#which is a funny thing to say about the dialga game

[hydrachea]

I've been playing PMD Explorers of Sky and whenever Grovyle allows himself exactly two sentences of vulnerability before moving right back along this is what I see in my head.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Y'know, I really like that Akari in oop is mostly a researcher and just kind of mid at battling. It's refreshing! And it makes a lot of sense if we consider that arceus prob just wanted the pokedex to begin with, and didn't realize there'd be a crisis that she needed to deal with. Even with its ability to yoink her from the future, I still think that if it had known its chosen human was going to immediately be met with frenzied nobles that it'd have warned her about that rather than just saying it wanted a catalog of its creations. Forewarned is forearmed after all. It's always just seemed out of place for it to not say anything about the impending fights for their life if it knew. So Akari being a very average, albeit modern pokemon trainer whose interests lie elsewhere is pretty neat! I also think it'd be kind of funny if arceus just kind of picked her at random. It knew it wanted from the future + interested in pokemon research and spun the lotto wheel. Didn't specify when in the future, didn't specify age, didn't specify battling experience, just got her mostly by chance. I think that since palkia and dialga are specifically in charge of space and time that they're able to be precise, while arceus only has a broad, but narrow reach. It can do stuff to manipulate time and space, but not very well. Anyway, got a little lost in the weeds there, but yeah I like that she's just Some Kid. It's a good contrast to Rei, who starts off being pretty garbage at battling, and Ingo and Emmet who are Very, Very Good at what they do. These kids need protection, and luckily they have some adults who are willing and able to provide it. I'm counting Cyllene and Laventon in that too, even though their ability to help is far more limited.

thank you!!!! yeah i think the kids being actually invested in dex work is really good and i wanna do more of it because. i like it. because the unown report in hgss was one of my fav things like ever. cause i think it's cute if it isn't just A Task to them, bc the game really gives that feeling, yanno? the protagonist IS actively updating their dex over time, recording things they catch, i think they really are interested in the research! plus it's fun if they're excited about it right alongside laventon. whole surveyfam gathered around the wallflower table having a heated debate about whether the spacetime distortion sneasel evolution should be called a regional sneasler variant or if it's different enough to be its own thing.

anyway. yeah this is a thing that i think is gonna be a fun challenge for oop in the future, is like, power scaling for all the different groups floating around. bc like. you have such a MASSIVE range in skill levels between them. where on the one side you've got people who are barely aware of battling as a concept, and then you've got people who only recently started practicing it, and then you've got akari, with this modern knowledge about it but not really a ton of time investment, and then over on the other side of the scale are these two pros. and even if people are at the same aggregate power level they're not necessarily good at the same things? like, i would place irida and rei to be roughly the same skill level at battling, but the key difference is a bunch of rei's knowledge is being pulled from his survey work and knowing a lot about the pokemon he's facing. whereas irida does not have nearly as many of them memorized, because why would she? that's not really a thing she's ever needed to know? but what she does have is ingo's training, which she applies in a more general way with strategies that don't depend as strictly on type matchups or special abilities, like turning powder snow into visual cover.

anyway point being it's gonna be kind of tough to make challenges that actually feel challenging for all these different groups, lol. like, something that is an intimidating but doable task for the miss fortunes is barely even enrichment for ingo and emmet. conversely, something that could challenge those two with their whole team plus tagalongs should rightly curbstomp any of the other smaller groups. this was sort of an angle when i was still trying to figure out how to write the vespiquen fight actionwise. asking "ok, how would you do this fight if you were perfect at it?" and then following that up with "what parts of that plan can't irida do, and what can she do instead?"

[ ftr the answer is bait out power gem -> leafeon mimic -> shotgun it while glaceon runs circles around it to hold its attention. once you've got that 4x effective move in your pocket you clean up much easier. but irida didn't know leafeon had mimic, and also doesn't know that power gem is so effective on vespiquen, a pokemon she's barely had contact with before now, and has a hard time splitting her attention between two different battle partners to the degree required to have one of them just monkeying around being distracting without it getting ko'd. so scaling those things back gets you a mimicked air slash and glaceon playing offense alongside leafeon. ]

...i'm just rambling now whoops. ANYWAY UH. what was the original topic. yeah i really like my akari too!! she's just very curious and loves pokemon a whole lot and really likes being helpful, but isn't necessarily so into battling specifically. that's more of an incidental "way to bond with my partners" than anything. so you get someone with a ton of knowledge but not a ton of experience in applying it, yanno? there's obviously more here abt battling conceptually and the vast array of interactions one can have with it, but, y'know. this is already really long. uh. thanks!

[giratina-plushie]

Hi. I'm an unsuspicious anon asking this unprompted. [holds out hands] spare Melli thoughts?

hi completely unsuspicious anon who i was not literally just talking to about this topic. thank you for allowing me to subject my followers to the melli thoughts that i have in my brain

so like. i know melli is not well loved. i am so fucking aware of this. i personally upon watching him walk into a room in the first youtube letsplay i watched of pla immediately got attached and decided This One's My Favourite, Actually, but i don't pick normal favourites so that's par for the course. people think he's annoying. he is so fucking mean to the player character and also everyone else. i didn't realise how mean he was until playing the game and like holy shit he is an asshole sometimes. However.

theres this line sourced from bulbapedia (that i did not know about until WELL after i started being Not Normal about melli but it provides a good basis) that is "According to Mai, he used to be very shy and withdrawn, until he one day announced that he would work hard to help Adaman." So You Can Imagine Where This Is Going

melli is such a complex character. and like i havent played through the entire game so maybe he has even More stuff going on that im unaware of but from what i can tell, he's Like That because if he isn't Like That he doesn't know what to do with himself. fake it til you make it sorta deal. he Has to be the best and he's gotta keep telling himself he is the best or he starts floundering. he's very set in his ways which arguably isnt a good thing, he is wrong Frequently, but he also really just has adaman and the clan's best interests at heart, he's just. Like That about it

one really interesting thing to me is after you catch the first sinnoh to come through the rift (in my case palkia, which miiiight affect how this turns out?? but i don't know) he essentially goes to adaman and says "if you do not give me something to do right this moment i am going to fucking die" and like. i saw that and was like oh he is stressed stressed. this man is straight up not having a good time and his orders are currently to just... wait? stand around? the world is falling apart around his ears the rift is spewing out energy (right over his beloved moonview arena and lord electrode, too) and he isn't being told to start doing something? he can contribute, you know, he's not useless and adaman should be giving him something to do so that he doesn't just have to stand there feeling like he is useless

i do not think he should have insulted lian by the way he was mean to a nine year old about his funny hat and like don't do that melli that's not nice :(

but there's a REASON he's worse than usual during that period of time!! the world is currently Fucking Exploding, adaman is refusing to get him to do anything because there's not much he can do, and so he is panicking ! and that comes out as Just Really Rude To Everyone regardless of how much he cares about them. like that's the first and only time he's mean to adaman i think. and yknow obviously that's not a good way to express that you're having a Bad Fucking Time but he doesn't really seem to know how else to deal with it

it's very important to me that people understand melli is full of love. he's not just an asshole who is so mean to you ! he cares SO DEEPLY about lord electrode, which is why he's so set on you not unfrenzying it. he's just. wrong. and absolutely terrible at accepting that. he loves moonview arena, he loves the clan, he loves dialga, basically everything he does in the game is fueled by one of a) being absolutely terrible at accepting when he is wrong b) not knowing how to function without hyping himself up at every turn and c) being so full of love for the things around him he makes bad decisions. love is stored in the melli!!! you have to understand this!!!! it's in there!!!!!

in conclusion:

[splattermouth]

Adaman for the ask meme!

ADAMAAAN ive come around to him a lot, compared to when i first played thru pla. 

(Also mind you its been a while since ive played and i took iridas route over adamans so i dont know. Every little detail about him. But i like him <3)

favorite thing about them: he’s so fucking funny, i love that hes like the straight man of hisui. Adaman is so fucking normal (genuine), and literally everyone else around him has like a secret bit they have to commit to or theyll die. And like he just has to deal w it. Like all of it. Everyone’s nonsense all the time. You can tell he’s so tired and he’s just trying to keep it together

Also obligatory, but his design is soo fucking killer. Ive only recently actually sat down to draw him n hes just so fun. So well shaped. I like irida’s design on its own a lot, but like compared to adaman? they did her so dirty.

least favorite thing about them: I WISH WE GOT MORE OF A BACKSTORY WITH HIM UGGH i hate to compare him to Irida sm here, but she got like. A very clear story of struggling to accept her new position as clan leader after being abruptly shoved into it. Of the rest of her clan either having insanely high expectations for her, or in Palina’s case, feeling like she didn’t deserve the position.

I get Adaman’s whole thing was Supposed to be that he struggled to earn respect from the rest of the Diamond Clan until Dialga outright Possessed him (which that part is fucking sick. For the record), but i wish they just made it more apparent that. That’s What was supposed to be happening lol. 

Because idk, at least to me, definitely the rest of the clan members were kinda bratty, but i never got the impression they were that way specifically Because they thought Adaman was a weak leader, you know? I didn’t even like realize that’s what was supposed to be happening until like. Reading a few other posts abt Adaman’s position in the story dhdfhgkg Good and interesting ideas w his arc just poor and kinda rushed execution imo!!

favorite line: that one fucking line @ irida towards the end of the main game that was like. ‘I don’t think our rivalry is a Diamond and Pearl Clan thing. I think it’s just a You and I thing.’

lives in my brain.

brOTP: for the love of god i need him and irida to be friends that fucking hate each other.

They are at each others throats over Everything, they will argue Everything just for the sake of arguing, if they every agree w each other on any matter they will both collapse on the spot. They are so sick of each other, but also they are best buddies and no one knows them like They know the other. It’s so fun…

OTP: AH im sorry he’s very aro to me. Both bc I don’t think there’s rly a lot of ppl he could be shipped with anyway, but also he does not strike me as someone who has a romantic interest in. like anyone.

He strikes me as a chaste bisexual man who has never felt an ounce of infatuation for another person in his life. He’s just very buddy-buddy w a lot of people, and he’s happy w that <3

nOTP: so i wouldnt say its a notp bc i dont like. vehemently Hate it, and i think there Could be potential. but im sorry, appraisalshipping makes me kinda :/ a fair amount of the time.

Some stuff is cute, yeah, but most of it is just reeks of ‘i only watch/read/play things for shipping and specifically to ship gay prettyboy twinks’ to me. Adaman and Volo have maybe had all of five lines w each other.

I think there could genuinely be something cool to explore there, like contrasting just how immediately trusting Adaman appears to be of Volo? Compared to Irida who calls Volo's bluff right off the bat for being way too friendly w the protag to be completely genuine. With Adaman just tending to be a more open and friendly person than Irida. Adaman putting his faith in someone he absolutely Should Not just because hey! Adaman’s just a nice person like that! He's not gonna be mean to this guy he just met just bc he's a little overeager! But like god knows no one has any interest exploring That dynamic lmao.

anyway if you ship like adaman/akari im legally allowed to break all of your fingers, slowly and individually

random headcanon: I think he should be like 5’5” at most. He’s short and he’s fat i know this in my heart of hearts.

Also despite always talking about utilizing the time he has to the fullest, he doesn’t strike me as someone that pushes himself or other ppl to constantly be Doing and Accomplishing things, so much as he tries to make every moment meaningful and wants others to do the same. I don’t think he’s all that headstrong as some people may describe him, and i dont think he’d necessarily be someone that thinks like. Taking a nap is a cardinal sin. I think he just wants people to put their limited time on this world to something that matters to them rather than petty bullshit (like arguing w the pearl clan sdhk).

ALSO also less an adaman specific headcanon, but i do personally like to think most of the diamond clan are family, or at least all the main members we see. I know hes canonically brother to melli and mai i think? But i think theyre all one big dysfunctional family and theyre why iscan never leaves the coastlands to visit anymore.

unpopular opinion: i dont think hes boring sorry!! Im guilty of think this at first as well tbf but MAN. going back to the what i dont like abt him thing. Knowing now thats what his whole character arc is supposed to be just makes me :(. He wants to be a good leader and he loves his friends and family a lot and takes such good care of them and they literally like. Do not care until dialga outright tells them to take its little thrall seriously for once. Man. man. 

song i associate with them: DHGJKDFH Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion on main. My Girls feels very adaman-core.

favorite picture of them: So theres like zero actual canon art of him outside of just ingame screenshots but i do like this breezy lil adaman here. annoyed…

[gracifleur]

((if shea took the slow path with her immortality and returned to sinnoh as it was in dppt, what would she think about it, and how would she compare it to hisui?? what would she do in it, and where would she live?? personally this anon can see her hanging around in floroma town... or maybe shed create the etchings in the rock that's used for the shaymin event?? but thats just their viewpoint))

so i won’t go too much into this yet because i have a big lore post brewing about DPPT because for shea there is a LOT that is changed because shea is part of sinnoh history. there are carvings of a child on ruins that look somewhat like her, there are statues of her that have crumbled due to time, there are hints to her that stem from the hisui period & it reflects on the plot of those games.

that post will go into detail about like i call it my ‘DPPT rewrite’ bc that what it is, its incorporating shea & it’s why i have my cyrus sideblog so that i can split up the divergences from canon easier than just dumping it all here. && also cyrus funnie. anyways i will say that shea def is no stranger to sinnoh. a few years after the events of PLA shea has to leave jubilife village bc she doesn’t age. like physically & basically doesn’t feel comfortable with the whole ass settlement knowing who she is because it could cause issues in the future. she does tell Adaman & Irida though, who are the one’s who basically spread the tale of shea & her exploits to save hisui which then lead to the myth of ‘the child of space-time’. it’s because of the various generations of the diamond & pearl clan that you see all those hints to shea which would lead cyrus to finding out about her etc etc

i do have this post here that goes into detail about her life on the flower paradise & i’ll reblog it after this gets posted too but shea def travels around sinnoh the most. that’s her home, she is proud of hisui/sinnoh & proud to call it her home. she watches it grow into the bustling region it is today. shea just has to be careful to blend into the background so it’s not like someones grandpa sees her and is like I SWORE I SAW U WHEN I WAS 10 or somethin & get caught kjdshfa

basically for a long while shea lives in peace on the flower paradise, travels to sinnoh & various regions very infrequently, but once the modern times of like gen1 onward that is when shea is active again in the world so to speak, going out & basically becoming witness to the new heroes of the world. watching red take down rocket, meeting gold & krys, helping to protect kyogre & groudon etc etc

for the most part shea is just a npc in those tales sans DPPT. she can tell when something is wrong, that dialga & palkia are growing irritable & needs to know why. that there is something stirring with that team galactic, of which gives her a bad vibe considering her days in hisui. to her it feels like history repeating & not in a good way. but i will hopefully have that all up soon im like mad excited to share all of that 8)

as for the etching on the rock outside the flower paradise thAT IS SO CUTE HOLY SHIT i always kinda thought that was something arceus did but giving that more thought it’s such a shea thing to do like to basically use the power of love & gratitude as a means to unlock the pathway toward the flower paradise esp after humanity would find a modern way to get to it. ouwaghhwugh i wanna think more on that i love that so much thank u for that idea holy shit aHHH

[doubleddenden]

Couple of new trailers dropped... well, 1 new trailer, the other one for BDSP is a month late and more or less for people that still want it but haven't gotten it. They're still saying "gameplay not final" despite the gameplay being out for, again, a month. They focused on... Maylene's gym? For some reason? And then showed off legends you can find. No word on the stuff that still isn't in, like the Trade Station, Home connectivity, or the official event locked Pokémon like Darkrai or Shaymin.

LA one doesn't show much new but we have some interesting characters and some plot points.

So we have the Ginkgo Guild that sells you stuff. They're apparently also from another region.

Ginter, the older one, runs the Guild. He's apparently related to Volkner.

The one that looks like Cynthia but as a guy is Volo. Seems like he's pretty much like her with his curiosity in things and traveling everywhere.

Just out of curiosity I looked up the meaning and origin of their names to see if there was something to be gleaned from it. Volo is a mixed bag that could mean "flight" in Italian, "to want" in Spanish slang or Latin, but apparently as a name it also has Slavic origins, which in this case means "Ruler?" Volo is basically European af.

Ginter however seems to be pretty solid in German origins. Funny enough for a merchant, it means "fair."

Now onto these new characters that will definitely be favorites to certain people

Adaman is the leader of the Diamond clan, and doesn't like to waste time. The Diamond clan likes to live in the moment and cherish the present. There's no need to dive into what his name means, it's basically derived from the Adamant Orb that Dialga uses.

Irida is the leader of the Pearl Clan, and is naturally suspicious of new people. She feels it is encouraged to face the region. The Pearl Clan feels it is important to value the spacious land they share. INTERESTINGLY, her name isn't directly adapted from the Lustrous Orb, but that may be so her name doesn't have the word "lust" in it rather than anything too deep.

Something curious is that the two do use the phrase "Almighty Sinnoh," in the time the region is called Hisui. Could be some sort of earth or land worship, or Sinnoh in this case could refer to a certain Pokémon deity. Anyway, it raises the question: what is modern day Sinnoh named after? Whatever it is seems to be religiously rooted. An interesting take for the franchise.

As far as anything else, apparently certain Wardens will be with certain clans. Lian especially seems to run with the Pearl Clan.

Although... it kinda makes me wonder if there's a Platinum clan. Probably not, but it would be neat.

I also went ahead and checked the JP trailer. Not too much is different, but while we already had confirmation of a Shaymin event, we have confirmation that Darkrai is also in. There also appears to be a ton more pre-order or early purchase stuff including a Shaymin themed outfit that seems like a reskin.

That's all for now. We have a month left before the game releases on the 28th of January. I'm personally hoping to get some sort of confirmation about Hisuian forms or evolutions for our starters. At the least, it looks like story will be a big thing in this game, so let's hope it's good.

[gearstation]

Hi!!! I don’t know if you’ll ever get this but I really loved your Ghost Castle game!! Like, really love it! I was wondering if there will ever be an update to it? If not thats fine, no pressure! I was curious if you were going to do anything in the future with it?

Wow I opened Tumblr on a whim at the perfect time to see this ask (which was sent today)! 😄

Thank you so much for playing Ghost Castle! I can't tell you how happy we are to have received this message-- it means a lot!! 😭

We don't have any plans ATM to release more chapters, but there was some worldbuilding and some characters that didn't end up in the game that I'd say still count as canon. Like, Hoopa is a castle prince that Dialga dumps on Tina's doorstep one day... that kind of thing. You can ask about anything you'd like, and we'll do our best to answer!

You can also see a ton of 7 year old concept art here, if you haven't already.

EDIT: i fucked up so hard and originally linked this twitter post which is so funny im going to leave it here in this edit note for your amusement

Thanks again for the message!

[pokemongoexcitement]

So I beat Pokemon Legends: Arceus!

Spoilery talk under the Read More.

I had a good idea when I first saw the teaser for the game that I’d probably enjoy it, and I’m glad to say that I did, indeed, have a great time! While there weren’t as many new Pokemon as a new region, seeing each new one was always a treat, especially for regional variants I hadn’t even thought about existing, let alone expecting to appear. And I had the fortune of seeing some for the first time as Alpha Pokemon, which added to the amazement as I hid in the nearest patch of grass or fled as fast as Wyrdeer could carry me. The Ride Pokemon that weren’t shown in the lead up to the game were pretty cool, especially that Sneasel variant that I’m not able to remember the name of right now; I honestly had to laugh to see that the way to scale cliffs was to hang out in a basket on a Pokemon’s back as it climbs the mountain (or tree, as I accidentally found out) for you. Your eyes even are visible in a hole in the basket, which adds to the humor a lot. 

I’m glad to say that I got to try training a lot more new Pokemon than I did in Brilliant Pearl, and finally got around to adding Dialga to my team! ... At least for now. I had an Alpha Goodra on my team before, at least for a little bit, and I might switch her back in, but on the other hand, seeing Dialga stomp on ores for me is oddly funny. While I had planned on some team members - Cyndaquil for sure, even when I worried about not liking whatever it’d evolve into for the regional evolution, Hisuian Braviary, and definitely a Luxray - others were spur of the moment, such as that Stunky that I got out of the paddock after hearing that the area I was heading for was rumored to have lots of ghost type Pokemon. It was a false alarm, as it turned out, but she turned out quite helpful. 

As delightful as my team this game was, I found myself growing just as attached to the characters. Having the main character have dinner at the end of every major mission with the rest of the Survey Corps team just made me more attached to them. I grew to enjoy going out with missions with Adaman and Irida, to the point where I had a hard time choosing who to team up with in the last third or so of the game. Only the fact that I liked Dialga more than Palkia led me to choose Adaman, and even then I still felt bad for having to choose between them. At first I honestly thought Cyllene didn’t care about my character at all, but when things take a turn for the worst and she shows that she cares about them, I couldn’t help but smile. I do wish we’d gotten to see more of the rival than the tutorials, the occasional battle, and dinner - perhaps they’d be involved with something involving crafting at the base camps - and seen more of their arc of learning to battle with their Pikachu. It was brought up, but kind of dropped halfway through the main story. Maybe it continues in the post-game or if you complete enough requests, though. 

I don’t know what I expected storywise when I started the game, but I wasn’t really expecting all the probably deliberate parallels with the Mystery Dungeon games. I thought it was only just the beginning and the whole natural disaster part that was similar, and that the main character joining Galaxy Team just like the main character of Explorers joining Wigglytuff’s Guild was a bit of a stretch, but then the last third of the game happened, and things felt a lot more deliberate then. I even swear that at Cogito’s house you could hear parts of one certain Mystery Dungeon track in the background of the music that played there. It was so strong that at the end of the game, where your character pauses at the top of the temple as everyone goes to leave and looks at where the time-space distortion used to be, I caught myself thinking, “Do not turn into light, do not turn into light, at least wait until the festival before disappearing” because it felt like such a natural moment for that to happen. They didn’t, but I do kind of wish that they’d delved more into the fact that the rift disappeared, leaving the character stranded. The possibility of that happening was mentioned exactly once and never lingered on again. Although I haven’t caught them all yet; that and other unresolved issues brought up and never mentioned again - Ingo being stranded there too, the reason why Arceus brought the player and maybe Ingo to get humans and Pokemon to coexist instead of recruiting someone else in that time period, the past hero with the ten Pokemon that Arceus blessed and their connection to the main character - might be tied up with a bow once you catch Arceus. Maybe that’s when the “fades to light, then reappears so you can continue playing” thing happens, which I’d be very heartbroken over because I grew attached to this little found family of a professor, a teenager from the village who wants to be a better trainer for their Pokemon, and a time traveler who fell out of the sky and their shared love of potato mochi. 

If in the future there’s a series of Pokemon Legends games that cover pasts of other regions, I honestly would be very happy. I’m still thinking about Zacian, Zamazenta, and all the questions their backstory never answers, like what faraway region they’re from and if the kings were more involved in their story than the tapestry showed. Even this game provides possible places to delve more into, such as about the legendary hero whose ten Pokemon were blessed by Arceus. Even games set in a region’s distant future would be fun, seeing how our character’s actions changed a region in a more long-term way than Black and White 2 showed. I only wish that if they do a) they tweak the battle system so at least you get the chance to change Pokemon in trainer battles after the other trainer’s last one faints, or at the very least give you a chance to select an action, and b) if they allow you to catch Pokemon while surfing again, to make the Pokemon more easily visible, and not punish the player for not being able to sneak up on them.

Overall, this was a very fun game! I’m going to try my best to complete the Pokedex and see the rest!

[catflowerqueen]

What if...?

Just thought of another scenario I might do for my “What if...?” series.

Well, a few, really, but this is the one I’m going to talk about first. I’ll talk a little bit about my other one(s) shortly.

...and then start working on my actual work.

...

...(after I eat some frozen yogurt and then wash the dishes)

So I had a scenario in mind wherein Uxie actually bothered to offer Laura some help in regards to her memory issues when they meet that first time at Fogbound Lake. Sure, he may not have caused it, but he obviously does have the power to affect memories--doubly so if one takes into account what he and his siblings tried to do in The World’s Treasure--so at the very least he could try and take a look, right? Maybe he can fix things a little, or get some sort of clue about what her past was. Also... while a human may not have ever come to the Lake, he does know humans, and all of the ones he knows worship/know about Relatia--a deity of time--so it is entirely possible that this former human might know something about/how to fix the recent issue that everyone is having in regards to time. (And there is definitely something ironic about him remembering Relatia is a time deity while simultaneously not remembering the Time Gear Legend. Chalk it up to them not really discussing it much/at all during any of her past visits, him being kind of a shut-in and not bothering to actually go out and interact with her or the Rainbow Child on many of those visits (typically only once per incarnation for the Rainbow Child--and, again, she apparently never went up to the Lake to see him), as well as how long it’s been since she or a Rainbow Child ever came to visit. Or Mason, for that matter, who pretty much stopped interacting with the world at large at this point--coupled with him frantically trying to batten down the hatches for the people he’s in charge of watching/frantically attempting to contact Relatia to figure out what’s going on and why no one has gone for the time gears yet. ...And probably by the point the was about to go out and attempt to do the job himself, he’d already heard about someone (Grovyle) going around “stealing” them and figured he’d just let them handle things.

Anyways, where was I... oh, yeah; so his familiarity with humans in general, coupled with Laura’s name, leaves him more inclined to help out. Even if he still has a lot of doubts that this is a Rainbow Child--because it isn’t completely uncommon for others to name their kids Laura, even among Relatia’s worshippers--he still feels really indulgent about helping out any Lauras he comes across. So he takes a brief look into this Laura’s mind, and---

Hm. That’s strange. Where her memories should be is a sort of... blank. Usually with amnesia, he would see/sense a sort of fog, like the memories were there, but simply inaccessible, but here... well, it’s as if someone literally scooped them all out. Or, no, more like they took them all and placed them behind an inaccessible barrier... or something like that. If he tries hard enough, he can get a little of that fog--likely why she still vaguely feels like she’s been to the Lake before, or at least to a similar location, but... nothing else. And that in itself gives him a good suspicion about who she actually is/will be in the future, because he has definitely felt something like this before. 

 He doesn’t exactly tell her who he thinks she is, partially because he isn’t completely sure himself and doesn’t want to reveal his suspicions in case he turns out to be wrong and partially because either way, memories or no, the feel of her mind did let him pinpoint her rough age and since it is a few years under thirteen, so it isn’t like she would remember being the Rainbow Child or have been told anything helpful at this point in time anyways. But he does tell her that he thinks she was probably a worshipper of Relatia.

...Or at least he would have, if the entire guild hadn’t decided to show up at this point and get protective of her/suspicious about what, exactly, he thought he was doing to their friend (except Wigglytuff, who had actually shown up while Uxie was still investigating but is able to read people really well and took Paula’s and Laura’s relaxed stances and eager/hopeful expressions to mean that whatever Uxie was doing was benign/he had permission for it). And then they mildly freak out upon hearing her estimated age, as well as the fact that she used to be human. Basically a lot of freaking out on their part, attempts to calm them all down on Paula and Laura’s part--although mostly Paula’s, since Laura is also dividing her attention between her friends and these small revelations about her past--and some thoughtful silence on Uxie’s part before Wigglytuff interrupts them and points out that the geyser is going off, and they all take a break to look at the excellent view.

Afterwards, Uxie is still thoughtful, but then makes a decision and asks everyone to wait at the Lake’s edge for a moment, and then to their shock he flies over to the center of the lake, dives in, and grabs the time gear (time does not immediately stop because he, specifically, was the one who took it out of the Lake. There is a lot of weird aura stuff going on, but it basically boils down to the fact that, as this gear’s guardian, his aura surrounds both the gear and the surrounding area. Since both are together, in close proximity, and since he is still in direct contact with it, it doesn’t register as the time gear having left its assigned area. That, and because Laura is close by--not that anyone there, Uxie included, would realize that this would have any sort of impact on things, since they don’t know at this point in time that she’s the one who charged them in the first place. Ditto didn’t know about this specific safety feature, or else he would have been the one to remove the Time Gear before handing it over to Grovyle. It wouldn’t have completely stopped the affects of a time-stop, but it probably would have shrunk the radius of the affect, which would have at least bought Grovyle some more time before anyone noticed). Everyone is already rally shocked by this, but the shock and incredulity increase tenfold when he asks Laura to take the Time Gear.

There are a few reasons for this, which he outlines to everyone present: first off, before everyone interrupted him he was about to say that he thought Laura was probably part of the group of humans who worshipped Relatia, and, if so, handling time gears is basically her jursidiction/right. Especially if she actually is who he thinks she is--but he isn’t going to reveal that in case he’s wrong. Come see him again when you’re older, and maybe he’ll talk more then; secondly, even if he is wrong about who she is, hiding the Time Gear somewhere else where he can still keep track of it isn’t a bad idea, given the circumstances where at least one theft is known. And no one would think that such a precious item would be hidden in plain sight; thirdly, he’s heard of the renowned Wigglytuff Guild, not only from what others have said about the guild and its explorers, but also because he knows about Wigglytuff through Ditto--another guardian (because even if he doesn’t get out much/keep in touch much, he does still do both a little, and Ditto does both a lot even if he doesn’t expect much reciprocation. Or at least... he used to. So he definitely would have alerted the others about the whole “Here Comes Team Charm” episode, and that fact that he viewed Wigglytuff as trustworthy). So he figures that the guild is trustworthy and powerful enough to act as guardians until the crisis passes. Then he put the time gear back where it belongs.

They’re extremely wary, but do eventually and reluctantly agree, and Uxie places the Time Gear in Laura’s hands. Some weird aura stuff probably happens, with the result being that when Laura and the others leave the vicinity, time doesn’t stop.

This, of course, results in a lot of confusion for Grovyle when he comes to collect the time gear, which is a major part of why Uxie is able to ID him as the “thief,” though he does manage to escape. Given that time hasn’t stopped there, and Uxie probably actually denies being a guardian/doesn’t let on who he gave the time gear to, Grovyle doesn’t realize that Laura is the one who has it.

No, he only finds out when Laura lets slip in the paralyzed future, before he knows her true identity--because she still had it on her at the time, since no one bothered to take her treasure bag from her/search her for items, and the guild and Uxie remained very tight lipped about the whole affair--Dusknoir had no clue she had it, that’s for sure, because even when they all still trusted him, they felt that it was best to keep that specific piece of information in reserve, just in case. It certainly didn’t help his or Grovyle’s panic and stress about the situation at all, that’s for sure.

It especially doesn’t help in Grovyle’s case even now, beyond doubling down in making sure they all get back to the past. And then he’s slightly less panicky when they do, since it means one less gear he has to go off and collect again.

I’m still undecided about whether the time gear being in the future with Team Rainbow is going to affect anything beyond funny character reactions. As far as the immediate state of the world, probably not because the other time gears being in their proper places the first time things went wrong sure didn’t do anything. Although likely the Tower tried to pull on their energy from afar during that time, so they may all be there, but drained and not actually doing anything. But this one just being there likely isn’t going to affect much since the Tower has already fallen, and it isn’t like putting the Treeshroud Forest gear back actually helped anything in the game, so... possibly a mild effect of increasing sanity/happiness in the immediate area, but nothing all that noticeable.

...Though it’s entirely possible Primal Dialga will have a comment or two. Maybe actually regain some momentary sanity? I’m not sure at this point. 

[crystalelemental]

Oh my god you guys!  DeNA actually did it!  They listened to Reddit and put Anime in the game!  Ooohahahahahaha!  God I’m funny.

But yeah, missed opportunity not pairing them with Rayquaza so we could legitimately say we had the power of god and anime on our side.

Okay I’m done for real.  Anniversary May, or Anni May, has been revealed via Japanese trailer.  She comes with Latias, which is a pick I...don’t love, admittedly.  I like Latias a lot, but am kinda eh on May herself.  Admittedly I was kinda hoping for a cute duo thing with Tate and Liza, but they’re obviously not popular enough so I can’t say I’m too disappointed by this.  I can’t read a lick of the text, but from what Reddit tells me, she’s a Psychic-type Tech unit with Psychic Terrain, who apparently gets free actions under that Terrain, which is...damn.  Damn, that sounds really good.  Can’t wait to see what they do with Mist Ball.  Gonna guess right now we get On a Roll 1 and possibly Double Drop somewhere in the kit for a legitimately fast-paced special attack debuffer that’s also offensive.  Very much anticipating this one.

The other big announcement involves the Champion Stadium tutorial mode, which allows you to free pick one of the Sygna Suit Kanto units.  Ordinarily I’d be really mad about more Kanto fellatio but frankly, I’m just glad my wife and I can get another copy of SS Blue.  She can get MPR on trainer move and all the fun stuff of 2/5, and I can hit 3/5 without ever having to worry about this trio again.  I’ll probably do an analysis of the three of them and which makes the most sense to pick as a one-off copy, but you all know it’s going to be Leaf.

It seems like this Champion Stadium tutorial is set for the 24th, with May dropping the 28th, so probably 25th and 29th for the US.  Which means datamine would have to happen in the next three days.  Make your predictions now, folks.  I’m still hoping on Johto focus for the big event, even though it’s looking like Hoenn.

Anyway this is pretty exciting!  I like that Latias is here.  Still not clear on what the hell “Friendiversary” is supposed to signal, but the horror that we’re also getting Brendan and Latios is welling up inside me.  I hope he’s a dragon.  I hope he gets Dragon Zone and just shits on Lucas for days.  I don’t even really like Brendan more than Lucas, that’s just what he deserves for taking Dialga.

[comic-the-adventurer]

Some Ruby and Henry... Idk, LORE? Just some info and doodles about them :3. Click for better quality!

---

Ruby: HENRY!! COMECOMECOMECOMECOME!! LOOK HOW CUTE!! COMEEEEEEEEEEEE--

Henry: Ruby, I'm right here--

(There was also this bonus panel where Na's Cinderace wanted to pyro-ball Twigkey into ashes and Na was there urging Cinderace not to but I& was too lazy to draw it xD)

---

Ruby: You have my CATCH CHARM!

Henry: And my SHINY CHARM.

Na: Uh... And my& gun.

(I& have to say, deciding that Ruby and Henry co-exist with Na in this...Idk, au, ig guess...was a fairly big revolution. Cuz typically, I& would just use Na, Ruby, and even Henry interchangeably (the birthday thing was a good example. Just, yk, not in a game xD) but, turns out, deciding to just make them separate characters entirely was actually a very good call! That said, although Na doesn't actually personally know Ruby or Henry, I& can't help but fantasize about what if xey met them xD)

---

And here we have Ruby's post-swsh signature Pokemon!

SO BASICALLY,

*Opens a portal of time to flashback*

Henry and Ruby, before leaving for Champion Cup, decided they couldn't bring their shared starter Pokemon, Rilaboom, Cinderace, and Intelleon (idk what to name their og starters yet). So they left them in the nearest nursery, the Wild Area Nursery, and promised to be back for them after the championship. Which, unlike Ash, they were! But there were three eggs, each belonging to each one of their starters...

So someone left a ditto, apparently!

So yeah, Ruby took responsibility for taking care of the eggs (much to Henry's dismay who suggested they just leave the eggs with the nursery workers) which hatched into a shiny Scorbunny, Grookey, and Sobble.

*Seals the portal of time* Dialga isn't going to be happy--

ANYWAY,

Henry has convinced Ruby to name her new Pokemon in case of mirror matches, even though Ruby isn't nearly as big on Pokemon battles as she used to be. Actually, it's kinda funny. Henry became MORE into Pokemon battles after swsh and Ruby became more in pokemon RESEARCH after swsh! Like opposites from the start!

Anyway, these are her Pokemon! (The og starters stay with Henry)

Shinebunny the Scorbunny (get it?? Cuz it's a shiny?)

Twigkey the Grookey (cuz, as I& mentioned, Henry influenced Ruby to name her Pokemon and Henry always named most his pokemon after their gear.)

And Susuobble the Sobble! (pronounced "Sue-Sue-Obble." Yeah, it's a long story.)

Oh, and did I& mention that Henry and Ruby are Professor Sonia's back-up assistants?

[radramblog]

VGC Series 10 Restricted Pokemon

So the new series of Pokemon Sword and Shield competitive is about to launch (as in, it starts on Sunday). The rules are pretty interesting, and as a result a lot of the metagame is being thrown on its head.

-Dynamax is off. They just up and got rid of the games’ gimmick. I’m sure Smogon DOU players will be right at home.

-Each team is permitted one Restricted Pokemon, as in Series 8.

There are 24 Pokemon listed as “Restricted”, just about all of them the intentionally overpowered “cover legendaries” the series has stuck with since Gold and Silver. Each of them is extremely powerful, and would be a worthwhile addition to any team.

But, which one should you run? Find out in this entirely serious guide.

(I was going to attach funny meme images to this like but I ran out of time sorry just imagine doge memes next to Zacian and stuff you get the idea i might edit this later)

Mewtwo

There are two types of people running Mewtwo. People with nostalgia, whether it be just because it’s one of their favourite mons or because the infamy of it being the “ultimate Pokemon” stuck in their heads too long, or because they know how good it actually is but they want to try it anyway.

I mean, it’s not bad? Obviously that Sp.A don’t quit, and Terrain-boosted Expanding Force is kinda nutty. Plenty of coverage, too. But without the Megas, Mewtwo just isn’t good enough anymore, I think. And unfortunately, there’s another thing on this list that kinda just does the same thing, but better.

 Lugia

While Mewtwo is unquestionably a fast offensive threat, Lugia represents the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s faster than I had assumed, actually, but most of why you run it is for that sweet sweet chonk.

I understand wanting to use Lugia. The second movie is my favourite too. But 90/90 offenses don’t cut it these days, you don’t want your Uber/Restricted to be a supportive mon, and setup strategies are both risky and done better by other things. Sorry? Aeroblast is a lot cooler when you can turn it into Max Flying, I’m afraid.

 Ho-Oh

I actually don’t have anything bad to say about Ho-oh. It’s actually kind of great, and possibly underrated- it is able to check some of the biggest threats in the meta, and is dummy thick enough to take hits and clear out the remainder.

It is in the 90 Speed group, which a surprising number of these Restricteds are, so you might suffer from speed creeping issues. Or just run bulk, because Regenerator and Recover make it nigh-unkillable if you invest hard enough.

Look I’m biased I just built a Ho-oh team what do you want from me?

 Kyogre

One of the two Weather restricted things. Just about everyone running Rain is going to want one of these, and it’s one of the most popular mons in the format as a result. It’s not quite meta-defining, but it’s the first of what I reckon are going to be the Big Four of the format.

Water Spout and Origin Pulse hit like an absolute tank off this thing. It doesn’t need much else. This is why you run Wide Guard, people.

Kyogre is very good, which is what makes it very boring. We will be returning to this concept.

 Groudon

The Other Weather Setter, and inexplicably a way less popular one. It might be that Eruption isn’t STAB and doesn’t come off it’s superior Physical Attack- Fire Punch doesn’t quite hit as hard.

That, and there actually is another solid Sun setter in Torkoal. But why not both, though?

I ran Groudon in Series 8 and I was pretty impressed by its performance. I mean, it’s Kyogre but awkward and Physical. You could do a lot worse.

 Rayquaza

I love Rayquaza a lot, as a result of both Emerald and the anime, so it’s with a heavy heart that I must say that Rayquaza is, like, not good in this format.

The key issue Rayq faces is that it’s statline is really awkwardly distributed. It has 150 in both offenses, but that leaves it’s other stats somewhat lacking compared to the other restricteds on the list. That and it’s ability, Air Lock, implies it’d be good at beating Groudon/Kyogre, but it kind of just loses to them 1v1. They’re bulky enough to live a hit, and don’t have to go out of their way to clonk it for SE damage. And what the fuck, it only has 95 speed? It feels like it should have much more.

 Dialga

I haven’t seen much buzz about Dialga, which is actually kind of surprising. Like, Steel/Dragon is a great typing, it’s a Dragon that isn’t weak to Fairy or Ice or Dragon, and it’s statline is pretty solid- 150 Sp.A and 100/120/100 defenses. What’s not to love?

Oh it probably just dies to Zacian doesn’t it. Or Landorus, of whom both forms are super popular right now. Sigh. One day.

 Palkia

Looking at the Pikalytics data, apparently a bunch of people are running Trick Room Palkia? Which makes zero sense to me, seeing as it’s actually a bit faster than a bunch of these mons.

It’s relatively less bulky, but BEEG DRACOVISH here is probably pretty decent. I’ve heard, however, that calling something decent basically just means it’s bad. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that turns out to be the case. Two of the Big Four just lay this fucker flat out, so.

 Giratina

Despite being bulkier than Palkia, it’s weaker to an additional member of the Big Four, which probably just makes it unusable. Whoops.

And as cool as noodle Giratina is, it dies to even more things, isn’t any faster, and means you don’t get to run a funky item to make it runnable. Prooobably just stick to Dragapult?

 Reshiram

Reshiram presents an interesting question, because it’s typing and moveset are kinda great for the format. It’s another Fairy-neutral Dragon, which is nice and good, and Blue Flare hits like an absolute truck.

I’m convinced Reshiram has a place in the meta. I just don’t quite know what it is yet.

 Zekrom

Zekrom strikes me as like, Reshiram but it’s worse against Zacian and better against Kyogre. It’s interesting, because Fire is a type you kinda want right now, but Electric is pretty good as well? Like, Regieleki cannot fucking touch this thing.

Zekrom also has a kind of insane moveset to work with, and if you want to try a Dragon Dance set, it’s a great spot for it. So, basically, maybe?

 Kyurem

I guess you could technically run Base Kyurem as your Restricted. I don’t know why you would, it’s kind of awful. Typing sucks, moves suck, stats don’t make up for it.

 Kyurem-Black

Kyurem-Black was given it’s greatest gift since its release- actually getting Physical Ice STAB off it’s ludicrous 170 Attack. Unfortunately, this alone does not a playable mon make, and it’s still weak to frankly too many types. Ice is just so completely awful defensively! Please fix this, Game Freak.

35% of people trying this format out early are running Power Herb Freeze Shock, and I salute you crazy, crazy bastards. But also that sounds awful tbh.

 Kyurem-White

Reshiram, but you trade a great defensive type for a bad one, and gain monstrous stats in return. If you can find a way to stop Zacian from hitting it, it probably one-shots it back. Also, it gets Freeze-Dry for Kyogre, though even with 170 Sp.A I don’t know if you one-shot that thing.

 Xerneas

 We’re finally getting to member two of the Big Four. Xerneas is an old standby of restricted VGC formats, and kind of a one trick pony. Er, deer. But that one trick is very solid, so fair enough.

If I’m honest, I think that One Trick is going to make Xerneas take a hit in usability, because the moment it gets good, people instantly know how to counter it and add that into their teams. The thing barely ever runs non-Fairy attacking moves, for fuck’s sake! Put a Steel in front of it and it just cries.

 Yveltal

 Yveltal is awkward, because it’s fighting for a spot with the Very Good Moltres-Galar, which doesn’t take up the restricted slot. But Yveltal does have a space to work within, I think.

It’s got an absolutely phenomenal support moveset, which again isn’t really want you want on your Restricted, but it’s natural offenses are good enough that you can probably just get away with it. STAB Oblivion Wing and STAB/Dark Aura Snarl are incredible for bulkier builds, and it even has incredible damage with a priority Sucker Punch. Basically, it’s got some things going on.

 Zygarde

Zygarde is the most awkward ‘mon on this list, methinks. It’s entire bit is trying to get to low HP in order to trigger Power Construct and get into it’s super mode, but the statgain…isn’t incredible? It’s HP doubles and it trades 10 Speed for Special Attack. Which you might not even be using? And this is all predicated on it getting to particular HP values, which is a lot harder now that you can’t Dynamax it.

This thing is scary as hell in the Max Lair, but not so much here. Signature moves are fucking wild though.

 Cosmog/Cosmoem

I know they’re preevolutions of two restricted species, but why are these restricted? Was Z-Teleport really that good?

You have to be a serious memelord to play one of these, and a very good player to actually win with them. In other words, if I see one of these on ladder or in a tournament, I’m going to start sweating.

 Solgaleo

Solgaleo has the same problem as Yveltal, but moreso. Because just about anything it can do, Metagross can do just about as well and without taking up a restricted spot. Sure, Meteor Mash is a bit worse than Sunsteel Strike, and technically Full Metal Body and Clear Body aren’t identical (FMB is immune to ability-nullifying effects, apparently), but come onnnn. Are you really running Sun Dog when you can run funy robot man and also your choice of restricted beastie? Come on now.

 Lunala

 As much as I love Lunala’s design, it’s not particularly good. It has the same typing as Caly-Ghost, and significantly worse stats, ability, and movepool. And conveniently, due to that shared typing, Caly-Ghost just lays this fucker to waste. A shame, for such a cool design.

 Necrozma

Similar to Kyurem, you could run this, if you wanted a worse Mewtwo. I guess it is better than the Ice Dragon, but like, don’t bother.

 Necrozma-Dusk-Mane

The other reason not to run Solgaleo is because this exists. Just, the same, but way better. It’s a lot slower, but that just makes it playable in Trick Room, so.

NDM over here is competing with Zacian for the throne of Nuts Steel/X Physical Dog. Unfortunately, because Zacian is, frankly, completely fuckbusted insane, and doesn’t require setup like NDM does, it’s not going to win that fight.

 Necrozma-Dawn-Wings

Again, Lunala but slower and bulkier and hits harder. If you can get a Troom up, it’s probably kinda nuts, since then it actually can just cap Calyrex in its dressage-looking ass. Plus, you’re probably already running Indeedee, so Psychic Terrain goes off.

I wanna see someone kill things with Meteor Beam/Power Herb on this. It’s probably pretty decent. But it’s still a lot of work, and I’m not convinced the payoff is worth it.

 Zacian

 I’m not even going to bother writing about uncrowned Zacian, even if it probably will see more play than some of the other things on this list.

Let’s run it down. Patently absurd stats- 92/115/115 are average defenses for a Restricted (maybe a bit above average?) but it has 170 Attack, and unlike the Kyurems it actually has the speed to back it up at 148. To be clear, that’s the second fastest Restricted, and only 3 other Pokemon in the game (Regieleki, Ninjask, Pheromosa- Deoxys, Electrode, and some Megas are faster but aren’t in Gen 8) outspeed it. It’s got fucking bonkers typing, arguably the best two in the game, along with an ability that effectively pumps that Attack to 255. Oh, also very good STAB and coverage moves.

Zacian is almost certainly the most important Pokemon in the entire format. It’s that good. You don’t have to be smart to use it, especially as you don’t actually get the choice of item. It’s an idiot beatstick, and that’s kind of all there is to it. Every team needs to have an answer to it, and since it gets Imprison, you can even just run it as an answer to itself. What a fucking joke of a mon.

 Zamazenta

And then there’s The Other One. Zamazenta is significantly more balanced than Zacian, being surprisingly bulky even without that +1 Defense, and having solid Attack and Speed to boot. Also, Wide Guard.

I’m going to be honest, I think Zamazenta basically only takes on a supportive role. The moveset is fine, Wide Guard and Coaching and Snarl, no Body Press though for some fucking reason. It’s probably a Pretty Okay mon. But I don’t know why you’d run it over another support mon like Hitmontop, which gets similar moves and a better ability.

 Eternatus

Like Zacian and Zamazenta, Eternatus technically got worse with the Dynamax ban, seeing as their signature moves effectively ignore the HP-doubling effect. The thing is, Zacian is still insane anyway, and Zamazenta doesn’t really care, so Eternatus is really the main thing getting hit by this “nerf”.

It’s still solid, though. Good HP, Special Attack, and Speed, functional other stats, and it’s a Dragon that can kill the shit out of Xerneas. I think Eternatus is just on the cusp of being good- maybe if they gave it an actual ability instead of Pressure.

Or just release Eternamax, because fuck it, why not.

 Calyrex

It’s Kyurem and Necrozma again but somehow worse, next.

 Calyrex-Shadow

The final member of the Big Four. It actually kinda looks a lot like Zacian- slightly faster, a fair chunk weaker, but the ability lets it snowball hard and it gets incredible spread moves in Astral Barrage and Expanding Force. Because the only thing worse than them beating the shit out of your Pokemon is them doing it to both at once.

The key difference between Caly-Shadow and Zacian is it’s less immediate threat. For one, it doesn’t have that immediate +1 that Zacian does, and it has two x4 weaknesses to exploit. And since it usually is running spread moves, it can have a harder time dropping a specific counter, let alone its weakness to Wide Guard.

But it’s still fucking nuts. So.

 Calyrex-Ice

 We took the Shadow one, put all it’s speed into bulk, and made it Physical. Oh, and it hits a bit harder typically, since Ice is better offensively than Ghost. Sure?

In all seriousness, Caly-Ice is a brutal threat…under Trick Room and only there. If you can set it up, it’s a nigh-unkillable threat that steadily bulldozes through the opposition, and doesn’t have to rely on Spreads like Shadow does. Ironically, the worse defensive typing is better here, because it’s less likely to get OHKO’d without a x4 weakness. And if you get TR up, they aren’t getting a second attack.

 And that’s the lot of them. So, which one should you choose? One of the Big Four? A spicy meme pick? An underrated champion?

None of them. Play none of them, coward, you won’t.

Okay but seriously just about all of them are playable on the right team so dw about it