#lati speak

[latimeria-fell-from-heaven]

lati!! I've been following your works for a long back and I don't know if you still like enjou, but did you know they just officially posted him as white day celebration post on insta? the dev team definitely knows whats going on with the enjou enjoyers 😭😭

oh FR, one of those guys must've read my old cringey enjou smuts and went "lmao lets give the enjou enjoyers something to enjoy themselves with" and i will never be the same after this (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )づ♡

[eoieopda]

all right babe, i wanna hear bts as roommates cause i'm curious 👀

OOOH. love this. this speaks to the very specific brain rot i have about domestic, day-to-day bangtan.

namjoon — he’s very likable, so you can’t get mad, but good god is he noisy. like, dropping shampoo bottles in the shower (aka bombs) during the MULTIPLE daily showers he takes; talking through movies with his thots/predictions/trivia; the snoring; the banging of cabinets and pots/pans when he tries his best to pull his weight in the kitchen. however, he never forgets your birthday and reminds you about things he correctly assumes you’ll forget about (appointments — how does he even know about them??)

seokjin — you barely see him because he’s holed up in his room, gaming into the wee hours of the morning, but you can sure as shit hear him yelling :’) he’s the ���i made myself a snack, so i’m bringing you one” type, always making sure you take breaks when you’re busy because he knows he’s bad at that himself. he’ll fix broken shit in your apartment (oppa/hyung will do it!) but don’t you dare ask him to trap a spider (oppa/hyung would rather die!)

yoongi — i’m sorry, but he’s gotta be a god tier roommate. he keeps to himself for the most part, but he’ll quietly drop into your space when he craves human contact. like, you’re at your desk doing whatever, and he’s just sitting on your bed, vibing. he’s got major nesting energy, too, so he’s collecting carefully chosen decor + putting furniture together himself. he lets you help to some extent because he wants to teach you, but he realizes this was a Dangerous Move and banishes you to watch from a safe distance.

hoseok — he’s the renaissance man of roommates because he’s an 1) in-home hype man, 2) a cleaning fairy, and 3) a social butterfly. he forcibly removes you from your room when you’re becoming too solitary and ensures that you always have the option of plans — if and when you want to utilize them. had a bad day? not anymore, bitch!! it’s time to laugh until you pee!! just not on the floor he just mopped, okay? ✨💕

jimin — he’s the one your friends/family are most excited to see when they visit you. OMG IT’S JIMIN — oh, and you’re also here :’) you’ve given up on being the hottest gworl in the apartment because you know it’ll always be him. and of course your closet and/or skin care are now communal, whether you were aware of it or not 🤷🏻‍♀️ has simply the best “tough love” advice, the best house parties, the best vibes. and you KNOW he’s the one (1) person who shows up to your shit, whatever that may be (career-related awards banquets, recreational volleyball tourneys, etc.)

taehyung — you literally never know where he is or what he’s up to, but his dog is cute, so there’s that!! he forgot to mention that he’s going to paris/barcelona/the moon until he facetimes you from some insane party to let you know that he forgot to put out the candle he lit in his room several days ago. but when he is home, there are no dull moments. he does end up in your bed most nights, though it stopped surprising you when you wake up to find him strapped around you like a human backpack.

jungkook — he’s made you fully nocturnal with his late night noraebangs and galaxy lights. you don’t remember the last time you saw the sun. what is daytime? 🤔 who is it for? NOT Y’ALL. there isn’t a single executive function functioning between the two of you, but at least your laundry is always done :’)

[p2ep]

I was going to post something like, "i dont think im suited for living on this world" but actually i think my problem is this job. im realizing now that it sucks and i kind of hate it

[pkmnprofloblolly]

Hello! Trainer from Alola here, big fan of your work. I was wondering; is there any evidence of any legendary pokemon being related to other pokemon? For example, does Rayquaza share any DNA with other dragon pokemon? (I know it would be extremely difficult to get any rayquaza DNA fhshfjd) Or are pokemon like that entirely their own species?

the answer is, as with many things on this blog.. it depends!

"legendary pokemon" aren't really a cohesive category like, say, a type or a taxonomic group. the only common factors are that they tend to be very rare and that they have legends about them. as our examples, let's use two groups of hoenn legendary pokemon: latios and latias, and groudon, kyogre, and rayquaza.

latios and latias (like other pairs such as nidoqueen and nidoking, or volbeat and illumise, latios and latias are sexually dimorphic members of the same species) are indeed related to other pokemon- they're birds! specifically, they're in the auk family, which are a group of generally stout, seafaring birds like guillemots and puffins. this may seem strange- the latis appear to have wings and arms, and no legs, very unlike birds. however, if we take a look at their skeleton, the connection becomes much more obvious:

what we generally interpret as arms are actually the lati's legs, the thighs of which are obscured by flesh and feathers. while they use their wings to steer and for some lift, the latis generally stay aloft with their psychic powers rather than traditional flight, which is why they can hover in place. this has freed up their legs for use in manipulating objects, and they are rarely seen standing on their feet. because they mostly rely on hovering, their legs no longer have the strength to hold their large bodies up for very long.

these pokemon are indeed exceptionally rare, having very low population numbers in only a few regions, and spending most of their time over open ocean. like many pelagic seabirds, they breed on only a few small islands, like alto mare off the johto region and southern island off hoenn's south coast. their populations are on the upswing, though, in large part due to concentrated conservation efforts on those islands. point being, though, they are indeed just animals. rare, powerful animals, but animals nonetheless.

many legendary pokemon fall into this camp. articuno, zapdos, and moltres, lugia and ho-oh, heatran, and various others.

.

conversely, the so-called weather trio of hoenn: groudon, kyogre, and rayquaza. these three are even more rarely seen than the latis, only having been sighted in recent times during their clash in hoenn nearly two decades ago. despite the three's resemblance to other living pokemon, as far as we know they are entirely unrelated to any known animals, or even any other life on earth.

this is known because evidence of these pokemon have been found dating back over 3 billion years ago, that is to say over a billion years before multicellular life even existed. gigantic fragments of footprints attributed to groudon have been sighted alongside some of the earliest fossils we know of of early bacteria. modern physical samples from these pokemon- the extremely few that have ever been recovered- have never resulted in any dna evidence, and appear in structure much more similar to inorganic matter.

as it stands, it appears these pokemon arose some time early (relatively speaking) after the earth formed, being (as opposed to natural living organisms) animate representations of the forces of nature themselves. a similar condition is often assumed for some other grandiose legendary pokemon, such as dialga and palkia, though much less tangible evidence exists for their presence in prehistoric time, so this is mostly an assumption based on their infrequent appearances & legends surrounding their origins.

[casteliacityramen]

((He's missing a rubber ducklett))

When Rio came back to Unova six months ago, she nearly said nothing to Ray when she found him. After a week, she had one word responses to questions while she made the left-most seat her most designated spot at the ramen stand. The voice she used to speak, even telepathically, sounded raw and shuddered.

After a month, she reluctantly took his offer to move in with him. Ray inherited Tai's high-rise apartment, which had already come with amenities for a Greninja. It was a place with four walls, a roof, and a balcony to freely enter and leave under the cover of optical camouflage. It'd be foolish to turn down the offer.

"Quaint." Rio muttered, her tone flat and her expression blank as they stood at the doorway. The place was so methodically clean and tidy that it seemed picturesque and surreal. Given the size of her disguise, the place appeared spacious, even.

When she stepped into the apartment, she felt her objective outlook get invaded with melancholy. Rio did her best to keep that feeling from taking over, trying to think 'having an apartment makes a better cover story' and not 'I haven't had a place to call home in centuries.'

For most of the time she's been alive and in service as an Oathkeeper, she'd often end her days at a literal, empty nest. Even if she was native to Unova, she stopped trying to make her home nothing more than the bare-minimum, staying true to a Lati's nomadic nature.

Before, there would be times when she would end her days to the sound of a calm domestic life. Some lifetimes, a friend would be there to greet her. Other lifetimes, a lover would be there to welcome her back.

The warmth of those domestic moments were nice, but they were fleeting, making it all the more cold when she ended her nights by herself. Over the past couple hundreds of years, she got comfortable with quiet. She got comfortable being alone-

"Welcome home."

--

Rio flinched. Ray watched quizzically as she turned and stared at him. In a brief second, he felt a sudden and overwhelming wave of turmoil emanating from the small rockruff in front of him. Even if it was her surface level thoughts, it would've made the weakest psychic type shudder.

She looked at him with wide eyes, experiencing a cocktail of strong emotions and not knowing what to do with it. As quickly as it came, she returned to a tired, stoic expression, and nodding slightly.

Ray couldn't help himself from making a comparison between Rio and his stand's counter--seemingly spotless until the light hit it at the right angle to reveal the countless scuffs and scratches on the surface. Countless people coming and going over time, some to return, some to never come back, and most leaving a mark whether they knew it or not.

He could feel her discomfort when she caught him staring, so he sought out a handful of sheets and blankets when the door closed quietly behind them. When he returned, she looked at him with a small, sheepish look of gratitude as he gently set the linens in front of her.

"Thanks," she muttered. Ray took it as a wordless dismissal, knowing from the look on her face that she didn't want anyone to see how vulnerable she was at that moment. Not even him.

That night, he kept his door ajar just in case. A part of him wanted to reach out and bring her into his room, closed away from the rest of the world, but he figured he'd give her space.

As he was falling asleep that night, he breathlessly sighed as he slowly realized how fitting Rio's rockruff disguise was: a small dog that had no one left to call her pack, and until now, nowhere to lay her head in peace.

He heard Rio toss and turn on the couch, followed by a frustrated sigh and the shuffling of fabric work their way away towards the kitchen. The sounds of kitchenware lightly bumping against one another followed. It took him a moment to realize that she wasn't fixing herself something to eat.

'She's going to sleep in the cabinet.' Sure enough, he heard the blanket getting shoved unceremoniously into the built-in cabinet before she let the door close softly afterwards. It was small and cramped, but she probably felt safer. God, he hoped she felt safer.

At least she's home, he thought to himself, doing his best to ignore the ache in his chest before he fell asleep.

[fuzart]

Is it just me, or is it hard to learn your native language when you learned English first? Like I can barely say a 5-word sentence in Yourba and idk why.

You're not alone,buddy.😔 *Pat pat*

Although,in my case,I learn my native language first and yet I'm still bad at it ;]

Yoruba dabi ede ti o soro lati ko... (Can you get this one,if you do,I'm sure you're alright,dude. Just gotta do more practices 👍✨)

Maybe it's based on how much you use the language. Like for me,I read English books most of the time and even in here, usually I speak English :>

It's nice tho that I'm not the only one ^^

[latimeria-fell-from-heaven]

lmao check out this cute nerd <33

SKETCH COMMISSIONS OPEN

Slots 4/4

Hey y’all so I posted this a WHILE ago on my insta and tiktok and decided to finally advertise it here too! They’ve been open for a while so, if anyone is interested please dm me! And don’t be shy to ask any questions too!! The orange picture has an example of a commission I did, and the last pics are recent sketch examples if you wanna see!

[hime-bee]

AAAAAAAAAA forgot to show but this is warumono when he's "on" the job so to speak. he's basically the general of an evil organization that wants to annihilate humanity and take earth for themselves. but for a supposedly "evil" guy, he's actually a VERY good boss to his subordinates.

one chapter (7 in the official manga, 4 on pixiv) had a new recruit joining his ranks and attempting to stay in late to finish paperwork, when warumono comes in. and he tells the lil guy that all this work doesn't need to be completed immediately, that he shouldn't push himself so hard, and to take care of himself. and it was just so freaking cute and very wholesome, never wanted to hug a man as badly as i did with him sdchvscbshjcb,,

he's so cute and hot, i wanna kiss him so bad, i will let that man rawdog me and fold me in half he's just so akefbhwkfajkdcvj

AFTER LOOKING INTO IT, I SAW HIS VILLAIN FORM AND WAS LIKE, "Oh, so he can do both 😩"

Love a man who can be a soft lil guy meowing at cats or a hot daddy willing to bite others, that's so hot fr. Him being wholesome is so unexpected but I love that??? Nothing sexier than a man who treats his subordinates like people with feelings 😭😭 Oughhh, Lati, you're making me get my hopes upppppp

(You and me both???? I'm imagining such a cute domestic life with this man and it's NOT HEALTHYYY AHHHHHsjdjsks do you think he has a breeding kink omg. Can he even breed with humans, as an alien??)

[ask-dawnanddusk]

Dawn slowly crept up the horizon, light warming the cool air and illuminating the world. All was silent, save for a few mutters and murmurs. It seemed like there were a few awake even at this tie of day.

Maksivah and Vox stood outside, speaking with a lati both red and blue. The discussion seemed serious, as stern frowns and tense expressions lined each of their faces.

Maybe you should approach and ask what they were talking about?

[the-last-of-alto-mare]

"Ah, haven't we crossed paths before? Enjoying the festivities?" The Lugia remarked with a chuckle as he caught sight of the Latias. "I couldn’t help but notice my boy, Jet, was making quite a ruckus speaking to you earlier. I do hope he didn’t cause you any trouble. He is usually more courteous than that."

The Latias just got back inside, after seeing the Latios left. She put the paper in her small pocket -because of course her dress has really small pockets.

Being addressed by the Lugia, she turned her attention to him with a small smile. She did recognized the older legend.

"I'm the Latias from Alto Mare, sire. You did visit the garden there." she chuckled. "I didn't had the chance to introduce myself back then to you. You left so quickly. My name is Zipporah. Pleasure to meet you again, a-and thank you I think I become a bit more relaxed..."

Mentioned the Latios named Jet, she tilted her head. He just called him 'my boy'. Do they have a history? Should she ask straight ahead?

"I-it was fine." she blushed. "I m-mean, he didn't say or do anything weird. I m-mean, he did mentioned he was h-happy see an other Lati, hehe." she tidied her hair a bit. "I-if it's not a problem, can I ask w-what relation you h-have? I-I mean, he looked serious and worried."

[latimeria-fell-from-heaven]

can’t believe that the FNAF movie single-handedly multiplied and reawakened the thirst and everyone’s crushes on josh hutcherson. bro played the part of a traumatized pathetic man so good that now we all collectively want him.

[eoieopda]

okay i have another head canon 🫣🫣 feed into my delusions jade i fucking dare you. all right, how about travelling with them for the first time since you started dating? i wonder what that would be like 👀👀

namjoon is praying you don’t break up with him at your terminal because he forgot his passport at home. he’d understand if you did, tbh. he’s disappointed (but not surprised) at himself. when you just laugh (because it’s as funny as it is infuriating, okay??) he’s over the moon. he’s taking you to a bunch of significant cultural and historical sites, museums, etc., and he’s gonna tell you everything that giant sponge brain has absorbed. he’s def reading some almanac or similar shit on the plane to study up.

seokjin doesn’t have a plan/itinerary, but he does have a massive list of all the restaurants he wants to hit, wineries/breweries/distilleries you might come across, etc. and he actually does a good job of keeping you calm with all the travel stress by being a giant fuckin goofball. this is the one situation where he’s not yelling, whining, etc. when he gets frustrated because he prioritizes your well-being 💕

yoongi has his shit right together, but in a very low key way. he doesn’t announce any of it, but he’s in full airport dad mode. he knows exactly when your flight is and how early you need to be there; he’s done the pre-boarding whatever the fuck. he somehow has any toiletry item you didn’t even think to bring. i guarantee he has tampons and tummy meds and shit, just in case. thoughtful bastard 😭 but don’t you dare comment on any of this or make it a big deal that he’s so prepared because he will blush to death.

hoseok is free as a fucking bird. he’s following the wind, babeeeeey. he is allergic to planning, doesn’t want to have a destination in mind. he’ll flip a coin to see where you’re flying. where are you staying? you’ll figure it out when you get tired. energy out the wazoo, too. no time for naps — you’ve got shit to do, people to meet, places to be!!

jimin strikes me as the anxious traveler type, so i bet he’s checking and re-checking all your reservations, making sure your backup plans have backup plans, etc., because he needs whatever you’re doing to go well and be 👏🏻 special 👏🏻. you must hold his hand at all times so you don’t get separated, and because he needs an anchor. he will most certainly, accidentally get wine drunk in the airport bar due to stress, lmao.

taehyung is — where is taehyung? you take your eyes of this guy for a second, and he’s 🏃🏻‍♂️ off doing taetae shit. you’ll have to follow a breadcrumb trail (it’s probably the shoes he kicked off, a dropped ascot, etc.) to find him. an unintentional scavenger hunt. when you do locate him, he’s staring wide-eyes at something scenic, speaking so poetically about how beautiful life is — and ya know what? he’s right. you saw the whole damn city while you were trying to find him, and you wouldn’t have, otherwise!! for real, you gotta get one of those backpack leashes like a lil kid at the zoo, otherwise…. hope you brought supportive footwear. your ass is getting those steps in 😵‍💫

jungkook is relying on you completely. he doesn’t know what’s going on, where he is, what he needs to get done, etc., so you’re gonna have to do allllll of the logistical work. HOWEVER, he makes it feel like it’s not a chore. it’s sooo fun because this boy is full of wonder, and so fucking eager. dude is down for whatever, just point the way.

[natural-harmonia-posting]

It's been a long while since I've even seen that journal so bare with me. I think there were a few cases in Unova, nothing above ten but still a handful amount, actually a huge chunk of them were in Sinnoh.

The only case I can remember off the top of my head in Unova was this one guy, he and his wife were just taking a random nature walk and she recalled being blown off her feet and away from her husband. Then he was just gone, all of his Pokemon and identifications were just on the ground but he was nowhere to be found. It doesn't seem to be exclusive to a place or time, it can happen anywhere.

My suggestions are to either; look into Ultra Wormholes, try chasing after some time altering Pokemon like Celebi or Dialga, or you can try searching for Looker.

If I remember, Looker was one of the cases that went missing just randomly, though he later way found months later on some shore of Hoenn riddled with extreme amnesia. He calls people affected by this phenomenon "Fallers," if there's anybody who'd know more about this, it's him. He's your best shot at this.

I can't believe I haven't heard of this before. Ingo's pokémon were left behind, too. Elesa, Clay, Emmet, and Iris have all been taking care of them in the meantime.

I don't think I'll have much luck getting in touch with those legendaries.. I mean, we already have Zekrom and the Lati twins around, but I don't know if legendaries can help us find others among them, especially ones from other regions. Ingo and Emmet's father was Sinnohian, but that's the only tie we have to Sinnoh, and he's long gone. Maybe I'd have some luck with Ultra Wurmholes. Unfortunately... the only person I know who knows anything about that would be Colress. Last I heard, he's in jail. I doubt he would speak to me anyway.

Looker, though, huh? As in Interpol Looker..? Are you sure about him? I guess I'll have to ask him about it, but it's not something he or Nate have ever brought up. Right now, he's fostering Nate and Rosa, 'til they can find Rosa's mom and figure out what to do with Nate. So many missing and unaccounted for people in this region.. how bizarre.

[g0dtier]

the list that makes me and @dentist-brainsurgeon mortal enemies from now on i guess

extremely lengthy explanations under the cut:

i actually think the S+A tier speak for themselves?

S tier: the goats. im aware its full of third versions but they just happen to be extremely good and added some insane shit to already solid base games (ok diamond and pearl werent solid but the foundation was there). replayability is insane for these.

A tier: the Oh Fuck Yeah games. not in any particular order actually. hgss is absolutely the best remake of all, only held back by the few inherent flaws of the Johto region and by not emulating Crystal enough. as much as i like bw, reverting back to only one region of pokemon never sat right by me, but it's been a while since ive played it, and nowadays i make much more of an effort to try out all new mons. so i could change my mind on this.

i liked usum more than sun/moon, if only for the post game. replayability isnt as high because of the cutscenes every 3 steps, and rotom dex is annoying as shit. aside from that, insanely solid story & postgame imo. red/blue and gold/silver are brimming with weird places in their regions and are chock full of in game lore and legends, which i really like. the ruins of alph & pokemon tower are some of the best locations theyve ever made imo

B tier is the "good but couldve been better" tier. lets go is insane for shiny hunting, but it stops at that imo. the new rival is garbo. sun and moon are good, but the postgame + alola in general is just lacking enough in these games that they dont reach A tier for me. loveeed the island challenges tho. alola itself has just such a good vibe. you really feel like its about community rather than competition. legends arceus couldve been insanely good, but i have never felt as ripped out of a pokemon game as i did when i walked through that cave in the coronet region and started seeing stray pixels around my character. which wasnt a one time thing btw this happens to anyones game & every time as far as ive seen. its gonna sound dramatic but this combined with other graphics glitches made it so clear i was playing a game that it just took me out of the adventure entirely. this is where the graphics glitches really started, and they havent stopped since.

C tier: yellow is just kinda there? i dont care for starter pikachu. i want to, but it gets killed when breathed at, so. idk. the gimmick doesnt work that well for me. sword and shield introduced some insane mons that i love and i want to call it solid real bad, but the story was hot garbage even for pokemon standards, and while the wild area was a great idea, the execution was lacking & because what i assume is a time crunch, the towns were boring as shit as well. diamond & pearl are mediocre to bad, with a great story and mediocre to bad execution, and i shouldve put oras in the :( tier, but the postgame is worth it.

actually im gonna rant about oras. i was so hyped for it but, just, ugh. if youre gonna turn a 2d vague not-specified-what-a-character-is-doing-or-feeling player character to 3d, at least do it correctly. 2d sprites where someone can fill in the blanks not seen on screen but hinted at in text (ie expressions, actions like handing someone something) work infinitely better than 3d sprites who show it badly. also still suffers from the desaturation curse that the 3ds games suffer from. postgame was dope, though. shame the mega latis are ugly as shit.

:( tier: garbage, im so sorry. SV's only redeeming factor is the area zero story. there is nothing else in the game that held my attention. fuck the star team, fuck the big pokemon quests, fuck the towns where you cant talk to anyone or find anything interesting or walk into a house and where every shop looks the game. fuck stores not even having an interior anymore. fuck this larger but emptier and stripped down world full of graphical glitches. fuck the weak ass gyms, fuck geeta, and fuck terrastalizing most of all. i will die for Koraidon & the professor fight fucking ruled but that's all the game had to it for me. do any of yall remember the gym leaders besides like, iono and the snowboard man? no you dont, stop lying to me. gen I put more life into lavender town by making a npc reference some ghost hand on your shoulder than SV does for any town, and they only had black and white 32mb cartridges or whatever to work with. for fucking shame gamefreak. give your devs some time to make a halfway functioning game.

firered and leafgreen do nothing new. i will not discuss the sevii islands. what the fuck even was that. boring. same with brilliant diamond and shining pearl. theyre lower than diamond and pearl because why the fuck did they not decide to remake platinum. what the hell was their damage. seriously platinum was RIGHT there. i caught a full odds shiny ghastly in that game and i still dont care about it.

X&Y suffers from. everything.

[perenlop]

Aim to be a Pokemon Master! Episode 11: The Rainbow and the Pokemon Master!

It's bad scoob.

I feel mean saying it's as bad as it is, but like... honestly, I don't see the need to hold back. This was a sendoff to one of the most recognizable anime characters of all time, a character that's been around for years and years and years, so his final episode should've been handled with the upmost care. Otherwise, it'd just be disrespectful to the fans AND the characters themselves.

So how did they handle it? Badly. Under the cut because this got really long. Sorry in advance if the readmore breaks.

The episode is a mess of "throw a dart at the wall" style quicktime events with a kinda tangentially related question about what being a Pokemon Master even means. Which, the more you think about it, makes the entire miniseries feel like a waste of time.

Again- I am fine with this miniseries being a relaxed time calling back to old filler episodes by just having Ash, Misty, and Brock chill out and interact with the world. But it really feels like they wanted to have their cake and eat it too with the Eon Duo plot. You cannot act as though the miniseries is just going to be cute filler and then act like there's actually an overarching plot that we should absolutely care about.

What makes the Eon Duo plot feel even weaker is that it barely plays a part in this final episode. It is the reason Ash is now home. Because... the Latis also went home, I guess. Yeah they don't really connect it all that well. But beyond that, and Ash reminiscing about them a couple of times, they have zero relevance to the final episode. It really makes the whole thing feel like a waste of time more than anything.

I'm three paragraphs in and I haven't even talked about the actual plot so let's do that. Although in my defense, the pacing in the episode is awful, so if anything, this post being poorly paced is kind of an artistic choice if you think about it.

So, Ash, Misty, and Brock all say goodbye again in kind of a hilariously underwhelming way (I get that they've done it before, these characters will most likely see each other again, and they were never going to do anything as impactful as the OS finale, but... still) and Ash just kinda fucks around at Professor Oak's the whole time. There is a missing Charmander quicktime event that has nothing to do with the conflict, but it gets Gary to appear and ask Ash if he's closer to becoming a Pokemon Master, which sets up the "main conflict". If you can call it that.

I actually think Gary presenting this question is a good idea. Ash has been chanting about being a Pokemon Master for so long, yet has never had an answer for what that means. So his original rival who used to put him down so often being the one to really make him think about it is nice.

But... why on earth did they put it in the final episode and not the first? Why not have the entire miniseries be about this question? Hell, the marketing made it seem like that was going to be the case by having Gary pose the question in the trailer, implying that this was going to be the main conflict of the miniseries... and then it isn't. It's just the characters dicking around for ten episodes, and THEN we ask "what's next?" and that's really weird to me. Now the conflict has no space to breathe because we've only got like 15 minutes to cover, and any answer he has is going to feel rushed.

Speaking of rushed- boy howdy is this episode just a series of sidequests all shoved out as quickly as possible! Team Rocket's shitty breakup plot has ONE SCENE where they all just sorta huff at each other before they reconcile for the simplest reason ever (they all want to capture Pikachu. Which they were doing anyways and there's no reason why they would think the other members weren't in on that after the breakup). The missing Charmander sideplot leads into nothing and is an episode prompt that was done better in several other episodes before this. Gary is shoved out of the plot as soon as he's said "Pokemon Master".

And then there's Pidgeot who gets its own paragraph because this part of the episode actively annoys me and it's probably the most mean I'll get... I just wanna say... does any actual fan of the show (IE: people who still watch the episodes, keep up with the show, not someone who just kinda accepts stuff like "team rocket are teenagers" at face value because they haven't seen the show in years) actually care about Pidgeot as a character? Because I don't. Pidgeot is nothing to me. Pidgeot has absolutely no substance as a character. All it did was try to eat Caterpie that one time, pop balloons, do search parties, and then leave.

It might seem silly to insist it has no character when it's an animal that can't talk, but that feels like an empty argument when the other Pokemon are so expressive, even if it's just in certain episodes. Even Primeape, who spent muuuch less time on the show, left more of an impression with it's character arc before it left.

But in any case, the reason it seems like the bird has stuck around is because of it's release episode, which caused several people to write clickbait articles about how Ash is actually this fucked up horrible trainer because "he said he'd be back for Pidgeot!! He ABANDONED Pidgeot!! I can't believe the show wants us to think he's good when he was so HORRIBLE to Pidgeot!!" Ignoring that the line was actually a dub-exclusive one and there was never any implication that Pidgeot wanted Ash to come back for it. The idea that Pidgeot was abandoned is fanon. There's nothing to correct. There's nothing to "redeem" about Ash because he did nothing wrong.

But of course JN LOVES its clickbait- I mean, respectful character cameos! So of course we have to spend time in this episode bringing Pidgeot back in the most underwhelming and contrived way possible (Team Rocket nabs Pikachu and Ash left his Pokemon behind for... some reason.... and Pidgeot is just there and helps out and Ash is like "Wow Pidgeot you should join the team again!"). It had to right this horrible sin the OS committed! We gotta redeem Ash in the final episode you guys!! Now all those clickbait articles- I mean loyal dedicated fans are satisfied!!

So basically, they canonized something that people who actually watch the show don't actually care about, because we gotta get those clicks in I guess. Keep in mind, there are other Pokemon that got released that could've used the spotlight way more, that actual fans would have appreciated a lot more than this. Like I dunno... Ambipom? A character that was notoriously done dirty by her original season? Butterfree, a Pokemon more people love and remember? (We even got a glimpse of that in the JN finale so like... obviously it was a plot they knew people would have liked to see) Hell, why not bring it around to the first JN episode and have Pikachu reunite with Kangaskhan? Have a little cohesion and really make the journey come full circle?

Nah, obviously the bird no one cares about beyond misconceptions is more important here.

The actual reunion isn't even good. Usually, when a Pokemon returns to the team, it's an event. It's a stinger, like when Gliscor came back during the Sinnoh league and ended off the episode, and then the beginning of the next one builds off from that. Here... it just kinda happens. Pidgeot rejoins the team and then the episode runs off to the next sideplot with no space to let it breathe. Nothing about the plot would change if Pidgeot just stayed with the Pidgey flock. Wow. What fanservice. They really did care about this plotline you guys.

Anyways. So after that happens, while Delia is trying to give Ash the ugliest shoes I've ever seen (poor woman, her son runs out on her so much that she hadn't had time to make anything better) Ash and Pikachu get stuck in a rainstorm, and they watch the same gen 1 Pokemon they've oogled at all season, go "wow the world is HUGE!!!!" again because of course they do, and Ash is like "Well, I didn't actually feel the champion thing all that much. I think being a Pokemon Master is about loving all Pokemon. So let's go love more Pokemon!" and then he takes the shoes without saying bye to his mom and then he's out of the show forever.

... What

He's been.... he's been doing that the whole time though? Why are they acting like this is an epiphany and this is something Ash has to change if he wants to be a Pokemon Master? Shouldn't he be one already by that logic? If Ash didn't care about becoming champion, why did we spend so much time on that? Doesn't that undermine a lot of the show?

What was the point of any of this?

And I think that's my main issue with this miniseries: there is no point to it. It barely feels like a finale, it just makes the weakest gestures possible to make it seem like a finale, and then it just ends. It's a mess.

It feels less like a respectful conclusion to the character, and more like... "Eh we're gonna try something new next season, but we don't wanna leave Ash off the table if it bombs, so let's just kinda put him on the sideburner and wait and see". It's non-committal. It's frustrating.

"Well, why is that so bad? Pokeani always clings to the status quo, they never let the characters age and grow, why would they stop now?" Well... because it's literally the end of Ash and Team Rocket's time on the show? Because they ARE about to change the status quo by bringing in an all new cast and setting? Because this whole miniseries was advertised as an ending and celebration of Ash, and therefore the expectation is that something substantial has to happen to justify him not being in the show anymore?

Ash not changing after DP or XY or SM is a little strange, but it's also fine because he's gotta keep on trucking for several episodes. Part of the point of Pokeani was it's longevity, so keeping the general setup and characters the same was part of the point. But now, there's no expectation for Ash to keep up the same routine. He's passing on the mantle to Liko. Why SHOULD he stay the same? Why not take the chance to substantially change up his life to justify him leaving? Why leave Team Rocket in such a depressing spot where they apparently just keep chasing Pikachu their whole lives when that's not actually what their fans wanted?

Why end the character's arc the exact same way the other series probably would have ended it? What exactly is the point of ending it at all or having a celebration in that case?

This episode isn't the worst thing ever, I don't even know if it's one of my least favorites, but it is definitely one of the more frustrating ones to me. It could have been good, but... why challenge anything if we don't want to?

Very disappointing. I'm sad this is the end for Ash and Pikachu. They deserved better.

Oh also some psychic damage for reading this far. I have to end off this long ass project with something worthwhile

[4th-d-slipped]

Hovers towards you like an Earthbound Enemy. 3, 11, 16 32 for the oc askz …

(ask game) AUGH (encounter starts)

3 - typically "they came to me in a dream and i felt a strong need to make them real" or "i want to make a character around this certain media slash concept". pokemon ocs are especially easy for me to spawn out of very basic shit

11 - speak of the devil about pokemon ocs lmao. i have a pokespe oc named hon whos gone through like 3 design iterations.

first she was called opal, then fire opal, now honey opal. she was initially changed because she had a boring design super close to my mainstay oc mara and because of opal from swsh. the main patch note is she became a poc instead of a basic blonde white girl.

arguably the funniest part is hon is part of a duo with another oc named aven, and aven's design has changed like Zero Percent since conception. lol

16 - i do have a series of 2 collaborative au/crossover fanfics from early 2022 w/ my friend lati! theyre yokai watch X the mgai squad (some of my mother series ocs for those unaware).

they were super duper fun to write and we were supposed to publish them to ao3 and write a third installment, but now it's been so long they probably have to be rewritten entirely. and i still need to play ykw 3...

32 - oh i just mentioned these ones in the last question! i wanna make a mother fangame called mothergaia, and the characters from that, the mgai squad as i call them, have wound up being my main oc group :3

also i have another mainstay oc named kelo (who i've talked about) and itd be nice to make a series of animatics surrounding his story, but its not a priority