#them competing in pokémon contests

[sweeetsh]

ykw *combines tpw with pokémon and throws it at you*

@mimikrow remember our pokémon au

[pokepollsters]

Best Legendary Pokémon Tournament- Stats Breakdown!

This one's taken a while, but when you see just how many contestants I've had to sort through, I hope you'll understand why!

Tumblr has declared Giratina to be its favourite Legendary Pokémon, but a lot more went on in this tournament, and I'd like to dive into the nitty gritty of exactly what! Click read more for the detailed breakdown of the tournament.

We start, as usual, with the overall totals. This tournament was by far the largest! We covered a massive 74 matches- 88 when the preliminaries are included- over 7 rounds. That's far and away more than the 48 matches in the second largest tournament, the Best Gym Leader Tournament (preliminary round included).

This means that the number of votes was higher than ever- 45,755 of them! 49,791 if you include the preliminary round! And this works out to an average of 618 votes per match, the second highest for the blog, and only 1 vote more on average than its direct predecessor. If you include the preliminaries, the average falls to 566.

New to the stats this time- here's a quick chart to show how total votes and vote average has changed over the tournaments! I've picked the data that doesn't include the preliminaries, simply because the preliminaries always see significantly lower engagement and aren't always very representative of the main tournaments.

Now for the bit that takes the longest- average votes for each contestant! There were a grand total of 74 Legendaries competing, and one of them got more votes than the rest, and one got the fewest. Here's the full line-up:

Ogerpon- 921 (1,841 votes across 2 matches)

Xerneas- 496 (3,471 votes across 7 matches)

Lunala- 491 (1,472 votes across 3 matches)

Giratina- 461 (2,766 votes across 6 matches)

Cosmog- 453 (1,811 votes across 4 matches)

Rayquaza- 414 (2,486 votes across 6 matches)

Suicune- 386 (2,318 votes across 6 matches)

Reshiram- 385 (1,540 votes across 4 matches)

Lugia- 383 (1,533 votes across 4 matches)

Silvally- 382 (1,145 votes across 3 matches)

Yveltal- 374 (1,122 votes across 3 matches)

Miraidon- 373 (745 votes across 2 matches)

Spectrier- 363 (725 votes across 2 matches)

Kyogre- 352 (352 votes in 1 match)

Type: Null- 345 (1,034 votes across 3 matches)

Dialga- 340 (1,359 votes across 4 matches)

Zygarde- 335 (670 votes across 2 matches) & Raikou- 335 (1,339 votes across 4 matches)

Entei- 330 (991 votes across 3 matches)

Latias- 329 (986 votes across 3 matches)

Galarian Articuno- 303 (909 votes across 3 matches)

Articuno- 296 (1,184 votes across 4 matches)

Zapdos- 292 (877 votes across 3 matches)

Mewtwo- 291 (291 votes in 1 match)

Chien-Pao- 282 (564 votes across 2 matches)

Koraidon- 281 (562 votes across 2 matches)

Latios- 279 (559 votes across 2 matches)

Solgaleo- 274 & Necrozma- 274 (548 votes across 2 matches each) & Virizion- 274 (274 votes in 1 match)

Groudon- 266 (531 votes across 2 matches)

Terapagos- 265 (530 votes across 2 matches)

Galarian Moltres- 257 votes (257 votes in 1 match) & Palkia- 257 (514 votes across 2 matches)

Ho-Oh- 254 (254 votes in 1 match) & Tapu Fini- 254 (507 votes across 2 matches)

Galarian Zapdos- 253 (505 votes across 2 matches)

Regigigas- 252 (503 votes across 2 matches)

Cresselia- 247 (494 votes across 2 matches)

Uxie- 235 (470 votes across 2 matches)

Azelf- 226 (226 votes in 1 match)

Chi-Yu- 217 (217 votes in 1 match)

Zamazenta- 211 (211 votes in 1 match)

Cobalion- 206 (411 votes across 2 matches)

Zekrom- 204 (204 votes in 1 match)

Regice- 199 (199 votes in 1 match)

Tapu Koko- 190 (190 votes in 1 match)

Eternatus- 189 (189 votes in 1 match)

Kyurem- 188 (188 votes in 1 match)

Registeel- 186 (186 votes in 1 match)

Mesprit- 177 & Regirock- 177 (177 votes in 1 match each)

Kubfu- 175 (351 votes across 2 matches)

Tapu Lele- 164 (164 votes in 1 match)

Cosmoem- 161 (161 votes in 1 match)

Fezandipiti- 159 (159 votes in 1 match)

Regieleki- 155 (155 votes in 1 match)

Moltres- 147 (147 votes in 1 match)

Zacian- 145 (145 votes in 1 match)

Wo-Chien- 136 (136 votes in 1 match)

Urshifu- 126 (126 votes in 1 match)

Glastrier- 120 (120 votes in 1 match)

Ting-Lu- 112 (112 votes in 1 match)

Terrakion- 106 (106 votes in 1 match)

Landorus- 91 & Okidogi- 91 (91 votes in 1 match each)

Tapu Bulu- 79 (79 votes in 1 match)

Regidrago- 78 (78 votes in 1 match)

Munkidori- 75 (75 votes in 1 match)

Tornadus- 72 & Heatran- 72 (72 votes in 1 match each)

Thundurus- 66 (66 votes in 1 match)

Enamorus- 47 (47 votes in 1 match)

Calyrex- 38 (38 votes in 1 match)

So as you can see, there are something interesting phenomena here. For one, many, many ties, including a three-way tie! But also worth noting the surprise nature of the top few spots! This clearly shows how averages in these tournaments can be swayed by a one very popular match (more on that one later), and that averages aren't everything when it comes to the head-to-head of the actual tournament! But all of our top 20 spots (21 Pokémon) here managed to reach over 300 votes on average in each match they featured in, and that's definitely worth celebrating! Congratulations to those 21!

Now for a slightly different ordering of the contestants- the vote share! This one doesn't get swayed by one match getting far more votes than others, though it does vary a lot depending on who gets what opponent! Here's the line-up:

Lunala- 78.4%

Reshiram- 65.5%

Zygarde- 64.1%

Cosmog- 63.9%

Giratina, Rayquaza & Lugia- 60.6%

Miraidon- 59.8%

Entei- 59.3%

Ogerpon- 59%

Silvally- 58.9%

Solgaleo- 58.8%

Galarian Articuno- 58.3%

Chien-Pao- 57.8%

Articuno- 57%

Suicune- 56.8%

Xerneas- 55.7%

Uxie & Dialga- 54.9%

Yveltal- 54.3%

Zapdos- 54.2%

Latios- 53.3%

Type: Null- 52.8%

Tapu Fini- 52.2%

Raikou- 52%

Koraidon- 51.8%

Latias- 51.2%

Spectrier- 50.8%

Palkia- 50.1%

Necrozma- 48.9%

Regigigas- 48.6%

Kyogre- 48.5%

Mewtwo- 48%

Galarian Zapdos- 46.5%

Cobalion- 46.3%

Cresselia- 45.9%

Terapagos- 45.8%

Azelf- 45.6%

Virizion- 45.1%

Regice- 44.5%

Galarian Moltres- 43.9%

Groudon- 42.8%

Tapu Koko- 42.5%

Chi-Yu- 42%

Zamazenta- 40.7%

Zekrom- 40.6%

Mesprit- 39.9%

Cosmoem- 39.2%

Kyurem-38.3%

Ho-Oh- 36.7%

Registeel- 36.1%

Eternatus- 34.6%

Kubfu- 34.1%

Moltres & Fezandipiti- 33.3%

Regieleki- 33%

Tapu Lele- 32.3%

Regirock- 31.2%

Urshifu & Zacian- 29.5%

Ting-Lu- 28.7%

Wo-Chien- 28.2%

Glastrier- 25.6%

Okidogi- 21%

Terrakion- 20.8%

Landorus- 20.4%

Munkidori- 20.2%

Tapu Bulu- 18.6%

Regidrago- 18.3%

Tornadus & Heatran- 16.1%

Thundurus- 14.4%

Enamorus- 9.5%

Calyrex- 7.6%

More ties aplenty! Another three-way tie as well, this time including our first and second place Pokémon along with Lugia. And take a look at how far down our other two semi-finalists ended up! It just goes to show how a few sweeps will get you right up at the top of these lists. But congrats to the 29 Legendaries who managed to keep their vote average above 50%!

What's interesting about these two lists though, is that it gives you an idea of the relative popularity of various Legendary groups. The Forces of Nature? Not very well loved! But the Legendary Beasts? All pretty popular! Take a look and see how your favourite group fared as a whole.

Finally, the final part concerning individual Pokémon, this (very difficult to read) graph showing the vote share each Legendary got as a part of the whole competition! It goes to show you how much staying in a few rounds longer can really buff your total!

And finally, individual match stats. This is my favourite part!

The most voted on match was Round 3: Match 2, Xerneas vs Ogerpon! It received a massive 2,955 votes, more than any other on this blog, and shattering the previous record by 576 votes. It was extremely exciting to watch how passionate you all got! The second most votes went to Round 4: Match 8, Giratina vs Lunala, with a comparatively tiny 1,175 votes.

On the other end of the spectrum, the least voted on match was Round 1: Match 8, Munkidori vs Kubfu, with 372 votes. Two less loved Legendaries wasn't a match many wanted to vote on! The second least voted on match was Round 1: Match 4, Ting-Lu vs Galarian Articuno with 390 votes. This doesn't include the preliminaries though, as only 1 of 14 matches broke the 350 barrier- with only 356 votes. On the other hand, the aforementioned matches were the only ones to not hit 400 votes! Very impressive for every other match.

The most votes earned by a single contestant in one match this time goes to Xerneas, with 1,504 votes in the above match! Absolutely wild! The least this time goes to Calyrex, the poor thing only earned 38 votes in its face-off against Lunala in Round 2: Match 31.

And finally, margins. The closest match in this contest came down to a difference of 1.6% in the semi final match- Round 6: Match 1, Xerneas vs Rayquaza! I don't know if that's a comfort or painful for the Xerneas voters that pushed so hard, knowing it was only a difference of 11 votes...

Meanwhile, the biggest sweep award of this tournament- the highest privilege you can get other than the podium itself- goes to Lunala! In the match against Calyrex- Round 2: Match 31- Lunala claimed victory by a margin of 84.8%! Not only the biggest sweep in this tournament, but the second biggest in this blog's history as well. Congratulations to Lunala, and the biggest sweep awards post will be updated to include its latest victor!

And that's it! Thank you all so much for your patience, and I'm really happy to finally get this post out with all this juicy data! It's been a huge undertaking, but the Best Legendary Pokémon Tournament has come to a close, with a follow-up on the way very soon! Stick around for the Best Mythical Pokémon Tournament- hopefully starting in the next week or two. Bare with me as I get everything prepared, but feel free to start sending in predictions and who you'll be supporting! See you all very soon.

[dumb-teambucciarati-headcanons]

Ok pokemon au time (a few small things)

Giorno: didn’t get an opportunity to get a traditional starter because his parents didn’t make sure he got one on his 10th birthday. He befriended a deerling when he was young and when he became a teenager they started their journey together. Then he met Bruno and joined him and his friends on their journey. He doesn’t keep his deerling in her pokeball unless it’s for a serious reason. He won’t just catch Pokémon, he has to earn their trust first it’s a moral standard of his. So it’s just him and deerling for now :)

Bruno: he lives in a small cottage by the sea and loves to watch the water type Pokémon there. His dad was a fisherman and he also enjoys fishing. The Pokémon in the area really trust him and he frequently feeds them or helps them if they need help (that one krabby who always gets stuck in that one rock). Inherited a lapras from his dad, but she is really old and can’t do much fighting. Still good for rides on the water though but you have to be patient with her. He recently found a Pokémon egg and is wondering what will hatch from it, and he also has his new partner feebas who he caught and decided to raise on this journey with everyone.

Abbacchio: worked as a cop for some time with his trusty partner arcanine. But because of a mistake he made his arcanine ended up getting killed. He spent some time depressed until bruno found him. He was offered to join them on their journey, but he doesn’t have a Pokémon. However there is a stray growlithe that has taken a liking to him, but Abbacchio isn’t sure if he wants to train growlithe because of his past but the little guy won’t stop following him around …

Mista: his father is a Pokémon champion in some far off region, and he is expected to live up to that. But he doesn’t want to because that means he will have to challenge the elite FOUR. And if he does that well he can say goodbye to all of his Pokémon forever. So he wants to compete in battle train competitions instead. He chose litten as his starter, and that fellow won’t stop knocking his cups onto the floor. He decided to join everyone on their journey so he can toughen up for the battle train.

Narancia: grew up in the kanto region and ended up on the streets when he was young. Where he grew up it was very popular for people to mass breed charmanders to get ones with good stats or that were shiny. But often the “duds” were abandoned. That’s where he met his low iv not the right nature normal looking charmander (lil smith) who he adores. Similar to his actual backstory, his friend framed him for a crime and he ended up with his eye disease. But he was separated from lil smith for some time. And him and his Pokémon ended up starving, until Fugo brought them to Bruno who got them food and medical attention.

Fugo: studied at pokemon school and was at the top of his class. His parents wanted him to be a professor of Pokémon, but he was never allowed to have or connect with a Pokémon so he lacked an interest in them. He would rather study legendary Pokémon only, but his parents didn’t believe they were real. Got kicked out of Pokémon school because he smashed a dictionary over his creepy professors head and his parents kicked him out into the tall grass without a Pokémon (oh no). Bruno found him trying to fend for himself and helped him meet his psyduck who he is frustrated by and doesn’t understand.

Trish: Famous singer and contest star. But she is getting tired of that and wants to open her own gym, but her pokemon aren’t quite ready for that so she is going on a journey with the gang. Didn’t want to go with them, but her manager (pericolo) highly suggested it because he knows bruno. Her partner is a munna her mom gave her, and she also has a jigglypuff.

[pokemon-academy-official]

Welcome to the Pokémon Academy!

Originally operating in Viridian City in West Kanto and Violet City in Central Johto, the Pokémon Academy has grown to teach individuals of any age across regions about Pokémon. Whether it be breeding, care, training, battling, or competing in contests, Pokémon can be surprising! We strive to reach all of our students at their level, teaching concepts from the very basics of type effectiveness to how to properly care for a specific Pokémon, to what exactly the numbers in your Pokédex actually mean.

In this Rotomblr blog, we will occasionally share information on a specific topic, such as what a Pokémon's "level" is, or the unusual occurrences near Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town in East Kanto.

Feel free to send an ask for us to cover a specific topic!

We ask that you please keep discussion civil and appropriate for all ages. Thank you for your understanding, and we hope to be able to teach each and every one of you something new!

OOC in orange.

This blog is a work of fiction.

I can't promise I will post regularly, or for very long, but it seems like a bit of fun.

Different Rotomblr blogs have different rules about how Pokémon work, so please don't take any posts here too strongly as gospel. I'm just a guy that likes Pokémon.

This blog's canon sticks very closely to the mainline games' logic, lore, and history. Others games that closely line up (such as the Colosseum and Ranger games) and the anime are also considered. Additionally:

Events of the games have occurred, but may not be public knowledge.

Pokémon and animals both coexist.

Pokémon are generally slightly more intelligent than smart animals (such as cats dogs and birds)

The Pokémon Academy is a worldwide organization, but Naranja-Uva and Blueberry Academies are separate entities. They all consider each other "sister institutions."

The Pokémon Leagues of different regions are different organizations, but very closely affiliated. The Pokémon Academy works closely with many of them.

Tags, apart from `#rotomblr`, `#pokemon irl`, and `-h` (used in posts with updates from me), are in-universe.

INTERACTION RULES

DO:

Send (anon or non-anon!) asks about topics you'd like me to cover! May not respond if it isn't related to Pokémon, but I'll try to make a connection wherever I can!

Reblog! Interact! This blog isn't a story based one so I won't be going through arcs or anything but Absol-utely (sorry...) interact IC!

Disagree! This blog will be open to discussion so long as it remains civil. That said I personally won't be hurt if your character gets mad and says something hurtful. I just won't respond :shrug:

DON'T:

Any NSFW, particularly "Pokephilia" or anything adjacent. This blog will treat Pokémon as more intelligent than animals but that does not imply ability to consent. I'm not debating you on this.

Bigotry. At all. I'm not cool with it, the in-universe runner of the blog isn't cool with it. You'll get blocked, for real.

Thanks for reading!

<3 -h

[pkmnprideflags]

Everything We Know About the Protags' and Rivals' Families

Red/Leaf

Their mother is probably the Pokémom we know the least about. She only ever talks about worrying for her child, and doesn't seem to have any hobbies or anything noteworthy about her. I'm glad that the later games have started giving the moms more personality.

As for their dad, the only reference to him is in the Celadon Department Store. Upon looking at one of the TVs, the protag will say, "A sports game! Dad'll like that!" So we know that their father is a fan of sports, and has enough of a connection with their child for them to know that.

Blue Oak

Of course, he has a grandfather (er, what was his name again?), and that grandfather has a cousin named Samson who lives in Alola. He also has an older sister, Daisy, who has allegedly competed in Pokémon Contests in the past according to a Pokémon Journal in the Sevii Islands. This means she must have traveled to either Hoenn or Sinnoh at some point, probably during her childhood or adolescence. We know nothing about Blue & Daisy's parents.

Ethan/Kris/Lyra (as protag)

This Pokémom still doesn't have much going on outside of talking to other women in town and apparently enjoying cooking, but she does at least assist by managing her child's money. In retrospect, an eleven-year-old in real life probably should not be trusted with all that money, so good idea. Too bad she also seems irresponsible with money, buying things with her child's money without asking them. Sometimes those purchases are helpful, sometimes they're not. Either way, you should get permission first, ma'am.

As far as I can remember, their father is never mentioned.

Ethan/Lyra (as friend)

They live with their father in New Bark Town; as far as I know, their mother is never mentioned. Their grandparents are the Day Care Couple that lives south of Goldenrod City.

Silver

We all know by now that Silver's father is Giovanni. According to the Celebi event, father and son parted ways three years before GSC on Route 22, with Giovanni heading towards the Pokémon League and Silver heading back, presumably to Viridian. If we assume that he is the standard protag/rival age of 11, then he seperated from Giovanni at the age of eight. When he shows up in New Bark Town, he lowkey seems to be homeless. I'm not sure how an eight-year-old without Pokémon would have made it over to Johto alone. The most likely people to help him would be Team Rocket, but he's stubborn enough that he'd probably reject their help. Did he climb through or trek around Mt. Silver?

Despite the many fan theories, the identity of Silver's mother has never been discussed in the games.

May/Brendan (as protag)

A protagonist with two visible parents?! Impossible. But yes, Norman and his wife are still together. In Ruby and Sapphire, your mother specifically mentions that your family moved from Johto; curiously though, that dialogue was changed in Emerald to just say "another region." Later in B2W2's World Tournament, Norman specifically says he is from Olivine City.

The only references to their parents' lives before comes in ORAS, when the mother mentions that she and Norman watched the Litleonids the last time they occurred. Awwww.

May/Brendan (as rival)

They live with their parents, Professor and Mrs. Birch, in Littleroot Town. In Emerald only, they also have a younger brother. Prof. Birch seems to have a very close relationship with their child, though since they're often involved in fieldwork they may not get to see their mother much. Interestingly, Birch and Norman have supposedly been friends "since their school days." That means either Norman had gone to school in Hoenn before moving to Olivine, or Birch went to school in Johto.

Wally

We actually know a lot about Wally's family since it's part of the plot of RSE. He lives with his parents in Petalburg City, who are understandably protective of his health. He later moves to Verdanturf to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousin Wanda. Not much is known about them, other than that Wanda is romantically involved with a guy from Rustboro.

Lucas/Dawn (as protag)

They live in Twinleaf Town with their mother, the Contest star Johanna. She gets out of the house more, both for Contests and to observe her child's success in the Battle Zone.

There are two references to the player's father, and both occur in Platinum. Johanna says that her child reminds him of him and that the two of them "are so alike." Later when met at the Battle Frontier, Palmer will note that he was a friend and rival to their father, similar to how they are now with Barry. Notably, in a very early beta of Diamond & Pearl, the player's father was going to appear early in the game. I don't speak Japanese, but based on the screenshots I'm guessing he was going to be involved in the player's first Pokémon encounter.

Lucas/Dawn (as friend)

They live in Sandgem Town with their father, grandfather, and little sister. Their father works as an assistant to Professor Rowan; nothing about their mother is known. Their sister watches TV a lot, and therefore often hears about swarms occurring in Sinnoh.

Barry

He lives in Twinleaf Town with his mother, while his father Palmer works at the Sinnoh Battle Frontier. Both parents seem to care for their son, but I honestly can't remember them ever talking to or about each other, so I don't know what their relationship status is.

Hilbert/Hilda

The Pokémom of Nuvema Town is said to have been a Trainer herself when she was younger. However, now she mostly stays at home, only departing to give the player the running shoes. In B2W2 she behaves similarly to Red's mother, saying she kind of wants to go out and find her child, but would feel bad if they stopped by while she was gone. Which makes me wonder: does her kid not still have their Xtransceiver? Why can't she just...call them like a normal person?

Their father is referenced by their mother when she says that they met each other on their own Pokémon journeys. Aw, young love. No hints to their current relationship status, though.

Cheren

Cheren lives with his parents in Nuvema Town. I don't remember anything of note about them.

Bianca

Bianca lives with her parents in Nuvema Town, and we all remember how her father acts at the beginning of the games. I don't recall her mother's reaction; apparently she was the one to tell him that Bianca made it to Nimbasa City, so maybe that indicates that Bianca trusts her slightly more.

Nate/Rosa

This is definitely one of the cooler Pokémoms. She is an old friend of Professor Juniper, and used to work in Pokémon Centers (specifically implied to be the ones in Nimbasa and Mistralton). She's knowledgeable about the many locations in Unova, and supports her child by providing information.

Bulbapedia claims that there are references to their dad in the games, but a search of relevant pages has turned up no references.

Hugh

Hugh lives with his mother, father, and younger sister in Aspertia City. His father has the sprite of a Black Belt, and his mother has the sprite of a Nursery Aide, which is a cute pairing. Hugh also mentions that he has a deceased grandfather, who caught his little sister's Purrloin. Hugh is very protective of his sister; overall this is a cute little family.

Calem/Serena (as protag)

They live with their mother, Grace, in Vaniville Town. The two recently moved to the town, but it's unclear if they are from another region entirely, or just a different town in Kalos. Regardless, Grace is known for being a Rhyhorn racer.

The only mention of the player's father is in a story Grace tells about one of her races. She lost control of her Rhyhorn at the finish line, where he was waiting, and she "sent him flying."

Calem/Serena (as rival)

They also live with their mother in Vaniville Town. It's mentioned that both of their parents are renowned Pokémon battlers, which is cool. Otherwise, their father is never mentioned.

Shauna & Tierno

Strangely, we know nothing about these two's families. Shauna seems to live in or near Vaniville Town since she hangs out there a lot, but she doesn't have a house there. Tierno hangs around Coumarine City a lot during postgame, so maybe he's supposed to be from there? But we know nothing about their family lives.

Trevor

Trevor lives with his sister in Lumiose City. Apparently his mother and father are currently traveling the world to train their Pokémon. The world of this game series just seems very chill about family relations, and treats it as socially acceptable to leave your family to take a journey. I suppose they appreciate long-distance relationships or just don't value family that much.

Selene/Elio

They live with their mother on the outskirts of Hau'oli City. Their family was originally from the Kanto region, and the player's mother was once a renowned Meowth trainer, earning the nickname of the "Scratch Cat Girl." She's even seen at the end of the game battling the Masked Royal.

Apparently she is still married to the player's father, who still lives in Kanto. The two keep in touch by sending each other letters.

Hau

Hau lives with his grandfather Hala in Iki Town. He mentions his mother several times, saying he enjoys her cooking; she is not confirmed to be present in the games, but there is a female NPC randomly placed inside Hala's house that some assume to be Hau's mother. His father is traveling on a journey in another region (implied to be Kanto).

Gladion

We all know this by now - used to live with Lusamine, Mohn, and Lillie; then Mohn disappeared, Gladion ran away with Type: Null, and Nebby teleported Lillie to Route 1. An Aether Paradise NPC also notes that Lusamine's father (so Gladion's grandfather) was a wealthy man who loved Pokémon, and he was the one who built the Foundation.

Chase/Elaine

They live with their mother in Pallet Town. Like Red & Leaf's mother, this Pokémom doesn't have a whole lot going on. Bulbapedia says that they have a referenced father; I'm guessing it's that same dialogue in the Department Store from the other Gens.

Trace

Since he's no longer Professor Oak's grandson, Trace seems to only live with his sister. Perhaps another Trevor situation?

Victor/Gloria

They seem to have always lived in Postwick with their mum. She doesn't have a whole lot going on, and the only reference to their father is the statement that the player's bag is a hand-me-down from him.

Hop

Hop lives in Postwick with his parents and grandparents, and Leon used to live there before going off to be a champion and whatnot.

Marnie

Her parents are never mentioned; she seems to live with Piers.

Bede

Bede was apparently raised in an orphanage, so the identity of his parents are unknown.

Rei

Both as the protagonist and as the rival, their family situations are unknown.

Akari

As the protagonist, her family situation is unknown. As the rival, she mentions wanting to send a photo to her parents and brag about her work with the player in the Survey Corps.

Juliana/Florian

They recently moved to Cabo Poco with their mother from a different region. It's implied they may be from Galar, as the mother has a Skwovet and uses the term "cuppa" when talking to Clavell. Their father is never mentioned.

Nemona

Nemona's father, mother, and sister live in Cabo Poco. They moved to the Paldea region when Nemona was seven; their original region is unknown. Nemona's father is on the board of the Rotom Phone company, so they have a decent amount of wealth.

Because I'm a nerd, let's finish with some stats:

Characters confirmed to have both parents currently alive: 16 out of 34

Characters who live with both of their parents: 8 out of 34

Characters who live with their mother: 22 out of 34

Characters who live with their father: 12 out of 34

Characters with at least one living grandparent: 5 out of 34

Characters with siblings: 10 out of 32

[agentpotatoduck214]

He loves me, He loves me not (Contestshipping)

Synopsis: May yearns to understand her relationship with Drew as they complete the year together.

(two idiots in denial) uhhh might be a lil OOC of them (I'm going off my memory of their dynamic). Unspecified time skip ? May is just a girl. Anything else just lmk ig??

A/N: have this New Year's Post at the end of January (my bad). kind of rushed ending ?? Sorry if a lil awkward, this is my first time ever publishing anything

word count: 4.36k

May had always known that her feelings for Drew were complicated. It lingered in the back of her mind everyday, swirling in the background of her daydreams about him, fueling her desire to travel and compete in contests.

It was weird, since she was certain he was the most infuriating man she had ever met. When they first met when they were younger, she was certain she would hate him until the day she died. So arrogant and rude, teasing her when she was just a rookie. 

She supposes the conflict started the second he offered her a rose. For Beautifly, he had said. Whether there was any other meaning to that one flower, or the subsequent ones that followed during their every interaction, he rooted himself in her heart as the boy, now man, who gave her a garden.

She treasured each one she received as much as she could. They were for her Pokémon, extensions of her own heart and soul. Of course it felt like he was offering something directly to the very root of her love and passion. 

She sighs as she twirls the one in her hand, these thoughts now brought to the forefront of her mind. Drew has yet to return to the Pokémon Center, running out to get more firewood. It was just them there, except for Nurse Joy, somewhere in the Sinnoh Mountains where snow blanketed everything for as far as you could see. It was a rather beautiful winter wonderland. A very cold winter wonderland.

It was why Drew was out right now, gathering more wood to fuel the fire where they curled up. Sitting far too close for just friends, but too far to be anything more. Her jacket got ripped on the branch of a bush while they were out walking today, which is why Drew insisted on going alone. She stared at the spot that he had previously occupied, wondering what it would be like to curl up against him. But, that’s not what friends do.

Friends, what an odd thing to label their relationship as. May was so sure they would never get along. She’s certain that her certainty about their relationship is why she feels an unfamiliar twinge of emotion tug at her heart as he jokes with her, casting playful glances at her as he sips his cocoa. She blames the hot cocoa for the heat that bloomed in her chest when the lighting from the fire hit him in a way that made his eyes look much brighter than she ever cared for.

It’s definitely the hot cocoa that causes that heat to linger far after he’s been gone. The hot cocoa that definitely bloomed the heat that lingers as she twirls his rose. 

They had come here together, Drew searching for a specific Pokémon and May taking up any opportunity to travel and explore, any opportunity to be with him. 

She swears it got warmer in the room when Drew shot a smile in her direction when they arrived at the center, cheeks rosy from the cold. It was just the amount of layers she had on that makes her feel warm when Drew offers to, and takes, her bag to her room for her.

She swore the Pokémon Center was just hot, which is why her chest warmed and her heart pounded when she saw him this morning, hair tousled and pajamas still on as he ate the breakfast Nurse Joy served. 

 They had walked all through the woods together today, in search of Drew’s future Pokémon partner. May marveled about the scenery most of the time, using her fingers to pretend she was recording another May’s Expeditions. 

Drew had chuckled when she stopped because her fingers were cold, even with her mittens. She had scowled as she tucked her hands in her pockets, but there was no actual anger behind it. Quite the opposite. A warmth spread throughout her as she looked over at him in the snow. Snowflakes had caught on his hat, and the pieces of his hair that stuck out. It was quite an enchanting picture.

She swears the newfound warmth was from sticking her hands in her pockets.

The laughter that erupted from her chest when she hit him with a snowball was strictly from the ‘thud’ where the snow made contact, and not the fact that she was delighted about how cute his shocked expression was. The laughter that continued was just because the snow that got in her jacket tickled as they had a snowball fight.

She only tried to stuff snow down his jacket because it was funny. Nothing more. She didn’t need to be close to him. 

Him holding on to her arms to stop her was just that. Nothing more. 

Them struggling to get the snow in each other’s jacket was nothing but their rivalry, and it meant nothing when he pulled her into his chest as he fell into the snow.

May swears he has abnormal body heat, and that’s why she felt so warm as she laughed against his chest.

The Pokémon Center doors open with a whoosh and May looks over a little too quickly for someone who wasn’t missing him. 

His rosy cheeks are back, which makes her chest twinge with a heartwarming ache. He looks really good, she realizes, and she wonders if she always thought about him this way. Her heart aches at the idea that he doesn’t think about her the same.

She watches as he dumps the logs next to the fireplace.

“I tried to find the driest ones,” He says breathlessly, looking behind her at Nurse Joy and Chancey. May doesn’t bother to look back, focused solely on how beautiful he suddenly is. Suddenly isn’t the right word, she concludes. He’s always been this way, hasn’t he? Isn’t it that it suddenly occurred to her that she wants him to think she’s beautiful, too?

“What’s that look?” He asks softly, gaze focused on her. She startles out of her thoughts, trying her best to look indifferent, despite how her heart ached.

There was no way she could be anything near beautiful to him. Anything near elegant, or strong, or awe-inspiring.

She wasn’t like Solidad, strong and stunning. Capable, Graceful.

She wasn’t even creative and cunning like Harley could be. 

The only thing she had in common with those two was that she loved her Pokémon and contests like Solidad. And that she was annoying like Harley. It makes her stomach churn, this doubt, but she blames it on too much hot cocoa as she realizes she’s been quiet for a little too long.

“What look?” She asks, throat suddenly dry. He’s looking at her with an unreadable expression that mirrors her own, but his lips quirk upward at her response. He stands and her gaze involuntarily follows. She doesn’t say anything as he approaches, pulling off his gloves. Her heart twinges, nerves erupting in her stomach and flying up her spine.

“Need more cocoa?” He motions to her mug, now long been cold, as he reaches for his own. She looks down, brow twitching. “I’ll get you some, anyway.”

His fingers brush against her own when he takes her mug, and sparks shoot throughout her.

“Your hands are freezing!” She gasps, looking back up at him. He smirks, raising a brow.

“I suppose I’ll have to hurry back with my cocoa then. So you can warm me up.” 

He leaves like nothing happened. Like he didn’t just ignite a fire that spreads throughout her chest. It makes her cheeks and the tips of her ears flush and it settles in her stomach, where it swirls with the icy coils of doubt.

She’s overthinking it, she decides. There’s no way he meant anything from that. He’s teasing her. Maybe he knows how she’s feeling right now, is she that easy to read?

He’s only gotten better at reading her expression the longer they’ve known each other, it’s how he can get on her nerves so easily. He knows what she’s thinking so he knows what to say to piss her off. She nods slightly to herself, that’s why he said it. No other reason. He doesn’t want her like that. The roses are just roses for her Pokémon, nothing more.

It makes her ribs suddenly feel a size smaller as she thinks about her childish hopes. That the roses meant something. That his special interest in making her his rival meant something. That she meant something.

All she was to him was a trainer that he gave a few tips to. So he could say that he inspired someone. To help them grow. That’s all it is, she concludes. He’s not wrong to think that. Drew played a huge amount in her growth. She tributes him with motivating her to do so much on her journey. Probably more than what normal people tribute to their inspirations.

But why would that mean anything to him? He’s got fans all over the place. He says the gushing fans irritate him, but doesn’t she irritate him, too? Doesn’t he sneer and tease at her because he slots her in the same place as them? As someone who bothers him?

“Here you go, May,” Drew says as he returns, handing her her mug from behind the couch. She accepts it with a murmur of thanks, the air getting knocked out of her lungs as she watches him walk around the couch. 

He changed out of his snow gear. Now in a black turtleneck and a comfortable pair of pants. She’s seen him in a similar outfit before, so she can’t figure out why this time it’s so mesmerizing.

“You okay?” The soft tone has returned and she fights away thoughts that he never speaks to her in this manner. “Did something happen?”

“Solidad texted.” She answers too quickly. Her brow twitches in irritation at herself for answering with that. There was nothing wrong with that. She loved when Solidad texted.

“She’s co-hosting a New Year’s event,” May quickly follows up, finally meeting his gaze. Once again, another unreadable look. She wishes she could understand him. Was close enough to read him like Solidad. She figures it must be different with them because there was trust.

Drew never outright said he didn’t trust her, but she reached that conclusion because she wasn’t sure she remembered a time he outright said he did. Her mind goes back to moments when they were younger. In Hoenn and Kanto. 

She thinks about how he made her feel warm and nervous then as well. How she thought she might’ve done the same to him. She always equated to wanting to impress him, to show that she was worthy of being a rival. But as she sits in and stares at him in this Pokémon Center, she knows better now.

It occurs to her that if she had meant anything to him at all during all these years, that he would’ve said something. Done something. Sure, they’ve got this awkward pseudo friendship where she can laugh against his chest after a snowball fight but he makes sure not to touch her when sitting on the couch. 

“I was thinking of going,” She clears her throat after another short pause. Her mind is racing as she tries to act like she isn’t affected by her revelations. That she isn’t affected by him.

“New Years is tomorrow,” He adds, slowly nodding. “Can you even make it to Kanto in time?”

May takes that as a doubt of her ability. Her ability to fly with one of her Pokémon or to travel on time. Drew was trying to think of ways to have her stay. With him. Here. It was selfish to want her all to himself, but he didn’t care.

“I can fly,” She says a little indignantly and Drew can’t figure out why she sounds hurt.

“What kind of event even is it?” He asks, studying her expression. It makes his heart hurt to see her look so torn up. She wasn’t looking like this earlier. She wasn’t looking at him like this earlier. Her expression reminds him of a wounded Pokémon, though he can’t understand what would’ve happened to make her feel like he’s backed her into a corner.

“I don’t know,” She says flatly, looking at the fire now. Why was she upset? His brow twitched and he looked at the fire, too. Her tone made his stomach churn. Did he do something wrong? Does she feel uncomfortable?

“Then why-?” “Because I want to.” She interrupts and he nods, pressing his lips together. Neither of them are facing each other anymore. May feeling stupid for just now realizing how badly she loved him and Drew feeling confused on why she suddenly seemed to not want to be around him.

Solidad has told him to be careful with her feelings. He knew he teased her, but he always knew when to draw the line. At least, that’s what he thought. 

When May agreed to come with him, he felt relieved. Happy. Excited. He could finally enjoy her company just to himself while showing her that he wanted to be around her. That he wanted to enjoy cocoa and curl up on the couch, that he wanted to throw snowballs, and laugh in the snow. 

He figures this is her way of rejecting him. That she picked up on how deeply he cared about her and was fleeing from him as soon as possible. He swallows, trying to bite back these new feelings of shame. 

“I’m going to pack,” She stands and his eyes shoot to her, wanting to protest. Beg her to stay. Beg her to sit back down. To be with him. He only nods, face turning back to the fire.

May, judgment clouded with self doubt, assumes that he just doesn’t care and sulks back to her room. Less time was spent packing and more of it was spent wallowing in self pity that she is so emotionally consumed by him.

Drew stays by the fire, watching it die out. There are logs to continue to fuel it, but he doesn’t feel like getting up. He returns to his room, a lame goodnight spoken to Nurse Joy. At least he has the rest of the trip to wallow in this rejection without interruption.

Solidad pointed out years ago that she noticed his change in feelings for her. That she could tell he stopped seeing her as just some kid, but as a rival. That she could tell he stopped seeing her as a rival, but as something more. In his very few attempts to flirt, he got more and more on May’s nerves, so he decided to keep the rose tactic. To offer her a flower in place of an ‘I love you.’ 

He sighs as he gets back to his room, an idea sprouting in his mind at the sight of his jacket thrown carelessly on the bed. He was in a rush to change and get back to May, so he didn’t exactly properly deal with his snow gear. 

If he could give her his jacket, then she’d at least have to speak to him again to give it back. He was sure he would see her, after all they travel in the same region for contests all the time, but he wanted to speak to her. To brush his hand against hers when she gave it back. He wondered if she’d even wear it.

May feels like she’s moving in slow motion as she packs her clothes. She needed to relax, she kept telling herself, after accidentally putting hand lotion on her toothbrush and trying to pull pants on like a sweater, she knew she couldn’t keep going like this. But, she was sure it was impossible to get him out of her mind.

A knock on the door knocks her out of her stupor. There’s only two people it could be and she’s really hoping for one of them.

They stare at each for a moment when she opens the door, as if their breaths have both been taken away at the sight of each other. 

Drew breaks the silence. “I brought you this.”

May tilts her head, brows furrowing as she takes his jacket in hand.

“Your jacket?” She looks back up at him, curling it against her chest.

“Yes, to keep you warm while you walk-,”

“Nurse Joy is giving me a snowmobile.” May interjects, lips quirking upwards when he clears his throat.

“Snowmobile to the city.” He corrects. “Because your jacket is ripped.”

He holds a finger up when she starts to protest and she closes her mouth, nodding. She was just going to sew her jacket up, but her heart fluttered as his gesture and she smiled up at him.

Drew felt relieved at the sight of her smile, a smile of his own starting to form.

“Thank you. But won’t you need it?” She asked softly. Drew was glad to hear her tone from before he got wood. The tone she had when they giggled over their mugs.

“For what?” He asked, tilting his head.

“Well aren’t you catching that Pokémon?” Her head tilted to the side again. How he did love when she did that. He shrugged, which made her more puzzled.

“I have more layers,” He said simply and her brow twitched as she processed that.

“What about when you go to the city? Won’t you need it?” She asked. It was his turn to furrow his brow.

“Why would I go there?”

“Aren’t you going to fly to Solidad’s event?” She sounded nervous when she asked that. “There will be loads of other coordinators there.” 

He nodded in understanding, gazing at her. She didn’t like his silence, feeling her hopes come crashing down.

“You.. are going, aren’t you?” 

“We’ll see.” Was all he replied and she swallowed, nodding. 

He couldn’t care like she did. If it were the other way around, she would drop everything to go with him. He felt his heart twinge with regret at the sight of her disappointed look, wanting to immediately take back his statement.

He didn’t need that Pokémon. He wouldn’t lay a hand on any Pokémon but the ones he already had if it meant he could accompany her anywhere.

“I’ll be there as soon as I catch one,” He amended softly, lips quirking upward at the sight of her more hopeful expression. She nodded slowly. 

“It ends after New Year’s.” was all she could respond with. He nodded, an unsaid “I know” in the air. Both afraid to break the moment.

“Have a safe flight, May.”

“Thanks, Drew.”

May replayed that conversation over and over on her flight, wrapping Drew’s coat around her tightly. The woman next to her had asked if it was her boyfriend’s and May could only muster a nod as she repeated I wish, I wish, I wish in her head. 

May supposed that her sulky mood was written all over her face because Solidad gave her a knowing look when she retrieved her from the airport. 

It led to a complete breakdown in the passenger seat of her car, frantically wiping at her cheeks as she cried about how she was so overcome with emotion whenever she was near him. 

Solidad listened kindly, trying her best not to sigh wistfully and say, “Ah, young love.” To Solidad, it was painfully obvious how in love they were. It was more confusing that they couldn’t see that the other liked them just as much.

May tried her best to keep her terrible mood to herself. It was easy to smile and converse with the other trainers at the get together. The event was hosted by Solidad and Vivian, wanting to bring together coordinators who were in Kanto for a nice party. Some were already trying to set up an impromptu contest. 

May graciously accepted the role as mock judge, sitting on the seat closest to the window where she could stare in hopes to see him. Solidad would always nudge her right before it was time for her to say something and May would make up something based on the glimpses of the contest battle out of the corner of her eye.

People could tell that she was distracted, and who she was distracted by. Everyone in the coordinating sphere knew of the power couple that was May and Drew. They figured they’d be dating for years and were placing bets on when Drew would pop the question.

How wrong could they be? May had thought when some girl asked if she and Drew were going to be each other’s New Year’s kiss. He’d never see me like that..

But the question made all her doubts resurface and she quickly found a way to weasel out of the conversation, retreating out the door to the front porch. She was wearing Drew’s jacket over her own, staring out at the snow. It was peaceful away from the ruckus.

May usually enjoyed these events, while Drew was the one to walk out silently. Her mind drifted to all those years ago where she had chased after him from the Grand Festival celebrations.

It was hard to be her cheerful and social self when her heart was longing for something she couldn’t have. The yells from inside about “One more minute till New Year!”, “I need a drink!”, and “Where’s my boyfriend?” made May chuckle. The last one made her sigh.

She wondered if Drew had any luck. She supposed she could fly back tomorrow and see if he’s still there. Then, she could give him his jacket back. She sewed her jacket up on the flight over, when she had nothing to do on the plane. 

She wondered if he was at the fireplace in the Pokémon Center again. Maybe he and Nurse Joy had dinner and were keeping each other company until the new year came. A sliver of jealousy made her sigh again, wishing she could be with him.

A call for thirty seconds erupted from inside the house. The shouts and cheers faded out until only a rustling noise was heard at the side of the house, May’s brow furrowed, craning her neck to see if there was a Pokémon there or not. She walked over to the side of the porch closest, peering into the dark.

Twenty seconds.

The rustling stopped and a silhouette rounded the corner of the house. May wished she could see but they were just beyond the reach of the porch light. She moved back towards the stairs to greet them. They were in such a rush, maybe something happened?

Ten seconds.

The countdown within the house started as she stared at Drew, standing there and panting at the bottom of the stairs.

Five.

Her feet moved on her own.

Four.

He moved towards her.

Three.

He had smiled when he saw her.

Two.

What was he doing here?

One.

They met on the stairs, crashing into each other. She threw her arms around his shoulders. Drew held her firmly, stabilizing them as they kissed. It was weird, chests and teeth thumping together as they met.

May pulled back after the house erupted in cheers, face flushing.

“What are you doing here?” She asked shyly, looking down but not removing her hands from his shoulders. 

“Finding you, obviously.” He panted, looking at her with that expression again.

“You flew here?” She asked, brow furrowing. That can’t be.

“With Flygon, yeah.” He shrugged. Her jaw dropped, and she glared at him.

“Idiot! You flew here in this weather, without a coat?!” She had exclaimed, pulling off his coat. He had laughed as she draped it around his shoulders, smiling down at her. Her smile grew as she kept her hands on his shoulders.

“Of course I did,” He eyed her lips again. “I had to give my coat to someone else.” “Oh really?” She quirked a brow, smiling despite trying to pretend to be mad. “They didn’t have their own?” “I’ll have you know that the pretty girl I lent my coat to did have her own,” He hummed, running his fingers up her arm. “But, hers got ripped.”

“Is that so?” Her heart races at his words, her remark ending up more shaky than intended.

“Mhm, and what kind of guy would I be if I didn’t give her mine?” He asked, his forehead leaning against hers now. She smiled, shaking her head slightly.

“A smart one?” “How about this?” He glanced at her lips again. “I wanted an excuse to see you again?”

Her brow furrowed at that, gazing at him in confusion.

“You wouldn’t if you didn’t give me your coat?” She asked, seemingly offended.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d want to.” He said, she tilted her head some more, blinking in stunned confusion. “I thought you were leaving because you didn’t want to be around me.” “I left because I thought you didn’t like me.” She said in surprise. Though, like was a mild term for it. Because you didn’t yearn for me in your bones was a better phrase.

“What a ridiculous thing to think,” He muttered, scooting even closer to her. “How could I not like you?”

Warmth spread throughout her at his statement, her lips parting in stunned silence. “Because..”

He chuckled, shaking his head. One hand held the back of her head while the other cupped her chin, tilting her head to be looking completely at him. “I love you, May,” He confessed, gazing at her intently. “A lot.”

She was sure her entire body was on fire as she stared at him, shocked. She must be dreaming. One of her hands reached for his wrist, holding his hand in place as she gazed at him.

“I love you, too” She whispered, reaching her other hand to adjust his jacket. She smiled, and he smiled right back at her. 

“Happy New Year, May,” He murmured, leaning closer.

“Happy New Year, Drew,” She wrapped her arms around him again, leaning in for another kiss.

[waywardstation]

Festival Prizes

Akari gets Ingo a sneasel mask at the Jubilife festival, as thanks for entering festival contests to help her win tokens for a prize.

This was written off of a request to write something based off of this drawing of mine! And then it morphed into something much bigger after I asked my discord for a type of contest that could be going on at the festival. I got a lot of different contests and game booth suggestions, and decided to include as many as I could haha. Thanks guys!

OR read here on AO3!

Enjoy!

————

“Ingo, I’m back!”

The warden glanced away from the dancing and the fireworks to see Akari approaching him through the festive groups of people, several things clutched in her hands, and Powder perched on her shoulder. 

Akari squeezed through the last of the crowd and joined Ingo on the bench he was sitting on, set against the side of Choy’s storefront. From her shoulder, Powder chirped excitedly, tiny claws gripped around a dango stick. Akari had a few more in her hand, holding onto them as she set her other various things down beside her.

She took one of the sticks, holding the treat out to Ingo. “Dango?”

The warden’s face seemed to pale, tinting a sickly shade of green at the mere sight of the dango.

“Oh, kidding, I’m kidding! I got your tea.” Half-surprised to see such a strong reaction, Akari retracted the dango, switching to offer a hot cup to him instead. “Beni told me to congratulate you, by the way. He said he’d never even seen Cyllene eat that much mochi in one sitting!”

“And he’ll likely never witness that again,” Ingo received the cup, swallowing down some of the lingering green nausea as he focused his gaze on the steaming drink. Hopefully it would settle some of the roiling backlash he was suffering through after participating in a mochi-eating contest on Akari’s behalf. And the stomachache wasn’t even fully worth it - he had only achieved second place. “I feel like I don’t- ugh, like I don’t need to refuel for a week.”

“Well I think you did pretty good, considering you were all competing against Mai’s Munchlax,” Akari sat back to chew on her own dango stick as Ingo groaned into his cup of tea. She was of course empathetic, but it was obvious she was more entertained by the whole thing than he was at the moment. “I mean, can you imagine if the contest was to out-eat Kamado’s Snorlax instead?”

“That would not even be a contest, the tracks would be so uneven.” Ingo mustered a laugh that trailed off into sort of another groan. “Thank you for the tea, Miss Akari.”

“Mmm-hm,” The teen hummed around her mouthful of dango, before she sat up. “Oh, also! Look what I found over there! These were right next to Beni’s stand, I had to get them!” 

She reached over to retrieve something beside her, and held something out to him. Circular, flattish, and face-side down, it had the general shape of those Pokémon masks Ingo had seen being sold at a lot of the booths.

Had she bought one of those for him? Ingo accepted the circular, flattish object as Akari held it out to him. White and lightweight, he turned it over to be surprisingly greeted with familiar wide eyes, a small nose, and a curved smirk - a face identical to Powder’s. 

It was a hisuian sneasel mask!

“Powder spotted them, and got really excited. I just had to get one for both of us!” Akari was already securing her own mask on the side of her head, much to Powder’s delight. The runt chirped happily as she stared at it, her muzzle decorated with bits of dango. “Also… yeah, it’s kind of a consolation prize for making yourself sick just for me in that last contest. And for having to put up with Melli.”

With the way Melli had laughed after the contest had ended, going on about how of course no one could beat the Diamond Clan at any competition, one would have thought he had personally won the competition, not Mai’s munchlax.

Ingo’s nauseous frown pulled into a fragile smile at the teen’s thoughtful gesture as he admired the mask’s craftsmanship. Whoever had made them had really been faithful to a hisuian sneasel’s face, right down to the correct facial markings and mischievous smile. 

“Ah, the gift is much appreciated, Miss Akari, thank you.” Ingo copied her, and fastened it on his head. “I am sure my Lady and her kits will be just as amused as Powder was, when I show this to them. Though, I am curious, where did you find these? I’ve yet to see a sneasel festival mask for sale at any of the booths.”

He had seen plenty of masks being sold resembling shinx, crogunk, bidoof, mime jr, and even buneary, just to name a few. But no sneasels… he hadn’t even considered there would be, seeing as most every mask was modeled after a Pokémon native to the fieldlands.

“No, I didn’t have to spend anything! They were prizes at the last game booth I needed to find!” Ingo could hear the pride creep up in her voice - rightfully so. Whatever the game was, she must have been very good at it, as she had only been gone a few more minutes than expected. Even for her, that was surprisingly quick. “Bucket toss becomes pretty easy after I’ve thrown so many pokeballs for fieldwork. I felt like I could have done it with my eyes closed!”

Ah, that explained the speed.

“Well then, I should say I’m not surprised you did well,” Ingo felt it was only right to compliment her after she went through the trouble of getting it for him. “Though not to discredit your skills, but you've also done exceptionally well at just about every activity tonight.”

It had taken Akari no more than three tries to win a specific magikarp for sweet Ceci, a self-proclaimed fanatic of the scrawny Pokémon, at the Magikarp Scoop booth. “I’m gonna take really good care of it, so it grows to be as big as the one on top of the Galaxy Hall!” The little girl exclaimed with happiness when Akari handed the magikarp off to her. 

The teen had done just as well with a ring toss, her prize being a colorful set of handmade thread bracelets; all three of which were now loosely worn around Powder’s tiny neck. The runt thoroughly loved the gift, having no prior trinkets of her own due to greedy siblings - Ingo made a mental note to keep an eye on her, in case any of them would try to snatch them from her when they would later return to the den.

And it was like that for many of the booths - Yo-Yo Fishing, Balloon Pop, Stack the Pokeshis… She had even done well participating at the booths that focused on luck rather than skill; Guess the Number of Beans, Which Cup is it Under, Pick the Box… Almighty Sinnoh must have really wanted her to do well.

Though, while she enjoyed receiving and sharing the plentiful prizes she was winning, the effort was not for them, but something else.

“Well, I’ve gotta try my best when we’re so close!” Akari finished off her mochi. “We only need…”

She paused for a moment, plucking out a small bag and dumping small coins into her hand to count them.

“...two more tokens!”

To Akari, the real prizes were the participant tokens. Each booth gave out one unique token if their game could be beaten, but contests were more varied with their distribution. Six tokens if you could land first place, four for second, and two for third. Be the first to accumulate twenty-five tokens over the night, and one could exchange them for a valuable comet shard.

Akari really wanted that comet shard.

The issue was, there were only nine booths. To get twenty-five, one would need to participate in the contests. And with the booths being locked to one unique token per person, Ingo was doing his best to assist her the only way he could; by earning contest tokens. Particularly from some of the more… impractical ones for a fifteen-year-old to compete in, like trying to beat a munchlax at an eating contest.

The whole challenge seemed a little rigged (And with the incredible prize, it was understandable), but not impossible with a little help.

The first contest had been easy enough; Professor Laventon had set up a quiz-style competition that tested one’s knowledge on Pokémon. Various questions had gone over Pokémons’ types, evolution stages, and even silhouette identification. Of course, Ingo and Akari had nailed that one and landed first and second place easily, collectively earning ten tokens together. 

The second competition, well… Ingo was currently reeling over the results of that one.

“I apologize,” Ingo watched Akari plop the tokens back into her bag as he took another sip from his tea. “If I had not faltered to Munchlax, you would not be two tokens short of your ticket.”

“No, it’s ok! You still got four of them for me!” Akari assured him. “Besides, there’s one more contest we can still participate in!”

The teen paused for a moment, rethinking her words.

“Or, more like you can participate in… I don’t think I’d make the top three. Um, how bad are you still feeling right now?”

Ingo wasn’t sure he liked the foreboding nature of that question. “The tracks are not as smooth as they could be, but thanks to the tea, better than earlier. Is that relevant?”

“Well the competition, it’s…” Ingo was all too aware of the I know you won’t like this tone creeping into Akari’s voice. “It’s a little more, um, physical?”

Ingo’s insides flip-flopped. “It’s that arm wrestling event I’ve heard others talking about all night, isn’t it?”

“Maybeeee..?” The teen drew the word out, giving Ingo a pleading look. Powder even glanced around her shoulder to mimic the same face at the warden.

“Miss Akari, I’m a little uncertain if I should…” Ingo did not feel like pushing himself too hard, and throwing up four plates of potato mochi all over any potential competitors.

“Please? We’re so close!” Akari urged. She held up her arm and pulled an exaggerated display of flexing. “And you’re strong! You can beat, like, ninety-five percent of the people here! You can do it!”

Ingo was inclined to scoff at that - not at Akari herself, but her words. He felt like she was either genuinely overestimating him, or just trying to motivate him with excess encouragement. He sighed, shifting a little on the bench. “Is anyone participating that I should be cautious of?”

“Um, well I saw Zisu and Gaeric kind of lingering around the booth when I passed by…”

Well, there was that other five percent. Ingo was dreading that answer - he could never dream of beating them at this competition, but at this point he had been expecting their participation. 

Though Akari was right. They were so close. Only two more tokens… and how could he deny her this after she got him such a nice festival mask?

“When does the registry close for this?” Ingo stared down at the small amount of tea still left in his cup as he swished it around gently. Well, at least until the movements pointedly (and nauseously) reminded him of his stomach contents at the moment. He stopped before he could turn green again.

“I think in a few minutes? It’s when the fireworks end.” The wary hope rising in Akari’s voice was already motivating Ingo to follow through with this. He tipped his head back and forced the rest of his tea down along with a weak bout of nausea, before moving to get back onto his feet. Akari followed after, jumping up quickly as Powder yowled excitedly.

“Well, you only require two more tokens, correct? I could… attempt to set my tracks towards third place, I suppose. Let's get you that comet shard.”

[vampirerite]

um....if you want to think abt a Pokémon team for arjuna I'm all ears (I made one once but I'd like to hear thoughts from someone else)

YESSSS!

so first off, to talk about his nature as a trainer, i think he would be a trainer trying to compete in battle ranking AND perform in contests (with a specialty for beauty contests). I think him splitting his attention a bit thin and trying to be the absolute best at everything fits him too well.

I want the split of attention to be a bit visible here, he's essentially got half of a water team for contests that all can utilize the rain, and his other half is much more battle focused. I also made a point to pick umbreon and lucario because theyre friendship evolutions, i feel arjuna would be very doting and so pokemon who need that support to evolve would be good fits for him.

some individual notes:

i feel like decidueye is just one of those pokemon tailor made for him, aesthetics and personality wise. definitely his very first pokemon. and they both puff up their feathers to look cool and intimidating but then say/do something cute/goofy and the appearance immediately falls off.

im sure he got a feebas with the idea in his head that milotic are ideal for beauty contests, but he also doesnt fuck around and ends up going through a month's paycheck in one night just to make the perfect pokeblocks for them

i imagine originally he planned to evolve his eevee into a vaporeon but woke up in the middle of the night to a little guy. loved him too much on accident, many such cases. (it was a tough pick actually between umbreon or espeon, and i chose umbreon in the end for arjunas association with nighttime in fgo (his NP bg most notably))

lapras was a double pick for being able to surf without getting wet and to be part of of his beauty routines, focusing on ice. I imagine the lapras he gets is kind of an older one thats just eternally calm and unshakable, but also loves to strut their stuff.

for kingdra i imagine he actually wanted to start branching into cute contests with a horsea, but the little thing was so battle hungry its a bully of a kingdra now. still in contests with a sharp and show-off attitude!

lucario was a pick to compliment the choice of decidueye, theyre both cool looking warrior-types and i was also focused on them because of the friendship evolution. i imagine his lucario is always striving for more and constantly picking fights to get just a tiiiiny bit more training in. and the reason arjuna has a pocket dimension of hyper potions in his bag.

[pokemonstandards]

I’m going to a conformation show tomorrow (as a spectator, not to compete) and I’ve never been to one in person before. What can I expect? How is it different than, say, a contest? What Pokémon are the most common at shows like these?

((OOC: I’ve recently shown interest in the dog show world and learning more about the standards of dogs and I actually am going to a UKC show for the first time tomorrow. It’s so fascinating to me! I just wanted to say that it’s really cool how you apply these things to the world of Pokémon so seamlessly.))

I am glad you have found an interest for the conformation world, and I also do hope you learn a lot while at your first show.

Now, what you will most definitely see in this world is passion. Breeders and handlers are incredibly passionate about their favourite Pokémon and will not hesitate to speak for hours on their favourite traits. (I am guilty of this as well.) A lot of people have misconceptions about how the shows work, and think the Pokémon are mistreated and the breeders are snobby (which they definitely can be, do not get me wrong), but all of them care so deeply about their 'Mon friends.

A lot of starters are common at shows, such as the Charizard line, Venusaur line, Sceptile line... Because, as you might have guessed, they are incredibly common pets and people want to keep breeding them for the very attributes that make them so special (temperament and health).

And due to the preservationist nature of the entire event, you might find it is a lot more serious than your average contest on the surface. Judges like me dedicate our lives to studying physiology, genetics, anatomy and all of that. Deep down, we all just really love Pokémon and find joy in knowing we can keep these incredible creatures around for the next generations.

[fablefangs]

Dragon shows? What are those about, I’m kinda interested.

They're conceptually similar to Contests except the Pokémon are judged on a different array things--dressage, breed conformation, agility, various species-specific demonstrations--and typically they're competing specifically against others of their species and evolution stage. There are organizations that run them for a variety of types, as well as for egg groups or more specific categories like "dog 'mon," but I really only do the Dragon ones or on rare occasions Dark.

They're a pretty big draw for the upper class, so a lot of people use them as opportunities for conservation fundraising. The breeder I got Fable from is working on bringing public awareness to the impacts negative stereotypes have had on wild hydreigon populations.

[zponds]

(Credit goes to JWBtheUncanny on Deviantart)

Ketchum Alliance Uniforms 1

After Viewing the Teaser Trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy, I've been thinking about The Pokémon World Coronation Series (ポケモンワールドチャンピオンシップス Pokémon World Championships) You know the anime-exclusive tournament. Ash is competing in, What if there was something about it that Non of us realise about. We know that It is a competition held to determine the strongest Trainer in the world. But we don't know who is hosting it and how it started, I would say Chairmen Rose or Charles Goodshow, But non of them are involved, And I doubt the Champions of Each Region came up with it, So I'm suspecting it's been Secretly set up for the Legendary and Mythical Pokemon Amusement, Or something else..... What if it's part of the Dissidia Contest of Champions, Made by Extremely Powerful beings (The Grand Master, The Collector and The Beyonders from the Marvel Universe) Setting up the Pokemon World Coronation to see which Strongest Trainer will be useful to go up against Other Champions within the Anime Multi-Verse, Who ever Wins gets the ultimate Prize, and the Losers become possessions of The Collector. So... with things becoming unpredictable, and Pretty Cure All Stars Gen 1 being captured by the Witch of Delays because of a Botched Rescue mission in the Grand Ocean, Yana Ketchum and Professor Cerise and Professor Ivy have Decided to one up the Ultra-Guardian concept for the Ultimate Wars, giving Ash and Goh's Dynamax Bands a Extreme Upgrade with Tech from not just from the Ministry of Science, But also the Aether Foundation, the Upgrades where inspired from Professor Bellis's Sync Pair Research, so Mega-Evolutions and Z-Moves can be performed, As well as summon up a very useful Built in Pokedex for Details, Tactical knowledge and Weakness location for any Combat scenario, The Bands can also form Official Ketchum Alliance Uniforms, not just for the Main members of the Ketchum Alliance, But Also for The Boys, The Truth Seekers and The Ultra-Guardians, (United they are the Ultimate Ketchum Alliance), Who Designed these Costumes, Non other then Hermione (Former Teacher of Paris from Diamond and Pearl Episode 86) She heard of the Heroic efforts Ash and his Friends did at Sukoyaka City and with Dawn and Cynthia having Special Contacts with Paris, Hermione agreed to come up with Costumes that will Represent the Ketchum Alliance in Future up-coming Battles using the Rarest and unique Materials, She's keeping a Trade secret. Here are Ash Ketchum (Leader) Goh (Ash's Apprentice) Chloe (Goh's Childhood friend), Conner "FireRed" Ketchum (The Clone of Red and Ash's Adopted brother) and Kris (Twin Cousin of Marina from the Jotho Region) While Ash and Goh are gonna have much importance, Chloe is gonna have some Active Roles in the Events of 2021 mainly tell them about Tropical-Rouge! PreCure, and the Reason Kris is there is because I may have started a Relationship Between Conner and Kris, You could say there Costumes are kinsa similar to Super-Sentai stuff like Kamen Rider, but without the helmets, and don't worry, These Costumes are not gonna over-shadow the Pokemon-PreCure aspects such as Ash being Cure Master, these will be for the More Advance Pokemon Battles.

[daiohficblog]

Pokémon Headcanons: Pokémon Showcases

As you know, the Pokémon introduced the Pokémon Showcase in the Kalos saga as to be Serena’s main goal in the season. However, they felt underdeveloped… I’m going to fix that!

•Pokémon Showcases were developed in the Kalos region around the Pokémon World’s equivalent of the 19th century. Originally they were vaudeville acts featuring the showcasing of Pokémon, it evolved into a showcase of a Pokémon Performer and their Pokémon’s skills.

• The Pokemon Showcase is exclusive to the Kalos, though Monsieur Pierre (current head of the industry) is planning to explain it to other regions to be on equal with the much more popular Contests.

•While there are Pokémon Performers of different genders and age groups, majority of them are girls in their tween to teen years.

•Pokémon Showcases have two rounds. The first round is a Performance Round has the performers do a set performance with their three Pokemon. Usually it alters between styling their Pokémon, baking PokePuff, or baking PokePuffs while dancing to the beat of the music. The second round is the Freestyle Round, where performers dress up and perform an elaborate routine with their Pokémon, showcasing both the talent of the performer and the moves of their Pokémon.

•The judging of who is the winner of the Showcase is based not only on the audience, but also the three judges: Monsieur Pierre himself, Mr. Sukizo of the Pokémon Fan Club, and the local Nurse Joy. The judges would help in breaking ties with the audience’s voting.

•The prize for winning a Showcase is a Princess Key. In order for a Performer to compete in the Master Class, they have to collect 8 Princess Keys.

•Some Pokémon Showcases are Dual Showcases, where two Performers have to work together. The winning duo will get a Princess Key each.

•Once 8 Princess Keys are collected, the Performer goes to the Master Case Showcase. There, Performers have to compete in multiple Freestyle Performances until one comes on top, to which case they have to beat the current Kalos Queen and take her throne. If successful, the challenging Performer will become the Kalos Queen and keep the title for a year until the next Master Class.

•Also, since Monsieur Pierre is loaded, he will occasionally throw ballroom dance parties, to which Pokémon Performers and their friends can participate in them. There’s dancing, beautiful gowns… a tag battles.

[general--winter]

Read the reader headcannons of them being afraid of Pokémon and it gave me an idea. How bout a Serena x Reader. Like the reader is a coordinator as well so they compete to see who could get the contest ribbons first. Though as time went on Serena’s Sylveon has been trying to get her make a move. You know as its ribbons enables them to know their trainer’s feelings.

author's note: This is so freaking cute. I had so so much fun with this one! I hope you enjoy!

rating: general

fandom: pokemon

pairings: serena x gn!reader

word count: 703

warnings: none

summary: Serena's Sylveon and your own Pokemon play wingman.

You and Serena were childhood friends, traveling buddies, and extreme Pokemon Contest rivals. The two of you would go toe-to-toe in every Contest you competed in together. And since Serena uses a Sylveon, her Pokemon is able to sense her deepest emotions. Now, usually, this is seen as a fantastic thing that allows Sylveon and its Trainer to bond and become an even more powerful duo. However, one specific feeling that you and Serena experience has made Sylveon incredibly mischievous behind your backs. She would inform your own Pokemon, Leafeon, about the situation and Leafeon would observe you, deducing that you felt the same. Due to this, in the past, Sylveon and Leafeon have tried to get their respective Trainers to finally admit their romantic feelings for each other. There have been brute force methods, like Sylveon trying to use Charm on you to make your feelings blatant. Subtle methods were also employed, such as Leafeon growing a beautiful and romantic garden for you and Serena to have a picnic in. Nothing worked. It has absolutely infuriated the two of them that their Trainers stew on mutual emotions and do nothing about it!

At one point, after a particularly intense Contest, you and Serena would be walking with your Pokemon, her Sylveon and your Leafeon. The two of you were specifically hunting for new Contest attire in Lumiose City that would up your “style” factor. In a crowd, however, you got separated from your friend and partner Pokemon. It was just you and Sylveon. The Pokemon would nudge your legs, and you allowed it, thinking she was guiding you in the direction she sensed Serena. After a few minutes, though, you found yourself in front of a high-end clothing boutique with Sylveon herding you inside. She bounded over to different clothes and accessories that were not really your taste, so at this point you were thoroughly confused. You would ask Sylveon, “Why are you showing me all of this? Like, what’s going on? Is Serena here?” The Pokemon would just huff in annoyance and continue her task.

You would understand, though, when you analyzed everything Sylveon was showing you. It was all Serena’s style. And it was all pretty… romantic to boot. You wondered why Sylveon would be showing you these types of romantic gifts for Serena? Unless… she knew that Serena would like it. At that thought, a blush blossomed across your face, and you covered your cheeks with your hands. It suddenly made sense looking at the past few weeks of your Pokemon’s shenanigans, Sylveon was trying to get you to buy a gift to give your friend so that you could confess your crush. You would bend down and whisper at Sylveon, “I know what you’re doing. Please don’t make me do it.” Sylveon would swipe at your hand, pressing her forehead to yours and growling. Okay, okay. Sylveon’s gonna be pushy, you thought. I’ll just buy something and give it to her secretly without saying anything.

You ended up picking out a lovely silver necklace with a stunning faux-ruby pendant (ah, Contest Coordinator budget). You figured since Serena loved wearing the color red, if you were being held hostage by Sylveon to get something it might as well be something she’ll actually use. The Pokemon bounded off in the direction of Prism Tower with you struggling to keep up. When you arrived, Serena was already sitting on a bench with Leafeon, a blush dusting her face.

“Here, I got this for you!” she would shout, standing up straighter than a pole and bowing, holding a small box out to you. In wonder, you took it, seeing a very similar necklace to yours, gold with a sapphire-looking gem. Your own blush blossoms, and you wordlessly give her your necklace. Serena stares at it in awe, Leafeon nudging her leg. She blurts out, “I really like you, you know!”

Now that really surprised you. She… likes you back? You affirm her feelings and let her know you feel the same. As you two are blushing messes underneath Prism tower, Leafeon and Sylveon giggle behind their paws on the side, watching you two finally resolve your unspoken feelings with their latest trick.

[pokepollsters]

Best Pokémon Gym Leader Tournament-

Preliminary Round-

Sinnoh Division: Match 1

Sinnoh brings the heat with some fierce fighters!

Starting us off is the fashionista Candice and her cool Ice type moves. Can she overcome the father and son duo of Byron and Roark? The two of them will have to compete against each other too, and while Byron has the type advantage, will it hold out in this contest? Rounding out the first half for Sinnoh is Volkner! A trainer so strong he gets bored! Will this poll be stimulating enough for him, or will he fall at the first hurdle?

Remember- the top two competitors will move on to round 1, not just the winner!

[liauditore]

Cub and Pearl would both be competitive trainers 100%

Gem and Stress would be contest coordinators and have the cutest sparkliest pokemon in the world. (Your stress line up is on point)

False would be champion of the elite four but I’m not sure what type. False fans would need to help me out on that one-feels lazy to say fighting or steel type.

Etho would be the trainer for the first gym and have ghost type/dark type mons that look the coolest and most “ninja-like” (kill him) plus one really silly looking one. He’d get the shedinja after the post game level up.

Iskall would have a really fucking irritating set of normal type mons to battle and be the trainer for the eighth gym. His higher level team would be all slakoths fuck you man

Keralis would have like three of the Pokémon that evolve into sexy furrybait

Xb would just have three magikarps

(also your skizz lineup is so real. The lillipup made me chuckle)

LOVE THESE.

For my AU I purposefully made it so that none of them are "serious" trainers (because pokemon in day to day living was more in line with what I wanted to explore) but yeah in a context where that was an option, Pearl and Cub would absolutely reach for the sky. I think Jevin would too but eventually chill and settle down into being a gym leader instead.

Gem as a coordinator is so real but I also do think she would start vibrating violently on the spot if she was bested in a battle. Her uber-competitive nature won't let her rest!! I can see her having contests as her main thing but don't be fooled those pokemon have tighter training regimes than navy seals and she will DESTROY YOU no matter what you're challenging her in.

Since Gem and Pearl have been on my mind and I have a tendency to main characterify Pearl in a lot of these I love the idea of like. Pearl being mainly a trainer and Gem being mainly a coordinator but because Pearl really likes to learn new things and Gem is the world's sweatiest sweat they end up rubbing off on eachother and Pearl learns to be a coordinator on the side cus of Gem and Gem's passion for battle only becoming stronger from the fact that she can never seem to defeat Pearl.

Anyway Stress as a coordinator is so true I can see her being someone very well-respected as a veteran in the contest scene, probably gets invited as a judge just as much as she competes.

For False I can see her either being flying for her aviator theme or dragon because of my personal cynthia-inspired design bias. Alternatively the thought of False in Lusamine's outfit just crossed my mind and I would love to see her with a Bewear.

THE ETHO AND TEAM CANADA THING IS SO CUTE I LOVE THAT SO MUCH. My personal headcanon for my Etho in this AU is that he's an ex gym leader/e4/champion and has now gone into retirement so the thought of Beef and Pause witnessing essentially his entire career is so. augh I might steal that idea.

I love the Iskall section LMAO that one I might yoink as well or just some other really annoying team. I also like the idea of him having gulpin idk why it just makes sense to me and I think it'd be his little buddy and he'd take it on adventures and talk to it like his kid. Also like the idea of him having mons adjacent to Stress, like she has a smoochum and he has an elekid/magby or something (or alternatively, a wailord for the skitty)

The Keralis team is so funny cus I have him down as just having like. a pack of whismur that follow him around everything. and now I'm just imagining a mass of whismur + one lopunny like when farmers get an alpaca to look after sheep.

Xb being that one trainer in every game with 6 magikarp 😭😭 I'd like to think one of them has evolved and he either somehow hasn't noticed or just doesn't care that much and still treats it like a little guy. and everyone who comes over is terrified because holyyy fuckwhen did that thing get big.and he's just like what that's just fish 3

[great-tusk]

🆘: How do you let (S/I) know that they’re on your mind when you’re someplace crowded? (for Blue!)

(@i-put-the-s4p-in-s4pphic and @zomboyfren.)

“Thank you so much for the asks!!! I’m so excited to talk about my boyfriend! And thank you, Hunter! Me and Quentin are so perfect together.” -Dawn

“Feel free to shoot me an ask anytime. I like these ask games. I love talking about Quentin (and a ton of other things, too).” -Blue

🆘: How do you let (S/I) know that they’re on your mind when you’re someplace crowded?

“I like to keep my hand practically glued to Quentin’s when we’re out. If it’s not that, my arm’s around his waist. So he’s always reminded I’m there, and he’s always on at least a piece of my mind, no matter what we’re up to. But if I feel like he needs an extra little reminder, I’ll squeeze his hand or give him a kiss or pet his head until he rests it on my shoulder. If we can’t be physically touching, I’ll look at him until he looks back, and I’ll blow him a kiss when he does.”

“I love holding Quentin’s hand, too. I keep him close to me. And I like to nuzzle my head into his neck. If I have something to say, I’ll whisper right into his ear, and I’ll make sure to tell him super nice things.”

🧸: What does your bed look like? Is it just you and (S/I)? Are there stuffed animals? How many blankets and pillows do you have? Do you prefer the bed to be hot or cold?

“Well, Quentin loves plushies. So about half of our bed is taken up by them. Luckily we have a king, so we both still (barely) fit. He needs three pillows, and about 10 blankets. I only use like two pillows, but we share the blankets. It helps, since he keeps the room freezing cold to stay cool under the blankets. I like to keep warm, and he likes to be cold, but he doesn’t mind if he heats up while we’re cuddling.”

“My bed has a bunch of stuffed animals, and so does his! When he comes and visits me, he always pets mine. I have a few thick blankets and a couple of pillows, but he has a TON of blankets and three pillows! His bed is so super cozy when I stay over and sleep in it.”

👾: What are your favorite things to do with (S/I)? Who’s better at them?

“Training! Battling! I’ve put a lot of time into it, and I’d like to say I’m better, even if there’s a possibility that it’s not QUITE true. I also enjoy the time that we spend at home. He’s definitely better at sleeping. I don’t wake up super early or anything, but Quentin probably spends more time asleep than awake. He’s a super heavy sleeper, too, and he needs his rest, so I don’t even try to wake him anymore. But it’s basically together, since I’ll sit in the room and do something quietly while I watch him. His chest rises and falls so rhythmically under all of the blankets.”

“When there’s a duos contest, he likes to join me. Otherwise, we compete separately. I have a hard time ranking us, since I’m maybe a little biased due to liking him a lot AHAHA. He looks stunning up on that stage, and he always chooses moves that compliment his Pokémon perfectly.

“We like to go shopping together, but that’s not exactly a competitive activity. I probably enjoy it more, though. I think that he mostly just joins because I like it and he likes me.”

🎃: Are you or (S/I) artsy at all? Do you ever hand-make things for each other?

“He sometimes puts himself down when it comes to art, and I pout at him about it. He’s super talented, and I treasure everything he’s ever made me. When he makes me cool digital art, I pull it up on my phone to show anyone who’ll look. It’s my phone background. (My Lock Screen is a cute picture of me giving him a kiss while we share a scarf on a cold fall day. His cheeks are so rosy because of the cold and the closeness between us.) He’s also an amazing author! Sometimes he just writes about memories with me. Like what he thought and how he felt in little moments. My heart practically melts. He’s literally the cutest person ever!

“I never really thought of myself as an artistic person before Quentin. I kinda put myself in a box, but he’s had me try a bunch of things with him, and I’ve grown attached to some. My favorite is probably making pottery. I’m really good at it, too! I’ve given Quentin a nice vase that I hand-built and glazed myself, and he keeps flowers that I give him in it.”

“Does baking count? I love making poffins! I even make them for his Pokémon, too. And not to brag, but I totally perfected a recipe for ones that his Haxorus adores. Other than that, I like to draw sometimes, when I make time. It’s super relaxing, and I give Quentin some of the ones that I’m most proud of. He draws for me, too, sometimes, and I love it! He keeps a lot of creative things private, so it feels super special, too.”

🌾: Name five of your favorite things about (S/I). (Feel free to be as descriptive as you want!)

“His eyes! They practically sparkle in the sunlight, and my favorite color is always whatever I see when we make eye contact.

“His lips! He hates them because they’re rough and chapped, but there’s nobody I’d rather kiss.

“His perseverance! He tries and tries and tries and never stops. We’re both super determined and somewhat stubborn, and I like it a lot about him.

“His talents! He’s amazing at battling and contests and singing and art and just everything!”

“And for the fifth thing, his kindness! He’s so nice to me, but he’s nice to everyone else, too! Unless someone’s really mean, he’s always so good to everyone. I like it a lot about him.”

💐: If you saw this thing in the store, you would instantly buy it for (S/I)! What is the thing?

“Anything dragon related! Quentin’s a fan of every dragon! He has a cute little Bagon figure that I got him, and he keeps it on his dresser. His Mega Salamence likes it, too.”