#spinda is just so fun to use!

[awful-little-goose]

my ideas of pokemon teams for the circus crew!

Also, some of these pieces are my actual first serious digital pieces (yeah- I made that pomni one even before artfight in July- it's been rotting in my files for a while)

Anyway, this was super fun, and I also made a team for Caine, and I'll probably render it or something!

Now, more details

I established some rules for myself as I made the teams for each character, and each of them had to have-

- one eeveelution: the idea is, since TADC is based on studying characters and their growth, the best pokemon to show the growth of people evolving in different directions is, of course, eevee!

- a pokemon to represent their appearance: since appearances and avatars are a BIG focus for some characters (Pomni learning about her new form, Zooble struggling with their body, Gangle’s whole deal with her mask, etc etc) it made sense to me that have one pokemon that reflects that in their teams

- one to two pokemon linked to SOMETHING that’s related to the character: for example, the fact that Jax always has keys, or Ragatha’s thing with knives, or Kinger and bugs. This can also come from things we know about the characters, that comes from outside the show: Ragatha liking horses, Gangle being a nerd (hence why she gets not only Mimikyu but also two pikachu clones, that also reflect her deal with her masks).

- a pokemon reflecting their main personality trait: yeah, I know, it’s always frustrating when characters get dumbed down to one trait by the fandom. But TADC offers us characters that are very diverse in their ways of presenting themselves, with unique personalities, that also fit in typical roles we’ve all seen before (the mom friend, the charismatic bully, the grouchy one, etc etc). I feel like this over characterization is meant to OVERLIGHT the fact that theyre MORE than just that main trait. And to give it some attention, I tried giving characters mons that reflected their "typical" character trait: a mischievious Gengar for Jax, a duo of shifting plusle and Minun for Gangle, a confused Spinda for Pomni…

- (mendatory): something relevant to plot points in the episodes. That’s how Pomni gets her little Sandile from Caine (after Gummigoo explodes-), or how Zooble gets their giant scolipede (inspired by the gloinks and the gloink queen).

And last rules:

- I’m allowed to twist the Pokémon’s designs a little bit

- each character’s fit should reflect a little bit of their main pokemon

- no one gets a legendary, mythical, ultra beast and what not: they’re normal ass humans, they get normal ass pokemon. For example: Caine, on the other, has a total of 0 completely “normal” pokemon! Since he is NOT a random joe!

- have fun!

So yeah! That’s all the rules that led me to my choices! If you wanna take inspiration from those, go ahead, but yeah! I hope that was fun to read all that, you little freak

[lethalbreadkills]

i think the sprinkle mod should be related to sprunki just a thought

i saw them and i went "what if they were younger siblings...." insane ramblings and relationships underneath the cut. oops

OKAY SO. they have names. we named them. by we i mean me and @afuntimepartyy (hi mangy) in order of how they show up in the mod . all colours are used for ease of reading oops Sporen (he ate mushrooms as a child), Radical (well. duh. raddy sprinkle), Clink (head go clink clank), Fun Bot V.2 (v2 for short), Rinkle (i dont have an explanation), Grinkle (gray crinkly kitten), Sprunk (funny), Garnickle (like barnacle), Dipsy (i think its cute), Skip (again, cute), Miss Sun (shes the older sibling for once), Purdle (durple but switched), Mrs Tree (theyre married), Laa-Laa (yellow and sings cute), Tupper (well. like tupperware), Fun Computer (hes not old enough to be a mr. yet), Spinda (hehe), Punkii (it just Felt Right), Biv (i think its cute!), and HACK :]

As for the relationship chart. Well. Smiles. here it is ^-^!!

heh. smirks. Most are self explanatory, these are their younger siblings and they love each other!!

Garnold, quite honestly, is just a good 20 years older than his sibling, and WOW an age gap like that can cause issues with understanding each other. Garnold just doesn't understand the kid, and he's busy with his own (his and Clukr's creations) OWAKCX and Dipsy are complicated because. uh. i'll be honest i didn't read until recently that OWAKCX is like that because Raddy hit him with a hammer and went "ah. that man is an addict isn't he." and went with it ^o^ and it causes an odd relationship with family. they're trying their best, though. they still love each other so much. Tunner and Tupper. Well. I don't have them fully fleshed out yet i'll be honest. Tunner is trying his hardest to bond with Tupper, and she would much rather be left alone and talk to her friends. at the point in life where she just hates everybody, and there's not a whole lot Tunner can do about it. Jevin and Biv. well. he never liked his family anyways, and his little sister following him when he ran away is no exception. she loves him. she wants to be just like him. he wants her to leave him alone and stop reminding him that they're "family", or whatever. Black... well. There's a reason HACK can't feel anything toward his older sibling. Black killed him before he had a chance to grow up too much.

As for Gray and Wenda... funnily enough, they're in very similar boats. They love their siblings, they really do!! It just.. would be so much easier if their "siblings" weren't their children, y'know? (just to specify, they are NOT both gray and wendas kids. they were had separately, we just happened to have the same idea for the two of them, lmao)

[foggycrusadepenguin]

What do you get when you mix one piece with pokemon?

I've always liked the pokemon couple poses that trainers had so being able to use on made me really happy.

They are on vacation and are happily married no i don't hear suggestions.

Apart of course imagining what pokemon teams Buggy and Corazon would have which was also fun.

I did look for a few ideas for reference but they didn't convince totally so here's my take.

Prismarina it was his first pokemon, a gift from the Rogers they got along like a house on fire and now older are both a pair of drama queens.

Buggy:

Spoink, have you ever noticed how dark his Pokedex entry is? (Of he stops jumping he does) Anyway he likes shiny things and him and Buggy may have more than one dispute about the shiniest pearls and doing tricks but who doesn't.

Banette because Buggy is incredible petty and Banettes eat negative emotions, Buggy is basically a five star meal most of the time, there's also the thing that they are always searching for there missing child the one that abandoned them (they kind of wants vengeance but shush) and it kind of reminded me of Buggy and Shanks, the bittersweetness of loving someone, longing for someone and hating them at the exact same time. He is particularly mischievous and alongside mew are a flashy combinations beware when you see them together because pranks and disaster follow.

Vaporeon, looks like a clown and just feels right, she enjoys doing tricks a lot to, it's also a contrast to Rosinante Leafeon.

Mew, yes he has a legendary Pokemon, does he know that? Nope, no idea, it's just the flying rat that has been following him since he was young, Mew finds him very amusing and fun sadly she isn't much help when it comes to danger because she thinks it's all a joke, she is however pretty overprotective of Buggy when it comes to the water though at least once she understood it dangerous for him, of course for this he nearly drowned one to many times but who is counting.

Chansey which he meet after his father death, she gave one look to the small traumatized, underfeed child and said mine, she has a lot of work with how clumsy Corazón gets but she wouldn't change her trainer for the world.

Richi also exist in this universe as a male alpha Pyroar, alpha pokemon tend to be bigger than normal pokemon and Richie is really large. Though he isn't in Buggy team, he is Mohji pokemon.

Corazón pokemon consist of:

Spinda he saw Corazón tumbling one time and he was just like a brother from another mother, they tend to tumble around together even if Corazon tumbling is more involuntary thanks to his clumsiness.

Leafeon has suffered more than one accidental burn but not thanks to Corazon it's mostly because he tries to turn of the fire he creates though and he ends up crisped in the process.

Dragonite they have been together since he saw the little Dratini and decided to take it with him, he is very peaceful and caring.

No Corazon doesn't have a Luvdisc regardless of how many he has in his clothes.

Talking about pokemon got me curious about what pokemon other though fitted them so if you have any ideas feel free to share them :D

The doll that Buggy is holding is a litleo the pre evolution of Pyroar.

And the pokemon that Law is grabbing even if you only see the ends is Drifloon. They kidnap kids apparently seem familiar (I am looking at you Rosi)

Anyway have a good day :3

[nami-moittli]

I have decided to jump onto the Twst x Pokemon train, so have my picks for Heartslabyul pkmn teams! (Yes, some of them have been stolen ideas, but man, people are correct)

There is definitely a Theme I chose for Cater. Due to the rose aspect of the dorm. I wanted all the Heartslabyul members to have at least one grass type, so I thought that Fomantis would work well! Dedenne is there for Cater’s connection to the internet and stuff, plus it’s a cute pikaclone, so it’s a good parallel to Mimikyu (Who he secretly likes the most, yet is one of the Pokemon he uses the least) Sylveon is there for funsies :)

Another clear theme here of food. For his token grass type I chose Eldegoss, simply cause I thought it fit him. Smeargle is there for his “Paint The Roses”/“Doodle Suit” and Alcremie would have the clovers instead of the strawberries, but the site I was using didn’t have that option, so oh well

First off, Inteleon is there bc I wanted to have Ace, Deuce & Yuu have a starter trio, and I thought it’d make sense for Ace to choose the one that’s effective against Yuu’s, and Deuce would have the one weak against Yuu’s, and since I wanted to give Ace Cinderace, that means that Deuce gets Inteleon. + color coding fun. Why those three? ADeuce is from Twst Britain. Galar is basically pkmn Britain. Or wtvr. I’m American, I don’t know these things lol. Scraggy is an obvious choice, and his token grass type would have to be Breloom for the fighting type aspect :) Bagon makes sense to me as both are aiming to be something greater. Don’t worry buddy, you’ll learn to fly one day. Patrat feels like a good fit, since I wanted to give him a route one pkmn, and Patrat fit him best to me. Flamigo is another fighting type, and more importantly represents the Heartslabyul flamingos

Cinderace has already been explained, but Vespiquen is for ME and ME alone. But uh, roses=flowers=bees. Vespiquen 👍 Nicket just felt like an Ace pkmn, and Pidgy is the most Normal pkmn out there, so Ace, being the most normal person in NRC, it makes sense. Plus Ace’s wind magic. Shaymin, while yes, is a mythical, but shh, it’s the closest thing that pkmn has to hedgehogs (I’m pretty sure at least) and it’s sky form just fit Ace a lot to me. And again, wind magic. Corvisquire was just for the vibes honestly. If you’d like, you can switch out Vespiquen for idk, Rattata or Raticate and Corvisquire for a different rt. 1 pkmn in your head 🤷‍♀️

Roserade is obvious, and again, Shaymin for the hedgehogs. Rapidash is for the equestrian club, plus the fire aspect of Riddle. I wanted Riddle to have a feminine pkmn for the queen aspect, but a lot of them I could see Vil with too, and I didn’t want to repeat pkmn too much (at all if possible, but that might be a bit easier said than done, and I’m not that far in planning this yet to know) plus I wanted another fire type, so Delphox fit. I had already given Sinistea to Trey, so Sinistcha is now Riddle’s. For Comfey, I wanted to give him a pkmn that represented his mom, and since his parents are medical mages, I wanted to give Riddle a “medical” pkmn too. (His dad would have a Blissey and his mom would have Audino, methinks) So add the “medical” aspect plus the “rose(/flowers)” aspect, and you get Comfey

And as a bonus!

(Pls Twst, Chenya/RSA cards WHEN?)

I didn’t want to give him a full team, so Spinda feels obvious to me, Skitty bc cat and Meowstic bc I wanted him to have a psychic pkmn + cat (side note, I honestly really wanted to give Riddle an espurr, but I couldn’t justify it enough to myself to actually give him one, so oh well)

[ask-obt]

So what are the caps on your drinks from Spinda's cafe made of? Magi Glass?

Guildmaster: It's crazy, because somehow pokemon know what glass is here! The first time I saw a cup I asked my Wigglytuff mama if it was made with magic or something from a dungeon, and she explained that it's sand that gets heat up until it melts, and then talented pokemon can make them into different shapes! Some things also use metal lids, and they'll even imprint logos and other crazy things on them! I have nooo idea how they came up with that kinda thing. They probably dug up a bunch of old human artifacts and studied them!!

Keaton: Well. You've heard the phrase "history repeats itself", haven't you sir?

Guildmaster: Yeah!! ... What's that got to do with it?

// one thing that I always think is interesting about how pmd is interpreted is the level of technology folks seem to think the pokemon have accessible to them. somehow it's easy to imagine that they have an organized postal system (implying the existence of addresses, which implies the existence of property borders and surveying, and also implies a printing press or at least reliable access to writing materials- and not just for scholarly purposes, but to write newsletters and junk mail on a wide scale), an economy (implies the development from a trade and barter system, as well as the ability to smelt and manufacture a currency), and complex architecture involving steel I beams (something I'm pulling from gurdurr's shop in gates which i'm sure is just meant to be visual shorthand, but it's something developed in the mid-1800s which is around when light bulbs came into the scene)... but they somehow don't know what glass-blowing or threaded fasteners are despite being a technique developed almost 2,000 years before a lot of those other things lmao. not to mention even older methods of craft like clay which date all the way back to over 20,000 years ago. I think a lot of it has to do with how pmd itself isn't quite consistent with what technology exists, trying to go for a medieval but whimsical feel with a few comforts from modern day thrown in. but playing around with those expectations with characters like the guildmaster and julius is fun B) I'm of the thought that if a society has developed language, culture, and economy, it's not really far-fetched to think they'd have basic comforts

[herba-mysticas]

I wanna draw the pmd paldea gang in Scenarios but I'm so stuck for ideas

I just can't stop rotating them in my mind. The creatures.

I can share a few hcs tho!!!!!! For example they are called team crater, because they first woke up in a crater (I think they got isekai'd in after visiting the time machine.) And nemona was like "we're gonna leave a crater if any bad guys try to come at us" so the name stuck.

Nemona is the team leader even though she can be very gung ho about running straight into danger. She gets excited when they enter a monster house, while arven and penny start freaking out.

Penny is in charge of all the tactical stuff like using orbs. Arven makes sure they never go hungry inside a dungeon and he carries pretty much the entire team's items.

Arven 100% gets a part time job at spinda's cafe outside of exploring. He also befriends a mabosstiff who is very dadly to him.

For the purposes of pure Fun I kind of like the idea of other SV characters existing in this au. Like, everyone is just a pokemon living their life now. The possibilities are fun.

[ifbench]

Gates to Infinity

During my initial PMD playthroughs, I was considering skipping Gates altogether, as I had heard almost nothing but negative things about it up until that point.

However, my friend who I was liveblogging my PMD playthroughs to, she said that Gates to Infinity was good, too.

And so, after completing Rescue Team DX and Explorers, I acquired Gates to Infinity.

Quite possibly the best decision to get a game I've ever made.

As while Gates to Infinity is not my favorite game of all time, it's the game that brought the most to me, that affected me for the better the most.

As while games like Mario and Luigi Dream Team are amazing fun experiences that I treasure dearly…they didn't change my life like Gates to Infinity did.

It was Gates to Infinity that caused me to stick with PMD. It's what inspired me to start writing Eternal Shadows. It's what led me to meet so many amazing people. It's why I'm still talking about PMD today.

No other game has brought me so much happiness in the long term as Gates to Infinity has.

It's a bit silly why I started Eternal Shadows in the first place, really. I was playing through Gates to Infinity's opening, and it was so different from both Rescue Team DX's and Explorers'. It had an air to it that neither of those had.

2020 me thought it felt a lot like Kingdom Hearts, and I decided to write a PMD opening with very heavy Kingdom Hearts inspiration as a proof of concept.

That "proof of concept" is what is now known as Eternal Shadows.

Beyond how it personally shaped me, though…Gates to Infinity is a truly wonderful game.

Some may say it's a downgrade over Explorers. That it took things away from what made Explorers so great.

And…I would agree with that second sentence, in a way.

Gates to Infinity does remove a lot of stuff from Explorers. No personality quiz, severely limited Pokemon roster, no Spinda's Cafe, no IQ, no long second story in the postgame, and no purple Kecleon or Kangaskhan.

But Gates to Infinity doesn't need to be Explorers. It's not Explorers. And much of what it removes, it adds something new in its place.

While there's no personality quiz, for the first time, you can choose your protagonist's species, a feature that would remain in newer games.

IQ is gone, replaced by the much less grindy Team Skills system. No longer do you have to grind for gummis so your partner won't walk over exposed traps.

There's no Spinda's Cafe, but you build something similar through Paradise. You can build your own facilities, talk to your recruits in the town you have built, and it even serves as a hub.

There's no postgame story to the magnitude of Explorers', but what is there, is something unlike anything Explorers or Rescue Team gives you. It might not be as long, but a story doesn't need to be long to be good.

And while the loss of the purple Kecleon, Kangaskhan, and the large Pokemon roster could be considered objective downgrades…they don't ruin the experience at all, at least for me.

There's other flaws, too, like the slow text speed, and inability to choose gender, but I digress, and don't mind them at all.

Gates to Infinity doesn't carry over the letter of Explorers. It isn't a sequel to it in the way that Explorers is one to Rescue Team. But it carries over the spirit of it.

Like Adventure Squad, it still has the heart of PMD.

Yet unlike Adventure Squad, it's not afraid to show it.

Gates to Infinity still tells a heartfelt story about a former human who winds up in a world of Pokemon.

It has well-developed characters, amazing music that uses motifs wonderfully, and a touching farewell scene.

What does being a PMD game mean, really?

Does it mean pixel graphics, macguffins to collect, and guilds?

Or is it the story of a former human, who partners up with a Pokemon, eventually saving the world, before having to say goodbye?

Of course, some might just say "PMD gameplay". And there's nothing wrong with that answer!

The dungeon-delving gameplay is a core part of the experience, too. And sometimes, it makes the majority of the experience, like with Adventure Squad.

And yes, Gates to Infinity has some problems with the mystery dungeons. Repetitive room generation, party members wandering off, and that small Pokemon roster.

But it also has things Explorers doesn't.

It introduces the reunion cape item, my favorite item in all of PMD, and very useful for reuniting with lost party members.

It has outside areas to mystery dungeons, a first for the series, and even sometimes has small puzzles with them.

And without the IQ system, your party members have much better navigation and combat skills by default.

But the gameplay isn't what I love about Gates to Infinity so much. It's its story, characters, and the emotions it instilled in me.

I cried not even 15 minutes into Gates to Infinity, when I heard Ragged Mountain for the first time. I recognized it from Oddity Cave from Rescue Team DX, and…yeah.

I initially thought I wasn't going to be able to name my Snivy partner, but then we get to the future site of Paradise, and he lets me give him a name, in-universe.

Virizion's character arc is wonderful, and I love how she and Keldeo reconcile.

I love Dunsparce's bravery, and how Emolga gives up his spot on the Great Glacier expedition so Dunsparce can go.

One of my favorite moments in the entire game, and even just thinking about it right now is making me start to cry.

I love the first-person perspectives with Umbreon seeking shelter in Post Town, and how Espeon just wanted to do the right thing and feels so guilty for putting Swadloon in danger.

And Emolga!

Emolga my absolute beloved.

I love his friendship with Umbreon, I love his reconciliation and developing relationship with Virizion, I love his goofiness! He's my favorite canon Pokemon character ever!

And not to skip over Hydreigon, either. The Voice of Life is such a cool title and concept, and I love how you think they'll be the villain, only for them to come and save you, and be an absolute dork.

Even the protagonist! Even they have some character to them, and actually talk!

And then the story. Oh, the story of Gates to Infinity.

For a bit of context, I was…not feeling very well mentally when I started playing the PMD games.

It's a bit cliche, but, well…I was feeling pretty hopeless.

And Gates to Infinity took that hopelessness and melted it away.

Its theme of how hope can be found even in the darkest of times, how you can find friends even when you feel like you're all alone…it meant a lot to me. It still means a lot to me.

And the ending…I have never cried harder at a story in my life.

Everyone's final messages to you through the frism, how they remembered you, how even if you may never meet again, how they wanted you to have a good life…it broke me, in a good way.

My second favorite moment in all of PMD, and part of what led me to writing A Way to Reunite.

Gates to Infinity may not be Explorers. It may lack stuff, even important stuff that Explorers has.

But Gates to Infinity has heart. So, so much heart.

It's not soulless, it's the farthest thing from soulless.

Gates to Infinity is a true PMD game, and I'll always love it with all my heart.

I've also compiled my liveblog notes from when I played Gates to Infinity for the very first time, if anyone is interested in reading that, but unfortunately it'll have to be on Discord, as I initially wrote them on Discord, and porting around 5000 words of liveblogging to here does not sound like fun to me.

So, if you want to read it, hit me up on Discord! My username is @ifbench, just like on here.

I hope you've all enjoyed this, and I hope to have my Super retrospective ready soon.

[gurokichi]

One of the pokemon trainers I named myself after is Opal though people will only know me by that if they find my own little yan-blog I use to vent. The second one will remain secret but I can't say she isn't a popular Character.

My favorite pokemon? Oh that's a tough one.. I'd genuinely have to put it in categories so prepare for a long ask.

Ghost type:

Pure gost-types would be banette, since it’s such a cool design and concept- a forgotten toy coming to life! Sinistea and it's evolution polteageist since they're so cute and I like the challenge of getting an 'authentic' one in-game.

Primary (so ghost/other) would be drifloon, drifblim, litwick, lampent, chandelure, all the ghost/grass types, and mimikyu.

Secondary is blacephalon, and frillish + their evolution.

I'll spare you the rest of the types and just tell you one of my favorites from them. Fairy; Tupa Lele (I have a pin of her) normal; a tie between whismur and spinda fire; darumaka water; primarina poison; trubbish my trash son grass; fomantis electric; toxel psychic; my clown child hatenna

I love all the big types equally though this does not make them my favorite, for I'd collect them but never use them in battle like I do ghost types. I'd collect them if I see them but I'd never spend the hours I spent trying to get sinistea on them.

And that shall be the end for I feel this list has gotten far too long.

- 👁 anon

Ps the pokemon I was talking about that will beat you is hattrem, since emotions are just noise to it.

Ah, Opal is such a pretty name!! I loved how Ballonlea looked when I went over there to fight her; it gave me like… enchanted forest vibes. And I really like enchanted forests.

And I don’t mind long asks at all! It’s cool that you have so many favorite pokémon and remember all of them. I didn’t even know some of these existed, so I had to google them. Very fun to be introduced to new pokémon. I also love Tapu Lele and blacephalon!! I was considering putting them in my favorites in the prior ask, but I feared that you would perceive eight pokémon as too many… clearly I had nothing to fear, though, since you have a longer list than I do!! The other three pokémon would’ve been diancie, scorbunny, and alcremie if you’re curious. Anyway, your taste in pokémon is immaculate. I’ve never seen spinda before, BUT IT IS ADORABLE. I need one.

Mmm, I understand that! Funnily enough, I don’t really use my favorite types when battling. I just tend to try and collect the ones I like so that I have them. I’m the kind of pokémon player that just spams the best moves of whatever their strongest pokémon is… no strategy involved whatsoever (￣▽￣;)

AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN HATTREM BEATS PEOPLE UP FOR HAVING STRONG EMOTIONS??? WHAT. That is like one of the pokémon I would never think of for that. It always surprises me whenever I see a cute pokémon and then learn that it does something like that 😭😭😭

[meteors-lotr]

Lotr/The Hobbit Pokémon AU

We havin’ fun here

Y’all knew this was coming, because I told you it was

A few years ago, I actually made a Pokémon AU for the Bardlings, and I will be using the same teams now, just with a few additions.

Not every character will be included, because there’s just so much I can do, but if you have any ideas for teams of a character who wasn’t included here, then feel free to share! Same goes if you have any other suggestions for the teams I made

They’re all grouped into the people they travel with, because the idea of them all traveling alone makes me sad. The gym leaders will be at the end of the post, and they will all have full teams but like they’d be changed around depending on what order they actually are in.

Also, I do not know who the champion is. Maybe it’s Manwë, maybe it’s Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

Frodo Baggins, Traveler - Umbreon, Joltik, Kecleon, Sableye, Honedge, Bagon

The nephew/adopted son of the gym leader of Shire City, the Step-Nephew(?) of the gym leader of Erebor City, and the brother/cousin of the gym leaders of Dale City, Frodo lives under constant pressure. Growing up in Shire City, there was a certain expectation that he would one day become a gym leader himself like the rest of his family, or at least a great battler. Frodo is not. He’s too soft to be a battler, he doesn’t like to see his Pokémon hurt, he’s forgetful of moves, he’s just not that good at it. The reason he’s traveling is less because he has a goal, and more because he wants to avoid people (He’s like his uncle in many ways).

Samwise Gamgee, Cook in training - Espeon, Mudsdale, Lycanroc Dusk Form, Floette, Greedent, Diglett

Born and raised in Shire city, has been the best friend with Frodo since they were three, and has been in love with Frodo since they were four. He understands Frodo’s plight with his family, and he does anything to help and support him in any way he can. Travels both to help his bro, but also to see the world and learn about new and exotic plants. He’s very curious about both botany and cuisine, so he takes in as much as he can.

Merry Brandybuck, Pokémon Coordinator - Gogoat, Pancham, Thievul, Bibarel, Galarian Zigzagoon, Minun

A boy of Shire city, Merry is a clever but very stupid lad. Thing is, Merry likes battling. He’s not bad either. But he also just really fucking likes showing off, and cool move effects and big explosions. Contests give you all of that. Man’s a brilliant battler, with a lot of good strategies and ways to combine his Pokémon’s moves to make for some beautiful creations, but the place he falls is just that he has no fucking idea on what is good against what. It’s not just the type charts, but also simple stuff like stats. He usually helps his mate Pippin in any way he can with his battling, as he would never be able to make it in an actual battle.

Pippin Took, Pokémon trainer - Breloom, Spinda, Sudowoodo, Swinub, Zigzagoon, Plusle

This Shire City boy may be dumb af, but by god he is trying alright? He’s attempting to be a trainer, but he can be a bit “uncreative” when it comes to strategies. The angel/devil on his shoulder Merry is the only reason he’s getting anywhere. At least he’s very caring about his lil guys.

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•

•

Aragorn Eveningstar, Pokémon ranger in training - Empoleon, Aegislash, Sceptile, Scizor, Marowak, Galarian Farfetch’d

The adopted son of the Rivendell City gym leader. Fricking stacked trainer, honestly, with a strong and relatively balanced team. He’s always been more interested in Pokémon rangers though, with their goal to preserve nature and protect rare Pokémon. He’s had a few (rather strange) run ins with legendary and mythical Pokémon before as well. He’s still a bit away from applying to be a ranger though, mostly because he still has a lot he wants to see and do. Rather cliche, but he wants to find himself.

Legolas Greenleaf, aspiring gym leader - Decidueye, Leafeon, Hisuian Lilligant, Formantis, Serperior, Abomasnow

Guess three times what his favorite typing is. The Mirkwood city gym has been in his family for many generations, and he’s determined to be the next one in line. He enjoys the free spirited nature and wildness of grass types, the way they can survive in any climate through adaptation. He’s absolutely smitten with Aragorn, partly just because he wants to protect nature and partly because, have you fricking seen Aragorn

Gimli Gloinson, Pokémon trainer - Tinkaton, Kleavor, Golett, Alolan Golem, Emboar, Froslass

Gimli is a trainer from Erebor city, but he has family all over the fricking region. Wherever they travel, he will have a relative there, even in this remote ass village in the woods, or this strange house atop a mountain. He's a big fan of Pokémon who look really bulky and tough, even though they sometimes aren't. Froslass was an accident, he meant to evolve her into a Glalie, but she accidentally came in contact with a dawn stone, but she's his baby. He may not look it, but he spoils his Pokemon absolutely rotten.

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Boromir Minas-Tirith, Pokémon trainer - Bisharp, Aegislash, Samurott, Litwick, Luxray, Weavile

The older brother of the Gondor city gym leader, though he was set to inherit the gym after his father. He'd wanted to be a traveling pokémon trainer since he was young though, so he entrusted it to the person he trusts the most. He traveled alone for a long time, occasionally meeting and battling his friendly rival Aragorn, but then a short but hot headed girl started following him around, so you know there's that. He travels home a lot to watch his little brother battle and cheer him on more often than not.

Tilda Dragon, Pokémon Trainer - Sawsbuck, Flareon, Braixen, Shiny Dartrix, Phantump, Druddigon

A girl from Dale City, Tilda is less traveling and battling in an attempt to actually take on the champion, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, and more to just get out there. Sometimes just skips the middle man when battling Pokémon, and just starts punching them herself. She’s a hazard to people and Pokémon alike, but mostly she’s a hazard to herself. A weird friendship with Boromir, but they make it work somewhat.

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Bain Dragon, Pokémon Trainer - Mudsdale, Vaporeon, Shiny Liepard, Lycanroc, Sobble, Crobat

Bain is from Dale City, and he lost his eyes to a Sableye when he was young. Having always dreamt of becoming a Pokémon trainer, Bain’s dreams were crushed as without his eyesight, he could no longer see the battling before him. At least that’s what you’d think. But Bain learnt to fight without his eyes, going off his other senses instead, mainly hearing and feeling. He’s known throughout the Middle Earth region, and is an inspiration to many young trainers with disabilities.

(Also he travels with his partners Vivian and Kamarind (OCs), but I’m not bothering with giving both of them full teams. Kami does have a lot of water Pokémon tho, and Vivi has a Smeargle)

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Sigrid Dragon, traveling nurse - Jolteon, Stoutland, Blissey, Noctowl, Milotic, Alcreime

Sigrid is the oldest of the ‘dragon children’, and has always been a very maternal to her siblings since the death of their mother. Because of Tilda’s habit of straight up fist fighting Pokémon, and Bain’s wounded eyes, she had to pick up the healers skill that is mostly reserved for the Joy family. She studied under Dale City’s Nurse Joy so she could help her siblings, but once they both left on their journeys, she became kinda lost. Until she realized, that while most people know a lot about how to heal a Pokémon (and even if not, there’s a Pokémon center in every city, town, and village), human healing is a less honed craft. So she travels across the region, helping out and educating as many people as she can. She knows absolutely nothing about how to heal Pokémon though, her Blissey is better at that.

(Sigrid also travels with Tauriel, but her team hasn’t been made yet. I will gladly take suggestions tho)

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Gandalf Gray, the disturber of peace - Shiny Delphox, Hisuian Braviary, Hatterene, Rabsca, Galarian Rapidash, Cosmog

No one knows what’s going on with this dude. He’s incredibly powerful, yet he almost never battles (apart from with his ex husband that is). He just sorta wanders around, giving unhelpful advice to people, and encourages people to go on a journey. Also, a lot of the older generation knew him when they themself were kids, and he looks he exact same, so he might just be immortal

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And here comes the gym leaders. They are in no particular order, and they all have full teams what can be switched around and changed depending on what order you yourself choose to start in.

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Thorin Oakenshield, Steel types - Perrserker, Skarmory, Aggron, Bronzong, Archaludon, Kingambit

The gym leader of Erebor city, who looks very intimidating and majestic, but is a huge family man. Erebor City gym has always had a…reputation, mainly cause his grandfather went mad running it, overtraining his Pokémon and refusing to give out badges to people who beat him, and it was abandoned by his father and taken over by a fire trainer named Smaug for man years, but Thorin is adamant in that he can run it. He struggles with holding back when people come to his gym first, so it’s usually recommended that his is one of the later ones, but he’s gotten better at it. Happily married to the Shire City gym leader, and sometimes his gym is closed for a few weeks just cause he wants to visit his husband. Never during league season though.

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Bilbo Baggins, Normal types - Kangaskhan, Snorlax, Ursaring, Buneary, Cinccino, Furfrou

The gym leader of Shire city, who looks very sweet and kind, but is about as stubborn as they come. His mother was a very famous traveler and explorer, and while he did do some travel in his youth (it’s how he met his husband), but he never quite had his mother’s spirit. He likes normal types for the simplicity of them, sure sometimes more fantastical Pokémon can be nice and cool, but you know what to expect with a normal type. During off league season, he run a small bakery, mostly for the fun of it. Also his Buneary hates his guts and refuses to evolve.

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Elrond Eveningstar, Water types - Milotic, Quaquaval, Starmie, Lapras, Kingdra, Lanturn

Elrond is not just the gym leader of Rivendell City, but also the ‘lord’ of it, unofficial title. Rivendell has always been seen as a very welcoming and comforting city, especially to travelers, and no one embodies this better than Elrond. Despite being a strong trainer, Elrond tends to go a little too easy on new trainers. If you’re an experienced one he will not go easy on you though. His twin sons work in the gym as gym trainers, and they’re both pretty good at putting up a challenge for newer trainers, so it evens out for the most part.

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Galadriel Galadrhim, Flying types - Altaria, Masquerain, Togekiss, Swanna, Sensu Oricorio, Mandibuzz

Every single forum discussing the gym challenge has agreed on one thing about the Lothlórien City gym leader, DO NOT TAKE HER ON FIRST. Galadriel is fully capable to becoming the champion, defeating even the legendary Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, but has too much passion for her city and gym. But she is stupidly strong, never dare underestimate.

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Thranduil Greenleaf, Fairy types - Grimmsnarl, Shiinotic, Florges, Mawile, Sylveon, Alolan Ninetails

Mirkwood city gym isthe oldest still standing gym in all the region, and it’s been in the same family for that entire time. Thranduil has a lot of pride for his heritage, which can make him a bit of an intimidating person. He seems to be this regal, opposing figure, but in reality he’s just a very sassy drama queen. He has a throne in his gym that he sprawls out on between battles, dressing dramatically to match with his Pokémon, man wears a crown for Arceus sake. Absolutely adores his scraggy ass husband as well.

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Faramir Minas-Tirith, Fighting types - Bewear, Falinks, Primape, Tauros blaze breed, Medicham, Scrafty

The extremely surprising gym leader of Gondor, as it was believed that his older brother would take over the gym. He struggles a lot with being the unexpected choice and the newest gym leader, and while his brother supports him as much as he can he is gone for the most part, out on a journey. He likes fighting types because they’re strong and resilient, despite all the hardships they face. All of his team are softies for him (Even Primape and Tauros, two naturally aggressive Pokémon), and Falinks especially has taken him in as their seventh member.

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Sauroman White, Ghost types - Mismagius, Dusknoir Hisuian Zoroark, Sinistcha, Spiritomb, Gourgeist

Isengard city’s gym leader is known for two things. One, he is incredibly old fashioned in his battling style, refusing to ever change up his tactics and strategies. He frowns upon the new “Tera Types”, and “dynamax forms”, and all that. Back in the day, your Pokémon remained normal sized and normal typed, and we liked it! Two, he managed to fumble the region’s most iconic and famous person. Big L.

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Fíli and Kíli Oakenshield, Duo trainers - Amped Toxtricity, Shiny Flapple, Armarouge (Fíli) Low Key Toxtricity, Shiny Appletun, Ceruledge (Kíli)

After former Dale city gym leader, Bard Dragon, retired, the two nephews of the neighboring city’s gym leader took over. Fíli and Kíli are two peas in a pod, fully inseparable. Their battling is so in sync it’s almost scary to witness, and many people struggle when facing them because of it. Outside of battle they are very boyish and loud, finding jokes in anything then witness. They enjoy teasing their brother/cousin, but when it comes down to it they’d protect him with their heart and soul.

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Like I said, I don’t have many ideas for most other characters, but I know I want Éowyn to have a Glastier and Éomer to have a Spectrier.

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Fuegoleon headcanons be upon ye, Laura~!

-Fuegoleon, and the whole Fire Vermillion family, are big on group bathing for the bonding aspect. -He's the type of man to wear just a bit of cologne everyday. Something cheaper for everyday and something more refined for special occasions. -Theresa taught him the egg-cooking trick as a method for training his mana control. -I imagine Fuegoleon as a tea drinker over a coffee drinker. Not opposed to getting coffee with a co-worker or partner though. -Was a little self conscious about the eye markings when he first got them (or they manifest? Still don't know.) He grew into them thankfully. -I dunno what it is but Fuegoleon has the vibes of adjusting his sleeves by bending his arms up, closer to his face, rather than holding them down (if that makes sense). It's such a small detail but I just got the idea... -I'm very on the idea that Salamander uses a fireplace in Fuegoleon's room as its nest. Fuegoleon finds different types of wood to put in to see if Salamander likes one in particular. -If he had an artistic pastime, I'd say it'd be a bit of writing. He's not one for writing full stories, but he sometimes sits down and just writes how he observes a space in great, artistic detail. He's great at describing a setting because he's so observant. -In a slow dance, I think he'd like to twirl his partner. It's a dynamic and fun movement to throw into a dance in his opinion.

Erikaa~! ❤️🔥

Yes! It's a bit like going to sauna in Finland. It's a bonding activity that one does. It feels nice. (And because this is the internet, I feel the need to point out that there's nothing sexual about it.)

Oh definitely, and it blends in with his natural scent so well that it's difficult to notice, but he does wear soemthing each day.

Now this is a good question, because they do manifest, but... Are they there from birth? Or later? Mama Vermillion spill the beans! (Because I hold onto the HC that it's inherited via the maternal lineage, so Mereo's kids would have it, but not Fue's or Leo's). But poor baby! 😭 Trust me they're gorgeous 🥺❤️🔥

No but this is a valid way of adjusting them, because you want the sleeves to be covering your arms even when your arms are bent. And usually when people are going about, their arms aren't completely straight all the time. Even while hanging next to your body there's a small bend. Mutual and peer reviewed and approved!

Idk why but I think Sal might like Birch wood smell. But also Birch is a good wood for heating. It's usually preferred, at least in Finland, for burning in fireplaces. In any case, this makes me smile ^^

There's something about this HC that's rotating in my brain. While I don't see him as a storyteller per se, him writing down little lines maybe even poems, does tickle my interest.

Awww~ as long as it's not enough to make one dizzy! We can't all be spinda. 😆

[confusedfoam]

some rough and not fully examined thoughts on dndads pokemon teams. very impule stuff to keep me busy this afternoon, Doing my best on the trainer pictures with existing sprites and im especially sorry for blond glenn lol but hey we work with what we go sometimes.

Darryl

Primeape and Haxorus are here for barbarian reasons, ya know axe wielding and rage Snorlax, hes a tank ya know and so is Stoutland.

Ursaring, i mean well come one.

Kangaskhan, referencing darryls stay at home dad years

Related thoughts, Grant’s got a little munchlax

Henry

Meganium and Sunflora for the crunchy munchy tree hugger

Shuckel, hes just a fun little guy that I think henry would like a lot no further justification

Cradily, rock/grass typing, weird and foreign possibly otherworldly. halo of dicks because henry oak fucks

Sudowoodo, do i have to justify myself here?

Golem, i want to comment on him in particular and how i think the mirror transplaner incident is how henry got a trade evolution pokemon

Ron

Magicarp, .....son of a fisherman whos a very unlucky fisher.

Stantler Stampler it was right there

Herdier, mustache dog

Poochyean, i think a scrappy little dark type is perfect for a dog named Rogue

Spinda, its all vibes

 Glenn

Oddish the weed pokemon

Ratticate, for my beloved nick jr, he was a rattata until the demoning

Exploud, very useful as a DJ

Snover, christmas tree

Luxray and Torkol are just here because I thing its good vibes idk

Related thoughts, glenn took care of a few of morgans pokemon after she passed but now thats nicks old enough they are his. Or they were when nick was still nick. now glenns lost those pokemon too

Jodie

Houndoom, the most hell demon of all the pokemon

Pignite, the perfect intersection off hell demon and cop and I think Arcanine also qualifies for this

The rest of them are based on the pokemon that in game cops carry Related thoughts, the only over laps between Nicks team and Nicholas’ were that they both had a torchic

[speckostardust]

@heropartnerweek Day 6 - Alone

A kind of prologue to a story I’m writing. It’s pretty long, and also made my beta reader cry a little at points. Have fun!

(Lore note before we start! When you aren’t particularly close to a Pokémon, you call them by their species name. It’s kind of like calling people by their last name in east asian countries or calling someone Mr., Ms., or Mx., but everybody already knows their last name.)

(also I guess this is kind of four stories but shhhh.)

His Brother Is Here For Him

Caterpie knew it was one of those days. Just by the way Charles, the town's resident hero, walked through the center. 

He knew by the way the Charmeleon's shoulders sagged, how his gaze was a couple degrees lower than normal, how his scarf was tied off-center, how his mouth wasn’t smiling or frowning, stuck in neutral, how the flame on his tail was dimmer, how it was a shade of red instead of a bright orange, bordering on white, like how it was before, how he could clearly see the blue-tipped tail his family was known for through the flame.

And worst of all, how his eyes were devoid of that clear and powerful determination Caterpie came to associate with him. 

As Charles passed by the bank, he saw Charizard, the one from Team ACT (Charles’ brother, Caterpie reminds himself), notice the depressed lizard going by, and turns to him, eyes full of concern. Caterpie doesn’t want to intrude on their conversation, but he’s too close to the salamander brothers he can't help but overhear.

“Hey, Charles, you doing alright today?” Charizard asks his brother, his deep baritone voice shining with worry. 

“I’m fine, Seymour,” Charles replies way too fast. “I’m just… going to get some work.”

“It’s okay to not be fine, Charles.” The Charizard slowly reaches out to him with one hand, the other on his chest. “You can tell me these things. I love you, you know.”

The smallest, faintest of smiles crosses the Charmeleon’s snout. “I know. I do too.”

Charizard’s grin grows. “C’mon, say it back.”

Charles’ smile grows just a bit more. “Love you too.”

Grinning even wider (Caterpie doesn’t know how he smiles so wide, it’s pretty much his entire face), Charizard takes his brother into an embrace, which the shorter one accepts and hugs back. 

Letting go of the Charmeleon, Charizard pats him on the shoulder. “Hey, why don’t we go out on a job together today? Just me and you. No Ashford, no Sadie.”

The two are silent for a second. “I’d like that,” Charles says after a second.

The two of them start walking towards the post office again, Charizard bidding farewell to his usual teammates. “It’ll be just like old times! Like when we were still kids and playing Rescue Team in the street!”

“Yeah,” Charles says, a smile actually appearing on his face.

“Whoah, don’t get too excited now! We’ve still got a job to do!” Charizard says, laughing as the two get further down the road, out of Caterpie’s hearing range. 

Caterpie knows what happened. He knows that Charles’ partner Sam, the Psy-Raichu that used to be a human, mysteriously disappeared one day, and how he couldn’t stop thinking about it some days, like today. But Caterpie sincerely hopes that he knows there are other people that care about him too.

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His Daughter Is Here For Him

(TW: copious drinking, alcoholism as an escape)

Spinda was very concerned by one of his customers today.

The Grovyle had come in right at opening time, 1:30 in the afternoon, and claimed a table by himself near the corner, but close enough to the bar. He had ordered a Grass Gummy “Juice” (yes it is in quotations, Spinda knows what it is, everyone who orders it does, it’s on the secret menu) and Spinda couldn’t even get a word out before the Grovyle’s ID was out and shown to him. Of course, it was just a formality, as Spinda had known Grovyle would come in with his partner, a Riolu, often. But this was the first time he had gotten a good look at his ID, and he knew his name was Jax now. 

He had always, and Spinda means always, come in with his partner Riolu before. He had never seen the two apart, even in the mornings outside of the bar. 

It was past closing now, 2:26 in the morning, and the Grovyle (Jax, Spinda reminds himself) had now had over ten servings of “Juice” (way more than he’s ever had before, Spinda notes), and had his head down on the table, his entire body shaking, the occasional sob loud enough to be heard.

Spinda cleared and cleaned the tables starting at the farthest away from Jax, not wanting to kick out the miserable looking Pokémon, while Wobbuffet and Wynaut cleaned up their recycling service. Eventually though, Spinda had cleaned all the tables except for one, arriving at the Grovyle’s table at exactly 2:41:24.

He looked down at the sobbing Pokémon. Gently, he placed his paw on his shoulder. “Hey buddy,” he says softly, but still loud enough so he knows the Grovyle can hear him. “We’re closed. Ya gotta go home now.”

With a sniffle, the Grovyle picks up his head, and nods. His eyes are bloodshot from crying, and tears stain his cheeks. “M’kay.”

As he attempts to stand, his legs start to wobble uncontrollably. His chair, already pushed out from under him, does nothing to keep him from falling to the floor. 

Quickly dropping down to help him up, Spinda wraps his arm around his own neck, helping the man to his feet. “Y’alright, Grovyle?”

The sobbings from the reptile grow louder. “I’m sorry,” he says between sobs. “I’m… I’m useless, I can’t do anything right.”

Spinda starts to tear up himself, listening to Jax’s self-deprecating words, unable to say anything. He helps him get to the door, while Jax continues apologizing.

“I-I-I don’t know why N l-l-left,” the Grovyle says. “H-h-he just disappeared, and, and, he left his stuff, and, and I hope he’s okay, he would never leave me alone on purpose, something must've happened, he wouldn't leave, but I’m, I’m too stupid to know what happen…”

Spinda keeps his mouth shut. He didn’t know what to say, he was never good in situations like this. 

"I-I-I wish I w-w-w-was…" Jax breaks out in loud sobs, openly weeping as they emerge at the crossroads.

"Dad!" a shout calls. Running from Treasure Town's entrance is a small blue Pokémon, about as tall as Spinda himself, with feelers on their head and a watery look to them. In all his years, Spinda's never even seen a Pokémon like this. "I'm so sorry, I'm Manaphy, this is my dad, I'm really sorry you had to carry him, I can take him here, I'm really sorry," they say hurriedly, all in one breath.

"It's quite alright," Spinda says as Manaphy slips under Jax’s other arm. "I was planning to carry him to wherever he needed to be. It's no problem."

Manaphy attempts to bow, but with her father on her shoulder, she finds it difficult. "Thank you so much for taking him out here. Umm… goodbye, I guess. Thanks."

Spinda watches as the father-child duo walk away towards Treasure Town. He hopes that Jax knows that he has people that care about him. 

He also hopes that he doesn't come back until he can control his drinking problem.

---------

Her Friend Is Here For Her

Quagsire was heartbroken over the entire thing. He loved watching Toki and Nara walking past his little booth everyday, going out for jobs. The Tepig and Oshawott were always talking, hmm? Well, it was more like Toki was talking to Nara, and Nara added something in occasionally. It was charming.

Then the split happened. Well, that’s what Quagsire was calling it. Catchy, hmm? It was when Toki had suddenly disappeared one morning, with no witnesses seeing her leave. Nor had she told anyone she was going anywhere. Nor had she brought any of her supplies with her. It was very strange, mmm, for Toki to leave Nara and the Paradise so suddenly like that. Was she carried off into the night by some kind of mysterious force, that may or may not even be a Pokémon itself?

Mmm, speculation, Quagsire thinks.

The Oshawott herself walks by Quagsire’s assembly, dragging her feet through the dirt. Nara’s eyes were dead to the outside world, and she was mumbling something to herself.

“Nara!” he calls out. “Nara dear! Could you come over here for a moment?”

After a moment, Nara turns towards Quagsire. She waddles over to him. “Mm,” she mumbles. Quagsire’s plan step one complete.

“Nara, would you, hmm, come with me for the day? I’m sure you could skip work for the day.” Nara looks at Quagsire, and he looks back at the absence of light in them. “Please?” he adds.

Almost reluctantly, Oshawott slowly nods her head. Taking the confirmation, Quagsire steps out of the doorway of his tent and gestures for Nara to go in. She does so slowly, and Quagsire follows her in, letting the door flap down. Quagsire plan step two complete.

Time to get the girl to talk, hmm?

“Take a seat, mmm, on the couch, would you?” he says, sitting on the adjacent chair. 

A moment passes in silence, as Nara sits. “What’re… you doing?”

“I am, mm, simply here for you to talk to. Vent. Feel free to talk about anything on your mind. I am a great listener, hmm?”

Quagsire’s plan step three, get Nara to do therapy, in progress.

Nara stares at him blankly.

Seconds pass, mmm, and then minutes.

“I miss her,” she finally says, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “I really, really miss Toki. She was my best friend ever, but then she disappeared.”

Quagsire watches on, waiting for the Oshawott to continue.

“I just…” she stops for another pause, putting her thoughts into words. “I don’t know why she left. Why? Why did she leave?”

Another pause, hmm, as Quagsire waits again.

“I am… I’ll… I’ve searched the entire continent, just looking for her.” She puts her head in her paws. “And there’s nothing. No trace of her. Like she just… disappeared off the planet, like after we stopped the Bittercold.”

She pauses again. 

“I just…” the tears start to leak from her eyes. “I really miss her.”

The little Oshawott breaks into uncontrolled sobs, finally letting out all the built up emotions. She lays back into the small couch as Quagsire walks over to hug her.

Hmmm, new Quagsire plan step four: get Nara an actual therapist.

---------

His Father Is Here For Him

(TW: self harm, cutting, mental breakdowns, self-deprecation, suicidal ideation)

Nuzleaf knows his adopted son was always quiet. It was just his personality. He very rarely spoke over twenty words in a day, never any more than three words at a time. He had preferred to speak in sign language, though he was never the best at it. But when Champ stopped communicating completely, Nuzleaf noticed.

Champ’s best friend and Expedition Team partner, a Piplup named Fin, had strangely disappeared about a month ago. After days of searching (and skipping school, but Nuzleaf doesn’t really care for that) and no progress, the Chespin had all but locked himself in his room. He only left to eat, only a couple berries at a time, and spent his time curled up in a ball on his bed, crying. 

So many of his other friends from school came by to try and talk to him. Even the members of the Expedition Society came to Nuzleaf’s front door.

Still, Champ hadn’t spoken, or signed, or even reacted to their presence. 

It was late at night when Nuzleaf heard it. He had woken up to get some water. But when he got to the kitchen itself…

He heard a quiet, but intense sobbing coming from Champ’s room.

He quickly made his way to the room, as silently as he could, and peered in. Sitting on his bed was the Chespin, a half-eaten oran berry next to him, slouched down and facing away from the door, but still tilted towards it so Nuzleaf could see his face, with a harvesting knife in his right hand and his left arm decorated with varying levels of cuts.

Nuzleaf, startled, inhales sharply, and his adoptive son hears it, snapping his head in Nuzleaf’s direction. Champ, also startled, hastily throws the knife into his bag, and hides his wounded arm behind his back, picking the oran berry up with his other. Tears leak from his eyes as he trembles, seemingly terrified that Nuzleaf found him doing this.

Nuzleaf takes a tentative step towards his son. Champ flinches, the grassy quills on his head shaking. “I’m… not mad,” Nuzleaf says tentatively. “I’m not angry… I’m not… I just want to know why. I just want to understand.”

The Chespin, still trembling, slowly raises both of his hands, dropping the oran berry. Nuzleaf can clearly see the cuts on the boy’s arm. Oh Arceus, he thinks, none of that was there this morning, has he been healing his cuts everyday with oran berries? All the scars on his arms, he assumed they came from his adventuring, are they from this?

I, Champ starts, but pauses, thinking of his next words, cut myself. He flinches, physically startled by his own silent words. I… if I can’t keep one friend, one person close to me, just… He signs so fast that Nuzleaf can’t keep up with it, then he throws his hands to his sides. He picks them back up and starts to sign again. I don’t deserve to be happy. I should be by myself. Alone. Like how I should be.

Nuzleaf can feel the tears on his cheeks. Slowly he makes his way to the broken child. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry Champ. Ya shouldn’t be feeling like this. Nobody should. You’ve saved so many people, you have so many friends. Yer friend, I’m sure, is just missing, and she wants to come back, I know it. Both of you know each other almost if not as well as you know yerselves. You are… You are worth it. You are worth caring for, worrying for, crying for. You are not a burden. People care about you and worry for you because they want to, because you make them happy. You are not alone.”

Champ tears up, swinging his arms around his father and bawling into his chest. He makes some attempts at speaking, but Nuzleaf pats his back, letting him know it’s okay for him to not speak right now.

The two stay in their embrace until the sun threatens to come in through the window. Nuzleaf is the first to stand up.

“Let’s go get those cuts healed, Champ,” he says, taking his son’s hand. Champ shakily nods as he uses Nuzleaf to stand. “We should… probably get you a professional therapist too, huh?”

Hesitantly, Champ nods, taking the first step on a new journey.

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 10- Part 1

Here we are, here in Coral Ward…for all of twenty seconds. Back to Obsidia Ward!

In the meantime, let’s actually take a look at this TMX. Is it really just a glorified HM, or is there more to it than that?

Huh- odd…its description is no different from Cut’s usual description, and yet it says none of the party members can learn it? That doesn’t seem right, I’m pretty sure at least one or two of those Pokémon are capable of learning Cut. Hmm…maybe it really is more like an item, somehow, and I can just…use it?

There’s a tree right over here by the gates to the Wasteland, so we can easily test that.

Huh, okay, I can’t just…use it. So I do need to have a Pokémon learn it, like an HM?

Oh! Oh- now my Pokémon can learn it? I…don’t even know why it’s programmed like that, or maybe it was a glitch?

But, uuuuh…I don't want these TMXs to just be HMs again, though. Maybe I can just…put them on my Pokémon as an…extra thing…? Like, not in the four move slots? I know how unrealistic this sounds, but let me have hope, please, please-

Heartbreaking. So, the conclusion I draw from all of this is: TMXs really are just HMs, huh?

Literally, like- besides the name change and I’m guessing the ability to naturally forget them like any other move (I think that’s why they’re called TMXs), these are functionally the same as HMs- moves that are required to navigate the overworld outside of battle. That’s…uuuuugh- 

I just…ugh, I’m so disappointed, I was really hoping the TMXs would be different and not just glorified HMs. Seriously, does anyone really like the HMs? Are there unironically people out there who got upset when the HMs were phased out in Gen VII (or, rather, their out-of-battle functions)? Of all the QOL changes this game uses (TMs not being single-use, the Field Indicators, the possibility of trade evolutions being Stone ones instead, etc.), why did HMs need to stay?

Well, I refuse to put one of these moves on my main Pokémon. I’ll consider it for Surf and Waterfall and Fly and maybe Dive, but that’s it- with the other moves, knowing how difficult this game is, it's too much of a risk, I need the team to have all the decent moves they can get. We’ll put it on a different Pokémon instead- one who’s gonna be making a bit of a comeback…

Nibble’s back, and this time she’s gonna be our chainsaw! Swapping out Whiskers for Nibble is only temporary- once we don’t need Cut anymore, she’ll be back. 

So now, with that, uh…rant done (apologies for that), let’s test out Cut for real.

Haha…hahaha…AHAHAHAHA! THE TREES DON’T STAND A CHANCE!

AHAHAHAHAHA- oh and the animation doesn’t play each time so it’s even more quick and satisfying! HAHAHAHA-

Man, we’re gonna be cleaning up the ward in no time! Oh hey, this guy’s new-

Welp, shoulda guessed we’d get pulled into another battle, alright then-

In any case, leaving Glare out against a Ground-type is an awful idea, so let’s send in Bloom instead.

One single Magical Leaf is all it will take to delete this Barboach off the face of the Earth-

Now, a Spinda? That, Glare can handle.

The usual special should work, I think- GlareTM, and then maybe Screech, and then we start oH DEAR IT KNOWS PSYBEAM-

Okay, uuuh, Plan B- send in Prong while Spinda is too paralyzed to move!

Let’s see what Bug Bite can do, Prong should be good against more Psybeams-

…I mean, she may not take much damage, but that’s not ideal. No matter- I’m sure she’ll be able to hit through it, right?

Eeuugh, she was…not. Uh- second time’s the charm?

And I gotta go kill more trees with Nibble, so I guess we’re both busy!

Anyways, since I don’t want to use resources so soon, let’s just use the Pokémon Center down in Coral before continuing on again.

…Oh, yeah, the Cut trees do respawn when you leave an area. I mean, at least we’ll get more fun with the Nibble Chainsaw- though, it also turns out the animation does play again, but only the first time you use a TMX move in an area, not the subsequent times after it.

Previous

[spectral-apparitions]

Okay I have had thoughts about NSR Pokemon teams before and haven't really shared other than DMs. So here, fandom neighbor, take a long read and hopefully get some inspiration.

Spoilers spoilers spoilers!

First off DJSS, with a narrative around studying the universe and trying to feel significant in it, I think would have pokemon from space. Deoxys, Minior, Elgyem, and such.

Perhaps during his time in the academic field, he had opportunity to meet and research rare pokemon, or at the least to be reading about them. Even if he doesn't train something like Ultra Beasts, I think he'd be caught up on the latest science regarding pokemon from or using the power of space or other dimensions.

Of Bunk Bed Junction, I think the more likely of the two to train an Ellie-equivalent would be Mayday, but Ellie could also be a non-battling companion they share. A crocodilian pokemon to match the animal she is, I would think. I personally lean towards Totodile for color and personality.

Mayday is the hard hitter in game, and her "fight now talk later" attitude leads me to think she'd be the kind of trainer who prefers to specialize in Attack, Special Attack, and Speed, to KO opponents in one or two hits. So pokemon of that kind of specialty, or evolved pokemon because she enjoys training and battling.

May also seems to like cute things! So I could see her getting attached to cute pokemon, whether or not she adopts them herself. I think she'd especially enjoy pokemon that look cute but a bit rugged, and battle well.

Both because of her personality and her adoration of Kul Fyra, I think she'd get along well with and have a love for Fire types. Scorbunny->Cinderace I see as a great ace pokemon for her. Chimchar or Fletchling too.

Sayu squad I think would have pokemon relevant to their specialties. Spinda, Jigglypuff, Porygon, Smeargle. Any of them I could see liking Eevee/eeveelutions. Tila seems like she'd have an affinity for fairy types. Sofa I would think would be more inclined to technology related pokemon like Rotom and Porygon, or perhaps to Shinx (it's cute, sparky, and its final form has x ray vision).

For Sayu herself, I think she'd have Water type pokemon. She might be a "friend to all creatures" type with attention given especially to Water types and ocean pokemon. For a companion, though, I'm inclined towards Gorebyss and Luvdisc.

Grookey. Now evolved into Rillaboom. For Zuke. Obviously, the drums connection. Grookey is a fun and friendly pokemon too, and that works with Zuke's chill "let's not get into a fight unless necessary" personality. I think he'd easily befriend pokemon, but he's not much of a battler, so he doesn't actually own a lot of pokemon, nor have a huge battle team. Those he does train though, I think would be powerful, and he might work more with Defense, HP, and Special Attack.

(I think it'd be cute too if Grookey had been a gift from West, as his brother is the reason Zuke got into music)

I don't know if 1010 themselves would have pokemon, or if they did if it would be more as like promotional art/music sets rather than actually owning/training (depends on how you feel about 1010 being sentient vs just robots). Eeveelutions or Pikaclones I think would be fitting, something where they each are represented by a different pokemon but across the board have something similar.

(or perhaps dog pokemon, mostly because I just had the thought of Yellow having a little Maschiff for its silly face. Red may have a stereotypical "mean" one like Houndour)

I once saw some sick Neon J art with a Dhelmise so now I love that.

Neon has an affinity for technology clearly, so Steel or Electric types, or mechanical pokemon such as Klinklang would work well with him.

Depending on how you headcanon him as disabled, he may also have a companion pokemon or two (battling or not) that could help him. Like a sturdy pokemon small enough to walk with him but big enough to be of support for mobility, or pokemon with great or special senses to help him navigate visually impaired, psychic pokemon to relay information where he has difficulty.

Grass types are a pretty clear choice for Yinu and Mama, as they have plant powers. Budew,Roselia, or Roserade for either of them (though Mama is more likely to have an evolved form and Yinu a smaller form).

Yinu is still a child. She likely doesn't have many pokemon yet, and the ones she has are probably still in their first or maybe second stage. She might have a "prestigious" pokemon like Mincinno or a musically inclined pokemon like Chatot.

And if you have any ideas for Papa's pokemon, then perhaps either Yinu or Mama have that pokemon with them.

Eve would likely get along with Psychic type pokemon. I think she could get interested in Pokemon Contests where showing off your pokemon's powers in unique ways is important. So for battling she probably plans ahead with status moves and abilities, and using moves like Trick Room.

Eve would probably share a close bond with her pokemon as she wants to understand them as well as she can, so she could befriend even "weird" pokemon.

Zorua/Zoruark would work well with her space changing abilities as they can create illusions and disguises.

Tatiana for her history may have Fire type pokemon. Dragon types would also work well for her as they take patience to train and she would probably put a lot of time into raising and training a powerful pokemon. Noivern and Charizard are my first instinct for her.

Since she's hidden her past, it's possible she may have retired some pokemon she previously battled with - keeping them as companions but not showing them in public so nobody figures out who she is. She probably was a skilled and popular battler as Kul Fyra - and likely still is, but now with different pokemon that won't be as recognizable to the public.

[ask-team-relic-pmd]

Oh right, mystery dungeons… I would have lost my memories AND become a Pokémon. Hope you are doing well—Alex. Celebi should be able to visit you from the future which is no longer dark. They saw a sunset pretty early on.

Celebi came to visit us last spring, actually! Her and Grovyle! It was surprisingly nice to be able to just...hang out, without having to worry about saving the world.

We got to spend a whole day looking for seashells on the beach and getting drinks at Spinda’s and goofing off and chatting about stuff. I haven’t had fun like that since I was a little kid!

It seems like they’re doing pretty well. They told us everyone in the Dark Future is hard at work making a space for themselves in the new future, building homes and befriending the Pokemon from the better timeline. A lot of people have ended up working for Dialga now that it’s not so, um, unstable and murderous.

Grovyle is friends with Dusknoir now I guess?

Celebi said we can’t see each other too often--something about all of us from the Dark Future being walking paradoxes who’ll mess up time if we move through it a lot. 

But! She’s working on ways for us to send letters to each other, and we’re gonna get together again next year.

[steel--fairy]

Character Headcanons #5

putting all the protagonists and their teams and roles in my verse here.

for anyone casually coming across this, i have oc's who take the spot of the mc that takes down evil teams and such, but most of the protagonists still exist and help out to various degrees.

RED

the whole thing with violet's story is that she's the narrator but not the hero. so. red's the hero. he really wishes he weren't. he just wants to vibe and create the most horrifically powerful team in existence in peace.

team: charizard*, pikachu, blastoise, snorlax, lapras, venusaur former members: growlithe, espeon

the basic red team lol it was fun however to figure out how he got the other two starters on his team. growlithe was traded for wartortle while espeon was traded for ivysaur.

GREEN AND LEAF

there was the whole name confusion thing so i went why not! they're twin sisters! green is older and leaf is younger. both are mischievous pranksters, though green at least pretends she isn't. they're from cinnabar island and partially raised by blaine... which probably explains some of their kookiness. they're parents were killed by team rocket (via mewtwo) which is a lot of their motivation to be strong battlers (particularly green).

green's team: clefable*, weavile, nidoqueen, scizor, rapidash, victreebel, zapdos leaf's team: eevee*, mismagius, nidoking, vileplume, houndoom, wigglytuff, articuno

their teams are meant to mirror each other. eevee-clefable (pokemon heavily associated with green/leaf), weavile-mismagius (johto mon with a sinnoh evolution), nidoqueen-nidoking (...duh), scizor-vileplume (kanto mon with a johto evolution, even if leaf doesn't use that evolution), rapidash-houndoom (fire type), victreebel-jigglypuff (more mon's associated with green/leaf, also are counterparts with other members of the opposites team (clefable and vileplume)), zapdos-articuno (birb).

ETHAN AND KRIS

kris is the older sister of my oc protag while ethan is her best friend who is basically like an older brother to daphne. kris is originally from sootopolis in hoenn and moved to new bark with her family, while ethan's from goldenrod. both are interns to professor elm who want to continue on in the science field. kris has an interest in history, specifically legendary pokemon and recreating extinct evolutions. i still can't decide what i want for ethan orz

kris' team: milotic*, stantler, kabutops, yanmega, goomy ethan's team: alakazam*, marill, omastar, gliscor, bidoof

i put these two together mainly because their teams also mirror each other. milotic-alakazam (powerful pokemon that started out weak and pathetic), stantler-marill (johto mon), kabutops-omastar (kanto fossils), yanmega-gliscor (johto mons with sinnoh evolutions), goomy-bidoof (new team members from a different region).

outside of that, neither are hardcore battlers, though they're both competent enough. kris is trying to get her stantler to evolve into wyrdeer.

LYRA

lyra is also part of the trio but her team isn't a mirror so she gets left out. sorry lyra. she's a coordinator who comes from the blackthorn dragon clan though she doesn't really talk about it because she ran away from them. she's a sweetheart though she's trying to be tougher and take on the gyms.

team: dratini*, jumpluff, phanpy, corsola, spinda, pachirisu

lots of cute pokemon meant for contests! jumpluff-clever, phanpy-tough, corsola-beautiful, spinda-cute, pachirisu-cool. she technically stole dratini which is why she ran away from blackthorn.

BRENDAN

anxiety king. professor birch's son who ends up being really good at contests. idk what to really put here. he's basically the second main character of my fic so just read that P:

team: mudkip*, grovyle, swellow, pikachu, latios, anorith

his teams also meant for contests, though he was a battler before then so it's not as cleanly optimized as with lyra. pikachu-any, mainly beautiful, grovyle-cool, swellow-cool, mudkip-cute, anorith-tough. latios isn't used in contests.

MAY

she doesn't exist. onwards.

(sorry may fans : (( it just felt weird to not have her be either birch's kid or norman's kid so she got left out.)

LUCAS

my oc protag's twin brother. fills the role of professor rowan's research intern as well. very smart, but not the most outgoing and very cautious. has a very strained relationship with his sister.

team: infernape*, kadabra, clefable, hisuian zorua (shiny)

the basic npc protags team, really. he's not a battler. infernape does basically all of the battling for the team. clefable was rescued from team galactic while he stumbled on the zorua on mt coronet. shiny because it's meant to be related to my pla oc's zoroark :)

DAWN

she didn't exist in this verse until i literally decided on it now. a popular coordinator from hearthome. has literally nothing to do with the plot.

team: wormadam (plant cloak)*, tangrowth

prefers using unorthodox pokemon for contests. wormadam-cute and clever, tangrowth-clever and tough

HILBERT, HILDA, AND NATE

since i put the other siblings together, here's these three. hilda and nate are blood siblings while hilbert was adopted. their family is rather well off as they own one of the premier railroad companies in unova, including the battle subway.

hilda and nate are both from nimbasa and are complete battle maniacs. they compete in unova's professional battling league (probably the most famous besides galar) and when that isn't in season, they can be found terrorizing the local populace on the battle subway. hilda is a champion level trainer, while nate is more gym leader level, but he's catching up to his big sis!

hilbert is originally from orre (which i, like many, headcanon as being connected to unova). because of that, he's not as gungho about battling as the other two, seeing it more as something for protection over a hobby, though he's very good at it. much nicer than the two hotheads.

hilbert's team: mightyena*, braviary, ampharos, arcanine hilda's team: emboar*, excadrill, mienshao, alomomola, ferrothorn, gothitelle, mamoswine, tyranitar nate's team: glaceon*, chandelure, darmanitan, lucario, beheeyem, roserade

hilbert being from orre, he gravitates towards non-unova native pokemon. mightyena is the only one he had while in orre. hilda's team is made up of mon's i know are meta for gen5. she also ended up with a sandstorm team? idk. it just happened. nate's a stat specialist for special attackers. i'm actually pretty pleased i managed to give him a completely different team than mira (minus glaceon).

ROSA

rosa is completely unrelated to the other three and is an actress. she's friends with yancy and curtis.

team: pansage, panpour, pansear

she's not a battler, so i just gave her some friends : ) she got all three of them at the same time so they're all technically her starter.

CALEM

the neighbour except he's not actually oc protag's neighbour (he's from kiloude). his parents are very famous battlers, with his father being a former gym leader and his mother being the champion before diantha. he was always expected to follow in their footsteps, especially because he's just as talented as they are, but is it what he wants??? (obviously no since i have to ask)

team: chesnaught*, meowstic, absol, tyrantrum, lapras, skarmory former members: fletchling

fletchling was traded with tierno for meowstic. mostly takes cues from the game rivals team. tyrantrum was added to mirror carmella having aurorus. lapras was added to replace the vaporeon he would've had. can't remember why i picked skarmory though lol

SERENA

probably one of the biggest changes for a protag. she's not a teenager, but an adult in her 20s. she from lumiose and works under professor sycamore as an engineer. she's incredibly smart (though easily bribed by food) and is the one who comes up with the machines that sycamore uses to study mega evolution. she got the job as she'd previously been one of his sponsees alongside sina.

team: porygon*, combee, slurpuff, farfetch'd, alcremie (ruby swirl, strawberry sweet)

her team is food themed lmao the exception is porygon who she got from sycamore. she was picked because of her smarts and computer skills so he brought in a tech-y pokemon for her. not a battling team, just a bunch of friends.

ELIO AND SELENE

these two are twins. they... are the pair who have the least to do with any of my adaptions plots besides dawn. which is a shame because i love them. they're just classmates of kiana and lillie at the hau'oli trainer school.

elio's team: zorua*, mantyke selene's team: alolan meowth*, magnemite

yeaaaa. they both plan to take on the island challenge when they're a bit older so they don't really have defined teams. all of these are pokemon you can catch in hau'oli city, where they live.

VICTOR

victor joined the gym circuit to make money and was surprisingly good at it. he doesn't really like it, he doesn't have the temperament for fame, but he was desperate. he just wants to cook curry and vibe in nature.

team: sobble*, flapple, vikavolt, maractus, thieval, tsareena, sunflora

he was originally meant to be a stat specialist but i gave up and ended up making him a quasi-grass specialist. sobble doesn't battle. an emotional support sobble, though its unclear who's doing the emotional supporting.

GLORIA

a little girl who wants to be the next leon. from the crown tundra and is a terrifying force who one day might live up to her dreams. the only thing holding her back right now is her inexperience.

team: metagross*, galarian darmanitan, cinderace, honchkrow, dhelmise, haxorus

cinderace and metagross were with her from before she left the crown tundra (though in their pre-evolved forms). she did quite a bit of training before entering the gym circuit because she reallyyyy wanted to win. i think her team was meant to be a sort of quasi attack stat specialist, but i'm 99% sure i gave up on that.

REI

the son of commander kamado and one of the few members of the survey corps. he's originally from mahogany town in johto but moved to hisui alongside his father. reserved but has a good sense of humor.

team: pachirisu*, mr mime, petilil, infernape (alpha)

based on npc protag's team, swapping the pikachu for pachirisu. rei and my oc protag get together and their teams have pokemon in common with chryssa and lucas' (their descendants). for rei, it's a petilil for chryssa and the infernape for lucas. and yes he caught that alpha. he's not sure how either.

AKARI

also doesn't exist because i forgot about her. whoops. onwards.

FLORIAN AND JULIANA

they're also classmates of oc protag (and nemona) but since the school is the main setting, they're actually present. sort of.

florian's intensely shy though he gets along well with nemona, for all their differences in personality. he always wanted to be a top battler like her but was unsure if he ever could. seeing alyssa actually almost get there gave him a confidence boost. he does the blueberry exchange program alongside her. he's from mesagoza.

juliana's from levincia and she's just vibing. more outwardly friendly but also the class's designated weird girl TM (saying something considering nemona's in the class).

florian's team: quaquaval*, maushold, breloom, luxray, ceruledge, espathra juliana's team: jigglypuff*, clodsire, bellibolt, swalot, goomy

florian got his starter from the school while juliana caught hers. not much to florian's team beyond vibes. juliana's team is themed around pokemon that look like they'd jiggle if you poked them. idk either.