#we all got latios

[chisatowo]

Screaming and crying as I give up my pmd randomizer save with a dialga and celebi as my starters because I forgot to change the settings from default and I'm not puting myself through that

[cantheykillmacbeth]

couldn’t Mewtwo kill Macbeth under the GC due to being a genderless Pokemon, BPC due to being created by Giovanni and the team rocket scientists, Gio who is male and…. im not sure if we encounter any female scientists and UBC due to…. being creates by Giovanni and the team rocket scientists?

also, couldn’t male-locked legendaries not be able to kill Macbeth if we have no data on their birthing habits?

While we have covered Mewtwo before in its own post, I would like to go into your second question a bit:

There are currently only 7 legendary/mythical Pokemon that are 100% male, being Latios, Tornadus, Thunderus, Landorus, Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti. They all have stories associated with things that they did in the past, but none of them really have an explanation as to how and where they came to be in the first place.

One obvious conclusion that one could come to is that these Pokemon (as well as all other unexplained legendary/mythical Pokemon) were created by Arceus at some point; after all, this is canonically the case with Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina, which we have covered before. So, if this is true, then these legendary Pokemon would still apply for the Birth Parent Clause and presumably Unconventional Birth Clause, being created by the genderless Pokemon god Arceus.

Of course, this is just speculation, as there has been no confirmed origin for these Pokemon, and for all we know, Arceus could have had nothing to do with this whatsoever. But right now, it's the best explanation we've got, as Pokemon seems a great bit hesitant to actually give us any of these answers.

So, for now, we're going to count them I think, though it is still very debatable and not confirmable.

Thank you for your submission!

-Mod Anthem

[canmom]

I participated in the Micro Jam this weekend! Tyler, creator of the Latios Framework for Unity's DOTS, runs an annual game jam with his friends and I've ended up becoming something of a regular in it.

We made a game called Sanguis Velocitas, in which you're a chompy alien eating blood and spraying it out of the back to go. It's somewhere between asteroids/Jet Lancer, and those games where you're a little fish. Don't spend too long around the poisonous macrophages...

It was a pretty intense jam but it paid off - unlike every previous jam I've been in, the team did not fall apart, and we had a working game at the end of it! here's some of the stuff I did...

on Friday I modelled, rigged, texture painted and animated the main character 'chompey', kind of like a little Audrey II...

on Saturday I wrote the character and animation controllers for chompy, which involved some fiddly quaternion stuff. (Tyler/Dreaming381 gave it a little work after me to smooth out some jitter.)

and today, I did most of the visuals for the game while my friends worked on coding up all sorts of other behaviours - enemies, menus, etc.

that included cooking up a Blender system to generate gnarly looking caves using Geometry Nodes...

which are naturally inspired by Chris Riddell's illustrations of Sanctaphrax. It basically computes a 3D Voronoi pattern on voxels and shapes it with various functions of the distance from the level geometry, then meshes the result. (I was loosely inspired by the techniques used in Solar Ash to procedurally add detail using Houdini.)

Along with that, I piled up a big stack of post-processing effects to render that in Unity, and cooked up a nice little shader for rendering the pulsing effect on the walls and the red blood cells. I may have gone a little overboard but it was nice to be on a platform where post-processing and shadows are actually an option lmao.

Then in like the last 20 minutes I made the particle effect for blood.

I never made a model for the macrophage enemy or a shader for its poison cloud, but outside of that, I got pretty much everything I wanted to do done, and I'm very happy with what came out. Go try it out if you like and maybe leave a rating~

[journalsouppe]

Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call!! I actually discovered ordering the game from the UK with shipping was actually cheaper than ordering the American version of the game, there were no major differences that I could tell as they still had the original English voice actors.

I enjoyed this game!! Not my top favorite installment but I still had a great time and loved the new characters. The puzzles were well designed and had nice scaled difficulty and the mini games were really neat too. The Eternal Diva references were so blatant lmfao but I’m excited for Miracle Mask! I was also super exhausted when writing the summary so sorry there’s so many errors and I use the word fun a million times ToT

The Descole and Tea sticker are from JordyDrawsMerch! All other stickers are from Daiso. Writing typed below!

Rating: 8.3

Played: Sp 2024

Port: DS on 3DS

Favorite? Y

Replayable? Y

Recommend? Y

Series: Professor Layton

Comments

Emmy and BABY LUKE!!

OH THANK GOD IT’S CHRISTOPHER ROBIN MILLER

Ngl im so excited to watch the anime, I love the animation sm

Oh Layton is not taking Claire’s death well at all

I love how animated the background now is!!

Beautiful music as always

Does Clark have the same VA as Dmitri lol

THE WORLD WILL END? Damn Luke

The specter looks like one of those little kingdom hearts guys

Luke’s been a LaytonMobile hater since day one lmao

Luke is especially funny in this game

Layton taking Luke to the black market is so wild

THE PUPPET PLAY IS ADORABLE

I’m going to fight aunt taffy

Ooo we get to play as Emmy

Holy shit Emmy

GIRL FROG

Emmy asking if Layton always pokes lamps he sees is making me think he physically touches everything the player taps

The convo with the meowing man???

CHELMEY AND BARTON

Based anti-cop npc

THE DYNAMITE WORKS LMAO

Is Hershel gonna get a cask of amantillado’d T^T

The canals are so pretty i like the design of misthallery

Oh i do not like the police chief

I LOVE YOU EMMYYY

Grosky is very funny

Omg the cliff death police cover up reminds me of killer frequency which i just watched a playthrough of

FUCK JAKES

Where’s phoenix when you need him

JAIL BREAK JAIL BREAK!!!

I love descole’s voice

YAAA LADDER VS STEP LADDER

NESSIE???

The story book stories and animations are so CUTE!!

I wonder if Naiya was added to the game to hit at the Eternal Diva

This kinda reminds me of a pokemon movie but I don’t remember which one it was

^^ it was pokemon heroes when latias and latios were caught ^^;

AN OCARINA!!!

Creepy fucking factory music ToT

Oh dear. I seem to have stepped on a hexagonal spanner

Descole always serving massive cunt

Woah the golden garden is beautiful

Ohh so that’s why Luke was fork life certified in plvspw

ZAMN T^T

THE WAY THE SPRITES WALK KILLS ME LOL

I really like these little episodes from others POVS! ^_^

Summary

This was such a fun origin story for Luke and Layton. Very much a classic Layton game with world ending machinery and gorgeous environment design. I really liked both Emmy and Descole, there’s a more serious undertone than with Don Paolo as the main villain (even though I do love Don Paolo). Emmy is amazing!! I was afraid she would be sidelined like Flora was but I’m glad to she stands her ground and does what she wants to do. I alos like how we got to go on our own adventure as her to London, she’s a character that doesn’t need to rely on Hershel to solve everything. Meeting Luke was great, loved his blank stare. It was fun seeing his origins and how Clark and Hershel knew each other. I’m curious how the prequels will play into the New World of Steam, especially now that Luke’s family have stories and sprites (unlike in the original trilogy). Loved the ACAB story, v nice to play while I’m still so mad at what’s happening to university students currently. Descole was so fun, I am obsessed with his outfit and personality. Unfortunately I was spoiled on who he is but I’m very excited to learn more. I think similar to Ace Attorney, the fourth installment is that last game in the classic 2D style, which is sad but PLvsPW makes me very hopeful about 3D Layton. The overall story was fun, I really liked the sub plot about the Ravens - that was really fun (i was so tired writing this omfg). I wish we got a little more backstory on the rich guy who died, I feel like there’s more to the story. OO I loved the little episodes, especially the one about Chelmey. They added a lot of fun context and gave more life to the NPCs. Such a fun and classic Layton game, I can’t wait to play Miracle Mask! (And read the light novels). This wasn’t my favorite Layton game but I still really loved it and had a great time and loved the puzzles — that’s all I want from PL!

[coern]

ANIMATED POKEMON MOVIES TIERLIST BY ME AND @klesek

notes:

the highest tier is not up there because these movies are good. hoopa fucking sucks and it's the worst movie. it's just really funny. kyurem is up there because the chase scenes are goofy as hell

power of us tier is called the power of us tier because pokemon the power of us is literally the best pokemon movie. in this essay I will-

also, the power of us tier is Weird, because all of those movies have their own reason for being good and you can't really put one over the other well (power of us is good as a movie movie, victini is good as a movie about ash, jewel of life is good as a pokemon movie, and latios + latias is good as a pokemon anime movie) (none of those made sense but I promise they do)

jirachi isn't a bad movie, btw, we just didn't really care about it. not in a hate way, just in a "insufferably indifferent" way

arceus chronicles is here despite it being a 4 episode long special and not a movie; because journeys didn't really get a movie for itself, this is the closest we got, and it's about the length of a movie anyway

honorary mention to distant blue sky, since it's a standalone special episode in the M20-M23 continuity and there aren't any other episodes in that continuity. It would go in the oh bell yes tier for me because I think the implications and ash father lore drop in that episode is crazy

list of movies in order of ranking under the cut

wtf tier(? tier): Hoopa & The Clash of Ages, Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice

power of us(s tier): The Power Of Us, Victini and Zekrom/Reshiram (they have two versions of this movie idk why), Arceus and the Jewel of Life, Pokemon Heroes

oh hell yes(a tier): Pokemon 2000, Mewtwo Strikes Back, Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, Secrets of the Jungle, I Choose You, Zoroark: Master of Illusions, Spell of the Unown, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew

thumbs up emoji(b tier): The Rise of Darkrai, Giratina and thr Sky Warrior, Genesect and the Legend Awakened, Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction, Destiny Deoxys, Celebi: Voice of the Forest

meh/not a fan(c tier): Arceus Chronicles, Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea

cringe as fuck. not even comp(d tier): Jirachi: Wish Maker

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers CHAOS LINEAGE ー Laito [09]

ー The scene starts in the entrance hall of the Violet Manor

Yui: The inside of the manor’s in a much worse state than I expected...

Laito: Ahーah, the door’s been broken. I guess we can thank Ayato-kun for that? Who’s going to fix this, I wonder? 

Yui: ( It definitely won’t be Laito-kun, that’s for sure... )

Azusa: Eve, Laito...!

Yui: Azusa-kun!

Azusa: Are both of you unscathed...? 

Yui: Yeah, we’re fine. How about you...?

Azusa: I’m alright as well...The two of them left right away once they realized that you were gone...

Yui: I see. I’m glad you’re safe and sound...

Azusa: What about you, Laito? You didn’t seem to be feeling well...

Laito: All good! Seems like the fresh air really helped.

Azusa: I see...But don’t push yourself too much, okay?

Laito: Heeh...How kind of you to look out for me like that. As to be expected of my ‘big bro’~

Yui: ( Eh? Big brother... )

Azusa: Yeah...Family is important after all...Of course I’d be worried about you...

Ah...There’s something I need to tell you two.

Laito: Yes?

Azusa: Carla and the others have returned. 

When Carla heard about Ayato-san and Kanato-san’s attack on the manor...It got him thinking. He wants all of us to gather together and hear him out.

Kou and Subaru went out to look for you two, so they’re absent right now, but I’m sure they’ll return sooner or later...

I’ll go tell Carla that the two of you made it back safely, okay...?

ー Azusa leaves again

Laito: ...I see. He really lost his memories, huh? Calling me family.

Yui: Is that why you addressed him as ‘big brother’ earlier?

Latio: Yup, exactly. I figured I’d see it for myself. By the looks of it, the others as well...

Fake brothers...Huh?

Yui: ( I wonder what he seems to be pondering about...? )

Laito: ...Say, Bitch-chan? Shall we go back to my room for now until Kou and Subaru get back?

You must be exhausted after everything that went down, no? Let’s rest up a bit.

Yui: Ah, good idea.

Monologue

As soon as we arrived at Laito-kun’s room,

we fell into a deep sleep.

For Laito-kun, it was probably the backlash,

of retrieving his memories. 

While for me, I believe it was the sense of relief,

which ended up hitting me hard.

I completely lost myself,

in the first comfortable sleep I had gotten in a long time.

ー The scene shifts to Laito’s room

Yui: Zzー... Zzー...

Laito: She’s sleeping so defenselessly. ...I guess she finally let loose.

You were trying your hardest all by yourself this whole time, weren’t you?

So, I’llーー

Monologue

After resting up in our room for a bit,

Azusa-kun came telling us to come,

in a hesitant manner.

Apparently Kou-kun and Subaru-kun,

had made their return.

After quickly making ourselves presentable,

and rushing over to the living room,

the others had already gathered there.

With a stern expression on his face,

Carla-san addressed us in a solemn toneーー 

Carla: I was aware that the Orange House had been investigating our manor, however, I did not expect them to directly attack us.

Kou: For realー I was shocked when we came back and our door had been destroyed. 

Azusa-kun was in a state of panic and both Eve and Laito-kun were nowhere to be found. 

Laito: It all happened so suddenly, running was the only thing on our mind. Right, Bitch-chan?

Yui: Y-Yeah...

Azusa: Thank god you’re both safe...

Subaru: ‘Thank god’, my ass. What if those bastards come for us again?

Carla: There were only a small number of people involved in this conflict. On top of that, they chose to attack us directly.

While it is very much possible that those two came up with the idea for an attack themselves, rather than it being a direct order from Ruki...

Either way, I take this as a declaration of war. Let us go make quick work of those nuisances of the Orange House.

Yui: No way...!

Kou: The Orange House, huh? Honestly, I think Ruki, the oldest brother, will be the most difficult to deal with.

Subaru: Don’t be pissin’ your pants now! You just gotta show them who’s boss, no matter who your opponent may be!

Azusa: Everyone...Be careful not to get hurt, okay?

Yui: ( Carla-san has decided to actually make a move... )

( I can’t watch quietly as they wage war against Ayato-kun and the others...! )

Selection

→ Convince them (🖤)

Yui: Carla-san, won’t you reconsider!? Fighting is not the correct thing to do right now!

Carla: Your opinion is irrelevant. I am the one who makes the decisions.

Yui: But...

Laito: Lay it off. Carla’s word is law after all.

Yui: Laito-kun...

( But at this rate, Ayato-kun and the others will...! )

→ Keep quiet (♡)

Yui: ( Carla-san is serious about this. He actually wants to attack them. )

( Whatever I say right now, it’d be pointless. I can only keep quiet... )

Laito: ...Your expression gives it away. Come on, you have to act normal.

Yui: ( ...! Laito-kun... )

Yui: ( Right. Laito-kun has retrieved his memories. I’m sure he’ll help me out. )

( I hope I’ll be able to ask him for advice once we’re alone... )

Kou: Hmー? Did something happen with you two?

Yui: Eh? W-Why do you ask?

Kou: I mean, you’re looking at him so passionately. 

The two of you seem awfully close as well. Did something happen when you were being attacked by the Orange House?

Yui: ( H-He’s sharp... )

Laito: ...What a sinful man I am, attracting such passionate stares from the ladies~

Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to give you my full attention later.

Yui: ( L-Laito-kun!? )

Subaru: God, could you please not spout that bullcrap? Even Eve’s disgusted by it.

Oi, in what world do those two seem close?

Kou: Huh? Did I just imagine it?

Yui: ( T-Thank god...Seems like they won’t question it any further. )

Carla: Enough with the trivial chit-chat.

I want each of you to get everything ready to launch our attack on the Orange House. 

Laito, do not let Eve out of your sight under any circumstances. 

Laito: Rogerー You can leave Eve in my hands while you guys focus on the fight with the Orange House.

Good luck kicking their ass, okay~?

Yui: Eh...?

( I can’t believe he’s saying that when their opponent is Ayato-kun and the others...Those aren’t his true feelings, right? )

ー The scene shifts to Laito’s room

Yui: Haah...I was so nervous. Thanks for earlier, Laito-kun.

Laito: Hm? What do you mean?

Yui: You know, you covered for me when Kou was suspicious of us, remember?

Laito: Rather than covering for you, I just genuinely felt happy with the passionate look you were giving me~

Some things are more exciting when you’re being watched, no?

Yui: I don’t think so, I can say that much...

Laito: Oh geez, can’t you play along? We’re finally all alone, so let’s mess around a little~

Ah, could it be...You’re waiting for me to jump you? In which case, I better live up to your expectations~

Yui: N-No! I’m not waiting for anything!

( He’s still his usual self despite everything we were just told. )

( ...No, I’m sure that deep down, he wants to do something about it as well. )

( Ayato-kun and Kanato-kun are his brothers after all. )

Laito-kun, about earlier...

Laito: That you want me to assault you? Geez! So you’re in the mood for that after all.

Yui: N-Not that one! What Carla-san told us.

At this rate, they’ll get into a conflict. ...No, they might even fight to the death.

We have to stop everyone somehow...!

Laito: Ehー? I don’t see the problem?

Yui: ...Eh?

Laito: We don’t lose anything from Carla going to attack the other Houses, right? We should just let them do their thing.

Yui: B-But...Ayato-kun and Kanato-kun are in danger as well, you know!? Subaru-kun as well!

No, if it turns into a fight with the Scarlet House as well, then even Shuu-san and Reiji-san might...

Laito: I’m sure they’ll be fine. Shuu is surprisingly strong and even Reiji or Kanato will pull through at times when it truly matters.

Ayato-kun and Subaru-kun are combat-oriented, as you should be aware of, so they’re used to getting into fights.

You’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about.

Yui: But...

Laito: Not・to・mention...We’re Vampires, remember?

It takes a lot to kill us, so it’ll be fine.

Yui: Maybe, but...

( Is Laito-kun okay with it? Even though his own brothers might get hurt... )

Laito: More importantly, right now...

 ー He approaches

*Rustle* 

Laito: I finally got my memories back, so let’s spend some quality time together.

Yui: B-But, I just can’t sit here and do nothing when a war is about to break looseーー

Laito: Ehー? You don’t like getting affectionate with me? What a shocker...

Yui: N-No...! I don’t dislike it, if anything...

( I nearly admitted it out loud... )

Laito: If anything, what? I’d love to hear it directly from your mouth?

Yui: Uu...Like I said, now’s not the time for thatーー

Laito: How do you feel about my touch?

Yui: I-I like it...

Laito: Well done~

Yui: ( I can’t, he’s messing with my head. )

( Still, he might be glad to have his memories back, but to say such things at a time like this. )

( What has gotten into you, Laito-kun...? )

Laito: I better give you a reward for actually saying it out loud.

*Rustle* 

Yui: ( Ah...He’s holding me in his arms... )

Laito: ...Say, how would you like me to reward you?

I’ll give you whatever you want, whether it’s a sweet reward or a painful, pleasurable one. 

Yui: ( His breath tickles against my ear... )

Laito: Fufu, look at you blushing and squirming around...

You really are sensitive, aren’t you? ...Phewー...

Yui: Hyaah!

Laito: Your shoulders twitched just now. Did it feel that good? 

Then I’ll do it from this side next...Phewー...

Yui: Nn...

Laito: No need to hold back like that. Let me hear your voice like you did earlier.

Your sugary sweet moans, that is...Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: Nn...Ah...

Laito: ...Nfu~ Such lovely cries.

I wonder what kind of sounds I can get out of you if I kiss you here? ...Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: Ah...Nnh...

( He kissed my nape next...I have to be strong now, but my head keeps spinning more and more... )

Laito: Fufu...You’re making different sounds now, nice.

But the place where you want to get kissed the most...has to be your lips, right? ...Nnh...Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: ...Nn...Phew...

( I know we shouldn’t be doing this but...I can’t help but give in to it... )

Laito: Just surrender yourself. You don’t need to rack your pretty brain over anything, okay?

Yui: ( His voice sounds far away... )

Monologue

He showers me with kisses,

always as if he was trying to prevent me from speaking up.

I cannot get a grasp on his true intentions,

as he told me we don’t have to pay mind,

to the situation revolving Ayato-kun and Kanato-kun.

Is he certain about everyone’s safety?

Or perhaps...

He simply does not care...?

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

[pokemon-ash-aus]

Been meaning to ask. Can u tell us more abt Indigo's future partners? I been curious abt them, like how are their personalities like and if they started dating all together or one of them came later and stuff

Okay okay okay so-

Hades- Obstagoon.

Hades is the fall first, figure stuff out later type of mon. He's smart but emotions drive him more than anything. He loves with his whole body and heart.

He is broader than Indigo, so often times it looks like he can completely tower over him. But he actually is only like 6' or so tall. Taller than the average Obstagoon, but still short as all fuck.

He and Indigo were an Iten First vefore Kalani

Kalani / Tios - Latios

So Latios met Indigo first, We all been know this. The circumstances of his survival are still unknown.

And he is in so much denial. He and Indigo got a long much better than Ash and Kalani. Just okder brothers protecting their younger siblings, But they just connect more with how willing the other is to save their respective siblings.

By the time Indigo and Ash leave, Kalani can admit to maybe missing his friend.

It's obvious to EVERYONE but Kalani.

He only admits to wanting to see Indigo when a pair of other Lati's swoop in to relieve them of their duty.

By this point, Hades and Indigo are an item, so Kalani is the third wheel that has his heart crushed before he realizes it.

And Indigo is conflicted.

But guess who isnt :)

It takes Hades a bit- mostly cause Kalani refuses to interact with him. But when they finally hang out, Hades falls HARD for Kalani and outright tells indigo.

"i want him with us" and thus the eventual wooing of Kalani begins!

Again it takes Kalani awhile to admit he even likes Hades and it spirals cause how do you like two people!????

Its really funny.

[ohthehypocrisy]

Pikachu, Psyduck, Duraludon, and the case for NFE (Not Fully Evolved) Pokemon for Pokemon Unite.

The Pokemon Unite Championship Series has come and gone, congratulations to everyone who made it to the big stage. As a casual player, however, I'm a bit more interested in the trailer teasing the next three pokemon coming to Pokemon Unite.

The first one coming soon is Armarouge, the counterpart to Ceruledge. Both of them evolve from Charcadet, but can only do so through an evolution item exclusive to a specific version of the game. This is par for the course, as plenty of pokemon have parallels between them, like how Latios and Latias can only be obtained in either Pokemon Ruby or Pokemon Sapphire, or how you can only get a Cranidos or a Shieldon in either version of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. This also applies to the available pokemon in Pokemon Unite, though a lot of them are missing their contemporaries.

Like, Sableye has been in the Unite roster for a while, but its counterpart, Mawile, has yet to make an appearance. Trevenant is also in the game, but there's no sign of Gourgeist. Buzzwole and Pheromosa are from the same dimension, but only one is playable. And that's not even without going over the EX pokemon having to fight solo. I mean, what is Zacian without Zamazenta, or Miraidon without Koraidon?

Ok, I'm digressing, but I think I've made my point at how we're getting a pair of pokemon pals on the roster at long last. Hopefully the collection is filled out soon with more acquaintances reuniting with each other on the roster. Gotta catch 'em all, right?

And then there's Darkrai, a long time fan favorite from Gen 4. You know how it goes with these kinds of pokemon, the shadowy, edgy, demon-like monster attracts all the typical quarry, but it helps that it got its own movie.

What's more interesting to me is how Darkrai, along with many other pokemon on the Unite roster, also had a spot in Pokken Tournament. Normally there'd be minimal correlation, but eagle eyed fans of both games would recognize that there's some shared animations between the two.

There are other examples, like Garchomp's Dig being 1:1 in how it is animated, or that Pikachu's Volt Tackle is functionally identical in both games, but the big idea here is that the Pokken Tournament roster is slowly being integrated into Pokemon Unite.

If that theory is true, then there are several pokemon very likely to be put into Pokemon Unite within the games lifetime, that being the likes of Empoleon, Sceptile, Weavile, and Suicune.

That even includes long shot ideas like this guy.

Now's the part where we talk about Psyduck and NFEs in general. NFE stands for Not Fully Evolved and it is a technical classification due to the item Eviolite only working on NFE pokemon. But that's neither here nor there, because the real headscratcher is how Psyduck got into the game instead of Golduck.

A big part of it is popularity, something Psyduck and Pikachu have in spades over their superior forms. It also helps being the favorite pokemon of Junichi Masuda, one of the founders of Game Freak and Pokemon in general. However, not being able to fully evolve limits your potential on the battlefield in Pokemon Unite, but given Psyduck's characteristic of constantly being plagued by headaches, the Supporter role was a shoo-in for the doofy duck.

Psyduck being in the game opens the door for other NFE pokemon to join the roster. The reason we're looking at this now is because Pikachu, having been in the game since launch, was guaranteed a spot on the roster due to its mascot status. It's also the status quo that Raichu gives the spotlight to Pikachu in all things related to pokemon, so no love lost there.

I do need to mention Duraludon real quick because its status as an NFE pokemon in Pokemon Unite was entirely coincidental. It gained an evolution in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, during the Indigo Disk expansion which was released several months later after launch. Before that, Duraludon was a standalone evolution when it was revealed back in Pokemon Sword and Shield, and no one would have guessed that it would gain an evolution so soon. It's not like the Unite devs could've known, they're a separate company in a different country away from Game Freak. You may have been banned from Little Cup, Duraludon, but you're still an honorary NFE in Pokemon Unite.

Anyways, more NFE pokemon joining Unite is a matter of supply and demand. There are NFE pokemon out there that have their fans, but are they loved more than their evolutions? Are there enough NFE pokemon out there that have a shot at the Pokemon Unite roster?

I already mentioned Croagunk before, so let's go over its odds. While most NFE pokemon that reached the peak of popularity reside in Gen 1, Croagunk is a special case in that it seems to be liked more than Toxicroak. Now, I like both, but if it were up to me, I'd choose Toxicroak over Croagunk. I'd be fine if the latter got in over the former. I understand the appeal though, as something about its lax demeanor made it popular enough that it got into Pokken Tournament as DLC.

In Pokken Tournament, its fighting style revolved around randomness, with random effects happening through some of its moves, or random items being thrown out, or even utilizing random debuffs and buffs to its benefit. In Pokemon Unite, it would most likely be a Supporter with a gambling gimmick, having the potential to deal high damage randomly, but would most likely debuff the enemy with poison and hindrances.

So, are there any other NFEs that can join Pokemon Unite? Well, for one, Meowth has a fair shot, having been in just as many episodes in the anime as Pikachu. I actually made a case for Meowth for Pokemon Unite a while ago, though I made my opinions clear that I preferred Persian instead. Also, a frail Supporter that was reliant on its ability to hinder the enemy is something that is typically difficult to balance. I mean, look at Sableye, having once been feared for its invisible tomfoolery, now underwhelming when it appears in a Unite Match. There's gotta be a fine line in making tricky Supporters fun and fair for everyone. And what does Meowth bring to the table?

As it is themed around good luck and good fortune, a gambling gimmick may also be utilized for its moveset. Since it is well known to use the move Pay Day to fill its trainers pockets, perhaps it could augment an allies Score Pocket by filling it with points or boosting their scoring speed. Although, if Meowth were to take the spot away from Persian, maybe it could take on the Speedster role and throw coins that deal random damage and capitalize on its good luck. Of course, it's odds are even at the beginning of the game, but with more move upgrades it could lean into a very lucky lightning bruiser to make up for its low defenses. (this bit is inspired by @reefs-n-relaxation comment on my Meowth for Pokemon Unite post.)

Beyond these two, I don't really know of any other NFE pokemon that they could possibly add. I mean, maybe you could throw in niche picks like Spheal or Smoliv, but do we really want to see the Supporter archetype cluttered with NFEs? I'm not sure we'll be getting anymore after Psyduck releases, but hey, I'm happy to be proven wrong.

What about you? If you've read this far, maybe you have a favorite NFE that could join Pokemon Unite. I'd love to hear about it.

[love-is-a-pearl]

I rewatched Clash of the Ages recently, even though I know everyone hates it, I still find it funny to think that the first thing a Shiny Latios, Latias and Rayquaza do when they are summoned out of nowhere is obey a 10 year old who started giving them orders (This was before Groudon and Kyogre showed up)

That movie is a fever dream... we dont talk about it here shhhh. In fact that is an actual theory of mine. That movie was a fever dream Ash had in that one episode where he got sick :v

but yeah, that movie is very much the culmination of Kalos' "who cares if it doesn't make sense as long it's ✨cool✨" mentality. Which is such a shame cause I do like the "archristians" that show up in there and would KILL to have some more lore on them, the Arche Valley, their connection to Arceus and all that.

[dagdasgoddess]

Be Careful What You Wish For | Astral Projection | Astral memories | Steven Stone | Self Insert

So this all started with a wish gone wrong, and Deoxys going haywire.

I wished... for Steven and I to be eternally in love, on the Litleonid Shower viewing when Jirachi showed up. however you have to pull a wishing tag, and I did that.

A meteor from space containing deoxys struck us and the wish.. reversed but we didn't feel its affects yet.

Jirachi didn't grand my wish and yet I had pulled the tag.

it happened when Regirock, Regice and Registeel went haywire after I awakened them with Steven, he was holding a water stone and... He became sealed away in a barrier embued with the water stone's energy. I tried using my Firestone that was also embued with the Regis' energy but no such luck.

Latios and Latias arrived stat. They told me that a pure soul was needed to break this barrier. So.. in a way I had Steven for "eternity" just.. not in the way I thought I would.

I blamed myself. I said that I already had what I needed, why did I make this stupid wish? A huge be careful what you wish for moment. I wanted to atone for this. But Jirachi can't undo it as he sleeps for a thousand years.

I cried and cried, what did I have to do to make up for this? I hated myself so much.

Latios and Latias said that first I would have to find Deoxys as he caused this, then find the Regis, and then... get the Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald stone. The latter I did not have.

I had to do various rituals: Get a Pokemon that connected the sea and earth (Swampert) Sky and sea

The stars and the ocean.

Sky and sea = Rayquaza

stars and sea = Starmie

I got those Pokemon and fought deoxys in space, I took his little red nucleus and fused my own soul with it... thank fuck it worked

And I should add, this process took an entire 5 years.

It was a matter of trial and error. I was mad at myself for having been the reason Steven got sealed away for so long.

I found the Emerald Stone in Kanto, deep in the Sevii islands.

Latios and Latias saw the purity in my actions and used the soul dew to break the seal that the Regis made. - I had to defeat them and catch them first of course. It was no fault of their own.

It should also be added that because of this cosmic mishap - my soul also became trapped in a vortex void caused by Deoxys.

So my soul alone could not open it.

We finally managed to unseal Steven afterwards...I rushed over to hug him and he did the same to me. Crying how much he had missed me. I missed him too. I felt angry that I caused this but he didn't get mad at me.. He said mistakes happen.

And.... much to our surprse, Jirachi appeared in front of us and said the wish wasn't really granted so he didn't technically sleep for a 1000 years.

So it looks like.. my wish did come true in the end.

It was later found out that Aqua Admin Shelly was responsible for this mess, let's just say uh she's.. shipwrecked now.

[sammydem0n64]

My ultra beasts are all deranged bc we got

-Eldest sibling willingly caring for their severely ill parent who has manic episodes that often involve physical abuse and yet they refuse to leave their parent's side bc of all the love and devotion in their heart as well as the hope that one day their parent will get better

-The one who found three orphaned siblings abandoned by their elder brother so she decided to play father to these kids and be the best parent everrrr despite the fact she is in fact an illegal alien in the sense that she is in fact a literal alien. and also illegal

-The one who is embarking on a quest to reunite with their siblings with the help of one of Aloha's tapus that winds up being toxic yuri bc oh goodness we are meant to be mortal enemies only helping each other due to circumstance oh we hate each other but we are still GL

-The one who is still trapped within Ultra Space trying so damn hard to create technology out of the few resources they have to open a portal so they can reunite with their family and is slowly going mad because of the isolation and continued failure

-The one who just took up being a simple bamboo farmer within Paldea losing hope of seeing their family with each passing day

-The one who became a samurai for one of Johto's royal families who is lowkey being flirted with by the family and doesn't process it bc Kartana (dude only uses Kartana's name as a pronoun) just wants to stab things

-The one who started a traveling circus to find their family and perhaps apologize for being an asshole to their siblings for the past few centuries

-The one who is also in the traveling circus bc they reunited by accident and is. Well. An amalgamation of various smaller lifeforms into one homunculus but dw abt it

-The second youngest who also takes care of their parent who is only here bc they know without them their eldest sibling would surely be beaten to a pulp since they have the only ability that can successfully soothe their parent during their episodes even though they yearn for a life of adventure and pizzazz

-Latios and Latias. Bc I thought it'd b interesting

[stargazeraldroth]

Get Ash Ketchum therapy challenge. Seriously, this kid has died, has seen legends fight and try to tear apart the fabric of reality, may or may not be eternally ten years old (though no one else ever ages, so who knows-), and really does try his best… People are just pissy he isn’t Red or something- And! Don’t get me wrong, I love Red, he’s fun (though my favorite Adventures character will always be Yellow… Love my gender nonconforming daughter), but Ash is his own brand of special.

I mean really, how many other people repeatedly take in Pokémon that have been abused, neglected, or abandoned, and are willing to put up with the consequences that will have on said Pokémon, ranging from lashing out at him despite him having done nothing to earn it (Charizard, potentially from some form of insecurity) to what seems to be intense PTSD episodes (Infernape). And! People whine and bitch about him “abandoning” his Pokémon, but meta reasons aside- They wanted to go? Primeape wanted to win that fighting tournament, why would Ash trample on that dream? Why would he prevent Pidgeot from protecting a flock that needed her help so much? Why would he stop Goodra or Greninja from protecting places and Pokémon they care about, places and Pokémon he knows need them? He wants to be strong but strength isn’t the end all be all for him, he wants his Pokémon to be happy above all else!

Quite frankly, I don’t give a damn whether or not he’s the strongest, he’s certainly one of the kindest people in the entire damn franchise. I will die on that hill.

I feel like a lot of the hype/praise around Red comes from nostalgia. Like yeah, he has a reputation as a very strong trainer, but so do other characters... like Cynthia. I personally don't feel much hype around him aside from "Oh, it's Red, this might actually be a tougher battle". I didn't grow up with those games, so I don't have any kind of connection to Red. Technically speaking, Ash is my Red.

I may not be Ash's biggest fan, he's annoyed me a few times (evolve your Pokemon dude), but I don't hate him. And can I just say the Sinnoh League was absolutely rigged? The anime is more lore-based than the games, why was Tobias (was that his name) allowed to bring a Darkrai, Latios, and presumably more Mythical/Legendary Pokemon to the League battles? That's a significant and relatively unfair advantage over other contestants, and it felt like a cheap way to make Ash's journey continue.

Dude, I literally remember Ash having a death/near death streak in the movies alone! Like the movie about Victini, this dude almost froze and suffocated to death in outer space! Give my boy a break! And you're right, if we wanna talk about being considerate of Pokemon's feelings, Ash is right there. He is by far one of the best examples of treating Pokemon as sentient beings with their own choices. Like, how many people can say they'd be that chill about their Pokemon wanting to leave? How many people can say they'd LET them leave?

Put some respect on Ash's name.

(This is also off-topic but am I the only one who got upset they didn't use Hop in the anime? I remember my friend showing me Goh and I got so upset.)

[smilingperformer]

Today's episode was so good, BUT ALSO, we got screenshots for final episodes, and ep titles.

Ep 9, "Rocket Gang's counterattack" involves ALL Rocket 'mon that are at Rocket HQ and them making a grand plan to catch Satoshi's Pikachu. HIGHLY likely this is the final ep involving them.

Ep 10 is about Satoshi & Latias (ep title is "Satoshi & Latios"). Could be a catching ep, could just be bonding. Latios being in title might imply just bonding and helping Latios out.

Ep 11 is "Rainbow & Pokémon Master". Literal translation of the title. Strong strong chances of this involving Ho-oh. Summary shows THIS is where Shigeru shows up.

Sources are Oricon articles that I BELIEVE are based on official press release.

[dragontamer05]

I love Zacien and Zamazenta I do however I do think having an England based Region and these two different princes there was an interestingly missed opportunity of having a

Lion and Unicorn.

Now I know the obvious reason is well we already had Solgaleo which true but also like

Gen 3 - Rayquaza a dragon (also Latias and Latios)

Gen 4- Space / Time Gods that are also technically kinda sorta dragons.

Gen 5- All Dragons

Gen 6 Zygard is a sort of a serpent dragon

Point being we've had a lot of Dragon / Dragon-like or inspired legends. I think if one got creative enough with the design having back to back Lions wouldn't be that bad

Especially if you went really stylized / loose on the design using like medieval art and depictions for inspiration and going less realistic.

Just the whole idea of

The Lion and the Unicorn fought for the Crown (Technically being England and Scotland)

That and both are just very iconic symbols with royalty and certainly what I think of more with England/UK more then Wolves.

Also come on much as I love Rapidash how is something as iconic as a magical Unicorn not been a Legendary or Mythical- okay there's Keldeo I admit but that's about it.

There's all kinds of myths and legends all over the world having to do with Unicorns.

[crystalelemental]

Me: “So you see, Psychic types used to thrive because of their superior coverage.  Things like Slowbro inexplicably getting Flamethrower as a Water type, or Starmie getting electric moves, compounded with Gen 2 giving us the Elemental Punches as TMs, and basically kicked open a ton of options for Alakazam and Hypno.  Then Gen 3 kinda continued that but made the punches harder to access in Emerald, and you had Mewtwo, who you just gave Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt to, and it would sweep the entire Pokemon League by itself with like no resistance.  But then Gen 4 came along and introduced the physical/special split, and we lost the punches, and absolutely nothing came in to fill that gap.  We got Shadow Ball, but that didn’t help against the Dark and Steel types that now completely walled us.  All we got was Focus Blast, and that’s only 70 accuracy so like that’s not going to hit anything.  And by Gen 5, they gave every Fighting-type a Dark move as coverage, and a lot of the time it was Sucker Punch which had priority, so Psychic types couldn’t even reliably kill their own food anymore.  And their solution to making Fighting types kind of overbearing was to introduce Fairy-type.  But hey, Fairy is weak to Poison, so Poison types are back!  Surely now Psychic will matter!  Except not really because Ground-types exist.  And at this point we’ve entered the era where Latios and Latias’ Psychic-type was considered an active hindrance because the type was so bad.  And sure, Gen 7 kinda salvaged it with Tapu Lele and Psychic Surge for competitive, but like...the entire type shouldn’t hinge on one Pokemon’s ability to set a field effect, you know?”

Wife: “...are you okay?  This seems like a lot.”

Me: “I mean, considering what I feel is a pretty blatant persecution complex, no.  There’s a reason I take everything as a direct attack on me personally.”

Wife: “So that’s it.  I finally know who hurt you.”

Me: “They took everything from me.”

[wolfchic]

On the vein of Pokemon Legends...

One thing I would really like to see, if they release another Pokemon Legends, is for the Johto or the Kalos regions to get a little bit of love. The Johto region has a lot of lore that I feel like is really slept on, or just wasn’t given quite as much backstory and meaning as other, later generations. Yes, it’s already had a remake in Heart Gold and Soul Silver, but Sinnoh’s had two remakes: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Arceus, obviously. So it’s not outside the realm of possibilities.

Now Kalos would be really interesting, I think, because we could see a return of Mega Evolution and we could see the origin of it, like the people who discovered it, and even the deal with the super weapon and the war and all of that. The storyline would be awesome and I feel like they could do a lot with it. Plus, Kalos is another one of those regions that as the Pokemon games got away from the DS era and into the Switch, that newer fans might not know about or never got the chance to play.

Me? I just really, really, really want them to bring back Mega Evolution. Gigantamaxing and Terastyllizing (I probably spelled both of those wrong, but oh well) is a cool gimmick and all, but Mega Evolution already did what both of those do by giving a pokemon a cool new look and making them extra powerful and blah blah blah. Mega Evolution, I feel, personally, was the peak of pokemon power-ups.

Other regions I’d like to see return? Unova would be a good one. We could see Kyurem as a Whole Dragon, that would be neat as hell. Hoenn is one of my favorite regions (Sapphire, my beloved), so of course I want to see that. We could see Groudon and Kyogre battle it out, Rayquaza put them in time-out, get little cameos with Latios and Latias. Hoenn was already remade with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but, again, Sinnoh had a remake too, soo....

There’s just a lot that they could do with it if they decide to make it into a series type thing. There’s so much potential and I really, desperately hope they do more.