#then get the last team star base then get the last gym

[goldensunset]

huge fan of the glaseido mountain music so far

[skipper1331]

Reputation // Alexia Putellas

a/n: based off this request.

Alexia Putellas.

La reina.

Queen of football.

Fan favorite - everybody’s favorite.

It was simple: Alexia doesn’t get rejected.

Or so everyone thought. While in fact, Alexia was asked out often, she was usually the one who would decline the offer. Most of them not interested in her as a person but as the media girl.

Yet that didn‘t stop her from having fun, very fun nights.

Alexia Putellas had a reputation - the fuck girl.

Which is why everybody warned you about her.

"Keep your distance"

"She‘s no good"

"She has a reputation"

"A teammate nothing more"

-

Alexia’s eyes follow you as you entered the gym.

You looked good, the barca gear made you glow.

"Don‘t even think about it" Lucy warned, stepping in front of Alexia. Lucy’s eyes narrowed as she glared at la reina. The midfielder looked confused before a smirk grew on her face, realizing what the defender meant. "I‘m warning you, Alexia. Do not dare" the english growled.

"I‘m not doing anything" she grinned, eyes back on you as she watched you talking to Patri.

Lucy was aware of Alexias bad reputation and she knew that the sunshine you were, it was most likely for Alexia to shoot her shot. But Lucy would be damned if she didn‘t try to stop it.

The defender and you always had a close relationship, you had played together at City and for the lionesses. Lucy had to protect you. There was no bad cell in your body, you were a ray of sunshine - smiley, sweet and positive. She’d never forgive herself if anything happens to you.

-

"Enjoying Barcelona?" a voice asked, a hand touching your back before they sat down. Alexia.

The team was out in a restaurant as they celebrated Fridos birthday.

"It‘s nice here" you answered. The older woman chuckled, "here" handing you a drink.

"Oh, I don‘t dri-" you tried to explain before the midfielder cut you off, "it‘s water" she smiled, scooting closer.

What both of you failed to notice was the glare that Lucy sent Alexia, the way her eyes burnt holes in the captains head. Yet what Lucy failed to notice was the blush that started to cover your cheeks, Alexias gaze wandering over your features. "Tell me about yourself, y/n" she smiled softly, sipping on her own drink.

The night was about to start.

-

"When did you leave last night?" Lucy asked as she walked beside you towards the pitch.

"I don‘t know, actually. I left with Ale" you replied.

Lucy stopped in her tracks, grabbing your wrist, "what did you say?!"

"She drove me home"

"That‘s it?"

"That‘s it" you confirmed.

"Stay away from her, she‘s not the girl you think she is"

Again something you had heard more than once before.

-

"Hey" the Catalonian greeted, pressing a kiss to your cheek. In respond, you blushed furiously, shyly looking to the ground as the girl giggled at your behavior. "You look pretty" she flirted, eyeing you up and down. Something about the way the Barca outfits hugged your body made her heart race, skin tingle and mind spin with thoughts of what she wanted to do with you.

"Thank you. You look also nice" you smiled. The simple smile you sent Alexia made heart her burst with emotion. She wanted to make you smile everyday.

Just as she was about to ask what you‘re going later, a certain English defender called your name.

"I have to go" you stated, walking to Lucy. The captain growled, Lucy was getting on her last nerve.

-

In the bus, you starred out of the window as you waited for your bus buddy.

you loved the bus, something about the rides and the bonding made it so special. While you weren‘t one of the louder ones, you loved to observe everybody on the bus.

In the front, coach and staff, talking and analyzing.

In the middle the quieter ones, the ones who enjoy reading, studying or sleeping.

And in the back, the extroverts, the ones who would never shut up and couldn‘t sit still.

It surprised you when you felt a different presence next to you, not the one who it was usually. A familiar scent hit your nostrils, a scent you learned to like, a scent that made you inhale sharply.

"Hola" Alexia greeted, slumping down in the seat next to you. You looked around, searching for your bus buddy who was sitting next to Alexia’s bus buddy, shrugging her shoulders at your questioning look. "What are you doing here?" you asked rather harshly.

Alexia gulped, "do you not want me here?"

"N-no. I- um" nervously you scratched the back of your neck, "you usually don‘t sit next to me" you smiled shyly.

"But now I want to" she explained, her eyes searching for any sign of discomfort. There was none. "I watched the movie you recommended"

"Did you like it? Who‘s your favorite character?" question after question left your mouth. Each one la reina answered happily. She loved talking to you, how passionate you got and how interested you seemed to be in whatever other people said.

-

Alexia couldn’t stay away from you.

Not when you smiled at her, the way you do.

Not when you laughed, the way you do.

Not when you just existed.

Her mind was consumed by the thoughts of you. Everything you did made her heart race.

Alexia Putellas, la reina, the queen of football, was falling you.

And even though she was known for her fun nights and had a bad reputation because of that, ever since you had entered her life it stopped. She didn‘t look nor acknowledge other women, she only had eyes for you.

-

Movie night at Patri‘s.

You arrived exhausted, eyes already heavy as you took a seat on the bean bag. The team was gathered around the living room, the curtains closed as snacks were standing on the coffee table. You didn‘t know why you were so tired, you just were. It didn‘t take long for your eyes to fully close. As your body started to lean down, almost falling off the bean bag, Alexia reacted without a second thought. Quickly, she left her seat on the couch and kneeled next to you. Instead of your head falling against the floor, it fell against her chest. The girls were too occupied by the movie to even notice the change - besides Lucy. The English woman watched the scene in front of her, Alexia scooping your small figure up and positioning the two of you on the bean bag, her arms securely around you, your head resting against her chest as she looked down at you, a loving smile across her features.

For once, Lucy didn‘t glare at the midfielder but had a small smile on her face. Maybe Alexia was indeed not the person who she thought she was.

-

Barcelona was facing Athletic Bilbao and while you were in the starting eleven, Alexia rested on the bench.

The game didn’t start the way she wanted it to - too much chaos. It didn‘t ease her nerves either that every time you had the ball, you were smashed to the ground a second after. It made her mad actually, furios even. In her mother tongue she started to curse, at first it was just an angry whisper until it turned into mad shouting. What the fuck was wrong with that ref?! Was he blind?

"Calm down, he already warned you" Lucy told her firmly, pulling her back to her seat. "She‘s getting hurt!" the midfielder huffed, crossing her arms.

"I know" it took every inch of self-control in her body not to join Alexia‘s shouting.

The Catalonian looked at Lucy, eyes so full of helplessness, "this is personal" she whispered.

With raised brows, Lucy questioned Alexia‘s statement. What was personal? How? "Look at number 6. We have, um, history?"

"You fucked her?"

"Yes"

"And she wanted more but you didn‘t even remember her name?"

"yeah…"

Lucy turned away, her gaze back on the pitch - observing

"She is different" Alexia whispered, "I don‘t know. My heart is- so incredibly happy by just seeing her smile. I want to make her smile. I think I’m in love-"

Just as Alexia was about to admit her love for you, something she had never done nor felt before, Lucy and the whole bench jumped from their seats, yelling furiously.

Harsh tackle.

Your ankle connecting with cleats. Cleats who belonged to number 6.

Your body was shaking violently while you clutched your ankle, crying. The girls on the field tried their best to comfort you, medics already examining your foot. Nervously Lucy and Alexia walked along the sidelines, biting their nails. Even though anger flashed through their bodies, their one priority was your well-being and it didn‘t look like you were feeling well, not at all. The decision was clear: you‘re coming off. Mariona and Marta supported you as you hobbled with tear stained cheeks off the field, where Alexia and Lucy immediately took over their part.

-

Thankfully, it wasn‘t something too serious. The medics gave you a boot and crutches, so you wouldn‘t injure your foot any further on your way back to Barcelona.

Relief washed over the teams body as they saw you back with them, smiling. That tackle looked harsh and nothing but a yellow card was shown. "Should‘ve been a red" some of the girls grumbled as you joined their huddle before they swarmed out, interacting with fans.

"Little one, how are you feeling?" the English defender asked, looking at you skeptically. "I‘m alright, just need to rest" you stated.

Alexia watched you from afar while she talked to one of the medics. She had to know everything - down to the detail. She addressed it as captain duties, what was best for her team but in reality, she needed to know for her sake. Were you alright? When will your recovery start? How will your treatment look like? Will you be back for the el Classico (not because she wanted your talent too rushed back on the field but because she knew how much the el Classico meant to you.) Alexia asked every question that popped up in her mind and even though the medic was annoyed because most of her questions were already answered, just a little bit differently explained, he was happy that she cared for you so deeply.

Though when a third person entered your conversation with Lucy, she became alert, her latest question long forgotten. "What the fuck" she growled, marching over to where you were, arm snuggling around your waist as she glared at number 6. you gasped slightly at the cold yet gentle touch around your back.

"Alexia" the woman said, to which Alexia only gave a nod.

"Can I talk to you for a minute in private?" number 6 asked you nicely, ignoring the murderous glare Alexia sent her, who was joined by Lucy‘s glare. "Sure" you replied, walking out of earshot.

"Lo siento" she started, gesturing to your boot, "I didn’t mean to" she apologized sincerely, "how bad is it?"

La reina was going crazy - why the fuck was she standing so close to you? Even worse, touching your arm! Jealousy filled her body, a deep frown displayed on her face. It only deepened when you started giggling with the enemy.

"Are you not going to do something about it?" Lucy asked, crossing her arms.

"I absolutely will!" when number 6 pressed a kiss to your cheek, the midfielder lost it. Within seconds she was by your side, shielding you from the other woman who was way too close to you. "You can go now!" she growled, intimidating number 6.

She left.

She wouldn‘t risk it to fight la reina.

"Hey! I was talking to her" you grumbled.

"She was kissing you!"

"She apologized"

"By kissing you?!" her voice level raised, fingers resting at the bridge of her nose.

Everything started getting too much for Alexia, why was she so angry? why couldn’t she control her emotions? She always could! Why not now?!

"I have to go"

As quickly as she had appeared, she disappeared again.

-

Alexia avoided you on the way back to Barcelona. Like she used to she sat with her friends in the back, your bus buddy next to you. La reina seemed to have forgotten you existed, occupied by other things - though that wasn‘t true at all. For the midfielder there was no one else existing but you.

She felt the urge to sit next to you, explain herself and to wash that stupid kiss off your cheek - to pepper her own kisses all over your face. She did none of it, she just watched you in silence while the girls talked and talked and talked.

-

The bus arrived in Barcelona hours later, it was already dark outside, only a few cars left on the road. Every girl was eager to get out of the bus and go home, the day has been long and everybody was exhausted.

You were standing in the bus, waiting for everybody to get out, Alexia behind you. Occasionally, her hand would brush against yours as you waited for the girls in front of you to exit the bus. Your breath hitched when you felt Alexia’s pinky intertwine with yours - you didn‘t turn to her, your gaze fixed on Mapi‘s back. The only reaction she got was the blush that arose on your cheeks which you quickly covered with coughing. "You alright?" Mapi asked, holding her arm out to help you down the stairs as your crutches were safely stored away near the suitcases. "Yeah, thank you" you smiled.

With sad eyes, Ale watched you leave.

-

"How is your ankle?" the Catalonian asked, watching you walk out of the physio room.

"It‘s good. I don‘t have to rest anymore" you replied sweetly, happy to be able to train with the team again. "that‘s great" the captain stated, following your steps to the changing room. She wanted to say so much yet no words left her mouth. The effect you had on her was something she never experienced before. It wasn‘t just your smile or laugh that made her heart race, every time she was near you her knees went weak, her palms got sweaty and she became a nervous wreck.

-

The el Classico win felt euphoric. A 5-0 win, wow. Barca had destroyed Real and the team couldn‘t be happier.

It was an unspoken rule for the team to celebrate after winning against Real Madrid. Which is why the team met at their local club, all of the girls dressed up, ready to eat, drink and dance.

You considered not to go - you weren‘t the type of person who enjoyed going out much but then again, dressing up, eating and little bit of dancing didn’t sound too bad, did it?

That‘s how you found yourself in the filled club, friends and strangers around you. You sat next to Patri and Pina, talking about something when Alexia joined the table again. She looked breathtaking, her outfit hugged her body perfectly - everybody was drooling, including you.

Throughout the night numerous people asked her to dance or for her number, each time she would decline politely, searching for your eyes shortly after. She wanted to talk to you, so desperately.

As another woman appeared who started talking to Alexia, even laughing with her, you left the table, "I’m getting something to drink, does anybody want something?" you asked.

Making your way over to the bar, you took a seat on one of the bar stools, "one water, vodka on ice, a martini and mojito, please" you ordered.

Alexia watched you like hawk, the rather abrupt leaving and the quick steps catching her attention.

She wanted to follow you, she really wanted to - she didn‘t.

You came back with all of the wished drinks, walking past la reina and the girl she was talking to.

"Let‘s dance!" Ona suddenly yelled, grabbing your wrist and pulling you on the dance floor, the girl already more than just tipsy. Nonetheless, you accepted her dragging you to the dance floor, arms around your neck as she danced. "Arms around my waist, chica!" you did as she wished, not having a clue about dancing but happily doing whatever the younger girl requested. It was her first derby win, let the girl celebrate.

La reina didn‘t enjoy that at all. Seeing the young defenders arms all over you and the close dancing made her burst with emotion. That should be her. She should be dancing with you. Nobody should talk to her besides you.

It should be you and her.

"Fuck it" walking over to you, the midfielders arms snuggled around your waist, pulling you against her front as you left Ona‘s touch completely. "Can I steal her for a moment?" Alexia asked in her mother tongue, smiling nicely at her national teammate who nodded, continuing her dancing.

"You look so beautiful, mi amor" she whispered in your ear. You looked at her with wide eyes, frowning.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"You‘re-" you cut yourself off, not knowing what to say, "Just- leave me alone" left your lips. Wiggling out of her grasp, you walked towards the exit, Alexia close behind. Outside the club, she gently grabbed your wrist, "what do you mean with that?"

"Leave me alone! What game are you playing, hm?!"

"Que?"

"Don‘t you think I know about your little reputation? Barcelonas star footballer loves to fuck random girls" you gritted through your teeth, hidden feelings bubbling up.

"I‘ve been warned about you. And I ignored each warning because you were so nice and caring." you told her, the captain taking back by your sudden outburst, "I don‘t want to be part of your stupid reputation!"

"Stop talking" the midfielder stopped you, face stern, "fuck, do you think I‘d use you?!"

"I don’t know what to think! In one second you‘re getting mad at me because someone kissed my cheek, then you ignore me and then you‘re so lovely, just to talk to some woman again! You‘re so confusing!"

"I haven’t looked at other women since you joined Barca! You‘re the only person I want to look at!" she inhaled sharply before she dropped your hands, resting her forehead against yours, "I don’t want to be confusing" her hands found their place on your waist.

"Are you going home with that woman?"

It was the question that had bothered you the whole night, you just had to know. "No, of course not. She‘s a friend from Alba. I haven’t- you know, not since you‘re here." la reina admitted, "I‘m in love with you and this is all so new, I don’t know how to do this but I’m willing to learn."

You stared at her, was this real? Your heart was racing, breath hitching at the slightest movement of Alexia’s hands, her breath fanning - so close to you.

"No"

"No?"

"No."

Taking a step back, you left her embrace. This was too much - you couldn’t think straight. You wanted to believe her, you really did but you had to protect yourself. You couldn’t be one of her flings. It would hurt too much, to see her and knowing what you‘ve done.

"I‘m sorry, Alexia"

you left without turning back.

You felt your heart hammer in your chest, already regretting your choice, the sad look on Alexia’s face haunting you.

Her eyes followed you until you were out of sight. She felt numb. She sat down on the nearest bench, head resting in her hands as she tried to contain herself.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to go home, she wanted to hide under duvet the rest of her life. She embarrassed herself and that wasn‘t who she was.

She was Alexia Putellas.

La reina.

Queen of football.

Fan favorite - everybody’s favorite, just not your favorite.

From all the names she‘d been called, your favorite would have been the best - the greatest honor, actually.

"Hey, are you alright?" a thick english accent asked, sitting down next to her.

"Sí! Sí, I’m good, i‘m good" she rushed out as she looked up, wiping away the tears that had left her eyes just seconds ago. "What‘s happened?" Lucy asked.

"She- she rejected me" Ale whispered, shoulders sagging - exhaustion written over her features.

The defender was silent for a few minutes, letting Alexia calm down and gather her thoughts.

"You know, you can’t blame her" Lucy explained, "your reputation isn‘t the best"

"I don’t blame her. It just hurts so much"

the english woman laid her arm around the midfielders shoulder, trying to comfort her. Lucy knew you liked her but you feared that you‘d be a someone on her list. Also, she knew how awful it felt to get rejected. "She‘s scared"

"Of me?"

"Of your past"

The Catalonian gulped, why had she been so stupid? Why did she build up a reputation? She hated herself for it. All she wanted was you. You weren‘t like the girls whose namens she couldn‘t even remember. You were so, so much more.

She remembered everything you once told her.

She remembered the way you like your coffee and tea.

She remembered your favorite book, movie and show.

She remembered your stories.

She knew which flowers you liked.

She knew that you didn‘t like drinking.

She knew every detail about the things you told her.

"She‘s special" the Barcelona captain stated, firm with her words as she spoke facts.

"Show her."

-

Over the next few weeks, Ale did what Lucy told her to. She showed you how much she respected you, bought you flowers and did little things. She‘d tie your shoes, she‘d refill your glass, and so on. She did everything in her power to make you realize that she was worth a chance - that her past didn’t define her. And that she won‘t continue this path.

-

"How are you feeling about the win and the teams performance?" the interviewer asked Alexia who smiled politely at the lady.

"The team performed great, we played very well. We created a lot of chances which we ultimately took advantage of" she replied.

The interview continued like that, analyzing the game, talking about the impact the subs brought with them and the things the team could’ve done better.

It seemed like a normal interview until it took a turn, much to Alexia’s dislike.

"You haven’t been seen with any girls lately - what‘s happened to this version of yourself?"

Unfortunately for the interviewer, you were in earshot. Your body filled with rage. How can someone be this inappropriate? In an instant you marched over, your hips pushing Alexia slightly out of the camera angle, arm protectively around her waist. "This interview is ended" you stated sternly. You weren’t a media person at all, never knowing what to say, more of a private person - that question was enough for you to throw everything overboard. This was nothing but disrespectful.

You grabbed Alexia’s hand, about to pull her fully away from the media as she instead stepped back in.

"That version fell in love"

with that being said, she let you drag her away into the tunnel.

You grumbled something to yourself, angry about the fact that the lady had the audacity to ask something like that, "why did you answer that? You gave her so much satisfaction by answering!"

"Stop pacing around, please" gently she grabbed your wrists, frowning as the scowl didn’t leave your features.

"It was the right thing to do" she answered calmly while her index finger tried to erase the wrinkle between your brows.

"No- she-"

"I am in love with you and i want everyone to know that," she stated, "I‘m not that person anymore!"

You inhaled, closing your eyes as you relaxed in her close proximity.

"I know you‘re not"

"One chance, that‘s all i ask for" she pleaded, her hand cupping your cheek.

"Okay"

"Okay?"

"Okay."

Both of you smiled shyly with cheeks crimson red.

-

Alexia stood next to the door, waiting for you to exit the Barcelona facility.

Finally, when she saw you leaving the building, she pushed herself off the wall and quickly slipped her hand into yours, "hi" she smiled, teeth showing as you matched her smile. "I was thinking… um, would you like to go out? With me? On a date?" She had been nervous all day long, wanting to ask the question.

Your smile grew wide, "I’d love to!"

"great!" the captain beamed, "I’ll pick you up" she left your touch, happily walking towards her car before realizing something. Hurriedly, she made her way back to you, "tonight, 6pm, i mean"

-

She was Alexia Putellas.

La reina.

Queen of football.

Fan favorite - everybody’s favorite.

"Amor, say it." she whined, pressing multiple kisses over your face. You wiggled in her grasp as she straddled your waist, your giggles filling the room - heaven for her ears.

"Noooooo"

The captain looked down at you, a mischief smirk making its way on her face.

"Don‘t you dare, Ale!" you laughed, but it was too late - the tickle fight broke out. It was obvious that your girlfriend was winning, no chance for you to win as she had you pinned down on the couch.

"Say it, mi amor"

"only if i get a kiss…" you grinned.

Within seconds Alexia leaned down, pecking your lips.

giggling, you added, "…or two"

she leaned back down, pecking your lips once more. "or three or four or five" you sing-sang, laughing at the midfielders playful glare. After multiple added kisses, Ale had enough. She cupped your cheeks, lips pressing against your own with a gentle force. The air was knocked out of your lungs. Her thumb caressed your cheeks and you couldn‘t help but smile into the kiss as she kissed you with so much love and appreciation.

"you’re my favorite"

———————

[ya-bug-boy]

WE NEED MORE RAIHAN X READER X PIERS (especially reader being a dumbass)

Raihan x Reader x Piers: Holiday Episode

"You have a crush on WHO?!" Leon shouts out loud with a big grin on his face.

"Leon, shush, we're in a restaurant," Sonia reminds him. Leon sits back down in his seat but he's still much too eager for words to describe.

Raihan and Piers were on a double date of sorts, with their friends, Sonia, Leon, and Nessa. To clarify, Sonia dated Leon, Leon dated Sonia, and Sonia dated Nessa. Nessa wasn't dating Leon because she was a strict lesbian.

The team of super stars glance around the restaurant for a moment, to see if anyone was paying mind to them. But after a few quiet moments, they moved, focused on their own separate conversations and meals.

Raihan shakes his head at Leon's reaction but he smiles all the same. Leon still can't help but to be excited, acting much like a newborn Yamper. "I'm sorry, I can't help it! This is great news! So when are you two going to ask them out?"

Raihan and Piers stutter for a moment but Nessa chimes in to fill the question, "Based on that reaction, I'd wager they haven't even asked yet." The two boys frown and Piers groans. "When was the last time you two even talked to them?" "This morning," Piers immediately answers. "And in person?" Sonia asks next.

The two boys stay quiet, Piers lets out a heavy sigh before answering, "A month. Been too busy helping Marnie take over at Spikemuth." "And you know how it's been with me," Raihan answers back. "I've been doing gym battles back to back. They've got my ass cornered up the wall."

Leon frowns at that comment but then immediately up with a plan. "Well, you know what? As the new chairman of the Pokemon League, I'm officially declaring that everyone gets a whole week off of work!" The table sits in silence, their eyes big and wide as they all begin to murmur. "Everyone's been working hard this year. I'd say you all deserve a whole week's worth of a break. Go on vacation or something. Ask your friend to come with you."

"Leon, can you really do something like this?!" Raihan asks.

To which Leon shrugs. "I'm the chairman now. Anything I say, goes. Gym leaders and celebrities deserve a break too you know." Sonia and Nessa share a glance at each other but smile, getting giddy over a real formal vacation that the three of them can do! But as for Raihan and Piers, they're still baffled in shock.

"I'd say go for it!" Sonia chimes in. "Because if all the gym leaders are on break, that means you know who, will be too!" Raihan and Piers stop to consider that. Their mutual crush so happened to be working with the league. If all League members get a whole week off that could mean... "Right well-"

"Where would we even take them?"

"Oh, they're right over there." Leon points out. The whole table stops to stare in the direction he was pointing at. They were all dining outside for a mutual coffee brunch and spotted you in a winter set up. "Let me ask for you-"

"NO-"

[bethanythebogwitch]

What if the Paldea gym leaders level scaled?

I absolutely love the open world of Pokemon SV, but I don't like how the fixed levels of all the gym leaders, team star bosses, and titans means there still is an intended order like in the old linear games. So what if the gym leaders could be fought in any order and their teams would adjust to match the order you choose to challenge them in? I think the fairest way to do it is the leader's teams will be based on how many badges you have. So of you challenge Katy first her team will be relatively easy, but of you challenge her last, her team will be way better. I'm going to see if I can figure out what would be a good and challenging team composition for each gym leader no matter when you opt to challenge them.

In most games, the number of team members a gym leader has gradually increases as you move through them. I'll have the number of team members each leader has increase with the number of badges the player has. I'll have the 1st and 2nd leaders with 3 members, 3rd, 4th, and 5th with 4, and 6th-8th with 5 members. I will only use Pokemon available in base SV for this. Assume gym leader Pokemon will evolve at the appropriate levels

Katy is not the best showing of a bug specialist due to her choice of team and the general flaws of low-level bugs. I'm going to give her an upgrade. For her 1st leader team, I'm going to start by taking a page from Viola's book and give her a Surskit to keep the player from sweeping with a fire type and intimidate Masquerain is pretty good. Then, I'll give her Pineco to set up hazards on higher level teams and counter the bug-type's frailty. For her tera mon I guess Teddiursa works for the connection between bears and bugs. Plus on higher-level teams, Guts Ursaring with a flame orb hits hard and the line can learn fury cutter and gets decent coverage options. for her 3rd, 4th, and 5th leader teams I'll add Lokix to showcase a powerful Paldea bug. Finally, for her 6th-8th leader teams, she will get the generally excellent Heracross for a final team of intimidate Masquerain, Forretress, Lokix, Heracross, and guts Ursaring with a flame orb. For post-game rematches she can get Volcarona added to her roster.

Brassius's 1st leader team will have Capsakid to help counter bugs with fire moves and Deerling to use STAB normal moves to hit most types for neutral damage, plus jump kick for coverage and horn leech for recovery at higher levels. As for his tera mon, grass Sudowoodo is too perfect not to use so it stays. For his 3rd - 5th leader teams he will add Foongus for utility, poison, and Spore at higher levels. His final team member will be Arboliva to set up grassy terrain and help with a recovery-heavy fighting style. His final team will be Scovillain, Sawsbuck, Amoongus, Arboliva, and Sudowoodo. In post-game rematches he can add Rotom Mow.

Iono is one of the harder gym leaders, so she doesn't need much of an upgrade. Her first leader team will be Wattrel to dodge ground moves and Tadbulb for a defensive member. I love levitate Mismagius as her tera mon, so that can stay (though it may have to be a Misdreavus for early challenges). Starting at 3rd leader she will add Electrode to outspeed just about anything and explode if needed. Then her final member will be Magnezone, for being a generally amazing Pokemon. Her final team will be Kilowattrel, Bellibolt, Electrode, Magnezone, and Mismagius. Her rematch team can add Rotom Wash.

Kofu's team is a letdown following Iono, so I'm going to completely revamp him. He can start with Veluza (good in the early game and its filet away fits his chef theme) and Shellos to help counter electric types. His tera mon is going to be Pincurchin. Hear me out. It gets volt absorb to shut down electric types and can learn poison jab to counter grass types and even reversal to punch through steel. Plus, people do eat sea urchins and Kofu is a chef. His next team member will be aqua-breed Tauros, to showcase a new regional form. Finally, he can have Toxapex for toxic stalling for a final team of Veluza, Gastrodon, aqua Tauros, Toxapex, and Pincurchin. His rematch team can add Dondozo and maybe be a double battle that switches out Veluza for Tatsugiri to set up their gimmick.

Larry is one of the most memetic Pokemon characters but his team stinks. I'll start by giving him Tandemaus for multi-hit loaded dice shenanigans and Dunsparce for glare, ground coverage, and its evolution. For his tera mon, I do think the Starly line is a good choice for tying together his gym leader and E4 teams, it just needs a way better moveset. Next he will get Chansey for stalling and utility. His final member will be Oranguru to help counter fighting and because I think Larry would really empathize with it. His final team is Maushold, Dudunsparce, Blissey, Oranguru, and Staraptor. In the post-game he can add Slaking to that.

Ryme's team is pretty cool, so I don't need to change much. As the first leader she will have Mimikyu for disguise and fairy coverage, and Greavard as a new mon and general attacker. I do like Toxtricity as her tera mon for fitting her musician vibe and being able to dish out hyper voices and boombursts without hurting its partner. That being said, because Toxel's stats are abysmal even for baby Pokemon, maybe until Toxel evolves she can use an uproaring Squawkabilly to serve the same purpose. Her next team member can be Spiritomb (which isn't that powerful anymore since fairy is a thing now). Finally, she can have Gengar as a general ghost staple. Her final team will be Mimikyu, Houndstone (which should come out 2nd to last to take advantage of last respects), Spiritomb, Gengar, and Toxtricity. For the post-game she can have Dragapult.

Tulip utterly fails to uphold Sabrina's legacy as a powerhouse psychic-type leader. Let's fix that. Her first leader team will have Girafarig to counter ghosts and pure power Meditite to counter dark and represent her friendship with Dendra. For her tera mon, I kind of want to go with Tinkatink since that line has some great coverage to counter psychic's many weaknesses. Next she can get Flittle-Espathra and take a page from canon Geeta's book by having it be her lead and copying the player's setup with opportunist. Finally, she can get Bronzong to counter psychic's frail defenses with a steel-type. Plus Bronzor being a mirror fits Tulip being a model. Her final leader team (she actually was the final leader I fought in my first playthrough since I couldn't figure out how to get to her city) will be opportunist Espathra, Farigiraf, pure power Medicham, Bronzong, and Tinkaton. In the post-game she can get Gardevoir

Finally, we reach Grusha and Ice is a tricky one to make a good team for. I'm going to make his first leader team Sneasel for speed and coverage and Cetoddle as a bulky monster. His tera mon is tricky because nothing benefits from becoming ice type, but I'll give him Shellder because shell smash Cloyster is an absolute beast and has the physical bulk and water moves to maybe survive ice's weaknesses and fight back. Yes I know Cloyster is already ice-type but I gotta give him something good. Next he can have Crabominable to counter steel and rock. His final member will be Froslass to counter fighting. His final leader team will therefore be Weavile, Cetitan, Crabominable, Froslass, and Cloyster. In the post-game he can add Baxcalibur.

While this isn't a E4 post, I do want to mention a few fixes I'd make. Rika should lead Hippowdon to set up sandstorm (instead of waiting for a very frail Dugtrio to do it) and Toedscruel to counter water and use spore. I think Poppy is fine, but maybe a Klefki for prankster setup could be good. Larry needs to ditch Tropius and get almost anything else, maybe Noivern to counter electric. Hassel is fine, I just think his team could use some better strategy. However, I do have thoughts about fixing Geeta. I know she's not that impressive because Nemona is the real final boss of the victory road storyline, but they didn't have to do her that dirty. Therefore, I want to see how nuts I can go with her.

First of all, Glimmora is going first to set up toxic spikes. Maybe give it stone edge to double up on the hazard setting and a focus sash to ensure it gets at least two layers of toxic spikes up. Kingambit will be sent out last to take full advantage of supreme overlord. From there I think giving her a Cyclizar to mirror the player's raidon and set up shed tail shenanigans would be nice. I also think she should have a Goldengho since nobody else does and it would confirm to the player that there is a reason to go after all those coins. You may have noticed this team has a severe ground weakness and to counter that I'm giving her a Palafin who will flip turn out as soon as it shows up to set up zero to hero. For a final team member I think Annihilape is another powerhouse option. This leaves her team as Glimmora, Goldengho, Cyclizar, Palafin, Annihilape, and Kingambit. This also means her team is all Paldean mons, which I think is fitting as the champion is the representative of their region.

[michaelmilligan]

Midam Appreciation Week Day 1: Can't Spell 'Illusion' Without 'Us'

„Adam?“ Michael asked, the couch dipping lightly as he sat down on it.

“Mh?” Adam made, not looking up from the Switch. He had just cleared another gym and was now checking the map to see what else was close. There was a Team Star base not too far off. Or maybe he should fly back to the school city and go out the other direction, do something there...

“Adam,” Michael said again, a little more sternly.

“Hmmm?” Adam blinked and looked up from the game while it was loading, flying him back to the city. “What's up?”

“You know, when you were so excited and said you would play for days, I didn't take it quite this literally.” Michael raised an eyebrow at him, looking about equal parts annoyed and amused.

“Well, that's kinda on you,” Adam said, but he shifted into a more upright position where he had been slumping against the back of the couch before. He hit the menu button when his character had landed, effectively pausing the game. “How long has it even been?”

Another raised eyebrow. But deep inside Adam, where Michael's grace sat snugly around his soul, there was a twinge of something... almost disappointed?

“Two days, three hours, and fifty-three minutes,” Michael said dryly.

“Oh geez. I really spent a lot of time catching those Pokémon, huh.” Adam's felt a little bad. But only a little. After all, his goal was not only to win every fight in the game, but also to 'catch 'em all'.

“You get very absorbed in that game,” Michael said, and Adam couldn't really interpret his tone.

“Yeah, I mean. It brings up memories from when I was a kid.” Adam shrugged. “And it's a good game.”

Michael made a non-committal sound.

“You're not jealous of the game, right?” Adam asked, and had to suppress a smile when Michael huffed.

“Of course not. That would be stupid.”

Adam bit his lip to keep himself from sighing. That was Michael's catch-all argument against accusations of being jealous, lonely or needy – that it would be stupid.

And yeah, it would be. After all, Michael was literally his best friend of over a thousand years, his match made in Heaven, and the guy who lived in his chest cavity.

And yet.

“You know, I've been thinking,” Adam said, because he couldn't let this stand, and also because yeah, he had been thinking about it. The plan had been pretty vague, but he supposed they could always wing it.

Heh. Wing it. Adam grinned, feeling Michael's wings rustle in suppressed agitation.

“Is this like the last time you had 'been thinking'?” Michael asked warily, wrinkling the nose of his projection. “I'm not going to clean up a bathroom flooded with milk again.”

“Oh come on, that was one time! And you can clean it with a snap of our fingers.” Adam snapped his fingers for emphasis, which of course did nothing for him. “And that's not even what I wanted to say.”

“So enlighten me, oh wise one.” Michael gestured for him to go on.

“Alright. So remember how in the cage, you made games for me to live in, like that farming simulation?”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “You mean the several farming simulations. You always wanted to change locations and NPCs.”

Adam gave a lopsided smile at the memory of trying to change or remove datable characters. He'd never cared much about the romance aspect of those games as a kid, and besides, he'd already had someone living with him on the farm: Michael.

But he hadn't exactly been able to tell Michael that he didn't want to date anyone there because he already had him.

“So could you do that, but for Pokémon?”

Michael's wings shifted in surprise. “But... we're in the real world now. On Earth. With actual people, and things happening.”

“Yeah, I know.” Adam shrugged, and looked away. “But I kind of miss when it was just us. When everyone else wasn't real, so we could just erase them from the world when we didn't like them.”

Michael looked at him for a long time. “I can do it, of course. But is that really what you want?”

Adam looked back at him. “Michael... You know that living in the Pokémon world was literally my childhood dream, right? The only reason I didn't ask for it in the cage was because you said you could only make things that you've seen before. Fields. Buildings. People. I figured that excluded any made up monsters from a children's game.”

Hesitantly, Michael nodded.

“Now that you've seen it all – and don't tell me you weren't watching while I was playing – you could do it, right?” Adam asked hopefully.

Michael hummed. “I could, though you can hardly say that I've 'seen it all'. This is the only of those games you've been playing, and there are many more, right?”

“Well, yeah, but we don't have all of them.” Adam frowned when Michael rolled his eyes.

“You can have everything you want forever,” Michael said, reminding Adam that he only needed to ask.

It felt wrong, though, to ask Michael to give him everything. And not just because Adam had no idea how it worked – did Michael steal a copy of the game from someone? Was it plucked from a stack in a store?

Adam supposed the latter wouldn't be so bad – no one would notice if one measly copy got lost.

But Michael wasn't his servant, or his tool. Sure, it was nice that Adam could rely on him when something went wrong (like said accident with the milk bath). But when Adam said 'Jump', Michael's response wasn't supposed to be 'how high?'. It should be 'But don't you want to cuddle me more?'

“We can do research,” Michael said, nodding. “We tube.”

Adam let out a sigh so long and deep that it could have killed someone who actually needed to breathe. “It's 'YouTube', Michael.”

“Yes, but we will be tubing together.” Squeezing himself against Adam's side, Michael fished their phone out their pocket. “There are those... 'Let's Plays', yes?”

“Dude, yeah, let's watch some nuzlockes!” Adam pulled up the page of one of his favourite groups of streamers. They should have covered most of the older games – he'd seen the video thumbnails, but hadn't had time to watch any of it so far. “This is gonna take us a while, you know.”

Michael butted their shoulders together. “You're the one who just wanted to spend untold hours in a projection.”

Adam elbowed him back. “Hey, that wasn't a complaint. Besides, I wanted to spend untold hours in a projection with you. Don't forget that.”

Michael blinked at him, and his wings rustled shyly. “We- we should be able to set these videos to double the speed, yes?” he eventually asked, managing a scowl again. “You should still be able to understand those.”

Adam couldn't take his eyes off his archangel, projection or not. “Don't worry about me, silly,” he said, a hand on Michael's thigh.

They spent days together on the couch, at some point switching from the small screen of their phone to their laptop. Sometimes, Adam had his head on Michael's shoulder, while other times, Michael's head was in Adam's lap.

It was a good time. Just watching and sometimes commenting. Relaxed. Happy. At times, it felt almost like back then – like they were the only two people in the world, and no one else mattered, or ever would matter again.

“Alright,” Michael said after the last video ended. “I think we have enough data.”

“Mh.” Adam wasn't too hyped about having to get up, or having to disentangle himself from Michael. But then Michael just told him to lay down on the couch.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his face far too serious for what they were about to do.

“Born ready.” Adam grinned when Michael rolled his eyes, and Michael made his projection vanish.

Close your eyes, he said from inside their head.

Adam followed his lead – and felt his consciousness fade away from their body.

When he blinked his eyes open again, he was somewhere else. In a room that looked oddly familiar...

There was a Pikachu plushie on a dresser, and several posters with Pokémon and items on them lined the walls.

Grinning giddily, Adam turned around to where he knew Michael would be standing – and was greeted by several balloons and a party horn almost hitting his face.

“Happy birthday, Addy,” Michael said softly.

Adam stared at him. The last thing he remembered was that it had been the middle of September – apparently, they had been watching those nuzlockes for a bit longer than he'd thought.

“And happy birthday to you, babe,” he said back.

“I wasn't born,” Michael recited their age-old argument, rolling his eyes.

“No, but it's your Feast Day. And what's the day that we feast on?” Adam said, also not for the first time.

Michael sighed. “Our birthday,” he completed their routine grumpily. “Fine. Now go get your Pokémon.”

“Only me? What about you?” Adam checked that he had everything – the obligatory bag, and the phone that would probably get updated with a Rotom, if he understood the newer lore correctly.

“I already have a team, of course, since I'm a lot older than you,” Michael said smugly. Then he strode out of the room – and Adam followed with an indignant gasp.

“How dare you! I'm over a thousand years old!”

“Exactly. You're basically still a baby.”

“Oh, honey, are you leaving?” a voice asked, and Adam stopped dead in his tracks on the last step of the staircase.

“Mom?” he asked under his breath.

“Oh look at you, baby, all grown up.” His mom came out of the kitchen and took his hands. “Ready to become the champ.”

“First, he will have to beat eight gyms,” Michael reminded them both.

Kate cupped both Adam's and Michael's face with a hand. “I'm so glad you'll be there for him,” she said. “I would be worried to death if Addy went out alone.”

“Moooom,” Adam complained. He knew that this wasn't his actual mom, since she was still in Heaven. But his indignation was real. “I'm not a child.”

“I know, baby.” She went on her tip-toes to kiss his forehead. “Now go meet the Professor.”

“I'll come by again afterwards,” Adam said, taking his mom's hands. “I promise.”

“Baby, I'll always be here when you want to come home.”

Adam squeezed her hands. Of course she would be there, he told himself. The mom was always home in the games.

Though of course, his real mom was always there, too, when he wanted to see her in Heaven.

He dropped her hands and gave her a smile. “I'll be off, then.”

“Be safe.” She turned to Michael. “Both of you.”

“Always.” Michael squeezed one of her hands too before they left, walking down the dirt path to the Professor's house.

Adam wasn't going to mention that his real mom wasn't quite as enthusiastic about seeing Michael than this one. In turn, Michael wouldn't mention that he was the current champ of this region.

Adam would find that out soon enough, anyway. And until then, he had a childhood dream to fulfil.

[eddiediazes]

temptation tuesday

okay i’m trying my hand at this this week for the first time! since i didn’t get in on the fun last week bc i was klmasdf Suffering. so i got tagged by @diazass for temptation tuesday, so here are some wips i have that i’m considering getting back into and/or possibly writing for the big bang?? in part i may be using this to decide what i’m writing for the big bang if any of y’all like any of these.

1. 118 ghost hunters au - i’ve shared from this verse a couple of times but it’s actually a wacky little thing i’ve dreamed up where the 118 (minus eddie bc he just moved to la) are LA’s only official team of ghost hunters, and they’re state/city funded just like other emergency workers but for ghosts. so ghosts are kind of a known entity but not everyone believes in them - but the supernatural is real, eddie’s house is actually haunted, and buck has a messed up trauma backstory relating to his own personal supernatural experience :) also. ghosts so i get to indulge my own interest in Spooky

2. action star buck / fight coordinator eddie - i have also posted excerpts from this like a thousand years ago now but. basically buck is an actor and the star of a popular action franchise (something like a blend between mission impossible and john wick) and he keeps insisting on doing his own stunts, and bobby and chim, who work with him, are genuinely concerned about him and think he isn’t coming at it from a healthy place. enter eddie, a mostly retired stunt coordinator who now runs a gym with lena bosko, who gets Pulled Back In For One Last Job by chim, because bobby thinks he could help out with buck. cue resentment and distance slowly building into friendship and then they fall in love :) also you know. movie sets and fight scenes and dangerous stunts and buck having Issues with thinking he’s expendable.

3. buck is a mind reader - i still don’t have much of this, but i like what i wrote - so it’s that fic based on the concept that buck actually can read minds like we all joked about but. i ended up going with him always having been able to instead of getting it from the lightning - with the one hitch that he cannot read eddie’s mind, kind of like how edward can’t read bella’s mind in twilight???? i’m a cornball i know i get it

4. hunter eddie au - this is also more vague and could maybe be combined with the above idea depending on how i handled it all but basically one night i spent like kasmdlf an hour or something spiraling in kaitlin @iinryer‘s dms over the concept of eddie being raised as a hunter (yes like supernatural style) and like. feeling very trapped by the system of violence and like the only thing he’s good for is hunting but then he meets buck who is some kind of supernatural creature and eddie doesn’t realize at first and he’s doing a lot of hard work on his own to rise above the way he was raised and the kind of things his dad said about “monsters” and then eventually he finds out about buck and - well. you know. you get it

5. eddie goes back to el paso - this fic has no real plot but it is like. my baby my cinnamon apple. originally i started it after 5b after hero complex and i was like. what if eddie stayed in el paso for a while to fix things with his family and then he invited buck to join him. and then instead it eventually became actually what if frank encouraged eddie to go back to el paso to really fully confront things instead of just taking a quick visit and he suggested eddie also take like. a safe person for himself and eddie was like well obviously that would be buck so then they go to el paso together and eddie walks buck through like. all his childhood memories and all the places he grew up and like. idk that’s the whole fic. but i think about her a lot sdkalfm

SORRY I’VE NEVER SHUT UP ONE DAY IN MY LIFE this is so many words about my silly little ideas. i’ll tag @spaceprincessem @comaboybuck @buckactuallys @iinryer @gayeddieagenda @fallingthorns @colonoscopys and anybody else who sees this and wants to do it please feel free to say i tagged you!

thank you to anyone who reads klmasdf any of this. please do tell me if they sound interesting. thanks bye <3

[spacefinch]

Thoughts/headcanons on Pokemon Trainers' names

Goes by full first name (NOT a complete list):

Red (that is genuinely his name. No, I don't make the rules. Red is his real, legal name.)

Blue (same situation as Red.)

Silver

Ethan

Lyra

Barry (everyone assumes it's short for something, but it isn't. I looked it up.)

Cheren (he's fine with his friends calling him "Cheri" or "Cher", though)

Bianca

Hilda and Hilbert

Iris

Elesa

Ingo and Emmet

Lillie

Gladion

Elio

Selene

Falkner (everyone assumes it is his surname. It is not.)

Jasmine

Whitney

Caitlin

Cilan, Chili, and Cress

Dawn

Lucas

Eusine

Janine

Leaf

Mallow

Lance

Clair

Olympia (or "Lady Olympia")

Winona

Skyla

Valerie

Brock

Misty

Calem (also goes by "Cal")

Serena

Clemont

Goes by last name:

Burgh

Pryce

Noland

Blaine

Literally all the professors

Colress

Darach

Fennel

Grant

Lysandre

Palmer

Goes by a nickname or codename or whatever

Looker (we don't even know his real name, for Arceus' sake!)

Kris (short for Kristine)

Bugsy (came up with that name themselves)

Crasher Wake

N (come on. Only someone as evil as Ghetsis would name a kid "Natural Harmonia Gropius." It sounds like the Latin name of a weird deep-sea alien critter, not a person. N doesn't mind his middle name, though.)

Morty (short for Mortimer-- but DO NOT let him hear you call him that. Unless you want to be cursed for all eternity.)

Bea (short for Beatrix)

Nate (short for Nathaniel)

Rosa (short for Rosalind)

Grimsley

Hop (he got his nickname from how energetic he was as a young child)

Larry (short for Lawrence)

Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars (If you're a Team Galactic commander, you get a cool space nickname. Even the lower-ranking grunts have codenames based on dwarf planets, asteroids, and stars.)

Roxie (yes, her full name is Roxanne. Just like the first Gym Leader from Hoenn. No, she did not shorten her name because of that. She was already calling herself Roxie before she found out about another girl sharing her name.)

[loadedberetta]

Sub Rosa - Chapter 2

Simon "Ghost" Riley x OC Diana

word count: 2.7k

warnings: accidental pregnancy, angst, military, the boys get wounded as a result of Ghost's cockup, MDNI (eventual adult themes & smut), SPOILER FREE for MW3

synopsis: Diana is home. she is safe. but Simon's thoughts just can't settle.

Part 1 // Part 3 // masterlist

a/n: the Latin theme continues, Diana becomes her own person, and so does Simon. Soap and the Captain get shot, as a result of Ghost being bullheaded. they're both okay I promise you.

Chapter 2 - Part 1

Qui totum vult totum perdit - He who wants everything, will lose everything

He was awake already and heard the plane leave.

The air was still, the breeze had retreated in fear of the morning sun that didn't yet show itself, the promise of a sunrise threat enough.

He rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, the moonlight licking jagged stripes on this uncovered, scarred skin.

Common alarm reverberated through his skull an hour and a half later, while he scribbled another page full in a notebook he dug out from below mountains of papers lazying around on his desk.

Breakfast was the usual, but still, something felt off.

The Captain talked to him.

He earned singular, questioning gazes from his teammates.

"I don't need to worry about you, yes?" The Captain asked him from afar.

Simon recentered himself and answered his Captain sitting opposite him at the table. People carried on eating and chatting around them.

"No, not at all."

"She's your wife, after all."

"Don't." He found himself saying despite the need to keep a low profile about his marriage.

"Simon." The Captain shifted in his seat. "She's home. You're here, and we need you here. Got that?"

He nodded. Something gnawed at his insides, but he could still hide it.

Later that day, one of the Sergeants found him in the gym.

"Ghost." The Sergeant muttered as he stepped into the large room.

"Gaz." Came the reply.

They exercised in silence for a while. The gym was one of the few rooms, sunken into the ground more than halfway, that remained at a relatively bearable temperature during the day. There were a few keys to it, and it was often locked.

Simon's key was hanging off his shoelace, he kept it close.

The Sergeant knew he tolerated team members around him while working out.

"Spot me, please?" The Sergeant looked up at him, settling on the bench some time later. Simon was drinking from a large bottle, his Adam's apple bobbing steadily. He put a thumb up and finished the bottle.

He didn't have to help out Gaz for a long time, longer than he expected him to last.

"So, why'd she leave?" He asked Simon after a lighter set when the bar clinked into place on the frame.

"Bad time to ask questions, Kyle." Ghost murmured from above him, a strange rasp to his voice.

"Price said-"

"Fuckin' hell."

"-that I should ask you." He replied and curled his fist around the bar again.

"What on God's green earth made you ask him?"

"Dun't know."

"Mind your own damn business next time." He finally grumbled when he caught the moment Kyle's resolve wavered. The bar clinked into place shakier this time.

Days passed. Hot, scorching, and monotone days, until the area around the concrete fortress was due for a proximity sweep.

Ghost grunted when the overeager Sergeant hopped into the passenger seat of the SUV. A small convoy set out at dusk to ensure safety around the base for some time and make quick work of anything that didn't belong there.

"Fucking Baltic out here, I tell ya."

He sighed at the thick Scottish accent. It made him crawl up the wall at times.

"Belt, Soap." He grumbled the command at him as he turned the keys, and the ignition sparked.

The watch passed without major complications. Miniscule dust devils danced in the distance, illuminated by nothing more than the stars and the SUV's headlights.

Sand thickened and became packed with moisture in some areas. The GPS beeped every now and then, an intricate set of noises that both men understood, giving them directions in the pitch-black night of the ever-changing Sahara.

They got back into the car after disembarking to send a wandering group further from the perimeter.

A thin layer of sand settled on their shoulders and seeped between their fingers, setting both of them slightly on edge.

"We're a man short." Soap muttered as he unlaced his boots to shake the sand out of it.

He sighed, as he knew Soap was right.

"You moan enough for two people, go drive alone." He replied, and shook some fine sand from his sleeve.

"You're not this insufferable usually." Soap retorted. "What's gotten into ya?" The Scot shook his head and laced up his boot again. "It was her, wasn't it?"

He grumbled, warning.

"Why'd she leave anywae?" Soap mused, seemingly growing to enjoy the jest.

He bit his tongue in an attempt to prevent himself from saying anything.

"Don't be a dunce." Soap's words were partly muffled by the engine starting up again.

"Leave it." He warned again.

"Aren't you…"

"No." He turned on the headlights. "When I say leave it, you leave it."

The lights hummed steadily, illuminating the golden dunes in front of them.

The rest of the ride passed in silence.

"You know you can't keep secret about this forever." The Captain remarked coldly.

He handed Simon another paper, and he scribbled his signature on it hastily, avoiding the answer.

"They caught on. They started asking me. I won't tell anything, but that won't sate them for long. They'll come knocking on your door soon."

"I know." He grumbled with force.

"Tell them yourself before they start making up their own stories." The Captain took the last paper from him and left the room without a word more.

The lecture hung heavily in the air, making the denseness of it even more unbearable.

Chapter 2 - Part 2

Plots form best under the harshest of circumstances. And heat, the most unnerving of all births deadly parasites. Blood boils, and emotions heighten.

Tempers run short.

Captain Price was called on. A precise team to snuff out a particularly nasty band of insurgents down South.

And he obliged, taking his three best men with him.

Ghost and Soap were tasked to flush two smaller buildings, while Price and Gaz took the larger one.

Soap and the Captain took a bullet each.

And Ghost blamed himself.

Radio connection established between the two teams, they entered at the same time, at different points.

Ghost ordered Soap to retreat behind a stack of crates when unexpected company arrived some rooms into the building.

"Flash!" His yell tore through the hall, followed by the muted explosion and half a magazine unloading.

"Fuck! Ghost!" Soap yelled from behind the crates.

"You hit?" He asked hastily, and Soap denied.

"Trigger control, steamin' Jesus!" The Scot emerged from behind the boxes with a disapproving look on his face and looked across the three unmoving bodies laying on the floor, courtesy of Ghost.

And that was when it happened. He was out.

It is always a bad time to reload.

Ghost knew that.

A bullet wheezed past Soap's nape, and another tore into his shoulder.

Before he knew it, the two people entering the room lay dead on the floor. Soap panted on the floor, his arms still raised, hands holding a smoking pistol.

They locked eyes.

The radio jolted awake when Ghost was bandaging Soap.

"0-7, c'me in." Price's voice was stern through the filter of the radiowaves.

"Soap. Ghost's fixin' me up." The Scot explained while he looked back at Ghost working on stopping the bleeding from the torn flesh on Soap's shoulder.

"We're done with our building. Looks like the place was a bust." The Captain's voice exerted, he was on the move.

"There's plenty to have at in ours. Pay us a visit." Soap answered with a smile tugging at his lips despite the pain he was in.

"Up." Commanded Ghost and Soap stood up.

He grabbed his radio and spoke. "We could use the help." And with that, he left the room, weapon on low ready.

The old formation soon met.

Everyone knew their job.

And Ghost fucked up. He passed a room unchecked.

Gaz had to be left behind with Price, as he caught a mouthful of buckshot to the side from the unchecked darkness.

An hour later, the intel was in their hands. Still, mood in the exfil helo was despondant. The Captain broke a fever and Soap was in an even worse shape.

"Can't afford to send you home." The Captain turned to Ghost. "Pull yourself together."

Ghost removed his helmet and scratched his ungracefully lowered head.

"Tell them for all I care. Or don't. Whatever gets you straight again."

The next time Ghost talked to the Sergeants, it was back at base. Soap's one arm in a sling, the other holding a book open, Gaz stitching a pair of ripped cargos. Ghost entered the rec room and sighed, seeing the other two men immersed in their separate activities.

The sun was long banished to behind the mountains, and the moon shied behind thin clouds.

The air was cool, calm, and unbothered.

He stood in the doorway watching the men until Soap looked up at him.

"Thought you went to sleep." He muttered, gaze turning back to trail lines in the boring mid-century book from one of the dusty shelves.

"Can't." He answered Johnny. "Listen."

Both men's brows knitted. Simon searched for their gaze. He didn't move much, his hands in his pocket, mask flush on his face.

"The Sergeant is my wife." An embarrassing blush spread across his features. He looked down. "Not technically, but she is. We've been married for… over a year now. That's all you need to know."

He never waited for answers, and neither did he plan on starting that night.

By the time Johnny and Kyle locked eyes, he was long gone. Perched on the flat roof of the building, he smoked.

The Captain found him soon.

"Cat's out of the bag, huh?" He rumbled in pain as he sat down on a nearby exhaust duct.

Simon didn't reply. A puff of smoke enveloped him.

"How'd you arrange it?"

"In secret."

"I meant the lie. Was it your idea or hers?"

He turned to the Captain, mask half-ridden up his face, showing the glowing white of new and old scars in the faint moonlight.

"Mine." He rasped and turned away again.

"She's not coming back, is she?"

He shook his head.

"Be there for her."

He turned only his head and rested his chin on his shoulder.

The cloud covering the moon dissipated.

He couldn't look into the Captain's clear eyes even for a moment, the words fell from his mouth in a broken tone.

"I'm scared."

Chapter 2 - Part 3

Soap's stitches were still in when they left for home.

The Captain was sent on sick leave for a month.

Gaz was to leave for training up north.

And Ghost…

He called her. Before they departed; a quick call to inform her when they'd land and where. Luckily, close to her, the usual base they touched down on.

She agreed to drive there. Meet the team again, and the events would unfold then and there.

They both understood the weight of it now.

The men left the scorch behind. The deathly desert edge, where even the most battle-hardened soldier knows wit's end.

Where life still found a way.

She underwent a different hell than the men during her time at home.

A resignation, a discharge, doctor's visits, and the unexplainable nature of it all to her family. An immigrant family to the UK, fleeing the wrath of the Eastern bloc arrived on the Isles to bring a better life to their unborn daughter. Raised her with clear values and strict morale that now only felt like a distant past to her any more.

She didn't dare tell them.

She closed the car door, hoping to trap the thoughts inside, and headed for the airfield.

Flashing clearance, she was in just as the plane landed. They filtered off, accompanied by another few soldiers.

Her gaze fixated on his tall form, following it as long as she could.

Minutes later, he emerged from one of the corridors she knew so well. He was wearing jeans and a zip-up jumper with the hood draped over his head.

That balaclava he always insisted on wearing while off-duty covered his features.

She'd never seen his entire face.

"Hi." She tried.

"Johnny was just after me. Hold my hand." He murmured. There was no threat to his voice, it was calming if anything. She obliged.

Johnny couldn't have seen her form hidden by his and was startled as he walked past.

"Steamin' Jesus, Di." He lifted his good arm and smoothed a hand over his heart.

She flashed him a weak smile.

"Ghost." Johnny nodded toward him and walked on as if nothing happened.

The doors behind her soon opened, then closed.

A hand found his shoulder and squeezed it.

"See you around, son." The voice was the Captain's.

"Will do, boss." He replied, unmoving, catching the Captain's form in his peripheral as he walked by with Kyle in tow.

"G'bye, you two." Kyle turned around and lifted his hat a bit while walking.

The door opened and closed again. It was just the two of them remaining.

Hands still intertwined, lost in the presence of eachother.

It was getting dark out.

"How you been?" He asked and readjusted the bag on his shoulder.

She let her hands fall.

"Been better. Yourself?"

They slotted next to each other and started walking toward the door the other previously left through.

"'m alright." He spoke as he held open the door for her. She ducked under his extended arm and passed him.

A few more corridors, a paper signed, and a last door opened.

Fresh air, crisp and lush.

The three men standing around a car, Kyle's. The Captain smoked.

"I want to talk to them." She gave them a quick look and smiled as Kyle caught her gaze.

"Not the best time." He murmured.

He recognized her car and turned towards it.

"Why?" She almost stopped, her gaze searching his.

"It's all too new for them. And I'm not in the mood to make up stories."

"Fair point." She unlocked the car from afar. He put his bags in the boot.

"I'll drive." He lazily commented just as she opened the driver's side door.

"You don't know where I live." She scoffed, one leg already in the car.

"Well, you're not mute."

She sighed and removed her foot from the car, and got in on the other side.

"I'll stay." He said firmly, in a voice she got used to hearing during missions. "For tonight, at least." He got into the car and adjusted the seat to his height.

His voice sounded sincere, almost domestic.

"Th--thank you." She muttered, looking out the window and away from him. Her cheeks burned.

"You can take the couch and I'll drive you home tomorrow morning." She offered once they turned onto the highway.

"Sure." He blinked up the rear-view mirror and switched lanes.

His hands rested on the steering wheel lazily yet still firm, she noticed.

"Don't get scared in case I have to hurl in the morning." She added, resting her chin in her hand propped up by the window.

He hummed affirmatively, and they drove along in silence for a few minutes. Orange lights illuminated the blue tarmac of the road.

"When did it start?" He asked, in an attempt to ease her mood.

"The morning sickness?"

He nodded.

"Uh… Few weeks now. The doctor said it should be over with soon."

"Okay."

They drove on for a couple minutes before he talked again.

"Anything else? Symptoms I mean." He blinked at her for a moment again.

She smiled lightly and bit her lip. "Emotions, cravings are starting, and I'm bloody tired all day."

"Alright." He nodded and opened his mouth again before he could think. "'m just worried about you."

"I… Understand."

"Haven't had time or connection to read up on anything, frankly." His finger drummed lightly on the steering wheel as he talked to underline his words. Her eyes were glued to them. "Had to ask Price… Jesus. Had to ask Price what I should do with you once I'm back. It shows he doesn't have kids."

That elicited a chuckle from her, the first one he heard her break in a long time.

Longer than he then realized he could go without.

Part 3 // masterlist

a/n: I have begun work on Chapter 3 already, but I won't see it coming out this month. it all depends on my cycle, and how much baby fever it dares give me. until then feel free to share this, and a heads up; I'm taking criticism.

[gamergirlshelby]

Heyo whats up! The other day I stumbled across this post by @jazz-kitty which pitched a possible Swap AU for Pokemon Reborn, which this small comic in of itself inspired. so many ideas for more swaps for.

So after getting the go ahead from Jazz, I thought it could be fun to ramble about some more possible swaps for some of the other swaps for this au :3

Its a good bit so I'm gonna put it under a read more because I have many ideas that I am happy to explain!

Ok first off are the swaps already present in the original post by Jazz, which I will be using as a baseline for my ideas! The most notable swap is Cal and Blake Whitaker being the focus of the original comic, and already I think that is just. a really neat concept all things considered. Already both of their arcs would be very different, with Cal never going to Apophyll, likely still having a lot of that pent up frustration and anger issues, and Blake mellowing out a bit, but probably still being a bit of a jerk since he doesn't really give a shit about a lot of whats going on. If anything I'd still say that Blake probably still kicked Cal's ass when they first meet like in canon which makes Cal even more mad at him in swap au,

Next is Lin swapping with the protagonist. Honestly I'd still need to think about which protagonist would take canon Lin's place since I don't really have a definitive favorite among them, and I feel like they all would be pretty interesting to switch around. I just know that it'd probably end up being one of them.

Then last of the swaps shown in the comic is Bennett taking the place of Shelly. To be honest Bennett ending up more like an anxious bookworm might be better for him in the long run versus how he is base game. Don't get me wrong Bennett probably has one of my favorite arcs throughout main game and post game, but I'm doing a playthrough rn and I just got to Iollia valley and. C'mon man.

First off is a big swap between Julia and Florinia with Amaria and Titania respectively (as well as Fern and Hardy but I'll get to them in the next section). Julia taking the place of Amaria, with Amaria being in charge of the water treatment center/gym and Julia living with Florinia in the Fiore Mansion. Titania would be a teacher at the Onyx school in Florinia's stead, writing as a side hobby, while Florinia maybe works out in the field studying pokemon strategy in the wild to better understand them? Her gym being out in the desert would also fit with her theme of being a grass type sand team.

Next is Fern and Hardy swapping. Hardy loses his connection with Titania as she gets absorbed in her work at the school, falling more into his rock star persona, although he ends up more arrogant due to his fame around the school and city. Then there's Fern, who I'd say is probably more like he is post game? Definitely the kind of guy who'd make someone smile (although still probably a little misguided).

My next swap is a bit simpler being Cain and Aya, with Aya being the recurring rival and Cain being the poison type gym leader, Cain not being able to runaway while Aya does.

Another somewhat big swap is Solaris and Elias as well as Taka and Luna, with Elias being the founder of Team Meteor, Luna being the unwilling heir, Solaris is the third member of the elite four and Taka is on the run from his father, carrying the emerald brooch.

To round out the ideas I had for Team Meteor is Sirius and Connal. They both have connections to the Belroses and also they are both huge pieces of shit. Sorry to be blunt but its true.

Another swap that I think would be interesting is Noel and Anna with Eve and Lumi respectively. Honestly I don't really have much of an explanation I just think they would be interesting pairs to switch.

And thats all the swaps I was able to come up with. There are probably more I could come up with and honestly knowing me I could probably come up with swaps for the whole game if you give me like. a week. but also that would take me forever and I am tired-- i might end up doing some doodles for these ideas at some point to cause swap aus are fun. anyways thanks for reading my rambles :3

[artzychic27]

Hello I want to hear about your bring it on au and what it’s about!

Keep in mind, this one is based on the musical

On his last day of junior year, Adrien Agreste anticipates the day he will be named captain of the DuPont High School cheer squad, as he has been hoping for this moment ever since he saw the team cheer when he went to a basketball game to watch one of his cousins, but he just couldn’t take his eyes off of the squad

Of course, he gets the position, ‘cause protagonist. And his first duty is to replace the graduating members

Adrien’s girlfriend and fellow cheerleader is Marinette, who pretty much “helps” him make a ton of decisions for the team

Other members include Rose Lavillant, Lotta Jameson, Louis Secousse, the mascot, Sabrina Raincomprix, and a bunch of other important background people

During a cheerleader sleepover, Adrien, still wanting to show the team that he’s right for the captain’s position, takes a chance on Louis and names him the Sophomore spirit leader

IF Adrien were to lose his position, Louis would be third in line as captain after Rose and Lotta

The rest of the sleepover goes by well, but Adrien is not aware of the whispering going on between Marinette and Louis

Two weeks after the sleepover, Adrien’s father received a letter with these news: He’s been redistricted to inner-city Latrelle High School

Rose: THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE A SQUAD!

Despite his attempts to stay at DuPont, there’s nothing Adrien can do, he has to move, quit cheerleading, and that means no Nationals, booo.

And strangely enough, the day Adrien is supposed to go, Marinette and Louis aren’t there to see him off… Weird, but he’s too sad to question it

Adrien arrives at Latrelle where he is nearly trampled as soon as the bell rings, he’s pretty sure he saw someone getting to third base in the bathroom, and he keeps getting called “snow bunny”

He’s not exactly given much of a warm welcome because he came from a private school

To his relief, Sabrina has been redistricted, too, and she teaches him how to lay low like she’s always done, but to Sabrina’s shock, some guys flirt with her

After classes with a few misunderstandings regarding the school’s funding and how there’s barely enough books for the entire class (That happens, people! Remember that!) it’s time for lunch

While trying to find a table, Adrien comes across members a few members of Latrelle’s resident and locally famous dance crew: Denise, Cosette, and Jean when they perform Shabooya Roll Call

Denise: My name’s Denise! (Yeah) Lemme just say! (Yeah) Bitches gonna pay! (Yeah) If they steal my bae! *Points to Simon*

Cosette: I’m Cosette! (Yeah) These curls are poppin’! (Yeah) Don’t try to touch ‘em! (Yeah) ‘Cause I’ll show you the bin!

Jean: My name is Jean! (Yeah) A Broadway Baby! (Yeah) See that starring role? (Yeah) Played by your’s truly!

Adrien follows them to the gym and is impressed by what he believes to be a cheer squad as he thought Latrelle didn’t have a squad

Adrien offers his talents, but one slip of the tongue results in a big NO because he called them a cheer squad when they are a dance crew, there is a difference, and Jean is more than happy to explain through song

Instead, they let Sabrina join as she’s been taking dance classes in secret over the years and is pretty good

But enough about that!

Luka, the school’s go-to musician for parties and school events takes pity on Adrien and invites him to the school’s favorite eating establishment… Where Jean just so happens to work

Adrien tries to make amends, but Jean’s having none of it. It’s only when Adrien defends him from a group of entitled rich girls that he gains Jean’s respect… But he’s still not in the crew

However! He does have a challenge for him… Adrien has to dance with the crew at a party Friday night, wearing… The mascot suit

After a shaky start, Adrien kills it in the suit thanks to some backup from Luka – and an impressed Jean gives him an official spot on the dance crew

Meanwhile at DuPont…

Neither Rose nor Lotta can be the captain. Rose suddenly doesn’t have the grades, and Lotta has mono. By rules of succession, Louis is now captain

Of course, Adrien is suspicious when he hears the news and decides to head back to check up on his old squad… Only to find that Louis has copied his hairstyle

Rose and Lotta think he is just being paranoid, and Marinette isn’t listening to him, so Adrien shares his troubles with Sabrina, who explains that Louis’ mom is on the school board and decided on the redistricting

After a lot of screaming, Adrien realizes the only way to get back at Louis is by assembling a squad at Latrelle and defeating him at Nationals

Act Two!

Adrien approaches Jean about creating a cheerleading squad at Latrelle, and they’re reluctant at first until Adrien quickly lies and says that Nationals includes scholarships for each winning member, and a chance to be on live television

Jean lets the rest of the crew know, and the decision is final… They’re forming a squad! But! They need way more members

So, in addition to Jean, Adrien, Cosette, Denise, and Sabrina, Nathaniel, Ivan, Juleka, Spinelli, Austin A, Nino, and Ismael join the squad. But it was NOT easy

Juleka only joined when they mentioned the scholarship, Ismael was promised pants for his uniform, Nathaniel is hoping to catch the eye of the soccer team captain, Ivan needs extracurriculars, Nino’s in it for the tv appearances, Spinelli gets to show off his choreography, and Austin A heard how some of his favorite celebrities were cheerleaders

During the team’s first practice, Spinelli has some routines planned, but many of the moves would get points deducted by the judges, so he has to stick to classic shit

A week later at the regional competition, DuPont watches Latrelle perform. Everyone except Marinette and Louis is wowed, but Marinette is smugly convinced that DuPont will win

Though, Latrelle wins enough points for a Nationals spot, and they take second to DuPint

Back at Latrelle, Marc, after soccer practice, asks Nathaniel out, but he doesn’t say anything and just runs to the gym where he meets up with Cosette and Nino, who are helping Austin T and Myléne out with the same problem

The two stage a quick intervention and tell them that it’s no big deal when it comes to their insecurities

Cosette: Now you go find those boys and tell them you’re free Friday night!

Myléne: Gosh darn it, you’re right!

Nino: Whoa! Language!

Nathaniel goes after Marc and tells him that he wants to go out

Later that evening, Luka asks Adrien out on a picnic date on the cliffs above the town, and although Adrien is reluctant since he’s… Somewhat still dating Marinette, he accepts

And as he's getting ready for his not-date, he can't help but feel even more guilty for the lie he told the squad when he looks at a group photo of them on his dresser

Meanwhile with the Squad!

Juleka: Do you guys think a smokey eye will clash with the uniform?

Cosette: Hon, it’s your makeup, you go for it.

Austin A: Keep all that black stuff outta my eye. If there’s not a trace of glitter, I don’t even want it.

Nathaniel: *Stretching with Ivan and Nino* And then he bought me my favorite caramel frappe! God! I never want this to end!

Nino: Dude, that’s great! At this rate, you’re gonna end up being the school’s power couple.

Ismael: *On his phone* Huh… That’s weird.

Spinelli: What’s up?

Ismael: I’m checking out the website for Nationals, but I don’t see any information on the scholarships.

Jean: Check under rules and regulations.

Ismael: Did, don’t see it.

Ismael: Well, that’s weird. Now, why would they not have any information on the scholarships when Adrien told us they had scholarships?

Squad: …

Juleka: He didn’t.

Austin A: He did.

Ivan: Oh, yeah.

Cosette: Who did what?

Nathaniel: Adrien lied to us.

Cosette: Ooh… I’m gonna bitch slap him.

When going to meet up with Luka, Adrien runs into the furious crew, who all discovered that he lied, and the squad breaks up

Upset and disgusted with himself, Adrien shows up for the date with Luka, just to tell him what he did so Luka can cut all ties with him

To his surprise, Luka tries comforting him, and encourages Adrien to stop worrying so much about his mistakes, and to also apologize. It probably won't make things better, but it'll be a way to acknowledge his mistakes

Meanwhile, the DuPont squad discuss the dissolution of the Latrelle squad, and Marinette privately celebrates being made captain with Louis, all by using diabolical means

Louis has his status as captain while Marinette is really the one in control. Louis blackmailed is mom into transferring Adren, he had Max hack into the school system to give Rose a failing grade by threatening Markov, and infected Lotta with mono by pushing her in the un-disinfected school pool

At Latrelle, Nathaniel sports a hickey courtesy of his new boyfriend

During what is now dance practice, Adrien confronts them and offers a profuse, pained apology

Eeryone is still hurt by the lie, but they do mention the joy their hard work brought to them

Juleka: ... I'm not gonna lie. What you did was fucked up, but... It felt nice to be noticed for once.

Nathaniel: Yeah, and... I guess this helped me be more of an extrovert. There. I said it.

Cosette: I still wanna slap you... But I had fun.

And to Adrien's own surprise, he realizes that he stopped caring about Nationals or getting back at Louis a while ago

Despite their conflicting feelings, Jean confesses that they miss Adrien as well and the Squad decides to continue working together, meaning Nationals is back on

At Nationals, DuPont's squad performs their routine exceptionally

As the squad recovers, Marinette runs into Adrien and is stunned to find the Latrelle squad in their uniforms

Adrien, realizing that their relationship wasn't the best during the bus ride, breaks things off with Marinette, but she barely reacts and goes off on a rant while inadvertently revealing her actions and justifying her actions by claiming she got DuPont first place, which, in her mind, is more important than sportsmanship or their "relationship"

Now on the mat, Latrelle offers an exuberant, mind-blowing routine that breaks many of the fundamental rules of cheerleading, but inspires wild applause from the arena

The squad is sure they won, but then Sabrina breaks the news to them, that they had broken many rules and gone outside of bounds multiple times

Nino: Oh... Shit.

Spinelli: Yeah, we really should have read the rules.

Denise: There were bounds?

Jean: Well, whatever happens, we will take it with grace and poise.

When the results are read, Latrelle has won Nationals.

Jean: YEAH! WE FUCKING WON!

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Alright, adventure wise Gai now has

5/5 titan’s defeated

4/5 team star bases defeated

7/8 gyms defeated

And needless to say the last gym and team star base he faced were not prepared for his over leveled pokemon (made especially funny since i did the fighting team star base second last, which is the strongest one)

But the best news?

Baby boy got himself a shiney doggo.

His boyfriends gonna be so jelouse, and he even named it after his boyfriends father 🥰🥰🥰

Might have to get 100 fighting tera shards just to keep this one and tenten on the team, but we’ll find out

[ask-mysterious-muses]

Based on the Edge/Misc. OC ask meme you posted, #10 for Aevery?

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

((Ooooo, I actually do got 3 aus written in notes for the boi: 2 of them would be a split after the Valor incident and the other a post post game Violet au.

The first is a 'Welcome to Hisui' au, where Aevery is the protag in Legends Arceus that I've been very slowly working on a fic for that I hope yall look forward too so I won't go too into detail here. (With. Certain lore bits coming forward this one is starting to get more interesting :] )

The second, 'Lost Valor', was an au where the Interceptor just didn't exist/didn't NEED to exist. Aevery would wake up at Oceana Pier, no memory, no record, no home, and most of all no Pokémon. Essentially he would be back at square 1 from before he became Interceptor, just in Aevium instead of his old world. And let's just say, the poison type pokemon that hang around the garbage in alleys are a bit more dangerous than regular rats and raccoons. He does eventually find a home to belong after. A lot of time living on the streets stealing garbage and berries to survive, and of course he ends up with Echo in the end (never separating him and the borb. Brothers in any life)

And for the Violet au, I figured a fun idea would be for Aevery to be sent to school for a year after the post-game so that he could get a proper education and take a break from. Everything that happened in Aevium. The first half before the treasure hunt would be pretty tame, I could see Aevery going into home ec so he could help around more (and maybe because he really had a ton of fun in the cook-off side quest).

The treasure hunt itself would vary:

The Gym Battles would be standard, if insanely easy compared to Aevium, and Nemona would have fun being able to go all out against her new rival bestie, not even slightly upset if Echo manages to beat her team just excited that a normally weak 1st stage Pokémon could be so strong and present a real challenge like that. The rest of his team, both the few he brought with him and the new he added, would bring just as much excitement to battles. She would be absolutely excited to meet any of Aevery's super strong friends too. Could see her wanting to visit Aevium to challenge their gyms.

Team Star would cause worry at first (there's been too many evil teams), but they really are just a group of students fighting bullying and having maybe too much fun. Penny would be fighting herself to not fangirl over Aevery's unique shiny Sylveon at first, but would definitely ask to see her up close once she achieves friend status.

Path of the Titans would be when it starts getting a bit too close to home. Klawf looks like it could be a rift Krabby at first so Aevery is very relieved that it's just a really giant Paldea Pokémon. Iron Treads, on the other hand, looks waaaay too much like a Garufa mech Pokémon, and the fact that it's supposed to be from a mysterious crater that no one is allowed into? Arven would have to snap him out of any panic at that one. The sandwich making and watching Mabosstif heal would be a silver lining, and I could see the boys bonding over cooking.

Area Zero. Would bring all the worst memories of exploring Garufa ruins back to the front: the otherworldly feel of going deeper down, all the different hostile mechanical Pokémon, the unnerving notes in the scattered research buildings, the very obvious signs that something terrible happened in the last one, and the AI professor battle. That feeling of absolute helplessness when the pokeballs lock: no Daniel, no Sylveon, no Echo. Once the battle is actually over and they all climb out of the crater, some phone calls and a sleepover are in order.

Kitakami is a breath of fresh air: more familiar Pokémon, much more peaceful wilds, and some more new friends. Aevery would instantly hit it off with Kieran; just 2 shy boys bonding over folklore. The idea of lying about Ogerpon would leave a bad taste in his mouth and I could see him just telling Kieran the truth. The Lousy Three would still get woken up because I could see Kieran still being upset at his sister still not telling him the truth, and he'd still start his 'Champion' arc because Ogerpon would still choose Aevery over him, but at least most of the journey wouldn't be as tense as canon. Ogerpon would mostly stay in Kitakami, but being registered to Aevery means she could be called to join his team any time they want.

Indigo Disk would feel like a combination gym challenge/ break Kieran out of his funk. Of course, things play out mostly the same with Drayton poking the Ursaring so to speak (Right, ex-champ?), and the return to Area Zero is very much not something Aevery wants to do, but he can't let his new friends go down there without someone who knows what to expect. Definitely tells Rika that he'd gotten pretty direct permission from Professor Turo to go down there the first time tho. Everyone is very emotional after very much almost dying to Terapagos. "I'm never going down there again I don't care who asks me or why." (Lie. Aevery would do anything to help. Dlc 2 here we come :] ) Friendship with Kieran restored. Don't know where Terapagos would stay considering how powerfully dangerous it could be. Maybe Geeta could keep him. She's the actual champion of Paldea after all. The Terrarium is kinda nice, but being so far underwater in a glass dome not so nice.

Mochi Madness. First would be fun having all his new friends get to meet eachother, then scary with the weird possession thing going on, then just silly with all the 'Pecha Zombies' dancing. If he didn't know the mochi was bad news, Aevery would absolutely end up eating one. Pecha is his favorite after all. Maybe he could pitch the experience as a movie idea back at PokeStar Studio?

Small Bonus: Inviting coaches to Blueberry. I think even Erin would feel a love for battling with Nemona cheering her on.

[sketchy--doodles]

ok, last of the reference sheets for now. Here are some of the student athletes at Rose beach High. Experimented with shape language here.

left to right:

Leopold Lez: he/him 18 straight toon leopard

Leopold is a repurposed character I made back in 2016. He is a friend to Forrester and the other guys within his friend circle. Leopold is the captain of the bowling team and constantly wears bowling shirts. He convinces Forrester, Charles, and Virgil to do bowling nights with him, which they usually do, even when they don't want to. Leopold is just a jolly dude and makes the whole room happy. Has a habit of not letting go of the bowling ball and rolling with it (toon logic hehe), but its allowed in the toon world, and it wins the school many championships so it's ok. Leopold is the boyfriend of Sandra. Often gets told that he's not good enough or too fat for Sandra, but easily ignores it. He kinda looks like a combo of a Beach Boy and Ken from Barbie

Sandra Speeders: she/her 18 straight toon cheetah

she's a runner she's a track star

jkjk

ok so Sandra is the track team captain. I mean, she's a cheetah, it's so obvious. I made her back in 2010 and she is one of my oldest characters ever in use. Sandra is very competitive, but can be very subtle about it. She tries hard to keep her track speed records, even when she is still the fastest toon in the school by far. Others find her kinda odd for wanting to practice all day, when there is little to no competition for the records. Sandra sees competition from Deidra. She knows that Deidra is sporty and is always very wary of and internally competes with her. Is dating Leopold Lez. Her friends think it is odd that an athletic girl like her would date a portly dude such as Leopold, but she doesn't care because he makes her feel happy. She is also very intelligent and has good grades because she also internally competes with classmates in other classes.

Deerslayer Roman: he/him 18 straight toon italian greyhound 

ok, so this guy I based on someone from my high school. I also thought that it would be funny if the captain of the wrestling team was some lanky greyhound. As for his name, I chose Deerslayer because I was looking through a list of common names given to dogs during the Roman Empire and it was the most striking one. And his last name is Roman because greyhounds were a very common dog during the Roman Empire. 

Deerslayer is a gym bro. He is constantly in the gym when he's not in class. Even when in class, he brings a jug of water that he uses in the gym around. Deerslay thinks that lifting and wresting would make him become an alpha male, but others think he tries way too hard and is often perceived as the opposite. There is a rumor at rose beach high saying that Deerslayer lifted weights too much, that it stunted his growth. Now, is that true, idk. He is actually a goos wrestler though. Usually, it is unexpected how good he is because the other teams can't imagine a lanky greyhound being so powerful. He tries to use his wrestling prowess to attract girls, but he comes across as creepy more.

PLEASE REBLOG! IT HELPS A LOT!

[kiebs]

Arviana Week

Day 3 - Picnics

I'm just going to accept that I'll forever be a day behind lol

Also on AO3

---

Paldea really had some crazy biomes. Just over that ridge, the ridge that formed Collonade Hollow, was Asado Desert and yet where they were was lush with verdant grass and clusters of trees. Even the breeze was on the cooler side, but that could be because of them being farther north, plus the river that ran just past the hill. Unova hadn't been like that, as far as she knew.

Well, to be fair, there had been a large desert between Nimbasa and Castelia Cities in Unova, but just the stark change was throwing Juliana off. Unova didn't have anything like the caverns out east, after all. Just some more cliffy and mountainous areas, but nothing so extreme.

Well, she supposed it gave Paldea a charm, the changing biomes, and at least this way she and Arven had a nicer place for a picnic than one of the mesas.

Their pokemon relaxed around them sans Mabosstiff, but considering he wasn't hundred percent yet, Juliana didn't blame Arven for keeping him in his ball for the time being.

After all, they had one Titan left now.

…and Juliana had the Elite Four to take on and two more Team Star bases.

At least Florian was helping her with the latter, seeing as he had helped with the Navi Squad and all. Apparently, he and Atticus had really hit it off too, so finding and getting to the last two bases wouldn't be too hard either.

So really she only had to worry about the League and the last Titan.

She plopped her chin on her palm and sighed.

"What are you sighing about?" Arven spoke up and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh, wow. Real mature, little buddy."

"I'm sighing over the fact you won't let me play with your hair," she remarked and laughed at the hand he held protectively over his head. "I'm joking, I'm joking! I'm just...nervous about the League and all."

"Why? You're super strong, Juli," he said and for some reason, him calling her Juli made her heart race. "Heck, Titans aside, you took down all eight gyms in, what? Two months? I think the only person who has you beat on that time is the Student Council President and she's some kinda pokemon battling machine."

Juliana really wanted to argue with that, she did, but he had a point. As sweet and kind of clingy as Nemona had been, she had crazy stamina when it came to battling.

"To be fair, I only beat Florian to Grusha because he pissed off a flock of Delibird," she pointed out and grinned at Arven's exaggerated eye roll.

"We're not talking about Florian," he sneered and she had to fight the giggle down as he tried to correct his tone. She should probably tell him he didn't have to be so jealous over Florian, but there was something cute about the way he got all huffy when the other boy was mentioned. "We're talking about you and your amazing battling skills, little buddy. You have nothing to worry about at the League!"

"Thank you," she said. "I do mean it. I just…maybe it's less worry about actually battling the League and more that…I feel guilty?"

"Guilty?" Arven tilted his head just like a confused Growlithe. Oh, that was so cute. "Why?"

Juliana plucked at the grass, scattering the blades into the wind. She pressed her lips together and felt a little like she might cry.

"Well, there's still one more Titan? Mabosstiff isn't…one hundred percent yet…so I…I don't want to leave you guys hanging to go off and-and challenge—"

A big hand fell onto her shoulder.

She hadn't realized she had pulled a whole clump of grass out, leaving dirt on the edge of their blanket and sad blades to flutter listlessly. Unsurprisingly, Zuzu was toddling over with a frown on her face. Putt-Putt wasn't far behind, his engine revving worriedly.

"You know, it's okay to be selfish, right?" Arven said and Juliana felt the tears she was trying to fight bubble up. He smiled at her and it didn't help. "Little buddy, Juliana, I think you're…the most selfless person I've ever met. Take it from me. I've been selfishly using you this whole time, haven't I?"

"You…You just couldn't…trust me at first," she mumbled and rubbed at her cheeks. "I-I wouldn't trust some-some new kid from Unova either with my p-p-precious partner. P-Plus you've been-been sharing the Herba Mystica."

"Yeah, in sandwich form," he remarked and began patting nervously around himself. "Where… Ah! Here!"

He held out a relatively clean handkerchief to her and only grimaced a little when she sniffled. Still, he sighed when she took it and she chuckled at that.

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

"It's okay." He tentatively patted her shoulder. "…but really, it's okay. I have to do some research on the last Titan anyway, so… Go take on the League, little buddy. Mabosstiff and I…we can handle waiting a little longer. Besides, it's probably better not to…y'know, eat too much of this stuff too quickly."

"I guess so…" Juliana worried the cloth between her hands. Her team was pretty strong…so taking on the League… "…are you sure it'll be okay?"

Arven bumped her shoulder and she couldn't help leaning into the touch. Surprisingly, he didn't move away.

"Yeah! It'll be fine!" he insisted. "…besides, all I know is that the Titan's somewhere…northwest so…"

He gestured around them, more so towards the river than the desert.

"Could be on Socarrat Trail. Could be somewhere on the Lake. Hell, maybe even somewhere closer to Glaseado." His shrug rocked her. "It'll take a bit, so you have some time. Mabosstiff is holding pretty strong so…it's fine."

She sniffled again.

"…you're sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"Positive?"

"Positive."

"Absolutely po—"

He bumped her again with a grumble.

"Yes, mocosa," he snapped, before his voice was much softer. "I'll be waiting just a phone call away, okay? I better be the first person you call when you make Champion Rank."

"Nemo already called dibs."

"How dare you."

Juliana laughed and the sight of his smile made her heart soar.

"No, you'll be the first after mom. Nemona will probably be waiting in the lobby, anyway." She grinned and leaned her head against his shoulder. "…thanks, Arven."

"Any time, little buddy."

---

Juliana's team is based off my own team from Violet so it's:

Habanero the Skeledirge

Zuzu the Azumarill

Flamma the Flamigo

Portobello the Toedscruel (matching with Arven)

Putt-Putt the Revavroom

Godzilla the Baxcalibur

[echantedtoon]

Love Doesn't Do Encores Ch45 The End

(This is it folks. Just one more left after this which will be the epilogue. The place where reader meets Arceus is based off the Legends of Arceus post game fight. Link below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8-feGjQNs8&list=LL&index=37)

Piers was home. His home. Your Piers. His Y/n. Your Home. Everything. Both. Yours and his. The whole day was a magical blur. You remembered feeling Piers's happy tears fall onto your forehead and you cried as well still hanging onto each other like a pair of koalas in front of a large crowd but you didn't care. By the time you two finally pulled apart the entire crowd began cheering and pushing you all towards the inevitable welcome back party Team Yell insisted on throwing for Piers and Marnie, which was just a giant social gathering at the gym with a lot of ordered pizza and discounted ice cream from the local store but you didn't care. The entire time Piers holding onto you in one way or another or vise versa. It was all such a blur of a night. You remembered eating a little bit, panicking for a moment your boss would get angry you just left work to party with Piers, giving Marnie a hug, and just...talking. Just talking and being held by Piers who seemed to do nothing but smile and hold you the entire time...until it got dark. Like REALLY dark and really REALLY late into the night. By the time you realized it, you were already so tired but so happy. You couldn't remember any other time you cried so much or felt so happy it felt like the whole world was becoming whole again. All your focus on Piers and his focus on you so it was quick a shock when you were finding yourself standing in front of your house having been escorted none other than the man himself and having him convince you to go to sleep. 

"Get some sleep," he spoke softly, forehead pressed against yours, a few happy tears falling down his face, and two soft hands holding your cheeks. Perfect smile on his pale features. "I wanna spend more time with ya too but it's late..an' M' tired from travelin'. Tomorrow I'll be back to ya. I promise you." Followed by another kiss to your forehead.

You did whine at the loss but your urge to sleep overtook any other emotion. So you stumbled your way inside after a few more moments. Silver and the others were both happy and anxious to see you after so long but sleep still won out over everything. You were already so exhausted you hardly even noticed you going through the routine of taking a shower, brushing your teeth, and getting into your favorite pair of fuzzy pjs before just collasping into your bed. Eyelids heavy and darkness consuming you as you fell into a fast deep sleep. The darkness of your dream was interrupted however in the most strangest ways. Because you woke up. Or at least...you thought you did-

"At last...Thou haveth been found. Divine childe from thine differ plain of being.''

Cold..It was so cold. Like winter had come early and seeped into your blankets, except you weren't covered by anything except for the clothes on your back. And you weren't laying on any soft cozy mattress like when you first went to best. It felt..cold and glasslike the ground under you. Like you just decided to fall asleep on a giant pane of glass in the middle of winter. It was the cold that beckoned f/c eyes to open above you, shivering and teeth clattering together from the cold feeling. And what was above the young woman made her gasp at the holy sight above. It-...It was almost as if the universe itself was in front of you, swirling shades of purple and black swam before you in the shape of the galaxy with some invisible force holding it above you. Silence fading in and out as twinkling stars shown around you with the beautiful sight of the fully moon lighting it all. The moon looked so close and so far at the same time. What the-...Where were you? Were you dreaming? This felt too real to be just a dream. Were you seeing some kind of old game footage like the first time you arrived in this world??..Had you died? Is this the afterlife? No..No that wasn't it. Before you could get too far into your questioning, you slowly, body shaking and teeth now clattering together from how cold it was, stood on legs more wobbly than a newborn deer. Your hands came up to rub your arms in a failed attempt to warm you up looking around. Black...EVERYWHERE WAS BLACK!! Like eternal night other than the endless night stars and full moon above you. Nothing anywhere. Spinning in a complete circle, you still found yourself completely alone. Right. Alone. This MUST have been some crazy dream right? 

"H-Hello?!," You called out tentatively finding your voice trembling and throat dry from the cold croaking. Like a creepy tunnel your voice echoed into the dark abyss. ...No answer came back to you. "I-I-Is an-nyone there!?" 

Dead silence.

Ok. Obviously this wasn't a dream. This was a freaking NIGHTMARE!! You felt dread creeping in on you and you would've started panicking if it wasn't for a voice. One you thought you heard before, One so feeble and far you almost thought you had imagined it. Then you heard it again.

"This way.''

The words- That voice came from behind you and you snapped behind you seeing no one.

"H-HELLO!? HEY! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!? C-C-C-C'mon! Ju-Just s-s-show yourselves al-al-laread-dy!"

"This way," the voice repeated only now you were facing the direction it came from. 

This person-..thing...It couldn't be serious right? Your mind was playing tricks on you surely!...But..you had no other choice but to follow it huh? Sigh. You sighed, looked around you one more time, again saw nothing, and then turned forward to behind walking. To be honest it felt like walking on a treadmill. Never leaving the place you stood except you didn't feel the ground move under your feet or the stars go past you, maybe your feet were just too cold. Then, after a short while of walking you saw it. A small dull light coming from in front of you. You grew more excited and your pace quickened. That was it! The exit! At this point you were all but running, excited to leave this place wherever it is was you were. You'd probably wake up once you reach the end. Boy Piers would think this one would be a doozy to hear. Probably get a laugh outta it too. The closer you got the more blinding the light became. Up until you had to close your eyes against the harsh glare. Still you continued on and while the light gave you hope it also took away your sight until with many blinks and your hands rubbing your eyelids, they slower adjusted to the light and it wasn't as bright as you initially thought it was. And your eyes blinked down once your leg bumped into something almost making you trip over and blink at it. Until your eyes fully adjusted. And widened as you realized you were staring at....Uh..Well you were staring at..The light was coming from...

A floating rectangle???

Yes. Before you floating just a foot above the ground was a stop sign sized rectangle that was glowing a white with a slight blue-green tint to it. Your f/c eyes followed it up to another one just like it. And then another. And another. And another. All one foot apart and starting to head upwards like some kind of stairs...Wait..WERE these stairs?? You kept staring at it totally bewildered-

"Up, Young One. Ascend."

You flinched. There it was. That voice again. It sounded male in gender and echoed both inside and outside your skull like a drumroll. Wait. Did that thing say up? You blinked at the apparent stairs again. It wanted you to go up? Seriously!? A long flight of stairs?! Your mind couldn't have dreamt up an elevator at least?...You sighed but followed the strange voice's instructions and began to climb the glowing staircase upwards. Step after step you took moving upwards in a seemingly never ending stairway of glowing floating rectangles. After a while you got to a point where you couldn't tell where you began or where it ended, as if you weren't even going anywhere again like when you were walking, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Er. Stairs I mean. Because when you looked up, you saw something at last that made you give pause once again. Upwards above you was a GIANT circular platform surrounded by faint purple lights resembling the aurora borealis. Was that where you were supposed to go? Looking around there was nothing and no where else to go. You couldn't even see the bottom of the stairs anymore as they faded into the darkness below. Guess there was only one way out of this mess. Looking back upwards you continued your climb all the way up until finally at last you were standing on the strange floating platform. The platform was about as big as half your standard large parking lot and strange circle patterns were glowing in it's floor. You stopped when you were about half way in the middle of it and looked around. And still nothing although you didn't feel so cold anymore now. 

"HELLO!?," you hollered out again your voice echoing around as you looked around for any sign of life. "Hey! I'm here already! Where are you!? Show yourself!"

"Be Not Afraid!"

That voice again. Echoing. It sounded like it came from everywhere and no where at once leaving you looking any which way to find it. Up at the stairs. Down at your feet. Around and around at all sides seeing absolutely no one. Then it happened. Something blocked the light from you making you freeze as a long shadow fell over you. ...You felt yourself gulp feeling a VERY massive presence behind you eyes boring into the back of your skull. And then you slowly turned around. And you saw it. Irises shrinking and jaw dropping. White blinded your vision as red and green eyes bore down at you from four stories high and feet across. The thing a monster above you-

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Your body moved on it's own. Peddling backwards and making you crash onto your backside flashbacks of the giant corviknight when you first showed up flashing before your eyes. Making the giant pokemon blink and wince. 

"I sayeth be not afraid."

"HOLY ARCEUS!!," You cried out staring at this...this..thing wide eyed scooting backwards and pointing at the thing towering over you. "What the heck are you!?"

"Oh..Thou hast already answered thine question," it answered you tilting it's head at you. "It hast taken me many a moon to find thee."

You paused. Staring at the giant thing in front of you like a goldfish before lowering it's head. "....What?"

It looked eye level at you now as if trying not to frighten you again. "Thoust tis gazing upon thy god of this realm."

God?...Wait. This thing was a god?? Not any god you could think of like Thor or Hercules. Wait. Did the pokemon franchise even have a god? Well there were legendary pokemon which were like demigods and the strongest among them was-....Was-...Your eyes widened more as a glass breaking sound went off in your head again and the thing chuckled at your expression.

"HOLY ARCEUS!!!"

"Thee one and only."

"I-...W-What the-" ARCEUS!? YOU WERE BLOODY TALKING TO THE ARCEUS!? "W-Wha-...How-...WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" 

"I haveth summoned thee to correct the mistake of mine children."

"Wa-..Y-Y-Your children!?"

It nodded before lifting it's head back up and you stumble/wobbled back onto your foot. "I'm afraid the fault of thou's arrival to this plain of existance would be none other than my own children. Perhaps thou knowest thy children of time and space?"

You continued to stare at him before raising a brow. "Are-...A-Are you talking about Dialgia and Palkia?" 

Arceus nodded. "Indeed."

"Wha-...H-How the heck?! What did they do to me!?" 

"It seems that not too long ago now mine two children had gotten into a rather terrible spat. The worst one in nearly a millennia. Twas the fighting so passionate that they had opened up portals to your world. Resulting in many a person crossing over."

You still stared at him....before you scowled. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. WAIT A MINUTE!!" You pointed at him. "Are you telling me that the only reason I'm here is because I fell through a portal two legendary pokemon made!?"

Arceus looked a bit more embarrassed now. "When down to it..yes. Tis what happened. And thoust was not thee only one. I had toldest thine children to fix their mistake." 

"....And did they?"

"Yes...Well. Mostly. I hast seen them mend the rifts and heal thine wounds towards one another but send the humans they did not. Instead they deemed it worthy to bend space and time to thine will and make thee a part of thine new world."

Make you a part of this world-...THE ID CARD!! Your eyes widened as you realized. THE OLD BAG SONIA DISCOVERED AT THE CRASH SIGHT!! That was them!? It must've been them! That was the only way to explain it! Things were starting to make so much sense now. 

"So Dialgia and Palkia fought and during that fight managed to open portals between this plain of existence that they exist and somewhere where they only exist in video games and anime?....That....actually makes sense in a really, really weird way. But that still doesn't explain why you're here."

"With mine children not doing so I hast taken it up in mineself to right thine wrongs and return thine human children to their rightful home."

Your eyes widened. "You can do that?"

He nodded. "I apologize on behalf on my children for thou's troubles and thee's wait for mine arrival. For there was a many humans which fell and I hadst to prioritized the ones who would cause more trouble than though."

"You can...really send me back? Just how many were there!?"

"A plenty but do not be alarmed. Every human was sent back happily, some more forced than others. However thy childe is thy last to return home and thus thou shalt get to chose thy fate."

"You mean...I can chose whether I can leave or stay?"

"Correct. Thou hast shown bravery and compassion where others shant. I commend thee and thy good deeds. Therefore shalt get my reward here. Chose. Stay in this new world or return home from wince ye came."

You...could go back? You could go back home!? Back to your mother and old home and life. You could ...you could go and make a new life for yourself. You could leave and get your own life and job and chose your own college since you had the guts to never listen to her! And she still must be worried about you. And...that was your goal in the beginning r-right? To get back home. But...you did and have so much here. You had friends. A job. A home. Pets- Er. Pokemon. And you and Piers-...You'd have to start all over again if you went back, and Dialgia and Palkia made you an identity here. You now existed in both worlds. But you could only chose one.

"What...happens if I go back? T-T-To my old world."

"Nothing. It would be like if thou never left at all."

"Really?"

"Thou would be sent back to the exact time they disappeared. You'dst be wearing the clothes thou wore when you disappeared. Thou's age would be the same before you left. It would be if thou never ever even left for a second...But. Be warned. If thou shalt pick this path, you shall never be able to return here again. And everyone here shall forget you." Your brows shot up! "Every evidence of you even being here would fade away. Photos. Memories...Everything. Your friends would forget about you."

They ...Would forget you? All of them. The journey you made with your friends? The way you raised Silver? Piers and your feelings?

"W-What about my Mom?! In my own world I mean? W-What would happen to her?"

"Thine same scenario. In fact thoust hast been here for so long thy mother hast most likely forgotten as your existence hast most like already faded from there as well. But fear not Human Child. It shalt all be fixed once I send ye back."

You stared at him. She....had already forgotten about you? But all of it would be fixed once he sent you back..If you decided to take him up on his offer to send you back. But would that be the best thing? Yes you missed her but...There was so much more here. And your world didn't have Funny Leon or Smart Sonia or always hungry Silver or ambitious Postwick twins....Or..Piers. ..It was decided. You inhaled a shaky breath stealing your nerves before looking back up at Arceus who still stayed ever patiently. 

"Hast thou decided?"

You nodded. "I have. I-...I-I'd like to stay if that's possible."

"Art thou sure? I will only make this offer once and if thee choses to stay.." He shook his head. "Thine choice is final. I shalt not make this offer again nor will I send thee back to your old home. Think carefully before thou gives me their final answer."

"I'm already sure. And I'd like to stay."

"Tis that thine final answer?" You nodded and he hummed. "....So be it. As thou walkest onward upon thine own path, upon thee and upon this creation where thou now dwellest, I bestow my blessing. Take heed upon thine new life and tell not a soul of our meeting. Fair thee well, Human Childe Y/n of thy different world."

With that your vision began to fuzz and blur. The darkness shifted and spun around you like you were drunk and dizzy. Faster and faster everything spend up as the double vision of Arceus faded...And you woke up. Shot straight up from your cozy bed in your own little haunted house in the dark. It....It must've still been night time! Piers walked you home only a few hours ago. After a moment you slowly laid yourself back down and stared at the ceiling for what must've been ten minutes or so processing what had just happened....Before you again smiled. 

"...I'm home."

[robinplayspokemon]

pokemon anime 1x50-1x52

i'm so confused, aren't those donuts???

what up gay nerds!!

so, the last three episodes of indigo league (according to the numbering system on most american streaming services, anyway) are noteworthy for featuring todd, who you might remember as the main character of pokemon snap & a supporting character in new pokemon snap! i have to assume that this was a sort of cross-promotion (i did try googling for more info but came up empty & didn't feel like it was worth digging super deep into), considering that pokemon snap started production as a non-pokemon game before the first two games even came out, and when they became a big hit it got reworked into a pokemon spinoff.

the appropriately-titled "pokemon paparazzi" is just all about introducing todd. it's pretty straightforward, but that's really all it needed to be. and tbh i think there's a lot of appeal in just snapping pictures of pokemon vibing in the wild rather than capturing them, so i've always liked pokemon snap & related stuff.

oh, there was this one pretty hilarious interaction towards the end of the episode:

this is like the pokemon equivalent of basing your entire friendship on both watching the office, only like, somehow even more nothing????? it's like basing your entire friendship on both eating bread. and not like, being bread enthusiasts or baking your own bread, just "we both eat bread! the generic storebought kind that everyone eats!" i know i'm probably harping on this too much, but idk, it's just hilarious to me!!

anyway, yeah, solid episode! b-rank

next up is "the ultimate test" in which ash (and team rocket) try to take a written/oral/practical test to qualify for the pokemon league instead of collecting the gym badges that ash is explicitly trying to collect. it's pretty funny because the reason this isn't a good fit for ash is literally stated towards the beginning of the episode:

but this is a kids show for babies! so ash has to spend the whole episode figuring out that this isn't for him and he should just keep collecting gym badges. which is fine! but very silly.

a solid, unspectacular episode that fleshes out the world a bit! b-rank

and closing out the season (according to some numbering systems, anyway) is "the breeding center secret." in this episode, two team rocket grunts who aren't jessie & james run a breeding center that promises to raise pokemon but actually neglects & mistreats the common pokemon that are left there, and serves as a front to steal rare pokemon. i rather like the idea of getting some more genuinely threatening team rocket members in the anime, but in practice butch & cassidy (are you kidding me with those names???) aren't any more effective than jessie & james, and their personalities really aren't anything to write home about either. shrug!

the other big thing that happens is todd parts ways from the group at the end of the episode, presumably to go star in his own game.

not the worst episode or anything, but also definitely not the best! c-rank

weirdly, none of these episodes had pokedex entries in them! so with that i guess i'll be blasting off again. catch ya next season!