#he’s also designed to be the rayquaza to Archie’s kyogre and Maxie’s Groudon

[wolfwillowisp]

Sense I’m actually, you know, writing the fic hes the protagonist of, thought I should post more of this guy- so here! Russel and his Altaria

[zponds]

(Credit for these goes to blazingemeraldau)

I was thinking about concepts for designing the three orbs in the Pokémon Advanced Generation (Hoenn Anime) rewrite, so I asked Blazingemeralau to draw the three orbs for me, and she did. I also got permission from her to post the drawings of the three orbs she made.

The Red Orb has a bit of a flame pattern, due to Groudon being associated with magma/lava and fire, and that shows the connection between Groudon and the Red Orb.

The Blue Orb has the textures of waves due to Kyogre being associated with rain and water, and that symbolizes the connection the Blue Orb has with Kyogre.

And finally, the Jade Orb has cloud textures because clouds are in the sky, and Rayquaza is associated with the sky, and that symbolizes the connection the Jade Orb has with Rayquaza.

Now as a reminder, these three orbs make their appearance in “Thrives of Mt Pyre”, the Scuffle of Legends episode trio (“Droughts and Downpours”, “Groudon and Kyogre”, and “Battle of the Ancients”) and “Training with the Orbs”.

Now the Red Orb and the Blue Orb make their first appearance in “Thieves of Mt Pyre”, when Archie and Team Aqua arrive and take the Blue Orb, and later in the same episode, Maxie and Team Magma take the Red Orb.

And the two orbs reappear in the Scuffle of Legends episode trio, when Archie uses the Blue Orb to awaken and control Kyogre, and when Maxie uses the Red Orb to awaken and control Groudon… but both team leaders end up becoming controlled themselves when the orbs absorb into their bodies. The Jade Orb makes its first appearance in “Battle of the Ancients”, when Max arrives at the top floor of Sky Pillar, where he, under orders from Steven Stone, takes the Jade Orb and uses it to summon Rayqaza where Rayquaza would fight Groudon and Kyorge.

The three Orbs make their final appearance in “Training with the Orbs”, after Ash and May have gotten the orbs out of their body (the Red Orb for Ash and the Blue Orb for May) after training with Tate, Liza and Juan on Mirage Island. The hoenn gang returns the two orbs to Mt Pyre, and Max returns the Jade Orb to Sky Pillar.

[themattress]

Evil Team Plots in the Manga

The same as this post, but with the Pokemon Adventures manga.

Gen 1 - Team Rocket:

In the original Red/Blue/Green Chapter, Kusaka very impressively created a very different, more in-depth Team Rocket arc than the one in the games but still managed to retain all of the major setpieces. The first battle with Team Rocket being in Mt. Moon, Team Rocket creating trouble for Lavender Town and making a secret base at the top of Pokemon Tower, a criminal operation being run by Team Rocket beneath the Celadon Game Corner that they own (complete with the secret switch behind the poster), Team Rocket taking over Silph Co. and holding Saffron City hostage, and facing Giovanni in battle at the Viridian City Gym. And just like the anime, the manga was well ahead of the games in tying Mewtwo to Giovanni’s master plan. The chief differences are that the manga had distinct characters as sub-leaders in Team Rocket (Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Koga, and their personal assistants Ken, Al and Harry) rather than there only being generic grunts and, like in the anime, Giovanni sought to conquer the world with an army of powerful Pokemon rather than by a corporate takeover / monopoly.

Gen 2 - Team Rocket:

Once again, all of the major setpieces are kept: Team Rocket cutting off Slowpoke tails at Slowpoke Well in Azalea Town, a special broadcast forcibly evolving Magikarp in the Lake of Rage into Red Gyarados, a secret base of operations in the basement of the Mahogany City gift store, and the climax involving Team Rocket invading Goldenrod City and taking over a broadcast room. But because this plot was even more bare-bones than the previous one in the games, Kusaka creates an even more different and in-depth one where the two Rocket Executives in charge are actually disciples of the mysterious Mask of Ice and all of the grunts are being forcibly brainwashed to do his bidding and work toward his horrifying objective.

Gen 3  - Team Aqua & Team Magma:

Much of the Aqua/Magma plot in the manga was both very similar and very different from the games. There’s an initial confrontation with Team Aqua in Petalburg Woods, but it’s against the Admins rather than random grunts. Team Magma attacks Slateport City, but it’s at the Shipyard rather than the Oceanic Museum and once again it’s the Admins rather than the grunts. Team Aqua initiates the Mt. Chimney event, but only Tabitha teams up with the heroes to stop them rather than the entirety of Team Magma. The face-off in Rusturf Tunnel happens way later than it does in the game and it’s against Courtney of Team Magma rather than a grunt. Blaise of Team Magma takes both Orbs from Mt. Pyre rather than Archie and/or Maxie taking one or the other. The attack on the Space Center is largely off-screen and done by just Courtney for her own personal reasons rather than by Maxie, Tabitha and a bunch of grunts for Team Magma purposes. Archie and Maxie both end up in possession of the Orbs at the Seafloor Cavern, but they get the correct Orbs here (Red for Maxie, Blue for Archie). Finally, Groudon and Kyogre end up clashing and Rayquaza is called upon to stop them, but unlike in the games Norman is required to control Rayquaza in a special way that ends up killing him.

Gen 4 - Team Galactic:

Like Team Aqua & Team Magma, Team Galactic’s arc from the games is adapted but there are notable differences. It’s just Mars at the Valley Windworks in the manga; neither a group of grunts nor Charon are present alongside her. Rather than holding Rick Radshaw in the Eterna Galactic Building as a distraction while other grunts investigate the town’s statues, he is held there to be interrogated for information on the statues, and Jupiter is not present. Cyrus making a creepy spiritual pilgrimage to Mt. Coronet is maintained, but here he tries to kill the protagonists for “desecrating” the site. Team Galactic taking the heroine’s Pokedex in Veilstone City is a more major event that introduces the Elite Grunt. Cyrus visits the cave painting at Celestic Town and fights the heroes, but he makes no attempt to destroy the painting. The Galactic Bomb blows up Lake Valor so that the Lake Trio can be captured, but here there is one hero fighting one Galactic Commander at each of the lakes. Cyrus’ speech to his followers at Galactic HQ, the extraction of the Red Chain from the Lake Trio, and the ritual to summon and control Dialga and Palkia at the Spear Pillar are all directly adapted, but rather than any of the heroes facing Cyrus at Galactic HQ it’s Cynthia who does so. Giratina pulling Cyrus into the Distortion World happens after he’s already defeated and unconscious. Charon attempts to take control of Heatran at Stark Mountain, but unlike in the game he is successful at this and has bigger plans for it than just using it for extortion. Finally, there is a battle with Giratina in the Distortion World, but it is moved to being the final battle of the whole saga rather than an earlier confrontation before Charon took control of Team Galactic.

Gen 5 - Team Plasma:

For the first third of the Black/White Chapter, events from the Team Plasma plot of the games are lifted almost verbatim: N undergoes the crowning ceremony, Ghetsis makes a public Pokemon Liberation speech in Accumula Town which is followed by the hero facing N in battle, Plasma grunts abuse a Munna at the Dreamyard, Sage Gorm and several grunts steal the dragon fossil from Nacrene Museum and the heroes team up with Burgh to go into Pinwheel Forest to retrieve it, Bianca’s Pokemon is stolen in Castelia City and the heroes have to find where the Plasma operatives who took it are hiding, Team Plasma tries to capture Victini on Liberty Island, and N reveals his true status and objectives while riding a Ferris Wheel with a protagonist in Nimbasa City. And for every improvement made (Ghetsis’ presentation, the grunts’ demeanor and lack of Ghetsis illusion at the Dreamyard, and more distinctive character vibes from the other Sages) there are some major steps down (N’s presentation, the lack of Ghetsis in the Castelia City event, and the more out-there designs for some of the grunts that neuter any credibility that they should have as opponents). 

Afterwards, the adaptations made are a lot more different. Sage Zinzolin is still encountered by the hero and Cheren at Cold Storage but here he escapes and begins to draw Cheren toward the dark side. N summons Zekrom from the Dark Stone at Dragonspiral Tower, but he does so without the hero being there as the result of an entirely new big event that transpired at Nacrene Museum. The Relic Castle operations Team Plasma initiated in the games (Sage Ryoku and his forces testing the hero and a grunt trying to claim Volcarona) are combined: with Ryoku and his forces now searching for Volcarona. Both the confrontation with N at Chargestone Cave and N defeating Alder are combined into the same event, which happens much later than when the Chargestone Cave one did in the games but much earlier than when him defeating Alder did (also, it’s outside the cave rather than inside and Fennel is the one who accompanies Professor Juniper rather than Bianca). And then there’s the climax.

The climax is essentially the games’ one on steroids. Ghetsis is present with the other Sages and the Gym Leaders don’t get to fight them until after they are rescued from captivity (and crucifixion!) by a band of ordinary trainers. While one of the heroes uses Reshiram to fight N and Zekrom, the other hero receives details about N’s past by Anthea and Concordia while inside his room in the castle. Ghetsis comes in after N is defeated, reveals his true agenda and attempts to eliminate the hero in battle. And after fully realizing the error of his ways, N bids a solemn farewell to the hero; flying off into the sunset on Zekrom to parts unknown. Oh, and then Ghetsis suddenly seals the hero into the Light Stone out of spite. Fuck Ghetsis.

The Black 2/White 2 Chapter is much less faithful to the games, being a more straightforward continuation from its predecessor and being a hodgepodge of B2/W2 elements and the B/W postgame scenario of Looker hunting down the Sages, but that works to its advantage and causes it to easily surpass the games’ plot. The plot elements maintained are Colress as the new leader of Team Plasma who has developed a device that mind-controls Pokemon, a confrontation with Team Plasma in the Castelia Sewers (although in the games it was some grunts and Colress, here it’s some grunts and Sages Bronius and Ryoku while Colress is facing Zinzolin at Cold Storage), Hugh’s rabid hatred for Team Plasma and the backstory behind it, Ex-Plasma led by Sage Rood standing against the new Team Plasma over their differing ideals, the Plasma Frigate being launched skyward and using the Kyurem Cannon to freeze a city (actually, multiple cities in the manga!), Professor Juniper being behind the movement against Team Plasma’s schemes via agents like Cheren, Drayden, and her father Cedric, the climax transpiring at the Giant Chasm, Black Kyurem and White Kyurem being involved thanks to the power of the DNA Splicers, and Ghetsis losing his composure in a hate-filled rage after N, his “inhuman” son, reaches out to him and offers him compassion.  

Gen 6 - Team Flare:

As in the games, Team Flare secures hold over the stone-filled Route 10 and uses those stones to absorb life energy from Pokemon, but in the manga this event is shown fully on-screen and the Pokemon in question are kidnapped ones from Pokemon Village. The event at the PokeBall Factory, conversely, is on-screen in the games but off-screen in the manga. Lysandre makes his broadcast to Kalos telling everyone that those not “chosen” will perish once the Ultimate Weapon fires, although in the manga it happens toward the very end of the climax rather than kicking it off. AZ is held captive at Flare HQ and implores the heroes to retrieve the key to the Ultimate Weapon, Xerneas is used to power the Ultimate Weapon, Lysandre wears special gear to absorb energy from Xerneas and while fighting the heroes, the Ultimate Weapon fires but fails to achieve its actual purpose, and AZ narrates his own backstory. Essentia controlled by Xerosic is involved in the storyline, whereas in the games she was only in the postgame episode. Other than all of this, the Team Flare arc in the manga is wildly different from the one in the games, being much darker and grittier with a heightened sense of stakes. So much like with the anime, not being too faithful paid off here.

As for the Team Skull / Aether Foundation arc from Gen 7, I’m not getting into that because it is almost entirely dissimilar from the games’ version. Even some basic surface elements here and there (Gladion as Team Skull’s enforcer, facing Guzma at Po Town, rescuing a girl trapped at Aether Paradise, “Mother Beast” Lusamine, and everything centered around Necrozma from US/UM) are so widly different in context and execution that they hardly count.

Overall, this manga is excellent at villain arcs. While the latter stages of the Aqua & Magma arc and early stages of the initial Plasma arc have notable problems, and the Skull / Aether arc isn’t as satisfying as either the S/M or US/UM versions it derives from, on the whole Kusaka’s skill at writing great Pokemon villains extends to the arcs that they are a part of. 

[harusha]

by last 2 gens, I meant SUMO and SWSH. I loved XY, but liked SUMO characters better. USUMO could have made great sequels. Lillie as prof. Gladion as champ, Hau as a kahuna. Etc. Would also make the transition to wormhole traveling more realistic if they were set in a universe where the events took place. I loved Gen 2 for letting us see Kanto 3 years later, and BW2 for letting us see what's changed in Unova. Just frustrating with the direction of things

Whoops, sorry anon. I never got the notification for this, so this is probably a week old or so. Tbh, I feel you though. I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but it feels like the mainline games are riding somewhat on name brand at this point. Making games is hard don’t get me wrong, but there’s a lot going on w/ SWSH rn on release.

I love the whole sequel stuff, but my only concern is “canonzing a protag.” Like…look at Alexio/Cassandra from AC:O. Sheer madness in how those arguments go on “canon. Like, I like ambiguity because I can avoid that.

Tbh alongside the sequel idea and the coherency it would bring, I would love it if wormholes let you go to the OG timelines (RBY–>GSC, FRLG/RSE–>PDPT/HGSS->BW->BW2), and that’s why you get hidden abilities, rare Pokemon, and increased shiny chance. They could just explain it as the wormhole changing the Pokemon’s characteristics. RBY timeline is basically “no one had abilities,” hence the drastic changes, FRLG timeline could be “they decided to go with you, and now they changed to fit your timeline.”

 Like they wouldn’t have to put every single region in; they could even just make it to where you visited parts of each region, perhaps the most iconic locations and/or moments, as a post-game/high difficulty thing (everyone is set to lv. 100 and have ideal spreads+sets). Like dropping in on Mt. Silver at the foot of the mountain, and have the area name pop up as “???” and have the player traverse the dungeon (w/ the HGSS encounters but inflated to 80s-90s so the observant veteran player can go “hmm this is familiar”) and have it accumulate in walking in on EthanVSRed on Mt. Silver, and it ending up in a double battle with them. Like that would blow people’s minds and make them realize what the post-game is, a love letter to every single generation so far, and set the stage for the rest of the post-game.

They don’t even have to confirm the canon protagonist for Johto if they just cover them up in snow gear (ie. put a cloak on them and have the hood up), and give them Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Tyranitar, Raichu, and Espeon/Azumarill. The three starters, the Pseudo-Legendary of the generation, Raichu to parallel Red (also small callback to how Ethan was supposed to be Red’s younger brother in the old GBC pamphlet), and Espeon if they want to showcase the OG day/night cycle gen+it being the gift Pokemon and a Easter egg part of Red’s original team. Azumarill is if they prefer to reference the childhood friend.

They could even make this a chance to up the difficulty through the excuse of “alternate universe/wormholes caused their Pokemon to change abilities.” Make Red’s and Ethan’s teams complement each other and have them carry optimized spreads and sets for doubles. Ex. Blastoise or Pikachu with Fake Out and Focus Sash sets up rain and Ethan’s Raichu w/ Air Balloon/Choice Specs and carrying Thunder+Surf and has Lightningrod (wormhole shenanigans gave it a Hidden Ability) and so forth. Give them things such as Magic Bounce Espeon, Dual Screens Meganium, Mega Charizard X (wormholes made it happen), etc. Just showcase them as a bonus challenge and their status as legendary trainers akin to Mameo from Digimon. Perhaps give a reward of something like “Red gave you that extra Master Ball he never used” or a music player from Ethan so you can listen to curated songs from the older games. Or even simply clothes modeled after their original designs (Leaf and Kris outfits for girls and Red+Ethan for boys; or make it all available as unisex outfits where the inspiration is obvious but it’s not exactly the same).

And if they want to make it even more of a nostalgia bomb, have Ethan’s Raichu have a spiky/notched ear to imply that it’s a timeline where the special Pichu evolves and had Surf instead of Pain Split as the special move.

Other iconic moments could be dropping in at Turnback Cave and traversing Distortion World again and saving on Lucas, Dawn, and Cynthia and rescuing them from Giratina. Reward is catching Giratina and a battle against Cynthia, Lucas, Dawn, and perhaps Cyrus. Avoids picking a canon protagonist and arguments over who should have showed up. Focus is single battle gauntlet with each trainer giving a choice on whether you want to heal after each victory (exception is Cyrus).

Have Lucas/Dawn mention how they like trading and that’s why one of them has two starters (or multiple gift Pokemon) to help avoid narrowing down the canon protagonist. Lucas could work in Trick Room (Torterra, Cresselia/Dusknoir, Vaporeon, Magnezone, Heatran, Machamp). Showcases the notorious number of roamers/legendaries in Sinnoh, Mt. Coronet evolution, trade evolutions (GTS), a new gimmick of the gen in Trick Room, and incorporates a gift Pokemon). Dawn could work with Iron Fist Infernape, lead Empoleon w/ Stealth Rock (showcase that infamous entry hazard), Paraflinch Togekiss, Porygon-Z, Lucario, and Glaceon. Gift Pokemon+showcases the (then) new evolutions of that gen.

Have Giratina be like lv. 80-100 with Totem Pokemon stat to explain how in the darn, everyone lost with those sorts of levels.

RSE could be dropping in on Brendan and May going up Sky Pillar and setting Rayquaza off to stop Groudon and Kyogre, and it starts a side quest of following them to experience the climax of the Hoenn Saga. Climax is them itching for a fight from seeing your skills. Have Brendan (Sceptile, Mega Blaziken, Celebi , Salamence, Starmie, and Latias) and team up with Steven and May (Mega Swampert, Gardevoir/Gengar, Latios, Metagross, Jirachi, and Ninetales) with Wallace in a doubles. Both teams have callbacks to stuff like the manga (Brendan with Celebi and Salamence), references the two Pseudos of the generation, the roamers, trading with Orre for the promotions (Celebi and Jirachi for US and JP respectively) and Red/Leaf in Brendan’s case, Wally’s OG signature, or even the OG Mystery Dungeon. Have Brendan wear his Emerald outfit while May wears the Ruby/Sapphire outfit to blur who the canon protagonist is. Bonus fight could be seeking out Archie and Maxie in their atonement/voluntary isolation for a fight.

BW is dropping in on Hilbert and Hilda encountering Kyurem (since it feels wrong to interrupt N’s goodbye tbh). Teams would be [Contrary Serperior, Samurott, Victini, Archeops, Zoroark, and Mandibuzz] for Hilbert and [Emboar, Keldeo, Genesect, Volcarona, Braviary, and Carracosta] for Hilda. Their teams aren’t amazing, but it’s meant to showcase the generation’s fossils, gift/event Pokemon, and version exclusives. Have it be you saving them from the snow and from Kyurem. Have them talk about how they’re thinking of setting off together to find their friend N, and how much they want to see him again. Make it emotional and have them talk about what they’ve learned about Pokemon from him and their interactions on their journey.

BW2 is saving Rosa and Nate from Ghetsis’s murder attack and fight Ghetsis. After you all return to a Pokecenter, have the two of them challenge you to a Rotation and Triple Battle respectively. Rosa runs a rain team with Drizzle Politoed, Octillery, Smeargle, Kabutops, Kingdra, and Ludicolo while Nate runs a Sand Team with Hippowdon, Sand Rush Excadrill, Rhyperior, Garchomp, Scizor, and Gliscor. Have it be a gimmick to where weather is infinite again in this wormhole location since their teams are meant to be a callback to the weather wars of gen v and the stars of those teams.

And have N show up to thank you for saving Rosa and Nate since he was almost too late right as you are leaving through a wormhole. Have the player tell him about what Hilbert and Hilda said and how they want to meet him again+urge him to meet his friends again and have it end with N saying something to the effect of “…I’ll think about it.” and leave it on an ambiguous note to whether he will meet them.

And finally, have it end with Red encountering Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave and have it diverge by you saving him from Giovanni (he lied about quitting and it’s only after you defeat him that he leaves for isolation until Ethan/Lyra/Kris beat him up again). Ends on a note of “this is where it all began.” Reward is catching Mewtwo and battling Red in a single. Here, they can make his team diverge from canon because it’s pre-Mt. Silver Red/alternate universe. Alakazam, Dragonite, Zapdos, Persian, Eviolite Chansey, and Mew. Showcases popular threats of that gen+trade evolution, irony in Red having Meowth’s evolution (Giovanni is associated with Persian b/c anime), the mythical #151 and source of playground rumors, the pseudo, one of the “your reward for exploring” stationary legendaries, etc.

Could even do a bonus of letting you travel to Kalos (but just the port) and meeting Serena and Calem who are both arguing about fashion while waiting for Sina and Dexio. Make their reason for battling you something lighthearted like you interrupting their argument to say “both of your fashion senses suck.”

Have them carry [Delphox, Chesnaught, Tyrantrum, Furfrou, Mega Gyarados, and Goodra] and [Greninja, Talonflame, Aegislash, Mega Kangaskhan, Meowstic-M, and Aurorus]. Showcases starters, Megas, radical gender differences, fossils, popular threats of Gen VI meta, Furfrou cuts, etc.

And if that’s too much, just recreate parts of the legendaries OG encounter dungeons, Cerulean Cave for Mewtwo, Bell Tower for Johto, etc.

Like…Gen VII was the “this is the 20th anniversary of Pokemon” gen and that would have been a great time to pack everything into one gen. Like…they had space for multiple walking Pokemon animations on the cart that they could have taken out or even tweaked these ideas so the dungeons would be slightly smaller (ie. fit to cart) or reduce the weirdly high number of Lillie models in the game. This isn’t an entire region (or regions) either, but snapshots and small locales to revisit. It also incorporates more fights with the Team Leaders at higher levels and difficulty.

Like idk, I made myself sad because I realize this would never happen unless some mad lad decided to create a massive rom hack/expansion, Masuda gets a larger team (and Pokemon stops with the yearly releases so the team isn’t pressured as much), etc.

Idk, I feel like the games for the 20th ani weren’t as good in hindsight for what they made out to be a year of Pokemon. But that’s just me griping again about Alola.

Also perhaps solviing all this gives you a final wormhole where you’re taken to fight Leaf. Give her Clefable (Clefairy’s original yet scrapped mascot thing), Golem, Flareon, Jolteon, Aerodactyl, and Omastar. Showcases fossils, gift Pokemon, other Eeveelutions, etc.