#i think he would own a kartana

[pokemoodboards]

"Can't you just love me for who I am? Not what you want me to be?"

You are challenged by Superhero Damian Wayne!

Arcanine 🦇 Toxicroak 🦇 Claydol 🦇 Noivern 🦇 Kartana 🦇 Persian

(requested by @dirty-racoon!)

[masterqwertster]

Okay, last little list here:

Bells Hells Legendary Pokémon

I already gave everyone a minimum of one Legendary in the original team post, so here's the list of all the Legendaries I think fit each member of Bells Hells (the Legendaries from the set teams will be included)

Chetney

Zacian- look, it's a wolf that's set to shank a bitch. Tell me that doesn't vibe with Chetney

Zeraora (Shiny)- kind of were-beast in shape. Shiny to match Chetney's own white fur

Kubfu/Urshifu (Single Strike Style)- more were-fuzzies for Chet. Single Strike Style because Chetney's the type to one-and-done it if he can

Okidogi- werewolf-ish Pokémon for Chet!

Orym

Shaymin- more friendly flowers for Orym, and the Sky Form is a little fighter like him

Virizion- grass blade Pokémon who protects others

Keldeo (Resolute form, Shiny)- it's a little sword guy (pony) like Orym. And shiny makes it green and Resolute Form because Orym knows what he wants

Kartana- a little blade guy for a little swordsman

Zacian- noble sword Pokémon for a noble little swordsman

Zamazenta- noble shield Pokémon for a protective little guy with a treasured shield

Fearne

Moltres- a burning phoenix Pokémon that Fearne worries will take on the Galarian Form that her Bad Future Self had

Entei- fluffy fire dog Pokémon

Celebi- little onion fairy and that travels through time for a fey that lived in wonky time

Cresselia- Fearne is lightly Ruidusborn and this is a gentler moon Pokémon

Reshiram- fiery semi-wolf Pokémon for our fire faun

Xerneas- it's a Fairy-type, deer are kind of close to goats, and Xerneas has a minor moon motif

Zarude- grass monkey for the druid with a monkey

Munkidori- another monkey to mother for Fearne

Imogen

Spectrier- Legendary horse that comes in Imogen's two colors: purple and red

Raikou- it's a thunderstorm Pokémon for a gal who claims she is the storm

Deoxys- an alien Pokémon for a girl connected to alien moon people

Cresselia (Shiny)- Imogen gets moon Pokémon. Shiny for purple coloration

Thundurus (Shiny)- another lightning Pokémon for our electric sorceress. Shiny for purple coloration

Keldeo (Ordinary Form)- little unicorn for the horse girl

Lunala (Shiny)- literal red moon Pokémon when shiny

Regieleki- more eletrical Pokémon for Imogen

Glastrier- another horse Pokémon for the horse girl

Laudna

Marshadow- it's shadow theme matches Laudna's Shadow Sorcerery. And Laudna does spend time trying to copy the Ladies of Whitestone…

Giratina- considering Delilah took her soul to a reverse/shadow realm, and that's the kind of place Giratina is from, it seems a good fit

Darkrai- a nightmare Pokémon for a woman who loves nightmares

Yveltal- a Pokémon that absorbs life essences, much like Hunger of the Shadows does the same for Laudna and Delilah

Calyrex- because it's the Pokémon that can bring Glastrier and Spectrier under control, much like how Laudna is a great deal of Imogen's control

FCG

Magearna- a man-made clockwork Legendary for the Aeormaton

Genesect- it's ancient and modified by people to be a killing machine, just like FCG

Miraidon- robot-like Legendary for the robit

Ashton

Cosmog- suddenly appeared after Ashton got galaxy-brained because it's a little galaxy guy from another (higher?) dimension. It's Ashton's innocent baby who doesn't know how to stay in the damn pokéball and not reveal his soft side

Regigigas- this is the big titan Pokémon, hauling continents and shit. Not to mention that the Slow Start ability reflects how Ashton had a titan shard for twenty years before they really got it to do anything spectacular

Regirock- if Ashton gets one Regi, it's Regigigas for titan shit. But Regirock is definitely Earth Elemental vibes and so also goes to Ashton

Dialga- one of Ashton's dunamancy domains is time and this is a Pokémon lord of time

Palkia- one of Ashton's dunamancy domains it space and this is a Pokémon lord of space

Terrakion (Shiny)- it's tough and it doesn't like bullies, sounds pretty Ashton to me. Shiny because I think Ashton would like the pop of the shiny palette

Zygarde- Ashton is sort of split into a million pieces by the half-beacon brain, and Zygarde's 100% Form is kind of titan-ish

Diancie- another crystal and rock Pokémon. Also goes a little bit with the Empress of Earth vibes, or rather the Empress's heir

Hoopa- a Pokémon that switches between a Confined and Unbound Form, kind of like Ashton's normal and demi-titan modes. And it messes around with space like Ashton. Also, normal genasi are sometimes/often sired by elemental genies and this Pokémon is based on genies

Koraidon- ancient earth splitter for the earth titan's blood (also mirrors FCG having Miraidon)

[stunfiskz]

i made pokemon teams for like almost every carmen sandiego character

started making these like a month ago bc i thought it’d be fun. went with no legends, no repeats on one team. teams + my explanations for them under the cut.

carmen’s team:

ampharos 

blaziken

quaquaval

thievul

whimsicott

weavile

i’d imagine ampharos was her first pokemon, because… black sheep. blaziken fits the red, plus it and quaquaval remind me of how carmen fights. thievul, whimsicott, and weavile are all because.. thief. also, i tried choosing pokemon from a wide range of regions for her.

player’s team:

porygon2

litten 

abra 

elgyem

munna

rotom 

porygon2 and rotom for hacker reasons. i’d imagine he doesn’t really battle that much, so all are nfe

ivy’s team:

revaroom 

unfeasant

herdier

klinklang 

magneton

tinkaton 

revaroom because cars, unfeasant and herdier are common pokemon in unova, klinklang, magneton, and tinkaton all because of her being a mechanic 👍

zack’s team:

snorlax

orthworm 

quagsire 

bidoof

deino 

tepig

all no thoughts, head empty. most are big eaters as well. 

shadowsan’s team

crobat

ninjask 

jolteon 

drapion 

glalie 

kartana 

all were either chosen for speed or for knowing evasion boosting moves- with the exception of kartana, which i chose because i think it would be fun to give all of the vile faculty one ultra beast. additionally, i thought it’d be fun to do the pokemon villain team thing of “giving them a crobat (or other pokemon that evolves via friendship) to show that they’re not all that evil”

chase’s team:

pyroar 

gumshoos

furfrou

talonflame 

absol

gogoat

all but gumshoos are available in kalos bc.. french. gumshoos is a detective, so i thought it’d fit him as well. also i think it’s silly to give him an absol and imagine it loses its shit every time he enters a car

julia’s team:

purrloin 

runerigus

golett

mismagius

gourgeist 

frillish

giving her a near-mono ghost type team wasnt what i thought i’d do, but i actually think it fits with her focus on history. purrloin because i absolutely believe she has a pet cat, runerigus and golett especially to fit in with her interest in history. i also don’t imagine her as being much of a battler.

chief’s team:

liepard

purugly

garchomp

corviknight

greninja

gliscor

went for more intimidating looking pokemon- with the exception of liepard and purugly, which i chose because of her cat. also garchomp always makes me think it’s wearing a suit, which is part of why i gave her one. also all have a sort of blue-purple color scheme going on, which i thought fit with her.

coach brunt’s team:

emboar 

conkeldurr

throh 

sawk

bewear 

buzzwole

wanted to give her a mono fighting type team- all unovan except for bewear and buzzwole. bewear because “mama bear” and hugging :) and buzzwole as her ultra beast because of its massive attack stat

dr. bellum’s team:

reuniclus

beheeyem

tastugiri 

alakazam

archeops

xurkitree 

wanted to give her some absurdly, comically intelligent pokemon, as well as at least one fossil (and archeops is my fav fossil lol). xurkitree as her ultra beast because high special attack + wanted to throw at least one electric type in there.

countess cleo’s team:

gardevoir

hatterenne

gothitelle

florges (white)

lilligant

pheromosa 

me: you better not be serving cunt when i get over there

cleo’s team:

professor maelstrom’s team:

malamar

spiritomb

hypno

sigilyph

starmie 

nihelego

wanted to give him a kind of freaky looking, mind alternating weirdo team. nihilego as is ultra beast for that reason, plus bonus jellyfish points

roundabout’s team:

copperajah

boltund

inteleon 

dragapult

hatterene

dracovish

wanted to give him a fairly standard galar team.. minus dracovish, which i have to imagine there’s a ton of arguments over the morality of owning in the pokemon world. additionally, inteleon because. spy.

crackle’s team:

electivire

luxray

jolteon

rotom

raichu

vikavolt 

electric monotype team! wanted to also give him pokemon that are more.. animalistic? friendly looking? idk how to describe it

tigress’s team:

liepard

delcatty 

incineroar 

meowscarada 

meowstic

pyroar

kitty cat :) i’d imagine her as having specifically female meowstic and pyroar as well.

le chèvre’s team:

gogoat

garchomp

tyranitar

noivern

lycanroc (midnight form)

salazzle

look i know this one isn’t the best fit but there’s only so many goat pokemon, and i wanted to go the rock climbing route instead, but then i realized that salazzle reminded me of his suit so here we are.

el topo’s team:

excadrill

clodsire

swampert

camerupt

dugtrio 

sandslash

excadrill is obvious, and also wanted to give him a mono ground team. also all very friendly cute looking little guys on his team, which i think fits well.

mime bomb’s team:

mr mime

mr rime

zoroark

primarina 

drifblim

ditto

mr mime and rime for obvious reasons, zoroark and ditto because of the disguise, primarina and drifblim because i was trying to think of things at a circus. also because i think he’d probably try to use his drifblim to kidnap kids or some shit.

dash haber’s team:

froslass

leavanny 

gardevoir

alolan ninetales 

vespiquen

milotic

similar to cleo, wanted to give him a slayful team. additionally, all are special attackers (or technically mixed attackers but would be using their special attack i just wanted to try to give him a sa based team lmao)

paper star’s team:

kartana 

hatterene 

mimikyu

banette

froslass 

cacturne

i know i said i’d only give vile faculty ultra beasts but like.. how could i not give her a kartana. the rest are just cute but very fucked up little guys. also she reminds me of a cacturne.

lady dokuso’s team:

venusaur

crobat

arbok

gengar

roserade

toxapex

poison monotype team, obviously

the mechanic’s team:

klinklang

excadrill

coalossal

grapploct

aggron 

revaroom

mostly steel types, but also coalossal because of powering things and grapploct because i just. really wanted to give her one. plus extra galar/british points

the driver’s team:

salamence 

electrode

noivern

weavile

salazzle

cinccino 

focused mainly on speed for her pokemon. also i just think that the idea of her with a cinccino is very cute

neal the eel’s team:

eelektross

ninjask

wugtrio

alolan muk 

sandaconda

dragalge

for neal, i chose eelektross for obvious reasons, and the rest either for speed or evasion boosting moves. also i chose alolan muk over regular muk because i think he’d like the colors

otter man’s team:

gumshoos

lucario

froslass 

weavile

frosmoth 

houndoom 

tbh i made his team a while ago and i don’t remember the thought process for anything beside from i thought he looked like a gumshoos and wanted him to have ice types

moose boy’s team:

hariyama

abomasnow

mamoswine 

beartic

baxcalibur 

galarian darmanitan

all ice types, all big, hard-hitting guys.

spinkick’s team:

hitmonlee

blaziken

scrafty

mienshao

hawlucua 

tsareena

all can learn high jump kick lol. plus mostly fighting types. tsareena was chosen even thought it’s not a fighting type because its entire gimmick is kicking things

flytrap’s team:

volcarona

togekiss 

decidueye 

yanmega

galvantula

greninja

all special attackers! chose galvantula specifically bc it can learn sticky web as well.

the troll’s team:

porygon-z

rotom

metagross 

kadabra 

umbreon

dedenne

porygon-z and rotom for the same reason as player, but i’d imagine he’d be more willing to use the dubious disk. also, for kadabra, i liked the concept of him not being able to trade with anyone to evolve it lol. 

madame goldlove’s team:

gholdengo 

azumarill

steelix 

aegislash

meowstic

kommo-o

all are shiny- i thought it’d be fun to make her a shiny hunter, specifically for these since all of them are gold shinies.

pls lmk what you think of them or if you have any more ideas or suggestions ^_^

[training-trio-irl]

What Pokémon do you think kaito would love to have?

Omg yes yes I love Pokémon headcanons!

For one that he would want to have, I would imagine he would be fascinated by Ultra Beasts, or any rare space Pokémon for that matter. Top picks would be Buzzwole as it’s whole thing is that it’s jacked and Kaito is the exercise guy after all, Celesteela because it’s a big ol’ rocket, or Kartana since it’s just a tough little guy (and a bit of my own bias there). Solgaleo is also also a top choice. UBs like nihilego, guzzlord, stakataka, and especially blacephelon might freak him out though.

For his normal team however, if he was a Pokémon trainer, my top pick for him to have would be a purple-core Minior! I also imagine him having a palafin because of his whole hero shtick. Since finizen evolves in Scarlet and Violet when leveled up while playing with friends, I would think Kaito’s finizen would one night during a particularly special training session with Shuichi and Maki. I could also see him with a lunatone or solrock, maybe both. Then throw a little cleffa in there for good measure because it would be cute for him to have a little baby he’s training up with love and care.

[deutoplasmic]

MAME LMAOOOO hes gunna be like “oh my god theyre alone in the bedroom what are they doing” then he hears angry yelling turns out takeru just red shell’d you in mario kart right before the finish line and now youre at his throat (he kisses you as an apology BUT MAME DOESNT NEED TO KNOW THAT!!!!)

AAAAA HOPELESS ROMANTIC FENGFAN,,, oh my god imagine that pumpkaboo is like. the smallest size. and you nickname him 小凡 because his face is exactly like fengfan’s when he pouts ☹️ and fengfan cant even feel mad that hes being teased BECAUSE HES ACTIVELY TRYING TO STOP HIS BRAIN FROM MAKING WEDDING PLANS LIKE WDYM YOU NAMED HIM AFTER ME-

LMAOO RUKI BEING A DORK AND HIS MEOWTH TRYING TO HELP,,, you glance over at his rapidash making heart shaped hoof marks in the grass for your rapidash. and you realize. you and your rapidash both seem to like losers

CRAFTY AYANE IM GUNNA CRY THATS ADORABLE 🥺 HER AND HER AMBIPOM AND SMEARGLE ALWAYS AT WORK MAKING AWESOME NEW STUFF FOR EVERYONE and omg i can picture the jars already. they have a little tag for his brand and a teddiursa charm HFNFHFNFHD

LMAOLDJDKD yea junki and ayuta are definitely the types to have an encounter with some otherwordly pokemon like. you show junki an ultra beast and hes like “oh yea i think ive seen that one before flying past my house!!” and youre like WHAT

KYO’S LOVE LANGUAGE IS FOOD FRRRR LIKE YOU WANT A CASTELLIACONE?? WELL GUESS WHAT I KNOW SOMEONE WITH SOME and omg frigibax and bergmite beef,,, literally will be fully evolved and still gnawing at each other

LMAO SHO WOULD JUST SMILE LIKE AN IDIOT WHEN HE SEES THE GIRL HE LIKES PLS he like. devolves into himbo mode its adorable and he gets so giggly and you dont even realize its because of you!!!

AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT MINUN YOURE SO RIGHT and omg i can already imagine her gym like its a repurposed factory and the obstacles add to the battle,,,

LMAOKFJDJD mechanic hiroto all grimed up tho,, but yes takumi is absolutely. lost. like hes just happy to be here following you around like a puppy

AUDINO KOSHIN WOULD BE ADORABLE OMG he would also love a jumpluff that he got from sho i think

LOOOOOL mame and jin are literally the epitome of the we're so back/it's so over meme... they're just hoping for a permanent win. but maybe they'll have to wait another century of you two (just takeru) flirting around .......

that would be so perfect LMAO he's been more out of it recently so you're like fengfan what's going on and he's like uhhh um what'd you say now and you're like ok............ he's up to smth

not the juxtaposition between you two and your pokemon horses LOOOOOL they truly do take after their trainer.... except i think ruki is less courageous than his own pokemon 🤣

YES OMG they have an art studio and she's determined to master the art of pottery.... maybe she'll go over to ran's gym and see if she can spare any metal...... probably loves upcycling stuff into cool things........ AND AHH!!!!!! YOURE SO RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! the imagery is crazy

omg you're like omg kartana is so cool and he's like wait huh what is a kartana and you show him. and he's like. WAIT i've SEEN one flying outside before!!!!!!!! truly a junki moment

it is totally beyond you how so many people he knows LOL if he wants to keep things warm he's got like a darumaka friend so your food options are truly unlimited....... and yeah LOL they'll constantly be trying to intimidate each other

oh yeah you have no idea whatsoever. you kinda just assume sho's a kind of shy guy and don't think too much about it but . its only around you apparently according to like your friend shosei but who knows.....

YEHA OMG her gym badge is made of a bunch of shiny bronze cogs with a red crystal inside the colour of her scizor........

YOURE SO RIGHT sho's backyard probably has an endemic of skiploom so he's like hey you can absolutely catch one if you want and koshin's like. well. if you do say so then

[pepurika]

Will we get to know more about how different Kartana and Lucentia as cities? The different cultures, religious views, ethnic groups, lore etc? 👉👈

I have a lot of lore written out but i don’t know how much i have time to tell everything! I try my best not to make the story get too swollen, because there’s a lot of things on the table already and the focus is on the relationships.

I can tell that lucentia and kartana, the largest and most influential city-states in this part of the world have been at war when ludo’s and remy’s grandparents were young, and after the both cities realized it was only harming them equally they called a truce and started building their future together instead. Which meant; marrying the noble families back and forth! Varna is from kartana (the bonnaire mom) (also this is why dad bonnaire had been reluctant in marrying ludo for any kartanian man because it would mean her having to move there, far far away but......... . .let’s say the engagement of ludo and jamis has a special agreement where they both stay in lucentia, and jamis would have continued sailing on the gallant (he’s a bit under ludo in status, so for him it was a step up, even if he continues to be ’only’ the first mate of bonnaire family ship. Also it was suggested by jamis who has no desire to return back to his family and feels more at home with the bonnaires lol)

So most of the lucentian and kartanian nobles these days have roots in both cities, and commoner families have more or less followed the tradition. and also when a noble woman moves to either city she brings with her her own small army of servants, who also might marry with someone local at some point (it’s not uncommon in this world for servants to marry, most of them don’t tho because it’s a respected, hard-earned position where you can earn a lot of money and a way to provide for the rest of your family also. marrying and getting kids makes it more difficult to keep your job where you have to be present 247, but some noble families are eccentric and non-traditional in a way that they don’t mind there being servant kids in their houses (you can take a wild guess which family i’m talking about lololol) Kartana is located in more unforgiving place than lucentia, their summers are hot and burning, and their winters cold and windy. the river vinn goes through the city, and is considered the “vein” of the city that keeps it alive. the people are generally thought being more resilient, stocky built and tall, and “more hard workers than those soft lucentians”. lucentia is located in the calm waters of the inner sea, protected by the island their city is on. lucentians are generally thought being shorter and having softer features. lucentians think of themselves sometimes more better than the rest of the world because of their “superior love for all things culture, art and music”.

in kartana they believe in a dualistic god, that has two faces on the same being, the sun and the moon. they are brother and sister, and sometimes it’s presented with both sexes at the same time. they gave birth to all living beings, and “also to a man perfect in every way, but it was tainted by the sin of people, turned against its parents and drove the people away from the house of god”. the similarities in lucentian and kartanian religions have made it easier for the two cities to connect, both having two main deities (in a way) and some antagonist that cut the ties between man and god. there are people who believe in both religions, and see them just different sides of the same coin. it’s also more common in kartana to not to be as spiritual as lucentians tend to be. like jamis is more or less “eh” when it comes to gods in oppose to, for example honeyfoot, who strongly believes in the gods and has even gone as far as to claim that he has seen an ancient divine beast, a being that was made by the god of the sea in time when he was trying to get the attention of the wind.

[askroahmmythril]

Robot Master Typings : RMN Series

Figured I may as well throw my own Robot Masters into the mix.

Disco Man : Normal / Ground

Disco Man’s main attack is using strong bass sound waves to shake the ground.  I’d imagine he’d have a lot of sound based moves in his movepool, probably an ability that would strengthen those.

Glass Man : Psychic / Ground

This one’s.... kinda tricky.  Have we ever really had a glass based Pokémon...?  I.... don’t feel like we have, have we?   I went with this typing since glass is made from sand, so there’s the ground typing.  Psychic comes more from his nature.  He believes himself to be a savior of robot-kind, almost a religious figure, possessed of higher knowledge.  Basically, think Sheep Man getting bored of his jobs, only with an over-inflated sense of self importance.

Devil Man : Fire / Steel

While his main weapon is his hookshot style grappling hook, the Devil Chain, he’s also able to use fire based attacks.  His base is also deep within a volcano, as his original purpose was to aid in volcanic research.

Vegas Man : Dark

Flashy and charismatic as he may be, there’s always a shady side to casinos and gambling.  After all that’s why we can’t have the kiddies playing around at the Game Corner anymore.  He would probably have a Pay Day analogue in his movepool though.

Bow Man : Grass

Likely thanks to Robin Hood, I tend to associate archers with forest settings.  Such is how Bow Man’s lair is set up as well, a forest area with structures in the trees and such.  Decidueye also gives us a Grass type archer, so there is some precedent to work with.

Fruit Man : Grass / Fire

While he is in charge of an orchard and largely fruit based, this giving us Grass typing (see the Cherubi, Bounsweet, and Applin line for examples of fruit being typed as Grass), his main weapon is the Pineapple Grenade, an explosive, so he gets some Fire typing from that.

Met Man : Ground / Steel

Met Man can use his pickaxe to cause ground shockwaves much like Mettaur viruses, and of course, being a Met, he is heavily shielded.

Origami Man : Grass / Flying

Again going with the idea of equating paper to grass in the same vein as Kartana, Origami Man gets Flying as his second type since his main attacks involve origami cranes, i.e., birds.

[barry-propaganda]

Legendaries Not in PokéMas:

Johto: Raikou

Hoenn: Regice, Registeel

Sinnoh: Uxie, Azelf, Heatran

Unova: Terrakion, Virizion, Thundurus

Alola: Type: Null*, Cosmog*, Cosmoem*

Galar: Kubfu*, Regieleki, Regidrago, Glastrier**, Enamorus

Mythicals Not in PokéMas:

Sinnoh: Phione, Manaphy, Arceus

Unova: Meloetta

Alola: Magearna, Zeraora, Meltan, Melmetal

Galar: Zarude

Ultra Beasts Not in PokéMas:

Alola: Nihilego, Xurkitree, Kartana, Guzzlord, Poipole*, Stakataka, Blacephalon

Which Legendary, Mythical, or Ultra Beast do you think will be Barry’s sync pair if/when he gets an alt? Do you think he’ll get one that’s already in the game but shiny? Do you think he’ll have a seasonal alt with a non-legendary/mythical/UB pokémon? Let me know!

I feel like they would go with Uxie, due to the connection of Barry havigg by been the one sent to check on Lake Acuity; but personally, I think I’d really like to see him with either Jirachi or Victini. Just two cute Psychic-type buddies who can either 1) help him in his wish to be able to build his own Battle Tower, or 2) grant him victory in pokémon battles (this all aged poorly).

*Probably won't get in due to having an evolution in the game.

**Technically in game as part of Ice Rider Calyrex.

Alright, now that Wally finally has a Sygna Suit, can we PLEASE get one for Barry?

Gonna make this a petition for Sygna Suit Barry.

(Also, please add him to the Lodge roster, DeNA.)

[ask-the-marimozoro]

What is your muse’s Pokemon team?

Tagged by: @ask-the-skellyman​ Tagging: @askblackleg-sanji​, @ask-tay-micheals​, @ask-sanji​, @ask-the-blackcapes​ (including Cipher) and all the people who is seeing this.

(( This is my opinion so If you don’t agree with me please don’t be mad. I didn’t put any Legendary (like Rayquaza) because I’m thinking in a team that Zoro could actually have xD ))

Scyther: It was obvious that this Pokémon was going to be here. His own data say that this pokémon is considered a true warrior, powerful, skillful and fast. Adding the fact that his "wings" are as sharp as a real sword and that his base attack is decent enough he deserves a spot on the swordsman's hypothetical team. Doublade: Nitoryu. This position was going to be from Aegislash but let's say that Zoro is more suited to this pokémon. Two swords that communicate by telepathy and whose attacks are so fierce that they are almost impossible to dodge? Welcome to the team. Gallade: Besides being green and having blades on his arms, this pokémon is here because of his elegance in battle, his fierceness, his loyalty, his power and for his honor, which I admire about Zoro. Every time I see this Pokémon, I see him as the Lord of Bushido. Kommo-o: This pokémon is here because it represents the constant hard training, both physical and mental; in order to protect those you love and to achieve realization. How many hours does Zoro spend training and meditating, huh? Garchomp: I think I once read that Oda said that if Zoro were an animal it would be a shark, so now we're talking about Zoro's inner pokémon. What can I say? It is a brutal pokémon. Any data of this pokémon is to influence fear, a fear very similar to the one that Zoro has influenced thanks to his strength gained in his pirate hunt and the countless battles he has had in the open sea with his crew. According to the Pokédex, "it destroys everything and everyone in its path", "It is so fast that it can almost plan", "it is called the Terror of the deserts", "it is scared where it goes and there is nobody that can’t be afraid of their roars”, only a man as feared as a demon could tame this beast. Kartana: Just look at it, read its name and tell me what you think. This pokémon literally became my favorite since I saw it for the first time (unbelievable since Jolteon was the one who had that position since the first generation!). A paper samurai with a base attack that outperforms the rest of the team, his entire body is a weapon in itself, he cut a steel tower with a single saber, and the combination of types reminds me a lot of the swordsman. Besides, the reference to Kubo it’s a plus that I can’t simply ignore.

[sage-nebula]

If you don't mind I would love to hear about the dark idea you had for Lillie and Alan.

Oh man, okay. Well, buckle up, because this will take some explaining.

So, as I said in those tags, this is in reference to my fic To Devour the Sun, which is an Alola AU that was started before the games released and the anime premiered. As a result, I had to come up with my own characterization for the Alola characters, based on what we had seen of them from official art and little tidbits about their personalities and backgrounds. This is most apparent with both Lusamine and Gladion (especially Gladion; not only did I assume he’d get along fine with Team Skull, but I made him a little spitfire to boot), but it would have become apparent with Lillie, who in her official art appears very closed off and is frowning. For the purposes of this fic, Lillie is characterized much as she is in my write-up of how I would have written the Gen VII games, which is to say that she is quite closed off, quite cold, very intelligent and resourceful (and can be a bit impatient with others who aren’t on her level), and is faithfully helping Lusamine along with her plans, albeit with a lot of despair over it. She’s doing what she’s doing because she feels she has no other choice. She doesn’t have hope that things could be different, and she and Gladion are currently in the midst of a two year long fight because he ran away from home in order to try and make a difference, when she didn’t believe that was possible and felt the right thing to do was to stay.

So with all of this being said, the Lillie in this fic is quite different from the Lillie we see in canon, and though she hasn’t been introduced in the fic proper yet (she’d be getting her introduction in the next chapter, when Manon, Clemont, and Bonnie to go the school), the plot necessitates that she keep the characterization I originally conceived for her. Like, it could be argued that since she hasn’t been introduced yet I could still go with her canon characterization (whereas it is too late for Lusamine, and especially too late for Gladion given his numerous appearances), but the plot really would not work if she had her canon characterization. I can tweak it some, but not enough to make her canon compliant. It sucks, but it is what it is. It’s my punishment for starting a fic before the canon released.

As a final note, also because this fic was started before the games released (and because the plot hinges on it, et cetera), the Aether family are Ultra Beasts in this fic. Lusamine is UB-02 Beauty, Lillie is UB-01, and Gladion is UB-04 Blade (i.e. kartana). And it’s important to note that, because it comes into play with this idea.

The idea is:

Lillie and Alan encounter each other once before the actual idea takes place. I don’t want to spoil too much about it, but essentially, at the end of chapter five Alan and Lizardon both had a very, very bad time battling a giant chimera deep within the basement of Aether Paradise (in an arena). It’s enough so that the cliffhanger I left that fic off on makes it look like Alan died (he certainly thinks he’s going to, given what happened to him, but he managed to save Lizardon, so he’s okay with it). In honesty, he would and should have died, but Lusamine saw the bond between him and Lizardon, and realized that they could be suitable candidates for sacrifice as per her plan. So she has Aether Foundation employees use medicinal alchemy (far more advanced than what this dimension should have as far as medical science goes) to save his life so that she can run him and Lizardon through tests to see if they are indeed the sacrifices she needs (or at least one pair of sacrifices—she needs three pairs).

Well, this being a story, they are, so she keeps them for a while. At some point during their unwilling stay, Lillie goes to Aether Paradise for her own reasons. While she’s going through, she comes across Alan. She remembers Manon telling her about Alan (she recognizes him from the description she was given), and she decides to help him escape. However, due to a series of circumstances that I won’t go into right now (because it would be #spoilers and I still want to write this fic someday), it doesn’t end up working. Lillie gets out of there, but Alan is trapped behind, wherein the bad times continue. (It’s a series of bad times. The little snippets I’ve written are very tame in comparison to what’s in store for him and Lizardon both, but you can still see that Lusamine is not at all nice to him. And trust me, Wicke and Faba aren’t either.)

Some time long after that, when things are revealed and other things happen, there’s some big climactic battle. I haven’t figured out the entirety of how it happens yet, but I do know that obviously Alan and Lizardon are involved, and Lillie is there as well. For the first time in years she has come to have at least a sliver of hope that things could, perhaps, be different—that maybe her mother’s plan to reduce this dimension to an empty husk for the sake of Ultra Space can be stopped. And she feels, due to all the circumstances and things that have happened, that Alan and Lizardon are perhaps the best bet to making that happen, that if anyone can defeat her mother (and more importantly, her mother’s creations), they can. But the thing is, well …

Here’s the thing:

It’s my belief that pokémon do not use 100% of their power in battle—that pokémon naturally restrain themselves to a degree in battles so that their attacks aren’t lethal. It’s the only explanation, isn’t it? We know that a charizard’s flames are hot enough to melt boulders, and that ‘Zard X has blue flames, which are the hottest flames in existence, and can potentially rival the sun in heat. Yet you can have a charizard battle a caterpie, and while the caterpie will faint in short order, it won’t die. Even if it’s hit by flames, it won’t die. And I have to believe this is because pokémon, like the dragons in the Dreamworks Dragons franchise, can control the strength of their attacks. Just like how Toothless didn’t kill that terrible terror when he shot fire into its mouth in the first movie (but then later killed the Red Death by doing the same, meaning he was intentionally holding back when he shot fire into the mouth of the terrible terror), pokémon can make it so that their attacks aren’t lethal. It does’t mean they’re not trying their best when they battle, because of course they are, but it does mean there’s a certain degree of restraint involved. They can regulate their attacks, and they do so, at least in battles against other trained pokémon (so in the wild, it may very well be that there are no holds barred; anything goes in fights between wild pokémon).

When it comes to mega evolution, part of this restraint is given to the trainer. Not just anyone can mega evolve their pokémon; outside of legendary pokémon, who can mega evolve without a trainer nearby (hi, Rayquaza), regular pokémon need an incredibly strong, nigh telepathic bond with a trainer in order to be able to mega evolve. The link that is established between human and pokémon when mega evolution occurs ties their souls and strength together; the restraint that the pokémon normally places on themselves when battling is shared with the trainer, so that the trainer’s feelings can influence the pokémon, and vice versa. It’s a shared spirit, in other words. The pokémon mega evolves because of the bond they have with their trainer, and in turn the trainer fights with their pokémon in a sense, their emotions melding with their pokémon partner���s in order to create a whole new experience.

I bring all of this up because by the time the final battle occurs, Alan and Lizardon have been through … a lot. Even setting aside all the testing, due to the events at the end of chapter five, Alan firmly believes that he should have died, that it’s unnatural and wrong that he didn’t, and that … that alone has messed him up. Everything else Lusamine did to him (and honestly, this is a woman who sees humans as the lowest life form, and who commissioned Faba to create the chimeras and has allowed him to do whatever with them, so the tests she ran Alan and Lizardon through are … pretty inhumane) just made it worse. Nonetheless, he’s still Alan, he still has limits …

… but that’s where Lillie comes in.

As I mentioned before, Lillie has spent the last few years feeling despaired over everything, because she doesn’t want this dimension to be destroyed (it’s the only home she has ever known), but she hasn’t had hope that anyone could stop her mother. Now she feels like maybe there’s a chance, but it’s a slim one. That giant chimera is still in existence and still on the field, and there are all the other chimeras as well. In addition, Lusamine has Ultra Beast auras protecting them, and as if all of that wasn’t enough … well, remember that Lusamine is actually UB-02 Beauty, and according to the official SM website:

So even if others try to battle her, good fucking luck; their pokémon lose the will to fight her, once she employs her own ability. (Which, yes, was sadly not put into the game itself, just—Game Freak, why do you live to disappoint? Oh well, if they won’t take advantage of this, I will. Just see if I don’t.) There is still a chance she can be stopped, but it’s extremely slim. The situation doesn’t look good, and Lillie feels that the longer the battle draws out, the slimmer their chance at victory (a chance which is perhaps granted by Lusamine trying to employ that effect on Lizardon, and it seems as if it’s almost working … only for it to ultimately fail, because Lizardon’s bond with Alan—platonic soulmates that they are—is just that strong) becomes.

But while Lusamine may have a special ability … she’s not the only one.

Lillie is, in actuality, UB-01. UB-01, as we know, has the ability to lower people’s inhibitions through physical contact. Lillie doesn’t usually employ this; she doesn’t want to control others, and in truth has doubts about how much she can given that she has felt, for years now, like she is in a minecart going along a predetermined track with no power over how far or fast it goes. But the situation is desperate right now, and Alan has been through a lot. She knows this, even if she doesn’t know all the exact details. She knows what her mother is like. She knows what the tests are like. She doesn’t need the specifics to know how much torment both Alan and Lizardon underwent as her mother’s test subjects.

But that makes her think that … maybe there’s a chance.

So in this idea—that, again, I likely won’t use, for a few reasons—Lillie … takes advantage of that, and her own ability. She has an idea of how strong Lizardon is, and knows that a pokémon’s power is amplified post-mega evolution. She knows about the restraint that trainers and pokémon employ when battling. She knows that if Alan and Lizardon are strong when employing that legal restraint (and they are), that if that restraint wasn’t there—if they didn’t adhere to any limitations …

In the midst of everything, she takes him by the hand. She focuses on the neurological altering ability she was born with as she holds his hand in both her own, and looks him in the eye, and talks to him. He has been through so much. Even before coming to Alola—Lillie doesn’t know these details, but this Alolan “vacation” (it was supposed to be a vacation) occurred only six months after the Flare crisis. Six months ago was the Flare crisis, and two years before that he was in Lysandre’s service, at the lowest point in his life. All of that, plus everything Lusamine did, plus a little urging and, honestly, toxic influence from Lillie to take those metaphorical gloves off and fight with everything they have, no restraint … 

It’s just … a little push. A little push on someone who, after having been through so much, was honestly already on the edge, but was holding himself back through simple virtue of his own honor.

(“But haven’t you always wondered what would happen if neither of you did hold back? What you could accomplish? She isn’t holding anything back. She never has. Even now, everyone here—they could die, because she isn’t sparing them any mercy. That giant chimera can and will kill them. Everyone—your family, my brother, Ash and the rest of our classmates, they’ll all die because there isn’t enough strength here to prevent it, except … if unrestrained, and fully tapped into … what you and Lizardon are able to do … the strength you have …”

“… The strength to protect …”

“Yes, exactly.”)

If Alan, in that mindset—that unstable, unrestrained mindset—used mega evolution just then … if he said, respond to my heart while activating his Key Stone … if Lizardon’s mega evolution had so much fury backing it, fury that came from both of them … the results would be devastating, probably, and that’s where Gladion’s horror would come in (and not just his, I’m sure, but still), because, “Lillie, the bastard is strong enough without you pushing him to this point, what the hell have you done?!” 

All of that said, no one would die and I’m sure it would all work out in the end, but … I feel like releasing restraint like that would be cause enough for someone to lose their Trainer’s License, although in this case it could probably be argued that it was some form of psychological break (not to mention Lillie would admit to what she did), therefore he could probably keep his if he went through something like six months dedicated therapy (which after all this, he could probably use). All the same, I doubt I’m going to use this idea because I have other ideas in mind for the climax, but it’s interesting to think about nonetheless, because … well, employing restraint, Alan and Lizardon are strong enough as it is. But can you imagine … what would happen … if they stopped holding back? 

I can, and I usually imagine it to this music. 

[scambiatore-blog]

[this post is fucking massive under the cut i forgot to tag that but just be warned IT’S HUGE and it’s literally just silver assessing the new pokemon he got from that meme so. Yeah]

Now, let’s check out these new Pokemon.

A Paras, from Guzma. It stares up at Silver curiously. It almost looks a little worried he’s going to get rid of it-- no, he intends to keep all of them, and even if he weren’t, he’d trade it, not just abandon it. Besides, Crys’s Parasect had helped him with its spores enough times that Silver is quite thankful he owns a Paras of his own. Perhaps it was a strange idea to use a Bug type as a healer, but they’re effective.

The Ponyta, too, looks apprehensive, but he feeds it a few berries to calm it down. Training will come soon. He’s quite excited at the prospect of owning a Rapidash.

Glameow doesn’t seem to care too much, instead occupying itself with talking to Weavile. He stares at it for a few moments-- he isn’t sure what he’d like to do with this Pokemon yet. He supposes he’ll figure that out eventually; for now, he guesses he’ll keep it as a pet, unevolved.

The Yamask seems well past the point where it should have evolved-- and he questions for a moment if he was right about when he thought they usually do, is it a trade evolution--? Ah, no, checking his Dex reveals it simply didn’t evolve. It’s staring at him rather intensely...

He returns the look. This Pokemon looks like it wants to be stronger-- and he’ll guess for that reason, it’s kept itself from evolving, to faster learn moves that it would have learned slower as a Cofagrigus. His Dex tells him these Pokemon used to be human... If that’s true, then it’s an even better addition to his roster than he’d thought. Seems it’s learned all the moves it can, though, so he’ll have to level it up soon.

Next, Sylveon.

... It doesn’t really look like a Pokemon he’d usually use, but that’s no reason to ignore it, especially not when he needed more type variation. He inwardly curses himself again for continuously seeking out only strong Pokemon that fit his aesthetic, rather than strong (or even any) Pokemon that would fill in where he lacked type advantages... Learning how to effectively bring out the power of a Fairy-type would be new and perhaps difficult, but he likes a challenge.

Now...

The last Pokemon remains inside its ball. It was one he’d gotten from... someone he somehow thought looked familiar. He felt that likely wasn’t a good thing-- and seeing the shift in his expression when the Pokemon within was revealed told him it was probably a good thing he’d taken it from him.

If he hadn’t met that other Pokemon already...

If he hadn’t already felt the difference in how a Pokeball feels with one of these creatures within, and seen for himself that its presence felt strange for a reason...

He may not have known exactly how much care he’d need to take dealing with this one.

One issue, however, is... Buzzwole may have been strong, but it was quite friendly(? he’s yet to get any solid proof, but it really did feel like it had no idea throwing him around like that was hurting him, like it thought they were playing around), and seemed perfectly alright with being handed off to Burnet as a research subject.

This Kartana, however, did not seem friendly.

He returned his other Pokemon, save for Weavile, and let Houndoom out, before opening the UB’s Pokeball-- the common red-and-white variant, as opposed to those strange blue ones Burnet had informed him were the ones best suited for catching UBs. His Buzzwole had been captured in a regular Pokeball too-- so had this one been previously owned by an unsuspecting Trainer...?

Kartana erupts from its ball, and seems to glance between Silver and the two Pokemon remaining by his side. Houndoom growls quietly-- he was thankful for the upgrade Alola’s professor gave his Dex, trial and error would be necessary to find the UB’s quadruple Fire weakness otherwise.

It doesn’t seem interested in attacking Silver, but the stare it’s giving him tells him it’ll be a long time before he could control it enough for use in battle. He’d already gotten nicked by its blade-- a scratch across his cheek, he hadn’t even realized it had touched him until he saw he was injured. If he didn’t want innocent people getting hurt, he couldn’t be rash.

He’d returned its stare-- and after a few moments, returns it to its ball. Worry instills itself in him regarding what its previous Trainer’s fate was, how they ended up losing this Pokemon, as it seemed the person he’d gotten it from had had no idea that was what he’d just given away until Silver had opened its ball to take a look-- strangely, hoping its OT had been robbed was the best outcome he could think of.

... There’s nothing he can do about that now, though. What he can do is make sure he can control it, and ensure that he and his Pokemon are all strong enough to make sure it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. It’s time to begin training.

[whale-shark-queen]

You mentioned fucked up weird AUs in your one post? I'm interested. Tell me about your favourite one(s)!!

AAAaaaah thank you so much!!

Uhhhhhhh heck most of them involve N turning into some horrible Thing because he’s the Estranged Outsider with a Connection to the Bad Guys Even If It’s Not Willingly (yknow like how Eren from snk is a titan shifter or Rin from blue exorcist is part demon) and all of them involve vuvuzelashipping (Nxall the Nuvema lot) I don’t really have a single favourite but I’ll summarize the ones I like most (also note that some of them are good dad Ghetsis/Dadsis aus because u gotta balance out the angst somehow plus dadsis aus are Cool)

Under the cut because I literally can’t summarise for shit and I’m sure no one wants to scroll past 3 pages worth of this (mobile users I apologise since the app is SHIT and refuses to even acknowledge these) 

Also here’s a bit of an index so u can skip to ones that sound interesting instead of going through them all but first u should ask nationalharmonica about her aus bc I love all of hers and they’re awesome and need more love and she also helped with alot of these aus too!! ESPECIALLY the Dragonflower au which I won’t include here because I think she has it on her blog somewhere already.  If ur wondering why I haven’t posted any of these it’s because a) i have neither the skill, time or patience to draw up proper references for all of the characters involved and b) I’m always worried theyll seem too Out There for some people but here we go au masterpost i guess, if anyone reading would like more info feel free to ask!!!

Bacterial Contamination inspired au aka bacterial pestileNce

BotW au

Ib au

PMMM au (the longest one)

Plasma/Aether swapover, N wins+UB monochromeshipping au

Simple fNaf dadsis au

sister locatioN dicksis au (yes I have two for that because I only found out about the secret springtrap cutscene at the end of SL that changes everything the other day)

Nombie (dadsis) au

isolatioN au- Au based on the song Bacterial Contamination.  N goes to the snobbiest most pretentious school you can imagine only because his ex mafia boss dad wants the best for him.  N hides the fact he’s being relentlessly bullied until a teacher phones Ghetsis up asking why N is in such a state whenever he comes into school (BC bruises and cuts and looking roughed up in general).  N goes to therapy and gets meds but surprise they’re an experimental drug and he’s a bug boy now

- BotW au where Touya is Link, Cheren as Revali, Bianca is Mipha and Touko is Zelda.  Ghetsis (who is kinda like Demise if he hung around to make sure his curse worked) is the king of a neighboring region who’s a bit of a warmongering asshole but his son N is friends with princess Touko and her…ahem, associates, which is the only reason Touko’s dad stays civil with him at all.  He uses this to his advantage and infects N with the Malice and reveals his plan to take over Unova, knowing fine well that N would run away to Touko for help.  The truth is he’d set up N to be a ticking time bomb and eventually he becomes the Calamity.  After the whole ~100 year coma and releasing the divine beasts~ thing Touya only remembers who N is after killing him but dw there’s a blood moon just as Touko is sealing the Malice away and N’s freed spirit is brought back to become a friendly giant fluffy spider boy just because I said so

- Ib au with N as Mary (obv Ghetsis is Guertena) except instead of going crazy and trying to kill everyone and being burned up and dying himself the toutous make him sit in the frame while they drag it out of the portal to the real world: problem solved.  I have all this stuff about the others being able to step into his frame but he can’t leave unless someone else draws him so he can possess the drawing but I won’t go into it here BC this post is gonna be long enough already

-Okay I have two madoka aus because possibilities for N are Ndless but I’ve only really developed the dicksis version whereas I only have a witch design for a possible dadsis version so here’s the dicksis one.  The first: Ghetsis is kinda like Walpurgisnacht and N was originally a familiar that represented Ghetsis’ interest being only in things that directly oppose him who was becoming powerful enough to become a witch of his own.  Not wanting him to have even a fraction of power himself Ghetsis transformed him into a human shape, gave him sentience and intelligence and as close to a pure heart as possible so he would be easier to manipulate and led him to believe that magical girls/boys hunt down innocent witches for fun and have witches trapped in their soul gems and tasks N with stealing people’s soul gems to ‘free the witch inside’.  The problem is that the alteration gave N the mindset of ‘innocents who aren’t involved must be protected at all costs’ rather than Ghetsis’ mindset of ‘don’t give a fuck about anyone unless they’re a problem’.  N is also sent to integrate into human society so that he can find magical peepos easier so he ends up coincidentally going to school with the Nuvema kiddos.  He ends up becoming friends with them until he finds out Cheren and Bianca are magicas (I’m just gonna call them that for simplicity) but even though the toutous arent magicas they still support them which is all very upsetting and conflicting for N but he tries his best to protect the witches and steal more soul gems until the others eventually call him out on it and prove to him that the shit Ghetsis told him is bull.  When he goes to confront him about it it’s too late, Ghetsis has absorbed enough witches to become a Walpurgisnacht-like entity, and finally allows N to become a witch.  I’ll link the drawings I’ve done of him but basically his labyrinth would be like a puppet theater and even tho hes the witch he’d have this fuckin giant messed up ghetsis-lookin puppet master familiar who pulls at his strings and coordinates his attacks.  There’d be an audience of masked figures that look like all the magicas he’s caused the deaths of, tiny animals with scissors to represent his wish for freedom and also his fear of his ‘father’ since they never actually get to cut the strings holding him up, and figures that look a heck of a lot like the nuvema kiddos watching in a balcony.  This is all tied into a theory I came up with that almost all the witches are able to be saved since yknow how Homura had that figure of Madoka locked away and Madoka was able to bring her back, and how Sayaka had the violin guy and Charlotte had that doll that probably represents her dead mother? My guess is that if the people those figures represent are brought to the witch and reach out to them the magical girl inside would be able to be freed.  But yeah since N was never really a human the Nuvema kiddos can only really save a fraction of his conscious and he ends up like Bebe.  They all beat the shit out of Ghetsis and everyone lives happily ever after with their pocket witch bf

- the au where 1) plasma and aether are sort of swapped around and 2) N beats the toutous in the final battle.  This is actually based on nationalharmonica’s courtesaN au which is awesome BTW (but it doesn’t involve actual courtesans or N being a courtesan at all but its Sarah’s au so if you’re interested you should totally ask her about it).  Ghetsis keeps Touko and Touya prisoner and just to rub it in their faces blackmails Cheren and Bianca into joining and doing sciency experiment shit which ends up with Touko and Touya becoming UB fusions/hybrids themselves; Touya with Kartana and Touko with Celesteela.  Ofc in the later stages they are able to destroy their place of confinement and escape with Cheren and Bianca to find N who becomes understandably fucked off and upset that his friends have been put through all this shit but begs them not  to kill Ghetsis so he can ask what’s going on.  When he does Ghetsis stabs him with a syringe full of UB fusion shit because he knows fine well hes gonna die he just wanted a final ‘fuck you’ before he is killed by both fire and paper cuts.  Surprise! It’s a Guzzlord.  N becomes a big squishy boy. I’ve done drawings of N in human Guzzlord fusion/hybrid form but I’ve been afraid of posting it but uh if anyones interested i will

- Simplified fNaf dadsis au - basically N and the Nuvema kiddos are the ones that were killed and stuffed in the animatronics, Ghetsis owns the place but risks going bankrupt pouring money into helping find the culprit and also his son and his friends when they’ve been stuck in the one restaurant he kept open to stay afloat.  Nate is the new nightguard and they decide to fuck with him to get rid of some of the boredom of being alone together in the one building for like…30 years or so.  In the end they fess up and make Nate pizza as an apology and they’re chill again

- sister locatioN dicksis au - I already summarised a thing i wrote of it in response to an anon but I’ll include here too.  Once again Ghetsis owns all the shit with the animatronics.  Anthea and Concordia get killed by one of them when they were young so years later Ghetsis sends N down to ‘free’ them (surprise he only wanted to get rid of N) but since their spirits have been fused into one hideous amalgamation of animatronics they’ve gone a bit loopy and want to leave.  The whole scooping room thing ensues and they accidentally turn their brother into a zombie

- Nombie au bc Z is a sideways N heheh I ahven’t thought up much of the background for it but it involves Plasma being a pharmaceutical company that is sort of accidentally being the cause of it.  N gets separated from his dad who ends up being the leader of a large group of people in a little town sort of thing they were able to reclaim but is Sad bc he thinks his son is dead which ends up being half true bc surprise N is half immune and ends up being a conscious zombie boy who wears a curtain as a cloak so he doesnt immediately frighten people bc he got his eye shot out by hillbilies, his face scratched up, his throat bitten out and his heart impaled on a pole (hes a freak without a human heart geddit) zombie apocalypse stuff happens

- isolatioN au - basically spawned from the thought of ’what if N was kept even more hidden away/locked up/never even left at all’.  Plasma is instead secretly in the Pokemon poaching/hunting/selling business but are disguised as…well you already know about Plasma.  The nuvema kiddos had varying levels of rough childhood and were desperate for money so they all joined up; the toutous as night guards and the dualrival s as researchers.  Hidden deep in the facility is a certain tree haired manchild who has been kept in a cage for pretty much his entire life.  Ghetsis does a mother gothel and makes out its to keep him safe and brings him Pokemon to ask about where they live and what other kinds of Pokemon live there so that Ghetsis can release them safely back into the wild go hunt for more Pokemon in the area if there’s anything good there

There’s a few more that I have but I won’t include them because im worried it’d be a waste of time if no one takes interest in any of these but uh thanks for asking and reading if you did!!!

[poke-headcanon-world]

AU where Sun, Moon, Hau, Lillie and Gladion are all prisoners in the Aether Paradise?

(Oh I LOVE angsty headcanons! Watch as I make these five innocent children fall into despair!)

(Just to warn you all, this is gonna be long AND dark. Read at your own risk)

*The AU starts with Moon losing against her first battle with Lusamine. Not only that but Hau gets defeated by Guzma and Gladion is unable to defeat Nihilego. This would drastically change the scene where Lusamine and Guzma go into Ultra Space, instead they stay in the human world and have Hau, Moon and her children captured to ensure that no one finds out of Aether’s intentions.

*Sun during the time was still in Kanto. When he hears about his sister’s disappearance a few weeks later he goes to Alola to help look for her. Lusamine decided to capture him for two reasons, one so that he wouldn’t mess with her plans as he most likely would should he find out the truth. The second reasons was to see Moon’s face when the Aether Foundation brought her brother to her.

*Initially the five of them were kept in separated rooms with seemed far more like prison cells than anything else. Their Pokemon were taken away by the employees along with whatever communication device they had. The only furniture each room had was a table, a surgery bed and a TV. Moon took this isolation the hardest due to her fears of being alone, this prompted Lusamine to rarely allow people into her room in order to mentally torture her further.

*It wasn’t just Moon who had to suffer, all five of the prisoners were equally physically and mentally tortured by Lusamine. As they should be, they were so close to ruining her plans and so they deserved to be punished for that. She learned each child’s fears and used them against each of them, then she used a shocking device with she placed on each child’s wrists, legs and neck when she thought they needed to be taught a lesson.

*With Nebby’s powers multiple wormholes were opened, causing far too many Ultra Beasts to be released into the Alola region and possibly in the future, the entire world could be overrun by the Alien Pokemon. Aether caught a many of the Beasts for research purposes. They experimented to on UB’s for a few weeks until Lusamine had an interesting idea. What would happen if you transfused an Ultra Beast’s DNA with a Human? It wouldn’t be hard to start the experiment, she had multiple perfect Beasts in her possession.

*And she had five test subjects.

*Having once worked with DNA spicing of a Pokemon, Colress was made head of the experiment. However he didn’t know the full details of the splicing, specifically, he didn’t know that the people receiving the Ultra Beast’s DNA never gave consent, or that they were human.

*With the DNA extracted from the Beasts, Faba and other employees went to work. They strapped each child to their beds and forcefully injected them with the DNA. Each child was experimented with a different Beast’s DNA, each chosen specifically by Lusamine herself.

*Of course, with the different DNA in each child, it took different times for the experiment to show it’s effect. Some of them received more doses of the DNA than others to try and speed up the process. Others started changing having their behaviour change thanks to the splicing.

*Moon was fused together with a Pheromosa. Causing far lighter skin that any human should have, the tiara to grow on her head along with the antennas and the rings on her arms. Moon’s feet also suffered a interesting change which made it impossible to wear her old shoes anymore. Instead she just wears her socks now. Other than her neck and the silky part of a Pheromosa’s body that can be seen, the rest of the segments are hidden inside Moon’s clothes.

*The transformation caused Moon to become faster than she was ever before. She may not be the fastest compared to the others but she makes that up with her new found strength.

*Sun had Kartana’s DNA in him. It gave him lighter skin much like his sister. But it also made blades grow from the top of his hands, antennas and the paper like four sided star on the back of his head. The change also affected his hair, which turned more orange than it’s original dark blue. His hair is also extremely sharp, just like the blades.

*This also made Sun far faster than any of the others. Having lost most of his weight thanks to the DNA he can now run at speeds so high that you can’t even see him moving sometimes. Surprisingly, Sun needed the least amount of doses to achieve this form. However the DNA DID make him more violent.

*Hau was one of the two that needed the most doses, as growing Xurktrees wire-like limbs was a difficult task. But eventually Hau managed to have something similar happen. The wires grew across his arms and legs and wrapped themselves around the existing limbs. The wires around his arms went down further, twisting together just a few inches away from Hau’s hand and formed a second hand for each arm. Like Sun, it effected his hair, this time by giving him electrical pulses running through each strand, making it seem almost pure white. Touching his hair while his angered is a bad idea unless you want to get shocked.

*The problem was that Hau was the most violent out of the others during the splicing. When he was able to control and use the electric powers within him at the beginning, he tried to attack the employees that entered him room. This went on for a while until the employees found that if they bring either Moon or Lillie into his room he’ll calm down almost instantly. Which was useful until they found other means to calm the Beast Splices.

*Knowing Lusamine it would be obvious on who she would splice Lillie with. Nihilego. Her hair and skin turned a pale blue to resemble the Ultra Beast. Despite the fact that it seems like she’s wearing a hat on her head but that’s actually part of the splicing giving her Nihilego’s head. Her entire body is more gelatinous and she has the Beast’s Venom running through her veins. It is unknown if she’s able to fuse with humans like a regular Nihilego.

*Finally, Gladion was fused with a Celesteela. Lusamine initially thought of using Buzzwole’s DNA but she decided that this would be better in humiliating her ‘son’. His skin became lighter, much like Sun and Moon. His hair grew up to his thighs before it became almost solid. He grew a large spike on his head along with Celesteela’s ‘skirt’ and cannons on his arms. Those cannons however don’t function so instead he had special blasters made for only him to control.

*Gladion was the one who needed the most doses of the beast’s DNA out of all the others. Heck, he probably had more doses than all other others COMBINED. This gave him a more of a ‘calm but deadly’ kind of personality. He seems neutral to most situations (Of course it’s hard to see what he’s feeling with his eyes being covered that way.) but he wont hesitate attacking anyone without warning should the need arise. The dead bodies of the Aether employees prove it.

*When all five of the children were successfully turned into partial Ultra Beasts Lusamine decided to make them serve her. Of course, since they were still somewhat human it would be impossible for her to use a simple beast ball to capture them. So she created something else. A device to place on the back of each fusions’ neck. The device would allow her to control each child with ease.

*Putting the devices on them was a... difficult task. But eventually Lusamine had five more Ultra Beasts to use as she pleased. Of course, using the five of them outside of the foundation would lead to... suspicion. So Lusamine kept them in their cells but also had a new room made for their training, hidden from the rest of the world.

*This was when Colress finally realised what the Beasts DNA was really used for. It infuriated him. True, he did work on splicing Kyurem with another Pokemon years ago but this was different, even his point of view had changed thanks the the hero of Unova. He didn’t think he’d cause this, now he needed to fix it somehow.

*So with Wicke’s help they managed to organise a plan. Simply put it, they managed to convince multiple employees to stall for them while they went and disengaged the devices. Or if that didn’t work, find a way to make the children break out of the devices’ control on their own. Fortunately, the second one was easier after a certain news appeared on each of the children’s TVs.

*Hala’s death. The news of that was enough to make Hau break out of Lusamine’s control and completely destroy the device. With him free the first thing he did was attack and kill the employees that came over to his room for possibly more testing. Then he ran out of his room in a animalistic rage, making his way to Moon room. The outbreak and all the employees rusing over to stop him gave Colress and Wicke the opportunity needed to make their way to disarm that remaining children’s devices.

*Hau used an electric attack on Moon when he managed to enter her room. Not to hurt her, but in order to destroy the device. Afterwards they went to Lillie and Moon removed the device from her. Now there was just Sun and Gladion to save. When they reached their rooms the three saw Sun and Gladion attacking two scientists. They were still under the devices control however so Moon ran over and broke Gladion’s device while Lillie and Hau both trapped Sun. Giving Colress enough time to rip the device off of him.

*Now with all the children back to their senses Colress and Wicke decided it would be best to have them all escape the island. After thinking for a bit they all agreed to go to Poke Pelago, where they would most likely be safe from Lusamine for a while. 

*All together they went to retrieve their ride pagers and their Pokemon, only to find out that all of their Pokemon... were now frozen... all of them, including Silvally, who Gladion tried everything to protect his precious Pokemon from this fate. The scene was heart breaking and the five of them had to leave before any of them broke down crying. On a higher note, Nebby wasn’t in the ice, so that gave them some hope that maybe, MAYBE, it was still alive.

*After retrieving their pages the five of them along with Colress and Wicke went of the Ride Charizard to Poke Pelago. The five of them were crying for most of the trip, unable to believe what had happened yet it DID.

*After they reached the Pelago Wicke instantly recognised Mohn, same for Gladion. But both of them remained silent as he took the others into his raft hut. Mohn didn’t recognise either Lillie, Gladion or Wicke, however. The only one he knew happened to be Moon. 

*They all stayed at the Pelego for a few weeks. Caring for Moon’s other Pokemon, planting and growing berries, exploring the caves and much more. Yet eventually Sun and Gladion started an fight between the others. Mostly because Sun and Gladion wanted to avenge their Pokemon, they wanted to hunt Lusamine and all the other employees down for what they did. While Moon, Lillie and Hau could understand their reasoning, they wished to stay. After the battle, Sun and Gladion left the Pelago and have yet to return.

*Hau, Moon, Lillie, Colress and Wicke all still remain in the Pelago. The three beasts hide each time someone new appears on the Pelago while Wicke and Colress would work with Mohn in helping the newcomer out.

*Colress would sometimes leave the Pelago for a few days and when he comes back he would always tell Moon, Lillie and Hau about anything that changed in Alola since no one at the Pelago can really connect to the news. Coltress would sometimes tell them about two Human-Like monsters hunting down anyone that is a part of Team Skull or the Aether Foundation. They all know who the two are

*Like how most people would be after what they experienced, all the children are suffering from terrible PTSD. Night-terrors and more erratic behaviour is common for all five of them. Sometimes they forget to eat or eat too little thanks to the diet Lusamine put them through and every often they’ll feel like their being shocked like they were during their time in Aether. All of their fears and phobias are now ten times worse than they were before being imprisoned as well.

*Hau and the others don’t want to leave the Pelago. Their too scared to leave. The chances of them getting captured and put through everything they went through again was too high. Even if it meant possibly saving Nebby or helping Sun and Gladion out should THEY get captured, they won’t do it. Their staying in the Pelago and no one can tell them otherwise.

[greenserfant]

Current State of the Meta

After the Toronto regional championships I just thought I'd give kinda a small post.  I'm really proud to see our game evolving into an E-sport. Congratulations to all the top 4 players for Toronto. All of your teams are a pleasure to look at. It's no secret that I love gen 2 Pokemon. The fact that porygon2 is a complete staple right now thrills me to no end! I'm extatic to play this meta! so let's jump in to the 1st place Toronto regionals team. 

 (I actually don't have data so you're gonna get to see me asses the team blindly lol. But, it's what you should be doing when you see your opponent's team and it makes good practice. )

 The squad:

 -Tapu Koko

 -Celesteela 

-Arcanine

 -Garchomp 

-Ninetails(alola) 

-Snorlax 

     Now I'm not gonna make crazy assumptions like I know his team. But, some basic info is already here. He has great bulk support and intimidate through Arcanine and Celesteela. This asses’s the threat of Kartana and Celesteela to his team easily. Also the fact that intimidate is a great tool in battle shouldn't be underestimated. It also supports the Ninetails. Which needs to be freed from the pesky steel types that will bother it. (Ice isn't the best typing let's be honest. fairy isnt that great either unless you’re a tapu.)

 It's quite obvious to see Tapu Koko here. He's mainly there for canceling other terrain and offensive pressure.

   <Celesteela> This wall of a Mon has seen tons of play this format, simply for being the bulkiest steel type there is. With access to leech seed, giga drain and having leftovers! This Mon constantly is a problem and extends game length by itself. This Mon is a threat and an obvious choice to support or sit next to -garchomp. Being able to wittle the opponent's down while they are getting earthquaked by chomp is absolutely ridiculous synergy. But sitting behind a sub is even scarier. -Celesteela is an absolute monster behind a substitute. 1 sub also tending to soak up 1-2 hits.  Now,don't get me wrong. This Mon has problems this Meta. Especially since koko is so popular. Koko was on 7/8 of the top 8 teams at Toronto. That should say something right there. Though -Celesteela keeps on a truckin’ with its massive bulk and reliable beast boost ability. It's no wonder why this Mon is is easily a top contendor for one of the best mons of the Meta.NOW! For my favorite part of this team! Also for my favorite development in the meta outside of porygon2.

    [{SNORLAX]} This Mon has seen competitive play from time to time. Popping up when massive offense and bulk is needed. Though, it's most notable format was gen2!! It was the highlight of Snorlax's play! It was extremely bulky, and was overall the best Mon of the format.

     I think now that it's really only threatened by arcanine (close combat ) and hariyama. It's able to cement itself a niche in this Meta. With access to moves like belly drum, rest,stockpile,high horse power, return and items like figgy berry. Then its overall great offensive stats. This Mon is getting its day in the light once more! 

{Ninetails}

This mon is very interesting to say the least. Being on this team specifically is unconventional at best. AND I LOVE IT! Ninetails primarily being the hail setter for the team. It is an out to the pesky rain double duck teams runing about. It also, is a fairly good counter to the garchomp that have been seeing play. This further supports snorlax in the long run. Assesing its threats and nuetralizing them.(Which is what this team does best mind you.) Having a stupidly high special attack stat and somewhat paper defenses. I don’t see this mon having anything else but a focus sash. Just because its frail. But dont let that get in the way. there are many ways this mon can help the team. It has access to:

icy wind/protect???

aurora veil (get to this in a minute)

Blizzard

Moonblast

Aurora Veil- Easily ninteails’s signature move. This makes Celesteela an absolute monster! (not that it needed help.) While it also properly bulks up snorlax and allows it to safely stat up. Complimenting its fair amount of natural bulk. This move overall compliments the team. Also with ninetails nuetralizing the weather with its own hail and a mixture of synergy between celesteela. Its just more health drops for the opponent to have to watch out for.

   Overall I really love this team. Its so unconventional. It's truly a good work. I've been wanting to see Ninetails top. I knew it could do it. I just wasn't sure how it would manifest itself. With little to no speed control on this team. Outside of Icy wind possibly on Ninetails. It's a wonder how he did it. I'll do a further analysis on my channel, but thanks guys for reading! This is Greenserfant it's ya boi from johto! Y'all already know though. Peace ! And have fun team building!

[puclpodcast]

Back to the Lab: Putting Theory into Practice

What’s good PUCL crew, it’s the squirtle squad affiliate himself, and we’re back in the lab to synthesize everything we’ve discussed from previous articles, make a team, and get a few battles in to see how it works. I’ll be explaining how I choose my team members, what I think about in each step of plan, and final notes on how I think matchups will go against other OU teams. Then I’ll be linking to my battles via Pokemon Showdown, discussing some of the turns that highlight how the team works and what I’m considering when making moves. Let’s get right into it!

At the time I was brainstorming, Kyurem-Black had relatively low usage but seemed to be an incredible wall breaker with the physical equivalent of ice beam/thunderbolt coverage. More importantly to me, it actually hits a very nice speed tier, able to tie with the common adamant Zygarde and outspeeding the majority of Landorus-T variants, save for scarf and max speed Jolly.

        I figured Tapu Koko was a natural choice for the first teammate, hitting a very nice speed tier, able to outspeed Greninja and KO a lot of the offensive threats that outspeed and hinder Kyurem’s wall breaking potential, like Gren or Mega-Pinsir. We run HP Fire in place of Ice on this variant to hit Ferrothorn and similar steel types, as we already sport the ice coverage to hit things like Landorus safely. We also don’t want to be forced to use Subzero Slammer on Ferro as a result.

        For the next two mons I wanted to cover my physically and specially bulky sides. The always popular Landorus T+ Tangrowth seemed like a natural choice, both being reliable checks to Zygarde, with Landorus-T checking other ground types like Excadrill and Dugtrio, while Tangrowth being the much needed defensive check to Ash Greninja, easily eating choice specs dark pulses and retaliating with giga drain.

With a lack of reliable answers to offensive fire types like Zard Y, and the ability to pressure steel more effectively, I think that Scarf Keldeo is a natural choice to some of the faster threats that pressure my team. My final pick is Latios, since we need a defogger and something that can additionally punch holes in teams if need be. I think you typically won’t be spamming moves on Lati, rather I tend to play Lati as a lure for my other Pokemon. Since its mainly utility, sometimes if having Kyurem-B not take rocks damage is the key to winning, we’ll sacrifice Latios just to get a defog off.

Mixing all our elements together, we come up with a blend of speedy offense, reliable pivots, and serious wall breaking potential. Although I started this team with Kyurem-B and Koko, since we have Latios and Kyurem in the final version I’ll name it:

We got the team, we got +1 for a retro game reference, now let’s push start and see how it plays!

Game 1

Although we initially have a rocky start, and I made a misplay revealing hidden power fire too early, I quickly gain back momentum by placing rocks and pivoting between my threats, sacking Latios early but also using it and Kyurem to break holes in my opponents defensive core. The lack of reliable speed control on my opponent’s team meant I could often switch in Kyurem for free, eventually forcing Charizard out to take rocks damage, which gets me a safe win once Tangrowth knocks it out of the park. You can see in this game that despite my misplays, having rocks up and simply putting Kyurem-Black on the field often forces switches, allowing you to chip damage throughout the game and secure KO’s with the rest of my squad. Onto game 2!

Game 2

The unorthodox Hippowdown presents an early problem for my team, as it is able to freely get up rocks and spam whirlwind for the first few turns. My opponents crucial misplay was not earthquaking my Tapu Koko, as neither a dazzling gleam nor HP ice would have KO’d at that range. This is my chance to bring in Keldeo and force out Hippowdown,  KO’ing Kartana on the switch. They follow up with the appropriate Mantine check, and this is the perfect opportunity for Kyurem B to start cleaning clocks. The Fusion Bolt of course is anticipated, and keeping in mind that KO’ing a Sandrush Excadrill or Hippowdown would be nice, I decide to go for Subzero Slammer right off the bat. That eliminates probably the most reliable check to Tapu Koko on that team. Towards the late game my opponent brings out Mega Gardevoir, and to my horror I realize I don’t have any consistent checks to it. I bring out Tangrowth to soak a few hits, and through the combination of Koko, Latios, and Keldeo spamming their coverage moves we whittle down Gard+ Gren, sliding by with another win, 2-0. Definitely noting this game that anything with wall-breaking fairy coverage could be a serious threat to my team

Game 3

This team really threw me for a loop, especially that sub-seed ferrothorn. Due to lack of reliable answers to Ferro, and the fact that I wanted to keep my Keldeo healthy to check Volcarona later, I’m forced to use Koko and HP fire to pressure it out, trying to create momentum with my u-turn to eventually get out Kyurem Black. However the sheer bulk on his team made me want to get chip off first before, which gave him a chance to send out Mimikyu and get up two swords dances. Thankfully the mixed bulk I run on my AV Tangrowth allowed me to eat a play rough, and put it in range of going down to giga drain. This, however, gave him the chance to go into Volcarona; so naturally I go into Keldeo – but MISS the stone edge. What a heartbreaker. Seeing that, he doubles into Ferrothorn to knock out Keldeo with the iron barbs chip, but I realize this is the perfect moment to go into Kyurem and click subzero slammer. If Tapu Fini came in it would have gone down to the follow-up fusion bolt, and so getting rid of Ferrothorn was a huge boon to my team’s cleanup potential. Perhaps if my opponent had brought out Chansey earlier they would be able to tank some of my hits and spread toxic around, making my decision-making a lot more costly throughout the match. Regardless , I’m able to take it out with the combined efforts of the Double Dragons, and a well placed Scald puts Volcarona out of commission. Not too shabby!

Wrapping Up

So a lot of the issues I thought of with the team weren’t encountered thankfully, but I did get glimpses of what could go wrong. I’ll leave my closing thoughts on fixing the team, as well as my full list of notes when building here.

With my explanations and the replays to show them, ideally you can see what my thought process is and how I reflected on the gaps in my team once I actually put it into play. No team will ever cover all the threats in the metagame as a whole (except stall) but you should feel comfortable using it against the most common matchups. It’s really a numbers game, so if your matchups are most favorable against the Pokemon or strategies that are putting up the highest numbers in the tier, then that’s the benchmark you should be aiming for. This shouldn’t discourage innovation and creative move sets; in fact, often seeing the same teams or strategies repeatedly encourages unique and interesting sets. So never be afraid to experiment! That’s what the lab is for.

This is the end of our team building series for now, but I’ll be sure to visit this segment again if need be. Next time we’ll be going into the underground of Smogon tiers, working our way down to Underused and ending with a format only a Skuntank could love: PU. I’ll give brief primers, a common threat list, and my own take at trying to navigate through depths of the lower tiers.

Diving for now, it’s Aero

from Back to the Lab: Putting Theory into Practice

[gamersonthego]

Sam’s Tournament-Level Pokemon & Strategy

Friend of the show, Sam Chandler competed in the Pokemon Regional Championship this weekend in Collinsville, Illinois (the finals of which are apparently happening as I am posting this). I was there to support Sam, spectate and learn a little more about competitive Pokemon play. To hear more about the day, listen to Gamers on the Go Episode 61. Sam was nice enough to give me the rundown on his team and strategy for the event.

In building this team, I elected to stick pretty close to some of the most popular Pokemon in the metagame at the moment. I did this seeing as it was my first tournament; I wanted to have a team that had some tried and true battlers on it. However, I did branch out on a couple of choices (movesets, items) I think really did make a difference in the end.

Pokemon:

Arcanine @ Firium Z Ability: Intimidate Level: 50 EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature – Flare Blitz – Extreme Speed – Wild Charge – Protect

This is a pretty standard moveset for one of the Video Game Championship’s most popular Pokemon. The Firium Z allowing me to use Inferno Overdrive managed to win two key battles for me.

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers Ability: Misty Surge EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Scald - Taunt - Nature's Madness - Moonblast

This was one of the Pokemon that really put in a solid day’s work for my team, and also one I went a bit against the grain with in terms of setup. Originally was testing a Calm Mind-using setup build, but found it to be underwhelming in terms of how many Pokemon it could knock out vs. how often it was knocked out in turn. So, I decided to go with a bulkier, utility build.

The two keys from my standpoint ended up being Taunt and Nature’s Madness. Taunt was able to shutdown a Curse-using Snorlax and a couple of Trick Room teams. Nature’s Madness helped against many of the bulkier Pokemon I faced, dealing a guaranteed 50% HP regardless of Tapu Fini’s relatively mediocre Special Attack stat.

Kartana @ Focus Sash Ability: Beast Boost EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature – Leaf Blade – Smart Strike – Sacred Sword – Psycho Cut

A pretty standard Focus Sash Kartana. I found that a lot of people were prepared for Kartana at this tournament, leading me to using it as a later game send in. In retrospect, I would likely replace Psycho Cut with Detect.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite Ability: Download EVs: 244 HP / 76 Def / 188 SpD Sassy Nature IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe – Ice Beam – Return – Recover – Trick Room

Porygon2 is one of my favorite Pokemon so I’ve been very happy seeing it have so much success in this year’s VGC! This is a pretty straightforward Trick Room user (a move that allows slower Pokemon to take their turn first), leading off with the twisted dimensions and having a lot of staying power by virtue of its bulk and Recover. Ice beam dealt with Garchomp each time I met one and ended up scoring a key freeze moment. The one tech I put on this build is Return, a physical attack. This has seen a slight bump in popularity recently and it stems from Porygon2’s Download ability. Essentially, Return makes use of the SpAtk or Atk boost afforded by download no matter which boost you get.

Muk-Alola @ Iapapa Berry Ability: Gluttony EVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 4 SpD / 4 Spe Adamant Nature – Poison Jab – Knock Off – Curse – Protect

I included Muk as my primary Trick Room attacker who can also do fine without the TR support. He did just that. Muk’s excellent bulk and attack served me well all day, especially with Knock Off causing a lot of chaos for the opposition, often knocking off a useful berry, rocky helmet or assault vest. I did find that he was targeted quickly when on the field, lending more credence to his high value.

Garchomp @ Groundium Z Ability: Rough Skin Level: 50 EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Earthquake - Dragon Claw - Poison Jab - Rock Slide

The final member of my team was another popular one. Garchomp is able to threaten a large variety of opposing Pokemon with a strong and varied moveset. Rock Slide in particular scored a key double KO in my second battle. This is another build I wish I had run Protect on, likely replacing Dragon Claw.

Usage:

I led with Trick Room whenever I was able; the bulk of Porygon2 and Muk were very difficult to overcome for unprepared opponents. I also found the threat of Trick Room to have a certain effect during team preview. Seeing Porygon2 would often times make my opponent take in one of their slower Pokemon as coverage. The few times I went all offense (no Trick Room use) were a direct result of this line of thinking. Under Trick Room settings, Muk was excellent except for being prey to the many Garchomps that saw use. When Porygon2 wasn’t able to check the ground/dragon type, Muk had a hard time. Luckily, his bulk kept him useful even in this situation.

My team was also able to hold its own against a hyper offense team, being no slouches on the attack themselves and generally fast enough to keep up with any team.

The Tapus are very popular at the moment, and my Tapu Fini performed admirably, especially against the hard Trick Room team I played. Getting in a Taunt and being able to drop the bulkiest of ‘mons to half HP from the get go applied a lot of pressure to this team, causing its user to abandon Trick Room in the second match to try and weather my team’s damage output.

On the converse, almost every team is carrying a poison attack to handle the Tapus, so they had to be used intelligently.

Kartana, Garchomp and Arcanine being the primary physical attackers for the team worked well. Kartana is absolutely incredible at dealing massive damage, and I found myself using him and keeping him safe with switch-ins regularly. Garchomp surprised me the most on the team, as before the tournament I didn’t use him nearly as much as I clearly should have.

As far as weaknesses, I never found a situation where I truly felt like there wasn’t some way to be productive. This is a pretty well-rounded team that checks and balances its members effectively. However, I did find some issues. I found myself wanting for another special attacker, perhaps a Special Attacking Arcanine as he’s not often expected to be played in that way. I made the mental error of not including Protect on Garchomp and Detect on Kartana. Both of these would have been useful many times. I also would likely run a more bulked up nature for Tapu Fini, as her special attack was just ok and not a game changer very often.

I really liked using Trick Room, and also really liked using Muk. However, I think another valid option would be Araquanid given the popularity of ground types.

Overall, a lot of the team’s shortcomings came from user error. I’m a new player, so I’m not super effective (ha) at figuring out when to switch or how to identify a win condition off the bat. One player complimented my use of Tapu Fini and Garchomp to get rid of an opposing Arcanine in order to clear the way for my Kartana to finish the game. Had I known I was doing that at the time, I probably would have agreed with that assessment.

It was a great experience to just be playing such a fun game among so many strong battlers. In my four battles (I unfortunately had to leave early), I went 2-2 with this team, and all but one of the battles went the full three rounds. The games I won, I stuck to my team’s strengths and the games I lost I tended to have a couple of lapses. Not only that, but I played against very strong opponents who really had me learning on the fly. In the end, I wish I could have stayed the whole time to see my battles through.

This was a really awesome first experience at a Pokemon competition. I was most surprised at the sheer number and variety of players. I think nearly very demographic in America was represented, from the awesome African American guy who I laughed through our entire match with, to the 70-year-old woman battling right alongside her son, it was an amazing melting pot of an event that really inspired me. I hope I can get back to an event and come away with a winning record in the future, but as for my rookie tournament, I couldn’t have asked for a much better experience.