#folks i think generally have the sentiment that the entire beginning half of psmd where you're just being a kid in the village is like

[front-facing-pokemon]

of course i remember all the village kids (even budew who's too young for school) but Espurr blatantly steals the show in the endgame and it kinda shoves the rest of them further in the background. Justice for Shelmet and Deerling and Goomy though actually if anyone forgets them I kill them in 5 days (Didn't mention pancham because. how would he even be possible to forget)

yeahh the espurr postgame was. strange, certainly. maybe it's just because i cared more about the other village kids (deerling is my favorite) but i didn't feel like she Stole it. but it's also been a very long time since i've played this game. i say it's my favorite but maybe if i went through and played all the pmd games, gates might be my favorite, just because of how fondly i look back upon it. but maybe the gameplay quirks would hold it back from that spot (even though i'd be judging them from a purely story perspective)

also take these: