#rayquaza rising

[smilingperformer]

Anipoke_PR uploaded a bigger, clearer version of the photo that is seen at the end of the new opening visuals.

[amelikos]

The full version of the fourth opening of Horizons, Only One Story by ZEROBASEONE, was released!

[hubbleablubble]

I've been thinking a bit about some of the old pokemon movies I like

[jadeazora]

Ngl, Horizons is pretty much everything I wanted from a Pokemon anime.

Those not watching cuz no Ash are missing out. He's a nostalgic character for all of us and I get missing him/wanting him to return, but it doesn't hurt to give something new a try!

(By bound to its own story, I mean while it may use some SV characters, the kids aren't doing Gyms or really touching on any of SV's story beats like the school or the Raidons. It feels more like it's doing more of its own thing.)

[pokemon-cards-hourly]

[kurayamineko]

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 6 Review: Shiny Black Rayquaza

Raise your hand if you remember the GS Ball plot back in the previous anime! Raise your other hand if you remember that the writers were going to do something with it but then it got scrapped because the content inside the ball was starring in the 4th movie! Guess what? The ancient Pokeball stuff is actually legit in this episode! IT OPENS!

This episode is a continuation of where Episode 5 left off. Liko’s pendant protects her from Amethio’s Corviknight, but the glowing persists to the point that Roy’s Pokeball reacts and it gets unlocked. A Pokemon pops out. What is it? A SHINY RAYQUAZA! IT’S BIG! IT’S BLACK! IT’S SHINY! And it flies away. Welp, there’s now Roy’s goal.

What this episode did right was actually having Liko and Roy struggle with Amethio’s Ceruledge just to make up for the fact that Liko got an offscreen win against a GOLDUCK. She’s inexperienced and her Sprigatito only knows one move, so even if there’s a type-advantage, the differences in strength would have been the best outcome. She’s still a newbie as a Trainer, same goes for Roy. I do like how Sprigatito and Fuecoco’s abilities are activated. I think this is the fastest a starter Pokemon activated their ability since their debut? Correct me if I’m wrong.

The moment Roy and Fuecoco become partners was so sweet. From the way Liko encourages Roy to become a Trainer by reciting her grandmother’s words to him to Fuecoco getting a Pokeball from Charizard moved me so much. They’re doing such a good job immersing viewers into the Trainer and Pokemon bonds. I’m already immersed and convinced that this is a good, believable bond. I can’t wait to see what Roy will bring to the story and what his bond with Fuecoco and Liko will become as his goal is to go on adventures and catch the shiny Rayquaza.

The last portion of this episode focuses on the Explorers. Their leader’s name is Gibeon and he’s voiced by Sho Hayami! I recognize that voice since I played Tales of Arise in Japanese dub; he voiced Vholran! It seems that Amethio’s a bit of a problem child as he does things without permission and his constant failures caused him to be taken out of the pendant hunting mission, which frustrates him. That’s not going to stop him from defying his boss’s orders. There’s a faint silhouette of a new Explorers member. From what I’ve gathered, his name is Spinel and he’s voiced by Makoto Furukawa! So far, unlike Team Rocket, the Explorers seem more ominous and foreboding. Their goal isn’t to seek a Pokemon, but an item. The way they’re presented is done well. I’m curious to see why they’re doing this and how it’ll affect the story in the future. I also like that there are more members off the bat and not focus on the same three people for an entire season. I remember it took a long while for them to introduce other Team Rocket members in the previous anime.

I’m excited to see what the Rising Volt Tacklers after they departed from Roy’s home island. What will they do on their way to Paldea? What will they do in Paldea? I can’t wait to find out! 

[pokemonblog]

Video: Liko, Roy, Fuecoco, Sprigatito, Captain Pikachu, Friede and Charizard stop at the Galar Mine in search of the Black Rayquaza in this official clip from Pokémon Horizons The Series

The Pokémon Company International has revealed a new clip from Pokémon Horizons: The Series. Read on below to learn more: Exploring the Galar Mine! | Pokémon Horizons: The Series | Official Clip Our heroes stop at the Galar Mine in search of the Black Rayquaza. What will they discover while inside the mine? 🤔 Uncover more adventure in Pokémon Horizons: The Series, now playing on Netflix in the…

[d3adbr3inc3lls]

Hi, Lunar anon back at it again!

Can I please request Friede with a reader who loves embroidery and has a Milotic who reader often embroiders. Then after the Brave Olivine got struck down, reader makes projects to raise funds for it? I just thought this would be a neat idea.

Friede x Embroiderer!Reader | Drabble

Reader is selling their embroidery at a Sunday Market when Friede happens to stop by to give them something.

You still remember the day the Brave Asagi was struck down.

The pink haired girl - you think she was an admin, but you aren't quite sure - was being reckless and wanted to attack the Rayquaza, making her Glalie self destruct which caused it to fly back and hit your ship.

You've never felt more scared in your life.

Now, you're now sitting down at one of those Sunday Markets you've always went to as a kid, selling your embroidery.

Your Milotic is standing - do they even stand? Would sittting be a more appropriate word? - letting out happy cries to greet people as they pass by.

Finishing off your current 'piece', you tidy it up a bit before placing it down alongside the other embroidery, most of them being Milotic themed, with some others being the eeveelutions and Pikachus.

Two familiar hands land on the table, following by a chuckle as you glare up at a familiar man, Friede.

"How's it going?!"

Your Milotic let's out a cry to greet Friede and Cap - but mostly Cap - and your glare drops at the sight of his wide grin.

"It's going good," You reply with a smile tugging at your lips, you couldn't help but feel greatful for him stopping by. It was getting a bit lonely if you had to be honest.

"Cap and I were in the neighbourhood - well, we took a half hour flight on Charizard to get here- and we got you something!"

Lifting his hands from your stand, Friede grabs something from a leather bag that he had brought alongside him and dropped a brown paper bag was dropped infront of you. His smile was horribly masked behind a "neutral" face.

Opening the bag up, you recognise the smell before you see it.

Friede had gone out of his way to get takeout of your favourite restaurant for you.

"F-Freide, you didn't have to!" You protest, but it fell on deaf ears as Freide looked at your Embrodery. There was a curious spark in his gaze as he looks over your work.

Picking one of many Milotic pieces you've made, his eyes meet yours and the excited spark in his gaze changes to a soft and gentle one.

"This is awesome. You know, you should create something for the Rising Volt Tacklers someday,"

-

A/N: Welcome back Lunar anon !!! Nice to see a familiar name. Sorry this was a bit short, kinda fell ill whilst writing it on the 16th-17th, but I still wanted to finish this in time for Wednsday,

[shinypokemonshowdown]

The amount of well written, passionate Sigilyph propaganda vrs no propaganda for Rayquaza, it's really funny, sigilyph fans rise up

[smilingperformer]

Started thinking about the past scenes shown in the OP and ED.

Like, Dot's scene showcases the moment when Liko was missing and she was struggling to find the correct info to find her (as in Spinel was feeding wrong info), right? It's what my first thought is upon seeing this.

Roy's is right after Rayquaza left after the, would it be called first or second battle? The one where Terapagos' tera form first debuted. I don't know if Rayquaza's first debut in the series can be called a battle lol. But I remember this moment well.

And Liko's appears to be the moment after losing to Chili/Rika. It's a bit more dramatized as she didn't walk off sad (instead cried on the spot, confused on it, but felt happy about finally understanding the battles), but I do believe that is the intended reference here.

And then, in the ED.

This is from the very first episode. When Liko finally starts befriending Nyahoja during her time at Sekiei Academy in Kanto.

Roy's refers to the episode where Roy and Hogator first met at Roy's home Island in Kanto. Episode 4 right? First thing that comes to mind is where Roy compliments Hogator's singing.

And then Dot is when she finally became partners with Kuwassu for real during Liko's amnesia-and-missing episode where she finally makes the big push to overcome her struggles so she can find her first IRL friend. The official debut of their partnership. While before that they were, sorry for lack of better wording, mere accomplices. Not really partners. So I would say these three scenes represent the moments when each of them gained their first meaningful bonding. Not saying there was no bond before that moment between the two, I just think that moment was one of the most significant ones.

And then we have this scene:

Which kinda showcases the past and future selves of the RVT adults. Molly's I think is our first look at her past self. While the rest we have seen in their respective focus episodes. Kinda interesting that even thou we have had episodes with focus on Molly, we've never seen flashbacks related to her. We still don't know exactly what prompted her to join the crew. Nor do we know of Murdock or Landau's reasons for joining the crew, but we DO know their pasts in flashback forms. (By the way, I love that Landau is doing his own thing and not doing the Pikkaan dance lol.)

Is Molly's outfit reminding anyone of anything? Closest I can think of is Alola but I do not think it's exact. So it could be new.

[amelikos]

Listening to Only One Story while reading the lyrics (here), they are beautiful (especially the "no matter how many times you cry, you'll be fine" part).

I think everything written before verse 2 is going to be the TV version of the opening which we'll get to see accompanied with visuals. I am personally curious which lyrics will be associated with Amethio in the opening itself. One of the lyrics mentions "rainy days" so I wonder if they will take this opportunity for the wordplay ("ame" meaning rain, and Amethio's name has "ame" in it..). Also curious about the lyrics mentioning the "promised place", I'm thinking it refers to Rakua and meeting Lucius there.

The second verse is probably the part that won't be used for the TV version. Though, I'm looking at the lyrics mentioning "eternal feelings" because the reading for the kanji "永遠" is specifically "towa" (same reading used for the "eternal blessing/towa no megumi" in the series itself). "Eternal feelings" makes me think of the Six Heroes' feelings towards Lucius. Even Gibeon's, maybe, if he held on to his feelings towards Lucius (whatever they were) for the past decades (and maybe at the cost of everything else... since it feels like he wants to settle something that is in relation to Lucius and that he won't get to rest until he does). Eternal feelings overcoming the passage of time, etc.

Anyway, pretty nice lyrics! It feels like a melancholic song, but also encouraging (the initial promo for the opening mentioned that it was a cheerful song, here). Reminds me a bit of Halo in some ways. Now, just to wait for the visuals.

[rising-volteccers]

I've been working on this piece slowly over a few months and finally had the motivation to complete it. This is just a self indulgent piece on the aftermath of HZ044-HZ045. Obvious spoilers for those episodes of course. I'm a bit rusty but hopefully it's still an enjoyable read!

Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Friede, Orla (Major) | Mollie, Murdock, Cap (Minor)

Warnings: Description of a character experiencing a panic attack

---

It's only after the kids have retired for the night that Friede calls for a private meeting. He doesn't have to elaborate on its reason, a quiet sort of understanding prevalent as they all made their way to the meeting room. 

Friede doesn't immediately enter once everyone else does. He stands outside, forehead pressed against the cool wall as he breathes deeply. Once, twice, three times. When he feels a little more centered, that's when Friede slips into the room.

Four sets of eyes turn to him. Graciously, no one comments on the tightness around his own eyes, the way his assuring smile is simply a knee jerk reaction in the face of trouble. It takes a moment for Friede to remember that he doesn't have to, and the smile drops.

Friede gracelessly drops onto his chair. Cap joins him moments later. Usually he perches on Friede's shoulder but his partner, likely sensing the heavy atmosphere, opts to stand on the table instead so he can get a proper view of everyone.

Heavy frowns marred all of their features. No one speaks for a good while, as if fearful of what'll spill out the moment this tentative silence is shattered. The Copperajah in the room is something that needed to be discussed but…

“... I'm glad that you're all alright,” Friede finally whispers. He can't easily shake off the pure dread upon seeing Rayquaza crash into the ship, to see the Brave Olivine fall out of the sky and towards the ocean. If not for Murdock's skill in making an emergency landing and his assuring call afterwards, he wouldn't have been able to focus on the immediate danger in front of him.

“Yeah, us too,” Orla responds steadily. Friede doesn't realize that his fists are clenched until Murdock's warm hand settles atop of them. Friede breathes out, recalls the exercise Mollie taught him. 

In for four, hold for seven, release for eight. Repeat until his head clears up.

Friede is grateful that they give him the time to ease himself back into someone that's not crumbling around the edges. That's better left in private, after he can have a moment to really let the severity of what happened sink in. 

Right now, Friede has to pull himself into the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers. They're turning to him for support and he'll do his best to become their pillar.

“Okay, so. How badly damaged is the ship?” Friede asks, turning his attention to Orla.

“I'll need time to properly assess it but it's bad enough that we won't be able to fly any time soon,” she replies, lips set into a thin frown. “This isn't like patching up holes. We just about fixed the damage done by that Orthworm last time but the damage here is to the balloon itself, not the ship.”

“Alright, so we're grounded until the balloon can be fixed. At least the ship can sail, so I'll see about getting permission to dock the ship at one of Levincia’s ports.” Friede supposed if there's one thing to be grateful for, is that they’re already close to a major city so that repairs can go underway as soon as Orla gets a full assessment. 

“How are the Pokemon? No one sustained any injuries?” Friede turns his attention to Mollie next. 

“All of them are understandably shaken. It's different from turbulence,” Mollie responds, leaning back against her chair. “Some stuff fell off the shelves but none of it hit the Pokemon. Chansey made sure to keep everyone calm while we made multiple trips towards land.”

“Good, good,” he mutters. It guts him inside to put the Pokemon through such a harrowing experience but at the very least, they’re in good hands with Mollie. Friede will bring Charizard to her later for a check-up.

Friede asks a few more questions about affected areas within the Brave Olivine before they tackle the next course of action: the repairs needed to be done.

“Orla, is the damage something you’re able to fix by yourself?” Friede questions.

She hums, arms crossed as her brows furrow in deep thought. “It’s definitely the most damage the ship’s experienced so far, and while I’ll need to get a good, proper look, I think I can fix it.”

That is gladdening news, even if it’s hard for Friede to feel properly happy about it. “Right. You’ll be having your hands full with it. As for the rest of us, we’re going to have to find ways in drumming up funds for the repair.” It’s not going to be cheap, that’s for certain.

“I know I saw an ad before in the city,” Murdock pipes up, having stayed silent for most of the conversation earlier. “About part-time work at Patisserie Soapberry in Cortondo. The bakery owned by Katy, the Gym Leader there.”

“I can do private consultations,” Mollie adds. “If we’re going to be grounded for a while, I can set something up on the ship. That, or I’ll do online consultations if safety’s a concern.”

“And I can offer online classes or take up researching gigs,” Friede says. “Or take on whatever jobs we get.” 

“That sounds good. Though, now the question is what are the kids going to do?” Murdock’s sporting a deep frown now. “I don’t want them to get bored staying here when we’re doing work.”

“Don’t worry about that.” For the first time since this meeting started, Friede’s lips from a small smile. “They’ve expressed interest in learning about Terastallization. I know someone that I can contact with so they can learn just that.”

He’s going to be pretty busy in the coming days. People to contact, plans to hash out, things to do. Nothing left to do but go at it full steam ahead if he wants the Brave Olivine to be airborne again. 

Seeing that it’s been a long, stressful day for everyone, Friede won’t hold them up any longer. He hangs back long enough to pass Charizard’s Pokeball to Mollie before returning back to his room with Cap trailing behind him. 

Inside, he finds the aftermath of such a violent collision. Anything that’s not taped down is strewn all over the floor. Fallen over books and research papers that are going to be a pain to rearrange greets him. 

Friede sighs deeply. He wants nothing more than to fall onto his bed and sleep but his head is still buzzing with all sorts of thoughts, wanting nothing more than to scratch the itch to be productive. He knows that he’ll feel much better later if he begins the task of cleaning his room up now.

After he hangs up his jacket and rolls up the sleeves of his shirt, Friede gets to work. 

------

It hits Friede thirty minutes later.

The mildly buzzing thoughts rush to the front of his mind all at once. A heavy weight drops in his stomach like an anvil. While he knows what’s happening logically, he's still powerless to stop his own spiraling. 

“Pika?”

Friede has experienced freefall before. Reckless flights on Charizard in his younger years meant instances where he flew too close to the sun. His body is like that right now, floaty in a way that gives him little control. Tremors ripple down his arms, causing his hands to start shaking. 

“Pikapi? Pika!”

Things could have gone terribly wrong. Every time he blinks, the scene plays out behind closed eyelids. The Brave Olivine with a gaping wound to its side falling into the ocean, most of the occupants inside powerless to do anything. 

He was powerless to do anything. 

Friede thinks Cap's trying to catch his attention. It's hard to tell over his increasingly labored breaths. He wants to carefully place the book down in a last ditch effort to exert control but he knows it's not working. 

Sadly, this isn't an unfamiliar sensation. Friede remembers the long and terrible nights where he questions his purpose in life, his brilliant mind viciously turning in on itself. All the times where he shook beneath the covers, grounded only by Charizard's head resting atop his legs. His partner is being checked up at the moment by Mollie after–everything.

Friede hates the cold but the trembles wracking his frame isn't caused by it. Muscle spasms perhaps from the sheer effort, futile as it is, to fight off his own thoughts and feelings. He sucks in air through the tiniest straw in the world and wheezes out a pathetic breath.

I should probably sit down, Friede thinks distantly, eyes flickering down towards his trembling hands. He quietly pleads for his emotions to give him more time to–not think about the memories that are coming out of their hiding place. Shoved to the darkest corners in the heat of the moment, prioritizing what’s in front of him (of Roy and Liko and Dot’s safety) instead of–

The Brave Olivine is fallingfallingfalling he’s not able to do ANYTHING but watch as his friendsfamilyhome falls out of the sky and they’re going to sink in the ocean they’re going to die–

Friede bites his lips, nails biting into the palm of his hands as he hunches over. His vision darkens, white sparks flashing behind closed eyelids from how tightly he squeezes them shut. His shaky legs stumble back, and he trips over nothing before he falls heavily onto his bed. A soft cry slips out when pain erupts from the back of his head as it smacks against the wall but he barely registers it. He’s too busy fighting back the stupid panic clawing at his chest, knowing that he’s being an idiot cause he’s fine, they’re all fine and well and present and they discussed on what to do so there’s no reason to dwell on it anymore.

Yet his ever traitorous mind keeps spinning what-ifs, of scenarios gone horribly, tragically wrong. People he’d have to contact, to comfort, to accept all the vitriol and hate from because he’s the leader so all of their safety should have been his top priority. Friede trusts his friends explicitly but he imagines they’d have regretted placing their trust on him. Can visually see their fear and terror and despair over having followed him in the first place cause now it’ll result in their untimely end.

Friede’s eyes burn. Amidst the sharp panic, he distantly feels a bitter anger growing in himself, at himself, and it’s not helping any. His chest hurt, his head ached, his everything is one giant mass of agony. He hates it. Hates it so so much cause now he’s being reminded just how much it hurts to be afraid.

Above all else, Friede is afraid. Terrified. He’s faced the world with reckless abandon that seeing how his world can easily crumble is a harsh smack to the face. 

He whines softly. Unsure whether the chill he feels now is real, Friede still tries to pull his blanket up to cover himself, hoping that the soft fabric is able to secure him in a way that he’s incapable of. His shaky hands struggle to get a solid grip, and for some reason, this small inconvenience is what finally made the tears bubble over. 

Arceus, this is such a stupid thing to cry over. (In between choked sobs, he fights for air). Friede’s just making a mountain out of an Excadrill hill. (He’s convinced he’s drowning). Everyone’s fine. (He feels lightheaded). The ship is grounded and in need of repairs but with Orla’s handiwork, it’ll be fit to sail in no time. (Black spots dances around his vision). He’s fine so why is he–?

“Friede!”

Warm hands gently enveloped his tight fists. A soft voice gently shushes into his ears.

“It’s going to be alright.” One of his hands is maneuvered into pressing against a soft surface. Vaguely, he feels the gentle rise and fall beneath his palm.

“Try and follow my breathing, okay?”

As he blinks waterlogged eyes, the orange blob slowly sharpens into a familiar face. It’s Orla, sweet, kind Orla who’s looking at him with such soft concern in her eyes. 

Friede doesn’t deserve it. She would have been in the engine room, the first place that would’ve exploded had the ship crashed. The thought causes his breath to hitch, triggering a fit of watery coughs that renewed his tears.

“O-Orla,” he gasps. “I’m–I’m so s-sorry–”

“Shh, none of that now,” Orla gently shushes him. “Just focus on my breathing, okay? I know you can do it. In… Out… In… Out…”

He still desperately wants to apologize but the want to appease her is stronger. So Friede tries his best to follow along. He feels her drawing in a long, deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before slowly exhaling. Orla repeats this for the next couple of minutes, purposefully exaggerating the sound of each inhale and exhale so Friede can more easily follow along.

Friede focuses everything into following along, and soon enough he’s doing it more of his own volition than simply copying Orla’s motions. Slowly but surely, his mind winds down from the nigh high panic it was in before. At some point, one of Orla’s hands gently settles on the nape of his sweaty neck, easing his head down into resting atop her chest. 

Orla’s steady heartbeat further grounds him. It enables him to focus on the fact that she’s alive, unlike what his mind tries to claim earlier. Friede sighs quietly, frozen in this position for what feels like hours until Orla speaks up.

“Hey, are you back with me now?”

“Yeah,” he mouths, then clears his throat to say in a steadier voice. “Yeah, ‘m good now.”

Orla hums in response, and while she seems content to leave him like this for as long as he wants, Friede now feels the deep pangs of shame hitting him. Biting his inner cheek, he slowly pushes himself off of Orla, quickly turning his head to swipe at his eyes. It’s a feeble attempt of regaining back his tattered pride, not when a brief glance at her showcases the evidence of his breakdown on her shirt.

“So… I’d ask if you’re alright but–” Orla gestures lightly between the two of them. “–I’m guessing that’s not the case.”

“I’m sorry,” Friede coughs, feelings his cheeks burn in embarrassment. “I–I didn’t expect you to…”

“Oh, Cap came to get me,” Orla says, sporting a faint smile. “He seems–insistent that I follow him, so I did. And I’m glad.”

Right, Cap would do that. His partner always looked out for him, and in a situation where he’s unable to Volt Tackle his way through, it’s reasonable to assume that he’ll seek out someone who can deal with the issue. 

Friede’s grateful, even if it’s something that he’ll realize much later. Right now, he’s battling both shame and exhaustion. His brows furrow from the stress of it all, but they smoothed out when Orla pressed her finger against his forehead.

“I can practically hear the gears turning in that big noggin’ of yours,” she states. “Whatever it is, stop it. I know you’re going to just work yourself up again.”

Her light tone manages to make the corners of his lip quirk up. Friede’s eyes shift downwards and to the right, unable to properly meet her gaze.

“Heh, you know me well.” The faint smile drops moments later. He’s quiet for awhile, and Orla seems to understand that he needs time to regroup his thoughts. Once again, Friede’s grateful, even if there’s a part of him that thinks it’s undeserved.

“Look, with what happened today…” Friede swallows through the heavy lump in his throat. “It… it could’ve ended up a lot worse than it did. I’m sorry, it’s all my fau–hey!” 

The sudden flick to his forehead cuts off his apology. Friede instinctively covers the sting with his hand, looking confused at Orla.

Orla gazes back, nods once before lowering her hand. She crosses her arms. “Sorry but it sounded to me that you were trying to apologize for something that was completely out of your power.”

“But–”

“Nu-uh. All of us agreed to go. We all understood the risks of going up against the Explorers and Rayquaza.”

“Yes, but–”

“What happened was something no one could’ve expected. The ship suffered damage but everyone got out of it safely, did we not?”

“Yeah but it–”

“Should be all that matters, yes? Then I don’t see why–”

“Because you all trusted me, okay!?” Friede doesn’t mean to raise his voice but it does surprise Orla into silence. He covers half of his face with his hand, heaving out a deep sigh. “I’m the captain of the Rising Volt Tacklers. All of you trusted me and that trust nearly got you all killed.”

Friede closes his eyes, unwilling to see what kind of expression Orla makes. That only serves to make him vulnerable to the next flick on his forehead, this one seemingly harder than the last.

“Ow! Why do you keep doing that!?” Friede’s a bit annoyed now, gaze narrowing at Orla.

“It’s because someone’s being an idiot right now,” Orla replies, meeting his eyes with an unimpressed look of her own. “Look, do you trust me to make sure the ship’s engine runs smoothly?”

“Yeah?” Despite the confused note to it, he responds without any hesitation.

“Do you trust Mollie to look after the Pokemon in the event of an emergency?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, then do you trust Murdock to steer the ship in the event that you’re unable to?”

“Of course.”

“So we trusted you to look after the kids and deal with whatever trouble that came their way, simple as that,” Orla concluded. “I can confidently say that as infuriating as you can get, no one here regrets trusting you Friede.”

Stunned into silence, he remains still when Orla reaches out to bump her fist against his chest. “So put you trust in that at least.”

Friede stares down at the fist. Abruptly, he exhales deeply, shoulders dropping. “Alright, you made your point Orla.”

When she puts it like that, Friede can’t help but think his previous thoughts were silly. It deepens the embarrassment he feels earlier, though he also feels like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders. At the same time, the physical and emotional exhaustion of today hits him like a full bodied Volt Tackle. 

“I think it’s better for you to get some rest,” Orla gently suggests. Friede thinks he nodded at her suggestion, though it’s hard to tell when it feels like his head is stuffed with cotton. There seems to be hands helping him lay down, and when his head hits the pillow, his blanket is covering him. 

“Mmm… but I still gotta…”

“Shh… don’t worry about everything.” A gentle hand settles over his forehead, slowly sliding down till it covers his eyes. “Just rest. Trust us to keep everything safe, okay?”

Trust. That’s something he can do.

[jadeazora]

The new OP is so good! Seems Gibeon might be taking a more active role soon? Also, a woman used to travel with him and Lucius, and is shown holding Terapagos! (I wonder if it'll be the same woman Liko will see at the Crystal Pool!)

[scraftyisthebest]

Spinel and Chalce both posing as legal employee positions in different places, and both wearing glasses no less. Spinel is disguised as a member of Exceed, a company Friede used to work for and is still more or less affiliated with and using that to spy on Friede himself as well as his crew. Meanwhile, Chalce is disguised as a teacher at Naranja Academy, where Liko, Roy, and Dot are currently attending as students, to spy on them, having Coral and Sidian serving her as students to help her spy on the kids.

These two are a pretty unique duo of admins in the Explorers. Spinel is posing as a researcher in a research company, while Chalce is posing as a teacher in an academy. Those two positions stand out as one thing in common: the main specialties of a professor, and these positions involve studying.

Spinel and Chalce are both infiltrating these places to act as spies watching the Rising Volt Tacklers as per Gibeon's command, but the fact that it's these two specifically really strikes, and in the way they do it. The first we hear of them together is when Hamber is told they're together in a lab. They often coordinate and lead operations, either one or the other, or both together.

These two really strike as both intellectuals among the Explorers, who are both scientists of some sorts, and they are the "brains" of the group, gathering intel and information, designing technology, and planning operations, being the strategists behind the Explorers and their operations.

The two of them together specialize in research and information and they also seem to have a knack for infiltrating into places with disguises no less. What's interesting is that despite being admins of the Explorers, they seem to be esteemed intellectuals themselves with a positive public reputation that allows them to get into teaching/researching positions legally to have those serve as their legal venture covers for their shady undercover Explorers missions.

The dichotomy between their main partner Pokemon really highlights a unique contrast between Spinel and Chalce, however. Umbreon is a Dark-type, while Medicham is primarily a Fighting-type and a Psychic-type secondarily. Both of these types are sort of counterparts to the Dark-type, which helps to contrast Spinel and Chalce's characters in a way. Dark-type and Psychic-type are both types based on high intellect, with the Dark-type being based on smart strategy and cunning, and the Psychic-type being the mind power type and associated with high intelligence to manipulate energy. This helps to highlight Spinel and Chalce as both intellectuals who are the brains of their organization. Meanwhile Dark-type and Fighting-type contrast as both combat oriented types, but the Dark-type is all about dirty fighting, using such cunning strategy that Dark-types aren't above dirty fighting and unfair tactics, while the Fighting-type is a physical combat type, but involves sheer strength and more head-on attack. This highlights the difference in Spinel and Chalce's methods when they do their missions. Spinel tends to hide in the shadows, never showing his face, while he commands his Pokemon remotely, representative of the Dark-type, and when he does fight he uses unfair tactics such as using his Beheeyem to immobilize his opponent then have Magneton fire Zap Cannons while they're incapacitated, or keeping his Umbreon and having it attack Liko, Roy, and Dot from the shadows. Meanwhile Chalce tends to be more directly involved in her missions, directly leading the attack on the Black Rayquaza using her machine to lure it in, then attack it head-on before trying to catch it, having Coral and Sidian serve as additional firepower.

Their movesets also contrast, since Spinel's Umbreon has Snarl (low power but ranged and lowers firepower), Reflect (a defensive move), Foul Play (uses the opponent's strength against it), and Quick Attack, a fast and speedy strike. This shows Spinel's more deceitful, yet defensive type of character, hiding himself and trying to protect himself, refusing to interact with others directly, while trying to outsmart his opponents from afar, making sneaky attacks on them, lowering their power, and using their strength against them. Meanwhile Chalce's Medicham has Psybeam (a ranged attack) and Zen Headbutt (a direct head-on attack), and it most likely has High Jump Kick as well, which is also a powerful melee attack. This makes Chalce come across as a more head-on type of commander and strategist, being more direct and confrontational, and simply trying to overwhelm her opponents with as much sheer power as possible.

Meanwhile Coral and Sidian are well established to be a duo. They seem to be the "brawns" of the Explorers: they don't really offer much in the research side of things, but they're seemingly mainly there for their strength as Trainers, and they both absolutely enjoy a good battle where they can go all out and unleash their strength. They often are so eager to fight that they may disobey orders from higher-ups to get involved in the action and have their "fun", to the annoyance of the rest of their fellow admins. They're often brought along by Spinel, Chalce, and Hamber on missions to serve as additional strength and firepower, their battle prowess often helping to take down opponents as they need to.

Meanwhile their main partners, Glalie and Garganacl, complement each other and highlight the contrasts of their characters, and also have an interesting double-edged relationship against Liko and Roy's partners, Sprigatito (now Floragato) and Fuecoco. Coral's Glalie is an Ice-type, while Sidian's Garganacl is a Rock-type, and both are primarily offensively oriented types and heavily based on solid physical matter, with the defensive properties of their types reflecting this, which highlights that both are battle lovers who are all about dishing out the dirt. Coral's Glalie is an Ice-type, which is aggressively glass cannon and offensive, and also very much associated with cold, which highlights her more volatile and aggressive nature in an odd way and also her selfishness. She's very high energy and prone to getting angry over things not going her way. Sidian's Garganacl is a Rock-type which is more slow and durable, and has some resistances to boot, which shows Sidian's more stoic and serious personality and that he's overall much calmer and reserved, and overall relatively affable, but stoic being the key, since he's hard as a rock in a sense.

Coral's Glalie has Blizzard, Ice Spinner, Crunch, and Self-Destruct, the latter being a suicidal move, showing Coral's aggressiveness and her hot temper and tendency to blow up at even the slightest provocation. Sidian's Garganacl has Salt Cure (deals passive damage afterwards), Stone Edge, and Wide Guard, the latter showing his more protective and reserved nature, since he watches over and "protects" Coral in a way.

Meanwhile their partners' types have a two-way relationship with Liko's Grass-type Floragato and Roy's Fire-type Fuecoco, the latter of which are elemental types. Both of them will likely eventually evolve all the way to Meowscarada and Skeledirge, but that's beside the point. Liko's Floragato is advantaged against Sidian's Garganacl, but disadvantaged against Coral's Glalie, meanwhile Roy's Fuecoco is disadvantaged against Sidian's Garganacl, and advantaged against Coral's Glalie, a two way street on all ends. Since a close rivalry and contrast is developing between these two duos in particular, the dichotomy really shines through this here.

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Thoughts on both of these duos, especially after the recent episodes.

[kurayamineko]

Liko going through her own Shibuya Incident out here