying to figure out which one it was. Well. I had the image for a while, but the name..."

"I do not understand."

The human waved a hand dismissively. "Eh, it's a human thing."

"Oh," said the squishy thing, feeling a pang of disappointment.

The human glanced over at them, then back at the fire.

"It's a game," they said a few moments later.

"What?" asked the squishy thing.

The human shook their head a little. "Uh...a game? A really, really old game that humans invented."

"What is the game?" asked the squishy thing.

"Well," said the human. They rubbed the back of their neck and laughed nervously. "The idea is that...you have these little monsters. These creatures? And you're training them to fight each other."

"FIGHT each other?"

"No!" the human exclaimed. "No no no no no. They're not real. They're pictures of little...little made up monsters. On cards?"

The squishy thing's sense stalks twisted in confusion.

The human looked away, waving their hands as if trying to shoo the conversation from the air. "Eh, it's stupid. It's really stupid. Forget about it."

The squishy thing studied the human carefully. They really made no sense sometimes. But their face looked...different. More pink? Saturated with blood.

A human sign of emotion. Embarrassment, usually, or shame, or anger. But the human didn't look angry. Was it possible...they were embarrassed?

The squishy thing thought for a moment. "Uh...do you have any of these cards present?"

The human looked up.

"The, uh..." the squishy thing's sense stalks retracted a bit, its own sign of insecurity. "The Pokemon cards?"

The human looked surprised. "I do," they said, somewhat automatically.

"May I see?"

The human blinked. Then they reached into their breast pocket and fumbled with the snap.

"We, uh, brought them to play on the ship," said the human. They showed the cards to the squishy thing. "Here, see?"

The squishy thing squinted at the cards. The one on top had a drawing of what looked like a tiny, bright orange maimoude, But with a more human-looking face. The human's finger tapped at the face. "That's Chimicar. Underneath it, there, is Dewott. And beneath that one is a Weepinbell-"

"What do these symbols mean?" asked the squishy thing.

"Oh," said the human. "That's what kind of type it is. Chimicar is fire, Dewott is water..."

"Type?"

The human blinked. "Oh, gosh...okay, so...a long, long, LONG time ago, before this game was even invented and humans didn't know anything about chemistry, people thought that there were five elements? Or four, depending what part of the world you were from. Uh, fire, water, wood, rock, and metal."

"But metal is simply a purified form of-"

"Yeah, but they didn't KNOW that back then. This was...thousands upon THOUSANDS of years ago."

"So...these 'Pokemon...' are fictional creatures with abilities that correspond to these traditional elements?"

"Yes!" said the human, beaming.

"So there are five kinds of Pokemon," said the squishy thing triumphantly.

"Uh...no."

"Oh."

"There's more. They added more. Ones that...aren't the traditional elements."

"Oh. How many kinds are there?"

"Uh...we're not quite sure, actually. Nobody remembers. Nobody on the crew, anyway...someone out there probably remembers. This isn't, like, vital information to preserve, you know. It's just a game. A really, really old game."

"I see." the squishy thing examined the cards more closely. "These seem...well-used."

The human snorted. "Well, YEAH. They're like, centuries old."

"They no longer manufacture these?"

"Oh no. No no no."

"Where did you obtain these ones?"

"Uh..." the human laughed nervously. "We found them at a novelty store. Remember that shore leave day? That market planet?"

The squishy thing nodded.

"Yeah. This dude, had, like, an old box just FILLED with Pokemon cards. We were all so excited. Sam was like 'YO!' and then Alex was like 'YO!' and then we were all like 'YO!' and we HAD to buy them, of course. But we all had to be like, really nonchalant about it, because we had to haggle for them? I had to take Cameron outside and everything because they were too excited-"

"I remember that day," said the squishy thing. "I remember the box! You were all...very loud about it, weren't you?"

Loud was an understatement. That was the first time the squishy thing had been truly terrified of human beings. Shrieking words and frothing mouths and thrown objects and slamming their hands against tables. The other crew members had thought that the humans were going to try to kill each other, but the humans had assured them with some confusion that they had no intention of violence.

"Oh my gosh, yeah, I remember!" the human exclaimed, "We had to decide who got what cards...there were like, three albums of cards and we had to decide who got which ones..." the human trailed off, then burst out laughing.

"What is funny?" asked the squishy thing.

"No no no," choked the human. "No, no. I'm just remembering, there was this one moment where Chris..." they snorted. "Chris pointed their hand like this..." the human jabbed their hand demonstratively, "and they said, they were like," the human lowered their voice, words wavering as they tried to hold an expression and tone of intensity, "Alex I swear to God if you even fucking look at that Gengar I will eat your toenails I do NOT give a fuck!" the feigned severity had worn of by the end of the sentence, and now the human was laughing again.

"I don't understand," said the squishy thing, but watching the human laughing, eyes scrunched up and teeth shining in the firelight, it found itself giggling too.

The human snorted and sniffed and sighed, wiping tears of mirth from their eyes. "You had to be there," they said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it's not that funny. I'm just tired -" giggles burst out of them again. "Anyway. Now whenever we come across new cards we find some random Jelly and ask them to divide them up for us without looking. That way it's fair."

"And no one's toenails are consumed?"

The human looked at the squishy thing with an expression of shocked delight and burst out laughing again. This time it was so intense that the squishy thing slid itself back a few inches.

"I am sorry," it tried.

"No, no no...that was just...really funny, I...you surprised me, gumdrop. That's all."

"I see…” said the squishy thing, but it was confused about something else the human had said. ”Um...If you don't mind my asking, what is a Jelly?"

"Th-that's what we call you," the human explained. "Your...species. We just call you Jellies. It's easier."

"Easier than what?"

"What you call yourselves. What's your name, by the way?"

The Jelly flinched and looked at the human. "You...want to know my name?"

"Well, yeah," said the human. They broke a stray twig and threw half of it into the fire. "I mean...we almost died together. I think we're at that point, you know?"

The Jelly couldn't figure out why this made it so nervous. So...happy. It looked at them doubtfully. "You may find it hard to pronounce."

The human shrugged. "I'm sure I will. I'd still like to try. And I'd like to know, even if I can't say it."

The Jelly hesitated, then said their name.

"Yeesh," said the human. "Uh, one more time?"

The Jelly repeated it dutifully.

The human hesitated, then tried for themself.

Humans didn't seem to be able to control their tongues that far back, so they had to make the undulations with their own saliva, which gurgled randomly instead of forming precise consonants. The clicks and clucks they made with different movements of their tongue in the front of their mouth, resulting in different acoustics altogether. And they only seemed to be able to make one pitch with their vocal cords at a time, which threw off most of the vowels. But still, the Jelly was impressed.

"Wow," it exclaimed.

"Did I do it?" asked the human, their eyes lighting up. "Did it sound right?"

"Uh," said the Jelly, "it sounded like something!"

The human's face fell. "Oh."

"No, no! It was a very good attempt. It almost sounded like, like a word! Not any word that I know. But it did sound like something! And you were very resourceful."

The human nodded with self-approval. "Yeah, I'll take that. What do I call you, then?"

"Oh..." the Jelly hesitated. "You don't need to call me anything, really."

The human groaned and lay back on the forest floor, stretching their arms above their head. They turned to the Jelly, hair in their face and a pout on their lips. "You're killing me, Gummy Bear. Just a little nickname, that's all I'm asking."

Something in their expression and tone made the Jelly's digestive system invert. It looked away, stammering. "Y-you can call me whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me, really..."

“Mmmmmmmmm,” said the human thoughtfully. They snapped their fingers. “Mochi.”

“What?” asked the Jelly, startled.

“I’m gonna call you Mochi. Because you look like a little mochi. You’re round and squishy and green, like a little...a little green tea mochi.” the human explained, making little shapes with their fingers.

“What is a...mochi?”

“Oh! It’s a human dessert,” said the human. “A little squishy ball...thing. It’s delicious. I love it. I love it for you. It’s perfect. If you like it, of course.”

The human looked back at them, suddenly uncertain. And even if the Jelly hadn’t liked the name, it couldn’t argue with those eyes.

“Y-yes,” they said. “Yes, you may call me this. You may call me...Mochi.”

The human studied them. Their face broke into a grin. “Mochi,” they said. Their tone was warm and soft, and made the Jell- Mochi’s vascular system hiccup and its entire digestive system tie itself into knots.

The human extended their hand.

Mochi was confused, but gingerly stretched out one of their peds. The human reached out and gripped it. Mochi felt a shiver go up its spinal cord, and let out a little gasp.

“My name’s Rory,” said the human. “It’s nice to officially meet you.”

“N-nice to meet you too,” said Mochi.

[hwkhs]

BNHA students in Pokémon

summary: Some BNHA students and their Pokemon team and status if they were in that world. (part one, i want to make a mini series out of this so it’s heavily self-indulgent)

warnings: none

style & genre: bulleted; au

notes: a self-indulgent thing for me b/c this au has to happen. Thank you for reading. also i am in the midst of writers block but the last requests will be out soon!

most of the bullets will be in relation to the main character izuku because why not

*teams inspired by this because i had trouble figuring out who would fit with who and honestly bakugo’s team looks like him aHA

Main Traveling Group:

Midoriya Izuku

Starting Aventure: bulbasaur, aipom

Completed Team: venusaur, lucario, ambipom, floatzel, butterfree, garchomp

I was gonna say he gives off main character vibes then I remembered he was actually a main character already good job ness

but yes izuku here is on his way to become a pokemon champion!

i’m thinking he’d be pretty well-rounded with his team but his starter is definitely a grass type

his pokemon are so concerned whenever they go check out some cave or ancient ruin

izuku’s like “let’s explore!”

and his pokemon look at each other and then at him like “but please don’t try to move and jump on stuff alone pLeAsE bE cAREFUL”

they have venusaur keep him in vines sometimes

literally everyone loves him (all the gym leaders, all the recovery girls, etc.)

he manages to have todoroki and shinsou as travel buddies like how 

they’re all like “i didn’t start training to make friends” and boom they’re a close knit group

very very ambitious and headstrong in his goals

he did get noticed by the champion after all  *cough* all might *cough*

Todoroki Shouto

Starting Adventure: eevee, eevee, milotic

Completed Team: glaceon, flareon, ninetails, alolan ninetails, milotic, volcarona

he’s izuku’s first travelling companion

his father wanted him to become the strongest trainer to carry on his family tradition but he just wanted to see the rest of the world, considering he’s been couped up training for most of his life

he was sent off on his own trainer journey and was unknowledgeable about a lot of real world things

when he met izuku, he was cold towards him but warmed up after seeing how dedicated and kind the other was to pokemon and people alike

“it’s your destiny, todoroki!” ahaha get it

like i said, everyone loves izuku even shouto

todo is cold to strangers but is kind to them after becoming friends

trainers like battling with him because he’s offers their pokemon the eXPENSIVE full restores after battle

and their pokemon swoon over how nice and pretty he is while he tends to their wounds

speaking of pokemon, his are hot and cold as expected

sometimes they clash but he’s always there to be the mediator

he’s unfamiliar with “common” things because he grew up in a closed off environment

likes travelling around, experiencing new things and meeting new people along the way

Shinsou Hitoshi

Starting Adventure: gengar, purrloin

Team: gengar, liepard, espeon, skitty, weaville, crobat, meinshao

the people around him, mainly his classmates, were afraid of him because of the pokemon he attracts

he also had gengar since he was young, the pokemon being a gift from his parents

every time he tries to make friends they run off because his pokemon’s looks make the other ppl scared

that’s why he now rejects anyone trying to get close to him because the last time it happened they just used him

he couldn’t reject izuku though aha so yeah he’s part of the group now

he is a pretty laidback trainer and is more focused on techniques rather than pure strength

mentor aizawa

took shinsou under his wing when he was young and shinsou always calls him for guidance or just for a chat

has a weakness for cat-like pokemon

the main reason he actually joined izuku’s group is because the green haired male saved a skitty

she’s is the newest addition to his team and he loves her aww

he’s the voice of reason for the group but sometimes he just holds back when he wants something interesting to start especially when bakugo challenges izuku or todoroki to a battle

Challengers & Rivals: 

Bakugou Katsuki

Starting Adventure: cyndaquil

Completed Team: typhlosion, electrode, magmortor, arcanine, houndoom, primeape

all pokemon stories have rivals okay bakugou is pERFECT for this

he and izuku met when they were little and because he was more into battling and training, he got annoyed when izuku was recognized by the champion

all his pokemon are as fiery as he is aHA

they love training and can keep up with their trainer’s outbursts and all that we love supportive teammates

he scares every single person he goes up against EXCEPT for izuku & co.

todoroki 's unbothered, shinsou calls bluff on his intimidation, and izuku sees him as a role model as well as rival

gets really annoyed with the trio because he just can’t fULLY beat them

the win ratios are pretty even but this boy wants to win all of his battles with a large power gap because that’s how he rolls

he LOVES using power and intimidation when battling and it’s actually pretty cool to watch his matches

they always have some type of flare to them and never get boring

overall, he’s a strong and resilient trainer who worked hard to get to the top

Kirishima Ejirou

Position: Fighting-Type Gym Leader

Team: blaziken, infernape, hariyama, machamp, medicham, hitmonchan

i’ll just make all their ages ambiguious k thanks

i feel like he’d be a really good gym leader

he’s so uplifting and motivational, it doesn’t affect the self-esteem of anyone who loses to him because he’s there complimenting their strengths and giving them pointers on what they and their team can work better on

man i wish he was in game now he’d be my favorite

he kind of reminds me of island kahuna hala in a way

trains with bakugo a lot because, though the blond won’t admit it, he actually likes training with him kiribaku

when he meets the main group, they all lost their first battle with him because this guy just knows

he’s so in-tune with his pokemon, all that strength and in their bond is so strong

after giving them their fair share of praise and advice, their second battles were won and they received their fighting badges :)

Kaminari Denki

Position: that pikachu guy Electric-Type Gym Leader

Team: pikachu (ik ik but it fits ok), girafig, ampharos, plusle, minun

so hype much wow very exciting

every single battle he does is so flashy with all these effects and whatnot but it fits his aesthetic

think nimbasa city and the runway elesa has before she battles someone

that’s all him

now, his team isn’t really built on defense but they do have a lot of special power, mostly seen in their use of thunderbolt they all know how to use thunderbolt what the heck denki

at one point in his life he thought about owning a farm where pikachu could hang out

he just really likes pikachus and everywhere there’s one they follow him because he looks like them

he’s kind of more bark than bite and might accidentally electrocute himself during battle

concerned izuku when he walked right into a thunderbolt

todoroki was about to ask if he wanted a full restore before the boy realized that it was only for pokemon

he’s in it for the fun of the battle and doesn’t really care if he loses or not unless the trainers are all talk much like he is but ily denki

Iida Tenya

Positon: that trainer they meet on a mountain i’m sorry iida

Team: skamory, straptor, bisharp, gallade

he reminds me of all the trainers that stand there and are like “LeT’s BaTtLe” when you walk in their line of vision

much love iida but that’s who you remind me of haha

he’s the guy that goes by the rules ofc and is a v good sport after losing a battle

when he encounters the main group, he’s training with his pokemon

they were building up and reinforcing their speed and he saw this as a perfect opportunity to learn by battle new people

lost to all three of them

but as mentioned he’s a good sport and the four of them set up camp for the night on the mountain and talk about strtegies and the like

when they part ways he’s telling them that he’ll see them and battle them again

guy wasn’t kidding they fought him like fifteen times total during their journey

i chose his pokemon based on how they look in comparison to him and laughed when i realized there was gallade

because you know gallade’s arms are like blades it reminds me of how iida does that hand thing

like

it was funnier in my head

Uraraka Ochaco

Position: works at the Pokemon Center, training buddies with the main travelling group

Team: gardevoir, togekiss, musharna, clefairy, jigglypuff

she works at the pokemon center for recovery girl

pink is all i see and it fits her aesthetic really

that rhymed

anyways she is super super sweet and loves working at the center, all the people who come in enjoy seeing her

she actually sees the main trio a lot b/c they and their pokemon do a lot of stuff and end up injured

izuku went to the pokemon center five times in a day and his pokemon weren’t even hurt it was jUST hIM

after that she insisted on coming with them to get some experience outside of the building as well as make sure that they mostly izuku and their pokemon would be alright

half of her pokemon are mature and very, what’s the word, elegant (gardevoir and musharna) and the others are playful yet competitive (togekiss, jigglypuff, & clefairy)

her pokemon know the moves that have to do with teleportation and flying/floating and they enjoy using it even when their trainer is gets motion sickness easily

overall, she joins the group when she can/sees them and they are gratefull to hang out with her

-- more characters to be added soon! --

[stratuscloudsurfer]

Hunger Games AU

(This is an excerpt from my namelessshipping hunger games AU which I may or may not ever finish. Plot is basically that Red and Blue are tributes in the hunger games from different districts. In this Leaf is the other tribute from District 12 along with Blue and Lyra is the other tribute from District 11 and Red’s little sister. 

Blue is basically the “Katniss Everdeen” of this AU. He’s a skilled archer and has been hunting outside of the fences around district 12 since he was old enough to hold a bow. Leaf is his hunting partner. He’s good at shooting, she’s good at setting traps. They are best friends and work together to feed each other’s families. Blue’s confident and conspiratorial attitude in interviews makes him the face of the resistance against the capitol, and every other tribute’s number one target. 

Red and Lyra are from the agriculture district. Red is strong and muscular from years of working in the fields. Lyra is much slimmer and smaller, but she is known for being able to climb to the tops of the trees in the orchards to pick the fruit there, and also for signalling to the rest of the workers when the workday is over by singing a distinctive tune which all of the Chatot in the woods copy. Red is quiet and goes out of his way to abide by the rules, but would do anything to protect his little sister. 

Red starts falling for Blue the moment they meet each other before the opening ceremony. Because he knows they are doomed to never be together, he denies his feelings and tries to avoid him altogether. He’s in enough danger already, anyway, without being associated with Blue. But when they are drawn together in the arena, he is forced to face them.

The scene below is the Opening Ceremony.) 

“How do I look?” Asked Lyra softly, picking up her shimmery pastel green skirt, which almost exactly matched the color of his suit, with her fingers. She gave him a tentative smile, searching his eyes.

The large, pink flower that rose around her neck almost matched the one attached to his back, peeking out over his shoulders, but not quite. His petals were squared off, while hers were more frilly and rimmed with white. According to his stylist, she was supposed to resemble the pokemon Magenium, and him a Venusaur. He had to admit— he’d done a good job with the design. He’d only ever seen a Venusaur once, when he was a little kid and had gotten lost in the orchards, and had apparently stumbled on the territory of a herd of Bulbasaur and their very angry mother. He didn’t remember much of what happened after his father had intervened, but the image of the giant flower on its back burned in his mind, and the memory was immediately drug from the depths of his brain when he saw himself in the mirror after Burgh was done with him.

He wasn’t sure about how striking the resemblance was of Lyra’s outfit to a Meganium, but he was sure of one thing—“You look great,” he told her, placing a hand on her shoulder like he used to do every first day of school when she looked up at him with that same anxious look in her brown eyes that she did now. He smiled at her, warmly, in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. He felt the tension release from her shoulders as she let out her breath in an airy little giggle.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “You look good, too.”

Well, he would hope so, anyway, what with all the torture he had endured at the hands of Burgh and the rest of his assistants. He had no idea how many products they had used on his hair on his skin, but both still faintly tingled.

He was about to steer her towards their waiting carriage, drawn by two very patient looking Mudsdale, when a voice called out, “Hey!”

Red, startled, turned around to see the boy and girl tributes from District 12. Both were wearing one-piece outfits made from some sort of silky, flowing material, hers red, his nearly a golden shade of orange that matched his hair. The boy, evidently the one that had spoken, raised his hand in a wave, a grin pasted on his lips. Red was baffled by how completely relaxed the pair of them seemed—especially considering what district they came from, and, of course, the fact that they were about to enter a parade to kick off the coordinated massacre that would ultimately result in their deaths.

“Cool outfits,” he continued. “Too bad we’re about to completely upstage you.”

Red felt his eyes narrow and his teeth grind into his jaw. “In that?” He asked incredulously, pointing to their fairly plain outfits, which he now realized resembled pajamas. Other than the dark black eyeliner that rimmed both of their eyes with points so sharp they could cut through someone’s skin and the faint smear of eye shadow above each of their eyes, they were both altogether lackluster.

The girl shook her head in exasperation and stepped forward. “I apologize for my friend,” she said. “We just wanted to introduce ourselves. My name is Leaf, and this is Blue.”

She bravely extended her hand to him. After several seconds of hesitation, Red decided he might as well take it. “Charmed,” he muttered.

“Psst,” Blue interrupted in a stage whisper. “This is the part where you tell us who you are.”

Red’s face scrunched up in annoyance, and he turned a glare his way. He had no intention at all of answering, but Lyra, apparently, did.

“I’m Lyra,” she said. “This is Red.”

Blue’s face suddenly became serious, the smile disappearing. “Hey, um… Are you… related?” He asked. “I thought I remembered you having the same last name.”

“Yeah,” Lyra answered. “He’s my brother.”

Blue’s eyes flashed with some painful emotion, and Leaf winced in sympathy. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, and sounded as if she meant it.

Red’s chest ached with pain, tightened by the look of sorrow on both of their faces. “Well, there’s nothing to be done about it, now.”

“Still,” Blue said, “I wish we lived in a world where things like this couldn’t happen.”

Red opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the arrival of his stylist from behind. Burgh urgently grabbed onto his and Lyra’s shoulders, quickly escorting the two of them to their chariot with a painfully broad smile and a voice that sounded so cheerful it was painful to listen to. Red impulsively glanced back, just in time to see Leaf and Blue much more gently being herded towards theirs, as well.

He resisted the urge to turn back again once he climbed inside the chariot after Lyra, not wanting to show Blue how badly he wanted to respond to his last comment. So he stood stock still inside, facing the opening of the large, dark tunnel that would take them out into the plaza where the opening ceremony would take place and the ten other carts ahead of them. A hush fell over the area, carrying a chill with it. He shivered, realizing suddenly that his heart was pounding in his chest in anticipation and fear. It was Lyra’s warm fingers brushing against his that brought him back to the present moment.

“Red,” she said, “Will you hold my hand?”

Not trusting himself to reply, he nodded, clutching her fingers into his palm as they abruptly jerked into motion.

The Mudsdale trotted slowly until the 10 other districts in front of them gave way, and they found themselves at the mouth of the tunnel leading into a sunset that burned in the sky and the deafening roar of crowds that surrounded them on either side. After that, they picked up speed, and the crowd volume, and they were whisked ahead involuntarily to the bowl-like plaza, which at its center stood a softly smiling President Rose, dressed as usual in his sharp gray tux. He was nearly engulfed by the masses of screaming Capitol residents, all funky hair and gaudy clothing, flashing teeth and grotesque smiles.

These were the people they were trying to win over, Red tried to remind himself. The least he could do was try to look happy to see them. He forced his lips up into a smile that felt painful on his cheeks, and glanced over to Lyra to see that she was doing the same. At the same time, though, she tightened her grip on his fingers, making them tingle with the pain of oncoming numbness.

The already overwhelming volume of the cheers seemed to rise to a dramatically greater height as they continued into the plaza. Red didn’t understand it--until Lyra gasped, her eyes widening in something that looked like wonder.

“Oh my god. Look!” she half-screamed, jabbing a finger at the massive TV screen above the President’s head.

Red’s eyes landed on the screen. Just in time to see Blue and Leaf’s wings unfurl in a flash of brilliant color, hers red, white, and green and his a metallic gold rimmed with silver and deep orange. Sparkles flew away from them, glanced off the silky feathers, and then the ends of them burst into flame, traveling from the bottom to the top before flaring at the tips.

Their costumes hadn’t made much sense to him at first, but now the realization hit. 

Ho-oh. The legendary Phoenix pokemon, the one that had risen from the ashes. It was an astoundingly clever design for the district known for its coal.

For a brief second, Blue’s eyes, which he now realized were a fiery, flickering hazel, met his through the screen, and although he knew he wasn’t actually looking directly at him, he felt a breath hitch in his chest and his heart grind to a stunned halt. His mind couldn’t form a single thought, not one intelligent notion. Because the only word he could think of when he looked at him was breathtaking. The flames that surrounded him bathed him in a sort of ethereal, godly, powerful beauty, one that sent a sense of danger running through him, although he wasn’t exactly sure why.

A slow, confident grin spread over Blue’s lips, and at once he took Leaf’s hand, and together they raised their clasped fingers to the sky as the crowd went wild.