#i had like 18 pokemon in rotation

[wraenata]

Here's a question. How much of pokemon have you played? (Mainline series, side series, etc) :3

Pokemon long rambling activated :3

Seriously long post

So before my mom banned pokemon from our house (probably when I was around 7?) we loved Pokémon. We never had a video game console but my cousins did. So technically pokemon stadium is my first pokemon game! Only ever the rentals haha. But we loved playing the mini games.

When my mom banned pokemon and sold all our plushies (rip butterfree plush, I'll get you back some day) it was a pokemon drought. Until my cousin went to college and gave me her pokemon card collection. (Supposedly the halo mew is worth $100?! But I treasure them) and the brainrot infected me once again.

I started learning everything I could about game mechanics. This was when Gen 5 came out in Japan so you didn't even have the English translations yet! I made lists of what my teams would be in each game, how to divy up the HMs, how to get certain egg moves. All without playing a single game lol.

And then I found playr.org. It had all the retro game boy games. Including Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Unfortunately the saving system wasn't so great and got corrupted a few times (rip shiny ekans) but I did mostly play Silver or Crystal. (This is where the name Wren for my character was born!)

I craved more but I didn't know how to download emulators safely :( I watched playthroughs to get by. To this day let's plays are a comfort source for me <3

By the way I did all of this without my parents ever knowing. I was very good at hiding it from them XD

I think it was finally like freshman year of college when I figured out the pokemon fan games. I'm talking Uranium, Phoenix Rising demo, Ethereal Gates demo, Solar Light Lunar Dark, Sage, aka non emulator ones. Basically any I could get my hands on. I also started drawing fakemon in my sketchbook. I kind of want to revisit those some day. I still have the sketchbook somewhere.

Then I figured out emulators FINALLY. At least enough and got an emulator and mystery dungeon explorers of sky, MY BELOVED! I have played through the rom many times. I have a randomizer. Also a few years ago I found Sky Temple for editing the rom aka different starter pokemon. The discord server is always working on making new sprites so you can be any pokemon you want its very wonderful.

Junior year of college, I said I'd had enough. I spent an entire year hyping over Sun and Moon and my bestie/roomie convinced me to treat myself, something I literally never did. I bought a 3DS and Pokemon Sun and never looked back. I loved it. My first real pokemon game. (My parents were not happy when they found out lol). I spent so many hours. I got big into breeding perfect IV pokemon (idk why cause I never did online battles) or shiny breeding. I used to work til 11 pm some nights and before bed I'd just do some breeding. I would have the pokemon in the perfect ball and have all the egg moves and perfect IVs and nature and have the perfect nick name cause I was obsessive like that oof. I got ultra moon when it came out as well and loved it. I also bought pokemon X and Omega Ruby which I enjoyed. But Sun and Ultra Moon I played many times and bred so many perfect pokemon.

I did pick up roms around this time for Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Black and White and the sequels, and maybe Platinum? But they ran really slow on my computer so I never made it far. I preferred playing on my 3ds. But I still played quite a bit of Sky rom.

I was, less excited about Sword and Shield. I saved up a whole year to buy my switch and bought Lets go Eevee, Botw, and Sword when Gen 8 came out. I did inhale the entire game of Sword in one week, but I don't think I ever finished a second playthrough. The story was really disappointing and I did not like the gen 8 pokemon as much. It's hard when you're not a big fan of any of the starter evolutions, cause pressing B for every level up is tedious :(

I did enjoy Lets Go Eevee but after I loaned it to my bestie I had troubled getting back in. The ball throwing was a little off putting.

Oh I also bought Mystery dungeon Rescue Dx and I enjoyed that quite a bit!

Last summer I was struggling a lot with my emotions and frustration with my mom and as a form of therapy started spending money oof. I wanted a second DS so I could trade back and forth and make my life easier. It took a lot of bidding on Goodwill online but I snagged a second 2ds, legit copy of pmd sky! and pmd gates to infinity. And Pokemon Soul Silver! Also I bought the digital versions of gen 1 and 2 before the eshop closed.

I also bought Shining Pearl cause it went super on sale, but after I lent it to my bestie I haven't played since. I actually dont like too many gen 4 pokemon besides Glaceon, Leafeon, and Chatot.

Playing pokemon mystery dungeon on a 3ds instead of a computer keyboard was so much more satisfying. I played through Sky and loved it of course. Then I picked up Gates to Infinity which I never knew the story. I enjoyed it! I was and Oshawott with partner Snivy.

This brings me to last late summer, and the turtle brainrot set in and grew. Less pokemon, more turtles! I debated back and forth whether to get Scarlet or Violet up til the day it released. And then I just didn't. I watched playthroughs though. Seems pretty good and I like a lot of the pokemon, especially after gen 8 when I struggled to find enough to fill out a team of 6. I only like to use pokemon I like. I'm sure I'll get it someday but for now, turtles have my brain.

And that's my pokemon origin story! Still mad about my mom selling all our pokemon plushies. I do still have my cousins pokemon cards and I treasure them <3

I am very adamant about my pokemon having the perfect nick names.

Umbreon is my favorite pokemon <3

Not surprisingly this got very very long. If you made it this far, have a Leppa Berry <3

[vulgrados-best]

Intro Post

Hey I'm Miguel. I'm a xenic nonbinary butch dyke, pronouns are they/them + ze/hir. I'm 17. I'm from Vulgrado, an island region off the coast of Paldea. Recently I had to move to Zapapico to take care of my grandparents.

I'm a Cyclizar Racer, and a pioneer of new types of races. I'm best known for my Bodyguard Racing (name subject to change) style. My rival is @yveltalreal so sorry boys I'm taken.

As it turns out I'm probably plural! At the moment you can refer to us as Miguel& when referring to us all. My two notable headmates at this moment are Zacian and Asterion:

Zacian - He/Him, They/Them, Swor/Sword

Fuzztive (Factive + Fictive) of the legendary wolf pokemon, Zacian! Speaks very formally and is passionate about human society, pokemon conservation efforts, and swords.

Asterion - Ze/Hir, He/Him (exclusive to friends and headmates)

Fictive of The Minotaur from mythology! Speaks bluntly with lots of ellipses and is passionate about stories.

Our Pokemon are:

-> Celcity - Cyclizar | Male

-> Nyoom - Eulimmun | Nonbinary (it/its)

-> Terrainity - Excadrill | Male

-> Mãesaur (& Meninosaur) - Kangaskhan | Female & Male

-> Reapwing - Scyther | Female (they/them)

-> Ferravis - Skarmory | Female (she/he/it)

Uh. I tend to swear a lot, yell a lot, and I love the word dyke.

Also I might start religion discourse on accident considerin' Lachrilove is more commonly referred to on Vulgrado than Arceus. So if ya see me say "Lach" its kinda like how you guys say "Arc"

Fuck uuuhhhh. Look at me and my pokemon 👍

And, no, nothing's wrong with my Cyclizar. It's just a color morph.

// Miguel's universe's pokemon are based more heavily on irl animals. Miguel has and will frequently express distress about other universes' being closer to canon (lack of color morphs, lack of variants, biological workings, etc) or generally unlike theirs.

// Miguel loves to talk about their universe's pokemon and will share knowledge from their universe on other people's posts. They will not understand your universe does not work the same as theirs if you don't explicitly state to them that It Does Not Work Like That for your characters.

// The mun will also not realize discomfort with poke-biology arguments unless it is explicitly stated to them. This goes doubly so for poke-biology about Rapidash as the mun works with horses irl.

(ooc under the cut)

Guidelines:

No NSFW (Miguel is a minor.) Keep it PG-13

Any kind of PKMN IRL blog can interact (Miguel is aware of the multiverse)

In Character Anon Hate is acceptable (but at least make it interesting.)

Pelipper Mail/Malice: OFF (unless funny enough)

Musharna Mail/Malice: OFF (unless compelling enough)

Magic Anons: OFF

Tags:

Posts Made By Tags:

#riders diary -> Posts made by Miguel

#howling voice -> Posts made by Zacian

#labyrinth lost -> Posts made by Asterion

#rotating cast -> Posts made by headmates who don't have a tag

#flowering garden -> Posts made by [Information Redacted until 9/18/2025]

Posts About Tags:

#rivals feud -> Posts about Maple

#caveboy tag -> Posts about Nick

#miguel family -> Posts about Miguel's family

#saddle up -> Posts about racing

#vulgrado info -> information about the fan region Miguel is from that is based on the Azores Islands of Portugal

#lachrian info -> Information about the religion Miguel is a part of.

Important Tags:

#festering -> something important.

#unseen watcher -> signifies that post is invisible to blogs linked to this one (@yveltalreal , @espers-n-espurrs, @jaimemes, @aspens-dragons, @victoria-vd, @rock-n-rolycoly @estranger-and-stranger-still) [works the same as blindspot]

Misc. Tags:

#answered best -> ask tag

#sysposting -> System related posts

Story Arcs:

Minor Arcs:

Neighborhood Arc 1: Riders (Finished) -> 4 Cyclizar Riders get territorial when Nick and Miguel explore a junkyard. Nick mentions to Miguel they had previously driven him and his friends out of the Junkyard.

A couple days later Miguel challenges and beats the Riders in a 4 on 1 Capture the Flag Battle Race, and the 4 Riders invite Miguel to join up with them. A week later there is a sort of rematch and Miguel is betrayed and beat up by the Riders.

A revenge plan is made by Miguel and Nick, this involved getting the Rolycoly Racers (who had been pushed out of the junkyard earlier in the year) to play a prank with Paintball Guns on the Cyclizar Riders. This goes badly as Nick is nearly run over and Miguel beats the shit out of the rider who attempted to do so. Miguel is then arrested.

Major Arcs:

Trouble in Paradise (In Progress) -> Miguel joins the Alola trip!

[all mentions of dyke will be tagged #d slur tw for filtering.

Mun identifies with the label and feels uncomfortable describing their character as simply sapphic.]

Main is @werewolfcave

[vqlisms]

if no-one else is gonna dissect n’s room i guess i have to do it myself

this is based purely on the games btw :3

n is about the same age as the rest of the bw protags, perhaps a bit older. estimations and canon information say they’re around 18-20 in bw and 20-22 in the sequels.

n’s room is on the fourth floor of plasma castle. it has purple and white checkerboard walls, and blue and white cloud pattern flooring. the ost plays a melancholic music-box theme, a sharp contrast to the pressure of the orchestral (or as close as the bw soundfont can get) symphony in the castle halls.

the toys in the room are not interactable, but do have text prompts.

an incomplete train set loops around the entrance. “It’s a set of trains and tracks. Has it been played with recently?”

a toy box rests beside the looping train. “This toy box contains pieces of a train set.”

a downsized basketball court takes up half the open floor. the hoop, with a toy train blocking the net, reads: “It’s a home-style basketball hoop…” the basketball on the floor beside it reads: “It’s a basketball that looks like it’s been used a lot. It says Harmonia on it…”

underneath a rotating plane suspended from the ceiling, “A skateboard is resting on a pile of wheels.”

to the right, blocking the back wall and more toy boxes, is a half pipe. “A halfpipe for skateboards… It has Pokémon scratch marks on it here and there…”

the only reachable toy box behind the halfpipe reads, “This toy box is full of new toys…”

on the back wall are three decorations. the leftmost one is a dartboard with several darts stuck to and around it. a frame beside it, hanging crookedly from the wall, reads, “This panel has a dart stuck in it.” the rightmost picture is made up of two shades of purple. “An art panel with a printed geometric pattern.”

n’s room is barely larger than the others we’re able to visit in the castle. the room is childish and colourful, not a bad thing, but definitely not fitting to the king of team plasma or the person who has been so confident in their ideals.

n was adopted by ghetsis when they were small, likely not even 10. they had no knowledge of what was normal or necessary for human children’s development. the world had no knowledge of them either, since ghetsis isolated them from society with only abused pokemon and their sisters or other team plasma members. this castle was underground for years, they were physically and emotionally dependent on people who shared ghestis’s ideals.

children are easy to manipulate. children are easy to mould. children are easy to control. no-one has changed n’s room with their growth because they weren’t supposed to; if n grew and learned and thought, they wouldn’t be the perfect king that team plasma needed. but this room, whimsical and lonely, isn’t a king’s room. n is a figurehead and a symbol. they have no control or duties, their responsibilities end at looking regal. only the people allowed into their room—ghetsis, their sisters, and select other plasma members—see that they are nothing past the garb and speeches that they preach.

aaaaaalso symbolism time!!! once again the castle is underground for the majority of the time it exists but also, please note the layout of the rooms that exist within it. none of the rooms have windows, but most of them do have chimneys. in a normal house, windows, useful or locked, at least allow a person to acknowledge the existence of an outside. since windows are useless in an underground castle, there are none. but that’s not quite true, is it? after all, the point of the construction of plasma’s castle was for it to rise from the dirt and surround the league. most of the rooms have chimneys, which would be nothing but a hazard underground when the smog would have nowhere to vent to. but they have constructed chimneys, because this castle isn’t meant to stay underground forever. n’s room does not have a chimney, or windows. there is nothing connecting their room directly to the outside of the castle.

also, the pattern of the flooring specifically is clouds. the pattern is rote, symmetrical. there are no variations, no deviations. also, this pattern is on the floor. of course, we can’t see the ceiling because of the camera limitations/perspective and the style of the game, but i think putting the sky on the ground is still interesting. because n knows what outside looks like, they grew up in the wilderness for years, enough to learn to understand pokemon. but now, in this castle, they can’t leave. the sky is upside-down and carefully graphed, and part of that is like with the toys to keep n from getting restless, but it also shows how warped their environment has made their view of the outside world. they’ve been told everything they know about society and how it functions, presented like the truth, and have only been given evidence that certified what they’ve been told.

also, a fun bit of colour symbolism. reshiram follows the hero of truth, while zekrom follows the hero of ideals. now here’s the fun part: their colours are swapped. reshiram and truth are black, while zekrom and ideals are white, corresponding with the twin dragon that the protag is able to catch in the story. outside of the dartboard on the back and some lineart, there is no black in n’s room. i don’t care if it was intentional or not, n’s room is a figment of their and the people around them’s ideals, all presented as the truth. but no matter how they present it, no matter what they wrap it in or how they light it, there’s no truth to anything they’ve been given.

also real quick the presented/fake freedom to n’s room parallels the difference between what team plasma is presenting their goals to be and ghetsis’s actual goal of holding power over people

IM BACK also note how the newest toys are shoved in the very very back of the room, almost hidden behind their old ones. they’ve played with the same toys over and over and over because they’ve had nothing else to do. they don’t have crayons or paper or crafts, their entire room is made up of solid unchanging toys. they can rearrange them and look and play from different angles, but there’s fundamentally nothing new they can do with anything. this parallels how the only ideas and ideals n could ever conceptualise were ones literally handed to them growing up. they didn’t have any information or experience to create their own because they didn’t know anything else existed. any new ideas they shoved away and repressed, regardless of how close they were to their own, or who was presenting them to them. nothing new has ever existed for them, not for a very very long time.

OH MY FUCKING GOD I COMPLETELY FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING there is literally zero (0) furniture in n’s room. no bed, no dressers, absolutely nothing. there are two things i want to point out about this, one to do with n’s position in team plasma and another to do with a bit more symbolism i guess? n’s room isn’t meant to be comfortable, it’s a gilded cage, it’s simply meant to hold them, so that they don’t get restless, so that they don’t leave, so that they play along. they are a puppet leader, plasma grunts obey them because of their figure, but almost all of the major decisions of the team are either from ghetsis or from his manipulation. and ghetsis treats them like a puppet, too. after all, dolls may look human, but they don’t need anything. and n was in a perfect position for not needing anything, since they had no standards of what a human should receive in a healthy household, emotionally or physically.

anyways if i forgot anything whoopie daisy, i’ll add it later or scream about it or something (current edit count: 3). for now let’s just say pokemon won’t be called pokemon anymore after i’m done with ghetsis

[lepoppeta]

POKEMON WORLDBUILDING BRAINDUMP (canon-lovers: beware!)

Hi, my name’s Poppet, and I love destroying the Rule of Cool.

When Black and White got released I was under the impression that Gym Leaders acted like overseers for their respective cities and towns and the areas surrounding them (EX: Clay clearing the way into Chargestone Cave himself rather than someone else doing it; all of the Gym Leaders arriving at N’s Castle to hold off the Seven Sages while you proceed through the stage to find N and Ghetsis). The Johto and Hoenn games had something similar with Lance and Steven’s involvement with the Evil Teams and helping you defeat them.

Then Sword and Shield got released and it turned the Gym Challenge into a yearly televised event and the Gym Leaders fully embraced their celebrity role. While they do still contribute to the safety of the region, it’s much less widespread than before (delegated only to the Stadiums, as seen during the Mainland post-game).

I personally like to have a certain degree of cohesiveness to fictional worlds, so I worked my butt off to figure out a compromise between these two vastly different interpretations. I think I’ve finally stumbled onto something that sort of allows both concepts to co-exist.

TYPES OF POKEMON USERS

Monsters can be owned as pets or service animals, but very few people have the skill to train them as we see in the anime and games, especially when it comes to owning a full team of six. There are two classifications of monster owners:

TRAINERS/COORDINATORS are people that own and train monsters for the strict purpose of using them in official Battles.

Pokemon Battling is a televised sport that’s like a cross between performative Martial Arts and competitive dog training with the additional seasonality of tennis; each Region’s Gym Challenge happens at a particular time of year so they each have their time to shine. Battles are, first and foremost, performances; no monster is operating at full power despite appearances, and the chance of death is extremely low.

Prospective Trainers test into a special program sponsored by the League. They’re then coached and observed by the 18 battling League members. A select handful are then endorsed to participate in the annual Gym Challenge (kind of like how scouting for professional sports works in our world? Loosely?).

RANGERS work alongside the police and Researchers in order to study monsters and to maintain the strict balance between people and monster-occupied spaces.

Each Region operates kind of like one massive Nature Reserve. Normal people can travel between cities and towns using public transport, but only those with the Ranger identification are allowed to explore independently (and even then, they’re strongly encouraged to travel in pairs and groups).

Public parks, hiking trails, etc. are heavily monitored by Rangers. If there’s any unusual monster activity reported, sections are blocked off from public use until they’re declared safe again.

THE POKEMON LEAGUE and THE GYM CHALLENGE

The League of each Region consists of 18 Trainers (one for every monster type) that can be broken down into a rotational pool of 13 Gym Leaders, 4 Elite members, and one Champion. Also included in the League lineup is the Chairperson and the regional Professor, bringing the total count to of League members to 21.

Every year, a group of young adult Trainers/Coordinators (typically around 18 years old) are endorsed to enter the Gym Challenge. Only a set number are allowed to participate (21 in total; one for each League member). Those that make it to the Elite Four are made to face five consecutive battles without receiving a full health reset. If a Trainer defeats the Champion, they receive the “Champion Ranked” title on their profile.

GYM LEADERS are former Champion Ranked trainers that specialize in a certain type of Pokemon (as a side note, the reason this happens is partly due to equal representation of all types and also because it’s much easier to train a full team of six monsters when they all share a type).

All Gym Leaders receive official Ranger training and are also put in charge of a team of Rangers that cover the city/town they occupy and the surrounding area. Most still have time to pursue their own interests outside of their Gym Leader position.

FRONTIER BOSSES aren’t members of the League and are restricted to only being celebrity battlers; even if shit started to go down at a Frontier Park, they legally wouldn’t be allowed to send in their monsters to assist. These parks are monitored by both Rangers and regular police officers as a form of security.

FUN FACT: Ingo and Emmet are extremely special cases in almost every aspect of their shared careers. Initially, Emmet was the only one endorsed for the Gym Challenge (it wasn’t that Ingo was a poor trainer, but because Emmet’s battling style is slightly more unhinged and therefore flashier to prospective TV audiences). Emmet refused to participate unless his brother did too. The Unovan League made the exception that year that they were allowed to go through the Gym Challenge as a pair, on the agreement that every battle they faced would be a double one and each brother would only be able to own and use a maximum of three monsters (while their single opponent would be allowed to use their full six). Later on, they received special Ranger training due to their positions as the heads of Subway Security in Unova, as well as opening up a special Frontier-esque facility when the Underground got revamped.

[epicspheal]

Hi Spheal!! I hope you're doing well!

Anyways my question is, How would the medical field work in the Pokemon world(At least by your headcannon?)

I'm glad you're back in the land of Tumblr.

Hi there @namelessbaron! This an awesome question! This is going to be a lengthy response because you have touched upon my special interest.

So basically the human medical field (as in the doctors that take care of humans and not Pokemon who would be more akin to Veterinarians honestly) is very much like our world but better in some key ways. For starters it's a lot cheaper in the Pokemon world and being in debt because of medical bills is just not a thing there. I will say in human medicine there isn't as much cooperation between humans and Pokemon as you would assume. Not to say human doctors never use their Pokemon while caring for their patient it's just that like in the real world where we have people who have huge phobias of animals, there are people in the Pokemon who have a fear of Pokemon. Part of the oath physicians take is to do no harm and that means mentally and emotionally as well as physically. So while doctors in the Pokemon world are trained on how to use Pokemon in their practice, there is a HUGE emphasis on how to treat patients by yourself and with other humans. Because you never know when a patient will come to you who has a fear of Pokemon in general, or maybe a fear of the specific species of Pokemon you have . For example my trainersona Cami has definitely had to not use her Krookodile or Ninetales because patients were afraid of those Pokemon specifically, but she's also had plenty of patients who love to hold onto any of her Pokemon (her Audino in particular) for comfort. That all being said a lot of specialties in human medicine do use Pokemon a lot. Pokemon that can learn aromatherapy or can use aura are often used in Psychiatry and Pediatric settings, ghost types are often used in forensic pathology. Luxray are seen heavily in radiology departments. Fighting types are used in Emergency Medicine, Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine. Many dragon, steel, water, fighting and flying type Pokemon are also used in Wilderness/Disaster Medicine as it's in the field and you have to contend with combative wild Pokemon, harsh elements in addition to trying to save someone's life. Pokemon like the Machop Line, Lillipup Line, Audino and the Ralts Line are often used extensively in medical clinics that specialize in working with people with mobility issues, sensory issues and those who are highly allergic to certain substances. Humans who have powers (aura, psychic and ghost powers) often find their way into human medicine if they don't pursue being a trainer as their powers greatly enhance certain fields. There's even specialties that are devoted to humans with powers.

One thing in the Pokemon world that is significantly better than our world is medical education. The biggest thing is that it's standardized across regions so as long as you graduate and you pass the licensing examination you can practice in any region as long as you sign up for their registry. There's not nearly as much hoops to go through that we have to do in our world if you say want to practice internationally or even in different regions/states/provinces in the same country. It's also significantly cheaper overall and part of that is that it's standardized to 6 years instead of 8 like it is here in the US and other countries. Medical school in the Pokemon is broken up into three parts: the pre-med years (learn basic biology/chemistry/physics), basic medical education (anatomy/physiology/pharmacology/pathology) and clinical rotations. Technically someone in the Pokemon world could get their medical degree in as little 4.5 years if they blaze through everything in the minimum of 18 months. But most take the full 6 years mainly because it's easier on their mental health, it is again far cheaper in the Pokemon world than it is in ours, and it allows them to really explore what they want to do with their career. Because everything is so standardized it's not uncommon for medical students in the Pokemon world to study abroad in different regions to gain more exposure.

For example for students who want to work with patient populations with mobility/sensory/extreme allergies, many will take a semester in Alola since Alola's medical schools and residencies are world renowned being good at training humans and Pokemon to make the world accessible (think the ride Pokemon of Alola). If you want to do sports medicine or wilderness/disaster medicine then studying abroad in Galar or Unova is the way to go. If you're super interested in research and the idea of academic medicine appeals to you Kalos and Kanto are good spots to study abroad in. Bringing up my trainersona, Cami studied abroad in Kanto, Kalos and Galar during her time in medical school since she was interested in doing research and also she (once she became champion) decided she wanted to go into wilderness/disaster medicine.

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Pokemon Johto League Champions, Episodes 15-18

In which I consider how many callbacks we’ve been having recently, and how surprisingly well this show’s been handling them.

Season of Callbacks

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about Johto, particularly about Johto League Champions, it’s that this stretch of Pokemon has a lot of callbacks. Even just in the past eighteen episodes, we’ve had second encounters with so many minor characters from across this show’s history, even all the way back from the earliest episodes. That could easily run stale; few of Pokemon’s characters are really built to exist beyond the simplistic confines of a single episode’s conflict. They’re not meant to be complex recurring players in the same way something like One Piece or Gintama regularly pulls off. By bringing so many of them back for second appearances, you run the risk of not having anything interesting left to do with them and just running out the clock on lame fanservice. But honestly? I think Pokemon’s been handling its callbacks shockingly well. Few of them feel like retreads or unnecessary filler; for the most part, they feel like genuine continuations of those characters’ stories. Ash and his friends have grown over the course of this journey; they’re not the same people they were when they first met these people. And these people have often been doing some growing themselves. So when the show brings an old bit player back for a second round, neither they nor Ash are quite the same people they were when they first met. And by acknowledging those new circumstances, Pokemon is able to build on their previous encounter and show us just how far they’ve both come.

Take the return of Duplica and her Ditto. I’m gonna be honest; I didn’t remember Duplica at all until she showed up again; she was not a character who made a big impression on me. Hell, I still don’t fully remember what her deal was besides being a Ditto trainer. But her camaraderie wish Ash absolutely sells the fact that this isn’t the first time they’ve met. She’s more confident about training her own Pokemon and more willing to call Ash out on how much growing he still has to do (on his Totodile not knowing more powerful moves: ”I guess what you don’t know can’t hurt you.”) And her encyclopedic knowledge of Pokemon and their moves serves as another goal for Ash to devote himself to. The way she turns Wobuffet’s moveset back on Team Rocket is really damn cool, and you can tell how much Ash is learning just from watching her. This isn’t even a particularly meaningful returning character showcase, but seeing Duplica a second time still drives home how much Ash has grown on this journey, and how much growing he still has to do. It also helps that the animation this episode is particularly snappy and fun, with great slapstick and punchy battle editing all around. Little details like that really make this world come alive.

The Grand Bull

But if you really want to see the power of Pokemon’s callbacks? Then look no further than the return of Madame Muchmoney, the owner of the runaway Snubbull who’s always chasing Meowth’s tail. I genuinely did not expect to see this character ever again; as far as I thought, her episode was just an excuse to introduce the Snubbull running joke to the rotating formula. But bringing her back ends up being one of the smartest moves Pokemon’s made yet. In case you forgot, the Madame wasn’t exactly a good owner for Snubbull when we first met her. She was smothering and overbearing and projected her own idea of what would make Snubbull happy onto it without taking its feelings into consideration. It was only Ash and Team Rocket’s intervention that made her realize she was wrong, and by the end of the episode she had resolved to do right by Snubbull and give it the freedom it wanted. It was a really good little episode! But now that I think back on it, if we never saw Madame again, then Snubbull running away at the end of the episode wouldn’t have been very satisfying. We’d gone to all that trouble to restore their relationship and then Snubbull runs away to be a running joke forever? That wouldn’t be right, either for the characters in the story or the story itself. The only way to resolve this plot well would be to see Madame actually make good on her promise to be the owner Snubbull deserves.

And that’s exactly what this episode accomplishes by bringing her back. Seeing the Madame again as she searches all over for her runaway Pokemon drives home just how much she’s grown from her encounter with Ash. She’s renovating her house to give Snubbull plenty of room to run around! She’s gotten beefy from her travels and is eager to play alongside Snubbull as equals! She hasn’t just resolved to be better for Snubbull, she’s gotten better for Snubbull, growing into a stronger, kinder, more considerate old lady who can give Snubbull the love and support it deserves while still respecting its freedom. Even when it evolves into a hulking Granbull, Madame accepts its new identity without question, praising it for its roughness and toughness just as she praised Snubbull for its cuteness (oh hey, accidental trans allegory for the win!) She even tanks a freaking rocket to keep it safe, how’s that for awesome? By bringing her back, this show is able to bring closure to this plotline that I didn’t even realize I was looking for. We get to see Snubbull get over Meowth and decide where its heart truly lies, we get to see Madame make good on her promise, and it wraps up everything in a perfect little bow as trainer and Pokemon head home, both a little changed but closer than ever before. In Misty’s words, we get to see them both evolve. and it's about as perfect an ending for this subplot as I could imagine. That, folks, is the power of a callback done right.

Best of Team Rocket

On the subject of Team Rocket, it feels like we’re seeing two subtle shifts with how they’re used in Johto. First, we’re getting a lot more Team Rocket/Twerp Squad team-ups; pretty much every episode in this bunch has some form of Ash and/or his Pokemon working with Team Rocket to get something done. Considering how much I love these team-ups, I’m not complaining at all. Second, Team Rocket’s plans have actually been getting... good? Like, it’s getting much more common for these idiots to pull off something actually smart before hubris does them in. Heck, even Jessie recognizes that getting greedy almost always gets them in trouble and tries to go for a subtler approach in Duplica’s episode, and Meowth’s plan to sell the mini Ditto as fake mini Pokemon to trade as a collector’s item for rare and valuable Pokemon is honestly well thought out? And it might have worked if Ash didn’t show up to bust their scheme. I dunno, man, the thought of a somewhat-competent Team Rocket weirds me out like nobody’s business. I need more ribald idiocy stat!

-”Why ask me? I don’t know anything!” “That’s part of the problem!

-Wobuffet popping out of his Pokeball at the perfect moment to overbalance the precariously perched rock and send everyone on it tumbling to the ground far below. That is all.

-”That’s a wonderful Wobuffet!” “Yes, we do quite a bit of wondering about it.”

-”I feel guilty stealing food from people who fed us so well.” James with a conscience? That’s a new one.

-Okay, that’s just dumb. Screw the festival “rules,” they’re causing trouble and deserve to be kicked out. This is just forced drama for drama’s sake. I can’t even get excited over Team Rocket playing heroes and Wobuffet getting to kick ass because of how contrived this is. That’s just fucking shameful.

-On the bright side, it feels like Jessie is actually starting to appreciate Wobuffet and use it more often after seeing it kick ass at the Wobuffet festival, which is A-okay by me.

-”Meowth, that’s right! But what you’re doing is dead wrong!”

-and he just runs the other way askdhaskdhaksd Wobuffet you are in top form today

-”You don’t think she took me seriously, do you?”

-”That’s right, rich people are always happy to give money to people who don’t need it!”

-”Speaking of plans, do we have any plans for dinner this evening?” For context, he says this while they’re in the middle of blasting off. Just... god bless Team Rocket.

Odds and Ends

-Damn, this is more intense than I was expecting. We’re going full Mission Impossible in this quarry!

-Lol, poor Noctowl.

-I don’t have many coherent thoughts about Team Rocket and Pikachu being stuck on an unstable spire. I’m just enjoying it immensely.

-That is one strong-ass ladybug, goddamn.

-Aw, this is a pretty little ending. I’m a sucker for a good sunset.

-”Just looking at a Wobuffet makes you feel warm and happy.” No arguments there.

-Mini Dit just sounds... wrong.

Aaah, this was a good session. See you next time!

[kuixotic]

aight it’s headcanon time

I had this thought for a while of hey there’s no flags for the pokemon regions and me being me I decided to try my hand at some theoretical flags for the main games (sorry ranger/coliseum/etc) with color meaning and all (and I’m gonna hide it under a read more because this is gonna be a lot)

These are just lil headcanons for my own purposes but if anyone wants to revamp some of these for their own use I’m so chill with that and would LOVE to see them!

Kanto-Johto

I can see Kanto and Johto having a combination flag since in G/S/C/HG/SS you travel to both regions and they’re explicitly connected to each other geographically speaking. Initially I did think of a white bg but that would hide the fact that Lugia’s wings are present, so I opted for a pale blue that could double for the sky/sea (for Johto in particular since we’re dealing with Ho-oh and Lugia) meanwhile the circle in the middle (borrowing from Japan’s actual flag) has a triad thing going to represent both the legendary birds and beasts, maybe kinda the “first” three games too? We all know Green was there before Yellow sooo-

Hoenn

(I also made a version of this with the Birth Island puzzle pattern because who doesn’t like “conspiracy theory” things right)

Hoenn was pretty fun, initially I thought of putting the eon siblings in here but since I tried sticking with box legendaries welllll yeah, oops. I kinda did the stripe order to resemble the start credits in the originals, the red acting as dirt/rocks under the grass Brendan/May is riding their bike on. White is a standard harmony/peace color so I had it binding/connecting the glowing marks that the weather trio have on their respective start menus, kinda doing a lil trinity thing on that regard.

Sinnoh

For Sinnoh I kinda played around with the idea of the region being a bit remote compared to the prior three, and what’s more remote and has a flag than Antarctica right? I borrowed from Hokkaido’s flag with white=snow since especially in Platinum the region is more snow covered, also taking into consideration that creation is thought to originate from Arceus (obviously from Sinnoh) which explains the use of the actual region in this rather than symbols. Not only you’ve got the box legendaries (Dialga/Palkia/Giratina) represented by their respective colors, but also the lake trio and their territories. For the middle design it could also be considered an inspiration of Hokkaido’s while also being on the Spear Pillar (line it up with a Sinnoh map, do it) and the “petals” are actually 18 plates ;D (18 since this would be a “current” flag featuring fairy type). The line cutting east and west is actually through the rest of the mountain range in Sinnoh too.

Unova

Unova was relatively easy to work with-the whole truth v ideals/black and white/yin-yang was very quick to come up with ideas for. Since Unova was based on the U.S I did initially think of adding something along the 13 stripes but things would start looking less like a flag and more like a ripped piece of a prison uniform. Instead I opted for a star in the middle made with alternating black-white pieces and connected by grey-doing that whole gray space/morality in the face of truths/ideals thing yknow?

Kalos

Kalos has a similar scheme to Hoenn save for the fact the color stripes are horizontal to emulate the French flag, the only difference being the “Zygrade green” instead of white. Considering the context from the games surrounding it, the Eternal Flower is a bit of a negative connotation especially with the color scheme resembling Yveltal’s, We’re looking for a balance here right, and Kalos would probably not want their most memorable feature to be death and destruction. So instead we have a sort of reverse of it, maybe called the Peace Flower??? White is generally associated with peace/purity, coupled with Zygarde’s green really brings the importance of the balance between life and death that it keeps a check on.

Alola

Alola was fun to think on, being my next favorite region in general to Sinnoh. The color order for the stripes goes from east to west-the same progression the sun and moon have when passing through the sky. Obviously-the colors come from the islands with Ula Ula in the far east and Poni to the far west. You can kinda think of the sun/moon positions as rotating around the flag so that if it were animated-the moon would be next to the red stripe and the sun by the purple to just continually cycle around.

Galar

Galar was an idea and while roughly executed (partially due to style choices because wtf are heraldry lions doing are they in pain- and partially due to being the last thing I drew up today and my energy was DYING but if I didn’t do it all today I would’ve never done it at all) We hardly know anything about Calyrex and truth be told I don’t have a switch so I can’t say I’ve gone through the region thousands of times to make my own headcanons yet. I did like the logo from Leon’s clothes and thought it was too good to pass up for use, combining Calyrex’ head-thing since it looks like a crown. As much as I would think Galar would use the crowned versions of the za-siblings, “Hero of Many Battles” just kinda gives more of that “ancient” vibe that I for some reason associate the region with (I’m calling the U.K old because compared to my lil U.S self-it is). I really took some inspiration from Scotland’s coat of arms because of the unicorn and all, and while this flag deviates from the pattern of subtle references to main legendaries I feel it fits considering how different Galar is in comparison to the other core games.

[melmac78]

It’s late but my entry for the FABFiveChallenge: Gordon edition.

Prompt words: Can’t, iridescent, “How did you do that?”

••••••••

John Tracy was sitting in the lounge, enjoying a mug of tea and reading “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

He took a deep sip of the hot orange flavored tea and signed, content. “This has been a great vacation,” he said happily.

It had been a good break for him indeed… well except for the sprained wrist he got tripping in gravity.

After a couple of close calls in space, including John forgetting his eating and sleeping cycle so badly he required a hospital stay, Scott and Virgil mandated a rotation cycle where each brother spent a month now in Five. Each alternated with John, allowing him to build up his fitness and health where there was gravity.

At first John balked at the idea. That said, he remembered the looks of terror on his brothers’ faces when he regained consciousness in the hospital that last time, two days after being rescued, it was needed and agreed.

Not that he cared for gravity still.

Today however, was a good day, and would soon get even better with Gordon returning to the Island from his first monthly stint in Five.

There was a friendly chirp from his portrait, and then EOS’ avatar popped up. “John, Gordon has docked at Tracy Island,” she said.

“Thank you EOS,” he chuckled, then quirked an eyebrow. “You didn’t cause him too much trouble this past month?”

The AI gave a soft chuckle, lights reaching full circle around the main monitor. “No I did not, John. I remembered your rule to not pelt him with anything other than the bagels,” she said.

“You mean foam bagels…” he said pointedly.

“Oops,” she said, and John threw his hands up in frustration. “EOS…”

“Just kidding John. I remembered your threat to make me play Q*Bert with the aliens from Atlantis, so I refrained,” she said, giving a slight shuddering chirp that John would intentionally combine those two Intellivision games. “Now gravity however…”

John did a double take at the comment and started to respond, when a ding interrupted his thoughts.

Turning he saw it was Gordon, who had just finished the turnaround from One’s elevator.

The astronaut said a goodbye to EOS, reminding her that he’d be back two days later, then walked up to the lights.

“Hi Gordon, glad you’re home,” said John, who then gave him a hug.

Gordon chuckled weakly. “Hi Spaceman, it’s been a long time… like a month,” he said, giving his brother a hug. “What’s longer though is eating a good dinner. I’m starving.”

John laughed at his brother’s stomach growling, and gestured to the kitchen. “Come on, I’ll fix you some of my famous space oatmeal,” he said.

The aquanaut frowned. “Oatmeal? I was hoping steak,” he said, pouting as he stood by the counter.

“No Gordon, your stomach might not take it well,” said the older brother with a smile as he gathered the items needed. “I’ll make you some of my special cinnamon strudel oatmeal. You’ll like it - trust me. Good for healing those aches and pains you get from a month in space.”

“I’ll like anything that isn’t Grandma’s cooking,” Gordon smiled and watched his brother make the food.

As he watched, he started to take note about all his aches and pains - and indeed he had them.

The aquanaut frowned, feeling a bit warm in the air conditioned room. He had been preparing for the month’s stay on Thunderbird Five, taking notes from John to get ready.

But, in spite of the headache, slight blurred eyes, and giddiness, it felt as though he was missing some fact or other John had told him.

Something about his circulatory system.

He just wished he could figure out why there was an odd iridescence around the island...

Meanwhile John had finished up the oatmeal and took it over to the table. “Come on Gordon, dinner is on,” he said and turned to Gordon. He pursed his lips at the man’s lack of response. “Um… Gords, you OK?”

The aquanaut was rather quiet, and seemed a bit shaky.

“Gordon?” John frowned in concern at the second non-response, and hit a button. “Virgil, I need you to come up to the kitchen.”

*Did Grandma Tracy burn the cream puffs again,* chuckled the second eldest.

“No, it’s Gordon, possible medical emergency,” said John as he walked over to his brother.

Gordon looked pale, and his eyes a bit dull.

The aquanaut however, saw a different view of John, glittering slightly in his wavering eyesight.. “Um… John, why do you look like Edward Cullen?” he said, confused.

“Who?” Said John gently, starting to become certain what was occurring.

“That guy in ‘Twilight’ you’re glowing all sorts of… glittery… ra-rainbow colors,” he said, confused. “Iri… iri…”

“Iridescent?” finished John as he neared his brother. He heard a noise and turned, seeing Virgil nearby.

“What’s wrong?” started Virgil, noticing Gordon’s pallor.

John started to speak when Gordon stumbled, almost faceplanting there. “Easy bro, you’ll be OK,” said the astronaut, helping protect his brother from injury.

Virgil, now realizing what was about to happen, got behind his self proclaimed ‘wingman’ to help with the inevitable assist.

Gordon’s eyes were almost rolled back, his body nearly shaking now, but the aquanaut was trying to stay conscious. “John, I feel dizzy,” said the younger man. “Can’t stand...

“I know Gordon, you’re going to faint,” said John.

“C-Can’t… Sparkle butt...”

The astronaut would’ve laughed if it weren’t serious. “I’m sorry but yeah Gords, you’re going to” said John sympathetically. “Just let it happen. We’ll be here for you…”

His brother tried to shake his head, but it was jerky. “I … ne...nev...f..fai…” he tried to say, but his body listened to John and he fell, feeling gentle hands catch him.

“Easy Gordon… you’ll be OK,” said the astronaut in reassurance as darkness descended.

••••••••

A few minutes later, the aquanaut’s eyes started to flutter, and sounds started to come back.

So did a painful headache among other aches and pains.

He found he was lying on something hard, with a blanket covering him. To his slight confusion, his feet were propped up on a set of books and he had a washcloth on his head.

Opening his eyes, he noticed John and Virgil hovering over him, sighing in relief. “Lights on upstairs bro,” said Virgil, kidding Gordon.

“Yes, and the fish is glowing,” he said automatically and starting to piece things together sighed. “Great… I passed out huh?”

Both men nodded. “Yep, but you’ll be OK though,” said John. “You were out only a minute.”

“How’s the wing?”

“Wing?”

Gordon gestured to John’s wrist. “I meant your wrist. You kept me from hitting the ground.”

John then understood, and showed his wrapped wrist. “Fine, but Virgil caught you when you fell.”

The aquanaut turned to Virgil, confused. “You caught me? How did you get there so quickly?”

Virgil rolled his eyes as he did a medscan of the groggy man. “Magic,” he kidded and seeing Gordon’s nonplussed look, he put a hand on the younger’s shoulder. “I’m just glad you’re OK Gordon.”

Gordon scoffed, and his mind started to reboot. He looked at John, confused. “Wait. How did you do that?” he said.

“Do what?”

“Tell me to just faint - and I do it,” he said.

John shook his head, chuckling slightly. “I didn’t tell you to, just to let it happen,” he said, and seeing Gordon’s confusion clarified. “You had already passed the early stages, so your body was going to make you pass out, like it or not.”

“But how did you know I was going to...?”

“You had all the warning signs: pale skin, confusion, blank look…”

“No, like you knew something... maybe the cause of it.”

The astronaut was going to be witty, but seeing Gordon’s slight glare, John sobered up slightly and continued. “Gordon, you’ve been in space for a month right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, do you remember what we were doing before your blackout?” said John.

Gordon paused then nodded. “Yeah, making oatmeal… because steak wasn’t good for my stomach or something being in space for a month,” he said, starting to put the puzzle together.

To his surprise, the astronaut blushed. “Yeah, as is not standing too long after re-entry,” said John.

“Not standing too long?” said Gordon, who then realized what he was forgetting earlier. “Because I think you said my blood system would be messed up right?”

Virgil however answered instead. “Sure is - you’ve lost about 18 percent of your blood volume,” he said reading the data.

“Blood volume? How? I didn’t get injured on Five.”

John nodded. “Yeah I know, but you still lose some of it due to being in space, as much as 22 percent,” he said. “You stand up too long you’re likely going to pass out. I should’ve warned you to sit down.”

Virgil then chuckled. “On the positive Gordon, at least you didn’t insult Grandma’s cooking in the process.”

Gordon groaned, but John then chortled in sympathy. “Hey, fainting happens. Remember my first time coming back?” he said, and the aquanaut nodded.

“Yeah, you talked about this Pokemon lamb - Wooloo I think, and then keeled over,” he said, then frowned, blushing. “Um… speaking of which, did I call you a sparkling vampire?”

This time John and Virgil laughed. “Oh yeah… Edward Cullen, trying to call me iridescent too,” said John, who felt he could poke fun at himself to cheer up Gordon. “And... oddly, ‘sparkle butt’.”

The aquanaut snorted at the remark.

“At least you didn’t cover him in glitter,” said Virgil, who then saw the aquanaut grin mischievously. “You’d better NOT do that Gordo.”

“Oh, come on… he’ll at least look better as a vampire than those actors in that movie,” said Gordon.

John just did a facepalm. “I’m going to chalk that one up to you being confused after regaining consciousness from a syncope,” he said.

“Yeah… those symphonies are boring,” said the aquanaut, intentionally confusing the medical term.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Keep it up Gordo… I’ll tie you up in a chair and make you listen to the full piano piece to Madame Butterfly.”

Gordon yelped and covered his head with the blanket. John however laughed and slowly helped his brother up. “We’ll hold off on that. Why don’t we instead get you on the couch and eating some of my special oatmeal,” said John.

“Carry me?” said Gordon with puppy dog eyes.

Virgil shook his head, laughing. “How about I do that and John get the oatmeal,” he conceded, before gently lifting his brother up in his arms.

“My hero…” teased the aquanaut, then realizing the truth, turned to John. “Both of you. Thanks.”

The two older brothers smiled. “You’re welcome,” said John, handing his brother the oatmeal. The trio then shared some stories as Gordon ate, working out ways to help him and the other land based Tracys better accustomed to the changes in gravity for the future.

Afterall… none of them wanted to try and catch Virgil.

Then again - the aquanaut conceded, it couldn’t be worse than having his own feet propped up with a book that had “Don’t Panic” across the cover in large, friendly type.

[breakingarrows]

Stealing this from twitter, one of those 1 like = 1 video game answer

1. Very first video game

I have hazy memories of playing Sonic on the Genesis and if not that then most likely Pokemon Red? Twisted Metal is the oldest game I own that I didn’t buy myself and just always had so maybe that one.

2. Your favorite character

God gotta be Geralt. It is hard to separate his Witcher 3 iteration from the books, which is probably the best compliment I can give CDPR’s adaptation as the more I read the books the more I appreciate how faithful that game was. Geralt’s the typical grumpy dad who puts on a show of having no emotion but really does care about others and frequently acts on that (no need to read into how that reflects myself).

3. A game that is underrated.

Tough because underrated as in metacritic or just in general like mass audience reactions? I think overrated would be an easier pick for metacritic but for mass audience underrated I would say something like Disco Elysium since it was PC only and even there seems to have found a small but dedicated niche audience. I would also say Rain World but honestly need to play more.

4. Your guilty pleasure game.

LA Noire, Alan Wake, Alien Isolation, games people are mostly either like, that was okay or didn’t like but I really love.

5. Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were)

Damn guess its time to admit how Geralt reflects myself.

6. Most annoying character.

Got some classics like Navi (OOT), Dutch/Micah (RDR2), Ryder (GTASA), I feel like there are more good ones but I can’t find/trigger their memories.

7. Favorite game couple.

Geralt and Yennefer (Witcher), Red and her unnamed lover (Transistor), Harry and Kim (Disco Elysium)

8. Best soundtrack.

Fuck. Hyper Light Drifter, Final Fantasy VII, DOOM, Transistor, Halo Reach/ODST, Red Dead Redemption, Kingdom Hearts, Alien Isolation, LA Noire. Licensed: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1, 2, 3, Fallout 3/New Vegas (even if they repeat way too often).

9. Saddest game scene.

Ending of Crisis Core, death of Avalanche members in Final Fantasy VII, ending of Red Dead Redemption, ending of Transistor, saying goodbye to Clementine in The Walking Dead Season 1.

10. Best gameplay.

Titanfall 2, DOOM, Hitman, Halo 5 (Arena multiplayer only), Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (revert is king), Metroid Prime (on Wii).

11. Gaming system of choice.

PS4/3/PC in that order

12. A game everyone should play.

Disco Elysium, Bioshock 2, Rain World, Yakuza 5, Final Fantasy Tactics (either PSOne Classic or War of the Lions)

13. A game you’ve played more than five times.

lol full playthroughs Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, DOOM. Games I’ve started and made significant progress in so many times: Final Fantasy VII, Modern Warfare 2, Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, LA Noire, Halo Reach, Final Fantasy Tactics The War of the Lions

14. current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper.

Wallpapers on phone have been Evangelion for years now. The rotating desktop wallpaper folder only has Alien Isolation because of how much it looks like Alien and Breath of the Wild because of how much it looks like Ghibli landscapes.

15. Post a screenshot from a game you’re playing right now.

It would be something from Apex (a win screen) or Red Dead Redemption 2 (landscape)

16. Game with the best cutscenes.

God most games have cutscenes that are really boring (shot, reverse-shot, in-game engine puppets, black bar zoom ins, economical choices because of how often they’re going to be used but so boring) so I guess Control because its got styyyyyyle.

17. Favorite antagonist.

uhhhhh the greater structure of the world in Disco Elysium? Human opponents in Apex Legends. The rain in Rain World. Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. Xenomorph in Alien Isolation.

18. Favorite protagonist.

I mean Geralt (Witcher), Alan Wake (the titular Alan Wake), Harry Du Bois (Disco Elysium), Red (Transistor), John Marston (Red Dead Redemption), CJ (Grand Theft Auto San Andreas), DOOMGUY (DOOM), Jesse Faden (Control)

19. Picture of a game setting you wished you lived in

Most of video game worlds are trying to kill you but Breath of the Wild, San Andreas, Kingdom Hearts, Morrowind

20. Favorite genre

Seems to be shooters, some open world if the angle is good.

21. Game with the best story.

Story as in fiction? Disco Elysium. Story as in the thing its trying to sell you on as you play? The Last of Us, Bioshock 2, Transistor.

22. A game sequel which disappointed you.

Not technically a sequel but Bioshock Infinite, Red Dead Redemption 2, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V, Uncharted 4, Halo 5, Infamous Second Son

23. Game you think had the best graphics or art style

Persona 5, Disco Elysium (those portraits jesus so good), Shadow of the Colossus (PS2 version, the fog and unfocused edges make it such a #mood), Morrowind (I love the fucking early 2000s 3D graphics), Final Fantasy VII (the pre-rendered backgrounds, I could star at them for days), Control, Hyper Light Drifter, any of those Yoshi art games (crayon of Yoshi’s Island and fuzz of Wooly World are standouts)

24. Favorite Classic game

Pokemon Gold, Link’s Awakening, Doom, Final Fantasy VII/Tactics, Spider-Man

25. A game you plan on playing

boy I have a whole spreadsheet for this on but the one on my mind is Okami, Alpha Protocol, Madworld

26. Best voice acting

uh idk the expensive games, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Last of Us?

27. Most epic scene ever

when I get a win in Apex Legends with like 8+ kills overall

28. Favorite game developer

Remedy Entertainment, Respawn, uh hard to find consistency, most of my favorites have been one-offs where I either haven’t played or don’t really like the rest that developer made.

29. A game you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.

I usually don’t play games I don’t think I would like because I know my tastes and don’t waste time but I guess something like Hitman was a surprise because I had heard all the praise about it long before I finally sat down to play it myself and it was fucking great.

30. Your favorite game of all time.

God uh I mean I’ve been returning to games like Uncharted 2, Final Fantasy VII, San Andreas for like a decade now. Pokemon Gold too if I would finally buy the stuff to replace the battery in it. So I guess one of those since they’ve been part of my life the longest.

[renxamamiya]

What shitty things has Game Freak done tho? If you’re talking about the changes they made to sw/sh, I don’t think it was a bad idea considering it would’ve been well over 1,000 Pokémon. The game is targeted towards children anyway, it doesn’t have to cater to old Pokémon fans about every single thing that they want

Let me start by saying that when GAMEFREAK mentioned that all the pokemon are not coming back I was fine with it. Pokemon as a series has its Dex cuts, Pokemon could realistically be added in at a later date OR could be interacted and played with using the HOME application, and realistically only hardcore fans would care about catching them all, and most fans and gamers are happy to not get them all, which I don’t judge. It’s unrealistic to say that all pokemon will be there all the time because game balancing will make you want to tear your brains out and realistically keeping track of 1000+ pokemon is a herculean task.

However, what I do mind is GAMEFREAK’s/The Pokemon Company’s insistence of making Pokemon a yearly release has shown a lot in this game. A masterpost of all the complaints could be found on this reddit thread with evidence for almost every single point. My favourites include:

The textures looking extremely horrible compared to Let’s go P and E which came out about a year and two days ago.

Detailed animations such as the 2nd evo. of Scorbunny kicking for Headbutt and rotating Legendary doggos. Something which games like Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon USUM had managed to one up, questioning the ‘detailed animations’ outside the Wild Area and camping area. 

Non existent post game, so not really a lot to do after you play a game that costs around £50 - $60 and lasts (reportedly) around 18 hours. 

Not being able to catch pokemon in the wild area that are over the level that you are, even though in Pokemon games of the past, if you acquired a traded Pokemon that was over the level that your gym badge it wouldn’t listen to you. This game just says ‘no’, which is really dumb. Like, as someone who is literally studying games design I find that dumb and it breaks immersion and the whole idea of ‘catching them all’ 

Like, I know this game series is for children but this coupled with the fact that the game is even easier compared to other main series games for the SAME target audience is honestly insulting and depressing. Like, we don’t need to have this super competitive meta game of 210934905839408534 pokemon I agree!!!! and despite the cuts there’s still a sizeable amount of pokemon to explore and catch and make new memories with, but it’s so so so obvious that GAMEFREAK to me, is lazy and being insulting to it’s consumers and target audience. 

And before you say: yes, I know worker crunch is an epidemic to the games industry. I follow gaming news extremely closely and subscribe to a lot of games news channels on YT and sometimes when I have the time read sources and research myself. GAMEFREAK is a large company and Pokemon is a extremely profitable, if not THE most profitable gaming franchise on the planet, and could have afforded to either hire more hands or even delay the games, but while I understand that they can’t do the latter because of the anime/merch/etc THEY COULD have done the former. 

And you know what sucks? Ranting about this hasn’t helped my Pokemon playing urge - now I want to buy and play it more, and the thought of buying into a shitty, rushed product and encouraging a company that I feel like doesn’t really care about the product anymore makes me sad. 

[sonicasura]

I had a dream one night. It was a battle between a Pokemon Trainer and her partner Chomp the Snorlax against...

Jotaro Kujo and Star Platinum.

Yes. These two. How does it turn out? Read down below.

Mitsuru was called many things in her life. Queen of Contest Battles, Snorlax Lover, Toxic Freak and such. Yet, in her life, she was never called a Stand User. The young 17 year old Pokemon Trainer had found herself in some strange place called Singapore and noticed the large absence of Pokemon, creatures of her world. She also kept getting uncomfortable looks by the people staring at her hair and outfit.

She was born with purple hair with a large flare like white splotch at the front almost like a Toxel's. Her clothes were more punk with a black cassock with spike like rimmings, a yellow vest like drape over it with a thunderbolt pattern, a Snorlax hat  that the blue of it was dyed purple and a necklace holding a blue and yellow X ball that to many unaware was a Quick Ball.

This type of item or Pokeball held one of her aces when it came to Pokemon Battles but also her childhood friend. Deciding to explore the peculiar town, she ran into a creepy man called Rubber Soul. It was a very odd name and the guy gave her a very bad vibe. She told him to leave her alone since he had been following her for less than an hour. Next thing she knew, the creep attacked her with some kind of yellow slime he called 'Yellow Temperance'.

Luckily he chose to attack her in a wide empty space so it didn't draw much attention to send the asshole flying with her partner, Chomp the Snorlax. Snorlax were very large bear like Pokemon easily recognized by their blue fur and light peach face and underbelly along with stubby feet and cat like ears. Mitsuru had grew up with Chomp in her home of Galar so the 18 ft tall Pokemon was a powerhouse. Yeah, he was way bigger than the average Snorlax.

Rubber Soul had a look of pure horror seeing Chomp before he was sent flying with a Giga Impact straight into the bay. This was how she found herself in her current predicament. The 17 year old girl looked at her large partner who seemed happy with himself. "Good job sending that creep flying Chomp. I didn't know what the yellow slime was but I'm just glad your ok." Mitsuru said looking at her partner. "Snorlax." Chomp answered happily.

"No way, another Stand User?!" Mitsuru turned to see a group of men run into the empty space where she and her partner stood. An old man dressed like Indiana Jones, a guy in green with a large noodle curl, a man with a tower of white hair on his head and broken heart earrings, a dark skinned man with his hair in top knots but the punk guy got her interest.

He was tall around 6'5, buff as all hell and a nice ass to boot, ocean blue eyes clear as the waters of Lake Axewell, curly dark hair under a black hat topped with gold pins, an open black coat pierced with a gold chain by the collar showing a grass green shirt tight on his chest, two colored belts with one orange and the other blue, expensive black slacks and boots. "What's going on Chomp?" Mitsuru asked only for the Snorlax to shrug.

"That's a big fella right there! Bet he could flatten a truck like a pancake." The guy with pole hair shouted. "Do you need something? If not, Chomp and I will be going." Mitsuru said getting ready to walk away with her partner. "Where do you think your going?" She turned to face the delinquent who asked. "What's with the attitude? You guys are looking at me like I'm public enemy number 1! And I don't even know you." Mitsuru asked clearly getting aggravated.

"You're a Stand User. That fact alone means we can't leave you alone. You could be working for Dio for all we know. Dumb bitch." The delinquent said earning a glare from Chomp. Mitsuru however look triggered with her face red with pure rage. "Excuse me?! Dumb bitch?! Do you want to fight asshole?! You just earned yourself a battle!" Mitsuru roared as Chomp couldn't help but agree.

"Snorlax!" Chomp roared glaring down at the teen. "Old man and the three stooges go to the sidelines. Unless you want to accidentally get caught in the crossfire. It's a one on one battle. As for you Bitchboy, what's your name? Challengers must always give their name to the opponent." Mitsuru said as the 4 men didn't hesitate to get out of her line of fire. The teen looked a bit taken aback by her attitude but merely hid it.

"It's Jotaro Kujo." Suddenly a large buff purple warrior with flowing black hair, gold shoulder pads, black fingerless gloves, capped chim, knee high boots, loincloth and bright ocean blue eyes emerged from the male's body. "And this is my Stand, Star Platinum." Jotaro spoke as Star let out a loud battle cry that sounded like he was shouting 'Ora'. "Mitsuru Toxele and this is my partner Chomp, a Snorlax. I don't know what the hell is a Stand or Stand User but don't think for a second I'm backing down!" Mitsuru shouted as Chomp let out his own battle cry.

"Guy in green. You can start the battle." Mitsuru said as the guy in green or Kakyoin nodded reluctantly. "Let the battle begin!" Kakyoin called although sounding a bit confused. Star Platinum shot forward at Chomp baring a fist for an attack. "Chomp! Block it then counter with Brick Break!" Mitsuru called the Snorlax held his ground arms held up as a shield. Star Platinum let out a barrage of high speed punches shouting ora with every attack.

Despite blocking Chomp definitely felt the powerful hits but didn't back down. His right arm like paw glowed white before slapping Star across the face. Jotaro's face also turned like he got slapped too. 'What the hell? I felt Star's jaw breaking yet mine didn't. I still feel a lot of pain but not as much as I should be.' Jotaro thought as Star skidded across the ground. The Stand got up and fixed its jaw before looking back at Chomp.

Chomp's arms were lightly scratched and with few small bruises. "Holy hell! He took an onslaught of Star Platinum's punches and doesn't look that much bothered! Then that glowing fist looked really painful!" Pole hair or Polnareff called out. "Our turn! Use Gyro Ball!" That got heads turning as Chomp spun on his foot like ballerina before rotating so fast he became a giant ball shaped twister while silver light spun around him.

Star was too confused at the bad logic of the move to avoid Chomp as the Snorlax slammed into him like a heavy metal beyblade. The result? Star Platinum was sent flying into the wooden fence while Jotaro got the air knocked out of him. 'Fuck! That was much stronger than that last attack! Yet, I'm not getting any one of Star's injuries. Is it because her Chomp, this Snorlax isn't a Stand?' Jotaro thought to himself.

He could clearly see that Mitsuru and Chomp were fighting in sync. Almost like that of a Stand and their user but all of her commands had been all vocal. Not mental like how Stands mainly operate. Star Platinum pulled himself from the hole he made and rushed forward at Chomp once more. The Snorlax couldn't block fast enough earning a powerful blow to the head and upper chest. "Chomp!" Mitsuru called out as the Snorlax skidded across the ground but still remained on his feet.

He rubbed his cheek as if imitating wiping blood off his mouth before giving Star an impressed smirk. Chomp definitely was going to have a few bruises but clearly looked happy taking some serious damage. It was understandable for the Snorlax's case since in every battle he fought until now, no physical move barely scratched him. To get this much injuries despite how little it was got the Snorlax all pumped up. "Snorlax!" Chomp roared out.

"You seem to be quite pumped! This battle clearly got you all fired up huh bud? Then let's take it up a notch! Giga Impact!" Mitsuru called out. Chomp suddenly charged at Star Platinum with speed of a rampaging bull as a purple blazing aura and orange light spiralled around the Pokemon. "He's like a giant elephant amongst a large stampede! Get out of the way Jojo!" The top knot haired man or Avdol called out.

Star Platinum attempted to grab Chomp and try to stop his charge but the Snorlax easily overpowered the Stand sending it flying into the air. "Time for you to get a taste of our finisher!" Mitsuru called out revealing a white bracelet that held a blue gemstone with a pawprint on it. "What's that? Some sort of bracelet?" The old man or Joseph asked. "Prepare to get a taste of our Z-Move!" Mitsuru shouted as her and Chomp began to move in sync. "Z-Move??!" All 5 called out at the same time.

They moved their arms to have it make a upward slanted line before moving the upper elbows across forming a Z. Chomp's closed eyes flashed demonically as all 5 men knew nothing good was going to come out of it. "Pulverizing Pancake!!" With those two words Chomp sped off towards Star Platinum faster than a bullet. "OH MY GOD!!! HE'S GOING EVEN FASTER THAN LAST TIME!" Joseph shouted in pure horror.

Mitsuru pointed up with both hands as Chomp leapt high into the air way higher than he should be able to from the guys' point of view. "Yare yare daze." Jotaro said as Chomp body slammed Star into the ground. The crash exploding out huge bursts of dust and dirt creating a large dust cloud. It cleared to reveal Jotaro lying on his back clearly shell shocked by the carnage or the fact his Stand just got fattened by a 200 ton Pokemon.

Chomp picked himself off the ground to reveal a cartoon style pancaked Star Platinum with spirals on his eyes signifying defeat. "Ora…" The poor Stand clearly going feel that in the morning. "That looks so painful! Star Platinum is practically flatter than a piece of paper right now!" Polnareff exclaimed looking at the poor Stand's state. "Luckily all that punishment didn't get reflected onto Jotaro. Apparently battling Mitsuru's Snorlax only made him feel Star Platinum's pain not actually taking it." Avdol deduced clearly intrigued by that fact.

Chomp picked up Star and shook him a bit unflattening the Stand while Mitsuru helped pick up Jotaro. "What do we learn about calling me a dumb bitch for no reason?" Mitsuru asked with a wicked glare in her eyes. "Yare yare daze. To...not do it." Jotaro muttered reluctantly. "Good! I eat this if I were you. You too as well Star and same for you Chomp." Mitsuru said before tossing a yellow almost pear like fruit to Jotaro, Star Platinum and Chomp.

Chomp ate it in one go as his energies faded causing Jotaro and Star to follow his lead. Both had shot up to their feet with a jolt before eating the rest of fast enough that the trainer thought they were going to choke. "Whoa! What kind of fruit is that to make someone like Jotaro eat it if it was his last meal?!" Joseph exclaimed as the other three looked equally both surprised and interested.

"It's a Sitrus Berry. Helps restore the eater's lost energy and heal a good chunk of their wounds. I keep tons of them on me since its Chomp's favorite fruit and in case of emergencies when I'm out of medical supplies." Mitsuru answered not making a big deal out of it. "Keep a bunch of healing berries in your bag? Who in the world even are you?" Kakyoin asked. 

"*sigh* My name is Mitsuru Toxele. I'm a Pokemon Trainer from Monostke City in the Galar Region. This is my partner and first Pokemon Chomp. People at home call me 'Just Desserts' because those who challenge me find out the hard way that they 'took a bite too much.' Guess you can say me and Chomp are out of this world." She said with a smile before high fiving her partner. 'A bite too much indeed.'

Yes. Snorlax can't learn Gyro Ball but this came from a dream of course. As a friend of mine quoted about Chomp: That's one deadly Snorlax.' Move Set is Brick Break, Body Slam(Pulverizing Pancake), Giga Impact and Gyro Ball. If Snorlax can learn Gyro Ball then he'll pretty much bench press the entire game! Have a good Thanksgiving guys!

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 12]

Can we beat the game using Nuzlocke rules and only battling against trainers?

The current answer is leaning towards no. Still, we shan’t give up or in.

Four badges in. Next stop?

Uh. Haven’t decided yet.

So things did not go what I would call according to plan with the Grimer. Ideally, it would have been a higher level than 30. It wouldn’t need me to hold its hand through a bunch of leveling. It would immediately be an asset. Life would be beautiful. Nothing would hurt.

Only it’s level 30.

I have a Ground, Water, Electric, and Normal Type in rotation. Grass has historically been a problem, but it is much less of a problem with a Snorlax. Oak isn’t always the most useful, but he’ll be receiving a huge power boost come Surf collection.

Bark and Trunk are going to be wanting all the Attack EVs I can feed them. Sap is going to want Attack as well. And HP.

Its move pool is a huge plus, and I would be happy to have it available, but to make it available, a lot of switch training would have to happen. When Sprinkle went through that, experience gain dropped to a slow crawl. Sprinkle was only level 25, and at an even later stage in the game, but the approach taken with this round was intended to be geared towards a minimum of pokemon.

Other things to consider would be that in the first run, I lost two pokemon, and a lot of work went into making up for that. The two runs can’t be compared fairly with what levels to expect further down the road. ...I. think.

By the first Elite Four fight, Po was level 46. My highest level pokemon was 49.

It did not go well.

I need this one to go better.

Does it go better with Sap, or does it go better with maxing the heck out of the other four.

I really, really want to use Sap.

Having a status-reliant choice instead of a pure powerhouse makes me more comfortable with everything else. Minimize is good. Screech is welcome. Sludge Bomb is welcome. Acid Armor is welcome. Muk is a kickass thing to have available.

But I’m not sure splitting the exp is going to do me any favors this late in the game. Silph offers a lot of lenience, I guess, but. Cycling Road is going to go to Trunk. So is a lot else, and what doesn’t should help out Bark.

Five pokemon starts to be a lot.

Fuck.

I’m trying it out.

Sap, welcome to the team. Don’t die.

In happier news...

Good job making it this far, buddy.

Route 16, what are we catching here today?

Doduo!

Sap, prove your worth by failing to kill it.

Damn it, Sap. +123 to you and Bark. -_-

Siiiiiigh. I need 30 pokemon for the Itemfinder.

Now Trunk is just going to claim. As much of Cycling Road as possible. Bark will help when possible. ...Or do I want to go deal with Silph? Hey, past me, wtf is the best way of doing this nonsense?

..hm.

I’m going to do Silph for the sheer heck of it, I think. I don’t want to get as far as my Rival yet, but. I don’t know. I’m just not feeling Cycling Road right now. Video games are supposed to be fun, right? Let’s chase some damn fun.

And I don’t think I ever got my Route 7 thing. Let’s do that, too. Hi Growlithe.

SAP WHAT THE HECK. WE WANTED THAT.

Did I misremember how much damage Sludge does???

...

Oh.

Yes.

Yes, I did.

I very much did.

...+130 to Sap and Acorn. -headdesk-

With that in mind, actually, Sap, you and Bark want to try your hands on the dojo next door to Sabrina? Trunk can’t touch any of those guys thanks to the Super Effective problem.

..And Bark can barely touch any of them thanks to her low Defense.

Yeeeeeah, after that short experiment, we’re just gonna go straight to Silph. Where the Rockets are not a thing to be too afraid of.

Beautiful building.

Hellscape place.

...

I don’t wanna do this, either. Uh. South of Lavender, maybe?

Out of order ALL the things.

Route 13, let’s catch a thing.

The thing is a Venonat! We now wait and watch to see if it will end up dead like other recent catches for totally unpreventable reasons.

Caught!

Its name is Oak.

Route 14, in the middle of all these trainers we’re beating down largely out of order.

...Gloom’s technically not viable because Oddish and species clause, but screw it, it’s not going to be used, I’m too lazy to look up what else is here, and I just want this part done and over with. I know that’s really bad form. but. I am not a rules lawyer. once, maybe. not anymore.

Caught. Its name is Oak.

So far with trainers, the way I’m keeping my sanity with exp division is that the Bikers go to Trunk, and Bark and Sap get the Bird Keepers.

It is slow and tiresome. I do not care for thinking when I am playing my video games.

We’re in Route 18 now, and doing the same nonsense to a Raticate. This is it. This is the point. This is where I stop caring about any of the rules except the no grinding thing. Everything else is irrelevant.

Bark ffs. Stop. Sigh.

+414 exp. Route 18 officially dead.

(Also, this looks like I should have known that she would kill it, but Bark still knows Mud Slap. It does as much nothing as anything on my team can. Still not enough nothing when critical hits are involved.)

Good Rod get so that Fuchsia might have a happier ending.

Back in the realm of completely legal catches, we have a Poliwag!

Throwing a Great Ball proves the best strategy. In that it works. Poliwag get! Its name is Oak.

In other, trainer-related news, Sap hits 34 and learns Acid Armor.

We have also cleared out the section of trainers that is not Saffron and not Cycling Road that comes pre-Koga. Naisu.

-time passes-

So, post-Cycling Road, Trunk is level 41, Bark is level 42, Sap is 35, Oak is 37, and Acorn is 40. I think what makes the most sense in terms of safety is to go clear out the Silph building, then deal with the dojo and assorted Gyms.

Unfortunately.

I hate Silph Co.

So, so deeply.

Deep breath time.

Oh, wait, I want Oak to have Surf first. Never mind, we can still delay this party!

Let’s do it.

Hey, and while we’re at it, we have a chance at a Parasect!

-gasp-

We caught it!

Its name is Oak.

I don’t remember if it was me or someone I knew, but as a child, I have distinct memories of the timer flat-lining just a handful of squares away from talking to this guy. It filled me with enough sadness that I think maybe I was the one having the issues.

The Safari Zone is a lot harder when you have no idea what you’re supposed to do or where you’re meant to go.

Oak learns Surf!

We also give the Warden his teeth back, so Strength get.

I’m gonna see about catching a Route 19 thing. Due to it being something I can do that doesn’t involve the Silph building.

Yes, a Krabby. As we learned from Heero’s run, they make for excellent HM slaves.

Caught!

Its name is Oak. Sadly, I think it will be replacing Oak in the party.

Sigh.

I think we’re. back to the sad part.

(Route 17 option: Doduo. Status: caught. Name: Oak.)

UGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.

Granted, it’s much easier without having to record every single fight, but the memories of the most recent time I did this are harsh and painful and I don’t like them.

Several floors later, yeah okay, this isn’t so bad.

I still hate it.

However, I can safely say I know who the best character in the Pokemon multiverse is.

Best. Girl.

She’s on floor 9, future self. Sorry about your life.

Because there are so many vitamins hidden around the building, I’m starting to really panic about how my team is going to handle the final parts of the game. I of course love all my children equally, but losing the first team was rough, and I can’t imagine that I’ll continue to engage with my pokemon on any level if things consistently fall to pieces in the very last sequences.

In a funny way, I think the EV training I’m softly tripping through might be hampering things a little. The balance is more sideways than my usual in-game teams have, because I’m focusing a lot on who’s fighting what. There are no random bursts of Defense being distributed, for instance. Oak is the closest to balance, and that’s because Oak had to do most everything before we had a real team (no offense buddy, you rock).

I don’t know. I’m paranoid. Things did not go well with Heero and friends. I think I want to invest in some of the X [stat] items, you know, like the way of the speedrunner, but the way I usually play these games involves brute force.

Full stop.

I can’t repeat enough how little I enjoy thinking in my video games.

But what that means is that I’m not used to using X items. And spending a turn on something I haven’t spent years of background noise thinking about could have disastrous consequences.

The disaster is something I fear. Clearly.

Sigh. There’s not helping it right now, so. Silph.

LOOK MAN, CONSIDERING THE NUMBER OF TRAINERS I HAD TO BEAT TO GET UP HERE

I kind of love that your Rival doesn’t appear to do anything at all about Team Rocket. He just shows up because hey, Red will be doing the hero stuff over there! Time to throw down!

Then he loses and just goes back to worrying about his League quest.

He’s almost like a real ten-year-old.

Acorn thank you for existing.

Wait. Crap, what deals with the Venusaur? Did I decide to just throw Trunk at that? Because that’s what I’m doing?

Yeah, fine, that works.

I got a Lapras.

Its name is Oak.

Sprinkle, I miss you.

Oh whoops. Acorn’s still in front. I don’t think I want that.

Kangaskhan without a Fighting Type is weird. Not a problem weird, because yay, Trunk exists. But weird. I keep expecting to have something super effective against it.

One Master Ball for me. Yay.

Now off to the dojo.

Where I’m going to try not to get Sap killed by letting him have this fight for great exp. I trust Sap’s moves. I trust the concept of their usefulness. Then I see critical hits and tragedy everywhere.

Sap.

Do not die.

Does my hat look black to you.

Level 37 Hitmonlee.

You know. I have the post that says this involves a level 37 Hitmonlee open in another tab. And yet. This still comes as a horrible shock and my brain is already playing taps for Sap.

!

The pain of one Hi Jump Kick. Not bad. I think we might make it, little guy.

We won!

And no one died!

Yay!

I guess that means it’s time for Koga.

Boo. But we’ll let Trunk punch through. Maybe with Bark, too.

Or Oak can eat a Kadabra. That works.

Trunk makes it through all the pre-Koga peeps with little trouble, and we move on to the man himself.

-gasp-

Awesome. More awesome is how everyone’s still alive. Oh happy day before we go forth and fight Sabrina.

Toxic get.

Trunk is level 46, as seen above. Bark is 44. Acorn is 42. Oak is 41. Sap is 37.

Oak’s job is to eat Sabrina. With any luck, Oak will continue to be a help with Blaine, though Bark and Sap will want some of that sweet exp too.

...Basically, what this all means is that I’ve stopped worrying about most of what’s going on with my team. I’m now just watching the levels and letting my dread run the show.

Dread and Oak. The dream team. Oak’s hit 44. I have faith.

.....Ooookay things are going awry because a Calm Minded Alakazam packs a wallop with Psychic, so I’m switching in Acorn under the assumption that he can survive one Psychic and will outspeed the thing.

Pictures taken just before disaster, fyi.

Houston, we have a problem.

Trunk wraps things up.

But. Uh.

Gyarados damage control is gone.

Acorn is gone.

What even is life without Acorn.

That critical hit would have been the end of Oak. Your oldest friend. I know we both wanted things to go differently, but I’m sure you understand why this is the end result.

I will miss you.

So much.

The lack of your warm presence will be a loss for us all.

I also no longer have something on my team with Thunderbolt, so. The script is no longer clear. I guess I can be less worried about levels, but. This right here might be the end of this round.

With a heavy heart, we head to the oceans where Acorn should have reigned supreme.

And stop Sap from evolving so he can learn Sludge Bomb at 43. Hopefully doing that won’t lead to another unfortunate accident, but if it does happen, I’m sadly resigned to it.

I don’t know how many times Sap has hurt himself in confusion in this fight, but it’s too many.

Then the Tentacruel comes in when this is finally over, and Sap hurts himself in confusion.

Yeah.

Sap’s just eating every single confusion problem of the entire run. He’s taking it all for himself.

But. we. get. through. it. As a family.

Hit Route 20, and now I have a level 8 Tentacool. Its name is Oak.

Supersonic is hitting everything and it is absolutely miserable.

Seafoam Island gives us.... Golbat! Apparently we already had a Zubat, so whoops, but in any case, its name is Oak. And needs to be moved from the D E A D box because whoops.

Does Oak want to learn Fly and help greatly with things not being awful?

Boy howdy do I.

And I am at 30 pokemon in my Pokedex, so it’s time for me to go grab my Itemfinder and Leftovers.

...Oh. Golbat doesn’t learn Fly. Well fine then. Another Oak will help me.

After all.

He is

Oak’s Aide.

Got one Leftovers. Two Leftovers. Awesome.

-many minutes later-

Sap gets Sludge Bomb! Do you know what that means?

Sap! We’ve done it! We’ve kept you alive! You’ve made it through your trying times as a Grimer!

Now let’s go into that non-haunted mansion that makes up most of Blaine’s island’s real estate.

I’m just going to shove Bark in front and. idk. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I’m just waiting for Victory Road, the day of reckoning, and. Maybe better than last time.

Growlithe caught in the mansion. Its name is Oak.

Secret Key get.

Blaine, why must you be so sketchy.

Okay, so for this Gym, I think I’ll be using Sap more than expected. Bark and Oak will deal with a lot of Giovanni, because they don’t have to worry about Ground really causing an extra problem. That makes this a better place for Trunk and Sap to level up. Agreed?

Yeah sure, whatever.

I guess the other thing to consider is if Bark will really be a help in this endeavor.

She’s very, very fast, and will learn Earthquake naturally. But she can’t take a hit, and with the loss of Acorn, I’m thinking what I have to do is just have Trunk, Oak, and Sap tank everything; lots of X items, lots of Full Restores.

Most of the time, Bark can’t afford to take a second hit of anything.

If I really want to optimize, Cutting down to three out of my four might be the better call.

Ugh, that’s such a dangerous number, though.

Sap has an amazing move set. I really could just...

Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, Lance, Rival.

Trunk could probably handle Lorelei. Sap could do the Fighting half of Bruno, and the other half isn’t really a problem. The plan with Agatha was always to teach Po Shadow Ball, but then Zaft needed Thunderbolt, so I couldn’t afford it. Lance is hell, but not one a Dugtrio is likely to improve by much.

I have no idea what to do for Oak.

But if I can set Sap up, a lot of problems become manageable. I can’t brute force this. I keep saying that, and I keep ignoring it because that’s not how I play these games. I need better strategies. Bark’s Attack stat isn’t up to being a glass cannon. She’s a glass rifle, maybe. Fantastic, but eating up resources without serving an extra purpose. She’ll be just as dead in two hits if I keep on giving her exp. Leveling could remove that weakness, but I don’t have anything to work with there.

I have to focus on three.

Damn it.

For now, let’s finish Blaine, shall we.

Got the badge.

Bill Gaiden?

So he says.

So ends the post, because I just can’t.

[yutaslaugh]

hi resa!! for the ask game 💖❤️1,8,18,21,23,43,85, and 94 ! i hope its not too much lol 😂🙈 have a great day!❤️💖💗💕

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? water bottles and coffee mugs!

8. movies or tv shows? 100000% tv shows. movies aren't long enough imo

18. ideal weather? around 25-32ºC ish, no humidity with light breeze 😎

21. obsession from childhood? i had an unhealthy obsession w tamagotchis and pokemon cards and honestly i think i still would if tamagotchis still existed 😭

23. strange habits? i always need to constantly wash/sanitise my hands (even prior to covid), i have to lock/unlock/lock my car multiple times to make sure it's actually locked, i have to move my sliding closet mirror to the side (where i can't see when i'm in bed) before i sleep, and i tend to pull at my hair a lot

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? AHHHH i feel like i'm equal between everything except cardigan! my jacket/jumper collection is basically a rotation of these four hehe

85. fairy tales or mythology? mythology !

94. favourite season? summer :D

send me a number

[epicspheal]

Alright so I was going to make KBDN Valentine’s day Fic and got a nice case of writer’s block...anyways here’s Raihan/Leon fic courtesy of OTP prompt generator. Please check it out on AO3 Or  Title: Midnight Snack Pairing: Raihan/Leon Word Count: 1260

So much has changed for Leon in the past year. He was no longer champion, having been dethroned in a spectacular battle with Hop’s best friend and rival, Calla. Leon now owned Rose’s tower as well as the league thanks to the now former chairman restarting the Darkest Day "for the sake of Galar" (that may have been the dumbest thing Leon ever heard from Rose who was typically a brilliant man). But best of all, Leon had finally moved in with his boyfriend of two years in his castle. Yes, you read that right, Raihan has a castle. Just small things when you’re dating the Duke of Hammerlocke. Of course Leon still kept his penthouse flat up in Wyndon, but finally getting the ornate key to the private quarters of the Hammerlocke Palace on Valentine’s Day was a huge leap forward in Leon and Raihan’s relationship. Of course the media was speculating on a potential royal engagement soon for Galar’s favorite battle couple, but Leon was trying not to think about it too much...

That being said, Leon had picked up one bad habit over the past year- waking up for midnight snacks. Now that Leon ran the league he could set the meetings (no more 5 am meetings because Rose was an early Delibird). That meant he could go to sleep much later. There was also the fact that the new champ would call him at midnight to meet her at the Wyndon cafe to chat and eat cookies. Leon would soon find out her late night habits came from studying for college tests (he was still in awe that little Calla started uni at eight and graduated with a First Honors Chemistry Degree by the age of 12).

Tonight though, Calla had not called him about a new hypothesis she had or battle strategies, but still the need for chocolate chip cookies and moomoo milk came to Leon all the same. So carefully, Leon got out of the luxurious king-sized bed he now shared with Raihan and tiptoed out of the bedroom and into the spacious kitchen. He was very careful to not make any noise as he knew Raihan was a light sleeper.

He made it to the kitchen quietly, being able to pull out some chocolate chip cookies from the trapinch shaped cookie jar Leon had made for Raihan for Valentine’s day.

“Hmm” Leon said as he inspected cookies “I should warm these up in the microwave!” Oh wait...the microwave is loud as fuck Leon thought as he made his way to the appliance in question that beeping will certainly wake Rai-Rai up.

“I just have to make sure I stop it before it beeps!” Leon said as he popped the cookies in the microwave and set the cook time to 30 seconds. The light in the microwave flashed on as the cookies began to rotate on the turntable as the microwave quietly hummed. 30, 29, 28... Leon’s thoughts began to wander as they always did...first to the new champ Calla. Of course she was popular having defeated him after all, but still many in Galar seemed to view her as illegitimate since she used Eternatus in her battle against him. While it did fit her team given the fact she’s a poison type specialist, Eternatus being the Pokemon who almost destroyed the region, there wasn’t much love for the giant space dragon (affectionately named Hemlock by the new champ). Definitely needed to work on some PR for that. 19, 18, 17… Then there was the matter of book club...Cynthia had a new detective’s novel she wanted her fellow champions to read and Leon couldn’t be more excited. He just needed to find the time to read the book in between his Battle Tower Meetings…

13, 12, 11…

Speaking of the Battle Tower...and the league he now ran, he should probably look into going back to school to his masters of business administration. He wants to manage this right...after all Rose had entrusted him with ensuring Galar’s future before being put behind bars….

9, 8, 7...

Also he needed to go back to Postwick soon. He promised Hop they’d go have a brother vacation soon. Between Leon getting possessed by Eternatus and Hop nearly getting mauled by a raging Zamazenta (who he now owned...Go Hop) both the Villalobos brothers realized that life was short and they needed to spend more time with each other... BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! “ ¡ AH MIERDA!” Leon exclaimed, he got lost in his thoughts again. If the beeping of the microwave didn’t wake Raihan out, then Leon’s ill-timed shout definitely did. Leon sighed heavily as he took the cookies out now nice, warm and soft.

Leon heard the footsteps coming from behind and he whipped around to see softly glowing teal eyes focused on him, the pupils narrowed into slits. If Leon were anyone else, they’d think an actual dragon was staring them down (not that there wasn't a grain of truth to it). But Leon knew his Rai-Rai, and that this was just his just-waking-up face

“Lee”

“Rai-Rai! Lo siento, I was trying to be quiet...I just needed a midnight snack” Leon said quickly “my late night cafe sessions with Calla have gotten to me” Raihan looked down to regard the plate of still steaming cookies in Leon’s hands, his pupils dilating at seeing the snack, before looking up to meet Leon’s golden eyes.

“So my favorite snack is holding a bunch of warm cookies, eh” Raihan said with a smirk, revealing the fangs his family had long developed with their centuries of dragon taming.

“I um oh?” Leon replied intelligently as a blush formed on his face. He called me his favorite snack…

“So are ya going to share those with me?” Raihan asked. To that Leon’s face lit up. “Oh of course!” Leon exclaimed as he shoved the cookies into Raihan’s hand suddenly “Let me go get us some MooMoo Milk”

Leon all but ran to the refrigerator to pull out a jug of milk. He came back to Raihan’s side with two cool glasses of milk. The two decided to sit at the counter and enjoy their milk and cookies “These are so delicious warmed up” Raihan said between bites to which Leon nodded Leon’s thoughts began to drift back to Raihan as they always did. Somehow Leon never thought he’d get this far...having resigned himself to pining silently until two years ago when he finally had the courage to ask Rai-Rai out. Now they were living together. And for the last Christmas, Leon actually got to meet Raihan’s parents, the grand duke and duchess of Hammerlocke.

He knew he shouldn’t give too much credence to the tabloids...but it seemed like the signs were there. That maybe just maybe Raihan would be his forever person. Leon marrying a prince (well duke technically). That just made his heart bounce in his chest…

“Lee” Raihan said, snapping Leon out of his thoughts “whatcha thinking about?” “I love you Raihan” Leon blurted out suddenly. Now it was Raihan’s turn to blush “I just love you so much. And I love this. I never thought we’d be here, sharing cookies and milk at midnight...being an actual couple. It just makes me so happy” “Leon” Raihan said softly “I love you too...I’m so glad we’re living together” Little did the two young adults know...that their little midnight snack dates would become a tradition that would last for decades to come.

[thesolaceoftomorrow]

Cute Couple Asks <3

THE BASICS 1. When did you both get together?  Right around middle of high school I believe. 2. Who made the first move? I do believe it was myself. 3. How long have you been a couple? Over two years <3 4. How did you first meet? School.... 5. Were you already close friends before going out as a couple? Oh, goodness no! 6. Are you/Were you ever in the same class at school? Hardly, if he even went to school that is.. 7. Are you long-distance? Not any more!!!!! :D 8. Are you in an open, regular or committed relationship? Committed. 9. Do you live together? Yes!! 10. Are you engaged? If yes, describe your proposal. If no, what ring would you like? Not yet... 11. Are you married? If yes, describe your wedding. If no, would you consider marriage? Not yet.... 12. Which one of you is older? What is the age difference?  I’m  little younger. 13. Which one of you is taller? What is the height difference? We’re similar in height. 14. Do you share any of the same hobbies/interests/passions? Some... 15. What fictional couples would you compare yourselves to? He’s my rugged Prince Charming <3 But Tophy’s more of a tarzan. 16. Sum up your relationship in 6 words or less. Opposites who mesh well. 17. Doodle a little picture of you both as a couple. 18. Describe your relationship using only emoticons. 19. Share a cute photo of you both together. ATTRACTION 20. Top 5 fav things about your partner. He’s resourceful, caring, protective, caring, Adorable 21. Your partner’s top 5 fav things about you. I’m not sure! 22. What physical traits do you find most attractive about your partner? Right now I love his haircut. But I love his muscles and his cute little cheeks and the way he blushes. He’s also got the cutest dimples. 23. What physical traits does your partner find most attractive about you? I know he liked my smile. 24. What personality traits do you find most attractive about your partner? His caring attitude. His love of his animals. 25. What personality traits does your partner find most attractive about you? My mormonnes? 26. Do you hold hands in public? Any other public displays of affection? Yep!! He doesn’t like it all the time, but we do! 27. List your top 3 turn-ons about your partner. That smile of his, his smirk, his knowing attitude 28. List your partner’s top 3 turn-ons about you. My mormon undies. 29. How would you seduce your partner? How would they seduce you? Get in the undies. 30. Innocently or not, where do you like your partner to touch you? ;) 31. Describe your partner’s eyes. Really youthful. They’ve seen things, but still have that glint of life. 32. Describe your partner’s hair. Soft, very soft and silky. Short and tossed just slightly. Neatly trimmed. CLEAN. 33. Describe your partner’s smile. Cute, especially when his teeth show. I love how his teeth are a bit off. 34. What is your partner’s voice like? Rough, rugged. 35. What is your partner’s scent like? Dirt. 36. How does your partner impress you? How do you impress them? Being so mart and outdoors like. He knows thing. And that french thing. 37. What outfit would you like to see your partner in? What would they like to see you wear?  A nice suite and all dressed up! 38. Show your fav picture of your partner that they’ve posted online. ROMANCE 39. Do you have cute pet names for each other? Moo, Tophy, Lou Lou 40. What’s one of your favourite memories as a couple? Seeing him after being away for so long. 41. Describe your favourite date so far? The Mormon Carnival we did <3 42. What’s the sweetest thing that your partner’s ever done for you? Take care of me when I was sick. 43. Do either of you get jealous? He does. 44. Is one of you protective of the other? Yes. 45. How do you both like to kiss?  Yes!! 46. How do you both like to cuddle?  I do. 47. What’s a gift that you’ve given to your partner? And one they’ve given to you? Giraffee plushes, and he gave me this cute dog that looked like my dog Badger!! 48. Are you an openly mushy couple or a reserved couple? I like to think mushy.. Lol. 49. Does one of you like to cook for the other? He can cook. I can, slightly. 50. Do you have unique ringtones/images for each other on your phones? Of course!!! 51. Have you ever had your initials written on a tree or in the sand? Yes... 52. What’s “your song”? God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You- Nsync 53. Do you own any items that are a special symbol of your relationship? Yes <3 54. What did you both do for Valentine’s Day? I couldn’t call him.... 55. Do you express your love lavishly or discreetly? Lavishly. 56. What’s the funniest thing you can remember your partner doing? Insulting one of the religious people at church. 57. Does thinking about your partner still give you butterflies? Yes 58. What’s the weirdest part of your relationship? His worms in his pockets. BEING TOGETHER 59. Fav things to do together on a rainy day? Cuddle in blankets 60. Fav things to do together on a sunny day? Pool Days 61. Got any plans together for next week? Some. 62. What’s your favourite thing to share together? Everything <3 63. What did you do for your partner’s latest birthday? What did they do for yours? I was away :( 64. Where would you like to go on holiday together? France 65. You have a whole weekend to yourselves and 500 in cash- what do you do? Lots. 66. How would you comfort your partner on a bad day? How would they comfort you? the mormon undies. 67. Where would you both get takeout together?  Pizza and Movies. 68. What’s the longest time you’ve been apart? 2 years. 69. What things remind you of your partner? What things remind them of you? Dirt. 70. Has your relationship changed at all since it first started?  He’s gotten more gentle. 71. Have you ever worked on a project together? No. 72. Have you both influenced each other in any way? I like to think he’s more gentle because of me. 73. Have either of you made sacrifices for this relationship? Yes. 74. Has you discovered anything surprising about your partner? His scary is all an act. 75. How have you both made a positive impact on each other’s lives?  I’d like to think. 76. What do you both mutually agree is the most important part of your relationship? Hm, I’m not sure EVERYDAY LIFE 77. What are the everyday things you both do to show you care about each other? Cute little kissies 78. Do you follow each other’s blogs/twitter/instagram?  Yes. 79. Is there a favourite place that you both frequently go to together? Yeah 80. What TV shows do you like to watch together? Food Network, Drama Shows. 81. How do you relax together? Cuddles 82. What sleep positions do you tend to sleep together in? Normal. 83. Do you borrow each other’s clothes or other items? Yes, I try to wear his clothes sometimes. 84. Do you ever share the bathroom together? Yes. 85. How do you both keep in touch when you’re away from each other? Yes!! 86. Do you share secrets between each other? no. 87. Do you rotate house chores or do you each have assigned chore duties? We share duties. 88. Do you remember how your partner takes their coffee/tea/bar drinks? Black,  with vodka. 89. What does your partner think of your Tumblr?  He likes it. 90. What characters do you play as together when playing multiplayer games? He’s not really into video games. COMPATABILITY 91. Are you both introverted/extroverted or opposites?  Both. 92. Who is the more dominant/submissive one?   We mix. 93. What are some major differences between you both? My faith, and his non. 94. When are you both “in your element” together? Alone. 95. Who would win in an arm-wrestling contest? Mole 96. What are each of your zodiac signs and how do they compare? 97. What are each of your MBTI types and how do they compare? 98. What are each of your Hogwarts houses and how do they compare? 99. If you were both in a dating sim, what character tropes would each of you be? 100. If you were both animals what would you be? Would you be the same animal?  he would be a giraffe, me a dog. 101. How does your partner’s wardrobe differ from yours?  Mine is cleaner. 102. Have you ever both said something at the exact same time?  yes! 103. Rate your relationship on a scale of basic vanilla (1) to extremely kinky (10) 7. 104. Mix your fav colour with your partner’s fav colour- what is the result? Brown-Blue. 105. If you were both ingredients, what would each of you be and what would be the resulting recipe? (e.g. PB & jelly sandwich)  Dirt pie, 106. Which of you would win in a Pokemon battle? Assign yourself and your partner a fitting Pokemon type (e.g. water, grass, poison etc). Are either of you super effective against the other? CONFLICT 107. What happens when you argue with each other? How do you both make up?  He cools off. 108. What’s something that your partner does that annoys you? How do you annoy them?  Worms in the pockets. 109. What are some imperfections that you love about your partner?  All of them. 110. What are some imperfections that your partner loves about you?  Hopefully all? 111. Has your partner ever accidentally hurt you? Have you accidentally hurt them? Accidentally, yes. 112. Is there anything about you that your partner just doesn’t understand?  Mormon things. 113. Is there anything about your partner that you just don’t understand?  Some of his French things. 114. When was the last time you cried about your relationship and why? On my trip, because I missed him. 115. What is something you love that your partner hates?  God. 116. What is something you hate that your partner loves? Dr. Phil. 117. When was the last time you had to apologise to your partner and why? Lying about  my coming home. 118. Do either of you get too clingy?  I don’t think so. 119. Do you have any insecurities about your relationship?  Sometimes 120. When was a time that your relationship was put to the test?  My trip. 121. What would your partner have to do to make you end the relationship? Nothing. RELATIONS 122. Does your family approve of your relationship? Not much. 123. What do your friends think of your relationship?  Confused. 124. How do you both act together around others as opposed to when you’re alone together? More conservative. 125. How did you first reveal to people that you were going out? Make out in the fall. 126. Do you think you and your partner look similar to each other? No. 127. How does your partner treat you special compared to everyone else in their life? Yes. 128. Do you both have a mutual friend group, or only separate friendship groups?  Were both just kind of both of us. 129. What’s a common misconception about your relationship? He’s not nice. 130. Has your relationship affected any of your relations with others? Possibly. 131. Has anyone tried to sabotage your relationship? Families. 132. Quote something somebody has said about your relationship. “This game needs to stop.” 133. Quote something somebody has said about your partner.” He’s not of God, Gareth.” FUTURE 134. What do you hope for the future of your relationship? A life with him. 135. If you both got married, what would you want your wedding to be like? Nice. 136. Can you imagine what your ideal home would look like? Large yard, nice fence. 137. Do you have kids/want to have kids? What would they be like? Yes. 138. If you could do anything for your partner what would you do? Give him the world. 139. Do you think you’ll still be together when you’re old and wrinkly? I hope. 140. Got any relationship advice? No.

@suckthisbaguette

[animedelivered]

Anime Central 2017 Review

This year Anime Central celebrated their 20th anniversary, being the strongest, biggest midwest convention there is. Fans from just about everywhere come to this milestone anime convention, to share their passion for anime, cosplaying, hobbies, arts, games, interests, and just about everything a convention can have.

Location

Since 1997 the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Rosemont Convention Center, has been Anime Central home, giving it 18 year at this location. Acen (for short) is still expanding and making the most of the space from both venues. With tons of hotels surrounding the Rosemont Convention Center, you don’t have to worry about Acen being booked, but if you are looking to room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, you will need to book the day they are released. That’s right, this convention is so popular, the main venue hotel sells out within minutes! You want to be sure to stay connected to #AnimeCentral social medias to recieve up to date posts.

If you are not rooming in the hotel and you’re just a local, the option of taking public transit train is a block away. If you are looking to drive there, parking was available just about everywhere, from hotel garages to train station parking. Driving to AnimeCentral, your best bet would be to park at the Blue line train station, not only is it cheap but, you are able to leave and come back when you want. Unlike the garage parking provided for the hotels, once you’re out, its risking finding the same parking spot or being full.

Wasn’t thinking about packing food for the weekend? It’s ok! the Hyatt Rosemont has 2 restaurant, 1 being the bar/grill and the other being a buffet restaurant. Need something really fast and don’t want to wait for your food? They have that too! The Hyatt offered a discount for Acen attendees on Lunch and Dinner tables, where you can grab what you like and pay at the register. Didn’t like what they offered? Just outside the Hyatt, food trucks were also available, with staple foods like: hot dogs, burgers, tacos, salads, ice cream, pizza, etc. If non of this fancies you, taking a drive out or if you prefer walking within 2 miles, Chain restaurants were also available. If you need food now and don’t want to leave your hotel room, the Hyatt provides menus for places in the area that deliver to the hotel, and bring it to your room! You can never go hungry at Anime Central.

Registration

This year registration ran smoothly with some enhancements into place. People lined up hours in advance to pick up their badges, or to purchase at the door. They had everyone sectioned off in groups, pick up badges, buying a badge with a debit/credit card, buying a badge with cash, will call, and people that had their badges mailed to them. Giving everyone many ways to getting in and out of registration with out guessing what-is-what and “where am i suppose to go?”

We purchased our badges in advance and waited at the will call line. Once at the booth you were greeted with a staff member asking for an ID and a barcode, which was given to us via email at purchase. They scanned your bar code and Handed you a beautiful badge with your name sticker on it. Landyards, guidbooks, and bags were being handed out in front of registration, but theses weren’t just any grab bags, these were limited edition convention backpacks! Sentai Filmworks was also handing out these colorful bags to the first 10 thousand people who attended Acen.

This was the first time a convention of this size handled registration so well in our experience! We hope other conventions take note on what Anime Central has going on. 😉

Dealer Room

A convention is not complete without a dealer room, which Anime Central perfects so well each year. Bringing the veteran and new set of booths to the con for attendees to surround. Upon entering the dealer room, we are in Awe with big named companies. Big booths such as, Crunchyroll, Aniplex, Funimation, Good Smile Company, Sentai Filmworks, Sekai Project, Kotobukiya, Viz Media, and tons more. Anime Central merch booth was located in 2 areas of the dealer room this year. The usual booth located by the entrance of the dealer room, and the newest addition was located towards the center of the dealer room. Showing off all of Acens merchandise in glass cases from old to new. Providing a media deck giving the best bird eye view of just about all of the dealer room. Under it were backdrop of their mascots photo-ready for everyone that likes to take selfies and group pictures to remember this amazing event!

This years dealer room was set up a little bit different, as we mentioned the bigger companies at the entrance, but the right side of the dealer room upon entering was the artist alley. Rows and rows of unique work done by the artist themselves, in one room! Given the location of the artist alley, it was set up to have its very own entrance as well, giving attendees easy access right into the artist alley. Towards the end of the artist alley, Visiting convention booths were available for attendees to purchase advance tickets to their convention. Up next, was a section for cosplayers! Anime Central provided photo scenes for cospalay gatherings as well for their attendees. We hoping Acen provides more photo scenes to the venue all around for other photo gatherings, this something we have not seen at any other convention and love the idea.

Right next to the cosplay photo scene, was a company that was a first for this years convention, called Bang-Zoom!  With a medium size stage, as well as seats and tables for people to enjoy the show. This wasn’t just any show, Bang-Zoom! is actually a big deal for people that are interested in voice acting. They offered auditions for an anime called March Comes in like a Lion. Yes you heard correctly, Bang-Zoom! is giving the chosen winner tickets to fly to California to their recording studios to help dub the anime. Hoping this isn’t just a one time opportunity, we would love to see more of Bang Zoom! coming to Anime Central, giving inspiration to anyone attending the con and those around the area the chance to fulfill their dreams of being a voice actor.

To the right of their stage, you are faced with tons of Exhibitors with just about everything you can think of to purchase. If you are a figure collector, like ourselves, the exhibit hall is just for you. Sellers with old and rare to find items, as well as new and must have things. Aside of figures, sellers catered to just about everyone, from furry accessories,K-pop merch, Swords, Anime posters, kawaii plushies to hentai.

Held at the Rosemont Convention center, the venue provided lots of food, beverages, alcoholic drinks, and desserts. If fast food wasn’t your thing, within the convention hall, their restaurant was open for you to sit down and enjoy.

We truly love and enjoyed the convention hall, the dealers, the artist alley, and the photo scenes provided, and full heartily recommend checking out the dealer room on your next visit.

Panels

A Convention isn’t a convention without Panels! Every year Anime Central is loaded with panels, with just about any subject you can think of, even non anime related discussions. Panels such as: Godzilla vs Anime, Her legs are how long?, How to make you’re very own video game, Anime improve comedy, Waifu Wars 3D, Whose Line is it Anime, Sports Bras Over Athletic Cups, and tons of others including 18 plus panels, for the adults that enjoy the entertainment.

With over 200 plus panels going on through out the weekend at Anime Central,  it can be hard to decide what to do. For new attendees we recommend checking out main panels like the Masquerade, where talented cosplayer walk on stage and show off their work and craftsmanship to bring the character to life.

We noticed something might have changed this year regarding the panels held at night,  there weren’t any panels scheduled to start after 1am. Previous years at Acen had held panels going on almost all night until the next morning. Leaving you the option of checking out the video programming, video game or board game room if you were looking for late night activities.

Our favorite main event at ACEN has always been the Masquerade and this year’s was special in its hosting format. In a tribute to the legacy of ACEN on its 20th anniversary, the event rotated between several sets of MC’s during different stages of the show. This was a wonderful way to convey the love and dedication that the staff has had for this convention and it’s attendees for the past two decades. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and meet some new(older?) ones to get a grasp on how ACEN came to be and has continued to grow through the years as the reins were passed down to newer generations.

Once the show got started proper, the walk-on section started and we were able to see the best-of-the-best cosplay on stage! Right out of the gate there were several larger cosplays from Escaflowne, Gundam and Pokemon to get everyone excited. They were quickly followed by droves of smaller but no less impressive costumes with a few notable standouts from Overwatch, Suisei No Gargantia and Metal Gear Revengeance (personal favorite!).

Next up was the performance section which is comprised of many skits for attendees to show off their creativity. As with every year, there were some cleverly designed plays dealing with the hottest crazes in the anime and gaming scenes and a couple of misses. That said, it was easy to tell everyone on stage put forth their all into every song, dance or play making the entire experience enjoyable as a whole. A good time indeed!

There was also a performance piece and memorial video done specially to honor a member of the ACEN staff that had passed earlier in the year to honor her love and commitment to the cosplay scene and conventions.

All in all it was a fantastic reminder of all the things we love about ACEN and the people that make it happen. We’ll be patiently waiting to see what pops up next year!

Video Game / Tabletop

Leading into the Video Game Room, Acen has surprised us this year with a massive game room brought together by 3 companies for all the attendees at Anime Central!

Tokyo Attack providing all your favorite rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution, Taiko Drum Master arcade, Dance Evolution, Pop n Music, Sound Voltex, Jubeat, Pump it Up, Beatmania. As well as other arcade games such as, Fighting Climax Ignition, Silent Scope Bone Eater, Initial D Arcade, and Super Table Flip.

World 9 Gaming provided consoles dating back to Atari to current generation consoles, PC LAN gaming, and a vast library of games.

Lastly Pachinko Fever, who brought about a dozen of Japanese pachinko machines for the attendees to try.

Sounds like a lot? It was! Which is why the game room was moved to the Rosemont Convention Center. Taking the walkway from the Hyatt hotel, it was just towards the very end on the left entry where you would find the game room, there is no way you can miss it, music and lights were booming as if there was a dance party going on. Upon entering you see a hallway of arcade cabinets and a few pinball machines. Moving forward you enter the mother load of all games, with retro consoles, the PlayStation VR, tons of DDR games, Rock Band  with a dedicated stage, 3 projectors showing the tournaments going on, almost at each corner.

This years game room was by far the best we have seen out of all convention we’ve been to the past years. We highly recommend checking out the game room when attending Anime Central!

Guest

Anime Central brought phenomenal guests this year, which featured:

• DJ Amaya • Daniel Coglan • Jillian Coglan • Crispin Freeman • Toru Furuya • Gacharic Spin • DJ HeavyGrinder • Imeruat • Eric Maruscak • May’n • Helen McCarthy • Emily Neves • Final Fantasy – A New World • Tony Oliver • Putumayo • Micah Solusod • John Swasey • TeddyLoid • Alexis Tipton • Shinichi Watanabe • Lisle Wilkerson • Mamoru Yokota

A huge combination of international and local guests, to bring us the best of the best! Our highlight was seeing Crispin Freeman, which whom we haven’t meet in a very long time. He is a voice actor known for many roles such as popular series, Naruto, Hellsing, Ghost in the Shell, Big O, Slayers, Chobits, Last Exile, and Witch Hunter Robin. Not only is he well know in Anime industry, but in the Video game too! You can hear his work in Diablo 3 as the male wizard, Helios the Sun God in God of War, and in Transformers: War of Cybertron. He is a very knowledgeable and down to earth kinda guy, and is happy to give advice to just about everyone seeking a career in voice acting.

Another guest we had targeted this year was the craziest of crazy! A man who made an anime with himself as a character in the show called Excel Saga, non-other than Shinichi “Nabeshin” Watanabe. He directed Excel Saga, Nerima daikon Brothers, and Puni Puni Poemy. Just like the anime he produces, he aims to make the audience laugh and have fun, he is approachable and fun to be around, though his English isn’t great, he tries to communicate to his fans and does his best to make you smile. He also held a panel showing off some of his work and some we didn’t know he was a part of.

Our next guest we were super excited to check out was Teddy Loid, a music/DJ artist who performed his work at Hardcore Synergy, also known as the Friday Rave. Very timid kinda of guy in person, but as soon as he gets in the notion of his performance, he shines and shows his rhythm. Which brings us to our next topic to talk about it, the rave!

Rave

One of most popular event at Anime Central is the Rave, like the previous year, Acen sold separate Rave badges for those that were only interested in dancing, listening to music or just enjoy the light show. Every single year the line for the rave just gets bigger and bigger, people lining up hours in advance just to be up close to the stage where you can check out  Acens guest as they put on the best music they have created. Bringing DJ’s from Japan like TeddyLoid! Best known for producing music for Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Mekakucity Actors, Popular video Me! Me! Me!, Mugen ***Knights, and Wrecking Crew Orchestra. Another guest of honor is Taku Takahashi, who is part of another group called M-Flo. The group escalated the popularity charts by selling 2 million copies of their soundtrack. Given already the fame, Taku is well known for remixing music for prominent artist across several genres!

We were lucky enough to experience Japan awesome DJ’s all in one roof! The rave is an main event to not miss!

Closing Remarks

We thank Anime Central for giving us the opportunity to enjoy the convention as members of the Press. The opportunity to talk in a more intimate setting with their guest of honor is always the best part.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time and experience at Acen, and every year we are given something to “wow” about. We can not wait to see what Acen will be bring us next year! 🙂

Please be sure to check out our Anime Central gallery for more photos on the event!

Anime Central 2017 Convention Experience:

**Update** A total of 30,221 attendees for 2017

Anime Central 2017 Review was originally published on AnimeDelivered.com