#shieldon posts

[sturdy-and-soundproof]

You would not believe your eyes!! If ten million illumise!!

[mixtercandy]

This was the Steel Print I made for the FairySteel Zine!!

[avicinda]

:)

[tbshorts]

I just don't think Shinx is a very good design

Cranidos and Rampardos are the perfect Mobster Goons of Pokémon

Shieldon is a bit simple, but Bastiodon brings the party

Video scripts below the cut

Shinx:

I'm gonna get yelled at for this but I don't really like Shinx. It's sort of supposed to be an electric lynx cub, but the face with the big ears always looked mouse- or monkey-like to me, and between those double circle eyes and the tail and the markings in the ears and the big round head, it feels like it's trying way too hard to be cute and appealing, and in turn completely failing to feel electrical, at least to me.

Luxio fares better. The wild black mane makes it feel less like it's a mascot trying to sell me plushies, and it gets a lot more cat-like, although I still wish they'd do something more interesting with the yellow color in the design, something more evocative of electricity than just bands around the legs. Spiky yellow accents on the fur, a lightning bolt design on the head, just anything.

Luxray, in the end, does kinda find a hook. The wild spiky mane and fur gives the vibe of being scorched by unleashed, sparking electricity, and the intense red and yellow eyes give it a real sense of power and menace. But I still think the use of yellow is weak here, it feels so perfunctory and vanishing under the pitch black, like it's embarassed of the color, and the little spark tail, that identifying feature from the first stage, just doesn't work anymore because now Luxray looks way too edgy for it.

Grade: C

Cranidos:

Has there ever been a pokémon that looks more like a goon than Cranidos and Rampardos? Cranidos looks like a cute goon, like the dim-witted sidekick to some cartoon bully who gets a redemption arc when it turns out he just doesn't know how to make friends. The big round skull, the flat dopey eyes and those lines coming down from the mouth suggesting a cheek full of baby fat, it's just, ooh, it has so much character.

By the time it evolves into Rampardos, it fully has cartoon mobster enforcer energy, it looks like its only voice lines in a movie would be "yes boss, you got it boss, you want I should take care of him boss?" and the vibe is substantially enhanced by the dark rim around its blue skull which now suggests almost a kind of bowler hat shape. Combine that with the greater sense of danger from the many spikes and the sharper jaw shape, and you got a pokémon with some goddamn personality.

I love these guys!

Grade: A

Shieldon:

The thing about Shieldon is that the face is like 90% of the design. The body is there, sure, but it's just a generic sorta vaguely dinosaur shape in yellow and grey, utterly generic. it's the big oval face shield that's the star of the show, rendered in black to create a strong contrast with the bright colors on the rest of the design, and with those two light ridges creating a "mail slot" for the eyes to peek out, which created a feeling somewhere halfway between a shield and a helmet. I think the body could do a little more to be interesting, but it's functional and very memorable.

Bastiodon takes that feedback on board, cranking up the detailing and armoring on the body to match the now MUCH more elaborate face-shield, which, and I really like this idea, is now designed to evoke the idea of a fortified castle wall, complete with towers, ramparts and window markings, and its eyes hidden behind horns and teeth again create that vibe of a knight's protective visor. It's a very coherent theme, and really decent design, even if I think the colors are a bit boring.

Grade: B

[twodragons-blooper-reel]

How I draw Aegis! (And by extension any shieldon)

Go forth and draw shieldons!

[diurnalcritters]

Day 496

[charrfie]

top 5 pokemon

HERDIER!!!! HERDIER SWEEEEEPPPPP #1 FOREVER 💪💪‼️‼️

Reshiram

Scolipede

Snivy

Munchlax

Can you tell I'm a gen 5 fan

[1lizard-onemonkey]

Happy National Fossil Day

I dedicate this day to my boy Archeops, that goofy dino chicken

[disastergay]

MTAS pokémon teams

OK SO! I was inspired by a post by @complaintsdonttakeitseriously. THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS, I will try to put most of them under a cut but do not read down there if you don't want to be spoiled. also, this is going to be a long post, so buckle up.

if you scroll down to the bottom of this post there will be cute pictures using this template specifically for the bachelors and bachelorettes later, but for now, here's the general rundown:

you, the builder/protagonist, start off choosing between growlithe, horsea and budew for a starter that you bring with you from Highwind (maybe via Professor Luo? that could be fun). eventually, you'll build your team up to six pokemon that you catch in Sandrock's desert biome and the surrounding areas

most people in Sandrock do NOT, in fact, have six pokémon. I'm giving all of them at least one partner pokémon and most of them will have three chosen specifically to help them out with their work, but very few will have six

even though all of Sandrock's residents have at least one pokémon, many of them are not suited to battling or any sort of competition. they're more like lifelong companions and, like I said before, helpers

these are my headcanons for the pokémon that non-romanceable adult characters in sandrock have:

Vivi: Audino. It's her partner pokémon and the only one in her party. Both its color scheme that matches her dress and its ability to use its feelers like stethoscopes to listen to other pokémon's heartbeats in order to assess their physical and emotional wellbeing were big deciding factors here. You'll rarely see this pokémon roaming around town, instead, it typically chooses to stick close to the shop, where it often helps out at the cash register. Its split fairy/normal typing may make it less susceptible to scares from ghost types as well.

Hugo, the town blacksmith, would also probably want to keep it simple and just have one partner pokémon. My money's on a fire/rock type like Carkoal to keep the furnace hot and ready to forge.

Rocky: Timburr, Machoke and Primeape. This guy needs hot-tempered hard hitters that can help him out for hours during work at Eufala Salvage's scrapyard. Okay, well, he doesn't need them to be hot-tempered, but you can't tell me he wouldn't naturally gravitate towards those.

Krystal, on the other hand, would only have a Teddiursa. I think she'd want something cuddly that Pebbles can play and snuggle with, but also capable of evolving into a real mama bear of a pokemon that can protect her family.)

Dan-bi and Rian are inseparable so they'd always be a double battle encounter. I feel like they'd have two pokémon each: Rian gets Stunfisk, don't ask me why it's just pure vibes, and Tandemaus (which of course evolves into Maushold after the birth of Linden), while Dan-bi would have Mienfoo to match her fighting spirit and Flittle solely because I really want to see what she does when it evolves into a psychic ostrich.

Jensen: Shieldon. It's adorable AND has a steel typing that would come in handy defensively when he has to protect the train and its passengers from a certain outlaw who's on the loose.

Mabel: Milcery. It would eventually evolve into a caramel swirl Alcremie who's more than happy to help out with the dessert stand and sprucing up Mabel's latest recipes. If she ever stumbles upon an injured Fidough, though, rest assured she'll take it in.

Cooper would have a trio of Drowzee (don't even question me, that man probably put little Elsie to sleep with his ramblings alone), Chatot, and a surprisingly powerful Tauros. Because, you know, that's as close as we can get to a yakmel.

Yan: Sandile. Something about its beady little eyes unnerves me, like it's daring me to underestimate it, and the same can be said for Yan. (Conversely, Wei would probably have a male Combee, because he's a busy little bee. I haven't decided if it's male or female but either way, I think it fits him pretty well.)

Mort definitely has at least three pokémon. He probably had more in the past, but well. Y'know. My personal picks for him are Dhelmise and Brambleghast as his hard hitters, along with a Phantump and Greavard that he's raising. (If you don't know Phantump's lore but you do know Mort and Martle's lore, look it up, that info makes this selection all the more poignant.) I think he'd be sort of like a ghost type pokémon magnet everywhere he went due to his quiet, wise nature and it'd be adorable.

Zeke: he definitely strikes me as the kind of guy who'd go out of his way to procure grass types to help out with his farm work and research, so I'm gonna go with Turtwig, Cacturne and Breloom. I think Turtwig would be his first real partner pokémon whereas he found and caught a Cacnea himself when he was younger and his parents gave him a Shroomish for his 10th birthday.

Trudy would have a Drifloon whose job is to round up any lost children wandering around town (you know, rather than kidnapping them), a Rufflet that always tries to boss her around, and a scary strong Altaria with both Dragon Dance AND Dragon Breath. Something about this lady just screams "flying type" and I'm fully leaning into that. Maybe it's the fluffy hair?

Matilda: this woman absolutely has a Persian for a partner, big (and physically big feline, iykyk) cat lady vibes for sure. In addition to that, a Spoink with at least one really powerful psychic move, a Chingling, and a Dragonite. She's a born leader and speaker and I think her confidence would shine through in her team picks as well.

Howlett: even though we never get to meet him, I think he'd have a pretty well stocked team of five. Based on what we learn about him in-game, my picks for his team are Sandslash (his partner pokémon that started out as a Sandshrew), Graveler, Drapion (oh sweet irony), Cranidos (a pokémon he was raising right before he died), and Hippowdon.

now for the kids in town. I figure most of them will be allowed just one for right now, since age 10 is when kids in the pokémon world have the option to get a starter.

Linden: considering she's literally a baby it's hard to say what might be a good fit based on her personality, but I can see her parents wanting to start her off with a nice, calm normal type like Minccino.

Pebbles: when he's finally old enough to run around town unsupervised, Rockruff. Literally just give this kid a puppy dog and he will be so, so happy.

Jasmine: Mareep for sure. That combination of fluffy and adorable + strong against flying is a must for her, like have you met this girl? When it comes to pokémon battles, she has no mercy, not even against her own mother lmao. But deep down the real reason she'd pick such a cutthroat, unusual type is to help cover the weaknesses of her mom's team, as well as make it easier to grind EXP against ground types, which are strong against electric types.

Andy: Larvitar. While it might be cute and small now, its resistance to sandstorms and strong evolutionary line will make it a formidable opponent in the future. I feel like it'd be really important to Andy that his partner couldn't be knocked out by sandstorms, given his past.

Alo: a Barboach he got from his mom and a Swinub he got from his grandmother. I really do think Catori would be a bit helicopter-y about this initially, like the whole reason she gives him a ground-water type is because grass types in Sandrock are scarce and it'd give him a big advantage against the plentiful rock, ground AND fire types around. He'd still struggle to train with Zeke, though. Those 4x weaknesses are a real pain in the ass.

finally, it's time for the bachelors and bachelorettes. I'm putting them under the cut because some of the descriptions get spoiler-heavy, so click 'keep reading' if you want to see.

bachelorettes

Mi-an definitely starts out with just three pokémon, but I'm sure she'll catch more along the way. I think she'd have a Varoom because she's always speeding around Sandrock (you'll understand me if you've played ScarVio), a Cufant to help her out with collecting important materials, and a partner Masquerain that she received from her grandfather and raised from a Surskit.

Heidi strikes me as the kind of gal who always chooses function over form, meaning she won't necessarily go for the cutest pokémon over the most useful. I can see her partnering with an Aipom who's very handy (geddit, because its tail is a hand) around the store while also working with a Dugtrio for landscaping and a Ditto to just be whatever she needs it to be to help out with construction tasks. She might add more pokémon to her team in the future, but right now I think she'd have her hands full trying to wrangle these three.

Elsie was one of the most fun bachelorettes to decide on a team for. She's got such a colorful personality and she already loves the monsters of her own world, you just know she'd love pokémon! Of course I had to give her a partner Ducklett to head off her team of five also made up of Tinkatuff, Doduo, Gible, and Pyroar.

Amirah's team was surprisingly very straightforward to design. Her partner pokemon would be a Smeargle just because I think that would be cute, and she'd have two other pokemon: Yamask and Mimikyu. I just think she'd feel bad for these ghost types being shunned out of fear, especially after learning Mimikyu's sob story. It'd give her something nice to bond over with Mort, too.

Grace's partner pokémon is an Inteleon that she rarely brings out unless absolutely necessary, as in she's down to her last pokémon. 'Nuff said. I have very little to back this up but in my heart, the rest of her party consists of Zangoose, Stantler, Toxicroak and Gallade. She might honestly have a completely different team depending on whether she's undercover or not, I think that'd be completely fair. If not, though, she'd always lead with Stantler because she enjoys watching the despair in her opponents' eyes as they realize each pokémon she sends out is stronger than the last.

Venti's got more than enough going on in her life without adding pokémon to the mix, so she'll stick to just two for now, thank you very much! I think she'd have a Scraggy and a Furret, neither of them are really her partner but she has to baby Scraggy a bit more since it's the younger of the two. They quickly become adept scavengers, although she sometimes finds hidden piles of scavenged goods underneath her bed.

Catori was trickier. Personally I think she'd stick to just one partner pokémon, Pachirisu, but decided to bring along a Liligant to give her an edge on the off chance that ground or rock types back her into a corner. Why Pachirisu? Well, how else d'you think she managed to pay for all the electricity it takes to run an arcade when she's almost broke?

Nia is 100% about having the cutest pokémon so I can absolutely see her repping a Happiny, a Snubbull, a Flabébé and a partner Azumarill to help irrigate those plants on Moisture Farm!

Jane strikes me as the kind of person who would like to keep things as simple and focused as possible, so I can really only see her having two pokémon - a fluffy little Eevee to play with her students and a sharp-eyed Starly to help her stay on the lookout for trouble both inside and outside the classroom. Rest assured, both of these two cuties are also little thespians.

bachelors

Justice deserves to ride into battle in style, so he gets a Mudsdale for his partner pokémon, as well as a Bisharp and Decidueye to fight alongside him. His team is too overpowered for a small town sheriff, you say? Well considering all the shit he constantly puts up with, I think it's only fair. Also you're dead wrong if you think this man isn't the type to overprepare.

If there's one thing we all know about Unsuur, it's that he loves rocks. Rocks of every shape, size and color. I think he would exclusively use rock types and be perfectly happy with that. He's got a Rhyhorn partner, an Onix, and also a Carbink because Justice insisted he have at least three pokémon to join up. He might be convinced to add more to his party, as long as they're all rock types.

Qi would be a big fan of electric and steel (especially electric/steel) types and you just know immediately after realizing electric types only have one weakness, he'd go out of his way to raise electric type pokémon that are immune to ground type moves thanks to levitate. I gave him a team of four: Tadbulb, Rotom, Klink and Magneton, the last of which is his partner.

Pablo's pokémon are just as glamorous as he is. He doesn't have any interest in expanding it beyond the two he has - Glameow and Hatterene. They're wonderful, really, but they're enough of a headache as is. Very good at stirring up drama, too, that's for sure, which is a welcome boon for everywhere except inside of his boutique.

Miguel is one of the rare few bachelors who would only ever consider having one pokémon, and it'd be his partner, maybe he feels like having more sort of cheapens the bond or invites unnecessary aggression from others. Personally I think Dewgong would complement his personality really well. Plus, can you imagine that man having to raise a silly little Seel?

Burgess goes all-in on conserving water in every aspect of his life, so he'd be sure to go out and partner up with a Psyduck. I can also see him getting confident enough to befriend a Maractus and a spring variant Deerling later on when he takes on the role of a pastor. He trains his pokémon with environmental conservation, not battle, in mind, and their moves reflect that.

Arvio seems like the kind of guy who would have both an eastern and western variant of Shellos. I can't say why. Maybe to represent himself and his sister? His partner, though, would be Tsareena. He raised it from a Bounsweet and now he and Amirah never have to go hungry when they're peddling their wares on the road. He also has a grumpy Lombre that finally smiles and dances when it evolves into a Ludicolo, so there's that!

Ernest gives me electric type vibes, I don't know why. I can see him partnering with a low-key form Toxtricity (his sister has an amped form), as well as picking up a Joltik and maybe Blitzle along the way. None of them have levitate so he's gonna have a tough time adjusting to battles in Sandrock, poor guy.

Fang is a little complicated. I guess we could have X be a Toucannon in this universe? I really don't think he'd want more than X, but maybe he stumbles upon a lost, injured Larvesta during a particularly bad sandstorm and takes it in. He likes its grumpy little face.

Owen is absolutely partnered with a Dachsbun, there's no way around it. Food is his entire life. He also has a baile-style Oricorio, a Ninetales (seriously how the hell did he get one of those?!) and a Salazzle that Grace is totally not jealous of.

Pen has an interesting relationship with his pokémon. On one hand, he's got a full team of six highly-trained pokémon starting with Malamar, Accelgor, Hydreigon, Mightyena and Haxorus, but on the other, his partner is Milotic. Like Grace, he rarely lets his partner pokémon see battle, even if it is his strongest. However, he claims Hydreigon is his ace. Is this just another battle tactic, or is he just embarrassed of the vulnerability he feels about it?

Last but not least, our favorite yakboy, Logan. He has a Cubone (for exactly the reasons you think, sorry), Gliscor, Lucario, an Aegislash, and his father's Cranidos which he hopes to someday evolve in his honor. His partner pokémon is a Luxray, raised from a little Shinx, and he's always on the hunt for items to buff the hell out of it so it's not as vulnerable to ground types. He refuses to consider any one of them his ace; to him, they're all valuable assets to his team and extremely reliable individuals. He constantly has to remind them to be careful when they roughhouse with Andy, bless him.

haha so yeah that's everything, thanks for reading

I spent literally all day writing this post please like or reblog it

[waywardstation]

A long, long time ago I got asked about Akari’s pokemon team. I had answered it, but since then I’ve changed a lot of the Pokémon on her team, and wanted to make a proper post for it ^^

@tjs-stuffs has put in lots of thought and meaning into their own pokemon teams for their AUs, as well as analyze NPCs’ pokemon teams to see what it says about their trainers, and I thought that was really cool so I wanted to try that too when reconstructing Akari’s team!

long analyzation about each member below!

—————

EMBER ♀ | LVL 48 QUILAVA

HARDY NATURE

Akari’s starter Pokémon. I thought a fire-type would work well with an outgoing personality, and it would be a useful starter to have in the wild — makes camping easier with usefulness in cooking and staying warm.

And with Hisuian Typhlosion’s entries saying it’s speculated to guide lost souls, I believe it’s especially fitting for Akari since she was put there to really help out a very lost Jubilife Village and show them Pokémon aren’t creatures to be afraid of. And in my stories especially, I frequently stress that Akari is “guiding” Ingo out of this lost, empty state and will eventually be the reason why he gets back home.

—————

KITE ♂ | LVL 36 DRIFLOON

IMPISH NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon out in the fieldlands while doing her initial trial for Cyllene.

Lots of drifloon and drifblim’s entries talk about the Pokémon’s relation to lost people, more frequently children. And how with those who go missing, no one knows where they went. Sometimes also relates to lost souls. Akari is certainly a “lost soul” who was plucked suddenly from her time, and no one knows what happened to her or where she went.

—————

JELLY ♀ | LVL 41 MANTYKE

JOLLY NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon in the coastlands when she saw she couldn’t avoid swimming anymore, and needed help as someone who couldn’t swim.

Mantyke is one of the very few pokemon (if not the only one, IIRC) who evolves through a symbiotic relationship with another Pokémon, remoraid. I thought it would attribute well to Akari, since so much of what she’s doing in Hisui is based on symbiotic relationships.

She is doing what Arceus asked of her, and in return Arceus assists her where it can. She stays in Jubilife Village, but only if she does hard work and is helpful to Kamado and the Galaxy Team in return.

And in my fics especially, her and Ingo have a symbiotic relationship, both helping the other out in many ways (that are emotionally healthier and less forced than what she’s got with Arceus and the Galaxy Team).

—————

TRINKET ♀ | LVL 39 CHINGLING

CAREFUL NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon in the highlands when she spotted its unusual and pretty colors.

Chingling are said to be based off Suzu bells, which can be used for Shinto Shrines — worshipping places for various deities, and were around in Japan during the Meiji Era.

As someone doing what was asked of them by Arceus, a diety that is greatly respected and revered in the region (although they’re largely unknown to be what everyone calls Almighty Sinnoh until the end of the story), I thought it would be a good fit for Akari.

—————

FREIGHT ♂ | LVL 40 SHIELDON

BRAVE NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon within a space-time distortion in the highlands. She asked Ingo to help her name this one.

Shieldon and Bastiodon are described to be very strong Pókemon, yet they prefer avoiding conflict — they’re also impenetrable with their hard heads, but are weak to attacks from behind. And as ancient Pokémon from the past, the ones that show up in Hisui are obviously displaced.

I think a lot of these fit Akari well. She’s also very formidable in battle but isn’t really someone who often goes looking for fights (in the aggressive sense, at least). The sturdy face but weaker backside also seems to fit how I write Akari; she puts on a tough “I’m fine” front a lot, even if she’s not, and is sometimes reluctant to share her struggles. And finally, the most obvious — she’s just as displaced as these fossil Pokémon.

—————

POM-POM ♂ | LVL 45 RUFFLET

LONELY NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon in the icelands (specifically during the events of HFBE, she finds it without its parents).

Many of Rufflet’s dex entries describe it as Pokémon that will fight stronger opponents more out of recklessness than bravery, and Braviary’s dex entries describe it as a Pokémon that will bravely fight for its friends to protect them, even if they themselves are hurt.

I felt like this fit how I write Akari pretty well. Sometimes she’s reckless, yes, but she will take on whatever comes after herself or her friends, and will keep pushing. (Such as frequently claiming to fight Arceus to get Ingo home with her if she has to — she will follow through with this if she must!!)

[neo91502]

okay i will flood this post with just pokemon arpg doodles ive been doing

(also click for better quality)

first, these two are grissini (cyndaquil) and pool (buizel), I drew these two on my phone for the refs due to no ipad at the time

these were my starters / starter and partner for a pmd arpg called midnight summers!!

first one here is a test on my new ipad to try and get used to it again due to my old one being. like completely gone. but lalalala and second is a doodle page to do more complex poses or whatever, just to get more used to drawing pokemon again despite drawing them all my life

this is sapphire, a silly little shiny mew that had the snacks trait, hence food

and here's some doodles of sapphire too

and this is ray, previously from another aprg, but discontonued and imported into summer midnights!! i do have an old ref, but these are just sketcjes lalalla

these two here are ALSO from said previous aprg and then imported, glow is the snivy and lapis is the shieldon!!!

there's also crater, who's a numel!! i have another guy to show as well, but idk how attached i am so uhmhmhmh No !!! i will not post them here lalala

and now the rest of the doodles!!! (mainly grissini) (guys can you tell i have a favorite)

anyways lalalala enjoy my pokemon pmd oc doodles

[sturdy-and-soundproof]

Hi hello!!!!

I have another task for you today!!!!!

Go say hi to someone!!!

You can say hi to me of course but it's more fun if you strike up a conversation with someone you don't already know!!

[scallioncreamcheesebagel]

find all the polls posted so far here

[avicinda]

having a realization that I pretty much treat Faewish Sprite lore as more or less complete. huh. like we might get? a few new tidbits here and there, maybe a sidequest hopefully showing more about Kuroda...but since the Wishing One is explicitly stated to be mainly worshipped in Wishfield and other regions had their own gods, I imagine Faewish Sprites will pretty much get left behind for the most part. We might get reoccuring characters coming with us? Giroda is a possibility but he is Wish Master now. Unironically Avicinda has a bit possibility? If we're lucky, the devs had read me saying "Avicinda is my fave character" in every single survey and will cater to me specifically out of thousands of players so Avicinda can slap Giovanni out of the story again this is obv a joke

But the most likely Faewish Sprite we'll see again is...Arubida! Who isn't an open world character and doesn't show up with the rest of his new band in the open world, because he only shows up during events, so maybe we'll see him as the Faewish Sprite representative in events in future regions.

(Piecey lore I would say is kind of in a similar place, especially with Serenity Island really rounding out their lore, but I'm still waiting for them to update Theo and Shieldon's dialogue at the very least...Stoneville had some small updates to bring some of it up to post-Wishful Aurosa, so hopefully...)

[fiannalover]

Dip

(felt like posting a little sneak peek into my Pokémon OCs. Enjoy!)

(T/13 and up)

“Alright! They got the lava cookies and fondue too. Do you want the cheese one or the chocolate one?” Zena asked.

“I don’t mind either way. Honestly, for me, the most important part of a fondue is the fruit selection.” Danua replied.

“Ok. I'll get the chocolate one, then.” Zena replied, passing their order ahead through the phone. Getting all of Kelvin Town's signature snacks was very important. After all, they were having a movie night!

-----

“Well, why did you want to catch Golett in the first place, then?”

Danua froze. Her free hand fidgeted half-twirling, half–tugging on one of her longer strands of hair, dodging eye contact as he did so. Then, she forced the words out. “To tell the truth… I really like that sort of empowered guardians automatons a-and… old school anime stuff.”

“Really? Most of the stuff I watch is pretty recent, to be honest.” Zena said. “Do you have any recommendations for me to watch?”

Danua’s eyes lit up.

-----

“Huh. So these are rice crackers. Can’t say I expected that.” Zena said, holding one of the Lava Cookies. Taking it to her mouth, she eagerly bit upon the nori-wrapped food. “They’re certainly tasty, though!”

“I think it's one of those things that changed names as time went by.” The other girl suggested.

“I see. Those kinds of happenings are common enough, right? Oh, did you get the movie set up?” She asked.

“Yes. I think it'll work fine.” Danua replied, her Holocaster transmitting the movie’s box art to the television, showing a brown-haired girl riding a Mantine-like machine with a Pachirisu in her shoulder. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let's go!”

-----

Zena grabbed her fork, stabbing a strawberry from the fondue’s kit and dipping it in the chocolate, stirring it inside the pot until it was infinitely covered in the creamy melted delight. The girl ate the piece of fruit in a single bite, making sure not to let anything fall on her bed, letting out contented noises as the bitter and sweet layers of dark brown and red mixed together within her mouth.

The movie had only just begun, the blond paying full attention through the opening scenes while the brunette carefully stole glances at her while doing her rewatch. Shieldon and one of Danua’s Pumpkaboo were let out of their Pokéballs, sometimes playing around, sometimes joining their trainers on the experience.

“Whoa… I can't believe everything that is floating around in this scene are spores.” Zena pointed out, while trying to remember something at the back of her mind. “Do you have to deal with those a lot in the Gym?”

“Not that many, myself. Shiinotic doesn't know the move yet, after all. But some of the other trainers fight an uphill battle whenever their Pokémon are a bit grumpy.”

“I see. Do your other Pokémon give you any trouble?”

“Well… I am responsible for most, if not all Pumpkaboo and Phantump in the Gym and they have a unique sense of humor, to say the least. But they never hurt me, even once.” She said. “I mostly just keep them from playing pranks on others. They can be a bit of a handful, in that regard, but most of them know when their playing around is too much, by now.”

“Got it. Well, every Pokémon is different, at the end of the day!”

“Yes. And each needs their own care.”

She nodded, then realized. “Oh, you haven't tried out the grapes yet, have you?”

“I don't think so, actually.”

“Got it!” Zena replied, picking one of the little fruits and coating them in chocolate. “Open wide!”

Though a bit surprised, Danua complied, pushing her hair off her face and eating the piece of food offered to her. Humming in appreciation, she commented. “This is very good chocolate, is it not?”

“It is!”

-----

“Oh! The airships!” Zena commented, trying to find her words. “I played this game last year that had some just like this one!”

Danua tried her best to keep a straight face, but she couldn't avoid a smile showing up. “Hehe, a lot of things took inspiration from this movie. This was one of the first few movies I watched, so, from my end, I get to feel happy when I realize I’m seeing something made by a person who liked the same things I did.”

“I see. I'm only watching it now, so I guess I'm going the other way around. It feels nice to watch this and learn from where the idea I was so impressed by came from.” The blonde replied. “There is a lot we can learn from the past, huh?”

“Yes. It's history, it's people, it's promises… it's important to remember them, I think.”

-----

The movie’s climax kept on growing, Zena’s unwavering attention following every second. Until a moment changed her energy from awestruck to thoughtful, that is.

“This moment… it's kinda like Geosenge a couple years back, isn't it?”

Danua’s eyes widened upon hearing that association, but she kept her composure. “It is a bit, isn't it? When people are desperate, they go to extreme measures.”

The girl thought about that as the movie’s great weapon decomposed in front of them, while the antagonist held on to her pride no matter what. Then, she looked at Shieldon and Pumpkaboo, which, after playing for quite a while, now peacefully napped together.

“We have to be very careful with how we make use of the past, don't we?” Zena asked.

“Yes. We do.” The Gym Trainer replied. “But I don't think doing so is bad. They’re the foundation that inspires us to move forwards, after all. There will always be people who look at it and think they can get a weapon or profit out of it. But that doesn’t make it bad. I think it is just a matter of giving it due respect.”

“Yeah. And if the past comes to us, we must make sure it lives the best present possible!” Zena added. “This world and its histories alike… I’ll help preserve as much of it as I can!”

-----

Whew. Today had been a handful, had it not? Myldrid was glad he was not yet too old to go around doing all this spelunking, at the very least.

By now, the girls probably had finished settling down in their rooms. They would have a peaceful night of sleep, if nothing else. As for him…

“Excuse me, miss. Are the Springs still open?”

“Of course, sir! You still have a couple hours if you wanna try them out!”

Fufufufu. It had been a long time since he last had the opportunity to do this, after all. Gotta make the best of it~!

Directing himself to the male side of the baths, Myldrid carefully removed his clothes. The shirt was unbuttoned and put aside, shoes and socks were stored in the proper location, pants following suit, legs and arms stretching and waking up as they got free from constraints. With only a bath towel on him now, the Professor adjusted his hair, making sure to change the ponytail to an updo more compact for what he was about to do.

His muscles gleamed from the indoor lightning and regular exercise, nevermind the hike he did that day. He wasn't too vain or anything, but it was nice to see he kept in shape. Those dance lessons helped more than just Lucan, that was for sure.

Going to the outdoor, open spring, Myldrid appreciated the beauty of the starlit view amidst the rocky mountains of the region. The moon reflected into the water, showcasing pure serenity and peace of mind.

The man calmly dipped his feet into the bath, pleased with the water’s warm, comfortable temperature. Then slowly, steadily entering, he savored the feeling of the hot water enveloping his legs, torso, and arms, blessed respite at the end of an eventful day.

A nighttime Hot Springs bath, all by himself, under the moonlit sky. Such were the blessings of adult life.

Hum... he felt like he needed just one more thing. He wouldn't entertain alcohol right now, but-

Ah. One of the Hot Spring's staff members came to check on him. Perfect. Turning around, Myldrid put both of his arms at the rocky edge of the springs, head resting on them as he looked at the server.

"Hey there. Could you get me a drink?"

[railroadlion]

i absolutely love your fossil charms and i'm thrilled to see them go up for sale online. been watching since they debuted on the original post. i want to ask if you plan on doing any more of the fossil pokemon?

Short answer: maybe

Making merch is a very speculative game about guessing whether or not your design will actually sell, and ideally you only want to invest in designs you're confident you'll make your money back from.

People love the idea of having a wide variety of charms to choose from, but in my experience, only pick their absolute favourite (And it usually ends up being one other people call their favorite too). That means even if you'd like looking at a shieldon, tirtouga, or kabuto charm, you're probably just going to sell out of whatever design is the most popular.

So rather than make charms of all the fossil mons and sell out of just one kind and have a dozen of every other kind left over, I want to focus on a select few I think will sell well and not waste the money on making more.

(at least for now. I may do a second series of different fossils in the future because I do like the idea of making more too lol)