#i mean that's ogerpon in general but you know

[a-tale-of-legends]

Really can't wait for the list of indigo mask pokemon to be revealed cause uuuuuuh. I still haven't figured out the other two pokemon to round out this team. I'm no doubles team builder ( in fact double battles are something I do not like to do) and I'm also generally looking for Pokemon that matches Luca. Again, I got Primarina in my sights, but I'm not completely sure. Of course, Luca's other pokemon are available, so I'm not completely stuck.

[shiny-kaibernyte]

Can i get romance hcs for Kieran?

Ask and you shall receive! I have so many requests but I couldn't resist doing this one! Do hope I fit the bill for this one as Kieran is an, interesting character to write for 💜

Pokémon Headcannons | Kieran (Romance)

Pokémon Scarlett and Violet DLC Spoilers ahead!

Warnings: Possessive behaviour; obsession

SPOILER WARNING For Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk

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(Was gonna use one of his Teal mask mission photos but i love this one to much not to use it. Straight up mood.)

When you step into his life, it is you and you alone who rules his heart. 

Kieran’s drive for things is strong, very strong. And when he sets his mind on something; he will never stop until he’s achieved whatever it is he’s after. So when he set eyes on you, his goal was to give his all to you. And hope you will give your all to him.

Your Agias and Kieran are like siblings, he's the quiet one, Agias is the give me your food or else one

He will never force you to do anything you don’t want to. After the Ogerpon situation, Kieran spiralled into a state where he no longer felt danger. He would dive into every challenge head first, fight every trainer, every Pokémon and climb the most dangerous of mountains if it meant he could be the best. But when he’s with you, he’ll dial it back. Always staying within your comfort zone, the last thing he wants is to push the most precious thing in his life away from him.

Gets jealous incredibly easily. ESPECIALLY if it's Drayton. The Rivalry between these two is uncanny, it would be no surprise if Kieran felt true hatred towards him for a time. Though it's gone now. The jealousy of even seeing Drayton standing close to you is overbearing.

You and Carmine are practically best friends. You're the glue that keeps the pair bonded together.. When you are around Carmine doesn’t feel afraid of Kieran as you bring out her little brother, the brother she thought was lost to obsession.

If you are a member of the BB League, he will be a lot sweeter for you. He may get frazzled when the rest of the group is around and everyone is slacking off. But he will always apologise to you if you tell him he’s gone too far. Never to the others however. Even if you force him to, he’ll never mean it.

Is not an outdoor person, even with the yelling and the confidence, deep down he is still the same shy, excitable boy who just needs a hug. So his ideal time with you is sitting together and watching movies, or reading books. 

He is a listener. He will listen to you for however long you need him to. Every word you say he will listen.

He isn’t good with words, even after everything that happened with Ogerpon and Terapagos. So he tends to be a lot more handsy, always trying to hold your hand, your arm, or just you in general. 

Speaking of that, when out in public together, he practically is stuck to you, he eyes glaring towards anyone who shows you any form of interest, hand on his Hydrapple’s Pokeball just in case they don’t take his death stare to literal.

He’s a cheek kisser, deep down he is still extremely shy and closeted, so kissing you on the lips can fluster him even when he's the champion, so he uses cheek kisses as his way of saying he loves you.

Hug him please. He will melt. This poor boy needs a break from everything. 

If he was a ship, you are his lighthouse. If you were a tree, he is your roots. You both complete each other.

When Kieran begins his ‘redemption arc’ he tries to redeem his actions slowly though he doesn’t exactly know the best way around it. So he asks for your opinions on basically everything he does. Carmine attempts to give input but as sibling rivalries go, it falls upon deaf ears.

His Hydrapple loves you, almost as much as Kieran does. Almost.

[crystalelemental]

Character Analysis - Carmine and Kieran

I have been trying to write something on this for the majority of the week and haven't been able to organize it in a way I like. So this will not be coherent, but since I've had my second go through the DLC story, I have...a lot more to say on Carmine and Kieran.

Seeking Strength Kieran's big focus by the end is on not being strong enough, and needing to become stronger than you. I think it's largely accepted that this is to defeat you, that he has it out for the protagonist. I disagree.

Consider why strength is important, and when it became clear. The first time Kieran mentions strength, it's in front of the ogre's cave. He talks about wanting to battle, thinking maybe that could impress the ogre. And he loses. Which is whatever, the ogre didn't show. But then it does. To you, and to his sister, but not to him. Internally, the connection is clear: the ogre doesn't trust me, because it sees me as weak.

This goes back even further, though. Think about your introduction to him. Carmine battles you to kick you out, and you win. Carmine's response here is interesting. She comments on everything, and actively makes fun of you if you use a not very effective attack, snarking that you must not know your type matchups after all. She oozes confidence and control, to excess. But when she loses, there's a bit of a fist shake, but rather than anger, she turns away and looks...sad. Losing upsets her, and while she bounces back, that moment suggests a deeper vulnerability and need to seem strong.

And to Kieran, she does. She's constantly in control, and by and large, he seems to follow her pace. If she asks him to do something, and by asks I mean tells, he generally follows through. And he saw someone beat her. There's someone stronger than his sister now. And that's interesting. I think there's a lot more to it, but I'll save that for a later section. For now, the point is, Kieran's always been focused on strength, because he admires Carmine's strength, and wants to be more like that.

I think this recontextualizes your final fight a bit, too. Carmine tells Kieran that he can't make Ogerpon go with him, she has her own will to choose. Kieran still insists he needs this battle, and it seems like the perception of this is "he's ignoring it." But I don't think he is. At this point, he's lost multiple times, each time thinking it's his lack of strength that resulted in him not getting what he wanted. It was, at first, to meet and befriend the ogre. And yeah, he'd still like to. He's still trying, given the stipulations of the fight. But he's also fighting for his sense of self-worth. He feels he's not strong enough, and that lack of strength is holding him back. He's seen his sister lose twice now, yet she's still confident. But he lost, and feels like he's losing more of what little he had to start with.

Belonging and Isolation Carmine's hostility toward outsiders is, as expressed, a matter of feeling like her hometown is becoming a tourist trap. I think what often gets missed in this is that Carmine herself is...fairly traditional. She cares about the customs of the village, the sanctity of the crystal pool, and the prominence of the Loyal Three. She even remarks that obviously she likes the three better, Kieran just likes the ogre because he's a ten year old boy and they're always into weird monster things. She considers integration with the village something important, and deep down, cares about it as a whole.

That's not to say she gets along with everyone. The Caretaker seems more than happy to make the conversion if it helps the town thrive, and Carmine actively disagrees with that. Her hostility is clear to us, and she makes her reason known, but it's not clear how much the villagers seem to understand this. They tend to treat Carmine's responses as part of an attitude problem, more than anything. The Caretaker is pre-emptive in calling out Carmine to get along with everyone. They know she's not happy about it, but expect her to just deal with it, and kinda treat her like they expect problems. Calling them the "Lousy Three" gets an almost exasperated comment about her attitude and a correction, like they fully expect her to be this way, and don't consider the why behind it.

By contrast, Kieran...successfully talks them into abandoning their ancient beliefs and understanding of the past in the course of a single afternoon.

For all the emphasis on Kieran seeming lonely, and I do believe he himself feels that way, Kieran...seems pretty well accepted by people. Think about how significant it is that they're willing to listen to him, with such seriousness, that they'll believe him when he says their understanding of history is wrong.

I think this plays into an interesting dichotomy with the siblings. On the one hand, Kieran is pretty well accepted, but genuinely lonely. On the other, Carmine seems perfectly fine being by herself, and doesn't seem to interface well with the others. But when you look at what they want? Kieran doesn't seem to care that he runs contrary to everything the village stands for. The ogre is cool, he likes that best, and sees little of interest or value in the three. He doesn't really care to integrate with the village. But Carmine does care, and isn't successful at it. By all accounts, she doesn't seem to have friends either. But when a new kid rolls in, and her brother takes an interest in them, she still focuses on him first.

Justice and Fairness Carmine is, at her core, pretty focused on what's right. Despite being more aligned with tradition in her village, when her grandfather reveals the truth, she's immediately furious on Ogerpon's behalf. She has no reservations about telling the rest of the village, until he appeals to her sense of reason, and she understands where the concern might be.

Carmine's reactive, but she's not a fool. She's pretty grounded, but in that way where I think it causes her to miss some things and seem unconcerned with feelings. But she does care about how people feel; quite a bit, really. When Kieran tries to give his ogre mask to you, Carmine intervenes and tells him not to. That's his favorite mask, and he shouldn't have to go without. Besides, practically speaking, we just buy the new kid a mask they like at the festival. It's pragmatic. But it also misses that Kieran was okay with sharing his mask for his friend. She cares about his feelings, enough to worry about him giving up something he cares about. But it's in a more...avoidant sense. More on that later.

By contrast, Kieran seems focused more on fairness. It doesn't matter the reason or intent, you left him out of what you knew. You didn't tell him about the ogre. You ran off with Carmine and pushed him aside, and that's not fair. He was your friend first, and he cared about the ogre first, and it isn't fair that suddenly that all doesn't matter. In that sense, he's very emotional, but doesn't really consider the rational cause of things. It's all about how he feels. This runs very counter to how Carmine is, being very emotional, but focusing more on the practical reason than how she's feeling.

I think you can also see this in how they express themselves. Kieran has no trouble opening up the instant you're on your own with him. He'll tell you all about how he thinks the ogre is cool, and that he was only scared of getting yelled at for going to the mountain. But Carmine legitimately struggles with it. She has a tough time being honest with people, and her sense of what being mean to someone is, boils down to "I didn't hit him." It's as if she doesn't really understand that her words can hurt people, or perhaps why someone would be hurt by them. The idea of "What you're saying was rude" is secondary to the practical outcome. If it's true, it doesn't matter how I say it. If it's what has to happen, it doesn't matter that it comes out as "Kiki, get out of here." Her mentality seems to be that she knows best, and is going to act on that, and there's no reason for people to be upset with her if she's right.

Sibling's Bond In one of the earliest scenes, we get a very good sense for the dynamic the siblings have. Kieran has taken an interest in the player, but barely speaks to them, turning his face away and not even listening to them. Carmine intervenes by explaining what he's thinking and asking for you to battle on his behalf. Kieran shies away, Carmine takes control, and Kieran is more than willing to cede that control to her. In this situation, it works out, as he gets to spend time with a new friend. It is the first, and only, time this dynamic works in their favor.

Every other instance of this particular dynamic coming into play hurts more than helps. When Carmine interrupts you talking about the ogre, and insists Kieran not find out, that's her assuming control like usual. Same with telling him to just leave the next morning. Kieran shies away from staying to help with the mask quest, rather than confront that someone else gets along better with Ogerpon. This is a dynamic they've had for a long while, and there is evidence to prove it.

"I hate when he gets like this." Carmine's clearly annoyed, but the phrasing evokes the sense that this isn't just something that happened before, it's happened often. And she's not happy about it. Kieran running off crying is the only time she really expresses anything truly negative about her brother, and it's telling of what she herself can't handle.

If Kieran's crying, it's because something's bothered him, and as the one who takes care of him, that feels like it's her fault. I talked about how Carmine is integrated with the beliefs of the village, if not its people, but there's a bit more to it. Carmine's generally apathetic about whether people like her, she's more concerned with being right, and doing right. Carmine cares about being a good person. And if her brother's throwing a fit, it's putting her in the position of the bad guy, and criticisms about being nice to him evoke an outrage. "It's not like I hit him" isn't just telling of her lack of awareness for how her words come across, it's indignation that her grandfather is implying she's at fault. Kieran crying is the one thing that she cannot tolerate.

And for Kieran, that makes it a very effective play. Because I keep going, I need to be clear: I am not saying Kieran is being manipulative. He's like ten, and highly emotional. He's not sitting around thinking that if he just cries, Carmine will do whatever he wants. He's just having an emotion, and Carmine has a reaction. It's the dynamic that turns this into a recurring feature of their relationship.

The behavioral term is Negative Reinforcement: an outcome that increases the chance of the behavior occurring in the future, by removing an aversive stimulus. When Kieran wants something, and it doesn't happen, he'll get emotional and cry. Carmine, feeling guilty or responsible, folds to make him stop. The initial aversive - not getting what he wants - is removed as a consequence of his crying, making it more likely to occur again. But the same is true for Carmine. She cannot stand that crying, so when she gives in, the crying stops, reinforcing capitulation.

It's a situation where neither is really at fault. They're both kids, and have that sibling dynamic. Older siblings take care of the younger ones. When you have an older sibling who feels responsible for the wellbeing of the younger, and cares deeply about taking care of them without knowing the difference between "helping them do it" and "doing it for them," you get Carmine. When you have a younger sibling who is particularly emotional and withdrawn alongside them, you get Kieran.

And the DLC is the breakdown of this dynamic.

Another really fun behavioral term: Extinction Burst. Extinction refers to when reinforcement is removed as a consequence of a behavior. Effectively, you decouple the behavior and what typically happens. An extinction burst is the oft emotional blowup that comes as a result of a behavior no longer meeting its typical, expected reinforcer. Think about when your computer won't turn on. How many times mashing the button does it take before you check the power cord? Do you stay calm during that or start cursing it out, maybe worrying that something's broken and desperately hoping it turns on if you just hit it right, or hold it long enough? That's the extinction burst in play.

That's what's going on with Kieran. He's finding his independence, but as part of that, he's learning what it means to have it. Sometimes things don't go your way, and you have to live with that. Even crying won't get the situation to change now, and he...hasn't figured out what else to do. Unintentionally, by handling things for him, Carmine's left him in a situation where he's unequipped to manage circumstance. All he can think is pushing for strength, and battling you over and over and over in hopes that this time, he'll win.

By contrast, Carmine's doing...really well. She adapts well, makes quick friends with the player as well, assumes a sort of leadership role in the quest, and demonstrates the reality that for all her bluster, she does care and is fairly well adjusted. She's had the experience to manage frustrations and setbacks, even if they're difficult, to the point that by the end of your last battle, she can earnestly smile and congratulate you. Her dynamic with you is thriving. And, for a while, your dynamic with Kieran was too, before his perception of inadequacy interferes. It's sad but worth noting: the happiest we see either of them is when they're away from each other.

I don't have any profound thoughts beyond this, nor guesses to how Indigo Disk might play out. But I think it's interesting how they managed to create a story with a compelling conflict, where these is no true "bad guy." I was initially kinda down on the DLC, I felt like the legendary stuff was kinda bland. But I've really come around on these two, and look forward to the next part.

[taruchinator]

🌳 General Audiences

🌳 1k Words

🌳 For the @bycmykae Light Screen Pokémon Zine!

“Are you sure you want me to help you?”

“For the last time—yes! Now quit whining and pass me the soap!”

The Paldean trainer had been meaning to give his team a well earned wash for some time now. And no one needed this deluxe treatment more than dear old Ogerpon. After years of living alone in the caves of Kitakami, there was definitely much to be desired for her personal hygiene.

So who better to enlist the help of than his best (cutest) friend in the whole world?

Greetings everyone, Alice here! ^^

This zine's fic was meant to focus on color, which is obviously something difficult to depict in written media like this ���� Still, I went with “Green”, and also good old fashioned candyappleshipping (gotta love shipping the MC with Kieran 💖)

Hope you guys enjoy!

“Are you sure you want me to help you?”

“For the last time—yes! Now quit whining and pass me the soap!”

It had just been a week since summer vacation started in Blueberry Academy.

Director Clavell called Florian to let him know he was free to stay longer if he so desired; surely one of the many perks of being a Paldean Champion was the fact he didn't have to worry about plane tickets or staying accommodations.

Which left the brunet with a couple of options—he could get a head start in his school work, maybe go back to Kitakami and finish the Pokédex Professor Jacq had been pestering him about, heck, he could just kick back and relax until classes started again.

But there was one task in particular he'd been putting off for some time now.

“I'm just saying I'm not the best at Pokémon care…” Kieran was rummaging through Florian's basket with a huff, but not really in protest. After finding the desired item, he handed it over while averting his gaze to the ground. “Besides, I dunno if Ogerpon would feel comfortable if I was here.”

After accepting the bottle of liquid soap handed his way, the brunet frowned in slight annoyance at his companion's comment. “Kiki, you've apologized like a thousand times and we've both forgiven you by now. She still adores you, otherwise she wouldn't even come out of her ball!”

Almost to prove his point, the Grass-Type Pokémon the duo had ignored during their conversation jumped from her seat in an inflatable pool, splashing away happily while calling in Kieran's direction. Florian couldn't contain a giggle from escaping his lips as he handed the boy a Mareep shaped sponge. “So could you please give her a scrub while I handle the masks?”

Kieran stood still for a moment, trying to psyche himself up no doubt, until eventually giving in and dipping the sponge in the soapy water.

The Paldean trainer had been meaning to give his team a well earned wash for some time now. Everything from the trip to Blueberry Academy to their battle against Terapagos in Area Zero had taken a toll, and didn't necessarily help in putting this mundane task at the top of his priority list. So after finally getting the vacation he deserved, he figured a little bath time with his Pokémon in the Terrarium wasn't a bad idea.

And no one needed this deluxe treatment more than dear old Ogerpon.

After years of living alone in the caves of Kitakami, there was definitely much to be desired for her personal hygiene. Vibrant pastel colors were obscured by patches of dirt, leaving her leafy green appearance hidden to most people. This also included her signature masks, which was what brought the Pokémon more sadness than anything else—they were her prized possessions, after all.

So Florian took it upon himself to ask Ms. Briar for tips on how to best care for these ancient relics. He figured if anyone would have good insight on how to handle something like this carefully, it would be her. Thankfully it seemed that some simple dish soap would do just fine.

The brunet scrubbed the grime off the Teal Mask gently with his fingers, making sure to get in between the crevices and small spots that a regular sponge couldn't reach. With a few splashes of water and wipes of his cloth, the emerald shine that the mask was known for began to come through once more, bringing a smile to the boy's lips. He couldn't wait to see the look on the Legendary Pokémon’s face when she saw-

“O-Ogerpon, wait! You aren't dry yet!”

Kieran's squeaks of protest brought Florian back to reality, making him turn just in time to witness one of the most adorable displays he'd ever seen.

Both boy and Pokémon were drenched from head to toe, the prior most definitely having been pulled into the water at some point by the sneaky little Grass-Type. Kieran was doing his darn best to keep the little creature from causing more of a havoc than she already had, but the attempt was futile.

Laughter bubbled inside and quickly bursted out of the Paldean Champion’s lips at the sight. His friend, who could only be described as looking like a wet cat at this point, had his cheeks redden significantly as he puffed in embarrassment. Truly adorable. “F-Flor, cut it out!”

“I-I'm sorry! You two are just too cute!” Florian tried to regain his composure while wiping the tears out of the corner of his eyes. After getting a closer look, he was rather impressed—Ogerpon's fur was sparkling clean, almost comparable to dew on grass in the early morning. Her signature pastel green color was much more prominent than it was before, and the Pokémon seemed to be as happy as ever because of it. Florian sent a smirk in Kieran's direction. “Not good at Pokémon care, huh?”

Caught off guard by the sudden compliment, the shorter boy faced away as he started squeezing the excess water out of his hair, a blush still adorning his features. “I-I mean, I'm used to giving them food and evolution items and stuff… never really thought of baths whenever I was visiting home…”

“Well I'd say you're a natural! Our little girl looks so much happier~”

“W-What do you mean by ‘our’, you idiot?!”

“We caught her together so that means we share custody!”

“What are you even saying?!”

Florian let out another cackle at seeing the other get more and more flustered, especially with Ogerpon joining in on the fun while trying to drag Kieran back into the water for another splash session.

Maybe Director Clavell was right.

One could find their greatest treasure even in the strangest of places.

✦𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬!✦

[agentc0rn]

Teal Mask: Kieran’s desire for strength - not just becoming strong as a trainer but also as a resilient individual in general. *LONG THREAD WARNING*

Just wanted to contribute further to the teal mask content and all that juicy stuff. As we all know, we all have unfortunately witnessed a poor boy’s down-spiral character arc. It is evident that Kieran wants to attain strength to become a stronger trainer and person as a whole. He outright states that he wants to become independent, capable, and reliable at some point. His motivation and source of support - ogerpon -  more so the legend version of ogerpon than the “real” ogerpon, was once a common innocent fixation that many of us probably had/have in our lives, that was then tragically turned to an unhealthy obsession. It became a poor coping mechanism and desperate means of proving himself that pushed him towards reckless methods and mannerisms.  

Parallels with Loyal Three

I mentioned in the comment section of one post that his desire for power parallels with Okidogi. Additionally, he shares similar sentiments with Fez and Munki. He wants to be “cool” like the ogre (achieve a cool status that of a hero, admired for their strength) and seeks knowledge on the ways to succeed like us - he wants to know how to become stronger -  “why can’t I be like you?”. This is shown through his tactics, team member swaps and appearance change at the end. 

Foils with other characters

I find it sad how as Ogerpon learns to open up, heal and receives support, Kieran does not have a proper, stable one since the start - his sister has supported him in some ways of course, but her attitude/actions likely has also contributed to his sense of inferiority. Thus, the combination of misunderstanding, cultural norms, strained familial relationships, miscommunication, and self inflicted misjudgments have pushed him further down the hole. It’s almost as if he is the foil of Nemona (yet also alike) in terms of how strength as a social arbiter determines one’s worth and outlook. Nemona became so strong but at a social cost; no one wants to compete or keep up with her and misreads her passion (likewise with Kieran and his interest in history). She just wants someone to battle with with all of their efforts and enjoy the battle the same way she does, which she does not mind losing. On the other hand, if you’re weak then you would likely get made fun of or ignored, which we see Kieran has internalized that idea through his accusations of us and Carmine laughing behind his back (perhaps this is a common concept that runs in blueberry academy? Competition and becoming the best are of utmost importance). Moreover, he is, in a way, a foil of Arven in ascribing to a legend and superstition - except Arven learns to embrace support after being alone for so long, heals and accepts korai/Mirai, while Kiki feels further isolated, loses grasp of who Ogerpon really is by going against her boundaries and runs away from opportunities of support. As for Penny, it is clear that they share a reclusive nature and willingness to not conform to, but to confront social standards. Penny takes self accountability for her actions, whereas for Kieran, while he does apologize at times and keeps his word - soon gets lost in a convoluted, distorted sense of right and wrong (him stealing the teal mask, and him not wanting to join the mask retrieval mission may seem selfish at first, but it could be that he didn’t want to be a burden as well as be seen sulking). He unfortunately (would) becomes the antagonist or better yet, the oni in our path.

Peach Symbolism

On another hand, kieran may be the peach boy in a sense but reverse. His actions and desire fulfilled the required conditions for the resurrection of the loyal three (desire for “revenge”) and thus indirectly leads them to endanger Ogerpon.  In one of my previous posts, I wrote a poem about how Kieran's dreams were sweet like peach, but then got crushed. And like certain fruits, it has seeds that contains some poison but not at a dangerous level (unless consumed at high amount ofc), which ties to the toxic chain and dokutaro that has been theorized to be external influences partially responsible for his behaviour.

Hero + heroic values

Finally, that one part when he says you’re like the hero of the story (that line goes hard and breaks the fourth wall, it’s been mentioned a lot in visual works on pixiv and social discourses), is a dealbreaker of his wish to keep his new friendship. Despite the portrayal of him hating the player (through memes which I do laugh at, and artworks/ discussions which I agree while sad about it) I think he is mad at us for sure, but not spiteful. Or maybe slightly. I think above all, he is mad at himself;  he constantly faces inner turmoil  to overcoming his helplessness, insecurity, and the process of revising his dreams and outgrowing his old ones. He had to forfeit his one childhood dream and now recognizes that he has to change in some way (albeit a bit extreme). In an ironic way, he would likely become his idealized version of strength, like "his" ogerpon - a strong “oni”- aka champion of bb academy. But again, while physical strength is a quality emphasized many times, Kieran wants to grow mentally strong to endure losses and humiliations both as a trainer and individual (ex. he is told down by his sister as seen in the beginning). He wants to be appreciated and not looked down as someone who is meek, weak and cowardly, which he tries so hard to build himself up on the virtues of a hero. He values honesty and a fair fight and tries to fulfill them to "earn" respect from people + ogerpon as a trainer. And maybe, that is when he feels that he is equal on par with you, and that he can be considered good enough to be our friend.

I really feel a lot for Kieran, because I do see myself in him (not in an obsessive way though) - hated losing, shy, hyerpfixations… I see his good traits and flaws - he is curious, sensitive, empathetic, has a critical mind of mainstream narratives but is also insecure and stubborn. I see too much simplistic takes on them (Kieran is narcissistic victim, Carmen is abusive,etc), like I get some aspects of the ideas, but saying that in a deterministic way does not define the character at all…

[v0id-echoes]

so I wanted to talk about something interesting I saw someone point out on Twitter today

on the images / thumbnails every Pokemon has in the pokedex they have a little poke ball symbol on them, however interestingly Ogerpon instead has this mark that kinda resembles the tera symbol

people seem to generally agree that Ogerpon has this unique mark instead of the regular poke ball because it has a special tera form, and this symbol is meant to represent that

but the interesting thing is

Koraidon and Miraidon have it too, so people are now speculating that these two could be getting tera forms as well

now I looked at old pokedex videos from when the game was released and no, despite what some people think these were not added or changed when the dlc released, their pokedex images have always had this symbol, but it’s still interesting to consider and I don’t think them having the mark from the beginning is enough to deconfirm the idea

the Treasures of Ruin and Loyal Three all have the regular poke ball, which means this isn’t just a general symbol to indicate legendary pokemon, and I don’t see why cover / mascot legendaries specifically would need a special mark if it didn’t mean anything greater

do you guys think this means Koraidon and Miraidon are getting tera forms then?

EDIT: To clarify on my point about it being weird for the mascot legendaries to have a symbol just because they’re mascots, I mean it’d be weird because it’s a tera symbol specifically when, at present, Koraidon and Miraidon have no significant connection to terastallization. Didn’t explain it well, I know, i’m a lil dumb

[firedragon1321]

It's Kieran hours again. Today I wanted to ramble about him, and also Carmine being an asshole. Spoilers for Teal Mask and possible spoilers for Indigo Disk (based on leaks) below.

So it's already obvious that Carmine's mistreatment of Kieran plays into his insecurity at the start of the game. The player is also at fault (hiding the truth about Ogerpon from him, spending time with only Carmine, and turning the other cheek to his mistreatment, amongst other things). Note when I refer to "the player" here, I mean the in-game avatar, not the actual human player. Others have agreed that we needed the choice to avoid hurting Kieran's feelings.

As an extension of that, we also needed the choice to confront Carmine. I know we couldn't because Teal Mask leads directly into Indigo Disk, and Pokemon games are linear by nature. But as a grown-ass adult who recognized the toxic dynamic between the siblings, I wanted to take Kieran and hide on Oni Mountain.

And it was all little things adding up to one oppressive hammer of discouragement. Constantly brushing him off, treating him as unimportant, etc. This behavior of Carmine's isn't exclusive to Kieran- the player is treated like shit until they earn her respect. But the player is from out of town. Kieran had to deal with this behavior for his entire life.

Carmine isn't evil like Lusamine (debatable due to Nihilego poison) or Ghetsis (I will get to these two in the readmore). But her behavior is still unacceptable. It's what made Kieran feel so small to begin with.

When he's finally given a chance at friendship and kindness, Carmine snatches the player, too (from his perspective). When he has a chance to catch Ogerpon, the player does instead, and he has to watch. At this point, the player is on Carmine's "side", and an extension of her lifelong psychological control over her brother.

There are rumors/leaks that a Pokemon may be controlling Kieran to a degree- similar to Lusamine- as the situation worsens. But even without this behind the scenes action, Kieran's behavior is understandable. He had two chances at friendship, snatched away by the girl who thinks he amounts to nothing and the apparent lapdog at her side.

So why bother with friendship at all? Why not become stronger and stronger, and bowl down everything in your way? It worked for the people who hurt you...

I want to veer off into other games with similar plot beats as a point of comparison. I put it under a readmore for people who don't care and for length. I'll probably add a reblog after Indigo Disk to conclude this ramble.

While Sun/Moon did a great job at portraying abuse, it didn't do a great job at resolving it. Lillie forgives Lusamine, Gladion is left to flounder, and Lusamine is resolved of increasing amounts of blame with each adaption. USUM and the anime make this issue progressively worse, with the anime barely addressing Lusamine's true nature, save one episode where it's treated as her "caring too much". I made an entire post about Gladion because this issue pisses me off. While Lillie's forgiveness of Lusamine makes sense for her character, it shouldn't be required of Gladion, Guzma, or any of her other pawns.

In Black and White, Ghetsis is not only called out on his shitty behavior, but N isn't obligated to forgive him. This remains true in all adaptations. Once Ghetsis drops the act, the game is bold enough to call it "abuse" without using the actual word. It understands that what happened to N is disgusting and horrible. In many adaptations- like Pokemon Generations- N is able to confront him- and by extension, his feelings- directly.

I also feel like Kieran is Wally if Wally wasn't a pushover. The player crushes his dreams of battling in a gym at his uncle's command. While his health is a concern, there is literally no reason he can't battle the gym. He only has Ralts and will likely lose. But he's prevented from even trying- by the person he considers a friend, no less. Wally doesn't show up again until near the endgame...where the player crushes his dreams again.

Wally takes it all with a smile. Kieran doesn't.

For Kieran specifically, I feel like they'll go the Sun/Moon route over the Black/White route. Which concerns me. If Kieran apologizes to Carmine even if he did something bad in Indigo Disk- I will throw up. He doesn't have to forgive her, or even the player.

[applesjuice]

WAIT, does that mean that Kieran/Akari still captured legendaries?!!! When they're hearing Cinhtya talking about myths and legends of Hisui to see if there is a semblance of truth, and Akari just goes "Oh, ye." And just, sent Palkia/Dialga, darkrai (Lord of nightmare?!!!), GIRATINA (the fu-) and plenty others?!

...GOD?!

Pfffhehehe, it's just funny to think of the reaction the Poke-world could have to these XD. (Legend AU)

Yeah! They completed the pokedex and helped Laventon get the ball rolling in his research since everything got derailed thanks to a certain someone. I don't think they'd bring the legendaries back with them since like, they're literal gods who are worshipped. They captured them but they still do what they want, like showing up to work on the farm randomly or appearing to Kieran in dreams like they're the Virgin Mary descending to bestow a prophecy and its just Palkia or whoever wanting some attention. Kieran feels very bad for Giritina, and projects a bit on it like they did with Ogerpon, but I genuinely think Kieran is just a very empathetic kid.

The clans worship their specific pokemon like gods with carved figures in their homes that they make daily offering too. At some point Kieran makes one for Giritina and puts little hats on it when it gets cold and leaves berries and treats as an offering. Maybe the big baddie of the Distortion World is that way because nobody ever gave it a hug or tucked it into bed we dont know!

Kieran and Dawn in the future: maybe the real gods of creation are the friends we made along the way

I think there'd be pockets of people descended from the clans in modern Sinnoh who still worship Palkia or Dialga in their homes. Cynthia's family grew up with the church of arceus (and we all know why) but she loves theology and has so many questions because surely that one photo of the Big Three frolicing on a farm is some Ancient Alien level hoax and Kieran is just like: on no they just really like soybeans. I think they were competing to see whose plot got the highest yield.

Diamond and Pearl still happened so Dawn has current "ownership" of the Sinnoh legendaries but they have zero sense of time on a human scale so they'd be stoked to see their buddy Akari again but. But like, morally and ethically can you bring god to a pokemon battle? They'd probably enjoy battling for fun on the occasion but they're not normal pokemon and can't be treated as such. Im my mind there's a parctice of every generation or so since pokeballs became a thing, someone has to catch whichever legendary to keep it safe from your average nutjob drying to take over the world. Pokeballs are technology they're not forever and after a while they degrade and stop functioning. Or at least in my mind that's how it works. It would likely make sense to like. Just bury a legendary's pokeball somewhere and let it live its best life while there's ensurance for like 30 years some rando can't catch it.

Sorry this went on a tangent about my thoughts on religion in the pokemon world, but I see the Legendaries as being too Other and beyond our understanding to stick around on someone's team. I consider the various protagonists who catch them have gained their favor so they will pop in during their lifetime to visit because humans and pokemon need eachother to get stronger. Legendaries imo are just different in that they need exposure to that humanity to keep them grounded and present mentally. They have PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS, but itty bitty understanding of humanity, or like, the pokemon equivalent of it.

So yea Kieran doesnt bring any legendaries back with them but they'll still ask to see them occasionally to see if they're doing ok.

[would-this-pokemon-be-a-friend]

Another friend of mine on Discord is a fan of Ogerpon so I thought I could show my friend if they could be a good pet.

(We just reached the end of the Teal Mask spoiler buffer period, meaning that I will now cover Kitakami pokémon if they come up, so I thought to mark the occasion I'd jump ahead in the request queue a little!)

Ogerpon may be a bit too much for a lot of people to handle, but would potentially make a good companion in the right context! Of course, like with other legendary pokémon, I'd be remiss to not point out that Ogerpon is one of a kind and thus... well... there's a pretty low chance you'll be the one person in the entire world to convince it to live with you. But that is no fun, so let's just assume you are that person. Ogerpon may be a pretty good pet!

Ogerpon's on the larger size when it comes to pets, at three feet tall, but it is pretty lightweight comparatively. We know that Ogerpon is friendly to people and loves their attention. It's said to be mischievous and curious (Violet - Teal Mask), which is nothing out of the ordinary for a lot of owners of real-world pets. We even know that Ogerpon once lived alongside a human for a long time, back before the whole Loyal Three incident. We also know, however, that despite it's usually chipper appearance, Ogerpon is pretty moody.

A long time ago, after Ogerpon and it's human companion had been living in the Kitakami Region for some time, using masks to conceal their unusual appearances, three pokémon raided their home. These three pokémon (Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti) stole Ogerpon's four masks and seemingly killed it's companion. Ovecome with rage, Ogerpon attacked the three pokémon and defeated them. Then, overcome with sadness about being feared by the villagers after this event, Ogerpon went into exile alone for generations. All this to say, we know that Ogerpon is a sensitive pokémon, prone to strong emotions when faced with bad situations. Now, I'm going to assume that nothing as bad as what the Loyal Three did will happen to Ogerpon under your care, so the intense emotional reactions in that time are unlikely to happen again. Really, what I'm trying to get across is that Ogerpon has a lot of emotional trauma in their past, and they are very sensitive about being liked by the humans around them. You would need to keep Ogerpon's sensitivity in mind when caring for them to make sure you provide them with a stable, supportive environment.

Being a legendary pokémon with a history of living alongside a human companion, it is pretty unlikely that Ogerpon would use it's impressive abilities to attack you, but as usual we must take a look at what Ogerpon can do. It's move set boasts a few dangerous moves, but nothing that exceptional or risky. It is known to favor kicking and "nimble movements" in battle (Scarlet - Teal Mask), steering clear of special moves or lethal status effects. Ogerpon has a fascinating ability to change it's type based off of which of it's beloved masks it wears. This also changes the typing of Ogerpon's signature move: Ivy Cudgel. It's signature weapon looks like it could really pack a punch, be it grassy, fiery, watery, or rocky. Using the elements of it's masks, Ogerpon is said to relentlessly strike and spear opponents with ivy (Violet - Wellspring Mask, Violet - Hearthflame Mask), even bombarding them with flames (Scarlet - Hearthflame Mask). Perhaps unsurprisingly given it's history, Ogerpon is a skilled and powerful fighter. When it came to it's score, it was a real back-and-forth between the boosts of it's friendly personality and the penalties of it's move pool.

Overall, however, it seems that Ogerpon would make a good companion for someone that is aware of it's history and needs, and who is aware of the danger that the pokémon could pose if angered or put in an emotionally-charged situation.

[waywardstation]

now, I am fully aware of Rei being the Protag as almost all male Characters have been confirmed Protags in Masters and I do think people that make out such a minority in the fandom definitely deserve the rep and time to shine! And I am so happy for them! Really hope they do him justice and make the event interesting! Also so very happy PLA still gets some love. I did enjoy ScarVio and Ogerpon from the DLC has become a favorite instantly but PLA needs so much more love than it has gotten. The game, Rei, or really any character deserves so much more love!

Akari is still my personal headcanon and given how loosely things are in Masters and Pasio (Masters is basically a big fanfic where time and space don't really matter and only loosely plays with Canon of the games. (Villains such as Ghetsis or others wouldn't just be allowed to squad in a base with Grunts and regularly try to take over the island and would be behind iron bars) we shouldn't necessarily see it as canon too much if people have different views. Or there should be bigger age gaps between the characters....) I do think it's more a thing to get a few headcanons for your faves! Just like the personalities added to Ingo and Emmet.

And a fun side fic with Ingo and Akari getting sent to Pasio instead of getting home sounds fun. Or they stumble into a distortion. The joy of seeing loved ones only to realize its not their loved ones is definitely interesting too. Pasio-Barry has temporarily two Dawn best friends and Pasio-Emmet temporarily has two big brothers. Or instead of getting contact to Arceus they try to get in contact with Lear and get Hoopa's help or something like that. (I want Akari to play a prank on Lear) And the times random weirdos enter the Villa for a random request raises again! Would definitely make something fun on the side. But I'm sure rn you already got enough projects at hand!

oh definitely! I'm not saying this towards you, I'm saying this in general to agree with what you said, because it appears a lot of people are upset with Pokemon Master's decision to make this 'canon'.

I think people need to understand that this is a canon - it's canon to Pokemon Masters, but that doesn't mean it's the concrete canon to PLA, as we know that Pokemon Masters is definitely not canon. But this is how Pokemon Masters is doing it. I definitely see Rei as the canon protagonist in Pokemon Masters, 100%. But I've written so much fanfic with Akari as the protag, that like you, she's my headcanon protagonist in PLA.

I always favor pokemon's game canon, because the games' canon always caters to the individual's headcanon to who's the protagonist. Marketing and advertising are a different story, and Pokemon Masters tends to lean with what those pick as protag (and it does seem marketing did favor Rei as the protagonist for PLA). But the games favor the player's choice to make it more personal.

So I'm seeing a lot of people getting upset over Pokemon Masters' decided canon when they can simply ignore it if they do not like it, because its a canon for a spinoff that happens to match some people's headcanons while it disproves others. But it's not the canon for PLA as a game.

(Whew, said 'canon' so many times, that it doesn't even look like a word to me anymore!)

I ALSO AGREE THAT I'M HAPPY PLA IS GETTING MORE REP. Pokemon Masters is what's keeping it fresh and alive in the games department, and I appreciated that SV did what it could to keep it relevant in a game that I really didn't expect to see it in.

AND YOU ARE CORRECT! I indeed love all of your ideas, but I have so many WIPs that are so close yet so far haha. Once they start coming out though and I get them done, I will perhaps be open to some new fic ideas. Let's see if these PLA events in Pokemon Masters inspires anything!

[cuppagi]

Oh yeah, we're back! So I've been gone for some years, mostly due to undiagnosed shaky hands making it hard to draw.

In the mean time, I've been learning how to use AI generation software and training it on my own artwork so I can generate cute AI Petunias, as well as other characters like my Lalafell, Popipi Popi.

I also trained a model on Ogerpon, so you might see some of her too.

I know AI is a hot button topic, but its all I can do to keep making cute Petunia stuff while my hands do the Macarena on their own.

[thegreygale]

Indigo Disk Theory (includes a tiny spoiler for the latest trailer):

Terapagos is evil.

Every generation we have a legendary that we have to fight, and with the last two generations we’ve had to fight one legendary with another legendary(this is something of an older trend but it’s only recently become super prevalent.

Now we haven’t had the opportunity to fight a new legendary as part of the plot outside of catching it yet(not including the bully Miraidon/Koraidon because it isn’t actually a different legendary it’s just the same one that we already had). It would be a MASSIVE break in the pattern if we went through the whole game without an evil legendary.

Another reason I think this is because of the theme of appearances that keeps showing up in this game. Throughout the story we have seen an android who appeared to be the game’s professor, a group of bullied friends who appeared to be the game’s evil team, an “ogre” who we thought would end up being the evil legendary who turned out to be the all time cutest and best Pokemon in the game (look I just love Ogrepon okay? She’s too pure for this world), and three mythicals who appeared to be the good guys and ended up being villains. It would make sense if the legendary who has been portrayed as the cute little guy ended up being the big bad! It fits the pattern of appearances being deceiving.

Now as for what I think the goal of this Pokémon are I think that it probably has something to do with Heath who blacked out in the Violet Book on his expedition to Area Zero. He blacked out and drew a symbol strangely like the little diamond shape shown in the trailer, the same shape that is on Briar’s earrings. I think that maybe somehow Terapagos is able to possess or influence people and I think that it has something to do with that symbol. In the anime Terapagos is somehow stored in a pendant that looks identical to it(I haven’t actually seen much of the anime so I’m not going to put a lot into that part of the theory) so I’m thinking that maybe it’s somehow trapped inside it and wants out or somehow its power is stored in it like Hoopa.

I also think that it somehow possesses people through their desires, specifically their WISHES. I say this because in the flavor text for the Loyal Three it says that each of them made a wish that was then granted. Supposedly there have been leaks(which I don’t usually put much credence in but it works well with my theory so for now I’m taking it with a grain of salt.) that have said that Terapagos is going to have a new type which has been called: Stellar. Now I use this in this part of the theory because it fits the idea of wishes, after all what do people wish on? STARS! I mean even throughout the main game this theme keeps showing up, Team STAR wished for revenge on their bullies, and even Professor Turo wished to learn about the treasure of Area Zero.

I think that the way this Pokémon’s power works is kinda like a monkey paw situation, you get your wish at a great cost. I mean team STAR wished to take down their bullies, and they did but almost got kicked out of the school, Professor Turo wished to find the truth about Area Zero and its treasure but lost his son, Heath wished to find out the same thing as Turo but lost his memory of that very same secret, and then there’s Kieran what if he wished for everyone to know the truth about Ogerpon which revived the Loyal Three but he lost his chance to bond with Ogerpon.

It seems like everyone who has made a wish in this game has lost something and maybe that includes the Loyal Three, maybe they ARE loyal, but maybe that was the cost of their wishes: they got what they wanted but lost their freedom in exchange, maybe they tried to take the masks from Ogerpon as a way of getting something seemingly powerful for their master. I also feel like for a lot of people their wish turned into an obsession, like Heath, Professor Turo, or Kieran. I think that THIS might have something to do with how Terapagos manipulates people, it grants the wish and intensifies it until it becomes something it can use to its advantage.

TLDR: I think that Terapagos is evil, it’s cute and this whole game has been about deception and appearances, and I think it uses people’s obsessions to manipulate them into possibly freeing it from its possible prismatic prison.

[a-tale-of-legends]

Luca's Pokemon Main Game + Kitakami GO!!!

Main Game:

Thyme( Meowscarda)- he/him ( adamant, loves to eat)

- Dedicated performer of tricks and pranks.

- Loves stealing snacks

- Doesn't like sharing the spotlight, tends to grow jealous of other members when Luca gives them more attention. Still cares for his team and would do anything for them.

Jo(Clodsire)- she/her ( Calm, proud of her power)

- Incredibly chill. Honestly just happy to be there.

- Knows her battling capabilities well and takes pride in them.

- Generally a good gal who gets along with anyone.

Dolly(Dachsbun)- she/her ( Relaxed, somewhat vain)

- Sweetheart that will fuck you up if you mess with her or her team.

- Likes to help with baking or making sandwiches.

Irene(Espathra)- he/him (Bold , capable of taking hits)

- The most level headed of the punch. Some would argue he's more of a leader than Thyme. Definitely a powerhouse once he gets going.

- Peculiar taste in fashion, not entirely sure if he's fond of Luca's taste in fashion or utterly despises it.

- Carries himself with elegance and grace. With some sass on the side.

Tink(Tinkaton)- she/her ( Naughty, is somewhat stubborn)

- Can and will smash you with her hammer.

- Kinda battle hungry, always looking for a fight.

- Thyme's partner in crime, loves pulling pranks on the others, especially Irene.

Carlota(Armarouge)-she/her ( Quiet, nods off a lot)

- Looks rather stoic, but is actually pretty shy.

- Also pretty level headed, but tends to get dragged into situations for being a pushover.

- Incredibly chivalrous and works hard, but sometimes pushes herself too much.

Kitakami:

Cutie( Cutiefly) she/her ( Brave/Modest, quick tempered)

- Feisty in spirit, tends to get into arguments easily.

- Always looking out for the little guy, ironic given how she is very little.

- Always eager to share her home's history to those who wish to listen.

Apple(Dipplin) he/him ( Jolly/Timid, capable of taking hits)

- Happy go lucky guy, always trying his best!!

- Often tries to see the good in people

- Kinda a nerd, likes to listen to Cutie talk.

Moon(Clefable)-he/him ( Hasty/Bold, somewhat lost in thought)

- Always seems to have A Plan.

- Kind off an ass at first, but is nice when you get past his snarkiness.

- Social, but likes to keep to himself most times. Not many people know what he's thinking.

Skully(Houndoom)-she/her ( Lax somewhat vain)

- Kinda chill, can get lazy sometimes.

- Gets flustered incredibly easy though. Hard to tell given that she has a hard rbf.

- Kinds in amusing that someone like her is tied to the literal glitter bomb that is Luca.

Fisher(Crawdaunt)-he/him ( Rash/Adamant, proud of it's power)

- An arrogant brute that is more than willing to show off his strength. Got humbled hard by Cutie.

- Not used to being on a team, let alone be taking orders from anyone that isn't himself, but he comes around.

- Doesn't like to admit it, but he likes having his new friends around. He was pretty lonely before ( bc he was an arrogant brute)

Tiny(Gliscor) - he/him ( Impish, is capable of taking hits)

-Bitch won't die electric boogalo

- Used to love hiding in spots and surprising others but can't do that given how big he is now. Is still a bit of a jokester though.

- Upon evolving, realized he was trans :)

Ponyo(Ogerpon) - she/her ( Lonely, takes plenty of siestas)

- Baby gorl. Has done nothing wrong ever.

- Still slightly wary of humans, but definitely doesn't feel as alone as she did before ( Fisher totally isn't attached to her. Nope)

- Likes holding Luca's hand when they walk together :)

I made this quickly so some details might change. Also for some natures have a / with another one. That just means I used a mint on them. They don't influence their personalities but I thought it would be important to know. Also Ponyo was gonna be in a different post with Luca's other pokemon ( if I ever get to that lol) but she's too important to not be part of the main squad so here.

[kitakami-zorua-kin]

Ok so text has no Intonation so I'm assuming please correct me if I'm wrong? It Sounds a bit like you'd wish Russet wouldn't let himself go so much and use the skills you seem to think he has more, to try and reach his potential? I know you hate him but have you ever considered helping him? I'm speaking solely of considering. Like imagine he approaches you and asks or something.

On that account what do you reckon would need to happen for you to start forgiving him, like if he was seriously having a change of heart and wanted to make amends, what would need to happen? I'm asking this as a person who once went through something similar and I'm curious for others' perspectives.

Also unrelated to this just for fun, what are your favorite battle, non-battle and general favorite Pokémon? Also favourite legendary?

// no worries for the late replies thing, time zones are a thing, its seven in the morning here right now, I just ask stuff when I'm on.

//man I love this Kieran he such a little shit but he also cares a lot though he would probably set himself aflame before admitting that, GUH I hope you'll do another event where he gets a role, later maybe when Russets story has progressed and our favourite edgy champ has had so character growth, I wanna throw some of the things he said, so I said too, Infront of his feet and see him react to it. Also Russet backreading this is gonna be a field day of emotions for him huh? I mean how can onion boy care so much while not caring at all, as he says, hope Russet gets the context.

... It's just infuriating that he doesn't try at all. There's a reason Carmine insisted he go to BBA. He's got this... infuriating innate talent, same as that stupid Dragon Tamer friend of his. They both just waste it - don't develop it all. When you have to fight for every scrap of power, people like that are enraging.

... forgiving him? can i do that...? ... He'd need to stop lying, first. I don't know if it knows how to do that.

... I like Furret. that... seems to be a constant. ... as for battle pokemon, I really like Crimson - my Incineroar. And... Legendaries... I've always like the Ogre - Ogerpon. but... aside from that... Russet liked the Unovan Dragons, a lot. I liked when he'd talk about Reshiram.

[pokemondarkpathau]

A Dark Path Walked Chapter 5: The Third Signboard

The next morning came and Juliana woke up extremely early, despite the long night at the Festival of Masks. She picked up the ogre’s mask and put it in her bag. She swapped clothes from her Festival Junbei to her Naranja Academy Summer Uniform and rushed to Kieran’s house, where Kieran and Yukito were waiting outside.

“Ah. Hello, Juliana.” Yukito smiled. “It’s such a pleasure to see you.”

“Good morning, Sir Yukito. Kieran.” Juliana smiled back.

“There is no need for formalities.” Yukito chuckled. “You can just call me Yukito.”

“H-Hey, Grandpa…” Kieran started speaking. “C-can we a-ask a favor for you?”

“Gooooooood morning, Mossui Town!” Carmine interrupted the conversation as she walked out of the house. “Time for Carmine to shine!” She then turns to Kieran. “Say, Kiki, could you move over for a bit? I wish to speak to Grandpa.”

“No fair, sis!” Kieran pouted. “I was here first! And Juliana also wants to talk to Grandpa! You can be such a jerk sometimes, you know that?!”

“What did you just call me, young man?!” Carmine hissed, her black and scarlet hair flaring up like fire. “You should watch how you talk to your older sister!”

“You should have watched your tone as you embarrassed me in front of everyone at the Festival of Masks as you tried to persuade me to Ogre Oustin’!” Kieran continued, unusually angry at his sister.

“Enough, both of you!” Yukito yelled at his children. He first turns to Carmine. “Carmine, the way you spoke to your brother wasn’t kind.”

“I was being kind!” Carmine growled. “It’s not like I hit him or anything.”

Yukito then turned to Kieran.

“And Kieran, you shouldn’t be calling your sister mean names.” He added.

“Sorry, Grandpa…” Kieran sighed. “I was so angry…”

“It is ok to be angry, Kieran.” Juliana said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Carmine, why don’t you wait near the house while I talk to your brother?” Yukito patted Carmine on her shoulder.

“What?!” Carmine hissed. “Fine. You can go waste Grandpa’s time, Kiki… outsider.”

With a hmph, Carmine walked off, muttering how her morning was already ruined.

“I am so sorry, Juliana…” Kieran sighed. “I never get angry, but Sis has been pulling so many buttons lately.”

“It’s ok. Kieran.” Juliana smiled.

“Before we were interrupted, what did you need to tell me, Kieran?” Yukito asked.

“Do you still have the thing, Juliana?” Kieran whispered to Juliana’s ear.

Juliana nodded and took out the mask. Yukito looked at the mask in disbelief.

“Is this… the Teal Mask?” He gasped. “Where did you find it?”

“I was exploring around the Festival and I saw the Ogre wearing it…” Juliana tried to explain. “I tried to start a conversation, but it ran off, dropping the mask in the process… the first person I told was Kieran.”

Much to Kieran’s relief, she left out the part where they ran off to the Dreaden Den to give the mask back.

“To think that the ogre would still grace us with its presence.” Yukito muttered to himself, but he did not notice he said that phrase outloud.

“Still?” Kieran was confused. “What are you talking about, Grandpa? Doesn’t it say that the ogre terrorized the town?”

Yukito hesitated before turning around. He knew Kieran loves the ogre and he knew that Juliana wasn’t from Kitakami. He took a deep breath.

“I suppose it is time I tell you the truth, Kieran…” He said. “The actual story about the ogre… is the other way around.”

“The other way around?” Kieran was even more confused. “What do you mean?”

“You should hear this too, Juliana.” Yukito turned to Juliana. “You met the ogre… or… Ogerpon as it is rightfully named. Let me tell you the true story as it was passed down from generation to generation… a story passed down from mouth to mouth. I learned it from my father.” He closed his eyes. “This is a story of truths. A story that must never be told to the rest of the villagers. You must never speak of it to the others.”

“Alright.” Juliana nodded, her voice sounding unusually serious.

“I understand, Grandpa…” Kieran nodded.

Yukito then opened its eyes and told the story of Ogerpon.

“Long long ago, there was a man who was travelling with his partner Pokémon, Ogerpon. They arrived to Kitakami from a far off region, so the villagers were afraid of their different appearance. They were saddened, yet they were still happy because they had each other. They made their home in the mountains. One person held pity for the duo, the village mask maker. The mask maker carved four masks with mysterious crystals and gave them to the duo so they could fit in with the villagers at the festival… but the masks caught the attention of three greedy Pokémon, Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti. The three greedy Pokémon went to the duo's home to steal the mask, but the man arrived and attempted to stop the robberies, being able to protect only one mask. Ogerpon returned home only to see a struggle and the Teal Mask. Enraged, Ogerpon donned the mask and set off on a quest for revenge and to find its fallen partner. It defeated the Loyal Three in battle. The villagers who saw the whole event were terrified. They believed the three Pokémon protected the villagers from the fearsome ogre. The three Fallen Pokémon were dubbed the Loyal Three and buried in a monument called Loyalty Plaza while Ogerpon returned home… alone and sad…”

After the story ended, Juliana was left in stunned silence… to think that Ogerpon would end up ostracized and labeled as a monster while her enemies were praised as heroes who lost their lives. It reminded her of what happened to Penny and Team Star. Team Star and Penny were bullied by other students and Team Star initiated Operation Star so they could fight back their bullies, only for them to run away and drop out of Naranja Academy. In the end. Penny took the blame and had to return to Galar.

She turned to Kieran, who was trembling in anger.

“No way…” He said in a soft voice. He thought that Ogerpon was a brave warrior who defeated the Loyal Three in a three on one battle. He then raised his voice. “OGERPON DID NOT DESERVE ANY OF THIS!! AND THE LOYAL THREE!! THOSE JERKS ARE THE WORST!!!” He turned around to leave. “I HAVE TO TELL THE REST OF THE VILLAGERS!! THEY NEED TO KNOW!!!”

“Hold, Kieran!!” Yukito stopped his grandson from stepping foot outside their front yard. “I have told you to keep it to yourself!”

“B-but grandpa!” Kieran tried to say something.

“The people believe their own side of the story.” The grandfather continued. “How would they feel if they were told that their story was all a lie?”

“They’d… feel upset…” Kieran answered.

“Exactly.” Yukito nodded. “When all of this happened, the mask maker, our ancestor, tried to explain the truth of the story, but no one took him seriously and he was labeled a heretic.”

“I really want to help Ogerpon…” Kieran whimpered as he went back to his grandfather. “I can’t let them suffer like this… We have to do something now.”

“I wish we could do something, Kieran.” Yukito said. “In the end, the mask maker could protect his descendants, us, by keeping his mouth shut. However, he passed down the truth to his descendants from generation to generation. It was kept a family secret.”

“Does Sis know yet?” Kieran asked.

“No, she does not.” Yukito shook his head. “I have not spoken to her about it, why do you ask?”

“Sis can be a bit brash at times and… I’m afraid she might put us and Juliana in danger and spread the word.” Kieran answered.

“I do not want to keep Carmine in the dark.” Yukito shook his head. “But I will keep your word for now, and I will tell her when the time is right. For now, do not say a word to anybody.”

“Of course, Grandpa…” Kieran nodded. “I cannot believe that this happened to Ogerpon…”

“Now about the mask.” Yukito looked at the Teal Mask. “I noticed that the jewel on its forehead was chipped. I might be able to fix it, would you mind if I stayed with it?”

“We don’t mind, Grandpa!” Kieran smiled. “Ogerpon would be very happy if they saw that their mask is fixed!”

“Don’t worry, you two.” Yukito smiled back. “I’ll be sure to take good care of the mask.”

“Thank you, Grandpa!” Kieran chirped. “I promise that you won’t be let down!”

What the three of them did not know is that Carmine overheard the entire conversation. She was gritting her teeth in anger, her hands holding the front part of her hair. She was left out by her own grandfather and her brother… and not only that, the person who is not even from her home region learned the truth of a story she should have known before her. She took a deep breath and ran towards Peachy’s to calm down.

A few minutes later, Juliana bought some Pokéballs at Peachy’s when Carmine walked up to her.

“Hello, Juliana.” Carmine, pretending to be friendly. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what were you, Grandpa and Kiki talking about?”

“Oh… we were talking about this and that…” Juliana smiled. “Nothing important.”

“Oh… I see….” Carmine’s smile dropped. “I heard you were going to the last signboard at Paradise Barrens. Maybe you will learn something very important.”

“Alright.” Juliana nodded. “Thank you, Carmine. I hope you find your signboard at Kitakami Hall.”

Juliana walked to where Kieran was waiting for her. Carmine looked down in anger.

“You…” She hissed. “You lied to me… you hid something from me…”

As the sun was setting, Juliana and Kieran arrived at the third signboard at the Paradise Barrens. Before Kieran could say anything, Juliana walked up to the signboard.

“The third signboard…” She said. “Let’s read. It says… ‘If you see a shadowy figure approaching you outside the village at twilight, be wary. Don a mask at once and hide your face. Do so and whether the shadow is man or monster, you will pass each other by as fellow mask wearers. If you should meet the shadow when you have no mask in hand, then pray it is only a man. If it is, you will live to see another day and you will remember to never forget your mask again. But if it is the ogre, you will meet your end as do all humans whose faces are seen by it. Once it sees your face, your soul will be forfeit. And you shall never return to the village.’ Hm…”

“Juliana?” Kieran said. “Are you ok?”

“Something is not right…” Juliana said. “The story of Ogerpon and the story at the signboards are all different… and not only that… I didn’t have a mask last night and I didn’t get my soul absorbed…”

“You’re right…” Kieran nodded.

“Come on… let’s take a picture… that way, we’re the first group to finish the assignment for the school field trip.” Juliana suggested.

They took the last picture, however, Juliana did not have the energy to pose while Kieran looked at Juliana worriedly.

“H-hey, Juliana?” Kieran went to her. “Do you… want to battle?”

“Are you sure, Kieran?” Juliana looked worriedly at Kieran. “I’m afraid you might hate me if you lose.”

“O-of course I won’t hate you!” Kieran shook his head. “You’re my friend! And there is no way I would hate you at all!”

“Alright…” Juliana took out a Pokéball. “If you want a battle, I’ll give you a battle.”

Juliana struggled since there were no Pokémon who could defeat Kieran’s newly caught Gligar and Poliwhirl had evolved to a Poliwrath. Only Arboliva was left standing because of its Seed Sower ability activating Grassy Terrain.

“That was close.” Juliana said.

“You don’t sound like… your old self, Juliana…” Kieran said. “Are you ok?”

“Sorry for my behavior, Kieran…” Juliana sighed. “But I was reminded of a friend of mine. Her name is Penny.”

She stopped herself before she could say anything. Juliana was never hesitant to speak and she was always kind and devoted to her friends. Seeing her like this made Kieran even more worried. The first thing he did was to hug her. She hugged back, feeling relieved that she still had someone to rely on in Kitakami.

“There is nothing to worry about, Juliana. I am right here.” Kieran said.

“Thank you, Kieran.” Juliana whispered.

They broke the hug as the sky was getting darker.

“Wowzers.” Kieran looked at the sky. “It’s dark already? Come on. Let’s go back to Mossui Town.”

“Alright.” Juliana nodded.

The both of them walked back to Mossui Town, their assignment finally done.

[stargazeraldroth]

I mean, what kind of ethics are we talking? Also, why did you start talking about it in the first place? Worldbuilding??? For fun?

I finally started looking into the Teal Mask DLC, and one of the characters that stands out is Kieran. I'm not gonna say too much about the story, both because of spoilers and because I don't know too much of the story myself, but the thing that started it was people saying Kieran acted entitled and it was wrong of him to be so dismissive of Ogerpon's choice. And keep in mind that I'm not disagreeing with this, Kieran's absolutely in the wrong for trying to force a sentient being to work with him, all I did was point out that we- the players- aren't that considerate of Pokemons' feelings either. So we're just as guilty as Kieran is, yet everyone hates him for this fact? Here's a small list of things we can do that would be considered unethical in the Pokemon world, if we actually lived there:

Using the Master Ball, as it has no regard for whether or not the Pokemon in question wants to go with us. And before you say Master Balls are rare, we still get one and can use it whenever we want, so it still counts if we decide to use it

Selective breeding for shiny Pokemon or perfect IVs/EVs (I always get these two mixed up). This reduces the Pokemon from a sentient being with its own thoughts and feelings to a combat machine, basically reducing a Pokemon's worth to their use in battle. As for the shiny Pokemon, favoring the use of shiny Pokemon over normal ones would probably be largely seen as using Pokemon as aesthetic accessories rather than companions

Mass breeding in general. People hate real life dog breeders and animal breeders (for good reason), but don't see why mass breeding Pokemon would be an issue. Realistically speaking, Pokemon would be facing some serious health consequences if they reproduced at the rate we make them in the game

Using Pokemon as trade tokens. I always found it weird that we could just walk into a random house, talk to a random NPC we've never seen before, and just... trade Pokemon. We don't take our Pokemon's feelings into consideration here- why would they want to be given to a total stranger that not even their trainer knows? From a realistic perspective, we could be trading our Pokemon away to an abuser, backyard breeder, or something else. The person said ethical traders would see if their Pokemon want to go, but do WE do that? I'm talking about us, how we handle Pokemon trading, are WE ethical traders?

This just came to mind, but revives. Trainers in-game can use potions and give their Pokemon berries to hold, but none of them use revives. And revives bring a Pokemon back into the battle; it's basically a way to force an already exhausted Pokemon that needs rest back onto the battlefield. That sounds pretty... maybe not unethical, but it does sound at least a little bit inconsiderate of how the Pokemon feels

Imo, reviving fossilized Pokemon would be unethical, if not at least controversial. You're bringing an extinct Pokemon, one whose natural food source or habitat likely no longer exists, into the world for... what, exactly? To have another Pokemon you're just gonna leave in the PC? Not to mention that, realistically, this would have consequences on the environment and existing Pokemon. Does anyone remember that one movie about Mewtwo and Genesect? Also... I forget their names, but the fossilized Pokemon that are basically two halves of separate Pokemon mashed together. Big yikes, those ones are. Not to mention that you just automatically get to own a fossilized Pokemon simply because you found its corpse?? What if it doesn't want to go with you?

Basically, the discussion started because I don't really see why everyone's acting as though Kieran is on the same level as Ghetsis when we're potentially worse than Kieran, depending on how we play. Kieran genuinely cares about his Pokemon, and while he is in the wrong for wanting to use a battle to decide who Ogerpon stays with, it's not like he was gonna mistreat her or anything. How many people are gonna get Ogerpon and then stick her in a box, never to see the light of day again