#majority has Ash and PIkachu moments

[azelmaandeponine]

Why I M O, Pokeshipping is dead. ( kinda hot take, sorry pokeshippers. ) So, pokeshipping. The very 1st ship in the Pokemon anime’s history. I personally am not a fan of it, I did watch the original anime, and I personally don’t like misty’s character. It was off putting to me.

Now as to what your here for, what killed pokeshipping. There are 3 main contributors to the death of pokeshipping.

1.) The length of time from when misty was replaced to now,

2.) Serena and Amourshipping

3.) The Pokémon sun and moon anime

The length of time from when misty was replaced to now. Now while this might not have been much of an issue if the other 2 bullet points didn’t exist, it has been over a decade at this point, since we last saw misty, meaning that we have a severe lack in character development, and that gives time for other potentially better ships to be created, which leads me to my next point,

Serena and Amourshipping. Possibly one of the biggest ships right now, (which at this point isn’t going to fizzle out anytime soon. ) With Amourshipping going so far, as to introduce a major plot point in ash’s story by having Serena be his childhood acquaintance, many other points that multiple poketubers like Catch ‘Em All Saul, bring up in their videos from years past, to the kiss, and even the writers basically confirming the darn thing.

Amourshipping Confirmed?

So at this point, ( unless they throw all that away, which please. Don’t. ) there is next to no hope of pokeshipping to ever become cannon, which is only further proven by my last point,

The Pokémon sun and moon anime. Now, this is honestly the iceberg that sank the ship, because Brock and Misty returned twice in the Sun and Moon anime, which I’m pretty sure was for let’s go promotion. Now this is where all hope is lost for pokeshipping because even though they returned twice, Misty had literally zero emotional moments with ash whatsoever. No pokeshipping pandering, no flashbacks, nothing. Here’s another video explaining that further.

They did Misty DIRTY!

Now while the only good thing to come out of the re-return episodes was Brock possibly finally finding a girlfriend,

Brock x Olivia

This was the point of no return for Misty and pokeshipping in general. Misty, even though she returned twice, in the most recent anime, had literally no development, and nothing to show how she grew as a character since her absence, her return seems pointless and devoid of substance, and with another ship still gaining popularity at an exponential rate, I’m sorry pokeshippers, but,

It’s time to pay your respects, and move on.

RIP pokeshipping

1997-2023

This is so weird.

I watched the anime, and I found Serena far more off-putting than Misty, since...she inexplicably had some bizarre backstory with Ash (despite being from Kalos), and that backstory was "she knew him for like five minutes but still has a crush on him for some reason". It doesn't help that instead of talking out her issues with Rhyhorn Racing with her mother like a normal person, she just bitches out her mom. But I figured, hey, a point for growth!

Then that didn't happen. Her crush ended up so overblown and obsessive it didn't feel natural (especially not for a ten year old), and her mother was proven right in the end about Serena giving up on stuff too easily. Also, the person Serena ACTUALLY had chemistry with (Shauna) was shoved aside in order to try and force @mourshipping.

Also the idea that Pokeshipping is dead due to Misty's return in SuMo (years ago) is...a wild take.

Additionally, Misty also returned in Journeys.

Also Ash isn't even in the anime anymore???

Anyway! Since this is pretty easy to check:

Pokeshipping is the top Pokeani ship on AO3. It's followed in second place by Journeyshipping. The platonic relationship between Ash and Pikachu has more fics on AO3 than @mourshipping does. If Pokeshipping is REALLY dying out in favor of @mourshipping, then why does @mourshipping have less fics on AO3 than BOTH Pokeshipping AND Journeyshipping?

[marvelousmisterstark]

Okay so this might be a hot take, but if we ignore plot armor, Ash is the top Pokémon Trainer exclusively in the sense of rearing a battle-ready team.

Think about it, all the Champions are adults (except Iris) and have been raising and honing their teams for years. But even Iris worked with Pokémon prior to becoming a trainer and was a prodigy Dragon Trainer. Leon has specifically been unbeatable for who knows how long.

Then there's Ash.

Other than Pikachu, this guy decides to raise up a completely green team for the biggest tournament of his life.

A newly evolved Dragonite that has never been in an official battle before but takes down a Champion's Ace in one of her first major battles.

An abandoned Gengar who took a three year hiatus from training before proceeding to annihilate most of his opponents leading up to the Masters Eight and also learns to Gigantamax.

A newly hatched Riolu who evolves, then Mega Evolves in a freakish speed-run and proceeds to be the team Ace.

A Galarian Farfetch'd that barely listened to Ash at first and then evolves and takes down a Mega Altaria belonging to an Elite Four member that had so many type advantages it was crazy

A Dracovish that is freshly revived and if we think about it probably never actually existed before that moment, and in its first real battle takes down Iris's brute of a Dragonite.

Each one of them took down one of Leon's Pokémon (Sirfetch'd playing support) The Strongest Trainer in the World was defeated by Pokémon in their first year of training with Ash. Do you understand how insane that is?

And Pikachu. This glass cannon that defeats every Metagross it fights, and never lost a battle in the Masters Eight, only winning and tying. And this tiny thing just keeps getting back up again and again.

If that is the team Ash can train up in the course of a year(?) I can't imagine Leon giving Ash any trouble if Ash used his past Aces.

Ash is the goGOAT and he's a terrifying force of nature and I miss him.

[runawaycarouselhorse]

Iris has no offiicial full-sized figures compared to past heroines and I think that's sad

I lost my old thread a long time ago, so taking a moment to show you how anime Iris only got two chibi pieces of merch, unlike all the main girls before and after (not including Koharu, who was more of a rarely appearing supporting cast member for much of her run), one a cheap Pokemon Kids toy and one a very nicely made (still chibi) collectors’ keychain part of a set.

Update: Iris now has an acrylic stand! Those are 2D, so not. Proper figures, alas, it's the same stock artwork that makes up stickers, just propped up to stand. There are also pins! Sadly, still no proper official 3D figure, aside from the chibi keychain (which was one of the first things I bought online with my salary--chibi Iris and a cute little Deerling plushie ♡).

There was an amazing resin statue of Champion Iris and Haxorus and another beautiful a League Series Iris (also in her Champion dress), but EZM Studios and Trainer House Studios respectively do not appear to be officially sanctioned by the Pokemon Company? There's a lot of Chinese figures that are honestly amazing, but seem to be unofficial/fan-made? Gorgeous, though.)

No figures of Iris as she was shown in the BW! anime/in her younger self's BW outfit from the games, ;^;

Misty is a product of the 90’s and most of her figures were cheap children’s toys! But thers’s still a bunch of them (in addition to the cheap Pokemon Kids toy, assume one exists of every major character.) New merch includes the polished G.E.M. series figure & chibi plushie!

These are sitting plushies, not figures, but they're very new and cute (and her seiyuu/original voice actress owns one and often poses it for photographs on her twitter, fff.)

May is also an early character and primarily has cheap toys, but she also has this very sweet (very tiny) promotional movie figure of her with Manaphy... a recently made very polished G.E.M. series figure, and she has a figure with Torchic! Game May has her own polished figure.

Note: the G.E.M. series commemorates the anime and seemed to be going in order, until it skipped Dawn (despite her immense popularity?!) after May, then skipped Iris for Serena... then, they made the Sun & Moon girls and that seemed it.

Dawn has a LOT of merchandise, ranging from cheap action figures for kids to collectors’ figures for her anime & game counterparts. Also, plushies, more keychains...

That last one is likely her game counterpart, given the loooong scarf.

Some more cheap children’s toy Dawns, trainer pack sets...

Again, keep in mind, EVERY major Pokemon character gets the very homely-looking Pokemon Kids toys and for a long time, that was Iris’ only toy. So, despite not picturing them here, assume all the main girls have them (as do main boys!)

For the record, BW! Ash had character merch like collector’s figures and children’s toys/action figures too, it was only Iris who was excluded.*Cilan has a full figure (Banpresto Partners figure with Pansage, Banpresto Partners Ash is with Pikachu) too! N, the Subway Bosses too also existed...

Serena has a LOT of merchandise. There’s a music box figure of her performing with a key, there’s the new G.E.M. figure with Sylveon, her game counterpart with Fennekin, cheap kid’s toys (Takara Tomy action figure), a plushie of her short-haired look...

Serena’s game counterpart has figures, clearfiles, keychains, stickers, posters, etc. (Iris recently got a pin/badge along with the other Unova Gym Leaders, possibly stickers too)—slightly sidetracking, let’s get back to figures!

A very cute short-haired, chibi XY anime-styled Serena (note she also has the gifted blue ribbon and the second outfit!) for the Pita Poke toys!! I wish I had those, it looks very Polly Pocket and cute, but sadly discontinued.

Moving onto Lillie, she has the most merchandise across franchise, I think! She has two anime-based figures (with Snowy and the Poke Problem blackboard.)

Game Lillie has many figures, a music box like Serena’s that plays her theme (it’s the one of her on the sofa with her diary).

If we count ~related~ merchandise, there’s a cute Terrarium Collection one of Snowy on the shore, with fallen flowers floating on the water, with a paw reaching out to touch Lillie’s hat, lying in the sand. There’s Iris’ Axew stickers and cards, promotional stuff, but all 2D.

I may reblog with the others and anime-related merch that isn't figures... I hit the limit, PFFT.

[pokemon-ash-aus]

I absolutely ADORE your Teacher Assistant!au, do you have anymore art or hc's for it?

I dooo!!! God what did i write last time? I dint remember so here's a lil baby Eevee eventually evolving!!

Headcanons:

-Ash's Aura isnt something he can turn off EXCEPT when he's under extreme stress or duress that he can't handle. It's akin to a Sensory Overload for him, everything gets muted and it feels like he looses his ability to hear and see even though its still there.

- Pikachu is crazy expierenced and strong, he doesnt tell the Newbies that he's beat up legendaries because he wants them to see him as the fun- if slightly crazy- friend and partner!

- Ash actually has a lot of Eggs back at the farm because of his pokemon either, a) Populating or b)finding eggs at random.

-Because screw Gender evo's. Gender Specific pokemon have a branched evo that is either Nonbinary or including a Male line. The primary account being Bounsweet!

- Ash's Pokemon all know (at least) one move out of their Species normal repitoire. Bukbasaur with Dig and Gust, Charizard with all 3 Elemental Punches, Squirtle with Dragon Pulse. They're not overly good with it, its a lot of testing and mostly used as a last minute resort wih lots of build up.

-The kids recognize that Ash isnt that much older than them and they know he's barely considered their senior but they cant help but admire how he acts and talks and the stories and lessons he can teach. Its better when Ash fully admits he doesnt understand something and asks them questions about it, it makes them feel like he truly sees them as friends (he does)

-There's another student joining in that has yet to be seen (But they are a canon character) mostly for an even amount of students.

- Ash and Lusamine have major beef with eachother. Its hatred on first sight. They do not become friends, they don't become buddy buddy, Ash barely tolerates her and even that drops when she's good and grants the students Ultra Guardian status. *They're CHILDREN Lusamine!*

- Ash is very touch affectionate with his students. Pats of affirmation, small side hugs, shoulder nudging etc. He's not onto full on hugs of comfort, that gives him the heeby jeebies but its still more affection than most of the students are used to.

- Dont be fooled Ash may be expierenced and has stories to boot, But he's still an idiot. "That's an Oxymoron!" "Dont call the strategy a moron, they cant defend themselves!"

- Ash typically defaults to it for Pokemon until he knows them personally. He's especially vicious with correcting older folk on pronouns just to piss them off, most pokemon dont really care but at times its a sweet gesture, especially if the folks are particularly nasty.

- Ash has met Viren before and vice versa. It was a brief meeting on a boat and both of them left extremely bitter about it. Ash comoletely forgot about Viren but Viren remenbers Ash as that "15 year old Brat!" its extremely funny to have a one sided hatred when the other party barely remenbers you

- Ash is bad at matching names to faces, but its not malicious. If you dont see him everyday, he's bound to forget

- Ash and his pokemon speak a lot of languages, but only he and Pikachu can really read, and even then its still trial and error. He has a lot of moments of pausing and trying to translate on slower days.

- Pikachu has trained to be able to feel aura and see like his partner. Its no where near as strong as Ash's and it drains him fast, but he wants to know what Ash sees and feels.

That's all i got for now :D

[duckapus]

Had ideas for a few post-arc scenes that I don't currently have the energy to write;

-Ash setting Tama up with a provisional trainer license (basically lets her have Pokemon registered to her despite not being ten yet but she can't do Major Official Trainer Activities like gym challenges, contests, Battle Facilities, etc.) because the Pokemon who've been hanging out with her very much want her to be their trainer. Magcargo's kind of the odd one out since he's only been around her for like an hour cumulatively and he kind of got dragged into this without any idea what was happening but he's still interested because she seems nice. There's some concern about Hoopa staying since he has friends in Dahara City in Kalos... until he points out that Hyperspace Hole still exists and he can come and go literally whenever.

Pikachu officially passes on the role of the Pichu Brothers' chaos wrangler to Absol, in a slightly funny moment where he tries to be all serious about it and put his hand on her shoulder all dramatically, ruined by the fact that he's so much shorter than her that he has to balance awkwardly on his tail to even reach her shoulder (and further undercut by the fact that what he actually says is "they're your problem now. good luck". Also, there is of course much gushing over Gardevoir, Guardeon and Dragaurora's evolutions.

-One of the suggestions for Devos's situation is putting Tonio on the throne, which both he and Valiant are adamantly against because favored by the Muses or not a guy who's been a wandering outlaw and proud of it for nearly a decade is not a good choice for ruling a kingdom in turmoil. Plus having a Songbird as a king would just be weird.

-Kelsie gets Vitality set up in the infirmary and assures everyone that she's expected to make a full recovery eventually, though from what she can tell of how the whole healing flame thing is working it'll take anywhere from one month to three for her to wake up. Then when she's alone she calls Director K to let him know that her reports will be less frequent for the foreseeable future since with Vitality out of commission she's the only medic right now.

-Mr. L presents the completed Meme Suppression Bullets to Jayin, warning her that it will take a few weeks for the virus they're made out of to complete its work. She's not too fussed about that, they'd expected and planned for something like that after all, and sends for her firewalls and their assistants, leading directly into That One Post.

[harukadrawsthings]

Japan (and many international viewers who watch the original audio) has just seen the end of an era that lasted a quarter of a century. I haven't watched the episode yet as I'm awaiting the release of the English subtitles tonight from the team responsible for the translation but I have no doubt I'll need a lot of tissues. But since the outcome is already known in the land of the rising sun I've decided to reveal my art tribute to Ash and Pikachu in T-Shirt format that I've been preparing for at least a month but was reserving it for today!

I vividly remember the moment when the Pokémon series premiered in Portugal in October 1999, when I was still at primary school, and introduced us to an ambitious 10 year old boy who fell asleep on the 1st day of his journey in pursuit of a dream and who at first did not get along well with his electric mouse partner. There wasn't a single child or teenager at that time that would be indifferent and wouldn't talk about that universe inhabited by hundreds of creatures with magical powers and how different that concept was in an animated series for that time (and in videogames too because there was also a rush to Nintendo's handheld consoles!).

I never imagined that 23 years later I would still be following this story of friendship and how remarkable the protagonist would be in my life after being with me almost the whole time. He was the one who introduced me to a franchise I'm a big fan of and that same exposure has influenced my artistic path. He decompressed me on the daily train journeys I had to make to college, making me laugh and go to class with determination and optimism. He has been my psychologist these past six years which have been particularly difficult for me and has been a major element in my emotional stability. I also owe thanks to Ash for several important life lessons he has given me along his journey by demonstrating his virtues such as kindness, honesty, helping and being tolerant of each other. I have very happy memories of waking up in the morning and watching his adventures on television before going to school, and of watching him in the evening on television in more recent years including the present time.

Portugal will still have Ash on the small screen until the end of this year and I will follow him to the end and wait for the local dubbing of the remaining episodes to be broadcast (and cry again with the disclosure of the Pokémon Ultimate Journeys and this special 11-episodes mini-series) and enjoy his company for a while longer. I will miss this duo that won my heart and of millions of viewers of several generations all over the world that we will certainly never forget and that their memory will be eternal. It was a privilege to watch this story as everything happened in the moment.

So this stamped illustration is a homage and a gesture of gratitude to one of the most influential and impactful characters ever in the history of Japanese animation and who leaves us a legacy that I hope future generations will come to know and recognise his cultural importance. You'll be forever a legend! 🧢⚡

Thank you, Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, and so long!

Do not repost. Do not modify. Always credit me!

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Ash & Pikachu © Nintendo/TPC

Art © HarukaDrawsThings

[nanayuz]

satogou, sigh .

i think goh fell in love with ash as early as jn003, the moment ash protected the ivysaur from team rocket with his own body. it was very similar to how ash earned pikachu’s trust back in ep001, he wanted to protect both people and pokémon he could trust, even ones he just met. 

goh noticed it right as ash protected the ivysaur. even though he’d thought ash’s idea of connecting with pokémon was stupid only minutes before, he now knew why ash thought the way he did. goh didn’t just learn a lot about ash, he learned a lot from him.  ash was his ‘first true friend’, at least in chloe’s words. and in the 10 second clip of goh staring at ash in jn003, goh seemed to want even more than that.

ash, on the other hand, took quite a bit longer. and, tbh, i don’t think he even realized he was in love until the last two episodes of jn. but there were quite a few times throughout the entire journeys series, where it felt like he might’ve been ‘starting’ to know, starting to feel.

like in jn015, where he went out of his way just to give goh the gift for his parents he’d dropped before getting on the bus. the first major time ash has done something for goh, just because he felt like it.

there are so many other moments, throughout the entire series. they’re always so in sync, always so knowing of each other. but, tbh, i don’t think ash fell in love until as late as jn135, when goh “broke up with him”.

throughout the entire episode, both ash and goh are deciding whether they should go on new journeys or not. neither of them talk to the other about it, which makes goh feel betrayed the instant ash just tells him out of nowhere. goh spent so long thinking about his future, not knowing what ash would say if he decided to go on a journey without him. well, he knew ash would tell him to go for it, but did he want that?

and the fact ash decided all by himself, seeming as if he didn’t even think of how goh would feel, the latter just . . felt betrayed. which was why he declared their friendship over and ran off, and the exact same feeling goh had in jn003 happened to ash. the same shocked look, not knowing if he was confused or not confused at all. 

chloe told ash about how goh wanted to go on a journey as well, and how he was afraid of all the things he felt ash wasn’t afraid of in those moments. how ash was goh’s first true friend, how he didn’t feel emotions he felt with ash before he came into his life. 

and at that moment, i think ash knew. i think he realized, realized how much he loved goh. from their 2nd episode together to their 2nd last, how much their feelings had changed. the small amount of hate they had for each other at the beginning now not even being recognized, because they became so close.

from their 1st episode together to their last, with the lugia they rid on being a reminder of their growth together. lugia, the master of the legendary birds, the birds who now left their nest after growing so much.

[virtualnight1]

Why I M O, Pokeshipping is dead. ( kinda hot take, sorry pokeshippers. )

So, pokeshipping. The very 1st ship in the Pokemon anime’s history. I personally am not a fan of it, I did watch the original anime, and I personally don’t like misty’s character. It was off putting to me.

Now as to what your here for, what killed pokeshipping. There are 3 main contributors to the death of pokeshipping.

1.) The length of time from when misty was replaced to now,

2.) Serena and Amourshipping

3.) The Pokémon sun and moon anime

The length of time from when misty was replaced to now. Now while this might not have been much of an issue if the other 2 bullet points didn’t exist, it has been over a decade at this point, since we last saw misty, meaning that we have a severe lack in character development, and that gives time for other potentially better ships to be created, which leads me to my next point,

Serena and Amourshipping. Possibly one of the biggest ships right now, (which at this point isn’t going to fizzle out anytime soon. ) With Amourshipping going so far, as to introduce a major plot point in ash’s story by having Serena be his childhood acquaintance, many other points that multiple poketubers like Catch ‘Em All Saul, bring up in their videos from years past, to the kiss, and even the writers basically confirming the darn thing.

Amourshipping Confirmed?

So at this point, ( unless they throw all that away, which please. Don’t. ) there is next to no hope of pokeshipping to ever become cannon, which is only further proven by my last point,

The Pokémon sun and moon anime. Now, this is honestly the iceberg that sank the ship, because Brock and Misty returned twice in the Sun and Moon anime, which I’m pretty sure was for let’s go promotion. Now this is where all hope is lost for pokeshipping because even though they returned twice, Misty had literally zero emotional moments with ash whatsoever. No pokeshipping pandering, no flashbacks, nothing. Here’s another video explaining that further.

They did Misty DIRTY!

Now while the only good thing to come out of the re-return episodes was Brock possibly finally finding a girlfriend,

Brock x Olivia

This was the point of no return for Misty and pokeshipping in general. Misty, even though she returned twice, in the most recent anime, had literally no development, and nothing to show how she grew as a character since her absence, her return seems pointless and devoid of substance, and with another ship still gaining popularity at an exponential rate, I’m sorry pokeshippers, but,

It’s time to pay your respects, and move on.

RIP pokeshipping

1997-2023

Why IMO pokeshipping is alive and well (Kinda hot take, sorry to my brothers and sisters)

So, pokeshipping. The very 1st ship in the Pokemon anime’s history. I personally am a huge fan of it, I have watched the original anime and I personally loved misty’s character and the way she developed post johto journeys and how she became a strong gym leader and changed the entire landscape of her water type gym. It was captivating me.

Now as to what your here for, what kept pokeshipping still running and healthy. There are 3 main contributors for the livelihood of pokeshipping.

1.) The length of time from when misty first appeared in this show.

2.) Pikachu's pikachupi

3.) Mezase Pokemon master

The length of time from when misty first appeared in the show to now. Now while this might not have been much of a proof if the other 2 bullet points didn’t exist, it has been a year at this point, since we last saw misty, meaning that we have tons of character development, and that gives time for many of us fans to draw a lot of cute pokeshipping fanarts and write fluffy fanfics and that also gives the fans an idea about what plot they can include in their next pokeshipping fanfictions, which leads me to my next point.

Pikachu's pikachupi. Possibly one of the cutest nicknames for Misty right now, (which at this point isn’t going to fizzle out anytime soon. ) With the name pikachupi going so far, as to introduce a major plot point in ash’s story by calling Ash as Pikapi and Misty as Pikachupi.

And many other points that multiple pokeshipping fans bring up in their posts from the point where Misty fished out Ash in EP 1 to the point in MPM 02 where she again fishes him up with her lure tied around his arm, with Misty winking at him and even the fans got more energy to gush at the darn thing.

So at this point, there would always be more of pokeshipping fanarts,fanfics and amv's for eternity which is only further proven by my last point,

The Mesase Pokemon master. Now, this is honestly the cherry on the top of the pokeshipping ice-cream that was heartily enjoyed by pokeshippers, because Misty and Brock returned in the Mezase pokemon master anime, which I’m pretty sure was for giving a proper farewell to Ash and the OG Trio. Now this is where all pokeshipping energies got amplified pokeshipping because even though she returned after years, there were a lots of pokeshipping moments, a reference to her lure, the red string of fate mention etc. Now while also the good thing to come out of the MPM episodes was Ash reuniting with Cilan and his old Pokemon and Pidgeot coming back to his team.

This was the point of return for Misty and pokeshipping in general. Misty, returned after 3 years in MPM and had a lot of character development, and everything to show how she grew as a character since her absence and her delightful chemistry with Ash (also defeating Ash the WORLD CHAMPION!!) her return seemed to fill with positive energy and full of laughter and smiles and with the new fanfictions and fanarts still made at an exponential rate, thank you pokeshippers, it's time to make more fluffy pokeshipping fanarts and fanfics!!!

Viva la pokeshipping: 1997-eternity

[turboacek-blog]

I do like XY #xy10thanniversary

Saw it was the 10th anniversary today (or yesterday by the time I posted this) and saw people decided to talk nicely about it so figured I should as well lol

I do genuinely like the series despite the discourse online about it being one of the most annoying things to me

XY I think unlike a majority of the series as I think about it had one of the strongest openings in the anime, as the whole Lumiose City-Garchomp-Froakie stuff was genuinely captivating and I feel that you will always have people hooked on XY just because of that as it’s to me on par with the first episode of the whole series with Ash and Pikachu which is also generally seen as one of the best episodes

And on a similar note, as I have issues with the team flare finale it also has one of the stronger ends to a series as well

So you have a series with a strong opening and, relatively strong ending, then you sprinkle in other generally accepted great moments in between like Ash vs Clemont it’s no surprise people love this series

And I think that’s the success of the XY, when it hits those highs it’s some of the best the anime ever has given us

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Other thoughts

I think of the six formulaic series (OS-XY) I think I like XY’s pacing the best, and that’s part of the reduced number of episodes compared to earlier series but also didn’t have the random side island adventure like BW, for the most part, the gap between gym badges and princess keys were not bad at all and I think we did spend a decent amount of time with characters that would end up recurring such as the rivals, the family members, mentors, etc

I already made a post about it but I think Clemont is my favorite male companion of Ash’s as I think he fills that sweet spot of being a smarter intelligent member of the group to explain things not only for the audience but the rest of the group but he’s also not so smart that Ash Serena and Bonnie can’t give their intelligence about subjects, and also the balance of since Clemont is close in age to Ash we get to see a Psuedo brotherly bond, rivalry and friendship between them where other companions lack at least one of those aspects, and I think he’s also a nice balance between each two members as he’s not as fit and adventurous as Serena which plays off of Ash and Bonnie, but he’s also more battle-ready like Ash contrasting Serena and Bonnie, yet has the sibling dynamic with Bonnie that Ash and Serena don’t relate to

Serena is this weird mix of I definitely see why people like her and she’s not my fav girl companion but I’m not going to say that her story wasn’t handled well at all, as any non super positive feelings about her is my personal feelings and nothing with her, I think tiring her and Ash together via camp was a That brilliant move without it being too soul-cross lovers, the crush added a unique aspect to the show that hasn’t really been touched on since maybe OS, I enjoyed each of her three Pokémon, and the sister's bond with Bonnie was adorable as we never really got something like that excluding maybe the SM girls

Bonnie grew on me a lot, when I was first watching it it’s hard to relate to the kid character but over time I appreciate the nice story work they did for her while also not shoving her to the front until kinda the Team Flare finale stuff, I think while I did like Max Bonnie was able to be a lot more likable as a character and it’s interesting because I think in a lot of ways she’s like the little girl Ash

Ash is the controversial one I noticed and while I see where both sides are coming from I am neutral on this Ash but he’s not the boring Ash but he’s also not the badass Ash I think he’s the Ash that was finally able to relax, early on we see that fire in him to get stronger and go things head first and through XY we see him slow down and be more at peace with what’s going on around him which is why I think people say he’s the most mature Ash, which he’s definitely more mature than OS Ash for sure but I think the maturity gets confused with lack of childishness, Ash while having his moments wasn’t as goofy here which I think is what I missed here as I think a “core” part of Ash is his fun side which was nonexistent was less here it felt like which obviously has the pros of viewers getting what seems to be a more grown-up Ash also I think loses a crucial part of him

Side characters

While not my favorite batch of side characters I think to say they were bad would be a disservice as they all played their role well, I think the standouts are Tierno Shauna and Korinna

Battles

I know there’s discourse about the animation and art style and just general battle decisions but I do think that the battles looked great and I think visually wise they peaked gym battle-wise here, each battle felt like each person had some experience to them as even the more rookie trainers were using moves that you never see from a previous series early on or even later in that journey

As I can (I’m not) be in the camp that thinks Pikachu losing to Surskit was stupid but I think the battle did show that Surskit was a problem and to be taken seriously despite it being a Surskit

Pokémon

Despite some personal feelings, I do think this was maybe the most solid cast of Pokémon (as in Ash and companions) only behind a few like maybe an OS and SM

I think despite some losses that you can argue about this is one of the most consistent Pikachu’s as no electric “reset”, I think Ash’s other five had distinct personalities and traits, same with Serena’s and Clemont's and Dedenne

And should point out that you can’t convince me Ash-Greninja isn’t the most fanfiction thing the show has done, but it is admittedly very cool, I even used one for my Pokémon Moon play-through as I just thought it would be cool to use

Mega Evolution Specials

I never got the same attachment to these specials as I watched them much later but they were very good specials and I’m glad they did the thing of making them in the same universe and tiring them into Ash and the gang's storylines

As I’m not an Alain fan I do like him as a second protagonist and of the few that probably think that him being the one to beat Ash in the league was acceptable (more thoughts on that in a separate post maybe lol)

Marron and Chespy were cute, Steven was cool, Team Flare was a big upgrade over their game counterparts, etc

Overall not my favorite series definitely one of the series where I can just put a gym battle on or see certain things over without it feeling dated

[lilmackiereads]

A TAXONOMY OF LOVE (2018) BY RACHAEL ALLEN - SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW

For the review WITHOUT SPOILERS, click here. To continue WITH spoilers, begin reading after the cover photo.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I am actually surprised with myself for giving this such a high rating as I am easily very bored with the teen romance novels. Of the few YA romance that I have read in the last year this has been my favorite which was a total surprise! I actually almost gave up reading it in the first 50 or so pages because I found the initial few chapters from Spence’s point of view unrealistic. For some reason I just didn’t feel like the dialogue and thought processes going on in this 13-year-old boy’s head felt accurate to the tween boys I’ve known growing up. There wasn’t enough swearing or boyish grossness. For instance, I feel like he needed a bit of a sprinkle of yucky (belching/ nose-picking/ farting/ name-calling) like the boys in Stephen King’s “The Body” aka Stand by Me (1986), The Sandlot (1993) or Stranger Things (2016) because many boys at this age are generally just pretty gross and obnoxious in my experience. (I grew up tween to teen between 2008-2018 and babysat lots of kids and now I work with middle school and high schoolers…)

HOWEVER, I think Allen did nail Spence’s dorkiness, which is why I ultimately kept reading because he is pretty adorable and his taxonomies are pretty funny.

Unlike John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, 2012 and Turtles All the Way Down, 2017) and Becky Albertalli (Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda, 2015) who are two of the best teen writers that can accurately display the minds of the opposite sex in my opinion, I feel like Allen struggles a bit with writing Spence’s point-of-view. I found Hope’s p-o-v more realistic (and relatable) as a female, but I think that Spence became more realistic as the book progressed from age 13 to 19. Especially once he hit puberty, I think the romantic stakes and thoughts were more accurate to a teenage boy. Haha. But what do I know? I’ve never been a teenage boy.

Hope reminded me a lot of myself because I’m generally happy-go-lucky, but I had a major emo-phase in high school that really warped my attitude at the time (and admittedly comes out to play occasionally as an adult.) I wish we had more chapters from her perspective. I was bummed out when her sister died. It's hard to lose someone so close to you, especially when they're so young. The only thing I didn't like about Hope was her last name, Birdsong. I think it was just a little too on-the-nose. If we're really going for the "girl next door" she could have just had a basic last name like Smith or Miller.

I really liked all the little parties the characters through for the holidays and the references to Hamilton (2015), Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Grease (1978), and Pokémon. Jayla and Spencer's Pikachu and Ash costumes sounded adorable. I feel like Hope’s transition over the story is actually a lot like Sandy’s! Also, the two girls at the Halloween party who were Sandy before and after, such a cool costume idea!

Jayla and Dean were both kind of annoying at times, but ultimately, I think they had good hearts, but were just a little too self-involved for their own good. I really appreciated after Dean went to college and grew up a little and started to stand up for Jayla and Spencer.

I also like that the book goes over some important topics like racism and the Civil War, disability awareness, bullying, mental health, and using sexual situations as a coping mechanism.

My top three favorite parts are:

The Vice Principal’s Surprise -- I mean DICK CONFETTI? How much better can it get?

2. The Tree Stand in the Rain -- My little heart at all the romance:

3. The Lightning Bugs -- Just such a sweet and magical moment.

Would I Read this Book Again?

Low key kind of want to read it again right now! I hope they make a movie of this!

[alolanrain]

sorry it took a moment to come back to this, I have a little fic in the works at the moment but it’s far down on the list of importance atm.

Ash is very aware that Archie is now living in Alola with Maxie. it’s kind of like a side mission given from the International League to keep an eye on the two, Archie and Maxie are very well aware of this as well. 

the two don’t go close to the school, don’t need to as Archie works part time at the port docks under Lana’s dad while Maxie owns a cute little bakery/book store that Archie helps out in when he has no work. Ash doesn’t find that out until he gets closer to Lana and helping her kinda separate from Mallow so she can grow, their very dependent on each other and he’s helping to fix that on the request of both their parents, and she mentions Uncle Archie. 

Ash is fine at the moment but the second he’s out of eyesight, immediate anxiety attack. he’s down at the docks before the class is let out just so he can get his hands on Archie before Lana comes to greet her dad like she does every day. it takes a while for Ash to genuinely trust him around Lana, despite what Archie and her Dad say, and it’s more of a reflex out of anything. 

it takes even longer for Maxie and Ash to be okay in the same room. as the first time they stumbled across each other at the weekend market Ash nearly slit his throat with a knife he was hiding in his boot, right in front of everyone and the kids. 

Pikachu hates the both of them and refuses to be seen with Archie or Maxie so he sits off to the side or out on the steps of Maxie's store. though, he will admit, the lanky pale fucker has got some sick-ass Pokémon treats. 

the first sign of trust Ash hands Maxie on a random rainy Monday morning was to make a box of sugary treats for the class for next week. it was Lillie’s fourteenth birthday and since her mom is out of commission and Ash had chased Gladion off after the thing at the Altar of The Sunne she desperately needed a pick-me-up. 

the first sign of trust for Archie was a request for the fisherman to catch a shiny magikarp. Archie succeeds and Ash takes him to the Pokémon Center where he call’s up Max, who’s on his second journey in Unova at the moment, and trades the Magikarp for an Eevee egg. Archie stays out of the camera but he hears and see’s it all happening, especially the part where Ash clarifies that Archie caught this on his request. 

surprisingly, Max is okay with that. he’s gone to therapy and healed from the majority of it all as best he could. he jokes that its a good thing that he’s alone since May will go ballistic when she finds out. 

So… Can I see Archie and TA! Ash interact please?

During Hoenn or after?

[lolli4587]

Day 7 – April 7th – Free Day*

I going to use my free day to talk about 10 episodes that stood out to me!

Just watching the recent episode about Litten and Scoutland. Omg the feels ;_;

I didn’t think I would sob... I going list my faves and the top 3 will get pic/gif treatment.

# 10 Pika and Goliath

Okay, I didn’t think I would love the episode so much when it first came out! I remember when I was younger, I always dreamed that Pikachu vs Raichu battle would be more engaging and more action like. Pikachu once again get rivaled against Raichu and his cocky trainer named Sho. Although Sho’s dub voice is so funny sounding with all the so called “gangster talk” I busted out laughing how bad it was. Pikachu once again reintroduced to the thunderstone.

Though this episode does get real of how Pikachu nearly faced it’s death after being beamed by a hyper beam in the face from Raichu, and shortly rushed to the hospital. After the near death experience, and Ash telling the story of how he was given thunderstone from Nurse Joy in Vermilion City due to similar situation. Pikachu once again rejects the stone and wants to fight! Which we get this incredible battle between the two on the rematch.

Of course Pikachu pulls up in top, and I love the bonding moment Pikachu had with Ash <3

#9 Holy Matrimony

Going back in season 1, I don’t know why, but this episode always stood out to me. This episode we find out that James is a freakin millionaire. But his reasoning for running away is legit as well. This episode had so many awkward moments, and Jame’s parents has a weird definition of being proper and in the rich class. Clearly, they don’t see Jessebelle aka Jame’s finance is a total nutcase.

For god sake, she had a whip trying to slap Jame’s around. To me, I was laughing so hard, and the bit where she looks like Jessie. Like come on, they did it so intentionally.  It was such a fun episode, and it’s too bad they don’t remind people as much of Jame’s past. I want to say the last time his past was mentioned was probably the DP era.

#8 Stage Fight

So this episode was shown during the Orange Island era and sadly it doesn’t get shown anymore thanks to Jynx appearance. This was the first time seeing Raichu in a different perspective. It’s being timid and vulnerable was so adorable, also highlighting Kay. The episode takes place in a showboat where the actors voice act through the pokemon and make them seem like they are talking.

This case, I found it interesting that Kay is actually afraid of Raichu, more so being shocked. In their first meeting, she throws Raichu away for avoid being shocked. The poor Raichu gets distraught since it was thrown and rejected from it’s own trainer.

Happy to say there was a happy ending. When Team Rocket got involved, she would confront her fear which helped Raichu, and they were able finally work together. And we do get an adorable scene at the end.

#7 Cave of Mirrors

So this episode to me was one the most interesting concept they had in a while and I was bummed they didn’t revisit it at the end of XY series. I love seeing all of the characters had a personality swap through the mirror world. I got a kick how Team Rocket is the good guys and referred as Heroes of Justice. Clemont using magic and instincts, Serena is all battle crazy talking in a different dialect, and Bonnie was more proper. Mirror Ash was timid and a crybaby.

I loved how Ash was able to go to the other side and had to rescue Pikachu, and the thief was his mirror self. It was a fun adventure. I did want more Mirror Pikachu, he was a mischievous and mean lol.

#6 A Scare To Remember

So this is the only AG episode to be on the list. This episode was pretty dark. Ash and his friends had their usual confrontation with Team Rocket and from the blast, Pikachu lost his memory. And for Meowth’s advantage, it was to convince Pikachu that he was part of Team Rocket.

Once Pikachu was reunited with Ash, he doesn’t recognize him and it shocks Ash, which put Ash in distress. As Team Rocket getting away, Ash goes after the balloon and tries to rescue Pikachu. Which then Pikachu blows up the balloon and Ash saves Pikachu falling from the sky to the water.

I loved Ash being selflessness here and how he go in lengths for Pikachu. I don’t think they revisited much since AG. But everytime I watch, I do get the feels...

#5  Lights! Camera! Pika!

This episode was Pika-tastic lol. I fell in love with the 5 different Pikachu costumes and more exciting they were filming a movie. This episode was so endearing since it showcased a director with his eternal love for Pikachu. Hearing his story, they helped him out with the movie! The whole filming and behind the scenes were so cool to see. And the bloopers sold me. They gave Pikachu a voice from his VA actress, Ash’s VA in english dub.

#4   Seeing the Forest for the Trees!

The next 3 episodes were difficult for me, so they are super close to each other. But this episode with Ash just being emo and depressed was crazy. I put my full thoughts a while back. This was the episode where Ash get yelled by Serena and he find himself and finally figured out the bond phenomenon.

I was sold mainly on Ash’s childhood memories bonding with the other pokemon. Ash mainly did had a battle with himself, and this episode reminded Ash they is never truly alone. This is where he finally figure’s out Greninja’s powers and finally able to fully transform. There were a lot of firsts, also I was happy for Serena’s not putting up Ash’s bullshit! Snowball scene for the win!

# 3 Ash vs Paul final battle arc (Familiarity Breeds Strategy!  A Real Rival Rouser! Battling a Thaw in Relations)

I put this as one since to me, 1 episode wasn’t enough. The whole build up for DP was Ash finally proving he can take on Paul. They both give their all, Ash had the same team from the 1st time full battle and Paul changed his team. The entire battle was just amazing! No rival has topped Paul, and this battle proves it. And the last battle, Infernape vs Electivire, it was a heart stopper

Also this marked of the departure...

# 2 Battling at Full Volume

Another episode I actually put full in detail before, omg, I didn’t think I would enjoy this episode so much. We got this guitarist trainer Jimmy with his adorable rocking Pikachu ends up battling Ash which was Serena in disguise.

It was nearly a perfect episode for me. Writers tease us with Ash saying to Serena “I love you” instead we get Iron Tail Pikachu. Ash gets sicks, and Serena cosplaying Ash and pulls it off.

And we gets ton of fan-service from Serena and teases from Bonnie. Omg, I didn’t think I would of love this episode so much. It literally had everything.

Serena pulls off a great Ash, you won me over!!

Before my #1 pick, a have a couple honorable mentions..

Team Flare Arc: One the best villainous arcs we ever had.

Chimcharred: Ash and Paul fighting over Chimchar’s well being. Damn you Ash, why couldn’t you punched Paul

High Gym Battle: This episode was on my favorite in Hoenn saga. Ash vs Winona

ANd my number 1 episode is..... (drumrolls)

#1 Electric Shock Showdown

So this episode is so special to me for so many reasons. This episode was the one that put me over the top to get in the pokemon fandom. At the time, battles were still young, at the time it was revolutionary.

Basically Ash getting his battle for his thunderbadge and has to beat Surge who were putting Pokemon in the hospital. After confronting him and learning he was using Raichu, Pikachu gets in the action.

This episode marks many first. First appearance of Raichu, first time Pikachu learns Agility, first time Team Rocket disguise themselves, also Pikachu get Pika Justice. At the end, Ash and PIkachu’s bond gets a lot stronger. And Team Rocket breaks the 4th Wall. The bit never gets old xD

The gym leader, Lt. Surge, was super memorable. He was a freaking giant and ripped. My friend would always say, he doesn’t need Raichu, he could go in the battlefield himself. He had a lot of pride and didn’t give Ash and Pikachu an easy time especially after the team discovered his weakness. Shoot, Japanese version is entertaining with his Engrish. English dub is amazing as well, RIP Maddie Blaustein.

Even though I seen it a thousand of times, this will be always my favorite episode.

This image for me never gets old, like Surge is a freaking giant! Well anyways, thank for  reading :D

[undercityrezident]

Huh... interesting twist in the pokeani episode today...

We really whipped through the third part of the battle between Leon and Ash. Given that both contenders were at half their complement or better, and expecting this to be a three-episode battle, I figured that we’d probably start knocking out pokemon rather quickly.

Rillaboom proved to be a tough nut to crack for Ash, as the grass-type knocked out not one, but two of Ash’s contenders. Most of this was accomplished flexible uses of its Drum Beating attack, which, as pointed out by Professor Oak, seemed to work as well as vine whip in terms of versatility. Even Ash’s Bulbasaur, watching on with the rest, had to acknowledge it. That said, I imagine that this is pretty atypical for how Drum Beating works, given how impressed everyone was. I suppose if Ash can twist moves around to do things they’re not meant to, so can Leon.

With Dragonite and Sirfetch’d down and out thanks to Rillaboom, Ash had to turn back to Dracovish, who still had that weird thing going on with its spikes. It proved helpful again, letting Dracovish wrangle two of Drum Beating’s massive roots and destroy them before they could finally take down the simian terror, spurred on by the spirit of Sirfetch’d as they charged in for the final blow.

It was very nice to see our best boy, Clemont, get a brief moment in the spotlight as they witnessed the end of that match-up considering the prominence both Sirfetch’d and Dracovish had in the series’ visit to Lumiose City.

Sadly, we failed to get any sort of meaningful explanation for these weird glowing spikes/fins on Dracovish before they were punted into the earth by the seemingly invincible Cinderace. It seems like the Libero ability is just as gnarly in the anime as it is in the games.

Of course, with Ash being down to his final contender, Pikachu was sent out to finish up the match. I wholly expected the initial match-up that begun this battle to resume between Cinderace and Pikachu, but Leon is impulsive as Ash apparently, as noted by Dawn earlier in the match.

Leon instead opted to sub in his ace, Charizard, to gigantamax against Pikachu’s massive electric Z-Move. And that’s were the episode went off the rails...

I knew something was going to be up with Eternatus, given last week’s preview, but I wasn’t sure it would have anything to do with the actual match. I figured it might just start causing havoc elsewhere and cut the closing ceremonies short. But apparently, Ash and Leon’s eagerness to outdo each other with the massive power between Gigantamax Wildfire and 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt caused some sort of reaction that replicated, at least locally, the Darkest Day, a phenomenon that we probably didn’t expect to return after having dealt with it much earlier in the series.

I suspect that Eternatus might actually do something to stop it this time, being a loyal pokemon now to Leon, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it did something to make the situation worse again too. Either way, it’s safe to say... the finals are on hold for the moment.

This might be a light blessing for Ash, as it really looked like he wasn’t going to be able to pull this battle off based on how he had to put everything into that final attack, and still had a semi-fresh Cinderace to go up against after. If Leon is as impulsive and cocksure as I think he is though, even if Leon has to exhaust his pokemon to stop any sort of impending disaster, he’ll probably still ask Ash to continue the match, thus evening the odds slightly.

If that’s the case, I wonder if this really will count as a true victory for Ash, given the fact he would not only have that handicap, but the use of all three major pokemon enhancements in one match. If they’re going to write Ash winning... I’d rather the writers have done it in a way that actually legitimized Ash’s skills...

I suppose we’ll see how they handle this next week, but so far, I’m pretty worried for how they’re going to end these finals.

[kariachi]

I have received a request, by @ladyofspiders, to go on a little ramble about how the partner bonds in Digimon work. She’s known me long enough, you’d think she’d know better, and yet. So strap in y’all, this is gonna be fun.

~~

First thing we have to do is we need to make sure everybody is on the same page with what we’re discussing, so, here’s what things are.

Digimon- a specific variety of being from a world attached to our own, species are created from data generated by our world. Can typically take on new species through evolution forward and back between six/seven power stages. Species taken can change and each individual species has a long list of other species they can become. Are formed out of computer data with their personalities and other individual information stored in a central Data Core, though talk from the minds behind the at-this-time-unreleased Digimon Survive imply that this is just the modern take on a far older form of creature

Digital World- the world occupied by the Digimon, heavily tied to computer systems and formed from computer data. The extent to which reality and physics as we know them applies tends to vary, both in general and from area to area, and everything from plants that grow cooked meat to fields of stoplights to oceans you can breathe under and more are possible. May or may not have it’s own consciousness or be under the control of a ‘god’ Yggdrasil. Like the digimon, recent information implies the Digital World as we know it may be new take on much older location.

Partner- a sapient non-digital being (typically human but I write scifi-fantasy so-) tied in some way to one or more digimon. On at least one occasion siblings have bonded to the same digimon, and multiple digimon bonding to one partner isn’t uncommon and practically the norm the the videogames. In the shows, individuals who work with more than one digimon may or may not have a ‘main’ partner (for a comparison- think Ash and Pikachu vs Ash and everybody the fuck else). We’ll get into the two major varieties in a moment.

Digivice- a piece of unique tech carried by the partners of digimon, often but not always having originally been a piece of technology owned by the partner and transformed when the bond between them and their digimon was solidly formed, that serves typically various functions depending on the series in the franchise, including tracking other digivice holders, opening up the option of using outside items to aid in various situations and/or temporarily upgrade the digimon, and better facilitating the power exchange between partner and digimon. Names, forms, and capabilities vary between series.

Crest- A representation of the dominant trait from which a Partner derives power, in series where they exist. There are nine crests in show canon (Kindness, Light, Love, Sincerity/Purity, Reliability/Sincerity, Courage, Friendship, Knowledge, Hope) and two restricted to specific videogames (Fate, Miracles)

Real World- the actual physical world as compared to the Digital World. The two are typically heavily tied, with problems in the Digital World sometimes shown to have very real effects on the Real World ranging from mucking with computer systems to causing sever issues with the weather. As a rule, works that involve saving the Digital World will also involve saving the Real World, as threats to one quite easily become threats to the other.

So, those are some Digimon Basics. You’ll notice a number of ‘depending on’, or ‘may or may not’s in there, and that’s because the anime alone is on it’s seventh or eighth universe, depending on how you count the Adventure reboot, and none of them function exactly the same. In one universe you may have evolution being the main goal of all digimon, while in another it just happens casually over time. In one two or more digimon merging together to become something new (DNA Evolution) may be something very rare, while in another multiple digimon merging their power could be the common way to receive a temporary upgrade. This is also part of why the types of partners get their own little section, because there’s .

That being said, the two common types of partner

Tamers- non-digital beings bonded with one or more digimon through at least one’s active choice (typically boths’ mutual decision, but not always). Often in the games and in the Tamers show have a strong focus on helping the digimon involved reach their full potential as far as power. The level of bond between tamers and individual digimon can vary from ‘this is business’ to ‘you are quite literally the person who made me and I love you’.

Chosen- what everyone thinks of when they think of the digimon-partner bond. Non-digital beings bonded with one digimon (there’s been a case of someone bonded to two, but only one so far and it was twin digis, so-) by outside forces. This can be fate, this can be the Digital World going ‘that one, make a digi for that one’, but whatever is going on it’s always a case of the digimon and non-digi being assigned each other, bound by fate and the fact they are more or less made to get on with each other. Chosen typically are attributed one or more crests.

Very similar, very different, but the key factor is the ‘why’ these bonds are formed the way they are and what the non-social benefits are to either side.

These bonds typically are formed either during times when the Digital World specifically needs heroes (more typical for Chosen) or when digimon are making more excursions into the Real World than is normal (more typical for Tamers). For the ‘hero’ side, this situation normally involves the non-digi being brought into the Digital World, where the digimon serve as protection and a guide. For the ‘excursions’, the bond normally forms after the digimon arrives in the Real World, where they proceed to act as protection against other digimon who find themselves there.

“But Achi,” I hear you ask me, “what’s the big difference between our friendly digis and the hostile digis?”

Well, my loves, you have the typical ‘so-and-so is an asshole’, very classic antagonist motivation, very good. There’s also ‘so-and-so doesn’t know what they’re doing is bad’, generally due either to cultural differences or simply not knowing how humans work. But you also have one other major risk. One that’s shown in multiple series but I think was displayed best in Young Hunters.

Digimon are very strongly effected by the emotions of non-digital sapients. We see multiple digimon in various series who seem to form a sort’ve partial bond with individual humans experiencing strong negative emotions. These bonds, when they’re shown, lead to this digimon taking action to try to make things better for the humans in question, often in a way that ends up harmful to others (”oh, you need to be top of your class? okay, I’ll just kidnap everybody with better grades!”). But why does this happen? What’s going on there that messes with shit?

They aren’t just effected, digimon can and do derive power from things like emotion. That’s why Chosen are chosen, and why bond with Tamers are in some series actively sought. The big power boosts that allow individuals to evolve to higher levels are usually temporary, but given it normally takes ages to reach those same levels of power without a partner, especially in times of great trouble the benefit outweighs the lack of permanence.

If you’re sitting there thinking ‘wow, it really sounds like the non-digis are very cherished batteries’ that would be because they are. Don’t get me wrong, humans seem to be better at plotting and thinking than your average digi, but even that’s mostly because the franchise focuses on the humans, let’s be real. Still, the major job of the humans is to act as support and sources of power for their digimon. In some universe they can even use their digivices to give their partners upgrades, to unleash powers from artifacts, or to give their partners access to forms of evolution that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

So, recap, what does each side get out of this bargain besides friendship? Digimon: power enough to protect themselves, their companions, and often their world. Non-Digi: protection for themselves and others from the dangers digimon and at times the Digital World itself can bring, the ability to save their world from whatever the threat of the series is.

This is also why, in works with Chosen, you see such a strong focus on crests. They represent and can help channel the power inherent in the traits they represent. Someone with the crest of Friendship derives power form their bonds with their friends. Reliability derives power from their trustworthiness and dedication. Knowledge derives power from their ability to process and utilize information. And so on. Typically in works with Chosen the bond and affection that exists within an partnership is enough to get a digimon into the lower stages, but it’s this power that needs to be called on to reach the highest ones.

There is a downside though, to this whole thing, and you can maybe guess it by going back to to where we start this part of the talk.

We’ve seen how these positive traits and emotions grant power. We’ve seen how emotions in general grant power. We’ve seen how being effected by the negative emotions of non-digis can lead to digimon doing bad things.

Let’s talk ‘dark evolution’, which we’re going to call ‘dire evolution’ here because I’m trying to move away from stuff associating ‘dark’ with ‘bad’.

Partnered digimon derive power specifically from their partners and their bonds with them, which is normally a good thing. Great thing. But when the feelings they’re pulling from are negative... Rage. Hate. Guilt. Suffering. Stress. When the emotions they’re drawing power from are wrong, or when evolution is forced, is when dire evolution happens.

When this happens, the digimon in question moves forward into the next power stage, but into a form they normally wouldn’t, normally one counter to the one they would be expected to take. For a canon example- MegaloGrowmon dire evolving into Megidramon, supposedly one form of the counterpart to his ‘proper’ final stage of Dukemon. This would be fine and dandy if not for the secondary effect of dire evolution- digimon who’ve undergone it go straight up feral. This is only temporary, lasting until the power boost wears off, but given just how dangerous digimon can be... Yeah. Not fun.

But, since we’re hear and talking about Tamers the series, we may as well discuss another sort’ve evolution that was introduced there- the Biomerge.

This form of evolution does as it says, merging digimon and partner together into one, more powerful, being. This is more dangerous for the non-digi, since they’re right up in the fight, but allows for more power than would be available otherwise. And once you get into the really powerful opponents? That’s important.

And that should be a basic overview of the hows and whys of the bonds between digimon and their partners. There’s some small details not in place (digimon made for Chosen will actively seek theirs out whether they know why or not, for instance), mostly because there’s no place to slip them in and they are minor, but for the most part this should work as an introduction to the basic information, suitable for anybody not looking to throw themselves into the depths of digi-hell.

[zponds]

AG 118 - "Who, What, When, Where, Wynaut?"

With the idea of making Advanceshipping more hinted at throughout the new version of the advanced series, I thought it’b be important to go over the new version of "Who, What, When, Where, and Wynaut?”, in which would be one of several major Advanceshipping-focus episodes. And as a little treat, Richie and Sparky (along with Richie’s other Pokemon) make a come back in this episode. And Brendan Birch appears too.

And the plot is just below. And i hope you all enjoy reading it. 

The group are gathered on the top of a cliff as Ash prepares himself psychologically for the Ever Grande League. Ash and Pikachu yell at the waves, since they are very determined to get to the Hoenn League. Max reminds May that she needs one last ribbon, while she already imagines herself in the Grand Festival. Meanwhile, Drew is also doing some training on another cliff. As a large wave approaches, Drew has his Masquerain use Silver Wind to destroy the wave before it hits. They come to Drew, who admits that technique he was training will be used in the Grand Festival. May shows her four ribbons, claiming she needs one more to enter the Grand Festival. Drew shows all five ribbons, warning May that the Grand Festival will be in 6 weeks. However, he also notes there is but one more Contest before that: in the Pacifidlog Town, marking either May wins it or she cannot enter the Grand Festival. May grins, claiming she WILL win the Contest. Drew claims she is still happy and clueless, which infuriates May. Thus, she challenges Drew to a battle, and he accepts the challenge. However, before the battle can begin, Richie and Brendan Birch appear, surprising the group. Pikachu and Sparky happily clap their hands. Richie brings out the rest of his Pokemon; Charmeleon (nicknamed Zippo) Butterfree (nicknamed Happy) Pupitar (nicknamed Cruise) Taillow (nicknamed Rose). Brendan brings out Swampert, Mightyena, Flygon, Walrein, Aggron, and Shiftry. Ash says it’s nice to see Brendan and Richie again.

While Ash, Max, and Brock catch up with Brandan and Richie, Drew and May start the battle. Beautifly uses Silver Wind on Masquerain, but Masquerain breaches through the attack unscathed, then uses the same attack on Beautifly, but the latter evades as well. Before they can finish, Team Rocket appears and attempts to steal Pikachu, Sparky, and the other Pokémon. The vacuum on their mecha is too strong, however, and Ash, May, Max, Brock, Brendan, Richie, and Drew are sucked into the vacuum as well; messing up Team Rocket’s plans. The sucked-in group breaches the wall and everyone piles onto Team Rocket. Max inadvertently presses a button after Wobbuffet makes an unannounced appearance, causing the sub to race out to sea and into a strong underwater rip. While Ash, May, Brock, Brendan, Richie and Drew call their Pokémon back, the submarine takes everyone into the depths of the sea. A moment later, everyone is blown away on a misty island.

Jessie, James and Meowth are all together, but Wobbuffet is missing. Meowth and James imitate it, to get its attention, while Jessie claims their enemies messed up their plans once more. Elsewhere, May and Ash find themselves separated from Max, Brock, Brendan, Richie, and Drew, and May gets worried, but Ash comforts her, saying they’ll find the others in no time. An old man, Roderick, pilots a motorboat through the surrounding whirlpools to meet the two and explains that they are on Mirage Island. May and Ash immediately recognizes the name, as this was where they trained with Tate, Liza, and Juan to get the Red Orb and the Blue Orb out of their bodies a while back, and Ash explains that Rachel (Tate and Liza’s mother) told him about the rare Liechi Berries, perfect for making Pokéblocks, which can only be found here. May and Ash then introduce themselves. Roderick admits Mirage Island is a disorientating area, so he offers to help them find their friends. The three of them start heading to the nearest river on Mirage Island, knowing that Brock will instruct Brendan, Richie, Drew, and Max to do the same. Meanwhile, Brock sees that his compass is broken and Brandan's Flygon comes back, saying it did not see May or Ash. Brock thinks they should find a river and then go to the shore. Brendan sends Swampert and Brock his Mudkip, who begin to search for the river. Max begins to get worried for his big sister, and Pikachu begins to get worried for its friend, but Brendan asures Max and Pikachu that they’ll find May and Ash in no time. Meanwhile, May poses as a news reporter in her "expedition". Ash sometimes thinks that May can get a little too adventurous, but he doesn’t mind it. Roderick thinks they might need to go down the river and then to the shore, so they go towards that direction.

Team Rocket searches for Wobbuffet and hears something. Jessie and James go to get Wobbuffet, but Meowth knows it is a Wynaut. May, Ash, and Roderick made it to the river. Ash wonders how Roderick knows so much about the island. Roderick admits that about 40 years ago, when he was a Coordinator, he nearly drowned searching the Liechi Berries on the island. However, he was dragged on Mirage Island and remembers that something saved him and pulled him into a cave, where he found the Liechi Berries he sought out. After the story, Ash spots a bush full of berries and May follows him, but they fall from the edge to the river. Roderick sends Bellsprout and uses Vine Whip; May grabs the vine and holds Ash's hand, but she slips away and they both fall into the river. Roderick tells them a waterfall is not far and they both fall down. May catches Ash, who has passed out, but fears she doesn't have the strength to pull them both to the shore. She does however, hold Ash’s head above the water. Suddenly, May spots some things hopping on top of the trees. The Pokémon hold each other's hands and grab May's hand.

Brendan, Max, Brock, Pikachu, Richie and Drew continue to search for May and Ash, but are having no luck. Roderick comes to them, with news Ash and May fell down the waterfall. Max panics a little, but Richie and Brendan calm him down. Brock suspects they must've come down the river. The six of them begin to follow the river, hoping that Ash and May are both alright. Later that night, Roderick told Brendan, Brock, Pikachu, Max, Richie, and Drew that after finding the island, he learned how to navigate through the whirlpools. While he doesn't live in the city, Roderick admits he sometimes visits the island to keep an eye on the Wynaut. Max spots May and Ash's footprints, who must have gone into a cave with the Wynaut. Meanwhile, in a cave, Ash wakes up and finds himself resting against May’s Altaria’s fluffy cloud-like wings and May, happy that Ash is ok, shows the Pokémon who saved them: a bunch of Wynaut. One Wynaut gives them the berries they sought out as well. After they grab the berries, Ash and May rest against Altaria’s fluffy cloud-like wings to get comfortable. Ash tells May on how he loves how comfy and soft Altaria’s wings feel, and May smiles. Ash even thanks May for looking after him while he was knocked out, and May blushes as she thanks him. They eat the berries and comment how strong their taste is. The group of Wynaut have fun and May sends the rest of her Pokémon to join the fun. Though Ash politely refuses the offer, he allows his own Pokémon to join the fun and watches May and her Pokémon having fun.

Somewhere else on the island, Team Rocket have followed the cry of a Wynaut that they believe to be Wobbuffet. Unfortunately, Team Rocket did not find Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet suddenly appears, however, eating a handful of Liechi Berries. Team Rocket follows it so they can get some also. Upon finding the berries, Team Rocket goes to eat them and discovers the unappealing aftertaste. Since these berries cost a lot of money, Team Rocket decides to snatch all the berries with a large vacuum from a balloon shaped like a Wobbuffet. Ash and May hear the vacuum and run outside to see what is going on. Then, May and Ash spot Team Rocket stealing the berries. As they watch the Liechi Berries get pulled from everywhere around the cave into the balloon. By accident, May is sucked inside the vacuum that takes the berries as well, so Team Rocket decides to tie her up. 

Ash calls on the assistance of all his Pokémon and May’s Pokémon, and the Wynaut also help battle Jessie's Seviper. Jessie sends Seviper and Seviper uses Poison Tail to negate Ice Beam that Ash’s Walrein used and attacks the latter, but Wynaut uses Counter to reflect the attack back on Seviper. May’s Altaira uses Dragon Breath, so Jessie prepares Wobbuffet to reflect the attack. Altaria's attack is deflected in a different direction, leading Team Rocket to believe the former missed. However, the attack was fired on the rope that ties up May. May is freed and Ash catches her in his arms, making Jessie enraged as Seviper uses Poison Tail, but it gets stopped by Sparky's Thunderbolt as he, Richie, Brock, Pikachu, Max, Brendan, Drew and Rockeric arrive. Jessie sends Dustox who uses Poison Sting. James sends Cacnea, but it clings to the former. Drew sends Masquerain, who uses Silver Wind, negating Dustox's Poison Sting. Cacnea uses Pin Missile, empowered by Meowth's gun, but the group of Wynaut makes a formation and use Safeguard, protecting the heroes. Both Pikachu and Sparky attack Team Rocket with Thunder, releasing the container with the berries. After a prolonged battle, Team Rocket are sent blasting off again with a combined Wirlwind attack from Ash’s Swellow and May's Beautifly. 

As they fly, Team Rocket sees the sunrise and makes their wishes. Later, Roderick gives the heroes and Drew a boat to sail towards the next town. As they go, they see a picture of Wynaut and Roderick when he was younger, telling them the Wynaut made him kinder. May claims they did the same to her, but Drew claims he'll see that the next time he defeats her, which infuriates May. Roderick gives May the Liechi Berries, tempting her to get her final ribbon from the Pacifidlog Town's Contest. Ash is interested how fired up May is, so Brock knows she will win the Contest. 

And that’s the new plot for the new version of “Who, What, When, Where, and Wynaut?” I hope you all enjoyed reading this, and stay tuned for more ideas and objectives that I have for rewriting and updating the advanced series. ^^

[dannyknowscomics]

My Idea for the Anime Goin Forward

So the Pokémon Journey’s anime is ending real soon and I’m positive this time around Ash will win.

He’ll defeat Leon become World Tournament and during the victory party or dinner he and his Pokémon are enjoying the food and Ash excuses himself for a moment for a moment of solitude to really soak it in.

Then Goh comes outside with Pikachu and see Ash is gone, all that’s left is his hat.

Legends Arceus Saga

Ash awakens on a beach greeted by Professor Laventon and the three starters, they bring Ash to the village and Ash is able to prove himself by catching and releasing Bidoof,Starly and Shinx

He is then recruited by the Galaxy Expedition Team where he is partnered with Rei and Akari

Ash would use various Pokémon but immediately release them as none of them feel right

He’d also have some animosity to Rei as he has a Pikachu

Akari would have Oshawott as her partner

Eventually Ash finds a partner of his own, an Eevee that reminds him of Pikachu.

As the story would go Ash would eventually create a full team

1)Eevee which would eventually evolve into Espeon

2)Hisuian Basculin which would evolve into Basculegion

3)Hisuian Sneasel which would evolve into Sneasler

4)Rufflet which would evolve to Braviary

5)Hisuian Voltorb which would evolve to Electrode

I’d have Ash also be close with Volo as he trusts him due to his resemblance to Cynthia

But distrust Cyllene

Eventually the events would play would and Ash would warm to Cyllene due to her kindness

But when Volo is revealed to be evil I’d have it be a major gut punch and Ash being unable to fight him but his Pokémon would move him to action.

Eventually after defeating Volo, Ash is summoned to Mt Coronet and is forced to battle Arceus with his team.

They give it there all and during the battle each one of Ash Pokémon radiate with an aura

*Sneasler received an aura that resembles Lucario

*Basculegion receives an aura that resembles Dracovish

*Braviary receives an aura that resembles Charizard

*Electrode receives an aura that resembles Torterra

And Espeon’s aura resembles Pikachu

Ash stand his ground and had his Pokémon attack Arceus together

As the dust settles Arceus seems unfazed before falling

It commends Ash for his bond with his Pokémon and thanks him for stopping Volo

It tells Ash it’s time to wake up now.

Ash is confused then feels a surge go through him

He wakes up in a field outside of Pallet Town, he is confused but runs toward his home

He finds the door is locked, he is able to catch a look at his reflection and finds he’s wearing his journeys outfit (minus the hat)

He then runs to Professor Oak’s lab and finds it different.

A assistant notices Ash and doesn’t recognize him

Ash demands to see Professor Oak, the assistant is confused by obliges

Professor Oak enters but it’s not the one Ash remembers.

Gary is now Professor Oak and a bit older than the last time they met.

He is shocked and embraces Ash, he reveals Ash has been missing for two years

His mother and Professor Oak left Pallet Town to search for Ash.

Ash relays his story to Gary and then opens his bag and finds 5 Strange Balls in his bag

When he releases the Pokémon inside he finds his Hisuian Team

Gary is interested about the notion that Ash had not time traveled once but twice.

He asked if he can study the Strange Balls and the Hisuian Pokémon

Before Ash can even answer his other Pokémon swarm the lab

Gary laughs and mentions how much they’ve missed him, then clarifies they have all missed Ash.

That night Ash sleeps at Oaks lab and when he wakes the next morning find Gary scanning the Strange Balls and he explains there not made out of any material he’s ever seen before

He tells Ash he can’t help him but he has a friend in the Paldea Region who might be able to help Ash figure out what happened to him

*Danny Note:

Sorry Forgot to Mention the mystery is why Ash didn’t get sent when he left

So the Legends Arceus Saga would end with Ash boarding a boat and sailing away

As Gary makes a phone call

Someone picks up and is shocked to hear Ash has returned after all this time, they hang up the phone and run into a nearby cabin where Pikachu is sleeping

The person is revealed to be Goh

Scarlet and Violet Saga

So idea would be episode 1 Ash would reunite with Pikachu and there’d be water works

Sorry if your a Goh fan but he won’t be sticking around

But from EP 2 onward Ash will be a student in the Uva Academy (due to a series of misunderstandings)

Where’d he befriend Nemona and Arven and have a rivalry with Penny.

I think Ash would catch Smoliv and Quaxly early like ep 2 or 3

Then eventually find Fuecoco

But after that 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is just what I think would be cool