#galar gym squad

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hiiiiiii

If it’s not too much trouble, could you do a platonic team star x team star member!reader who became a dragon type specialist squad leader and joined because they got bullied for being a fan of other famous dragon type users like Lance and Raihan?

(Sorry if this is too specific)

Oh no worries, I like specific so it's all good!

..........

"I'm gonna be just like them one day.." Sighing dreamily, you sat down at the cafeteria table, watching a video on your rotomphone while chowing down breakfast.

It was footage of a fierce Pokémon battle in Galar--a showdown between two of your idols, who were among the most famous dragon trainers of all time: Lance and Raihan.

Of course, you looked up to many other dragon type users in Paldea, but these two in particular kickstarted your dreams of becoming one yourself, inspired by their interviews and fierce determination.

You also hoped to meet them and have a battle, although that was a little too farfetched for you right now..

Yet you didn't let that discourage you from forming your own dragon team, using your studies at Uva/Naranja Academy to teach them all the best moves and remember type matchups.

Tatsugiri was your main partner, and when combined with your Dondozo..it was an absolute powerhouse in double-battles--albeit this academy usually focused on the traditional single battles.

You were also currently raising a Drakalok, Cyclizar, Arctibax, and Sliggoo, and you cherished all of them dearly. Tatsugiri was a bit of an attention hog at times, though, and always wanted to stay out of its ball and on your shoulder.

You didn't mind it, of course. Whether you're heading to class or to a tournament where dragon trainers were going to participate, you always went together.

Life was perfect.

Except for-

"Still prattling on about being the next famous dragon gym leader, huh?"

-one of your bullies already ruining your day before it could even begin.

For some reason..a few kids at the academy really had it out for you simply because you admired famous dragon trainers. You didn't think there was anything wrong with looking up to your idols. But apparently they thought you were being too "obnoxious" about it and sought to make your life utterly miserable.

It only got worse when you spoke up about it to a teacher, as that bully got off with nothing but a slap on the wrist--that being to train their Pokémon as "punishment".

By sheer convenience, they had ice and fairy types. And that teacher only gave them the chance to make their team stronger and further intimidate you...to the point where you're afraid to go outside, fearing they'll drag you into a battle.

You've kept silent since, hoping to avoid them at all costs and try to keep your grades up. But unfortunately, Arceus wasn't smiling upon you today...and quite frankly, you were tired.

Huffing, you switched off your phone and scowled up at the bully. "Still following me around campus, huh?" You mocked, with Tatsugiri hopping on the table and mimicking your expression. "That's kinda creepy if you ask me."

"Well those stupid fangs of yours are creeping everyone out." They sneered, pointing out your sharp teeth. "Halloween is over, y'know."

"I've already told you..these are canines, and they are real."

"Yeah? More like real freaky."

"Look, just leave me alone before you anger Tatsugiri." You warned, watching as their gaze shifted to your ace, falling silent for a moment or two...

Before erupting into laughter. "Oh wow, I'm soooooo scared of your stupid sushi roll! What ever will I do??" They shook their head. "If you want my advice, dump this thing and get yourself a real dragon. Like a Charizard or-"

"You don't get to decide WHO I can have as a partner!!!" Your hands slammed onto the table as you stood up, fists clenched with anger. Even though you could see people's heads turning in your peripheral vision, you didn't care. "Tatsugiri may not look it, but it's more powerful than you'll ever know! You don't know our bond, so just back off already!!"

"Oooooh, I didn't know you knew Outrage..better not hit yourself in confusion." They snickered.

"...why are you like this?" With slumped shoulders, you frowned at them. "Why do you keep tormenting me day after day?! I've done nothing to you. Is it a crime to admire my heroes? To wanna be like them?"

"No, but you'd be an embarrassment to every future dragon tamer. I mean who'd wanna see a pathetic thing like that in the Elite Four? Or on a Champion's team? Raihan and Lance would laugh in your face and crush you if they saw-"

"STOP IT!!" You finally snapped, hitting the table again before taking out one of your pokeballs. "Do you want a battle?! Is that what you want?!! Then you'll get it-!!"

"[Y/n], what is the meaning of this?"

Hearing the voice of the director made all the color drain from your face. The bully just smirked as you slowly turned to Harrington, seeing him looking at you with a frown.

"This is the second disturbance you've caused in this same area. You know battles aren't permitted inside the academy."

It's only then did you realize everybody in the cafeteria was staring..and you shrunk back in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, Director. I didn't mean to shout. They were just-"

But when you tried to point out the bully, they were gone.

How convenient.

"From how it looks..you were intimidating them. And you should also know we have a zero tolerance policy for such behavior."

"But I wasn't..they-!" You tried in vain to defend yourself, yet the look on Harrington's face told you he didn't wanna hear any of it.

"We can discuss this further in my office. Return your Tatsugiri to its pokeball and follow me, if you will."

"....yes, sir." Defeated, you gathered your things and put Tatsugiri back into the pokeball (much to its dismay), before commencing the long walk of shame to the director's office.

Maybe he will believe you.

.......

"He didn't believe me either. What's the point of "standing up for myself" if I'm just gonna get in trouble?! What's the point if they're always gonna get away with it while I face suspension?!"

"Suu.."

"I know I kinda let myself go back there, but...th-they kept pushing me and pushing me! Why couldn't he understand that? Why doesn't anyone here understand-?!"

"Tasu!"

Calming yourself down a little, you looked to Tatsugiri, who sat on your bed and looked up at you with sad eyes, wishing you weren't being so harsh on yourself.

"....well, I know you understand me, buddy." You quietly sighed and sat down, bringing it into your hands as it nuzzled your cheek. Immediately your shoulders relaxed. "I'm sorry. Thank you. I'm just...it's been frustrating. But I swear I'll never replace you for any other dragon. Not even for a shiny Charizard."

"Yip-yip?!" It cried out.

"Believe me! I won't." You chuckled, although you stopped as you thought over this morning's events...

And suddenly you felt sick to your stomach.

Just thinking about going to your afternoon class today made you feel ill, wondering who was going to harass you two next...and if you'll be able to do anything about it without getting into trouble with the director.

Now that you've gotten your second strike, you had to be careful not to lash out like that again.

But what else were you supposed to do?

Let them continue to bully you around and make your poor partner feel absolutely worthless? How was that fair to either of you?

At this point, you've ran out of adults in this academy to talk to...besides the nurse, of course, although she seemed more adept at healing Pokémon than counseling students.

Even if she was willing to listen, you doubt anything would change.

Nobody here took your side or could possibly understand what you were going through-

"Roto-to-to~"

Your rotomphone started ringing, displaying an unknown caller ID. Normally you'd ignore it, although Tatsugiri had a better idea and decided to slap the screen with its fin, answering it.

"Tatsu!" You grumbled, pulling it away from your phone before addressing the stranger, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry! My Pokémon-"

"Greetings, am I speaking to [y/n]?"

".....uh...yeah?" Your eyebrows furrowed with confusion, not expecting to hear a distorted voice on the other end of the line. "And who am I speaking to exactly?"

"My name is Cassiopeia. Leader of Team Star."

"Team Star?" You blinked, remembering all of the rumors you've heard about this organization. They were a small group of kids who got bad grades, skipped school often...and sometimes harassed others into joining them or pulled pranks on teachers.

Why would their leader contact you?

Or better yet...how did they even get ahold of your number?

"Correct. We've been watching you for some time, and we see your pain. It must feel awful...being pushed around and intimidated all because you admire some famous trainers. And when you finally have the courage to defend yourself and your Pokémon...suddenly you're the bad guy? It's so unfair."

"How do you.....l-look, um..Cassiopeia. I got a lot going on right now." You mumbled, hoping to end this conversation quickly. "I'm facing suspension if I cause one more scene, so I don't think I should be talking to delinquents like-"

"That is a lie. Team Star isn't a group of delinquents. We're so much more than that." They interrupted you, sounding a bit annoyed. "The truth is that WE are the victims. We who were shamed and excluded for the crime of being ourselves. The system has failed us, [y/n], and we formed this group as a way to stand up and stand out."

"...ah, I see." Now you were growing a bit more understanding and sympathetic towards them. You always had a feeling that your classmates overexaggerated how "evil" this team really was, making comparisons to Team Rocket and organizations that were legitimately evil and criminal.

But obviously, you never put your two cents in. You were already getting bullied enough just for saying Lance and Raihan are cool dragon trainers you wished to meet.

You were already getting bullied enough just for admiring some famous dragon trainers.

"So...obviously you're trying to sell me something." You huffed, kicking your feet up on the desk. "You want me to join your team as one of your goons-?"

"Oh no. I actually have something much better in mind." Cassiopeia cut in once more. "We've seen how you battle with dragon types. Very impressive, I must say. You never back down from a challenge. You're fierce, protective..and you demonstrate incredible leadership."

That felt flattering to hear, considering all the times you've gotten criticized for your battling techniques during Ms. Dendra's class.

Recently, she actually made you apologize to your classmate, whose Pokémon was actively bullying yours and provoked it into using a powerful move that knocked it out in one hit.

Why was that such a problem?

Because you weren't supposed to be battling, but the bully kept pushing you into one--and of course, Ms. Dendra didn't see that part.

Only the part where you broke the "No-OHKO" rule she had written into her lesson plan for that day.

Now you were struggling to get your grades back up in battle strategies, which was hard since you gained a reputation as being "too aggressive"..when in reality you were just so afraid and fed up that no one would listen to you.

So hearing this complete stranger give you praise felt genuinely good.

"Oh! Ah...thank you." You decided to bite the bullet. "So what's your offer?"

"We believe you're a good fit to be a squad leader. We have one more slot available. Interested?"

Your heart immediately jumped at the opportunity, although part of you was still holding back.....wondering if it was worth getting mixed-up with people like Cassiopeia and Team Star's revered leaders.

This could very well throw away your entire future and your goals of becoming the next dragon type gym leader. You could be expelled for sure, or even blacklisted from partaking in tournaments.

But at the same time, you were so tired of living in fear and dealing with all of this alone.

Why should you have to? That's setting a terrible example for your Pokémon--they shouldn't have to see their trainer living like that. You had to be brave and stronger, but that was almost impossible if you were just going to suffer repercussions for trying.

Cassiopeia took your silence as hesitation. "I know this is a lot to think about. But trust me, [y/n]. Team Star can do more for you than the Academy ever did. You'll get to train without limits. Your name will be known by all, and nobody will mock you or Tatsugiri ever again. That is what you want, isn't it? To grow stronger together? To stand up against those who wronged you?"

Hearing them mention your partner made you look to the Mimicry Pokemon in your lap. Seeing the way they put their fin on your hand and gave you a small nod ultimately solidified your answer.

You weren't turning back now.

"We can discuss this tomorrow if you'd like-"

"No, I made up my mind. I'll take it. When do I start?"

..........

"Looking sharp as always, Revavroom."

With a sharp-toothed grin, you gently patted the head of your Starmobile--specifically the Revavroom attached to it, as it rumbled in happiness.

Then you hopped onto the vehicle, climbing up to the stage where you could survey the rest of your camp, observing your goons hanging out by the vending machines and driving around on their Cyclizars.

This was the Achird Squad base stationed at Casseroya Lake, and for about a year or so...you've also called it home.

The location was perfect for a mighty dragon leader such as yourself, allowing you to keep watch over the Tatsugiri and Dratini herds you'd see in the waters from time to time.

It was far better than the cramped dorms of the Academy. They would never have let your dragons roam free like Dragapult, Baxcalibur, and all the rest were doing right now..

Ever since joining Team Star, you never looked back and never regretted your decision. You became fast friends with the other bosses, with Atticus even designing some cool armor plates for your outfit that resembled a Kommo-o's scales.

Although things have been...rather weird as of late.

Especially since it was the anniversary of the incident.

Back at the Academy, you and all of the leaders came together with the ultimate to confront your bullies once and for all. It was meant to finally settle who was the strongest, and how you were sick of being pushed around.

Least to say..the tables have turned, and everyone knew your names.

The bullies ended up running scared, barely putting up a fight themselves before scrambling to heal and recall their Pokémon.

You felt pretty good about it, especially when you knocked out that jerk who made fun of your teeth and admiration for dragon trainers in one fell swoop.

But then you looked around and saw everyone's scared faces. Many were recording the battles, spreading them all over social media, or shielding their own Pokémon from potential harm--even though you never intended to hurt them whatsoever.

It turned into a huge scandal over who was in the right or wrong, although in the end your bullies played the victims, dropped out of school, and ended up being listened to the most.

They made you out to be monsters who just attacked them for no reason..and it almost got you all expelled.

However, Cassiopeia took the blame, and while you were pardoned, Harrington, the deputy director (who tried erasing all records of the scandal and bullying to "preserve" the Academy's image), and many teachers left, guilty that they didn't do more to prevent this.

It would have been a bittersweet victory for Team Star---had your leader not also vanished, their last message being a call for the organization to disband.

To this day, none of you understood why they'd do that...or why they think you'd ever wanna leave this team and go back to your studies.

How could you after the faculty messed up this badly?

How could you after they still sided with the bullies?

How could you after they tried to cover up what really happened?

In the end, you all promised to stick together, abiding by your codes and living out on the squad bases. You occasionally met up for discussions and battle plans, although you always held onto hope that if the team kept going long enough....Cassiopeia might come back.

You've tried contacting them through various means, yet none of your Rotoms could retrace their calls nor social media posts. Everything was gone.

As though they wanted you all to forget ever meeting them..

It never made sense to you, considering you could really use a leader back then.

But what's done is done, and you winded up assuming a de factor leader position, given your team was the strongest out of all of theirs. Of course, Ortega was less-than-pleased about holding a vote on it, but you won the majority and he eventually got over it.

Now you've been training your Pokémon more frequently, and only because there's something called "Operation: Starfall" going around--and apparently some Paldean trainer was going around tackling each base with the hope of claiming their badges.

One of the codes was that being defeated in battle meant surrendering it, and that means...

Someone was dead set on shutting down Team Star for good.

But you wouldn't let them. The other bosses were your friends, family..and you'll be damned if you lost them, too.

"Boss! The others are comin' in!" You heard one of the grunts shout, and you looked towards the horizon in surprise.

She wasn't kidding.

Ortega, Mela, Eri, Giacomo, and Atticus were at your base's entrance, waiting for you. Although you were eager to see them after being occupied with training for so long...it didn't concern you that all of them chose to show up at once.

But you refused to show any sort of alarm, huffing as you jumped off the stage, mounting your partner Cyclizar. "Let's ride!" You barked, allowing it to sprint towards the group at full speed.

Your cape fluttered in the wind as it leaped across a small stream, all while Tatsugiri--who was resting in a small basket attached to it--held on for dear life.

Upon arriving, the bosses stopped their chatter and turned as you slowed down, stepping off Cyclizar. You gave it a small pat on the head, assuring that it could rest, before looking at the group.

"So we meet again...what's with the sour faces?" Your eyebrows furrowed at their expressions. When nobody was immediately speaking up, you huffed. "Come on, out with it. You can't come all this way to my base just assume I can read your minds-"

"We come before thee bearing..a warning." Atticus muttered, bowing his head in shame. "The student you've spoken of hath proven to be quite the adversary."

"Is that so? Surely they haven't claimed all of your badges, have they?"

"........"

"Why is no one talking-?"

"Because we got our asses handed to us." Mela bluntly stated, clenching her fists. "We got absolutely smoked...and now you're the only one left."

Your eyes widened in shock and horror, although you didn't get the chance to respond as Ortega cut you off.

"Now before you freak out on us all..we did try our best. We did everything you and Cassiopeia taught us. But this kid....they're good. Almost too good. And this guy named Clive was helping them out the whole time, getting under our skin and everything...."

"Well I wouldn't say that." Eri looked at the fairy trainer, crossing her arms over her chest as she frowned. "He wanted to know where we're coming from and why we're doing all of this."

"...and you just told him?"

You could see everyone tense up, and you just scowled, wondering why they would do this.

"What makes you all think he would care...or why anybody from that academy would care about us now?" Your eyebrows furrowed as Tatsugiri sat on your shoulder, mimicking your expression. "Nobody cared when they hurt us...nobody cared when we were literally begging for help. Look, I know keeping this group together was hard, but it's no excuse to-"

"Honestly...I'm kinda tired of this charade. At least someone's willin' to listen to us now.." Giacomo remarked, frowning a little bit. "But here's the lowdown, [y/n]: we got beaten into the dirt and followed our code, so now we're here to give ya a little heads up before this kid comes after you next. We're sorry. But we tried."

"And we still don't know who's really behind this sting operation.." Mela grumbled, shaking her head in worry. "Someone wants to shut us down for good, and it's definitely not either of those new students. They're just being used to carry out the dirty work."

"I might have a good idea on who it is...and I swear, they'll answer for this." You bared your teeth. "But I'll save my dragon rage for this trainer. Wherever they are, whatever they're doing...I hope they know I'm ready. Because I'm gonna defend Team Star...defend us....until my last breath."

"Su! Su!!" Tatsugiri trilled in agreement, nuzzling your cheek, to which you couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"Well whatever happens next, you have our full support, [y/n]." Eri smiled as she patted your shoulder. "Badge or no badge, we stand behind you."

Everyone else chimed in with agreements, smiles on all of their faces as well--although Atticus' wasn't immediately noticeable, you could see it in his eyes.

Knowing this group still cared about you and believed in your battling skills made all the tension leave your shoulders.

"Thank you, my friends. Hasta la vistar ~☆"

""""Hasta la vistar, and good luck, [y/n]!! ~☆""""

[year2000electronics]

In Pokémon iridium, how are the galar gym leaders holding up?

great question!! in iridium, i really wanted to lean more into a sort of "capitalist machine" storytelling with galar specifically, how monetizing someone's passion (pokemon battling) can suck the life out of them, how powerful people seek to grow more powerful at everyone's expense, all that. so most of the galar gym leaders are kinda in chairman rose's pocket, so to speak. the two notable ones i'd wanna talk about are milo, who i ended up making one of team rocket's dittos who escaped because people joked that he looks like a ditto lol. and also piers!

unlike in canon where he runs a dynamax-less gym and seems to have a general distaste for how things are going, in iridium, piers used to be really anti-establishment since rose left spikemuth out to dry. he'd sing a lot of punk songs specifically about that. but then chairman rose started to bribe him and literally bought he and his crew off, giving spikemuth a MASSIVE stadium that's apparently "great for tourism". now he's one of dynamax's biggest fans, and all his songs are vague and meaningless drivel about standing up against... Something. he won't say what. it doesn't matter.

i imagine that instead of one, kinda-useless Team Yell that's made just to fill an "evil team" quota, there's two teams of people in spikemuth. one is the "superfans", piers' squad who push people around behind the scenes if things aren't going the league's way...

... and team yell, the rest of spikemuth who are ANGRY that piers abandoned them and are trying to destroy every gym in galar

(there is also the fact that a reawakened cosmic horror is messing with everyone's brains so bad that they've forgotten how galar was even founded but yknow. that's more of a backburner thing.)

[melonthesprigatito]

So I found out in a Pokémon Masters OST comments section of all places that Atticus shows up as a special vendor in the auction market in Porto Marinada, and the things he sells are clothing items that are easter eggs from past games. The thing I find weird about it is that Atticus himself says that he "took inspiration" from clothing items to make replicas of them to sell. Which is fine except for the fact that there are some items he should have NO WAY OF KNOWING IT EXISTS.

So for funsies I'm ranking all of Atticus's auction items by how likely it is that he and the average Pokémon citizen would be aware of the existence of the things they're replicas of

Ball Guy Helmet: 10/10

Literally a famous sports mascot. Maybe if you weren't into battles you'd be unfamiliar with him but I bet if you typed Pokémon League Galar into PokéGoogle, he'd show up everywhere. There's merch of him too. Cursed, cursed merch. Plus, Penny is from Galar so she most likely told Atticus about the Ball Guy.

Replica Leader Bag: 9/10

More obscure than the Ball Guy, but again. Penny is from Galar, she probably informed Atticus about it. Marnie is the Dark Type Gym Leader at this point. Penny knows about Marnie as much as Paldea trainers know about their Gym Leaders, especially if Atticus decided to look for any neat styles he could copy from them.

Replica Dragon Gloves: 8/10

I fully blame Giacomo for this one. Had to Google Ryuki myself because I'm not familiar with his lore, but apparently he's a famous rock guitarist. Giacomo literally wrote the background music for Team Star, I bet he knows his musicians. I can 110% picture him running up to Atticus like "DUDE DUDE YOU GOTTA MAKE THIS"

Replica Expansion Suit Helmet: 7/10

Ranks surprisingly high considering that nobody in the Pokémon fandom knows what this it because 90% of players dont know that X and Y has a post game story, but assuming Scarlet and Violet takes place a few years after X and Y's post game, Emma has probably been working as Essentia for a few years at this point. A superhero working in the capital city of the region next door to Paldea is probably gonna be recognisable

Replica Aether Shoes: …..5/10???

Uhh….. Umm…. Huh????? I guess the Aether Foundation is famous… But THAT famous…? Would a guy in Spain know about an animal conservation company from Hawaii? And even if if they are that famous, I certainly don't know the kind of shoes Apple employees wear. Or Mc Donald's employees. Or literally any other multinational company. Why the shoes, Atticus? How do you know about the shoes? Why?????

Replica Aqua/ Magma Helmet: 3/10

Ok now this is just getting ridiculous. Even if everybody knew about what went down in Hoenn, I can almost guarantee that nobody knows the specifics or about SOMETHING THAT WAS SECRETLY DEVELOPED BY TEAM AQUA/MAGMA

Replica Ultra Glasses: -1000000/10

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

Didn't Sun and Moon's Looker postgame imply that the existence of Ultra Beasts is something that the government/ International Police has been deliberately hiding from the public????? I assume the same goes for the existence of LITERAL HUMAN ALIENS. Either someone from the Aether Foundation leaked a selfie with the Ultra Recon Squad to some obscure message board or Penny hacked the Alolan government just to give her buddy inspiration for neat clothing items he can recreate. I can't think of another explanation.

[kidresearcherindigo]

'Sup; name's Indigo! I'm 17, I'm a They, and I'm also a student at Naranja-Uva! Originally I'm from Unova, though! And I lived in Galar for like a year before moving to Paldea. Been in Paldea for about a year now?

I had a rotomblr for a while, but I mostly just lurked. Figured I might give socializing a try!

I'm like. One of the champions? But it's literally no big deal I don't even like to battle unless it's with friends.

I really like Pokémon Biology; I wanna become a Pokémon Biologist someday. I have three close friends; I won't namedrop them because that's rude to do without permission, but you're probably gonna hear about 'em a lot; we call ourselves the ✨️ Sandwich Squad! ✨️ (ok, only two of us call it that, but shhhhhh)

I got a full team team of Pokémon, and they are:

Luna - (Unovan) Zoroark; the one in my picture. She moved to Paldea with me!

Yuki - (hisuian) Zoroark; don't ask how I got her it's complicated. Also moved to Paldea with me!

Ember - Skelidirge; got him as a Fuecoco when I enrolled in the academy

Loaf - Daschbun; We met before I beat my first gym badge as a fidough

Doc - Hypno; he constantly tries to hypnotize me, but the insomnia's just too strong lol

Magnolia - Ampharos; just happy to be a part of something like all the time.

I also got this robot Cyclizar named Miraidon? Doesn't go by any nicknames officially but I call them Salami Monster sometimes as a joke. They're super smart though!

Also I have exactly one (1) weird talent and that's that I can talk to Zoruas/Zoroarks in their language. Only them though; I'm still working on learning how to talk to other Pokemon.

Anyway I'm probably just gonna talk about school, and pokemon like everyone else. Just boring shit. Maybe make a meme or two, we'll see how it goes!

//ooc under cut

Everything's on; M!A is on but lightweight

No NSFW

ic hate is fine

This character's lore is connected to @profchamomile and by extension @porygon-supremacy and @anomaly-sanctum (but you won't see interactions with the latter two for a while). I run all of those blogs.

I run @paradox-destroyer as well but the lore for that is separate (they do share a gliscord server together though)

Canon's a combination of games, anime and whatever else. As far as the SV story goes, it's post main story and pre expansions. Also the ruinous treasures haven't been unlocked yet.

This blog is primarily low stakes. Might get up to drama stakes down the line but at this moment those plots will be between my own characters only (with other characters being portrayed via fics. If anyone WANTS plot involvement feel free to ask me!

[olivias-antics]

Hi, my names Olivia and I'm a student at Naranja Academy. I'm also a member of Team Star's Segin Squad. I love school, learning, and making new friends. I will be blogging about all sorts of cool people stuff. Birthday is June 29th. Here's my current teams (will edit if changes)

Paldea team (four gym badges)

Petunia: Skeledirge with a Sassy Nature and held item of an expert belt

Lumiose: Amphaoros with a Mild Nature and held item of wise glasses

Emi: Tyranitar✨️ with a Quiet Nature and held item of soft sand

Melody: Sawsbuck with a Modest Nature

Hero: Lucario with a Brave Nature and held item of quick claw

Tarō: Ogerpon with a Lonely Nature and held item of wellspring mask

Sinnoh team (seven gym badges)

Rebel: Azuramarill with a Hardy Nature and held item of a wide lens

Bravery: Torterra with a Timid Nature

Defiant: Rampardos with a Rash Nature and held item of quick claw

Soul: Crobat with a Quiet Nature and held item of poison barb

Heart: Luxio with a Relaxed Nature and held item of magnet

Galar team (one gym badge)

Cheese Tax: Galarian Slowpoke with a Careful Nature

Azura: Galarian Linoone with a Careful Nature

Captain: Wartortle with a Docile Nature and held item of a mystic water

Mocha: Dwebble with a Naive Nature and held item of a hard stone

Citrus: Electrike with an Impish Nature

Kanto team

Sugar: Eevee with a Naive Nature

Licorice: Nidoran with a Lonely Nature

and so many others

Thanks

// ooc stuff under the cut

// this is technically @clawthornes-corner 's humansona

[best-pkmn-battle-ost]

The bracket has been decided! Here's the match-ups for Round 1!

Each match-up will be linked to it's post below, when it goes up! Round 1 will start going up on Friday 16th, 8PM CEST!

Round 1, Upper Left Group

Clan Warden VS Hau Galar Gym Leader VS Dark Matter Phase 2 Subway Boss VS Oleana Zinnia VS Origin Dialga/Palkia Legendary Birds VS Penny Diantha VS Eternatus Phase 3 Neo Team Plasma Grunt VS Alola Champion (REMATCH) Chairman Rose VS Lake Trio

Round 1, Lower Left Group

Calyrex Final VS Team Dim Sun Grunt Wally VS Aether Foundation Employee Ultra Beast VS Iris Alola Elite 4 VS Team Star Grunt Arceus VS Lance/Red Ultra Necrozma VS Paldea Gym Leader Guzma VS Gladion Lusamine VS Decisive! Steven

Round 1, Upper Right Group

Giratina VS N Final Ghetsis VS Gateway Colosseum World Tournament FInals VS Anime Hoenn Elite 4 Guardian Deities VS Crowned Zacian/Zamazenta Cyrus VS Colress Champion Nemona VS Hoenn Gym Leader Cynthia VS Team Aqua/Magma Leader Bede VS Team Star Boss

Round 1, Lower Right Group

Team Galactic Grunt VS Champion Leon Ultra Recon Squad VS Lysandre Battle Tower VS Hop Final Suicune VS Hoenn Rival Marnie Final VS Treasures of Ruin Gym Leader Piers VS Dialga/Palkia Ho-Oh VS Dialga's Fight to the Finish! Red/Blue VS Team Rocket

[touristbree]

🧪Atticus Headcanons🧪

I don’t really get to use Atticus as much in RP, so his list is a little shorter, but I still love my dorky ninja.

🧪 Atticus paints his pokeballs with patterns representing each of his Pokémon.

[ID: Three pokeballs with multicolor pattens drawn on them]

🧪 Atticus is a huge Brassius fan, he’s always studying Brassius’ work and trying to understand the meanings behind them.

🧪 He’s a bit of a Galar-phile, especially being a fan of classical theater and the gym leader Marnie.

🧪 While handsome, he was bullied for his old time way of talking and obsession with art and ninjas, sometimes having his art ruined when away from it, which has made him more shy about showing it off.

🧪 Navi Squad, post Operation Starfall, becomes the artsy part of Team Star. Students have the art room again, but the positive creative atmosphere of the Squad makes it where students show their more experimental and abstract art.

🧪 Atticus always carries Art and sewing supplies with him… this is already kinda canon tho lol.

🧪 He prefers the poison type because of how dynamic it is. There’s no one poison, and no one way too be poisoned.

🧪 Since The bosses probably can’t wear their modified uniforms to school, Atticus creates some newer ones, taking advantage of any loopholes in the uniform code.

[peridot-the-photographer]

List of starters I got

Monch my Skeledirge was my first pokemon and they are a treasure.

Kicks/Champ was the pokemon I got from professor Sonia when I attempted the Galarian gym challenge on a winter break. She works for gym challenge in Kabus gym nowadays.

I got Bloom from the isle of Armor on accident. He works on different pokéjobs in the Galar region.

Scorch I got from a kid in Kanto who couldn't take care of a troublemaking Charmander. He delivers mail alongside the pelippers.

Sparks fell out of the sky from hisiu. She likes staying at my house just chilling.

Cassiopeia was a wild eevee I caught with a pokéball I got from professor Oak while taking pictures in the Kanto region. She also likes just chilling with me or Penn nowadays

And Dewbert I got from a friend. Dewbert loves spending time with my lil bro Dig.

Charcoal I got from rotomblr/rotumblr. He likes helping out at the Schedar squad base.

[seginbeats]

Various Giacomo Headcanons Pt. 2

Giacomo dropped out of the academy before the rest of the Team Star leaders; that is why his Pokémon are considerably weaker than the rest of the squad, and why he is the first leader that the game suggests you to defeat.

He still kept in touch with Mela, Atticus, Ortega and Eri of course. Giacomo came back into orbit when "Cassiopia" gathered the five of them in order to form Team Star and initiate Operation Star.

His battle strategies come from watching YouTube videos and livestreams of professional dark type specialists in action. Some of his favorite trainers to study are Grimsley from Unova's Elite Four, Piers from the Galar League, and Atoma's dark type Gym Leader, Strelitzia.

When he does eventually put together his full team, Giacomo uses a highly offensive strategy, focusing on physical attackers boosting his Pokémon's attack states, and whittling down the opponent with stat reducing moves; two of his Pokémon, Mabosstiff and Krookodile, have access to Intimidate.

He's currently looking to add a sixth member to his party; Giacomo would really like a Scraggy, though finding such a Pokémon is impossible in Paldea.

Segin Squad Headcanons!

They're the most rowdy group of the Star Squads, and often compete with the Schedar Squad for the title of "most obnoxious".

Most of them were students following a computer science, music or art path in the academy.

Every Friday night is rave night, with DJ Vice partying it up behind the deck. It's not uncommon for Segin Squad members to customize their outfits with glow-in-the-dark accessories, glowstick necklaces and other various flashy objects.

Similar vibe to The Deckers from Saints Row III, not nearly as crime-oriented of course. They all have sticky fingers though, watch your wallets.

Night owls. You won't catch any of them awake before 11 am.

The official video game of the Segin Squad is Beat Saber. Giacomo does NOT have the high score, however, but he loves playing it with them.

Sometimes they mount a video projector (stolen of course) on top of the Segin Starmobile and project movies, games and livestreams onto the back of the largest building in their base.

The Segin Starmobile's nickname is "The Party Van." Revavroom thinks nothing of it.

[medea10]

Medea Plays Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: Part III

I’ll get to Larry soon enough.

This might be a longer than normal post. I got in an extra day of playing due to a snow storm preventing me from going to work. Tee-hee. Let’s see how my journey is fairing out.

*gasp* Would you look at that?! A shiny! I’m not even a shiny hunter.

Oh my goodness, two of them!

Just like with Legends Arceus, it’s a little easier to point out and find shinies.

Is this a nod to the anime and TR’s Meowth or just a coincidence. I see what you did here, game.

I ran into more interesting-looking students again. Not as cringey as bruh who looks like a pedo. Buuut...

Ooh, oh no. This woman got a Frollo hairdo-look going on. What are you doing, Pokemon?

Okay, I have to admit. Out of all the memes on the internet involving the new Pokemon game, there’s one character/pokemon that I’m enjoying with all of the memes. I think you know who I mean.

That’s right. Oop, wrong file photo.

Yeah, I kinda fell in love with this sledgehammer-wielding psychopath.

Let’s see what’s up with school.

Huh. This reminds me of a Ren and Stimpy episode.

Them lummoxes love their meat on meat sandwiches. Maybe Miss Dendra is related to the lummoxes. Meanwhile, in art class...

Say no more. I’m shipping this until the day I die. Hassel loves his dear Brassie. It chokes him up inside.

Wow...um. I didn’t expect him to start crying because he heard Brassie-boy’s depression through art. This isn’t the last time you’ll see him cry.

You have no idea, lady. Let’s check out the Team Star incident.

Oh God. I know bullying is very wrong and everything, especially in this game. But...this kid just has such a punchable face. He’s like Bede, Dilandau, and Trip all mish-mashed into one entity.

Seriously, this kid here. I would like to punch him. And that’s stiff competition because the last Team Star person I fought before this little dingleberry acts like David Cross playing a Warlock.

But, you learn to let the fists go when you learn about Team Star and how they are not in the wrong. Like, at all. Everything stems back from 18 months ago. Team Star was bullied. Teachers did nothing. Team Star was formed under the guidance of the unseen boss. Turmoil hit the school. Bullies were sent to Galar. Teachers resigned. The former director covered everything up. Team Star was used as a scapegoat.

But educators like Clavell, Ms. Tyme, Jacq-strap, all of those people started AFTER this incident. The final Team Star boss is.

Whoa. I am at a loss of words with Eri. Except, I think she might be the daughter to a professional ultimate fighter and Stripperella. I ain’t even sorry for that crack.

After defeating all 5 squad bosses, you learn the hacker who told you to track down all the places and defeat the bosses that they are indeed the big boss. They will fight you on the school grounds at sundown. Let’s smash some titans.

I know you see this ginormous fella earlier in the game, like when your team is at level 20-30. Heed my advice and wait until, maybe your 6th badge to fight him. If you don’t believe me, look at some playthroughs on Youtube. People were not expecting this. Now for the confusing titan.

Is this the titan? I mean, he is bigger than some of the oth...

Ohhhhhhhh shiiiiiii...

Don’t worry, he comes back once you beat Monstro, the big, blue whatchamafucker.

So, is this guy really the titan or was the big fella the titan? I don’t know. Let’s continue.

Oh God...don’t kill me with this now.

Doggo all better. Me happy. Me very happy. Let nothing ruin this...

Bad timing. Bad timing from bad parent. And if you don’t believe me...

I feel like this was Arven’s childhood in a nutshell.

But now, Arven’s mother Professor Crazy Bitch needs his help.

Wait, aren’t we forbidden from entering the hellhole of Paldea.

That is not a good sign. Let’s wrap things up with the Victory Road saga.

Meet Japanese businessman gym leader. A.K.A. Larry. And according to the internet, the most interesting man in Paldea. I’ll stick to my Tinkaton memes thank you very much.

The interesting gym challenges continue. For Larry’s gym, you have to order the correct secret dish that he eats at this restaurant. You get clues from fighting trainers all over town.

Next gym will have you compete in double battles in front of a crowd. When the crowd is warmed up, it’s time for a concert with Gym Leader Ryme. Yes, she’s the sister of your math teacher Miss Tyme.

Oh and the gym leader also does double battles. So there’s that.

In the next gym, Miss Dendra comes in with battle faces. You will also fight some trainers. No, Dendra is not the gym leader. She’s just good friends with her.

On a side-note, Miss Dendra is the best teacher.

Anyways, fight the Cover Girl model and win a badge. In your final badge...

You have to go through this Mario Party-style obstacle course and race down before time runs out. And then you can fight Grusha.

I kept forgetting he was a boy this whole time. These characters confuse me greatly. Okay, you obtain all 8 badges, time to meet with Geeta the champ.

I was really hoping the first time someone fought for me it would be Tracey Sketchit and not female-Goku over here.

So, you know how after you finish the gym battles, you go on to Victory Road and then face the Elite Four. There’s one trainer outside the Pokemon League and that’s it. Oh, there’s something you’ll have to face that’s more terrifying than 10+ trainers in a cave.

I know I know all the answers. But she’s so intimidating that I fear I might slip-up.

After that, you face off against the Elite Four. This includes Rika, a toddler, your art teacher, and...

Oops, wrong file photo.

...

They’re the same thing.

Yes, not since Koga have we seen such a jump. After you defeat all four of them, Geeta time.

You know what? I have some things to say. This was by-far, the easiest Elite Four I’ve faced-off against. This might be because a year prior to this, I was facing off against Sinnoh’s Elite Four + Cynthia. Plus, these guys don’t stop in mid-battle to give their pokemon a Full Restore. They just take the beating, thinking they’re going to annihilate you. Spoiler alert, they don’t. Also, don’t expect to take them on again after this. You can only fight the Elite Four once.

That’s right. Let me say it again for the people in the back. This is the only time you can fight the Elite Four and Geeta in this setting.

And now you’re champ.

He’s so overcome with joy. Okay, time for a sandwich break.

To be continued...

[darkmatter-nebula]

You voted for it, and you're gonna get it! A "Ghostboy in Hisui" AU drabble about Allister and his big brother figures Bede and Raihan! It takes place shortly after Allister came back from Hisui. Basically, Bede defends Allister from some bullies and Raihan tells him that he is now officially a part of the Allister Protection Squad. Here I go!

Drabble: Bede's Protectiveness

It was a sunny day in Galar. Bede, who wanted to visit his little brother figure Allister, was greeted by something that let his blood boil. Some bullies dared to harrass the shy and kindhearted Ghost Type Gym Leader!

"Oh Hell, NO! Not on my watch!" The Fairy Type Gym Leader walked up to Allister and the jerks. He turned to the bullies. Bede knew that they were scared of Allister's big sister Bea. She definitely would beat the shit out of them for bullying her beloved little brother!

Bede cleared his throat and got the attention of the bullies. "Excuse me, Gentlemen! What would Bea say if she knew what you're doing to her baby brother?" Upon hearing Bea's name, the bullies ran for their lives as fast as they could.

"Are you alr-" Bede couldn't end his sentence as Allister wrapped his arms around the taller boy for a soft hug. "Thank you, Bede." The eight years old little boy whispered timidly as he cuddled close to Bede. Bede immediately returned Allister's embrace.

"Anything for you, Allister. I'm glad that you're alright." Bede always had a soft spot for Allister. The small boy was the only person he never was rude towards. Zoey was glad that Bede showed up. She was THIS close to shred the jerks to pieces. Bede decided to escort Allister home. He was determined to protect him.

.

.

.

Not that much later, the whole Pokemon League from Galar heard about the incident. Raihan grinned as he gave Bede's shoulder a pat. "You're officially a part of the Allister Protection Squad, Bede!" The Dragon Type Gym Leader spoke up.

"The WHAT now?" Bede raised an eyebrow. "The Allister Protection Squad! No one is allowed to harm a single hair on Allister's head, and you clearly love him as much as every fellow Gym Leader does! You always are surprisingly nice to him." Raihan explained.

Bede smirked. "If it means to protect my favorite boy from harm, count me in!" Bede protectiveness towards the sweet little ghostboy always was immense. Allister was everyone's precious baby. The Galarian Pokemon League was his family.

The End

[r0-boat]

So first I think it’s pretty obvious that Florian and Juliana are from galar. From the stickers in our room to the fact that our mom has a skwovet that all checks out. Now next I’m looking at them as if they were in the anime and got character development because of the media Pokémon released of them.

I’d say Florian or the more male presenting protagonist is the gym taker. He is most often portrayed in gym battles or with nemona in his art. The Pokémon he’s seen with is quaxly I believe so that’s the starter I’d say he has. Florian I’d say is confident in battle but more of a nervous wreck outside of it

Next is Julianna the female presenting protagonist, she goes along the path of legends. Once again her official art tends to show her taking on Titian’s notably with sprigatito as her partner. So I’d say she has a sibling type bond with arven.

Lastly both protags take on starfall street each one taking down different bases.

Lastly for the way home it goes Julianna contacting Florian about it and together they assemble the squad in the end Florian takes on sada while Julianna takes on turo

-cloud

This is actually very interesting if you consider that the new anime won't have Ash in it.

So maybe we can assume that these posters may be correlate to the anime somewhat🤔

[smilingperformer]

So, current progress of Scarlet playthrough:

Done 7 gyms, 4 Path of Legends and 4 Team Star.

So almost done! And I gotta say, I'm liking all three now.

I like how the Victory Road builds up the elite four members, and ohmygod HOW IS A CHILD AN ELITE FOUR MEMBER, this is amazing asjfkhsfkjfs. While I wish gym leaders were fleshed out a bit more, I've got a feeling I've not see the end of them yet.

Arven's route is absolutely my favourite of the three thou, as I love doing the titan battles with him and learning more about him, and Koraidon. Arven is such a sweetheart I, goooooooood ;_; He's growing to be among top fav characters, aaah. I so hope we get to learn more about how he knows Koraidon from beforehand and what's up with his mom, Sada...

And, Team Star... surprised me. A lot. The theme being about bullies and Team Star being formed of the ones who were bullied and just got back at the bullies is like... oh my lord. I'm actually glad this storyline exists. All of the squad bosses have been wonderful, and I really like Clavell too. Penny actually seems nice too, I really want to know more of her beef with Team Star. And who is Cassiopeia... I thought of her being Penny, but I'm not so sure. It seems Koraidon likes Penny as well so, what's the connection?

I really want to try and finish this game within the next week or so, but I also don't want to rush things out, so idk. We'll see how things go, but when focusing on the story, characters and whatnot, which are the most important aspects of game for me most of the time: Scarlet is absolutely nailing it. Could become my top 2 fav. No, Alola is still not beaten lol. But it's close.

But yeh! That's the um... whatever day it is that I'm playing Scarlet now. Love it, and I've grown used to the hickups by now, they don't bother me anymore, haha.

OH, also the academy is still amazing, I love doing the lessons, especially history, the lore is amaziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. I wanna go to Area Zero already ajhgjshgfsf.

Btw, current team is this:

And I love them all <3333 So glad I managed to do full Paldean team, my Galar team wasn't full Galarian!!

[pokemedia-bryce]

I’m making this post to establish how my PokeMedia Character(s) see the timeline of the Pokémon world. For it I’m taking most remakes over the originals except for Let’s Go (Absolutely Janked) and BDSP (Because they’re near identical to DPP so it makes no difference).

This timeline operates off of 3 major assumptions:

1. The events of Scarlet and Violet as well as present and upcoming DLC have happened recently/within the last year.

2. Scarlet and Violet, Sword and Shield, and Sun and Moon are all approximately one year apart.

3. The “few years” between HGSS/DPP and Black and White is 3 years.

Additionally a handful of events are assigned arbitrary timeframes such as “some” or “several” or are given real world dates because Gen 1. These are also assumed and will be marked with a !, but remain consistent with each other.

After that, everything is based off of the game timeline developed by Bulbapedia, with slight adjustments made to fit the base assumptions set above.

Games:

ScVi+DLC - Within the last year

SwSh+DLC - One Year ago

SuMo - Two Years ago

XY+B2W2 - 4 Years ago

BW - 6 Years ago

XD - 7 Years ago

HGSS+DPP - 9 Years ago

Ranger SoA/GS - 9 Years ago

Ranger - 11 Years Ago

FRLG+ORAS - 12 Years ago

Colosseum - 12 Years ago

Legends - ~300 Years ago

Past Events:

Clavell becomes director, Nemona reaches Champion Rank, Team Star forms - 1.5 Years ago

Sada/Turo killed - 10 Years ago

Mewtwo destroys the Pokémon Mansion - 15! Years ago

Old Goldenrod Radio Tower is torn down - 17! years ago

Battle Resort Opens in Hoenn - 20! years ago

First Porygon is created - 22! Years ago

Sabrina’s gym becomes the official gym of Saffron - 25! years ago

Mustard is dethroned as Galar Champion - 33 Years ago

First person lands on the moon - 48! years ago

Mustard becomes Galar Champion - 51 years ago

Elgyem is seen for the first time - 56 Years ago

Modern Pokeballs are developed - 92! years ago

Brass Tower burns to the ground - 159 Years ago

First Rolycoly is found - 401 years ago

Azalea Town suffers a drought - 409 years ago

The move Toxic is developed - 412 years ago

Magearna is constructed - 502 Years ago

The Tapus fight Solgaleo and Lunala - 502 Years ago

What is presumed to be the first Spiritomb is bound to a keystone - 509 Years ago

Brass Tower and Bell Tower are built - 709 Years ago

Xerneas and Yveltal go to sleep - 804 Years ago

Naranja/Uva Academy is founded - 805 years ago

Headcanon Events - These are events that occur as part of Bryce’s story and are only relevant as such:

Teams Instinct, Mystic, and Valor patrol the wilds of Indigo keeping order between humans and Pokémon - ~200 Years ago

Kanto’s territories unite and invade the Johto region, sparking the Indigo War - 160 Years ago

The Indigo Unification Treaty is signed after the forces of Johto unify and push back far into Kanto territory, forcing a truce - 158 Years ago

Indigo, Hoenn, and Sinnoh sign the Home Islands Unification Agreement, ensuring mutual defense as well as free trade and travel between the regions - 148 years ago

Instinct, Mystic, and Valor are folded into the Indigo League to act as special combat units - 148 years ago

The Home Islands form their own Ranger Corps based off of those found in Fiore and Almia, consisting of Pokémon Rangers, Marine Rangers, Rangers, and Elite Rangers - 107 years ago

Bryce is born - 32 years ago

Bryce sets off on his Pokémon Journey - 20 years ago

Bryce joins the Elite Rangers as a member of Instinct Squad - 15 years ago

Team Rocket successfully conquers every other criminal enterprise in Indigo and wages a guerrilla war against the Pokémon League - 14 Years ago

The Olivine Siege occurs in which Rockets take over Olivine City and are besieged by the League. Instinct Squad loses half its members in the battle - 13 years ago

The Battle of Cerulean Cape occurs, in which Team Rocket loses the vast majority of its combat forces and has to retreat underground. They continue to operate as an organized crime syndicate but can no longer fight against the League. - 13 Years ago

Bryce is sent to deliver a confidential package to Professor Birch in Hoenn - 12 years ago

Bryce finds an Ampharosite, subsequently obtaining a key stone and Blazikenite as thanks from the Hoenn League for assisting with evacuation as well as Search and Rescue during the Weather Incident - 11 Years ago

Team Rocket comes out of hiding after being repressed following the disappearance of Giovanni, attempting to retake control of Johto’s Criminal Underworld - 10 Years ago

The Silver Range Skirmishes see all combat capable Rockets not stationed in Goldenrod ambushed by League forces following Lance’s sack of the Lake of Rage facility - 9 years ago

Bryce retires from the Elite Rangers and settles down back in Cherrygrove - 6 years ago

Bryce takes a vacation to Unova - 4 years ago

Bryce takes a vacation to Alola - 2 years ago

Bryce helps Team ReSkull in Alola form their own analogue to the Elite Rangers: The Crossbones - 3 months ago

Bryce takes a vacation to Paldea - >1 month ago

Bryce’s Pokémon:

Meowstic (Male and Female) - 30 years ago

Furret - 26 Years ago

Ampharos - 20 years ago

Skarmory - 17 years ago

Blaziken - 12 years ago

Azumarill - 3 years ago

Nidoqueen - 2 months ago

Tinkatink - <1 month ago

[kidresearcherindigo]

Anniversary Effect

//Fic scene about Indigo's battle feat @profchamomile. This is probably my first "heavy" work on this blog; theme being PTSD, so bear in mind of that.

The event turned out bigger than Indigo expected. So many people were crowded around the court at the center of Mesagoza. Students, teachers, even a few of the gym leaders came to watch.

All of the squad captains from team Star were present, with Giacomo already hyping up the crowd with the help of some team star grunts acting almost as cheerleaders.

"Holy shit..." said Indigo, "How many people saw that video?"

"They're more popular than you think," said Arven, patting Indigo's back. "Everyone loves your pranks!"

"I hope they're not expecting me to do something funny, then." Indigo chuckled nervously. "It's not as good if it's not a surprise."

"Eh, I think everyone's just stoked to see you battle," explained Arven, "Speaking of... You sure you're up for this? I know you had a rough night last night."

"Yeah man," said Indigo, giving Arven a thumbs up, "I'm pumped! I'm so hyped! I haven't had a battle with anyone other than Nemona in so long!"

Arven gave Indigo somewhat of a concerned look. "Alright... Just know I'm here for you if you start stressing out, ok? Nothing wrong with bailing."

"Thanks bestie," said Indigo, holding their fist out for a fistbump.

"Any time, little buddy!" replied Arven, meeting Indigo's fist with his own.

"Hello again, you two!" Director Clavell walked up to the two students. "Seems we've got quite the audience. I hope this isn't making you too nervous, Indigo."

"Psh nahhh I'm used to it!" Indigo waved their hand nonchalantly. "I did a few gyms in Galar; this is nothing!"

"Good to know you're comfortable then," said Clavell, "That said, are you ready?"

"Absolutely!"

As Indigo and the Director took their places, Indigo looked around at the audience, spotting the few faces they recognized, waving to them. They spotted Professor Chamomile amongst the crowd with Raifort and Jacq, and waved. "Professor, you made it!"

"Of course I did!" said Chamomile. Out of the three young starter Pokemon who were sitting politely in front of them, they picked up Chai the Fuecoco. "Chai wanted to see his role-model in action!"

Indigo laughed. "I know Ember's been wanting to show off!"

"Go Indigo!!!" Jacq cheered, standing right next to Chamomile, "You've got this, alright?"

Indigo grinned. "Thank you, sir!"

"No problem," said Jacq, "And however it turns out, just know I'm proud of you either way!"

"The audience is rather noisy," said Raifort, "Would you like a spare pair of earplugs?"

"Nah," said Indigo, pointing to their own ear, where the edge of a small white device could be seen. "I already got my volume adjusters in!"

"Smart." Raifort smiled, pointing to her own ear, revealing a similar device. "As do I."

Dendra stood at the center of the court. "Alright, this is standard single battle, both trainers use up to six Pokemon," she called out, "The winner is determined when one trainer's whole team has fainted or the opponent decides to forfeit!"

"Now... START!"

The battle went off to a flashy start. Both teams were fairly evenly matched in strategic prowess. Clavell's Oranguru went down with Yuki's Bitter Malice, Yuki went down with Houndoom's Dark Pulse, Houndoom went down with Magnolia's Low Kick, Magnolia eventually went down from a combination of Amoongus's Toxic and Giga Drain, then Amoongus went down with Ember's Flamethrower.

Banter was had, suspense was held, and everyone was eating it up. The audience loved it, and both participants were in the zone.

"What's wrong, Director? Can't beat the heat??" Indigo quipped.

"Oh, I assure you, I can handle my own just fine," replied Clavell with a gleam in eye, as he pulled out another premier ball. "But I believe it might be you who needs to cool down!"

Clavell brought forth his Abomasnow, and immediately the weather began to change. Clouds rolled in overhead, the temperature dropped, and it started to lightly hail. Several audience members had already started to bring out umbrellas.

A few pieces of hail buffeting Ember was enough to make the Skelidirge's image distort and fade to reveal that it was actually Luna in disguise.

From the audience, Raifort furrowed her brows. "Something's off," she said, "Usually weather effects aren't enough to break a Zoroark's illusion."

"I thought so..." Jacq looked over at Raifort. "Do you think Luna might be sick? I know Indigo gets their Pokemon checked up before battles, but..."

Chamomile leaned forward in their wheelchair and squinted, to get a closer look. "Doesn't look like it..."

Indigo rubbed their arms briefly from the cold. They let out a few Zorua-esque barks towards Luna. "Luna, you good?" they asked, in a way only their partner Pokemon could understand.

Luna glanced back at Indigo and nodded. "Better than ever," she growled back, "This'll be an easy win!"

Indigo nodded, putting on a brave face. "Bold move, Director," they said, "Almost like you knew!"

"What kind of director would I be if I didn't adapt to my students' strategies?" asked Clavell, pushing up his glasses. "Plus, Avalanche has been positively itching for a rematch!"

"We'll see if he can keep up, first!" said Indigo, before pointing defiantly towards the Abomasnow. "LUNA, FLAMETHROWER!"

Luna's heckles raised as the fire built up in her throat, before letting loose a powerful flamethrower.

"AVALANCHE, PROTECT!"

The Abomasnow held his arms up, and a shield formed in front of him just in time to block the oncoming fire.

In the audience, Chamomile's expression got more concerned. "But... Something's definitely seems off."

Indigo let out a nervous chuckle, once again rubbing their arms as the cold set in a bit more. "No matter... FLAMETHROWER, AGAIN!"

Luna snarled and let out another flamethrower, more fierce than the last. The Abomasnow just narrowly dodged it.

"AVALANCHE, BRICK BREAK!"

The Abomasnow charged towards Luna with one of its arms glowing read, and swung at Luna, landing a hit and knocking Luna back across the court.

"LUNA!!" Indigo called out in a panicked voice.

Luna managed to get up, her mane looking bigger as her pupils shrunk, snarling at the Abomasnow. She let out another flamethrower, this time unprompted.

Clavell's eyes widened as he reached out towards his Abomasnow. "AVALANCHE LOOK OUT-"

The Abomasnow barely managed to dodge for the most part, though not without getting a burn from the flamethrower. He quickly shook it off however, but Luna was already getting ready for another flamethrower.

"Oh no..." Chamomile's eyes widened as they realized what was going on. "Okay kiddos, return-" They returned the young starter pokemon back to their pokeballs and looked over at Jacq and raifort. "She's not sick, she's distressed. This isn't a battle to her, it's survival! There must be some kind of PTSD thing going on!"

Jacq looked over at Chamomile in shock. "We have to do something!"

"Jacq, handle your student," said Raifort, "I'll get to the Director."

"i'll make sure no one gets hurt," said Chamomile.

As the two teachers ran off, Chamomile started removing Ignis's harness.

"Hey, Indigo, think you need to tell Luna to-..." Dendra looked over at Indigo, to find them frozen in fear, with a faraway look in their eye. "Oh shoot-..." She raised her hands and stepped closer to the court. "TIME OUT! TIME OUT!"

Luna didn't seem to pay any attention, and had let out another flamethrower. Unfortunately, Indigo was too panicked to realize what was happening.

Raifort ran up to Clavell. "Clavell you have to get Avalanche out of the field," she said, "I don't think Indigo or Luna are in a position to battle."

"Way ahead of you," said Clavell, as he brought out Avalanche's Pokeball and returned the Abomasnow. Unfortunately, that left nothing else in between the path between Luna's flamethrower and Clavell himself.

"IGNIS, RESCUE!"

Chamomile's Arcanine, Ignis, stood in front of Clavell, his body absorbing the fire thanks to his Flash Fire ability. Chamomile wheeled their way over to the Director, who was now rather shaken by the whole ordeal. "Director, are you alright?"

"I-... Y- yes, I believe so," said the Director, looking over at Chamomile. "Thank you."

Meanwhile on the other side of the court, Indigo had collapsed to their knees, closing in on themselves. Arven was right there next to them, a hand on their back.

"Hey, it's okay buddy, I'm here." Unfortunately, Arven's attempts to comfort didn't seem to stop the panic.

"Hey Arven, do you think you could give them some space?" Jacq went over and knelt down in front of them, a few feet away.

"Hey, Indigo..." he spoke in a soft tone, "It's okay. You're safe." He offered his hands for Indigo to hold onto. "Can we do a little breathing exercise?"

Indigo looked up at Jacq, and carefully grabbed his hands.

"Good, now breathe with me..." Jacq took a few deep breaths, with Indigo breathing in sync. After a few moments, Indigo finally calmed down.

As the hail dissipated and the weather warmed up again, Luna calmed down a little bit, seeing Ignis in front of her. Then her eyes widened, before looking at the audience, seeing their startled looks and hearing their confused rumors. She quickly ran back over to Indigo, burying her head in their arm and using her illusion abilities to make herself invisible.

Jacq looked over at the audience, before looking back at Arven. "How about we get Indigo to the nurse's office?"

Arven nodded. "Good idea," he said, before looking back at Indigo. "Hey, little buddy, why don't we head inside?"

Indigo nodded, clicking the button on Luna's pokeball to return her, and letting Arven lead them up the stairs.

Jacq looked over at Dendra. "Can you tell Miriam to meet us in her office? I want to make sure there's no health concerns."

Dendra nodded. "Of course, I'll let her know."

As Indigo made their way to the nurse's office, they felt a pit of dread in their stomach. So much for making a comeback...

[prof-arjun]

Pokemon Sword by Tumblr decides my fate

Journey to the first badge: Masterpost

The text never ended, and while that was understandable with SwSh being the start of Gen 8. That makes repeat playthroughs a little difficult in the hand-holdy feel of the endless blocks of text and seemingly cookie-cutter 2-D characters. Like, Hop, hunny, c'mon. Can you not mention pages in your legend for five seconds?

But with our little Sobble named Xion, I tried to race through the opening establishing plot. Catching a Wooloo and naming him Meep to avoid the catching tutorial and telling Hop that no, this isn't my first time in a Pokemon Center. Cause, honestly, thank Arceus they added that... if only they'd keep it in every single game moving forward...

With Leon giving me plenty of Pokeballs, I instantly looked for a Nickit and Yamper, naming them Gigi and Lola respectively. After that, I caught one of every Pokemon I could find across Route 1 and 2. At least, I think I did. I wasn't looking at a guide.

Having done that before challenging Hop at Professor Magnolia's place meant I didn't have anything new to catch during his little "challenge". And the purple-haired twerp had the AUDACITY to be sassy about it as if I wasn't completing my Dex faster than his little butt ever could.

But I digress, it was time to get into the Wilds of Galar. Because you know the train just has to run into the one flock of Wooloo for no other reason than plot. And that was really the best thing ever as I poked my head into every Raid Den I could.

Well, sort of. I only caught the first 12 non-repeating Pokemon I found before moving over to the Isle of Armor. Klara gave me a little trouble since my Pokemon were barely over level 10, but I was able to win out in one attempt. And trying to run around to the various Dens on my way to the Dojo.

Honey was an absolute doll and Mustard was his usual partially shady self. But the Slowpoke he trained caused Xion to evolve into Drizzile. I still got the little G-Max Bulbasaur and named him Hashi. Since I didn't need to get Kubfu just yet, I stopped at the second trial. But when we get to the first gym town, we will finish that off.

But after repeating the 12 Raid Den scourge, I went on to the Crowned Tundra. Peony tromped me soundly and called me a softie. Like, sir, I could have been so much worse for you if I wanted to be. You're just lucky I need to get into the Tundra right now...

Ignoring the Dynamax Adventures for now, I ran screaming through the Tundra. Kinda loving and hating the new caves that can be spelunked to your heart's content, but the frickin' Dens hidden in the cave systems... Please, make those easy to find and leave the spelunkable caves to hold something more interesting, please? Rare spawns would be nice.

Though, speaking of Raid Dens, adding a Mienfoo named Mulan to the squad just to help round out weaknesses and give a nice, hard-hitting baby girl to make things interesting.

While setting up for future events, I went ahead and started grinding out that Pokedex and getting Madara the Kubfu to level 30 so we could climb the Tower of Darkness. Very simple projects in theory... but man was that a task and a half. Though I can't express how good it felt to whoop Bede instantly with Gigi. So many memories of my original disdain justified and rectified with one team member.

First of all, Klara and her Poison Types were a trial in and of themselves twice over since I had no real counters, other than Hashi clearing away the spikes. But I eventually got everything sorted out and then came training...

In the Crowned Tundra, I proceeded to complete a Dynamax Adventure and keep an Obstagoon. Suicune knocked out three Pokemon after the Hatterene before it had knocked out one but thankfully you don't need to beat it to progress the story. Instead, I used the Obstagoon to battle around the Tundra, running errands for a creepy Harvest King. (No, I don't like Calyrex... you see what it does to Peony? Bruh better keep his little noggin' to himself.)

But with all that cleared away, I flew back to Turrfield and the Gym Challenge... with a team in its early twenties and more than over-leveled. Add in the fact that herding Wooloo is rather simple and you have a recipe for a quick Gym badge right out of the gate.

Went in with Meep being paralyzed, but he fought through and took down the Gossifleur with a series of Headbutt. Then I swapped for Gigi knowing that I would be Dynamaxing along with Milo and his Eldegoss. Though side note; why didn't they give Milo an Applin for the first battle? It isn't a very strong Pokemon and would add a smidge of diversity to his team. Heck, add a Grookey so he has something other than just the same two Pokemon in his first battle.

Either way, we got the first badge, now to poke into some Raid Dens and hold a couple more polls...

Team:

Xion- Drizzile

Meep- Wooloo

Hashi- Bulbasaur

Lola- Yamper

Gigi- Nickit

Mulan- Mienfoo