#she really likes colress... will always listen to he...

[shepherd-tothestars]

@aachromaa answered:

 ❝ miss zossie! i am delighted to see you again. ❞ colress hummed and flashed the young ultra human a smile, before nodding his head affirmatively. ❝ yes, i have been to the GREAT CRATER OF PALDEA before! i’ve been there a few times, actually. located inside the great crater is a place called AREA ZERO. ❞

 the doctor hesitated. he knew better than to openly discuss the secrets of area zero, when he was so generously entrusted with them in the first place. to break the TRUST of his closest colleagues, even for the ultra recon squad…

 too much has already been lost down there. i cannot lose them to that hellscape, too.

 ❝ … access to the crater is restricted for good reason, my dear. its geography is unlike that of which you have ever seen, and the life forms down there possess power that could rival the power of the BLINDING ONE. even the STRONGEST pokémon trainers are RISKING THEIR VERY LIVES when they enter area zero. several scientists have lost their lives to the HORRORS that dwell within the crater’s depths. ❞

 colress bent down to zossie’s height and took her hands into his, insistent on getting his point across. as his piercing golden gaze met hers, he uttered, ❝ you, nor any member of the ultra recon squad should enter that crater without explicit permission and guidance from the area zero research team, of which i am naught but an honorary member of by association. i cannot stop you from pursuing permission to enter the crater, but i implore you to heed my warning, and the warnings of others. you must not enter area zero. do you understand, zossie? ❞

"It's really that bad...? As strong as the Blinding One?" She could hardly imagine anything like that. There were only two 'pokemon' in URS records that rivalled the power of Necrozma, that being its natural rival Eternatus and the Original One itself. The notion made her more curious, but equally fearful. There was absolutely no reason to distrust Colress and his warnings.

"Oh you've gotta tell all this to Dulse... He has talked about entering with or without human given permission already. Hearing talk of weird creatures in there get his sort of UB-excitement going... But there's no Ultra Beasts in Area Zero, are there???" To think that there were possibly undiscovered Ultra Beasts. That was highly unlikely, but it would definitely draw her partner as long as the possibility remained.

"What's really in there..??? If you tell us, we might not need to do any research there after all. We're mostly here to study Tera Energy, and it's at its strongest in the crater... If it's really too dangerous, we'll have to work around it..." Her anxious eyes gazed at his for advice. They didn't want to turn up with nothing, nor did she want themselves to end up entirely endangered. Zossie wasn't exactly sure how to go about this.

Then again, if Colress had been there but came out fine... Surely they could, too. As long as they had the right guidance.

[crystalelemental]

Full tier list is here, breakdown of D-tier. I can generally be inclined to like these ones, but you know. They're a little lacking.

Mallow: Couldn't tell you why, but I cannot get into her games iteration. Anime Mallow's cool, and dating Lillie.

Chuck: I love Johto, I'm a bit biased.

Cheren: My wife will be mad, but I think he's kinda bland. His arc doesn't feel like it goes very far.

N: Now this is potentially controversial. I don't really care about N. I think he's kind of uninteresting. There are tidbits of interest, but I think he fails to seriously stick the landing as a dude with stuff going on, and is also like weirdly belligerent when you disagree with him on literally anything.

Pryce: Johto fan, sorry.

Melli: Listen. He's a bitch. I kinda love that for him.

Dreyden: Neat dragon man.

Roark/Kiawe: Sure.

Brycen: I kinda like that he acts as a villain, but otherwise not doing much.

Roxie: I owe an apology to someone, but I stand by it. She's not that interesting to me.

Juniper: she's a decently fun professor figure.

Arezu: she's kinda cute, has a bit of attitude, the game doesn't lean into much with her though.

Ryme: I couldn't tell you. I just didn't feel it. I'm not happy about it either. This is the unfair one.

Olympia: uninteresting.

Grusha: Volkner vibes, but at least he feels young and like there's a reason for his ennui given his snowboarding career's end.

Acerola: kinda quirky but does very little.

Tulip: just doesn't exude much.

Zisu: she's fun enough.

Kamado: Kind of a shithead but I think for interesting reasons. Still don't like him.

Dendra/Miriam: Sure, I'll ship that on the side.

Mai: Daybreak made me like her less. Oops.

Rose: Dude you are so close to being Lysandre-esque but you just miss the mark.

Colress: I legitimately don't know what the point of you is. Seriously, why are you here? What's your goal?

Brawly/Sidney/Phoebe/Aaron: they're fine.

Brock: The anime did not grip me, and he does nothing otherwise.

Nessa: Just never felt the connection.

Oak: "Oh, the most esteemedest professor ever who-" did fuck-all. His only achievement was the Pokedex, and invention we find out is at least two centuries old. Get with it.

Allister: boring.

Karen/Bruno: E4 members I feel very little about.

Elm: I always felt some like because Johto but he really is like the least interesting professor in some ways.

Milo/Byron: sure.

Raifort: Listen to me. I should love her but for some reason I cannot get into it. I could not tell you what the blockage is, I just cannot connect with her.

Hapu: we need to talk about her hands. Those are not hands a human has.

Villain flunkies: these ones have personality!

Zossie/Dulse: I don't remember Ultra Moon's goons but I hated them. These two had a cuter dynamic so I had a bit of attachment, but very little.

Drayton: kind of a punk bitch. I am down for his dynamic with Carmine, but not because of him. I think she should break his bones.

Palmer: he's fine I guess.

Crispin: exudes nothing.

Riley/Marley: sure.

Saturn/Jupiter: less personality than Mars.

Petrel: My man, but he is still a Rocket.

Plumeria: being Team Mom to the goon squad does nothing for me.

Camera lady: Literally forgot her name. WAIT PERRIN! I don't care about her. I do not find her pretty and hate her outfit.

Green: she has some quirkiness but they don't really let her do anything fun.

Protag squad: sure.

Masters squad: Masters OCs do nothing for me, sorry. I think gacha OCs are more in the way than anything.

[rainbowrocketquotes]

random little post to spruce up the posting on here because I live and die by the queue function and by god have I been forgetting to add to it

presenting: what music I think the villains listen to

//note : this is based mostly off of people I associate with the villains because everyone I hang out with is a music freak. if you think an 50 hour playlist is bad, wait until you get a hold of my best friend's 600 hour one

Giovanni

No way in hell this man isn't a swing fan. His playlist is exclusively 50's—70's and there is no coherent genre. If you listen to music with him you could be vibing to Marvin Gaye and then Elvis could come on.

Maxie

Pry Roar and The Front Bottoms from his cold, dead hands. Just BIG Folk Punk vibes from him. Also, a good amount of Alt-Rock. His guilty pleasure, though? Country music. He's probably the one that listens to the most music, just because he feels like the kind of guy that can't work without background noise.

Archie

Very well rounded, says he doesn't have a preference, but has a slight one for rock music. Specifically he enjoys 80s & 90s metal. He feels like the kind of guy to be really into Megadeth. Maybe sprinkle some Tech N9ne in there for flavor.

Cyrus

Realistically he's definitely a full Alternative fan. I think he's super into Weirdcore (See: Lemon Demon, Will Wood) but would never admit it. He also listens to Emo Rap and Russian Rap on occasion but doesn't really consider them favourites. He pretends he doesn't like music, though, so he only really gets to listen to what other people force him to.

Ghetsis

Screamo, next question—

Kidding, but he really does like screamo, metal, and hard rock. He'll pretend he only likes vague classical music to seem more mysterious and then you look at his history and it's all Slaughter to Prevail and Korn.

Colress

I like to think he doesn't really listen to music in his free time. He usually listens to whatever is on, which is usually Ghetsis's screamo. He keeps him from ruining speakers. He does enjoy Green Day, though, and some Olivia Rodrigo.

Lysandre

He really likes single instrument covers, especially violin. Absolute Lindsey Stirling fanboy. Also enjoys Lana Del Rey and MARINA a lot. Those kinds of pop artists, you know?

Guzma

He's definitely the most well-rounded with his tastes, mostly because he listens to a lot of it. He listens to a lot of pre-2010s hip-hop & rnb. He loves dance music and electronica as well, and generally just a lot of old school stuff. Anything from 2pac to Gewn Stefani, baby. Mood/genre-switched covers are also a thing, and just covers in general. Catch him in his room at 2am listening to egg on repeat (then back away awkwardly and shut the door because he gets too into it and starts crying).

Lusamine

Listens to a lot of what Lysandre does. Lorde, Billie Eilish, anything hard pop that can pass as alternative. Nobody will ever trust her with the aux/bluetooth/radio/etc. because she always plays music nobody likes. She once got into a fight with Cyrus on what is and isn't alternative music and he didn't speak to her for a month after.

Bonuses, villains I don't include on the blog

Rose

Classical music. Bach & Chopin always playing from his office. More for ominous ambiance than anything, but he does genuinely enjoy it.

Oleana

She doesn't really listen to music, but she likes rap. She won't go out of her way to listen to anything, though.

Volo

Echoey latin chants with ambient noises in the background /hj. If he was in the modern day, I think he'd like NF and Panic! At the Disco.

[raising-harmony]

Alright listen well and listen closely, you're going to thank me in the long run. The girls are pretty easy, they'll get used to the situation pretty quickly, N is the issue child here.

Let's start off with the fact he bites, touch him he'll bite you, stress him out and he'll bite himself. I'm not sure if Colress packed the necklaces Ghetsis got for him to bite on but I don't think it'd be much help because of how stressed he is. He'll also growl at you, that's enviable. He's also not very good at articulating his thoughts in English that well and I'm sure the stress of the situation is only going to make that worse.

Also, and I can not express this enough, KEEP YOUR EYES ON HIM. He can run away at any point, he's done it multiple times and you live near a forest, if you lose him you won't find him. Pokemon are your best friends in this situation, he feels calm and safe beside them, so it's best to have one of your Pokemon be at his side at all costs to make sure he feel at least a bit of stability and won't completely disappear on you.

And between you and us, far away from the children, when Colress said "a bit of an injury," that was a severe understatement. Can't talk about it much mostly to preserve Ghetsis's privacy but he's fine but your cooperation in caring for these kids is crucial right now and you're quite literally the only one who can do it.

So just keep calm, remember what we've told you, and don't lose them.

That's.. a lot to unpack. Phew.

Biting, huh? I'm kinda surprised Ghetsis would let a habit like that slide. Guess he's more patient with his kids than I thought to give him credit for. I'll check their bags for those necklaces- maybe it won't help now, but I'm sure N'll use them once he calms down a bit. Jeez, they packed a lot. Just how long are they planning on staying?

I'll be honest, some of this I already figured out just trying to get him in the house. He wouldn't budge at all, not even for his sisters. He was real scared of me... Well, he still is. Ryuki thought to try and get Patch- his dragonair, I think you all are familiar already- to entice him inside, but he just wasn't having it. He basically had to be dragged in by the girls, 'cause as soon as I tried to reach for him myself, he bared his teeth at me. Ideals, that gave me a real scare! I didn't think he'd actually go for it, but you're not even the only person on here to try and warn me that he bites, so I reckon I was right to pull away. Once he was inside, he flopped down against the door and just started crying. Patch laid her head in his lap. I feel bad for the kid. I'm not real good with verbal comfort, especially for a little one who I don't know what he's been through, or uh, know at all for that matter. There wasn't much I could do for him.

So, a runaway and a biter.. This is gonna be tricky. I think I still have some child locks from when Ryuki was little, maybe up in the attic. I'll have to go look. At least we have plenty of pokémon he can get along with. Seems like that Colress guy didn't drop off any pokémon with them, so I guess they don't have any of their own for comfort.

Thankfully, the two girls have been alright so far. Anthea introduced herself and the others- she's very polite, actually, but it's not really surprising knowing her father. Always big on presentation, that man. Concordia is a little less forthcoming, but certainly not as bad as her brother. She's mostly been letting Anthea do the talking and is sticking with N, I assume to make sure he doesn't do anything reckless, but she came over to shake my hand and say hello at one point.

And about that last part-- what do you mean a severe understatement? Is he really fine? This has me pretty worried for him. I hope he's alright. I know we have a weird history, but I really have no ill will towards him... This whole situation is awfully concerning. All three of them look downright traumatized, it's just that Anthea and Concordia are managing it better than N is. Did they see whatever happened to Ghetsis..?

Anyways.. I'll take all of this into consideration, thank you. The heads up is greatly appreciated. I'd hate to have to figure most of this out through trial and error.

Just as an aside, though, how did you even know what Colress told me?

[humming-pokemon-helpers]

[It’s another video! (a-a bit late... pzzt... d-definitely wasn't editing...) This one seems to be taken mid-battle, the winter sun starting to set a bit early.

Shaking off a wave of paralysis is a familiar-yet-different face. Fruit Rollup the Scolipede roars with booming noise, making her trainer cover their own ears for a moment before calling for a Megahorn.

Cheri stands still, taking in the spectacle for a moment, before snapping back and calling out an order of her own.

"Button!! Spore!!"

The Amoonguss puffs itself out, but can't move quick enough to put the hulking centipede to sleep before the Megahorn connects. After he stumbles the first time, Cheri recalls the Pokémon, laughing a little.

"Ahh... guess I really never was your rival, huh?? Good match!!"

Vanilla recalls Fruit Rollup to her Luxury Ball as well, nodding in acknowledgment. She then turns to Cheri.

"You know, for somebody who said 'let's battle while we talk', there wasn't a lot of talk..."

"What can I say, I got distracted!! You really are Champion-Class. But I think I've got my thoughts in order, so..."

The girl's gaze flicks to Vanilla and back, as if acting permission, before she shakes some sort of intangible weight off her shoulders. Her next words are spoken... more sincerely, or at least with a less saccharine tone.

"Okay, one last time. Properly. I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I know it's selfish at this point, and if you never want to see me again..."

She pauses, considering her words as she fidgets with her ribbon-shaped earring.

"I mean... I'd be a little sad, not going to lie!! I mean... knowing that you still call yourself by that name... and getting to see you doing so much better than when I met you the first time... it was amazing, really!! I mean, I always wanted to be somebody important, somebody who matters, even if it was just as a professor or something, and then I saw you again, and you're... amazing. I know you think you're not, but I don't think normal people fight legendary sword Pokémon! I got to see Cobalion face-to-face because of you!"

Vanilla crosses their arms as they listen. There's a sound like somebody clearing their throat, and Cheri shrinks a little as she gets to the point.

"...Um, what I was trying to get to is, it's still okay! I fucked everything up and I know it!! I should've known it was weird that I got offered a job right when I met you again!! I should've especially known since--"

There's a rough static noise and the camera pans off of the pair for a moment. The only explanation is a small caption at the bottom of the video that says: sorry! audio problems, pzzt!

When the camera pans back after a good minute or two, Cheri's still speaking, though in response to something.

"Nonono, you're right, that's not an excuse, I should've just told you what he was doing!! ...Wait, shit, speaking of! I wanted to give this to you too-- it's nothing weird, I promise!!"

Cheri digs in her pockets for a moment, knocking a tube of lip gloss to the ground that her Gothitelle restores to her pocket. Finally, she pulls out what looks like an overdesigned pager, and holds it out to Vanilla.

"Gotcha!!"

"It looks like... a pager? Oh, wait, is this from Colress, or..."

"You got it!! I... didn't know what to do with it, so I kept it with me!! But now it's been making these weird noises..."

Vanilla flinches a bit, but takes the pager into her hands, looking it over.

“What kinds of noises? Could it be some sort of interference, or somebody else in the system?”

“Like… static, wind, fragments of a Pokémon cry… it can’t be Aspear, though. It’s pretty much Colress directly to us and back… he was pretty clear the “child” pagers don’t talk to each other. So either it’s Colress, or it’s somewhere he left this thing, or someone else who found it, but… that guy doesn’t usually drop stuff!!”

“Okay, so… weird, accidental transmissions. Or maybe purposeful, wouldn’t put it past him. How far do these pagers work from…?”

“Oh, the range is crazy high, but to go across dimensions, that’d be…”

“Probably not. You’re right. So, then… he’s presumably at least on the planet again.”

“Right! I knew you’d get it. Which is why I sent you Fluffybutt… oh!! Yeah!! The nickname!! What were you thinking…?”

Vanilla shuffles the Vanillite’s Pokéball into his right hand and holds it out.

“Chibi’s fine. But what do you mean, that’s why you sent me a Vanillite.”

Cheri takes the Pokéball and sets to work at something in her Pokédex.

“Chibi… Chibi… I-B-I. Alright!! Sorry, I just… thought it’d make a funny joke… but here’s Chibi."

Cheri tosses the Poké Ball back at Vanilla with decent accuracy, but the hybrid fumbles the thing, sending Chibi out instead. The little Pokémon laughs with joy, hovering behind Vanilla's head.

"I got him because I wanted you to stay safe!! You know this little guy’s got top IVs too, right? And I told him to get suuuuuper tough!!"

Vanilla locks eyes with the little menace behind them.

"Oh. So that's why he's... like that? Unstoppable bloodlust? I don't need some sort of guard..."

"Really?? I thought that's why you were traveling with that girl... right?? Or did you finally--"

"Stop. I'm not doing this with you, truth and ideals. I thought you didn't get along with her, anyways."

"We don't, obviously! But it's not like I've got a shot anymore, so I might as well spectate!! Whatever keeps you safe, anyways. I'd feel terrible if I let you get hurt again!! So... please stay safe?"

Vanilla pauses for a moment, head turned, as they process the sharp turns in those few sentences. Finally, they just offer their hand.

"Wasn't planning on not staying safe. But if it helps you sleep, I guess..."

Cheri jumps at the offer, grabbing Vanilla's hand with both of hers eagerly. She nearly pulls the other into a hug, before an extended hand pushes her back just enough.

"Thank you thank you thank you! You know you really matter to me, right? I can't not worry! I'm not that selfish!"

"...Thanks. I think you matter too, I just... would maybe prefer to keep it to memories..."

End video.]

[yuu-the-pokemon-trainer-of-nrc]

Consider supporting me on Ko-fi.

(Click for better quality)

I caught the Pokémon fever and I felt the urge to draw Yuu as a Pokémon trainer!

I kinda want to make a new AU where Yuu actually comes from the Pokémon world as well as update her BIO. Also I’m thinking of changing the color her school uniform’s vest.

Also, in this AU I think with her Pokémon by her side, she’s a lot more confident enough to think she would have no need to disguise herself as a boy. So this is what her uniform would look like:

Backgrounds I used:

Name: Yuu

Gender: Female

Age: 18 (I know I said she was 16 before, but now I want to change it 😖)

BIO: (It got a bit long, so I hid it under cut)

In the world of Pokémon, Yuu was originally from Opelucid City in Unova with her single mother. They were a poor family and her mother stressed day after day, trying to make ends meet while also putting up with the other responsibilities that came with being a parent. What set her over the edge was when Team Plasma attacked the city and froze it in ice along with their home. This made Yuu’s mother decide to put her in foster care in Castelia City in hopes another family would come and take better care of her daughter. That’s what she said, but when Yuu looked at her mother’s face she couldn’t help but see a bit of relief in her eyes. After that, Yuu mostly kept to herself, not really interacting with the other kids, blindly hoping that her mother would return once she’s more financially stable, but she never did...

One day, when she and the other foster kids were out and about the city (with adult supervision of course), enjoying their Casteliacones, a Patrat swiftly took Yuu’s remaining cone! She chased after it down in one of the alley’s, and hid around the corner and made a big discovery! The Patrat was actually a disguised Zorua! After hearing his stomach growl even after he scoffed the cone down, Yuu felt sorry for the illusion Pokémon and approached it. Zorua growled as Yuu settled down her backpack to take out her lunch bag and revealed it’s contents to him. “You need it more than I do. Take it.” She got up and left to return to her group, leaving behind a very confused Zorua. Oddly enough, Yuu met Zorua again shortly on the same day. After finishing most of her lunch Zorua saved an apple and followed her home to return it. (Disguised of course) But even with the disguise, she recognized the apple immediately and could see right through Zorua. Since then the two would meet when Yuu had the time and bring Zorua some food and she would chat and play with him. Sometimes she would talk about something funny she saw on TV, or go ranting about how annoyed she gets with grown ups pestering her about playing with the other kids when she wasn’t even interested. The only game she was interested in was Hide n Seek, but was then banned from playing it by the adults for being too good at it. And couldn’t even talk about Pokémon with the other kids without talking like a “stuck up know-it-all”. As well as talk about her dream of finally becoming a Pokémon trainer and go wherever she wanted without any kids or adults telling her what she can or can’t do. Zorua would then bark at her like he understood what she meant, and for the first time, she felt she finally has a friend/ally.

Then one day, one of the other kids leading a group traced back to where she had been meeting Zorua and found him, and by the time Yuu got there, she was horrified to find the kids circling and ganging up on a distressed Zorua - wanting to touch his ears and tail. At first, Yuu froze in fear, fear that now the kids know where her special meeting place with Zorua was, fear that Zorua might think she betrayed his trust by telling them about this place, but as Zorua cried out - Yuu snapped. Pushing all the other kids away, shielding Zorua, Yuu yelled at them to leave Zorua alone. It did not sit well with the biggest kid, who shoved Yuu to the ground, which angered Zorua! Zorua then used scratch on the kid and used his power of illusions to change into a Hydreigon! Not realizing it was an illusion, the kids ran away, crying and screaming. This greatly relieved Yuu, believing this event would make the kids think twice before messing with them again. However, that sense of security was short-lived ‘cuz shortly after it, she was confronted by the adults who run the foster home as well as a policeman, who was holding a struggling Zorua by the fur collar. Yuu was scolded for attacking the other kids while also making contact with a dangerous wild Pokémon that had a history of stealing food from tourists and local alike and now has attacked a defenseless child. Yuu tried to explain that Zorua was starving and how those kids were scaring him and the only reason he attacked was because she was shoved. But her explanations fell on deaf ears as the policeman said he’ll take Zorua somewhere far away from Castelia City. All Yuu could think of was that she was about to lose her only friend and will be left alone with kids who hate her. Not wanting to bear with that reality, she charged for the Policeman, kicking his shin which was enough to make him to lose his grip enough for Zorua to wriggle away free. And the two both charged out into the alleyways of Castelia City.

Since then, Yuu was a small child with a Zorua on the run. The police were frantic about searching for them, but thanks to Yuu’s cleverness when it comes to Hide n Seek and Zorua’s illusions, it made it all too easy to give them the slip. They were together, but unfortunately they had to steal food in order to get by. One of these thefts lead to a fateful encounter with a certain mad scientist by the name of... Colress.

While he was enjoying his newfound freedom from police custody at a café, Yuu swiped one of his pastries. And of course, it had to take one misstep to alert Colress that he was being stolen from which prompt Yuu to run as if her life depended on it. But as she regrouped with Zorua, they were suddenly surrounded by Colress’ Klingklang, Magnezone, and Porygon-2. With KlingKlang using protect from Zorua’s attacks, they had no way of getting out of it. But even then, Yuu refused to give up if it meant that she and Zorua will be separated. Seeing her bond with Zorua as well as her ability to give Zorua commands despite not even old enough to become a trainer, Colress’ interest was piqued and the gears of his mind started to turn. He held off his Pokémon’s attack, and met with Yuu at eye-level to ask her about her story with Zorua. At first, Yuu refused saying he’s just another adult who would never listen to her or give her the time of day, only for him to respond that it’s quite the contrary. Something about his eyes told Yuu that this isn’t something he would lie about and she reluctantly told him about her situation.

And Yuu didn’t know how (and was too afraid to ask), but somehow Colress was able to convince the people at her foster care to let him take custody of her as her guardian as well as convince the Police to let Zorua off. But one thing she did ask is why he decided to help her and Zorua out in the first place, his response was, “Because I firmly believe that someone should never be separated from a Pokémon they have a clear bond with. No matter what age they may be.”

And since then, Yuu and Zorua were always together. And though Colress was her guardian, he was never a father-figure for Yuu. Yes, he did provide Yuu and Zorua food and shelter, as well as Yuu’s education. But he never hid the fact that he saw the bond between Yuu and Zorua as a fascinating research subject. Sometime even testing how in-sync their brainwaves were. Yuu didn’t really mind either as long as no one dares to take away Zorua again and at the time she saw Colress as the only adult that was ever straight with her.. Zorua himself didn’t trust Colress and would always keep a sharp eye on him while sticking close to Yuu.

Hearing about the close community of people and Pokémon in Alola, Colress moved his lab there thinking it would be the ideal place for his research and took Yuu and Zorua along with him. At first Yuu didn't know how to feel about the change, but was surprised that compared to the kids she knew in Unova, she actually thought decently about her classmates at the Pokémon school that she was enrolled in. For one thing, they actually respected Zorua's space and hers which was a huge breath of fresh air. And her teacher, Professor Kukui, just let her take her time before getting to know them instead of pushing her to do things that made her uncomfortable. Later on, Yuu hears about how close the other students are with their parents, which made Yuu more aware of how different she is from them considering she doesn't exactly have a typical father/daughter relationship with Colress. Seeing her newfound sense of loneliness, Professor Kukui invited her to his lab to spend time with the Pokémon while also meeting his wife, Professor Burnet. It wasn't long before Yuu started having dinners with the married couple and started seeing them as parental figures.

(Now this has been going on for a little while now, so I’ll just sum up the next part shortly as the next part should be stories for another day)

When she became a trainer at the age of 11, Yuu decided to take on the Island challenge. Along the way she became partners with Primarina, Toucannon, Raichu, Mudsdale, Lurantis, and among others with those 5 plus Zoroark being her main 6 for Alola. And after becoming Alola’s first champion, Yuu decided she wanted to travel to experience everything the world has to offer, not only to perfect her battle-style further, but also to meet the Pokémon of every region as well as to grow deeper bonds with her Pokémon.

[bubblytarts]

How do you think the Pokemon Team bosses would interact with each other in the Rainbow Rocket Au? Because I think Archie and Maxie might know themselves but not anybody else.

MWAHAHAHA YOU’VE GIVEN ME AN EXCUSE TO TALK ABOUT THE AU AGAIN!!!

In my au, most of the bosses actually don’t know each other when they form Rainbow Rocket. You are correct that Archie and Maxie do know each other for obvious reasons, and Colress and Ghetsis know each other, but they both joined RR independently. It was a shock for both of them to see the other at base. 

The bosses joining RR are Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, Cyrus, Ghetsis, Colress, Lysandre, and Lusamine. Guzma isn’t offered a position, and Rose turns their offer down.

However, that doesn’t mean that the bosses all willingly joined. As a matter of fact, most of them are blackmailed into being on the team. Only Giovanni, Ghetsis, and Lusamine join with the intention of revenge and power. Colress joins for his own personal reasons, and all the others are blackmailed or forced in some way or the other. 

But they all do interact. I’ll start out vague, and if people are curious then I’ll keep adding more details (or if I ever actually finish the fic version). 

Archie and Maxie used to be Rocket grunts. It was actually Red, Blue, and Green defeating them that allowed Archie and Maxie to escape Team Rocket. Giovanni never really met them, but after going into hiding and hearing about Aqua and Magma, he can’t help but wonder why their methods seem so familiar...

Colress hates Ghetsis. So. Much. Ghetsis, of course, is unaware of this, and continues to treat Colress like his henchman, even though Colress technically outranks him in Rainbow Rocket. Colress lets him get away with it. For now. 

As for little interactions as a team, I can say that Giovanni doesn’t trust any of them. It’s a very unstable team, and Giovanni’s the only one keeping the team together. But he’s ready to bolt the second he loses control. He really only respects Colress.

Lusamine knows better than to cause in-fighting. The team is already on the brink of failing. She’s just willing to harass and capture Guzma like Giovanni wants, and that’ll cause enough chaos for her. That, and she was promised a Nihilego.

Archie hates Ghetsis. He goes against everything that Archie stands for. He’s cruel to his pokemon, he only cares about power, and he’s willing to hurt children (listen, he feels guilty about that time he tried to kill May). It comes to a head pretty early on. Archie would have left RR if it weren’t for Maxie, who’s too afraid of Giovanni to leave. 

Ghetsis hates Archie. It’s a mutual hatred, but neither of them realize it’s a growing hatred until they’re at each other’s throats. Afterwards, Ghetsis sets out to get revenge on Archie. He can get back to revenge on the twins, N, and Rosa later. Ghetsis forces Colress and Guzma to help him with a plan to get back at Archie. And what’s the best thing to use against Archie? Maxie, of course. 

Lysandre wants to kill Colress. Full stop. Giovanni dug him out of the rubble in Geosenge, and Colress brought him back from the brink of death. However, Colress using Lysandre’s own gear to always have the upper hand over him? Unacceptable. As soon as there’s an opening, Colress is as good as dead. 

Cyrus keeps to himself. Legitimately, he avoids all of them. 

And then there’s Guzma and Rose. Guzma gets captured and so hates all of them. Giovanni sends Maxie to ask Rose to join RR, and Rose gives him a “No, thank you. I’d rather stay in prison.”

This bad guy team is very functional, and very prepared to take on a bunch of grown-up protagonists and their extended friends and family. Nothing bad could possibly come of this. 

No redemption arcs here ;)

[tinygamertris]

@nagiru The reblog problems are getting worse and someone in the ‘wtf is going on’ tags suggested it might be a problem with reblog chains so I’m starting a new post to see what happens. Fingers crossed.

Oh shit, Lyris! She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious down here but if she was even a little bit late, Lyris would start to fret, and when she fretted she tended to do so with her entire body and sometimes her axe.

It appeals to both the side of me that likes adventure and the side of me that loves using blocks to make stuff but isn’t into Minecraft’s vast and esoteric crafting system. Also I started a new game last night because I got one of the rare drops from a lategame boss and it’s a goddamn engraved sixshooter but mages can’t use it! 

I think it might be an autism thing for me as well. Noises are very hard for me to filter out, which makes it hard to concentrate, but with music or a podcast to listen to it’s easier to block out everything. I do my best work with earbuds in.

Yeah, I fully expect to see a lot of very sad fans when the final episode drops. Laura Kate Dale talked about it on Podquisition a couple weeks ago and she definitely thinks it’s one of the darker things she’s listened to. (Which, considering her taste in games and her participation in a podcast about video game porn, is saying a lot.)

I love the realistic arrow arc mods! I actually did a few years of archery in my teens, before they tightened the rules about what medication you can take when competing and my asthma medication suddenly got banned (BOO), and the natural bow shooting just doesn’t work. It’s okay for the crossbows though, I can handle it for that.

They did such a good job of showing us why the absolute fucker took a power company to pretty much rule the world. The shit he plans and blames on AVALANCHE is evil as fuck. I would be impressed if I wasn’t so disgusted.

Oh god don’t remind me of the Sephiroth fights in Kingdom Hearts, uuuuugh. They were so meeeeean. I get that they were bonus boss fights but some of those moves were evil and the REACH on the Masamune is insane! But the Masamune is such a cool sword. It’s a proper nodachi and he uses it properly, which you almost never see in video games. (I kinda wish there’d been a Nodachi in Ghost of Tsushima, but that game was still brilliant to play.)

Silver is indeed very cute~ Cute and tormented is a really good combination, shan’t lie. I want to give Silver all the hugs, honestly. Even though he’d probably sulk endlessly.

N is a very sweet lad who is full nerd, and one thing I love is that even if you have text speed at maximum his text still comes out significantly faster than anyone else. Lovely little gameplay way of showing that he has the whole ‘I am excited and love talking about all the things I talk about with a new person who isn’t just going to yes-man me because I’m the King of Team Plasma’ thing going on. I love gameplay and story integration <3

Oh man, okay, so I’m gonna spoil a small bit of the Rainbow Rocket plot because it’s so good. Colress has turned up in passing a couple times in the plot, you’ve been going through the taken over Aether Foundation taking out boss rushes of most of the villains of the series to that point... And then Ghetsis, after you beat him, grabs Lillie and threatens to kill her if you don’t leave. Guzma’s been helping you along the way by keeping Rocket Grunts off your back, but he’s not willing to risk hurting Lillie. Ghetsis is gloating and getting really worked up... And in comes Colress, absolutely steaming, he tells Ghetsis he’s always hated him for being such a bastard, and uses his arm computer to zap Ghetsis back to the alternate dimension Giovanni took him from. It’s glorious. 

(Also if you’ve not played Ultra Sun then you have missed Dulse and Zossie, the most adorable dorks ever. I love them so much.)

The Astrals are the Actual Fucking Worst and I would quite like for them to die now please. Of COURSE they’d orchestrate centuries of pain and suffering to solidfy their power base, that’s all they’ve ever done throughout the history we know.

[zchaotic]

Finished my US Mono Fairy Type Run. Now it is time to review.

I just beaten Giovanni and ended RR.

Replaying the Ultra Games have given me a pretty good perspective on Gen 7′s Alola games.

The Ultra games are as their names implied, better versions of SM in every aspect to me. Keep reading if you are interested.

The Pro’s. The Story changes.

Lillie’s arc may have not been given as much focus as SM. But it dawned on me what her story really was. It wasn’t about an abused child standing up to her abuser. It was about a timid girl being inspired by those around her to become brave enough to protect those close to her and to become strong enough to do it. That is what her Z Powered Form represents, her getting over those doubts and anxieties, becoming her own while she takes on the world.

That is why she wanted to save her mother in SM. To try and save that woman from herself. I personally believe that Lillie’s arc, while losing some of that focus from SM, had a better trade off in USUM due to how it ends, instead of Lillie going to Kanto to help Lusamine recover and essentially going back to her.

Through out both games, Lillie kept admiring trainers for the things they do and breaks out of that shell. Once we get to the end of the Necrozma plot, Lillie settled things with Lusamine and only went to Aether Paradise with that woman to see Nebby recover. Once that happens, the two parted ways and if you go to Mahalo Trial after beating Gladion, we see Lillie do the last thing needed before becoming a trainer, giving the same emotional goodbye to Nebby.

Once you beat the league and start RR. We see Lillie at the start of her carrier as a pokemon trainer. Kicking a grunts butt and fighting along side you. She becomes for feisty even against freaking Ghetsis and for those picky about Lillie’s confession at Exeggutor Island, that girl has what is pretty much the same confession towards you at the end of RR.

In addition, Lillie’s story ends with her living with Kukui, at a more healthier environment and her wanting to become you Battle Tree Partner.

Gladion’s motives are more fleshed out in USUM, with him stealing Type:Null and running to A. Get away from Lusamine and Aether Paradise due to the toxic controlling environment... much like in SM. And B. So he can become strong enough to protect those close to him once the moment is needed. To keep his family from falling apart more than it already had.

The change between SM and USUM doesn’t hurt his arc and dare I say USUM is a bit more realistic in this regard.

I also liked how his story ends in USUM compared to SM. In SM, he was forced in an adult position in the place he was abused in and wanted nothing more to do with. Because a certain adult close to him couldn’t take the job herself.

In USUM however, because Lusamine didn’t get sick, he got more freedom for the next step of his arc. To get more of that strength, he went to Kanto this time... had a pretty cute goodbye to his reforming mother and spend a whole month training. He comes back in a month with a full team of six and is the toughest of the title defense matches in USUM. He is needed to trigger the games true ending.

Finally, the seemingly biggest change in USUM’s story.... Lusamine.

I liked the changes to her character. In SM we had no reason to care about her, she was an unrepentant cunt and the hints that she wasn’t always that horrible came from the mouths of other characters. We got a good villain, but the bigger picture of her was written very badly.

In USUM. We still have Lusamine go nuts due to trauma from Mohn’s disappearance and as a result of her not wanting to let things go, became more controlling of her kids and obsessed over the Ultra Wormhole and the things beyond to try and get Mohn back.

This resulted in her allowing and doing messed up stuff in her desire for vengeance. Including allowing the creation of Type:Null and being willing to have Nebby go through all sorts of horrible stuff. Gladion was the first to find out about this, took Null and left. Which resulted in Lusamine being more grief stricken and while not mentioned in USUM, resulted in her becoming more controlling over Lillie.

Eventually, Lillie couldn’t stand Nebby’s suffering, stole it and ran.

Leaving Lusamine alone and with nothing left... in SM this resulted in her becoming focused solely on the wormhole and the only beast that she has clues on. Nihilego. But in USUM, something changed in the ripple that prevented her from getting to the levels seen in SM. The Ultra Recon Squad showed up and went to the Aether Foundation for help on their problems, they told this woman about the beasts and about something for her to focus her objections on... Necrozma.

In USUM, we see Lusamine as someone who develops a messiah complex. If she can go beat Necrozma, she would live up to her position as a protector of pokemon and people along with having the resources needed to find Mohn. She still has Mohn as an objective in mind, but she is still pretty crazy due to how she was conducting reckless things with Ultra Wormholes. (The point of the scene in Aether Paradise in USUM.) Froze her pokemon. (Not wanting to lose those close to her.) and was bitter/ nasty to her kids when it was time to confront her.

Lillie is scared of Nebby getting killed with little she can do about it and Gladion is more scared due to how if Lusamine crosses that wormhole, the family will likely lose another parent. But this woman is so stuck up in her ambitions that she refused to listen to her kids and do it anyways.

This is pretty real in broken families where the adult acts like it is their way or the highway and those not them are to shut up.

In USUM, Lusamine is still a horrible person... but it actually gives her some onscreen humanity. While she is less scary of a villain compared to SM, she is better as an actual character in USUM. A woman who has gone off the deep end in her ambitions to get a loved one back and keep the family together, but is so blind in how she done it that her kids ended up suffering.

This was always what Gamefreak intended to make with her Character. But they messed up badly in SM and instead created a caricature of an abusive parent. This one was so chilling in that regard that the fanbase are often only seeing that aspect of her character and believing that is the intention of her character. An abusive parent to get toppled over.

This is why the fanbase are not a fan of USUM’s Lusamine, who is made more human and have more going for her that people are confused in figuring out whether or not she is evil and even more, this version of Lusamine shattered the fanbases head canons on what kind of person this woman was. People don’t want to admit they are wrong and instead lash out.

Especially towards the end of USUM where Lusamine got curb stomped by Necrozma and had a heart to heart talk with Lillie while you were busy. Lillie told is at Vast Poni Canyon what she wanted to tell Lusamine about.

"The president... My mother is— She's selfish. She decides all by herself what she thinks needs to be done to make other people happy, not even caring what it is they may want... But people ought to help one another out! That is what I have learned here in Alola! And that is what I'm going to teach her, too.”

This combined with Necrozma knocking Lusamine off her high horse, gave this woman a self reflection and realization on what she was doing and started her turn around for the better.

Apologizing to Lillie by admitting the girl was right to take Nebby and run. (Admitting that Gladion was right to do the same with Null.) Making it up to Nebby by tending to it with Lillie. Then letting the girl go off back to Kukui’s

Making it up to Gladion by seeing him off when he went to Kanto...

Letting her kids go, is the first major step to Lusamine making it up to her kids.

Then in between the Champion ending and RR, she has an identity crisis from the realization of how awful she was. This gets resolved after RR when she vowed to love her kids from a distance, without interfering with their lives anymore. All the while, trying to understand her kids better.

After RR, you find that same employee who talked about the frozen pokemon and we got implications that Lusamine is having those ready to be thawed.

Then once Gladion comes back, we got a scene where Lusamine meets an amnesic Mohn. Knowing that the man would be hurt for the rest of his life if he knows the things his wife has done for him, along with the new life he has... Lusamine treats it like an ordinary conversation and lets him go off to his life. Letting... Mohn...go.

This is pretty good character development despite how the juicy bits of her turn around happen after the main story is over and how you have to really look to get it.

I appreciate the closure and resolution of this family in USUM since SM ended this story very messily when it should have continued.

While I give a lot of praise to this portion of the story, other character like Hau are more fleshed out. Mina’s trial gave a bit more world building to the Captains. The Ultra Warp Ride in itself is good lore on the UB’s, for we see their world and learn more about them. We also know more about Z Power and where it all comes from.

Alola’s lore was expanded upon in this game.

We also get to see Guzma go through a redemption arc in RR and all the good that came out of it. Colress got to contribute more in the main story as the guy who helps with Necrozma.

Don’t even get me started on Rainbow Rocket. That is where we see Lillie’s grow into a trainer, fight past villains, see more from Colress and Guzma, along with adding into the concept of alternate realities. It was a better post game than SM in every aspect.

Con. What was added into the story and how it affected the changes.

However, there is a few things story wise that I would say are striking flaws.

Before anything, this is still mostly the same story as SM and it doesn’t change drastically until the end of your second visit to Aether Paradise. Like most third games, it is going to take a while before you get to the biggest changes. If you didn’t like what was in the base games... you are not going to like what is in this game.

The new characters added to the plot, the URS... their deeds are mostly background and they don’t do much besides build up on Necrozma. Sometimes appearing in places that they are not needed.

The things they do add does make sense in changing the story from SM. (It is established they only used their Solgaleo and Lunala for travel. If they used them for Necrozma, they would have their way to get help eaten and as explained, it causes Necrozma even more pain. They let Lusamine use Nebby because they need a safer way to send trainers over to confront Necrozma.... but then Lusamine went Leeroy on them.)

But they themselves... could have been done better. In addition, Necrozma served more as a looming threat that motivated the actions of the regions villain teams and their goals. Rather than a looming threat that could have been used much better to give the urgency and doom. He showed that the URS and those scared of him were NOT wrong to be scared of him, but that is all at the climax. Poor build up, but amazing pay off.

Even more, Lillie and the narrative focus on her lessened when you go fight Necrozma. Exeggutor Island was removed, though I get the reasons. Lusamine being less of a bitch and Lillie’s scene at the end of RR made it redundant. This along with Lillie calling her mother out off screen made some moments with her weaker compared to SM. (It isn’t any worse than how Lillie and Lusamine resolved things in SM though. Where Lusamine recovered somewhat and Lillie was eager to not only forgive her... when it wasn’t earned, but go to Kanto to help her recover.)  Even though I believe the things that happened with Lillie after Necrozma more than made up for it.

Some would come to conclusions and say this cost Lillie her character development... the thing that made SM’s story good. But personally, it didn’t really hurt her development, it just lost focus and we got our pay off to the build up in the post game.

However, if you liked Looker, Anabel and Nanu... those three got the shaft completely due to their post game story being cut out for Rainbow Rocket.

Pro. The Gameplay.

USUM added a lot into the game compared to the bare bone SM game.

With Mantine Surf, the Photo Club, Ultra Warp Ride, quality of life changes, (move tutors.) more pokemon and the SOS system being more controllable. You will be picking up Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon over Sun and Moon in a heart beat, just for these things.

The battles are more challenging compared to SM, the Totem Pokemon were better realized as actual bosses and Ultra Necrozma is the highlight of your main campaign.

Not to mention Rainbow Rocket and all the joys I got out of playing that. This is the game to play if you want to do challenge runs... like a Mono type run or others. It feels satisfying to beat the game and see the closure to our characters stories. Not to mention all the side quests and visuals that make Alola feel more alive as a region and not die over when you finish the game.

Con. What stuck from SM in a gameplay perspective.

Unfortunately, USUM didn’t fix all the issues from SM. Multi Battles are laggy, Festival Plaza stinks and with how many cut scenes are in this game still, it is going to be a while before you can actually play the game.

In addition, Alola is a linear in its pathway and what you fight still. If you just played SM... you are going to get bored really quick. In addition, the focus on Gen 1 is going to get old here as well.

Final Verdict.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are the last games in the handheld era and Gamefreak did a fantastic job in making this game a hurrah.

With most of what made SM good going over into these games, getting polished out and turned into a funner game, I strongly recommend getting it while holding yourself over for Sword and Shield.

It has fantastic battles, an amazing sense of closure to the characters from Sun and Moon you came to know and love. (Lillie is my favorite of this generation and I hope to see her again with more development as a trainer.)

It hits a lot of good beats for me and I am still rather shocked that people give so much bile to what these games have to offer. The changes to the Story were not bad in the slightest, it isn’t perfect but we have a lot of good trade offs to what we did lose from SM. (Example. Lillie’s two big moments are either moved over to RR or provide a better resolution to her story arc.)

The games give a good challenge for anyone who are fans to the series and it makes Alola stand out as a region.

I honestly hope Sword and Shield is able to continue where these games leave off. Maybe give us a story that is built by exploring Galar and still giving us a challenge with a wide variety of pokemon.

[stellanoa]

@aachromaa ↬ ❝ you thought you could get your hands on some data in my cloud without me noticing, did you? very cute, young lady. and a very nice try—i’m more impressed than angry, actually. you remind me of myself at your age. ❞

❝ i mean ... you didn't make it very hard to get in here. ❞ of course, penny's first instinct is to be defensive — it isn't often that she's caught in the midst of her snooping, especially not when it comes to such sensitive data. colress' data — one of the smartest scientists out there, she's sure — on the other hand, was a bad idea from the start ( hindsight is 20/20, her father always told her, ) but if a challenge wasn't taken, it would certainly be an opportunity wasted. arms fold over her chest as shoulders rise &&. fall in an indignant huff, gray eyes averted to the side as she listens to him talk — before she seems shocked that he's ... praising her ?

❝ ... impressed ? really ? i thought this would be the part where you'd report me to the authorities or whatever. ❞ an awkward pause as penny rubs the back of her neck. the program on the computer behind her that shut her out upon her failure still beeps, continuing to warn the rest of the system of her unauthorized access. ❝ but ... maybe you guys should beef up your exterior security some more. i mean, i disabled those cameras in like, three minutes. ❞

[liepcrd]

even the mighty must fall. | @truthfullyideal

“...?!”

Even before he’d finished talking, when he mentioned that she didn’t know what Kirynn was, she flinched. It was true: Kirynn was someone new in Katherine’s life. Looker had told her a bit about her, though, he never mentioned what Kirynn had told Katherine-- yet another person who refused to tell her everything-- and as far as Katherine was concerned, Kirynn didn��t have a reason to lie to her. To make up accusations, did she? Was it possible that... Kirynn had simply told Katherine those things in hopes she would confront Colress about them? Was she trying-- trying to pull them apart? She felt nauseous again. And with Colress turned around and walking away, she could’ve easily done the same. Hell, she felt like she needed to. 

She stood there, silent, horrified at herself. Katherine prided herself to be someone who thought about others, and took them into consideration, but she hadn’t even thought that, maybe others weren’t comfortable sharing what their past was like. Unlike her, maybe others weren’t okay with the idea of spewing it all out to anyone who might listen. Just because she may have worn her heart on her sleeve didn’t mean everyone else did. And it was a good thing, too-- imagine a world full of Katherines. People who jump to conclusions, believe almost anything they’re told. She placed a hand on her arm and continued to stand. She wasn’t waiting for attention-- she just honestly didn’t know what to do next. And based on how it worked out last time she simply did without thinking, Katherine really wanted to weigh her options before moving a muscle.

Then there was the subject of River. The poor Espurr, he didn’t deserve to be in the middle of their argument. And he was a Psychic-type, Katherine could only imagine that he must’ve felt their emotions tenfold. Why was it always Katherine asking questions and mucking things up? She swore to herself she would get her jaw wired shut. At least she wouldn’t be able to do this anymore-- this was hell.

“A-at the least... I can help find River.” 

She took a few steps toward him, following him more or less; whether that was stupid or smart she would find out in a minute.

“So-- then-- Kirynn... lied? Wh-why, why would she do that?”

Katherine probably sounded like a small child. But she was naive. She believed that if someone told you something, it was likely true. She saw no reason for Kirynn to lie to her-- as she would extend the same courtesy to her-- and yet, Colress had painted a very different picture. Part of her was relieved-- she knew Colress wasn’t cruel. She knew it and yet--... But the majority of her was a amalgam of other mixed feelings. Anger-- both toward herself and Kirynn, if what Colress had said was true-- sadness, that this situation had even happened-- and above all, confusion. She still never got a solid answer from either Kirynn or Colress regarding their past work relation. Or was that a fabricated lie, also, Kirynn? 

As she took shaky steps forward in an attempt to be of some use, she realized just how weak she was without someone to tell her it would be alright. Just how weak she was when not even Colress was available to help her. Still, she accepted this. Katherine had, for better or worse, opened up a can of worms and she would see it through to the end on her own, no matter how she felt internally. Even if she just wanted to cry out of frustration, sweep this entire conversation under the rug and apologize to Colress. She refused to allow her emotions to dictate how this ended. After all, bad times, are simply just times that are bad.