I think they should add an air type to Pokémon to complete the alchemic elements. And don't even say "it's the same as flying" then what the fuck is ground type??
But yeah air would be given to Pokémon like Lugia and Swablu.
Can you tell us more about Altaria? What's their personality? Can I pet them
Of course I can tell you more and I think it's nice of you to ask. Genuinely.
Altaria has been my partner since forever and she's the first pokemon I've ever trained, too.
I met her as an abandoned egg out in the snow, way before I had my accident. At first, we weren't even sure if anything would hatch out of it at all since the egg was so cold, and obviously, I had no idea how long it had been abandoned for either.
Luckily my parents allowed me to keep it, so I started with building a makeshift nest to keep it warm. I remember being so excited to see what'd hatch.
When it finally started to crack open and a little bundle of fluff and feathers emerged I was so proud of myself for saving the little thing. She was very weak at first and I started to understand that the mother probably knew the egg wouldn't have made it under her care in the wild and therefore abandoned it. But I was very happy to care for her instead.
Training her was a very slow process because she was quite frail and couldn’t take a hit, but we were both determined to not give up. Especially after I got into my accident it seemed like she felt the need to get even stronger which in turn caused her to evolve shortly after.
Then when I was scouted to be a gym leader and assembled my team, I was kind of afraid I couldn't have her with me since it's kind of daunting fighting with Pokemon you barely know.
But then I heard about changing your Pokemon's tera type at this restaurant in Medali and immediately went to try it out. It took a lot of meals until I got access to it but it was certainly worth it and now I can fight with her by my side which I'm grateful for.
I also have some old pictures from when Altaria was still a Swablu that I still keep around.
The ribbon you can see there is handcrafted and very old. When I was younger I was extremely passionate about contests and felt especially inspired by Lisia and her Altaria since I had my own Swablu right by my side. Of course, with my career as a snowboarder laid out for me, it was pretty clear I couldn't be a contest icon but whenever they showed contests from Hoenn or Sinnoh I was glued to the TV. Considering everything now a career change might have helped avoid all of this but I guess it doesn't matter now.
On a different note... Personality wise my Altaria is truly the greatest. She's loyal and very loving, eager to cheer me up whenever. She also loves peanut butter sandwiches, so if you got one of those ready she will let you pet her.
Guess I gotta say thank you for that ask. It's been a while since I could ramble like this.
I started working on this idea back in June 2023 but got disheartened when I couldn't do a particular style to work on the piece. This time, I focused more on the feeling or vibe I wanted to portray and rode that wave.