#i have just as much fun playing new pokemon snap

[deactivated898247839archive]

palworld having pokemon ripoffs sucks not bc i like nintendo or feel any sort of loyalty to the pokemon franchise but because its boring. the gravest sin a game dev can commit is making an integral piece of their game boring to look at. thats just a fucking wooloo. its boring

"weh weh i hate gamefreak" ok me too. which is exactly why i dont wanna play a game that looks like gamefreak made it

[catmask]

genuine question – and i hope it doesn't come as weird – but how do get into...pokemon? </3

pokemon universe feels so big and there are so many games and i really like their designs – both for pokemons and trainers – making ocs in this setting would be so cool but i have no idea how to. begin!

could you give some advice?

ps leaving compliments for your comic and art in general!! i really like how your pieces are so colorful! gives the vibes of some small but cozy and fun town in a videogame..

no worries!! it seriously depends on what you are interested in - gamewise, region wise, and story wise.

heres what i can say. if you like typical top-down style pixel art rpg games where you solve tile puzzles and build a little team of monsters, any of the games before x and y is a good choice. platinum is a great introduction to the series because it doesn't baby you but is still decently difficult, heartgold/soulsilver are the 'coziest' games imo but may spoil you because of how much content there is, black/white and black/white 2 are the most story-driven of the games and bw2 is probably the longest play of all the games. emerald is also great, but its genuinely a hard game even as someone whos been a fan of the series for years. i would say to start with hgss because they're my favorites, but they're so good it might raise the bar too high for all the other games pixel-art games.

if you prefer 3D graphics, but still like the 'run around catching guys and solving tile puzzles', i think sun and moon are the best of the 3D games! the story is engaging and a little more modernized so that there are actual cut scenes, i think the pokemon available are cute and the region is really pretty. i thikn after that, x and y is pretty cute! the story is less strong in comparison to sun/moon. importantly; every game in the 3D era has a new type that was not present in the pixel art era - the fairy type, so if you want to learn the MODERN type chart and balances, the 3D games are where you'd need to start.

finally, if you're not a fan of the 'catch pokemon run around region' type games, pokemon has a LOT of really awesome spin off games. my favorites are as follows...

pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of sky. its the strongest story the pokemon company has ever written, and im a big fan of the mystery dungeon style gameplay.

pokemon ranger (any ranger game!) the story and graphics are cute, and it focuses on rescuing/rehabilitating pokemon more than capturing them. really lovely expansion of the pokemon universe.

pokemon go, because its free! so if you dont want to download a rom, or sink money into a new franchise, its an easy way to get into it.

pokemon snap - this was actually my very first pokemon game i ever played! (never owned it though heha) but there was just a remake for the switch, if you've got a switch that is. the game focuses on photographing pokemon in their natural habitat, and its really quite cute. slow paced and fun if you're not sure about battling yet.

finally... if you weren't looking to get into games at all, pokemon art + fan creations are personally my favorite things in the entire fandom! artists and writers and fangame devs are the people who hold this fandom up, engaging with their creations is a great and typically free way to involve yourself... im sorry this is so long, i hope this helps!! and ppl are free to add on to this hehe

[talesfromthebacklog]

Tales From The Front Log: Endless Ocean Luminous

5/10

This was a $30-$40 game labelled as a $60 one. It’s fun but after a day or two you’ll find yourself quickly bored. Yikes. I don’t have a lot of nice things to say about this one. I’m not angry at it, but I’m just going to lay it all out as it is.

Endless Ocean suffers from what I consider to be the worst thing that can happen to a game. It’s just… not much to talk about. It’s largely nothing. Good games will be remembered. Bad games will also be remembered. Maybe not made again, but we still talk about trite like Superman 64.

Nothing games? No one talks about. Which is sad because I love games like this, but I don’t see this as a franchise Nintendo will continue to make because no one from the casual sphere will be asking for it after this. (And despite what many folks believe, you need casuals to buy games like this from companies like Nintendo to convince the corpos that they are still worth making).

Let’s talk about this ocean diving game and where it went wrong.

Firstly the story-mode. Hate it. The story itself is very… okay. Nothing special but serviceable. My big problem is the progression. It’s locked behind doing TONS of exploring instead of just letting players enjoy the story at the pace they want to enjoy it! (Probably because players would finish it in a matter of hours and put it down forever because it would have little left to offer. The replay value is nonexistent and there is no incentive to play longer.)

Additionally the only person who ever speaks is your AI computer companion and I could not care less about anything that thing says. It’s dull and lazy. All the divers just flail around. You’re telling me we can have special magic fish which I can suck the light out of to save magic coral, but no communicators so the divers can actually speak to each other? Okay💨.

I’m being harsh here. But when I see a $60 price tag with Nintendo’s name attached I expect more than this. And while I am going to get into the stuff I like it’s hard to ignore to mediocre nature of the game.

For example this game is just… empty. It feels weirdly lifeless despite being heavily populated by fish. Probably because they don’t feel like they’re really there sometimes. You can swim right through nearly all the models. The maps are huge but I actually think this is a disservice because they largely don’t do anything interesting with them. There aren’t many different biomes to visit randomly, you can’t interact with anything other than treasures that just give you nearly meaningless currency. It’s just diet New Pokemon Snap. And Pokemon Snap arguably does the job much better despite being on rails.

And the more I think about it… the more I realize that it really does have a LARGE amount of similarities with New Pokemon Snap in terms of story and function. Even down to the luminescent giant creatures! I would almost say if you want the Endless Ocean: Luminous experience of wandering around looking at stuff you should just go play that. The environments are prettier, Pokemon react to your presence, Pokemon react to each other, you interact with environment, you get items, and you get tons of unique biomes. Or just play the original Endless Ocean games because they’re way better.

In Endless Ocean: Luminous you’re just kinda dropped off in a big blue pool. The water even looks kinda hazy when you’re in it. There’s no weather, no sunsets, no beautiful ocean moonlit nights. Just… big blue planes of nothing. And there are fun places to explore sometimes. Like ruins, old ships, some caves, and the depths. This is in the minority though.

In majority there’s big flat sand planes of fucking blue nothing. With rocks. And you’ll spend more time there than you will anywhere else. Especially in multiplayer.

That’s all you really do in Endless Ocean: Luminous. You wander around and look at shit. Which I like games like this in theory. Outer Wilds and Paradise Killer are also “look around” games. But they also have compelling narratives and gimmicks to keep players hooked. And I’m not arguing it’s not fun to poke around in Endless Ocean: Luminous. I did have a fun time swimming around. I’m just also saying you’ll get bored quick.

This extends to the multiplayer. Which boils down to who can wander around and look at everything the fastest. That’s it. You’re given emotes but players rarely interact with each other and are given basically no incentive to. I guess you can join the mode to feel less lonely. It’ll get you through the story mode quicker than working on your own.

I just… additionally one of the big selling points was you could be with up to 30 people in a room but this isn’t quite true. It’s up to 10 random people. The other TWENTY you need to have friends or join a stream. And practically NO ONE was streaming this on Twitch ON LAUNCH. The amount was painfully low for a Nintendo IP. I wasn’t expecting Mario numbers but it was kinda pathetic. 🤷‍♀️ I was genuinely disappointed. The large amount of players in one room sounded fun.

But at the same time 10 players on one map can actually be too much at times and leave little for players to do as you witch hunt for the one fish that hasn’t been scanned. A weird conundrum.

So… what did I like about this game??? I did mention I would talk about stuff I liked.

The variety of fish was good. I like that all the fish got factoid excerpts that could be read aloud. Though I’m irked I can’t play the verbal explanation and look around at the same time. While the game is very basic it’s still fun to poke around and look at stuff! There is interesting stuff to look at. I appreciate the fantasy elements.

I like the idea of the fish bosses you have to lure out. Though I wish luring them out required learning about the fish and using something special for that fish to get them to reveal themselves. They want it to be a big grand event but it’s really not.

The fish models actually look really good and detailed. If you know your ocean life you can properly identify the fish for what they are. As someone who loves ocean life this actually matters to me quite a bit. Weirdly enough I’m disappointed the plant/coral life was lacking. It would’ve been a good way to add to the catalogue. Might just be a me thing but ocean plants are as equally interesting as the fish.

I appreciate that there’s no combat. As I don’t have a strong spine for ocean horror. (I have to play Subnautica with creature aggression turned completely off.).

Fish companions. Great choice. Being able to unlock bigger fish friends over time and respecting their dive capacity was also a great choice. My favorite ended up being the starfish since they could just attach to your tank. Too cute. (Though… we needed urchins in the game too. Just saying…)

Actually. This leads me to another real niche nitpick. We can have fantasy fish but the all the plants outside of the World Coral are BLAND normal ass plants??!?

*Flips table*

MORE PLANTS and CORAL GOD DAMMIT. I WANT TO LOOK AT PRETTY PLANTS WITH MY PRETTY FISH. It’s not a lot to ask! I want Subnautica level plant decoration even if it’s on a budget. Barbie Ocean Discovery has more COLOR in the background for Christ’s sake.

*Ahem*. Sorry. Ocean stuff is a hyper fixation, but I promise I’m not actually mad. Ha ha. Can you imagine?

The customizable avatar and emotes is… cute. Really. I swear. But you likely won’t last long enough to unlock anything truly complex before moving on.

The idea of events is cute, but don’t mean much. It’s largely just increased rates for rare creatures to appear. Eh.

In short Endless Ocean: Luminous is a fairly empty game with a LOT of padding for $60. You can tell they wanted a cozy game that players would play for longer than a few days, but you likely won’t. I’m not going to argue it’s valueless to pick up. I’m just going to say that you deserve to not buy it at the price Nintendo wanted us to buy it at.

Buy it on sale and just accept it for what it is.

[itsmewahoo]

some of my thoughts on my personal fav pkmn rivals. i genuinely like all the rivals just some i like more than others

Nemona - It could be recency biased but I really love Nemona. She has a nice balance of challenging you but still encouraging you to become stronger. She is already a champion and has already completed her victory road journey. She loves to battle and is a prodigy but she's so strong that her peers are just too afraid of battling her and she's too afraid of crushing someone too. She sees your potential and starts over from the ground up by making a new team, even picking a starter weak to yours to challenge herself and grow alongside you.

Kieren - Again this might be recency biased but Kieren is such a strange rival. He's a strange anomaly. It doesnt help that his sister babied him (carmine shows her love in a roundabout way but she did lie to him) and later on a teacher encourages his mean behavior. He wanted so badly to be the main character, he envies you so much and after you (unwillingly) lie to him about meeting Ogrepon (the legendary pkmn that he idolizes) Ogrepon chooses you to catch her over him he becomes obsessed with beating you. This is very not much not the formula for a rival and I really dig it. He started off really meek and wanted to be your friend, then wanted to be like you then wanted nothing more than to humiliate you. He does see the error of his ways eventually but its wild to see a friendly rival become more unhinged and mean as the story goes on.

Gladion - I love Gladion. It might be in the minority but I absolutely love the characters in Sun/Moon and the Ultra games. Gladion is sort of a good balance between being very intimidating and also being a good friend once you get to know him. Just like his predecessor, Silver he steals a pokemon but not out of malice but because he saw this pokemon being experimented on and trapped like him. He feels a connection to Type:Null and does his best to tame it (the tears on his clothes prove how much of a challenge it was). He can be very harsh as well when Hau doesnt take battling seriously and just likes having fun and he criticizes Hau for it. And his harshness is proven right when Hau wasnt able to protect Lillie from being kidnapped. But Gladion also has his shortcomings like being way too serious. He wants to get stronger to protect his sister and snap his mother back to her senses and when he sees how strong you are to protect Lillie he acknowledges and respects you. Idk I think the sun/moon cast are really great especially Lillie but shes not a rival lol

Silver (specifically HeartGold/SoulSilver iteration bcs they fleshed out his backstory more than the original) - Now I'm not too into mean rivals but I think Silver does it in a really good way. (This is coming from someone who has no nostalgia for gen 1 and 2 despite growing up playing the games) He starts off so awful. He steals his starter, disregards his pokemons feelings and health and the ppl around him but you get to learn why. He's the son of Giovanni and was abandoned and treated poorly so it's no wonder he has this cynical attitude. By beating him once and for all you prove to him that the bonds of your pokemon are what make you a powerful trainer. By beating him he betters himself as a person and a trainer and I love that.

Honorable mentions - I also really like the BW/BW2 rivals. N is like an exception. N is on another level. Not a rival but a very important person in the player's journey

[cyaniiiide]

Pokemon Violet Thoughts

Pokemon Scarlet/Violet spoilers below!!

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I did not expect to like this game as much as I did omg. I saw a lot of criticism, and while valid, the game is still very very very fun. (Tbf it'd be pretty hard to mess up a Pokemon game though!!)

Honestly, this might be one of my favorite storylines out of any Pokemon game? I've played through most of the Pokemon games (except Coliseum, Snap, Legends Arceus) + only got through half of SwSh and SuMo, but I know what happens in the Gen 7 and 8 storylines. BW/BW2's storyline was more consistent in terms of quality (SV has higher highs and lower lows imo), and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is amazing too, but it follows predictable patterns and its main strength lies in its characterization rather than its actual plot. I haven't played Legends Arceus yet so that's still up in the air (though I hear it's good!)

I really enjoyed the reveal that the Professor Turo we knew was actually an AI, and exploring the Great Crater with our friends from school was so endearing and fun. The Great Crater itself looked incredible -- the design and the music really contributed to its otherworldly ambiance. Even reading the Violet Book made me really excited -- but then again, I've always been a sucker for stories of adventure. I would kill to have a Made in Abyss style anime of Heath's expedition into the Crater...

The characters in this game feel really alive, too -- Pokemon games have definitely stepped up their game in that regard. I liked Nemona the most (and how self-aware, yet incorrigible she is lol), and most of the teachers. ❤️

Miriam is such a sweetheart, and Hassel's sobbing whenever he was proud of us was so cute haha. Salvatore didn't speak to me as much, but I enjoyed his mini-storyline of befriending a Pokemon that didn't really speak, and him being completely understanding (as a languages teacher) that sometimes you don't need to speak the same language, or even a language to communicate with others around you. His entire character is such a vibe, too?? He's so happy and upbeat, and his advice about trying to learn the languages of places you go to and complimenting other people (especially their culture, food, etc.) is so real. Miriam being motivated by our dedication in the Treasure Hunt to pursue her own certification was sweet, I've definitely felt that way before as well (being motivated by the efforts of others, that is. ;o;)

Raifort I didn't connect to as much, but I appreciate her zealousness towards history. Her overall personality was pretty fun. xD I really really did enjoy the story about the ruinous treasure Pokemon, though -- one of my favorite (if not favorite) legendary Pokemon stories now. I've always loved fairytale-esque stories, and the designs of these Pokemon (especially Chien Pao and Chi Yu) are amazing. Their battle music is one of the best things I've ever listened to, so there's that too. xD

NPC designs have also stepped up (Grusha and Rika are so hot LOL), but player customization has taken a step back which was very disappointing to find out. And much as I loved Pokemon ScarVio overall, I do understand where a lot of the grievances people had came from.

I don't consider myself a genwunner (far from it lol) but many of the new Pokemon designs just felt... lacking? Like beta designs. Flamigo, Tandemaus, Palafin, Pawmot. Some of these are probably just personal preference so I won't harp on this too much, but eh.

Arven's storyline also didn't speak to me as much but that also just kind comes down to personal preference.

Something I also didn't like as much was the Team Star storyline -- it felt kind of contrived, and like it was really trying to make us feel bad for the area leaders. I also didn't care for Penny that much, although her interactions in the Great Crater area made up for it.

I would've rather we had a proper villainous team this generation instead of getting Team Star, but I guess then it would've been weird if the school let us run around the country lol.

Because run around the country we did... from top to bottom, for those f**king ominous stakes. They couldn't have made them show up on the map either (unless there's a function I missed. Which if that is the case let me live in ignorance aaaaaaaah I'll legit start foaming at the mouth if it turns out I just needed to turn something on). The idea of the stakes sealing these ruinous Pokemon's powers is alright, it's just annoying to have to scramble down cliffs and valleys to find 32 of these things.

As much as I do like the Great Crater part of the storyline, I wish it was more ingrained with everything else. The gym challenges, Team Star, the herba mystica... I mean, it was technically ingrained in the sense that you need to help your rivals out with their issues so they can accompany you into the crater, but there should've been more story significance tying everything together.

I also would've appreciated some sidequests in the Pokemon world. Coming from Genshin, I'm kind of spoiled in that regard (the world is soooo chock-full of events and quests and areas to explore). While Paldea doesn't really need that many quests and hidden areas (it's gotten to the point where exploration is kind of exhausting in Genshin lol), more would've been nice.

Environmental storytelling almost always hits, and it could've been a nice way to talk about the issues invasive species pose (basically our reason for shutting down the time machine) and in turn, connect things to the main storyline as well. For example, Barraskewda's Violet Pokedex entry mentions that it completes with Palafin for food -- what if Barraskewda wasn't native to Paldea, and just hitched a ride from Galar? We could have had a sidequest to curb the Barraskewda population to help the native Palafin population recover. That's just one example, too. What about the giant Iron Treads in the desert, or the rolling boulders dropped by Bombirdier? That things had to have caused some collateral damage, and it would have been cool to get quests to help the Pokemon or people in the area recover.

Paldea's open world was very beautiful and fun to explore, but it was also really... empty. I hope that in a future iteration of games, these kinds of sidequests can be added. The addition of them would really help make the world feel more alive.

And while I do really like ScarVio's story, its execution could have been a lot better than it was. But despite all the game's flaws, it was still incredibly fun ,and surprisingly touching. :') I am very extremely excited for the eventual DLC that will hopefully give us a glimpse of that hexagonal Pokemon, and more story content of the main four. 🥺🥺🥺

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Hello! This is the latest installment in my Snippets series (collections of drabbles from my playthroughs of mainline Pokemon games). Some things you should know: 

-This one is a direct sequel to a previous installment, Violet Snippets: The Sorceror's New School, so reading that first is probably ideal if you want a bit more context. 

-You can also see the original run here , here and here. (Tumblr link is in reverse chronological order, Twitter link is in chronological order)

-Obviously having played or watched a playthrough of either Pokemon Scarlet or Pokemon Violet's DLC would be ideal too.

-Also! This stars one of my non-Pokemon OCs, Vaespar, who you can read about here and here.

-As for feedback preferences:

--These are not full-blown journey fics, and were never meant to be. Don't review them like they're supposed to be or need to be.

--Don't complain when things are disconnected or don't have much context because I was literally writing these things on the fly as I was playing. If you want more context I linked to the original run.

--Overall just be nice. I'm not looking for super academic feedback on these, I just want people to have fun reading them.

-These will either be posted all in one go or in multiple installments, depending on the place. For places where I'm doing the former, just enjoy the fic; for places where I'm doing the latter expect updates every week or so until it's done (if things don't veer wildly off course).

Anyway here we go into: Area Zero Snippets: The Tyrant's Tera Treasure

Vaespar was sitting in his lair. Slouching. Where was Lovelan d anyway he was supposed to get-

Suddenly. A voice. "Vaespar! I need your help!"

A strange individual suddenly teleported before Vaespar. They had white and gold clothes, dark hair, and odd green and red irises. But what waa strangest was that they seemed to be human. Ridiculous. Vaespar was the only human left. Partially anyway. There was only one explanation. 

"No soliciting, even from other universes," he said with a dismissive hand wave.

"No, Vaespar! I know you! I'm from the Pokemon world! Or, the one you just got isekaied to. You need to go back!"

"That one? Pah. That one burned me. I got taught the power of friendship only to get kicked right back out!" "That was... An administrative mistake," the person said, wincing. "But there's something going on with Area Zero! Paldea knows you! You can help!"

"And what's in it for me?"

"There's a great hidden treasure in Area Zero... A great power. Surely you want that for yourself?"

Vaespar thought to himself. He had seen Area Zero while he was there and could sense phenomenal power there. If he could use it for himself..."

"...You know what? Deal. Let's see how it goes."

"Excellent! I'll put you right where you left off. Good luck!"

A glow formed around Varespar...

-------

...And he ended up in a child's body again, in the same part of Paldea he was before he snapped back.

Suddenly his Rotom Phone rang. He picked it up. "Vaespar The All-Devouring Darkness speaking?"

"Hello, hello, Varespar. This is Jacq."

Oh. Him.

"What do you want?"

"Sorry to bother you while you're probably out there searching for some nice treasure...You see, we have a school trip every year around this time. It's a splendid collaboration between our academy and another school. And would you believe it Vaespar? Your name was one of the ones chosen to attend!" Convenient.

"You'll get to go study and experience the great outdoors off to the east - in the Land Of Kitikami! It's a long trip to get to this year's destination, so we can't send too many students this time. You really are a lucky one, getting selected as one of the participants!"

Vaespar doubted it. The mysterious human probably arranged this.

"Come to the school's entrance hall when you're ready to hear all the details, " said Jacq. "Of course, you don't HAVE to take part. Hut this kind of chance isn't likely to come again, so you should really give it a shot if you're interested!"

"I'll be on my way." said Vaespar.

"Great! Hope to see you soon!" said Jacq. He hung up. Vaespar immediately started ringing up a Flying Taxi...

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Vaespar As soon as Vaespar was summoned back to the Pokemon world, Vaespar was invited to every school child's dream:a field trip. To facilitate this, he met up with Briar, a cheerful woman who was related to Heath, the author of the Violet Book, and wants to prove the Legendary Terapagos is real. Vaespar had no doubt this "Terapagos" was real. And he was determined to acquire its power before Briar did. 

Regardless Vaespar and several other students were transported to the land of Kitikami, which Vaespar brought Denny Jr. Jr.the shiny Flamigo along for, and later caught several other Pokemon, including a Flygon he named Anis. Then he battled a strange girl named Carmine who talked about making him her "grunt" (was she trying to form an Evil Team, Vaespar wondered) before finally escorting his companions to the community center, where they prepared for a long rest...

Denny Jr. Jr. 

This was it. Denny Jr. Jr's big moment. His father, veteran of the initial run, had raised him for this moment. This new land was strange and dangerous, but he knew he could make it! ...Could he? That Carmine girl WAS tough...

Anis

Well this was great. Anis was just chilling with the other Yanma in the rice paddies when suddenly some kid from Paldea comes and catches him. Ah well, he;'d heard traveling with Trainers builds character, and he'd manage to best that Cartmine Girl. ...With the help of a Revive from Vaespar. Okay maybe he did need the Trainer's assistance a little bit...

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Vaespar

Vaespar was sent on a quest to find signboards... but acquired an annoying tagalong, a boy named Kieran. Nevertheless he managed to trek across the land and find two of the needed signs, Kieran battling and expositing him all the while. According to the signs this land was once occupied by a fearsome ogre wielding four powerful masks, who was driven off by three heroic Pokemon at the cost of their lives. Despite the ogre's antagonistic nature Kieran was fascinated by it and wanted to be its friend. Vaespar doubted his ability to do so. But if he could harness the power of the masks...

This would have to wait. After beating up Carmine again he had to go to The Festival Of Masks. In the meantime he had picked up and evolved some new team members..

Smoothie

Wow! This Vaeespar was taking Smoothie the Sinistcha all over the place, and evolved them super quick too! They never knew having a Trainer could be so enriching! They'd have to prove themself to Vaespar - an awful lot! Ben

Well this was a pickle. Ben the Sandslash had run smack dab intro a Trainer minding his own  business. Ah well. This Trainer seemed tough. A lot of experience under his belt. And Ben had gotten to do some good clobberin' under his wing. Tamamo

Ohohoho, did thisVaespar really think he could best the Fey Fox Tamamo the Ninetales? This was only a temporary alliance. With her Tera Fairy power and cunning wits she would get the best of him!

...Eventually. Eventually...

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Vaespar

Things had taken some turns. 

During the Festival Of Masks, Vaespar encountered the ogre, and sought to gain its power, but the ogre fled, leaving only its mask, and Carmine forced him to keep it a secret. In the morning, Carmine and Vaespar learned more secrets - the myth was in reverse, the ogre was actually the hero and the so-called Loyal Three the villains. 

This knowledge in hand, Vaespar went to the final signboard. Along the way obtaining a Chewtle he named April and evolved into a Drednaw) with Kieran, only to notice the boy was acting odd. Vaespar  was almost concerned, but had other things to attend to. Like fixing the power of that mask. 

To do so he traveled to Oni Mountan's crystal pool with Carmine, where he found suspiciously familiar and enticing crystals of power. Despite the interference of a Milotic and Briar they obtained some for themselves 

Unfortunately it turns out Kieran had overheard the secrets and ran off with the mask. Vaespar needed that mask. 

He managed to wrest it from Kieran but somehow The "Loyal" Three had returned and made off with the other three masks. Vaespar was going to have to teach them a lesson...

April

April the Dradnaw knew something was going on with her home region. She knew the strange crystal spires, the ogre who lurked in the night, and glittering forms some Pokemon took weren't natural. She wanted a scoop. A scoop on what was really going on. And maybe this Vaespar could get her it...

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Vaespar

Vaespar found the "Loyal" Three basically curbstomping Ogerpon. He attempted to claim the masks from the lot of them by beating Munkidori, but after Carmine and Kieran interfered the trio ran away, leaving only Ogerpon. Vaeespar reluctantly teamed up with the two humans and one Ogerpon to track down the "Loyal" three and their masks of power, and after gathering intel in the village managed to nail down their locations. Carmine and Vaespar managed to trounce the Lousy Three oner by one and get each mask, and Kieran managed to convince the villagers of the truth of the matter so Ogerpon was no longer treated as an outcast. A seeming victory for Vaespar - he had gained easy access to Ogerpon and all its powerful masks...

...Except Kieran wanted to battle him to see who was truly worthy of being Ogerpon's companion. Ugh. This was going to be a headache...

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Tamamo thought this was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Couldn't they just share Ogerpon or something? Why was Vaespar so desperate for those masks anyways? Oh well. She could most definitely take his Shiftry. She flinched at it slapping her in the face with a Fake Out (the audacity!) but burnt away att its Focus Sash with a Flamethrower before cutting past its Leaf Blade and  finishing it off with another. 

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One down, five to go. But next was Gliscor, one of the troublesome ones... He'd need to think carefully. He sent out April.

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April knew this Gliscor was tough. But she needed to do this for the squad. The team. 

Vaespar Terastalize her, dampening an incoming Earthquake, before she slammed the Gliscor with a Liquidation. A second slam knocked it out of the air, onto the ground.

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Okay, one troublemaker out of the way. Now for Ben Vs, Probopass...

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Ben didn't like the look of this thing's nose hairs. Heknew what'd wipe them right off. 

He slammed the ground with an Earthquake. The Probopass retaliated with a Flash Cannon, which stung, but another Earthquake straight to the shnoz did the trick. 

-----

Come on, come on...

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Anis was getting sick of this stupid sticky apple. Oh well. He could take it. 

He cut into its rind with a Slash of Air only for it to spray him with sticky goop. Rude. A very loud Bug Buzz took care of the rest. 

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

Now for Kieran's Yanmega. Another troublesome one. Vaespar would have to think carefully...

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

He has his own Yanmega? Ridiculous, thought Tamamo. Oh well. She could try to beat it...

She breathed a Flamethrower onto it, burning it to a crisp. 

Excellent! She did more than try! Ohohoho!

----------

Yes, a troublemaker out of the way! But Vaespar knew his work wasn't done. Poliwrath was next. He knew only one Pokemon could handle this...

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

Oh hey it's Poliwrath again! Thought Smoothie. Time to serve it up a order of Matcha Gotcha!

They whipped and stirred and yaaaed matcha all over the Poliwrath, The Poliwrath tried an ineffectual Belly Drum in response, to no avail. A further torrent of matcha caused it to faceplant onto the floor. 

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

Vaespar cheered. He did it! THe power of Ogerpon and its masks was his!

...He almost pitied the kneeling, defeated Kieran on the ground. Almost. 

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

Well this was a delicate matter, thought Tamamo. We were aiming to catch, not defeat.. This would get messy. 

And what was this? Its fire mask was full of Terastal power!

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

So this was the power of Ogerpons masks, thought Vaespar. Excellent...

----------

Tamamo started peppering the oni with Shadow Balls, but its Grassy Terrain healed much of her blows. She did, however, absorb a fiery cudgel with her Flash Fire. 

Finally, a Slam took her out.

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

This thing was clearly a Fire type,:Vaespar thought. So he had a few options...

One came to mind in particular. 

--------

This was it! April's scoop! Part of the secret she was looking for! She HAD to know more about this Ogerpon!

She took it out with a Liquidation. But what was this? It switched masks! April tried for a Stone Edge but a cudgel to the head took her out. ---------

Shit. Vaespar would have to adapt to the situation... 

-------

Whee! Thought Smoothie. Look at that mask! So pretty! 

They started showering it in Matcha Gotcha. All the Matcha Gotcha in the woooooooorld. But uh-oh, it switched masks! But that didn't mean Smoothie had to switch tactics! Matchaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

But rude, it switched masks AGAIN! NOW Smoothie needed to switch things up. Shadow Ball time! Shadow Ball Shadow Ball Shadow Baaaaaal!

Yay! It kept hitting them with a cudgel but that did it!

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

Now was Vaespar's chance!

He hurled a Dre4am Ball. 

It sucked Ogerpon in. Wobbled three times. And clicked. The power of Ogerpon and its masks was now his...

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

Anis was annoyed at this Mightyena Howling in his face. He could make more noise thanTHAT. And he did, with a Bug Buzz, wiping it out. ------

Vaespar wasn't as worried about Carmine as Kieran. But she was still formidable. Next was her Morpeko, which was a problem...

-------

Ben wondered what was up with the lil' rodent before him. It seemed on edge. He guessed he'd make it more so. 

A critical hit from a sudden Seed Bomb didn't stop his Earthquake. But the Morpeko was still standing and hit him with an Aura Wheel, only for Ben to clobber it with a second Earthquake square to the jaw. 

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

Leavanny next?? Vaespar knew he'd have to bring Anis back out...

-------

Uhggh, this again? At least this Leavanny didn't look tough. And indeed one Air Slash did the trick. 

----------

Getting there, getting there...

----------

Fiona wasn't sure about this. 

This Ninetales was demure and graceful and cool. Nothing like her. But she felt Terrestrial energy welling from Vaespar and felt a surge of determination. Her rocky cudgel in hand, she brought it crashing down, past a Flamethrower, straight onto its head. It didn't last long after that. 

-----------

A Sinistcha huh? Anis time again Vaespar supposed. 

---------

Anis was doing all the work here huh...

He hit the Sinistcha with a blade of air. Its porcelain body hung on, but it spiraled, unable to hit back. A Shadow Ball did the rest. 

----------

Phew. That was one Carmine dealt with. Though oddly she didn't seem to hate Vaespar for losing.... Damn. He liked making his foes squirm. 

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

Vaespar

After a long struggle, Vaespar succeeded in defeating Kieran. He then went on to fell Ogerpon and her four powerful masks and secure their power for himself. Kieran was devastated and ran off, but Vaespar had a bad feeling about him...

The next day, he met up with Carmine, who confirmed Kieran was still shut up in his room, and battled her. He trounced her soundly, but she wasn't as much of a sore loser as Kieran, and she almost let something slip to Vaespar before they were suddenly summoned back to the village. Vaespar would not be forgetting that slip of the tongue. 

At the village, Vaespar learned from Briar that Kieran and Carmine were returning to Blueberry Academy, and said something about Area Zero that ALSO didn't escape Vaespar's attention. Kieran was still in his room, but Carmine vowed they would meet again. Normally Vaespar wouldn't really care about such pithy promises. But there was that thing Carmine almost said to him. And the thing Briar said about Area Zero. And that bad feeling about Kieran. Something was afoot. But he couldn't worry about it right this second. They were gone for now. His more immediate goal: track down the so-called Loyal Three and secure THEIR power for himself as well. After some backtracking he managed to find Okidogi, and prepared for battle...

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

Anis knew what he had to do. Stuff this nasty dog in a ball. 

He summoned blades of air that cut into the beast's fur, causing it to flinch. It was weak. 

"Vaespar, now!"

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

Vaespar grinned and loaded up the Pokeballl Cannon. 

Dusk Balls to stat. It burst free. Too light out. Ultra balls then. He started blasting them out of the Pokeball Cannon as hard as he could. Meanwhile Anis kept enduring anything the Okidogi could throw at him - Crunches, Superpowers, the like. Until - oh no. Anis was poisoned. He'd have to work fast. 

He quickly sprayed Anis with a Full Restore. "Thanks!"

"Hey that's not fair-" Okidogi started to protest, only to be sucked into another Ultra Ball. It broke free quickly, but Vaespar kept up the assault. 

Finally, one ball shook once. Shook twice. Shook a third time. And clicked. Vaespar let out a "Yes!". Okidogi was his. Now for the others...

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

Really? Tamamo had to be the one to fight this disgusting monkey? Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Let's get this over with. 

She hit Miunkidori with a Flamethrower, her breath burning hot.It did not like that and started Plotting Nastily, but she continued to bring on the flames. "A little help here, Vaespar?"

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

"No problem."

Vaespar brought out the Pokeball Cannon and started firing. 

First couple of times, the balls did nothing, and Munkidori managed to wear down Tamamo with its powerful attacks. But Vaespar knew this would happen. Which is why he brought an ace to this one.

He sent out a Kingambit. A Shiny Kingambit. 

---------

Susanoo knew well the way of the warrior. But he also knew today he was on the line of defense. He steeled himself. This Munkidori thought it was tough. But Susano was ready for anything it threw at him. 

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

Munkidori cried out in frustration as its attacks did nothing to Susano. Vaespar kept firing balls. 

Finally, after going through many, many balls, one clicked. Vaespar sighed in relief. One to go...

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

Susanoo knew many ways of the blade. But he knew one would be useful against this Fezandipiti if Vaespar wished to catch it - the False Swipe. He performed a Dance of Swords, then struck true. 

------

Vaespar loaded up the Pokeball Cannon and started firing Ultra Balls. 

Ball after ball after ball this bird would not budge. But its efforts did nothing to Susano. Thenn, finally, one clicked. Vaespar grinned. The "Loyal" Three were now all his... 

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

Vaespar

Vaespar managed to capture and control Okidogi with relative ease (helps Okidogi could easily be bribed with mochi). Munkidori and Fezandipiti were noticeably more difficult (with the latter being hard to find again) but Vaespar broke out Susano the Shiny Kingambit, who allowed them to be captured (and also bribed with mochi) eventually.

Next Vaespar was curious as to what that Perrin woman wanted with him.. He collected 150 Pokemon for his Kitakami dex (helps he had most of them for completing his Paldea dex) and came to her. She said she had a big scoop she wanted Vaespar's help with (April was thrilled)...

...But she wanted to battle him first.

Great. Utterly typical of people in this universe.

So Vaespar prepared for a throwdown...

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

This Bloodmoon Beast was uncouth! Unrefined! Unthinkable! Attacking Tamamo in the woods like that! While she was POISONED!

She Plotted Nastily for the beast's demise even as it slammed her with an Earth Power, then breathed a torrent of flame onto its body. 

It barely made a dent. AnotherEarth Power took her out. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. 

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

Shit. Vaespar would need the big guns here. Especially with Perrin standing by and snapping photos. He sent out Smoothie. 

-----------

Oooh, big bear friend! Smoothie wondered what to do with this one... Their Plotrting a;lso got a bit Nasty...

Oh no! They got hist with a blood moon beam! Time to act! They started spraying the beast with matcha. Lots of matcha. The Ursaluna was clearly in great pain, but steeled itself, Calm ed its Mind. It swiped its matcha away and continued to do so. Another matcha assault from Smoothie! But oh no, a blood moon bla-

-------------- Shit. Smoothie was down. But Vaespar still had one team member that could deliver a super-effective hit. He sent out April. 

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

This Perrin was a kindred spirit to April... The truth mattered. Her scoop mattered. Her creative drive mattered. No way was April failing her. Her body welled with Terastal energy as she slammed into the Ursaluna with the mightiest Liquidation she could. It was weak. Vulnerable. "Vaespar NOW!"

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

Vaespar brought out the Pokeball cannon. Loaded a Moon Ball. And fired. 

The ball shook thrice. And clicked. Perrin's mission was complete. As was Vaespar's. 

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

Vaespar

Vaespar successfully trounced Perrin, at which point she gave him a proposition: Help her find the legendary Bloodmoon Beast. Seeing it as another being of great power he could control, Vaespar accepted. 

Theory went off into the woods in the dim of night to find it, with Vaespar and Perrin photographing the local wildlife to filter out the beast's signals.Afterwards Perrin vented to Vaespar about her creative struggles, to which Vaespae replied "that's rough buddy.". 

Eventually they narrowed things down until they could locate the beast - a frenzied, bizarre-looking Ursaluna. 

After a notedly rough battle Vaespar managed to capture and secure the Bloodmoon Ursaluna. Perrin was not able to get good photos, but she left with newfound confidence anyway, giving Vaespar a free puppy before she went. Enough of a percentage of Vaespar felt bad he tried to take his own pictures of Ganondorf the Blodmoon Ursaluna for her... only for him to not cooperate.

Bah. Fine, Whatever. In the meantime he still had one more goal for this region.. Find a Shiny Pokemon. And then the others' talks about a Blueberry Academy intrigued him...

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

Vaespar

In searching for an elusive Shiny Pokemon, Vaespar found a ~mystery outbreak~ on his map and headed there. 

It turned out to be a bunch of Gurdurr Vaespar shrugged and went "sure, why not", then started mowing through them with Anis. After several minutes of this Vaespar noticed something odd about one of the remaining Gurdurr. It was orange. 

...It was orange!

Vaespar quickly lobbed a Quick Ball at it. It wobbled three times and clicked, and the Shiny Gurdurr was his. Vaespar was  victorious. He named the new recruit Cheeto. After this, he felt he'd explore Kitakami a bit longer. But he had to wonder what was next...

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

Vaespar was going after raids. Powerful raids. Legendary raids. When suddenly his Rotom Phone rang. He sighed and answered it. "This is Clavell. Do I have the pleasure of speaking with Master Vaespar?"

Vaespar did like how he called him "master." "Yes."

"My my. It certainly does this old heart good to be greeted with such a... Lively response. Now if I could take a moment of your time, there is something we must discuss."

Vaespar raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Master Vaespar, you're about to be presented with an exceptional opportunity. You already know of the Unova region's Blueberry Academy I presume?"

Right, wasn't that where those Carmine and Kieran brats went to? "I've heard of it."

"Indeed. Tales of your school trip to Kitakami with the Blueberry cohort reached even my office! In any case, the director of Blueberry Academy happened to be an old friend of mine. And he told me he would be delighted to host you as an exchange student at his school."

Wait, so he was going all the way across the world again?

"I believe it would be a fine chance for you to learn even more about this world."

Well there you have it.

"One should always take advantage of new challenges like this, don't you think? Though I must confess, I was a bit surprised that Blueberry's director would specify you by name..."

...This was Carmine's fault wasn't it?

"Still I think it best that you meet the man at least once to find out what he might be thinking. He is admittedly a bit of a character, but not to worry - I'll be there when you meet him.

From what Vaespar knew from knowing Clavell that wasn't reassuring.

"Once you feel ready to respond to his offer I ask that you come by my office so we can discuss the specifics together. "...Very well," said Vaespar.

"Now I won't take up any more of your time. Do take care until we speak again."

Clavell hung up. 

Vaespar sighed. Hopefully THIS trip would unveil the secret Arceus spoke uf he was still seeking...

--------

Vaespar Vaespar was introduced to the very blue Blueberry Academy by the ditzy Cyrano and the more straight-laced Lacey. The latter was a surprisingly powerful foe in battle and Vaespar knew he had to build up his team beyond just Sticky. 

The good news is the school had its own giant Terarium powered by its own mysterious-green-goio-fueled Tera Orb, and it was filled with wild Pokemon. Vaespar met Perrin again and added her Growlithe Oatchi to his tea at her request, but after much searching he found the Ground type he needed to hopefully counter Lacey's Electric types: an Alolan Diglett he names Bon Jovi. Now, didn't Lacey want him for a class on the beach...?

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

Sticky

Sticky had been a gift to Vaespar from a traveling Trainer.As such, he was honored to be used on Vaespar's team, especially as he was evolved right away. 

...However he preformed poorly against Lacey, even with assistance. He knew he'd have to get stronger to please Vaespar. ------------

Oatchi

Oatchi was a good pupper! He knew this because Perrin said so. Perrin said Vaespar would take care of him so he trusted Vaespar too. He just needed to prove his worth - he was itching for a battle...

----------

Bon Jovi

Aw yeah! Bon Jovi had only just joined the team, but he was ready to take the Terarium on! This Vaespar Trainer seemed shifty but to be honest, he didn't care - it was his life!

----------

Vaespar

Vaespar continued exploring the Terarium, acquiring a fourth team member in the form of Amonduul the Galarian Slowpoke (and later painstakingly gathering enough twigs to evolve him into a Galarian Slowking), but was ultimately forced to confront the supposed reason he was here - education. Thankfully the lesson was "catch an Alolan variant" and he already had Bon Jovi, so the lesson was aced, to Lacey's pleasure. But then Carmine came knocking. Or perhaps ringing, on his phone. Shewanted to meet up with him and Vaespar begrudgingly obliged - 

After a couple battles with her - the first Vaespar refused to admit he lost and the second Vaespar refused to admit he used Vergil and a Palkia from a raid as as "backup" - Vaespar found out she was worried because Kieran had lost his marbles, taken over the League Club, and was ruling over it with an iron fist - which Vaespar had to admit was incredible chutzpah. 

Then however, he was interrupted by the ditzy Drayton, who was determined to add Vaespar to the league club. Vaespar went along with it - if that was the fastest way to powe4r here, so be it.

---------

Amonduul

Amonduul could tell he and Vaespar were kindred spirits. The lust for power, the h u n g e r, the cold, calculated way they did things... Yes, it'd be a beautiful partnership. At least until Amonduul made sure he was the one in charge. 

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

Vaespar

After being told by Carmine that something was up with Kieran (highly obvious) and not to trust Drayton (Vaespar trusts no one), then gaining two new team members in Milkshake the Milcery (later Alcremie) and Lae'zel the Scraggy (later Scrafty), Vaespar ignored Carmine's advice and went on a "lunch date" with Drayton. There, he encountered the rest of the local Elite 4, including Kieran, who Drayton used Vaespar as a psychological weapon against. Despite several people's protests Vaespar was inducted into Blueberry Academy's school Pokemon League, and told to take on the Elite 4 across the Terarium. Vaespar felt he'd be cheeky and challenge Drayton first - but ran into a snag when Sticky and Oatchi were barred from the League Trial. Still, the rest of his team prevailed, and Vaespar prepared his FULL team for the showdown against Drayton...

------------- Milkshake

Milkshake was here to help! When she saw this exchange student needed a helping hand she jumped at the call. But she saw inklings both the exchange student and the help were questionable... Oh well! She'd give it her best!

---------------- Lae'zel

Lae'zel was done with this. Paired with inferior warriors, sent on a pointless mission to defeat some elite four, and for who? Some slimy human named Vaespar. Oh well. At least there would be many opponents to cut down gloriously along the way. Fruitful conquests to be had. Yes... If it was not worth it at first, she would make it worth it by force.

-----------

This Drayton guy clearly thought he was all that. 

Vaespar would show him he was mistaken. 

As soon as Drayton sent out a Flygon and Dragonite, Vaespar sent out Masamune the Hisuian Samurott and... Mewtwo. 

"Woah dude, I thought Mewtwo wasn't even real!" said Drayton. "Did you really think I'd adhere to your stupid little Terarium Only challenge the ,moment you let it up?"

Ice Beams and Ceaseless Edges dug into Drayton's Pokemon

"...No?" Drayton said. "That was just for the-"

"Listen here you little bitch," said Vaespar. A Sceptile fell to Masamune's X-Scissor. A Haxorus to Mewtwo's Ice Beam. Drayton desperately sent out a Kingdra in its place, which started Rain dancing

"You may think you're the one in control here. False. It's me who's in control. And I will not hesitate to crush you into dust."

:"We'll see about that!" said Drayton."Go Archaludon!"

He sent out a very strange bridge-like Pokemon. It Terastalized and sent a massive blast of electricity at Masamune. "Ugh... I have failed..."

Masamune collapsed.

Shit. Vaespar had to actually strategize now. "Go Boudicia!"

He sent out a Clodsire. "Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo", said Boudicia. 

The Kingdra attempted to Hydro Pump Her, but Boudicia soaked it up like a sponge, knocking the Kingdra out with a retaliatory Poison Jab. Mewtwo meanwhile took out the Archaludon. "That's what I'm talkin' about." Drayton seemed oddly pleased at his defeat. People of this world could be Like That but Vaespar had his eye on him...

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

Vaespar Vaespar attempted to fight Drayton once. Then again. And then a third time before finally relenting and siccing various mons he had gotten from or used in raids on him. Just to teach him a lesson. 

Vaespar knew his team wasn't strong enough, and he didn't feel like relying on backups more than he had to. So first, according to Drayton's advice, he used the TM Drayton gave him on Sticky, causing him to evolve into a Hydrapple. Then he went on a quest around the Terarium, challenging Raids and racking up Rare and EXP Candies and LP for his team. Hopefully soon they could challenge the Fire Elite 4...

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

Crispin was serving up a Talonflame and Heat Rotom, huh? Well Vaespar had a plan, hopefully. 

"Oatchi, Rock Slide! Milkshake, Decorate Oatchi!"

"Rock Slide! Rock Slide!!!!" said Oatchi!

"Here to help!" said Milkshake.

Milkshake flinched as she ate a Will-O-Wisp but gave Oatchi a boost with her sweet energy, allowing him to take the Rotom out. The Talonflame was still standing thanks to a Focus Sash, but started Roosting it off as Oatchi decimated an incoming Exeggutor with a Flare Blitz. The Talonflame countered with a Flare Blitz of its own to Milkshake, but she hung on and kept decorating.

"Sugar rush! Sugar ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush!" yelled Oatchi as his onslaught of rocks took out the Talonflame and an incoming Camerupt. 

All that was left was a Blaziken and a Magmortar. Vaespar knew the former was dangerous to Oartchi, but if he was fast enough...

"Oatchi! Keep going!"

And his gambit paid off. Crispin immediately Terastalized his Blaziken in a burst of shining crystal... leaving it more vulnerable to the incoming avalanche of rocks. It and the Magmortar were taken out in one fell swoop 

Vaespar rubbed his hands against each other. Things were finally coming together...

---------

Vaespar

Vaespar went to challenge the Fire Elite 4 and was promptly forced to make the world's spiciest sandwich beforehand. After way too much time battling and bartering for ingredients Vaespar managed to create a catastrophic capsaicin calamity to Crispin's satisfaction. The battle with Crispin afterwards was ironically much easier due to the dream team of Oatchi on offense and Milkshake on support. 

However Kieran and Drayton showed up afterwards, applauding his progress and Kieran telling Vaespar to never surrender until he got to him. Psh. Like Vaerspar ever surrendered to anyone. Much less the jealous brat who went insane over him and Ogerpon.

Anyway Vaespar quickly made his way over to the Steel Elite 4, where the stern steely girl in question fed Dante a strange plant - a new Herba Mystica?- that enhanced his flight capabilities for a flight-based time trial. However, the test run was... a little dicey, and even Vaespar admitted they needed some practice...

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

Vaespar couldn't believe he was doing this again. But multiple attempts left him little choice. 

Mewtwo and Chi-Yu took the field against Dugtrio and Skarmory. Mewtwo scoffed at being forced to do this, but Chi-Yu...

"Yay, happy! Burny burny!"

The revelry did not last long as an Earthquake rocked Chi-yu's world and Stealth Rocks (accursed  Stealth Rocks, Vaespar thought) were scattered by the Skarmory. Chi Yu was taken out by a Stone Edge,but its flames had already weakened the others, and Mewtwo took out the two rapidly with Aura Spheres. An Empoleon met a similar fate as Vaespar swapped in Masamune the Then came the Scizor and Reunclius. Mewtwo did not take note of them at first. But then the Reunclus cast a Trick Room. And the Scizor lunged and dug into him with a Pounce. Then again. "Ugh... How could I possibly..."

He fell.

Shit, Vaespar thought. There goes his ace. But he brought a backup. He sent out Zakuro the Delphox. "Hmph. We've got cleanup work to do," she said. 

"Let's make it quick," said Masamune. She downed the Scizor with a Flamethrower (despite its Coba Berry) and Masamune cut down the Reuniclus with a Ceaseless Edge. 

Then came the Metagross, which immediately Terastalized. But Masamune and Zakuro knew what to do. Zakuro fired another Flamethrower, its flames cascading across the Metagross. Masamune cut into its crystalline hide with a Sacred Sword. 

The Metagross quickly fell. Vaespar breathed a sigh of relief. This Amarys, he admitted, was tough even when he went all out...

--------

Vaespar

Vaespar and Dante, after some practice, finally managed to conquer the flying time trial. Vaespar was feeling pretty good about himself. Then Amarys was tough. Very tough. Vaespar was forced to bring out the big guns again and STILL had trouble. He won in the end, but. 

This wasn't right. Vaespar shouldn't have to use his maximum power just to deal with these Blueberry fools. He should be able to swat them aside without a care in the world. What was going on?

He did a few tasks to earn his way into challenging Lacey, and passed her test with flying colors. But as he geared up to challenge her Vaespar considered a possibility he hadn't in millenia.

Was he... weak?

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

A Whimsicott and a Granbull. Right, both of these needed to be taken out fast for what Vaespar had planned. "Milkshake, Decorate! Amonduul, Sludge Bomb!"

"One serving of sweetness coming up!" said Milkshake

"Pitiful pup. You're no match for me!" said Amonduul. A Light Screen from the Whimsicott and a Stomping Tantrum from the Granbull did not stop the defending pair's combo from decimating the Granbull. The Primarina that entered was not so kind, taking out Amonduul, but a Dazzling Gleam from Milkshake wore it and the Whimsicott down. He sent out Bon Jovi. 

:"Iron head that Whimsicott!"

"Oh yeah! Livin' on a prayer!"

Bon Jovi slammed all three of his finely haired heads into the Whimsicott, taking it out. However, the Primarina immediately sung a Sparkling Araia at Bon Jovi. "Oog... I guess you may be the better singer..."

He fainted. But the Whimsicott was out of the picture. Vaespar knew what he had to do. "Sticky, go! Terastalize!"

A crystal aura surrounded Sticky as he became... a Water type?

"Heehee! Bet you didn't expect that, did you?" said Sticky. His Energy Ball took out the rimarina, as Lacey sent out a Slowbrto and her own Alcremie. The Slowbro smacked Milkshake with a side arm only for her to hold on and Decorate Sticky. Sticky hit the Slowbro with a Tera Blast, knocking it out.

An Excadrill was sent out in its place, KOing Milkshake with an Iron Head, but Sticky Water Tera Blasted that into oblivion too. But then the Alcremie hit Sticky with a Giga Drain. Shit. He needed to act fast. And he knew just who could. :"Oatchi! Extremespeed!"

"Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge!" yelled Oatchi.

IHe slammed into and  left a dent in the Alcremie, but not enough to stop it from sapping more of Sticky's health. Sticky perservered, however, and blasted it away with Water Tera Blast. 

Vaespar did it. He had beaten all of the elite four. He should be celebrating. ...But he had a suspicion what was next...

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

"Heh. Heh heh heh heh," said Vaespar. 

Mewtwo was on the field again. As was... Milkshake?

"Oh... I'm not really sure I can compete with the Big Guns team..."

~Hey.~ said Mewtwo. "Huh?" said Milkshake. ~Trust me. You'll be fine. Just keep supporting us.~

"Right! I'll do my best!"

Mewtwo fired a couple Ice Beams at Kieran's Dragonite, ignoring the Politod's Weather BallBlasts. The Dragonite was knocked out,but an Incineroar came out in its place and Faked Mewtwo out. 

"Fool!" Vaespar yelled. "You think you're the only one who can break out a ridiculous hyper- optimized team?"

The Incineroar fell to an Aura Sphere to the face, but a weather Ball finally took out Mewtwo. Not too worry. Vaespar had Vergil. 

The Miraidon was sent out just as Milkshake's Dazzling Gleam cut into the Politoed and took it out. 

"This kid my inferior sibling mentioned?" said Vergil. Pathetic," said Vergil.

"You need to face the facts. You will never truly best me. I will always be one step ahead," said Vaespar.

A Porygon Z was sent ou- Nope, Vergil was deleting that. A Hudrapple and Grimsnarrl were sent out, the former Terastalizing into a Fighting type - odd choice - and the latter being decimated by the Electro Drift.

"So STOP BASING YOUR ENTIRE SELF AROUND BEATING ME!"

An Electro Drift from Vergil slammed into the Hydrapple. Its crystal armor exploded as it fell. 

"Hmph. Good riddance."" said Vergil. 

"I... I did it. I did it!" said Milkshajke. 

At first Vaespar was enjoying the look of shock etched into Kieran's face. Then a voice cut into his brain. You're just as pathetic as he is.

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

Vaespar couldn't believe this. He had been invited to an expedition to the very darkest depths of Area Zero, to find the true Hidden Treasure, Terapagos, the being he'd been seeing all this time...

...And Kieran just snatches it from him! The audacity! Vaespar would not let this stand. "Go Milkshake! Dazzling Gleam!

"I'll dazzle it up!"

She blasted Terapagos with sparkling light, but its hide seemed to change, adapt, almost to better take the hits. There was a further back and forth of this until Milkshake was finally forced to Recover. She flinched to one Zen Headbutt but dodged another. 

"I.... I want to help Vaespar!"

She dodged another. Filled the whole room with sparkling light. And Terapagos was down. 

...Or was it?

Briarr had made a discovery. A revelation that would turn the tables. 

Vaespar did not approve of this. 

But Terapagos Terastalized anyway. And that's when things went wrong. "Hang on!"

It was Dante. He shielded the party from Terapagos' out of control energy. 

Kieran tried to recall Terapagos but his Master Ball shattered. Even Briar was starting to panic. 

But Vaespar and Carmine stepped up. 

Carmine's Sinistcha healed Milkshake with a dose of her matcha. "Thank you kindly!" said Milkshake as she let loose a Dazzling Gleam. 

Briar pointed our a barrier... Maybe...

"Milkshake, come back! Sticky, come on!"

Sticky entered the battlefield being barraged by a Tera Starstorm. He hissed at the impact. 

"Now that's not very pleasant of you. "

The starstorm continued, but Sticky held on and spat a Fickle Beam at Terapagos' core. 

"Now Sticky! Terastalize!"

Sticky glowed with watery power as he became Water Tera, firing a matching Tera Blast. The blast made a dent in the barrier as Vaespar quickly sprayed a Max Potion on Sticky. 

But then a powerful Starstorm obliterated Sticky. 

"...Milkshake, you're back in!"

"Oh, okay!"

Milkshake and Terapagos started hammering away at each other, Chipping away bit by bit at one another. But Milkshake fell first.

Vaespar was nervous. But as he sent out Amonduul,he realized his Tera Orb was still charged. "Amondull, Terastalize! Psychic!"

"Foolish being of power, I will crush you!" said Amondull. 

Amoonduul shone with Terastal energy and shattered the barrier... only for Terapagos to absorb the Terastal energy and make another.

"Urk..."

Amonduul recoiled at repeated Earth Powers but still whittled down the barrier with a few Psychics before falling. Meanwhile Vaespar snuck a Revive to a team member...

Lae'zel came to face Terapagos next. "You will di-"

She was taken out quickly. But then Sticky took the field. 

"I'm back! Hehehe," he said, lobbing Syrupy Bombs to slow Terapagos down. 

Knowing it would make him a bit vulnerable, Vaespar Terastalized Sticky to break the barrier. And that he did, only for his own Tera energy to be stolen. Vaespar was on the ropes. 

Then Kieran entered the fray, with his own Hydrapple. 

"Excellent!"

Sticky was taken out again, but Vaespar had a plan - sneaking a Elexir and Max Revive to one particular team member...

"Milkshake, you're back in!"

"We... we won't lose!"

She began firing off Dazzling Gleams again. The Hydrapple supported with Syrup Bombs and Dragon Cheers before being taken out and replaced with a Dragonite. Then Vaespar saw a familiar gleam from his Tera Orb. "NOW!"

Cream turned to crystal as Milkshake Terastalized. Her sparkling light hammered even harder as the Terapagos shook and trembled from her and Dragonite's attacks. It hung on with one more HP, attempted to attack...

Then Kieran's Dragonite cracked it wide open with an Extremespeed. 

Vaespar saw the opportunity, heard Kieran cheering him on, and tossed a Luxury ball. It shook once and clicked. Vaespar did it. The Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero was his. 

He was NOT weak. 

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

Vaespar did trounce Lacey - it took some finagling, but Sticky and his Water Tera won out in the end. 

Then came Kieran. And. after the first attempt... nope, he was going to have to bring out the big guns. And also Milkshake. 

With Kieran fully humiliated, as both Drayton and Vaespar had planned, they and Carmine werre suddenly invited to a expedition to Area Zero with Briar, on Geeta and Rika's behest. Drayton decl;ined, but the other three accepted, With Vaespar eagerly taking the Indigo Disk Geeta offered him. Finally, what he was seeking all along was ahead...

Once they were in Area Zero, the group used the Indigo Disk to delve into the Underdepths, solving puzzles along the way until they found the core - Terapagos. Vaespar had barely any time to contemplate how small such a powerful, reality-warping being was when Kieran immediately snatched it from him with a Master Ball, and Vaespar had to fight for it back. 

But then things got worse. Kieran's attempt to Terastalize Terapagos sent it out of control, and he, Carmine and Vaespar had to team up to take it down. This time Vaespar caught it - finally, the Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero was his. 

The quartet returned home triumphant, Kieran being determined to repair things with Vaespar, to Vaespar's chagrin. Briar started writing a book, and gave Vaespar an early copy. But on a whim Vaespar took Terapagos to the Crystal Pool, sensing a connection. 

And that's when Professor Turo showed up. After a conversation where both parties were very confused (and Dante was overjoyed) the two exchanged books, then Turo vanished. Vaespar was left wondering if he had altered this timeline or another. 

What was clear is he needed to look into harnessing Terapagos' power. But he had other things he needed to take care of too. He started collecting Pokemon for Perrin's new quest, including a strange musical one he found through an odd ritual...

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

Vaespar

Vaespar had finally collected 200 Pokemon. He presented his Pokedex to Perrin, who was impressed and in turn presented him two photos - one of a beast called Iron Boulder and one of a creature called Iron Crown. 

Vaespar delved into Area Zero to find them. He looked over and over and over and over. Until he found both Pokemon and caught them. He returned to Perrin, who snapped a few photos of his catches and rewarded him with... a rare but otherwise unremarkable Pokeball called a Sports Ball. 

Oh well. At least she was happy now. 

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

Vaespar Vaespar was beginning to give up hope. 

He wanted to find a Shiny Pokemon in Blueberry Academy, just as he had in Paldea and Kitikami. But he had been surging through countless Duraldons with no hope. But then finally Susanoo refused to fight one. 

Finally one was a slightly different shade than the others. Finally one sparkled. He caught her in a Moon Ball. Named her Kaikyo. Made sure to evolve her as soon as possible. 

She was beautiful. And she was his. 

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

This creature certainly had given Vaespar all sorts of annoyance. Turning his "friends" and all of Kitikami into mochi-obsessed dancing zombies just to get in his way... awfully rude, wasn't it? BUt if Vaespar could capture it and use its powers for himself.... "Susanoo, Iron Head."

"It shall be done."

The creature spat a Shadow Ball, but the Shiny Kingambit shrugged it off with his Defiance  and slammed the blade on his head into it. "Ramp it up! Kowtow Cleave!"

This time the blade was cloaked in inky dark energy as it sliced through another Shadow Ball - and straight into the creature's body. 

Vaespar heard Kieran shouting he had an opportunity. He knew what he had to do. He grabbed the Sport Ball Perrin gave him and hurled. 

The ball sucked it in, shook three times, and clicked. Vaespar grinned wickedly. Another powerful being for his collection...

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

Vaespar Zombies. Really. Here of all places?

But they happened. His "friends" had forced themselves along to Kitikami to meet his other "friends" while he was in the middle of IMPORTANT preparations! But then Carmine fell to the mysterious conjunctivitis zombie curse, then everyone else started falling to it, leaving Vaespar and Kieran to fight the source - a mysterious Pokemon named Pecharunt and its intoxicating mochi. Eventually Kieran held the zombie hordes off as Vaespar took down both the zombified Nemona and Petcharunt itself, catching it in the Sport Ball Nemona provided him. His "friends" had a good rest of their time together and said their heartfelt goodbyes, but Vaespar was more focused on this Pecharunt - with it,   Ogerpon,  and Terapagos' powers combined....

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

Vaespar had all the right ingredients for success. Before him stood two Pokemon - Terapagos and Pecharunt, as well as Ogerpon's msks..He was using his power and their power to create... something while the mysterious stranger watched worriedly nearby. Finally, it congealed. Settled into clumps. Until Vaespar lifted up a platter of it in triumph. "Yes! My own patented stellar mochi! This will turn anyone who eats it into my superpowered servants!"

"That sounds awfully sinister," said the person. "I'm not sure I can let you do that." Vaespar raised an eyebrow. "You let me run all around your world to do this."

"You helped me solve several problems along the way! I assumed the best!"

"Well too bad. I know better than to beat you in a fight, but I'm taking these back to my home universe whether you like it or no-"

There was a blip. Vaespar disappeared, and the mochi clattered to the floor,

"Phew!" said the person. "Good thing I can in fact put him right back where he came from."

"Oh! Those are the snacks we made!" said Terapagos. "I wanna try some..."

He moved toward the crystal mochi. The person hurriedly scooped him up and cradled him close to his chest. 

"No, those are bad for you!"

"Damn," said Peecharunt. "I coulda controlled Terapagos... I coulda made it love me..."

"Don't you start!" said the person

Pecharunt sighed. With a glow, the person transformed into none other than Arceus. 

"Now," said Arceus, "I'll have to think on who I pick as the trainer hero for next time... Maybe someone less risky."

"...Maybe."

[petal-monster]

Dogfighting for Justice

entirely 2 serious thoughts on the animal games (this was originally written in early 2021)

>> Read on Neocities <<

---

With the recent release of Pokemon: Legends Arceus, as well as the Diamond & Pearl remakes from a few months back, Pokemon has been at the centre of an awful lot of discussion lately — most of it centred around the troubled development cycles of each new release, the controversial reception of recent entries, and more notably whether or not Legends is the "breath of fresh air" the series needs. However, I've been thinking about Pokemon lately for an entirely different reason. I recently watched a friend finish up her first playthrough of a gamecube game that came out almost twenty years ago, and as far Pokemon goes its been surprisingly thought provoking. There's really no way of beating around the bush: Pokemon's mechanics have always been at odds with its own themes. Its easy to point at the way the games essentially ask you to dogfight with intelligent creatures while preaching about friendship, but I'm more interested in the way this dissonance is built into the series's most fundamental systems.

Pokemon is a series of collectathon video games designed for merchandising. The in-universe expression of this conceit is the Pokedex: a device for documenting the wildlife of the world. Each game opens with a regional professor asking you to help them discover a whole new set of 60-150 Pokemon that "have never been seen before!". This has never quite meshed with fighting the same beasts for sport, and neither conceit is really in tune with the nominal goal of making lasting friendships with these seemingly sentient creatures. Pokemon never reconciles that contradiction. In fact, the deeper you get into the games the more dramatic that tension becomes: if you want to be the very best like no one ever was, that probably entails getting involved in a competitive scene which by design asks you to engage in a prolonged eugenics program as you carefully assemble a perfect team of genetically engineered warriors. While the series did eventually introduce ways to take your random assortment of best buddies to a ready-for-competitive level, its significantly less accessible than just breeding a new set of so-called 'friends'.

There's a fun recurring conversation in the competitive scene: more casual players will bemoan the metagame, snarkily referencing Karen's message from Gold and Silver about winning "with your favourites". I find this immensely funny: I'm not sure the intended meaning of that message was 'you should breed the perfect Furret'.

That said, while the mainline games might not deliver on the promise of the original anime, the spinoffs have done a much better job by zeroing in on specific elements of the franchise. Pokemon Snap contextualizes the collectathon with photography, Pokemon Ranger has humans and Pokemon work together to mutually beneficial ends, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon in particular has always stood out as the game that really gets the friendship angle right. In an article for fanbyte titled "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a Pokemon Game Actually About Friendship" Ben Sledge writes:

"Pokemon is built around promises of friendship and cooperation, but the only games that truly embody this benevolent spirit are the Mystery Dungeon series. The core premise of helping and rescuing other Pokemon is a perspective that, in the main series games, is often lost amongst the constant battles and grinding, and by characterizing Pokemon as sentient and motivated, Mystery Dungeon explores our relationship with Pokemon in a way that no other games can achieve."

This brings me back to that Gamecube game I watched my friend play, a game that I think manages to at least partly get at the same ideas — even while working within the context of the main series mechanics.

If you haven't played Pokemon Colosseum before, the initial setup distinguishes it from the rest of the franchise immediately. You are a member of a villainous group of Pokemon snatching thieves. The game kicks off with you going rogue, taking the machine the gang uses to steal Pokemon for yourself and heading to the one place in the region you can buy Pokeballs. This suggests from the outset that our protagonist does not have good intentions in the slightest. However, before they can act on those intentions, we inadvertently thwart an in-progress kidnapping, rescuing a girl who has the unique ability to perceive a strange phenomena that's making certain Pokemon turn violent and aggressive. It isn't long before it becomes apparent that this is the work of 'Cipher', a much larger criminal organization horrifically modifying, then distributing these (now violent) 'Shadow Pokemon' to trainers throughout the region. Our unlikely duo end up working together to put a stop to their scheme.

The bulk of Colosseum pits the player against other trainers as normal, but in a twist you capture the Shadow Pokemon they own. Unlike in the main series of games there are no wild Pokemon in Colosseum's Orre region, meaning you end up with a surprisingly limited pool of creatures to pick from. There's no "winning with your favourites" here, no carefully engineering that perfect IV Furret with egg moves. You have to take what's available. In that respect Colosseum is wildly distinct from the main series of games: you have limited resources for team building, meaning you're inevitably forced to use Pokemon you aren't as familiar with and likely develop bonds with them as a consequence.

These bonds are what Colosseum is all about. Shadow Pokemon come with one attack that harms themselves, and the only way to cure their affliction is by taking them into your party and fighting alongside them. In essence Colosseum is a game about taking abused animals, teaching them to trust again, and then working together with them to rescue other creatures from the same fate. While this theme is still somwhat undercut by the broader context of a game where you engage in random fights for money and experience, you can at least rationalize the need for strength and resources as part of the fight for the greater good.

All this is further underscored by Colosseum's surprisingly gritty setting. Unlike the fluffier regions of the main series Pokemon games, Orre is a distinctly harsh and largely barren desert where people make their homes in whatever small pockets of respite they can find. As you soon discover, a good chunk of the region isn't just run down: its actively controlled by the villainous organization you're fighting against. Cipher isn't just creating and distributing Shadow Pokemon, they're the only real industry this region seems to have. The most opulent location in Orre is the Realgam Tower, the centrepiece of Cipher's master plan to distribute their weaponized Pokemon to the world at large by showing their value by televising fights in the colosseum. When you finally defeat the front facing and comically villainous leader of the team, you discover he was only ever a cover for Cipher's true mastermind: the sweet mayor who presides over Phenac City — the one other place in Orre that seems to have any real investment in it.

Its worth remembering that the first place you visit in Colosseum is a run down bar built into a derailed train car: the single place left in the region that still sells Pokeballs. This is immediately juxtaposed against Phenac's radiant oasis, which is presented to the player right before the dilapidated Pyrite Town. Pyrite is overrun with criminal activity, and the only opportunity anyone has is the Pokemon Colosseum that Cipher is using to hand out Shadow Pokemon. Furthermore, Pyrite is literally built on top of another city called The Under: an even more improvished pit of misery which has entirely devolved into fanatical worship of a celebrity idol. This idol, it turns out, is one of the admins of Cipher. Miror B, another admin, runs the local gangs in Pyrite, and the game later reveals that even Team Snagem (the group the player character breaks away from at the start of the game), is supplying Cipher with stolen Pokemon to experiment on.

It would be silly to suggest that Pokemon Colosseum is making any interesting points about the impact of corporate exploitation on improvished regions, but its depiction of a villainous organization actively investing in places with no infastructure to further its own agenda at least warrants some acknowledgment — especially since Colosseum was taking an interest in these themes years before the mainline Pokemon games began to gesture at similar ideas. It's this harsh tone that helps sell Colosseum's presentation. While it still exists within the framework of a series ultimately designed around collecting and battling cool monsters, Colosseum manages to give a little weight to those actions in a way the mainline entries have tried (and largely failed) to for years.

Sadly, Colosseum is a footnote in Pokemon history. Many of the things that made it interesting were also targets of popular criticism, and it was succeeded by a sequel that was "bigger and better" but which as a result misses the point. Gone is the implied redemption arc for a former criminal who uses his talents for good in a corrupt world. Also gone is the much more restrained roster of available Pokemon. The story of Colosseum's sequel Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness gestures at being more bombastic but renders its villains in a far less interesting way. In Colosseum Cipher operate by integrating into the systems that run the world; in the sequel they have a literal evil lair on a supervillain island. Despite all this, Gale of Darkness at least retains the thematic heart of Colosseum, which is more than can be said for the one other time Shadow Pokemon have come back...

In July 2019 Pokemon GO (of all games!) decided to bring back Shadow Pokemon for the first time in 14 years. Instead of tying purification to the pre-existing Buddy system present in GO — the most obvious and thematically poignant approach — developer Niantic simply made it an in-game purchase. This is (somehow) the least of the problems with Pokemon GO's take on shadows. As it lacked meaningful incentives, the playerbase largely ignored Go's shadow system. A consequent update in 2020 made Shadow Pokemon substantially stronger than regular Pokemon, gamifying the mechanic at Colosseum's thematic heart in the single most tone deaf way possible. Two years on Niantic is now introducing 'Apex' Shadow Pokemon: stronger versions of existing shadows that are locked behind a real money paywall.

I don't know how anyone at Niantic looked at Pokemon Colosseum then decided they wanted to be Cipher. Whatever the case, so long as we're all writing erudite thinkpieces about video games for children, I think the case of Shadow Pokemon potently exemplifies a thematic contradiction at the heart of recent Pokemon games: the anti-corporate themes these products gesture at are being sold to you by the world's highest-grossing media franchise.

[ladala99]

Detective Pikachu Returns - Final Thoughts and Review

I just finished Detective Pikachu Returns. So here's a review! Non-spoiler things up top, then spoilery things under the cut! (assuming the site doesn't cut it early)

Gameplay

First up, don't buy this game if you're expecting to get a game. Unless you're just learning how to read and reason (in which case, get off Tumblr please), this game will give you zero challenge.

Much like the first game, you're poking around locations, finding clues until Pikachu tells you that you have enough information to solve something. Those solve prompts are multiple-choice and if you select the wrong one, you're just told to try again.

Of note, the game does give you somewhat plausible alternate answers in your multiple-choice prompts, so a child might find some challenge in trying to pick the right answer every time.

...Unless you turn on the "highlight correct answers" option in the Options menu. Just in case you wanted to eliminate any semblance of gameplay.

There are also very occasional quick-time events. They mostly involve mashing the A button. I actually failed one of the few that actually involve timing and nothing bad happened, there was just a slightly-altered cutscene.

New in this game, though, is that you can play as some additional Pokemon. They each have a gimmick that changes gameplay a slight amount.

There are also (pretty easy, but patience-testing) stealth sections. These feel unfinished due to the animations being really rough, but the actual gameplay of them is fine.

Worldbuilding

This is where the game excels. Pokemon are all around, doing their thing, and actually feeling like they live in the world unlike the main series games. New Snap does it better, but...

You can talk to the Pokemon here and learn what they're thinking about, building more of an idea of how they live.

There are quite a few minor but recurring characters that, as you interact with them, you feel like you get to know.

Story

Is pretty good. It's incredibly predictable, but it's fun uncovering the whys even after you've figured out the whos.

Can't really say more without getting into spoilers, so I'll come back to this.

Graphics/Animations

One of the appeals of this sub-series is the vastly improved animations over other titles in the series. As before, New Snap does it better, but this game is still fairly solid in the animation department.

However, it does feel like the developers cut some corners they didn't in the first game. There are a lot of reused animations here, sometimes in uncharacteristic ways. Characters use their default expressions entirely too often, hampering the emotional impact of some scenes.

Also in the first game, the lip flaps are synced to English in the English-language edition. Here, they certainly aren't. I'm assuming they're synced to the Japanese dialogue, but I played in English so I can't be sure.

But there are scenes they put a lot more effort into, and those really shine through. Unfortunately, it's not the whole game like the first time.

Graphics-wise, the humans (especially Tim) are far superior to the first game, but the textures on everything are very flat in comparison to other Pokemon games on the Switch. It's certainly not distractingly bad.

Conclusion

If you like the Pokemon world's worldbuilding and treat this game as a very long movie (it took me 15 hours to finish it), then it's worth it.

If you're looking for a video game to play, it's not.

You can also watch videos of other people playing the game, but honestly, seeing clips of other people's gameplay, it feels slower and more boring than when you're actually in control. (You can also speed up the walking speed in the Options menu amongst other things)

But yeah, it's hit or miss.

The Part with Spoilers

(This is back to disjointed thoughts like the others. Just felt like making this one post since I writing it in one day)

The last chapter. Ooh, the last chapter was so fun.

Using all of the Pokemon again was so great, bringing everything together.

I did wish the Pangoro puzzle was a little more difficult, but I'm definitely not the target audience.

I absolutely called... everything in the final sequence. The Mayor being manipulated, the real culprit being that greasy-haired scientist, Deoxys.

I didn't call that the scientist wanted to become a Pokemon, though. That does feel a little unoriginal, but honestly even without the movie, since Harry was Pikachu that could always have been the story.

The ending did feel a bit rushed, though. Like: guess and check literally being what you had to do?

Also this building is very much not OSHA compliant with how difficult it is to get to any of the stairs.

Deoxys vs. Mewtwo was really cool. As was Harrychu Volt Tackling.

And of course Harry was able to figure out how to make sure everyone survived offscreen.

So I guess, now that they're split, there's no more chance for a third game. Which is fine - there doesn't seem to be much else to explore as far as these characters go.

Divorce subplot really went nowhere, though. There was no explanation as to why he had decided to do that.

Post-credits scene - I guess Sophia could be in another sequel if they stretch it? They'd have to really stretch it, though. Because again: no talking Pikachu, no game.

But yeah, overall really enjoyed this sequence and very satisfied with the game. It was a nice break - but onto Octopath next!

[justmanic03]

Amethyst - Chapter Nineteen

A/N: This one's pretty sad ya'll. Nothing too heavy.

"How can you be sure that Harp Girl of all people is the leader of Team Moon? She literally made fun of them when she first met Lisa on the mountain!" Mackenzie exclaimed, confused at my revelation.

We were now walking through Grugar Valley, Mackenzie at my side, Danny trailing slowly behind us with an exasperated look on his face.

"Well she's hardly going to flaunt it. It makes sense that there have been no grunts around. They're trying to keep themselves under wraps." I explained. "Besides, right from the first time I saw her, I could just tell she's one of those people who just can't be trusted."

"A compulsive liar, you mean?" Mack asked.

I nodded. "Maybe that's why she made fun of Lisa."

"Doesn't make sense to me." Danny huffed.

"Besides, it doesn't really matter how much of a tough tsundere Lisa thinks she is. Anyone can tell that her heart is just way too soft to last five minutes in some huge criminal operation." I continued.

Mackenzie nodded his head. "You've got a point there. She's always been soft when it comes to Pokemon and people she cares about. Anyway, I heard they've got some extra strength potions in at Pollux right now. I'll catch you guys later, hmm?"

"See ya." I called as he turned away and began walking towards the Pollux branch. Oddly, however, Danny did not bid him goodbye. I turned around to see him with his arms firmly crossed, and his head down, his eyes boring into the cobblestone floor.

"Why are you always jumping to conclusions?" Danny asked, his tone a little harsh.

"It's called reading between the lines, Daniel." I sighed. "Look, that girl has a bunch of talking Pokemon! Since when do Pokemon talk?! She's clearly tampered with their genotypes in order to give them voice boxes! I know for a fact Lisa is a good person, she's not capable of doing something so horrible! But Freya? She's a different breed entirely!"

"Yeah, and what if it turns out not to be true? You'll be a laughing stock." Danny retorted, a scowl plastered on his features.

"Why are you so in denial all of a sudden?! That girl is clearly up to something!"

Danny just shrugged before turning away from me to stare at the Grugar Valley gym building. "Oh so you're some kind of scientist now?!" Danny sneered. "Whatever. It's nothing to do with me. Buzz has instructed you to lead this detective mission, not me."

"Daniel, why are you being like this?!"

He sighed loudly in frustration before snapping his head back towards me. "Have you ever listened to ANYTHING I've ever said to you?! Y/N, I've had your back since we lived in Unova! I've always offered to battle with you and lost every single time! And now here I am, playing SECOND FIDDLE to you trying to solve some stupid murder mystery! I didn't spend years upon years looking out for you only to have it all thrown back in my face!"

His outburst had left me speechless. I just stood staring at the boy who I once thought I knew, now completely bitter and angry, seemingly out of nowhere. "I didn't know you felt that way..." I managed to speak.

"Yeah? Well that's because you're always too wrapped up in trying to become some kind of hero to even pay any attention to how I feel. You're as bad as Lisa with her Team Moon stuff."

"That's a low blow..." was all I could muster.

"Whatever. I'm outta here. Best of luck on your wild goose chase." He scoffed, before turning in the opposite direction and heading for the dark cave.

I called after him, but it was no use. He was gone. And I had no idea if or when I'd see him again. A wave of guilt washed over me as I realised just how much I had overtaken him.

He was always so used to being one step ahead of me, yet now the tide had turned, and he was struggling to adjust to our new dynamic.

What could I do?

****

The Grugar Gym was everything I expected it to be. Dragons here, dragons there, dragons everywhere. There were even three people hiding under a dragon costume, with one as the head, one as the body, and one as the tale. I couldn't help giggle in amusement at their "roars".

I walked up towards the registration desk, stopping behind the person who was already at the desk. The man was tall and thin, wearing a baby pink silk suit to match his side-swept pink hair. He was carrying a white briefcase, so he was clearly someone important. A tiny, adorable Clefable stood at his side, and I smiled as it waved its tiny arm at me. As I bent down to its level, the trainer finished speaking to the receptionist, and turned around. He smiled upon seeing me interacting with his Pokemon. His piercing green eyes were bright, although he had dark eyebrows despite being extremely pale. "Always nice to see the bonds between people and Pokemon in action." He commented.

I stood up, however, I was still far below his height.

"Uh yeah, I've always had an affinity with them," I replied.

"Name's Clyde. I'm Deputy Chairman of the Elite Four." He extended his large yet bony hand, and I took it.

"Y/N. I'm a gym challenger." I responded.

"Say, Y/N, you have a rather sad look in your eyes. What gives?" Clyde tilted his head to the side as he examined my face.

"Oh, nothing serious. I just had a fallout with my best friend."

Clyde's eyebrows knitted in concern.

"Oh that's awful," he said sympathetically. "Though I know just how it feels... I had to disown one of my best friends back in the day."

"You mean Champion Flossi?"

Clyde nodded. "I am afraid so. I have a meeting right about now, so how about you go in there and get your gym badge, hmm? Give it your best shot against Robin. I'm free later, I'll wait for you and then we can talk properly."

I contemplated that for a moment. Taldourse's one-and-only Fairy Master was stood before me, and was well aware of the truth about Flossi. Upon realising he could potentially give me some helpful advice about Danny, I nodded. "Sure."

****

"Welcome to Grugar Valley's one-and-only Gymnasium! My name is Robin, I come from the beautiful Sinnoh region!" She twirled around, and almost tripped, yet her beloved Dragonite was there to steady her. "Thank you Hydra!" She laughed it off. "So, Y/N, this is the final gym. It feels weird just saying that, to be honest."

"Why does it feel weird?" I asked.

"Well, historically, there were eight gyms... but you know what happened..." she scratched the back of her head awkwardly. I sighed, nodding my head.

"Although we can't go anywhere near the Opaquia Gym to reopen it, we do have a substitute of sorts." She explained, the smile once again returning onto her features.

"Oh?" I was curious.

"He's REALLY strong! He's not quite on Flossi or Kossi's level, but he's pretty damn close. His specialty is poison types. Your Gym Mission is to defeat him, before you challenge me!"

"Him?" I asked, confused as to who this mysterious trainer was.

"He's just through that door over there." Robin pointed towards a dark blue door with a Toxel painted on it. "Best of luck, Y/N!"

***

[orion-mp5]

Pokemon Nuzlocke

Day two! Reminder of what the rules are: I can only use female marked pokemon (My starter is the exception, though she is still a girl), to decide what I get, I google a list of pokemon in an area and use a number generator to pick what I have to pick.

I currently have three pokemon and zero badges, and not yet done with the intro. Let's jump right in!

--------Day Two-1/27/24---------

I head towards the school and spot some weirdos in helmets harassing a girl to join their group despite the fact she's said no, more than once, and I step in to give them a taste of their own medicine.

They mention they're members of Team Star, something Debby warned me about, I decide to use Spider Lily (My starter Sprigatito) to wipe the floor with the girl. Nemona pops up and assumes I'm the one who picked the fight, not wrong but ouch, but once she realizes I was standing up to them and that they were team star she gives me a terra orb and I use it to wipe the floor with the boy.

After that Nemona drags me into the school and tells me some of the basics of the building, and the director comes over to ask about our commute. I tell him we had a blast and Nemona tells him about the team star members that were bothering a student, which he mentions rarely goes to class.

I head to my own homeroom and introduce myself. I get asked what my favorite thing about pokemon is, after thinking for a moment, I answer playing with my pokemon. Then, Nemona asks me what I want to do. I.... don't know. My parents sent me here, I didn't have much of a choice, and my sister hates pokemon, so I've never went out of my way to figure out what I actually wanted to do with them...

"I don't actually know..."

Nemona smiles as I say this. "Fair, I get it! The possibilities are endless, right? Who can decide!"

After class I go to the staff room to find Nemona and I see her talking to a woman I've never seen before. I go to Nemona after they end their conversation. "Who was that?" "Piqued your interest, huh? That lady is... Well, they call her La Primera!"

La Primera? Hm.... I think I remember reading about her after I was told I would be sent her. Don't remember what it said though...

"You should try to reach Champion Rank like me!"

I snap back to reality, taking a second to process the suggestion. "I don't know..."

"Aw, but talent like yours deserves to be used! Hear me out... The trainers who reach Champion Rank are the ones who raise their Pokemon really strong. They're pro-tier battlers. Their moves keep crowds absolutely on the edge of their seats! You have to prove yourself to the Pokemon League to officially get the title of Champion."

My mind starts to wander as she speaks. That sounds rather fun... Would it be worth it? Now that I think about it... Mom and Dad wanted me to build a positive relationship with Pokemon...

"Alright, I'll do it."

"Perfect! Here, let me put the locations of the gyms on your phone map! Now that that's delt with, It's your lunch period, you should get going! See you!" She runs off, leaving me in the staff room, and I head to the Cafeteria.

I see Arven standing at the food bar, and I decide to walk over and say hi. He turns to me and smiles.

"Oh, hey. So we meet again! You remember me, right?"

"I wouldn't have come over to say hi if I didn't, haha!"

"Heh, fair. Your name was Orion, right?"

"Yep! How'd you know?"

"Whole school seems to be talking about you. The new kid who showed up with the president of the student council." That's not that big of a deal though... Eh. No harm no foul.

"I normally don't bother showing up for class, but I came all the way to school today just to talk with you-our new celebrity."

I chuckle a little as he says this. "Celebrity is a strong word. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I want you to help me make my dream a reality, If you want to." I notice he looks nervous as he asks me... He seems... Desperate.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Straight to the point, huh? For context, I love to cook, and I read a book talking about recipes that can heal pokemon and make them feel better. It talks about something called Herba Mystica, special herbs that heals pokemon as soon as it's eaten! There are five types based on what i've read, and they're only found in Paldea-and rare to boot! But the book says they're guarded by Titan Pokemon, meaning it'll be pretty tough to even grab a few sprigs. What I need you to do is help me fight them, and get the Herba Mystica."

I think about it for a second. A rare herb that heals pokemon? Maybe I could send a sample to my parents so they could do some testing on it, and maybe my mom could try to make a garden with it and use it in her restaurant... And if Arven is desperate to ask a stranger to help....

"If I can have a small sample of the herbs to send home, I'll help with no strings attached."

"Wait-I want you to think it over first! Here, let me mark the locations on your map app if you do end up agreeing after thinking it over some more. Here, take this as a prize for listening." He hands me a bag of Stardust, surprising me a little. He then runs off yelling to me over his shoulder.

"Give it some thought! Please!"

I chuckle to myself as I watch him leave. I have a feeling we're gonna be really good friends.

After I eat my lunch I go to leave the Cafeteria, before my phone starts to go crazy, answering a call by itself.

"...This is Orion, correct? I hacked your smartphone so I could talk to you. Hope you don't mind."

I growl under my breath, obviously unhappy to have my phone hacked, who wouldn't?

"Make it quick before I report this, Who are you?"

"Very well. My name is Cassiopeia. And I hear you're a trainer with serious potential. If that description is accurate, there's something I'd like to ask of you. Tell me, Orion... You know about Team Star, right?"

"Something tells me you already know the answer to that question, Cassiopeia."

"That would be correct. To not test your already short patience, I've come up with a plan to take them down and force the to disbaned for good. I call it...Operation Starfall! And I want you to be apart of it.

"I'll think it over, but I'm not making any promises."

"That's fine by me." With that the call ends. The idea someone hacked my phone fills me with anxiety. The director suddenly walks up to me.

"Ah, Miss Orion. Please do try to keep your voice down if you're making calls within the school, won't you?" My face flushes red with embarasment, I didn't realize I was being so loud.

"Of course, sir..."

"You don't want anyone else to over hearing any personal information, after all. Honestly... There are so many things we need to be careful about in this day and age. On you go, then, young lady." I nod, before rushing off to class. Too much has happened in one day already, and I don't want to add being tardy to that list.

-----

Later in the day I'm walking in the main hall, looking for a specific book when I hear the speakers turn on, asking me to go to the Directors office. I do so begrudgingly, expecting to have done something wrong, but in reality, Professor Sada wanted to have a video chat with me, asking me to take care of Dr.Pepper(the Koraidon).

I obviously say yes and then Nemona barges in and drags me towards my new dorm, where I spend the next few months, and before long, it's time for the annual treasure hunt.

I head towards the center of Messagoza, Nemona and Arven arguing about who I'm going to help. Cassiopeia hacks my phone again to mark Team Star locations on my Map App, and tells them I can do what ever I want which gets them to stop fighting.

Dr.Pepper lets me ride them and the intro to the game has officially ended.

I go through the west gate and open up the list of pokemon in the area and roll the dice, getting..... Smoliv! Bit of a set back with already having a grass type, but I've never gotten one, so it should be fun!

I'll end it here for today, thank you for reading this far. Have a lovely day, until the next day~!

-Orion.MP5

[ryankurkut]

In your opinion, what is the best job there is?

The best job in the world is one where you can make the most money, learn new skills, and still have a healthy work-life balance. These are the three things that companies that review careers look at. The best job for you may depend on how you want to spend your time. Here are some of the best-paying jobs in the world.

Aside from a much-needed vacation, the best way to travel is with video games, at least if you like the Fox. There are a lot of online tools to help you get the most out of your gaming dollar, which is great. It's not a secret that the gaming world is very competitive. It's not easy to keep up with the competition. The best way to do this is to use a formal strategic planning strategy and make sure you have the right people, the right time, and the right place for your gaming needs.

Marketing for tourism is becoming more and more interested in travel video games. It lets potential tourists check out places before they go there in person, which makes it more likely that they will stay there.

Even though gaming is becoming more popular in tourism, not enough research has been done on how it can be used. Gamers aren't a big part of the tourist market, so it's hard for game developers to make games that are just for gamers who are traveling.

Through the lens of experience design, this paper looks at how a video game can tell gamers about a place. It focuses on five key experience pillars that might make gamers want to visit in-game locations: immersion, freedom, connection to the character, a sense of realism, and emotional experiences.

The authors used qualitative, in-depth interviews with experienced gamers of the action role-playing video game Assassin's Creed Odyssey to learn more about these pillars. People were asked to take part through social media and online gaming forums. They were asked to talk about how they felt about the game world and if they planned to go to Greece.

The travel and gaming industries are coming together more and more in a growing trend called "video game tourism." It can mean going to the places and doing the things that are in video games, or it can mean going on an adventure through different worlds in a video game.

Traveling in a video game can be a good thing for players a lot of the time. This kind of "travel" can help them relax and enjoy the scenery instead of getting stressed or overwhelmed by a difficult situation.

This can be especially helpful for travelers with self-isolation problems caused by the coronavirus. It can also be a great way to slow down and take in all the amazing design and detail that goes into making a video game world.

This study looks at how real-world factors affect in-game experiences. It finds that gaming experiences are made up of five pillars: a sense of realism, a level of immersion, freedom, connection to characters, and how the game world works. Using the video game Assassin's Creed Odyssey as a case study, it shows how video games could be used to market tourism and looks into the factors that may lead travelers to want to visit in-game locations.

Video games are a great way to pass the time, but they can also help you think better. Research shows that playing games can make you smarter and even help you live a healthier life.

Checking out some of the most popular games is a good place to start. This includes games like Pokémon Snap, where you can take photos of Pokemon in different settings. There are also many virtual reality experiences that are based on video games.

It can be expensive to go to a new place, and sometimes it's nice to be able to try something new without leaving your house. So, we're going to tell you about some of the best games that will make you feel like you're traveling the world. The most obvious choice is the Pokémon game I just mentioned, but if you want to do something more interactive and fun, try one of these other great games.

[meganuzlockediary]

Victory Road! Heart Gold!

January 11th!

Ok with Gym 8 done its time to think about the league and looking at my party I am missing some significant holes in my team that I need to deal with. So time to catch some pokemon.

First! I clearly need an Ice type to combat Lance. There are some options Dewgong, Cloyster and maybe Piloswine. I am going to go for Cloyster as its a guaranteed encounter if I catch a Chinchou. I Catch one and name him Clammy (original I know) and begin my search for a Water stone... Which are reaaally hard to get. The only one on the ground is in seafoam Islands over in Kanto! However apparently you can get it from the Pokeathalon on wednesdays!

Thus begins my Pokeathalon Grind. Not much of a grind though as Pokeathalon is one of the best pokemon minigames they have made! It deserved more love and would have been a great staple if it was in other games! It would probably also make a great Pokemon Snap style spin off like Mario and sonic at the olympic games! It seems most my pokemon are decent in Stamina. So Quagsire, Magnezone (Coming up soon) and Noctowl all help out to raise the 2500AP I need. It is a grind and flick mechaniscs on the PC suucks. With the waterstone in hand I evolve Cloyster and get up some speed EVs in the hope it will be able to take out the Dragonites.

I have also caught and levelled a Magnemite I caught in the Safari Zone. Another guaranteed encounter due to the wasteland only having Geodudes and gravellers. I level him up hoping to just have a nice safe Magnemite for Lance's Gyarados and a solid steel type. Except I have been playing with an accessible evolution hack and accidently level him up to Magnezone at level 40. A fantastic Pokemon perhaps even a carry for the game. I hope so at least.

So now is the rest of the game. I race through the Kimono girls thankfully with little issue. Using heracross as my lead gave me both defense and the ability to switch to better type match ups with close combat as a great set up.

The new routes towards kanto are some of my favourites in any game. Cool trainers, great music. So Much fun to travel. Fortunately there are no issues there most trainers are crushed by Magnezone.

Which finally leaves Victory road which is almost trainerless except for the final battle with our Rival!!!

I finally have nice counters to all his team! I Lead with Heracross against his sneasel. A close combat is an easy win before the inevitable golbat. I switch into magnezone to tank an air cutter and discharge to KO Golbat. Next is Feraligatr who also goes down to discharge but not after a waterfall first. With Magnezone in the yellow and his haunter out I switch to umbreon. It takes basically no Damage another tanky boy and actually takes haunter down in one faint attack. Finally is Magneton and Kadabra who both go down to a Quagsire Earthquake.

I'm feeling quite confident about this team I just need to finish sorting out move sets and do the final grind before the elite 4 challenge!

Badges won: 24

Pokemon Used: 57

Pokemon Down: 14

[nickmedoroart]

Every year my fiancé and I review what we watched, read, or played over the year. It's our little content catalogue, so I figured why not share some of the best things of 2022 we went though and if any of you are interested to go and check them out! Starting with movies, we watched a ton this year but these are probably my favorite 4 of the year: Everything Everywhere is a super unique movie that stands as my movie of the year. It does everything so well. RRR is a bombastic bollywood movie that depicts the greatest bromance I've ever seen. It's wild from start to finish and my runner up for the year. The Batman stands tall in an over-saturated genre of super hero movies. It has an artistic vision that feels lost in other super hero movies today. The Exorcist isn't new exactly but it's new to me and it really is as timeless as it has been. It's an interesting perspective dealing with the questioning of faith and what it can do to people.

Shows! No shock I watch mostly animated things and these are my top 4 among them: Morel Orel is just...so...difficult to describe. It's pure dark comedy but over the show's lifespan it evolves into a dark, deep character driven show about the roots of desire and sin. That and it has probably one of the most accurate depictions of an alcoholic abuser father I've ever seen. Primal. Pure art. Genndy, known for Samurai Jack and Powerpuff Girls, takes us to a pre-historic world with no voices. The show is carried by visuals and letting you feel every snapping stick in it's environment. While Orel is my show of the year, I can't stress enough how amazing Primal is too. Jojo in general. I finished Part 4, 5, and 6 this year but throughout ALL of Jojo, nothing beats Part 4. The small hometown with a small cast is just candy to me, but add in that strange Jojo sauce and MWAH. Love it. Don't Hug Me I'm Scared the TV show. You remember that web series from like 5 years ago? Well it got a show and it's just as dark and funny as before.

Video Gaming. I usually play the same games over and over so this year I made it my goal to only play new games to me. I did a pretty good job but didn't have as much time to play things as previous years, but here are my top 4: Yu-Gi-Oh. Guys, it's time to come clean. I'm an addict. This year I sunk so much time into yu-gi-oh. The physical game sure, but also Master Duel. This isn't my game of the year but I can't express the games I played this year without talking about my biggest time-sink... Chrono Trigger. It was my first time going through it and man I just love RPGs so much. It's perfect what do you want me to say? You either already know or haven't played it yet. Go play it. It's blows my mind what they were able to do on the SNES because some things in this game are better done here than in games TODAY. HOW!? Kirby and the Forgotten Land is just cute. It's Kirby. It's easy, simple, but sometimes a relaxing game is just as good as a hard as nails one. I just like vibing with Kirb and this is probably his best game in years. Pokemon Arceus was a crazy surprise. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Scarlet and Violet just came out and they're good but not as good as Arceus, which is weird, cause Arceus feels like a tech demo for Scarlet and Violet. Either way, this was a great time and throwing balls at monsters never felt as fun as it did here.

And that's my rant for things. Reading? I don't read enough tbh and I want to try to read more this year. I read One Piece like come on. Either way I'll disappear back into the void now and continue to make AND enjoy as much content as I can! Happy New Year!!

[snomnom]

The new pokemon snap looks really good! From the posts I've seen, the graphics look really nice (which makes sense since the whole point is taking pictures), and people seem like they're having lots of fun playing it!

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 12/6/22

tuesday again no problem will be taking a break next week, and will return on 12/20/22

listening

rich people by carsie blanton. this is an understated, acoustic little thing with piano and upright bass that builds up with some snaps and some...not quite call and response but something similar. it is direct and to the point, very much in the vein of labor songs and union songs.

i, very hard of hearing, transcribed this by HAND off spotify before i found this video bc i liked the lyrics so much. you're welcome.

Who run the world? It ain't the Jews Rich people don't pay no dues Who did the crime? It ain't the blacks Rich people don't pay no taxes Who took your job? It ain't immigration Rich people with corporations Who threw the vote? It ain't rednecks Rich people with thick fat checks

this interview is from two years ago (and reading about how seriously everyone took covid two years ago is...disheartening, now in the winter of 2022) but is a good answer to a really vague question about how she puts a song together (also explains why it pings so many of the union/labor song associations in my head):

I would say what I’m aware of in songwriting is that if you’re trying to fit a message into a song, it had better be a really catchy, exciting, fun song, because otherwise the message will not be heard. So I think I’m a songwriter first, and most of the songwriting I admire is what I would call American popular songs. So most of my favorite songwriters will just try to write a hit. That’s true in the ‘30s and ‘40s and in the Motown era. So that’s the writing I really admire. And I think in trying to get political messages into songs, I try to make the hook the thing that drives everything else. So it has to have the right energy, it has to have a catchy melody, or nobody cares to listen to the message.

ty to spotify weekly recs??? the least expected source

-

reading

Batman: Noël is a 2011 graphic novel written and illustrated by Lee Bermejo. dipping a toe back into reading with some batman comics. i love batman oneoffs bc there are eleven billion of them and i don't have to have read several thousand other comics to understand them. this one's schtick is: what if batman is scrooge? it's not very successful in the storytelling aspect of this, bc by DC editorial mandate batman and gotham cannot change or grow.

however! it is beautifully rendered. this spread was quite lovely imo, very funny to think sixties tv show batman and edgy grimdark 2010s batman are the same guy

this was chosen at whim from the selection available to me on my library's comics app hoopla. i have spent worse half hours

-

watching

white christmas (1954, dir. Curtiz) while choosing and addressing holiday cards. in like 2016 i decided doing this the first weekend in december would be my new tradition and i have done it like three times since then. so it goes.

has this movie aged well? no. did i watch it many times every winter while growing up bc i was brunette and my sister was blond? yes. these women simply do not look related but that's neither here nor there

-

playing

quick question, pokemon company

who ARE these women. why are they in little caped costumes. i found the little group of three all together but beating them up didn't give me anything except more questions. what is their DEAL

-

making

pasta failure. i have two boxes of mostaccioli (penne with no grooves) from really early in the pandemic when instacart gave me that instead of normal begrooved penne. in the interest of eating my pantry down before i move, i made sausage and peppers with onions, threw the leftovers in some diced tomatoes, and threw all that on top of this pasta.

this did not work bc this pasta has no grooves and cannot hold the tomatoes. the peppers and onions, which are cut in strips (as sausage and peppers with onions is typically made) are a little more successful but this shit sucks man. and i still have another whole box. other than ziti (and even that's questionable, bc the sauce issue remains, also i hate ziti) i don't think there's a good use for this pasta and i'm not completely sure why it exists except as a cruel italian joke, maybe.

in other house news, i am begrudgingly hanging more things bc i do want this joint to look a little less bare for when my siblings come.

in three columns left to right and then describing the columns from top to bottom:

postcard from the museum of sex in manhattan, postcard from my grandfather's collection, postcard from @believerindaydreams, cyanotype i did in high school

postcard from the restaurant my best friend's wedding reception was at, postcard from my sister when she went to japan, postcard from my sister when she went to france (no they are not flipped, also i had to trim this one without trimming any of the text and mack played with the sliver of cut off postcard for a solid forty minutes. acrobatic playing too, she was really going to fucking town smacking this sliver of postcard around)

another postcard from the best friend wedding reception restaurant, postcard from justseeds with a patreon backer reward postage stamp on top, patreon backer reward postcard from @calicojackofficial

i am not fucking around when i say i love postcards. this isn't even all the framed postcards in my house bc there are a series of five in one big frame, two in my room and two by my front door. plus some more in a box

and that's going to have to tide everyone over for the week break. i won't be totally offline (regular blogging, whatever the fuck that means, will probably continue) but i simply will not have the energy or time needed for a tuesdaypost

[prof-peach]

if fans wanted to include peach in stuff they write, would that be okay? and how would they write peach's personality? aside from "FIGHT ME" anyway, i think that much is a given lol. i only really write the anime characters 'cause that's what i know, but it sounds like it'd be kinda fun to try making a version of ash that fits into this blog's universe! nerf'd Obviously, but i think she'd probably appreciate how hands-on he gets when training his pokemon!

Ok, I get a lot of these messages, and I often hear folks wanting to throw peach into their stories and comics and writings, and I will always simply ask that if it’s published online publicly, to be linked to it so I can snoop and enjoy the content too. If someone asks about her in your work, let them know about the blog I guess? But literally I love that people take this stuff, these characters and stories, and make new stuff with it. No ones making money off my work here? So where’s the issue? Go for it buddy, knock yourself out, I’m all for it.

For you, and all the others out there who want to add peach, and other characters to your world building, I will give you a detailed rundown of the main lot, and how they behave, what they do, how they function. You can use that, use bits, or use none of it, I do not mind at all. If you’re creating something, you’re in control, not me.

So, peach doesn’t actually fight people as much as you’d think. She’s very aware most cannot and do not want to do that, and so she likes to keep to herself with regards to that aspect of her life, she doesn’t ask to spar with people, or even bring it up at all, but people ask her all the time, even if they clearly would lose or become hurt should she miscalculate during the fight. She looks at people like they usually create problems, and often has a somewhat reserved nature to other humans. You have to work quite hard to get anything more than formalities out of her. She will dead-pan handle people with blunt and very to-the-point statements, aid whenever possible, but very quickly get back to handling the Pokemon she so carefully tends. Her focus is clear, she’s all about hard work, her very small select family, and the Pokemon.

Her brutal, loud and brash personality only comes out with friends, family, difficult humans, OR any Pokemon. She will joke and laugh and play with Pokemon, but clam up around humans, maintaining tight body language and generally will be a little cold by regular standards. She does however have some weaknesses in this emotionless shield she puts up. When peach was young she was always angry, which swung so fast to sadness, back and forth. Her teenage years it just got worse and worse, it was crippling at points. She is to this day, full of fire and rage, even sadness, but now she has learnt to control it, to use it. When she sees that in others, it’s familiar, and she is pushed to drop the front, and be very real with the person. Underdogs I suppose, people who get bad reps, but deserve the same as everyone else. She can’t ignore it.

Once you start to pry open her personality, you’ll find she’s a lot more laid back and fun than originally appeared, you just have to work hard to find that side of her. She will meme reference, can’t dance to save her life, loves her coffee, and can be caught in quiet contemplation while gardening. This hobby is her calmest, and often is why she can stay so level headed when her quiet rage boils up again. Without time outside she will become grouchy, a little snippy, and lethargic. Will not go in the ocean for any reason other than life or death, is fine with ponds and rivers, or water at wading height. Likes the rain.

With regards to her training others, they usually have to tolerate her somewhat strict nature. She is a little....unforgiving, holds a grudge if you make a lot of mistakes, and has no tolerance for ignorance in the age of information that we all live in. In previous posts I’ve mentioned she’s only recently selected two students, after many years of testing kids who want to learn from her. Hundred tried out, only two have ever been approved. How she teaches is very fast paced, be prepared to get some scrapes and bruises, she will test your physical and emotional tolerances with intense tasks, carefully watching students like a hawk. Bad posture in your stance? She’ll be the first to tell you to sort it out. Not hearing your Pokemon partner? Right, now you spend the day without using words trying to communicate, let’s see how you like not being listened to.

This is a woman who has spent her life saying very little, and watching everything, she watches Pokemon and can see an issue from a mile off, and in battles, her observations are why she can react fast, and chose effective strategy to avoid damage and achieve results. Don’t let her body fool you, her strongest asset is analysing, watching, planning. Those skills have over the years transferred to people too. As a student, mistakes don’t go unnoticed with this professor.

Her methods are harsh but fair, and should you prove yourself, she will protect you with her life.

Because of her disinterest in kids and lots of noise, she does pass the training of students on to the other staff members whenever possible. Grey takes on the lions share of battle lessons, he is far calmer, more open and friendly, with patience for people, and an empathy that peach sometimes struggles to have. When you go through a lot of harsh training, and difficult events, it’s hard to change how you feel or think, with peach, well, she’s been through it. Most do not come out the other end in one piece, but she did, and it made her strong. You may think I mean strong like buff and big, and yeah sure she is, but I mean it mentally more than anything. Peach will not quit. She has learnt to destroy the boundaries that stop people getting hurt, gone is the fear that freezes you in your tracks, that feeling that you’ll pass out if you go one more step. She’s learnt to ignore it.

This means she’s a little forgetful at how it is to be normal, to be vulnerable and soft and squishy like students so usually are.

She has her issues, but for the most part, visitors get a laugh, a smile, a calm assertive confidence, and facts. She will indulge those who have genuine interest, or show a connection with nature, an understanding of the balance that needs to be struck for everyone to live well together.

Despite her many flaws, she’s fiercely protective, and will go above and beyond to defend the island, it’s staff, the Pokemon and the visitors. Injustice is her biggest gripe, along with littering, and she doesn’t stand by quietly if something happens that seems unfair.

You will not see her without Valka, her vulpix, close by. That Pokemon doesn’t like to be touched by strangers, at all, and will run the second someone comes at her with that intent. Peach will scold you for pushing yourself onto her, should you persistently try to get close to pet Val. They are in sync, if peach is sad, Val is sad, if Val is stressed, peach is stressed, and so on. They are inherently connected, it’s just been that long, the psychic bridge between them has been built, and reinforced over the years.

The only other Pokemon who follows her so endlessly is Booker, a teddiursa who’s pretty rough looking. He quietly trots behind, grouchy and stoic, they fight closely together a lot. He lost his mom a long time ago to poachers, and peach took him in, and changed her whole life for him. Not many people know, but Booker was the reason she left the rangers, changed career, and got so strong. Will tolerate people petting him but isn’t keen at all, grumbles a lot and tries to move away.

You may also need to know about the others, for the sake of writing, she here a few more bits that may be important to you, or others wanting to do this.

Grey is very tall, very burly, composed, tells bad dad jokes, is a bit of a goof if allowed to be. If he sees a pun, he’ll say it. Can’t help himself. Very nice guy to work with, good at keeping people calm and grounded. Pokemon are drawn to him like a moth to a flame, he gives off warm energy, and has inhuman amounts of patience. If you wrong his family however, he will snap back.

He grew up in the city, loves to swim and hike and cycle, can snowboard, is really sporty. A total brain box with held items, and boosting stats. He will explore many paths, to make sure visitors and students get the information they need, in a way that can be remembered and retained for later. Is a huge guy, but will get on the floor to play with a tiny Pokemon. Treats big “meaner” looking species like babies, very good with all pokemon.

His free time is spent either tinkering, swimming, or trimming his bonsai trees. This guy stares at screens a lot, so appreciates time away from them. Peach built him his own little greenhouse for his trees and tools, which he keeps clean and loves dearly.

His methods as a teacher are built around fun and games, he makes hard work easier to do by distracting trainers from the difficult bits, and focusing in on something more interesting or compelling.

His most commonly seen Pokemon would be a houndoom, Saxon, old battle veteran, retired now to herding and being a good boy. Very gentle, loves a pet.

Pari, now a fully fledged nurse, often oversees the labs front desk and pokecentre features, such as healing pokemon, and informing trainers who come to visit. Her skills with eggs and hatchlings is high, she’s great with younger Pokemon, and hands out good advice to trainers a lot. She’s not a fighter, never was, but can find any file, any study, any book, and any refrence you may need. A true bookworm, loves her romance novels, chat shows and upbeat celebrity gossip mags. Will cry at a lot of stuff, be it sad or happy.

She’s got a seriously upbeat personality, but if caught off guard or shocked, she gets a little flustered. Too much chaos will overwhelm her, but usually she’s on top of things. The years spent on the island have made her better at maintaining composure in emergencies. With lots of siblings, she’s very competent with others, and has a good ability to disarm cagey people with her jolly nature. Because of this, she can sometimes gain information from trainers that some of the more harsh professors may not have access to. Charming is a word for it.

Her partners are an eevee, and a happiny. They are quite sweet and well adjusted, the eevee gets a bit bouncy if you get it too excited.