#sinnoh starters unfortunately plus a gifted kanto starter with a mega stone

[swiftthistletea]

pokemon gaia is genuinely fangame kino. literally my complaints last week about fighting the generic evil team grunts being an anti content slog got answered. grunts have had tangelas, kabutos, noctowls, natu/xatus, and relicanths. they still follow a theme of sorts (relic/fossil/mythology) that fits with the games theme and plot (region is sitting on the remains of a once grand ancient civilization that got owned by earthquakes caused by the regis) (I assume, I'm only on the 3rd gym). the route layouts are logical and feel very hoenn in terms of pacing. the wild pokemon on the routes make sense thematically and you can tell thought and care was put into atmosphere. the difficulty is above average, def not mainline babymode, it's a comfy level of difficulty if you know what you're doing. the 3rd gym had 4 pokemon, 3 fully evolved, with coverage (Magmar with thunder punch for example). Gym teams are thought out and thematically appropriate but not excessive. I would say it's a bit harder than bw2 hardmode. My two main complaints are that old school HMs are a thing and I'm spoiled but the region isn't oversaturated with field moves, most of what I've encountered has been for items or optional areas. also the level curve. idk if I got a 6 mon party too soon and spread my exp out too thin but I am always 2-4 levels behind NPC trainer teams. wild pokemon will be a couple of levels under me but give a pittance of exp. so grinding is necessary but annoying until vs seeker. 3rd gyms ace is 28 and my best mons (Flareon and poliwhirl) are 25 and I barely squeaked by with a win. it's still really good feeling for a fan game as Ive only found one meme reference (hiker Georg in the early game cave with several spinaraks). anyway I hope they finish it since it ends after the champion with no post game other than dex filling.