#which would be fine but no other pokemon moves like that & I don't think it was intentional

[eisthenameofme]

i wonder if there's the potential for a solution to the doxxing fucking over marginalized people specifically thing and/or the some people only being able/knowing where to engage with community online thing if we we were able to like. weaponize the relative lack of actual anonymity in the opposite direction.

like for one thing, instead of doxxing just resulting in problems from others in person, using that information to actively support the person instead, and for another for the other potentially more targeted use of the internet to find people to engage with in person (although that one you'd have to be even more careful about in case it worked in the opposite direction. I'm just thinking it would be nice to have something more structured/widespread than happening to find out your internet friends are in your local area, that could potentially be used to circumvent people not meeting in third spaces/other issues people have initially finding local community in person.)

It would be nice if instead of exclusively finding offline solutions/telling people how to be more careful we could also use what's often part of the problem to our advantage when it does happen. Like, having a way to address it that isn't only preventative.

[emdotcom]

All due respect for the modeler,, this is a bad model.

[alastor-simp]

Hazbin Hotel Gang React To Reader with Pokemon Part 1

❥Summary- A new demon has arrived to the hotel, but they aren't alone.

❥Tags- Pokemon, Hazbin Hotel, Hazbin Hotel x Pokemon, headcannons, hazbin hotel headcannon, cute

❥Notes: I always wanted to see how the habzin hotel characters would react to different type of pokemon

Charlie Morningstar🌈 + Pikachu⚡️

🌈The minute Charlie saw the yellow little creature on your shoulders, she squealed so loud it nearly broke the hotel windows. "OH MY SATAN!!! WHO IS THIS ADORABLE LITTLE CUTIE?!?!" She grabbed pikachu off your shoulder and began nuzzling her face into it, which surprised pikachu, causing her to get shocked by its lighting. Charlie was okay, since apparently being hellborn gave her an immunity to it, yet it did fuzz her hair a bit.

🌈You apologized profusely, saying that pikachu often zapped people whenever they were upset or scared. Pikachu even gazed at Charlie in concern, feeling bad that they had accidentally used their lighting on her. Charlie said it was absolutely fine, continued to hold pikachu like it was an adorable plushie.

🌈Her curiosity with Pikachu only escalated as she has never seen a creature like that in hell before. It was true she has Razzle and Dazzle, as they were created by her father when she was a child, but Pikachu was something rare. When you said to her that they were your companion when you were alive, and even when you came to hell, they came with you. Oh now that really confuse Charlie, but she was gonna think about it later as she still had a hotel to run.

🌈Pikachu was protective of both you and Charlie, whenever someone would threatened or insult the both of you in any way, that demon was going to get a tasteful of lightning rod.

🌈Her pet cat, Keekee, was best friends with Pikachu. Literally the two of them would be running around playing, or snuggled up next to each other, sleeping. Charlie took so many photos of the cuteness, sending them to you, which made you happy. Literally the three of you had become the bestest of friends and nothing could break it apart.

Vaggie🎀 + Vivillon🦋

🎀 Vaggie was untrustworthy with anyone that came into the hotel. You can't blame her since it was hell, so she didn't know what to expect when she saw you enter through the hotel door being introduced by Charlie. Her spear was gripped tightly in her hand, ready to strike if you pulled a move.

🎀 The hold on the spear had loosened when she saw the large flying object moving behind you. "What on earth is that?" she thought, her eye continuing to examine it. She quickly realize it was a large butterfly like creature, adorning different colored patterns on its wings. Its face was adorably cute, as it continued flying next to you with a smile.

🎀 Making your way over to her, Charlie extended a hand out towards Vaggie, introducing you to her as her girlfriend. "Hello. Nice to meet you." Reaching your hand out for a shake, Vaggie hesitated before moving her hand to join yours in a proper handshake, "Umm nice to meet you too. Who is that flying next to you?" Vaggie's eyes motioned to the large flying butterfly. "Oh that's Vivillon! They were my companion when I was still alive. They are very friendly, don't worry." Vivillon flew closer to Vaggie and started flying around her head, wearing a cute smile, which earned a small chuckle from Vaggie.

🎀 After that initial meeting, Vaggie began to establish a small friendship with you, yet still kept her distance in case something happened. While she kept her distance a bit with you, she couldn't keep her distance away from Vivillon, it was too cute. The patterns on its wings were very mesmerizing to Vaggie, she wanted to stare at them all day, but she wouldn't since that would be awkward.

🎀It was sweet how close Vaggie and Vivillon had gotten. If they weren't with you, they were either watching Vaggie train with the spear or helping Vaggie with her hair, since it really enjoyed helping her tie the red hairbow. The day Vivillon realized Vaggie had wings, it was overjoyed. The both of them would often go out and fly all over the Pride ring, as a way to relax and escape the chaotic nature in the hotel for a bit. It was surprising to everyone including Charlie just how close Vaggie had gotten with your companion, since she wasn't close with anyone except Charlie, but hey it was still cute to see.

Angel Dust🕷 + Smoochum💋

🕷Angel was lounging around in his room with Fat Nuggets, back against the bed as the adorable pig was nuzzling inside his chest fluff. That moment was ruined when a loud knock came from the door, nearly causing him to fall off the bed. "ANGEL!!! HURRY!!! WE HAVE A NEW GUEST!!" Charlie voice rang out, as he heard the sounds of hurried steps leaving his door. Groaning, Angel slowly moved Fat Nuggets off of his chest, placing him softly on the bed, as he swung his feet and ventured to the door.

🕷Having arrived to the lobby of the hotel, Angel eyes scanned the area, wondering who decided to give this rinky dink hotel a try. He was able to notice you, standing in the middle of the room, conversing with Charlie, while holding something in your arms. Walking closer to you, Angel bent down, lips drawn into a smirk, exposing his golden tooth. "Hiya toots, the names Angel Dust." You smiled at him, and offered him a kind hello. Angel eyes then looked down at what you were holding and realized it was blinking at him. "AHHH WHAT IN THE HELLS IS THAT?!?" Screaming in fear, Angel had backed up a couple of steps, pointing to the object in your arms.

🕷Jumping a bit at his reaction, you looked down at your companion while going back to Angel. "Ohh its just my companion, don't worry, they won't attack you, I swear." Putting Smoochum down, its adorable little eyes gazed at Angel Dust, before waddling over to him. Angel continued to stare at them, having calm down at bit, watching as the little pink creature waddle to him and stared up at him cutely. It raised its hands up towards Angel, saying "Smoochum❤" Angel still felt unsure on what to do, but he decided to bend down and pick her up, placing her in front of his face, eyeing them with curiosity. Smoochum smile at Angel and gave him a little peck on the cheek, earning a small blush from Angel, eyes growing soft at the little affection he received. "Her name is Smoochum and yes like her name, she often greets people she meets with a smooch."

🕷Angel continued to hold Smoochum, admiring its cute face and adorable eyes before looking back at you. "Usually I charge freaks to smooch little old me, being a porn star and all, but I'll make it an exception for this cute little doll here." Angel nuzzled his face against Smoochum, earning him another kiss to his other cheek, prompting a giggle from both him and you. After that interaction, Angel Dust and Smoochum became the definition of BFFs.

🕷You noticed that both Smoochum and Angel Dust like to make sure their appearances were maintained, as you got both of them looking into a handheld mirror, checking their reflection. Angel Dust would always be experimenting with other looks and makeups, even dolling up Smoochum a little bit, which made her very happy. Smoochum was also the their to help Angel, whenever he was in a bad mood. She didn't really know what the reason was, since of course Smoochum wasn't aware about Valentino, but she was always their to comfort Angel with a little smooch and a warm hug, which Angel dust really appreciated.

🕷Angel Dust had introduced Smoochum to Fat Nuggets, wanting to see the two of them get along. Smoochum had greeted Fat Nuggets with a little smooch, earning a happy oink from the adorable pig, and a returning lick to Smoochums cheek. Yep, those two would get along really well. You had stumbled on the three of them in Angel Dusts room, with Angel fast asleep on his bed, with both Fat Nuggets and Smoochum cuddling in his chest fluff. The scene was so precious, you had to take a photo to show to Angel Dust later, as well as make it your new wallpaper on your phone.

-END-

(Continued in Part 2)

Sinners:

@alastorsgoldie @91062854-ka , @delectableworm , @iiotic

@cookiekyo , @demoarah , @danveration , @beebsbea ,

@veethewriter , @forbidden-sunlight , @pinkcrystal44 , @luujjvi ,

@unholycheesesnack , @saturnhas82moons , @jyoongim ,

@aceofcards0-0 , @ghostdoodlen , @yourdoorisunlocked ,

@starshipcookie , @ainsliemac , @aria-tempest , @nobuharashinyao

, @sweet06tart , @blakedbeanss , @ihyperfixatedagain , @ktssstuff ,

@yakultt-art , @mooniee123 , @nightmarenaya , @darischerry ,

@sadnessiscoldtea , @alastorssimp , @imacollasaltitan ,

@dilucragnvindr-my-beloved , @batmanmonstarr , @felice-jaganshi ,

@justchillaine , @crazed-flower , @ohmylovewhereartthou-blog ,

@akiooshizuka , @lokis-imaginary-friend ,

@themysteriousslenderman , @huntlowfan , @futureittomainn ,

@christinaatyourservice92 , , @just-trash-yeah-thats-it ,

@angelinevalentine89 , @yunimimii , @staryosh1 ,

@mihawksdemoness , @crystalreads , @blahblahbruhmeow ,

@madam-strawberryrose , @inkslayer , @azazel-nyx , @lixanjewel ,

@artemisandhunters , @thereeallink , @ask-theradio-demon ,

@lousypotatoes @l4zyb0n35 , @midorichoco

@lillyisfreakyy , @alastorthirsty , @yukiinee ,

@daydream-the-demon , @cosmiccoralz @aconstructofamind

@pumppkinlynn @erikaafernns , @silverpaw2 ,

@cosmiccandydreamer , @killer-nightmare0 , @visara-valentina

@thereallsaturnstar , @coffee-or-hot-cocoa

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere Houndoom(Pet-Like)

As someone who has a Houndoom as my fire and dark type in Brilliant Diamond right now (Her name is Hellena), I'll happily write for the hellhound :)

Overprotective! Houndoom Concept

Pairing: Platonic/Pet/Animal-like

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Clingy behavior, Violence, Overprotective behavior, Attempted murder, Possessive behavior, Arson, Jealousy implied, Despite the source material this is dark, like really dark.

Houndooms would be quite terrifying of they were overprotective of a trainer.

Sure, you may think they'd be just loyal dogs.

Yes, but recall their Pokedex entries?

Most entries say essentially the same thing.

Houndoom has a fire that when someone is burned by it, the burn lasts forever.

This Pokemon is also often considered the "Grim Reaper" due to the howls it produces according to other dex entries.

So, no, Houndoom is not just some dog Pokemon.

I imagine you took one in as a Houndour, which makes the Pokemon extra attached to you.

That or maybe you managed to tackle the feat of catching one in the wild.

I'd imagine a wild Houndoom would take more time to get used to their trainer.

At first they reluctantly follow beside you when you let them out of their ball.

They listen in battle but there's no connection quite yet.

It's not until you stroke their fur, walk alongside them, and train them that they get attached.

Your Houndoom all of a sudden starts getting used to all this praise and warms up to you.

You often take them on a walk through routes and battle with trainers.

You try to train them well as you don't want an accident happening.

You are aware of the danger a Houndoom can cause outside of their ball,

One wrong move and the second a fire breath ignites from their mouth?

Chaos.

For the most part your Pokemon seems well behaved.

They adore you petting them and often wrap around you when resting.

I imagine if a Houndoom became overprotective of a trainer or human they adore they'd get violent.

First it's things like growling, barking, and roaring.

During walks you end up having your Houndoom jump in front of you and show aggressive behaviors.

Wild Pokemon quickly skitter away, which is useful at times but annoying at others.

Then you grow concerned when your Houndoom decides humans are also a threat to their precious trainer.

As a result you keep them in the ball more often.

The most dangerous part of a Houndoom is indeed their fire.

Their claws and teeth are quite bad, yes, but at least the pain subsides then.

Their fire? The pain is forever.

Think about this.

Maybe while you go to sleep at night your Houndoom breaks out of their ball.

Sometimes it's innocent and they curl up around you, wanting the warmth of their trainer.

Other times they leave your home... looking for what, exactly?

They're looking for Pokemon and humans that could have hurt you.

Houndoom is obviously a Fire type, yet they are also a Dark type.

Your Houndoom may not care about the chaos it causes.

As long as they keep their trainer safe they could care less how they do it.

During the night your Houndoom targets random wild Pokemon to get stronger and vent frustration before returning to you.

However, if they're feeling extra ambitious, maybe they target people.

Maybe your Houndoom decides to target your rival... or someone else close to you.

Maybe your Pokemon doesn't like the humans around you.

By the time you wake up in the morning you see it on the news.

A house caught on fire, the survivors having burns that never seem to go away.

They're disfigured and in so much pain.

The report strikes fear in you.

Sure, wild Pokemon sometimes end up attacking humans, it happens.

Yet it seems oddly targeted....

You knew these people.

You try to tell yourself things will be fine.

It's nothing, it's just a wild Pokemon attack.

But as you pack your things to leave your home, your eyes drift towards the ball containing your Houndoom.

You don't want to believe it, in fact you shut the thought out...

Part of you still manages to think your own Pokemon was behind the fire...

But that couldn't be true... could it?

[would-this-pokemon-be-a-friend]

Don't know if you're taking requests, but how about Espeon? It's my favorite Pokemon :)

Good news! An espeon would make a pretty great pet!

While they’re on the larger size of A rank pokémon, espeons aren’t much bigger than a large dog. Personality-wise, they’re sweethearts that have extreme loyalty to any owner that they consider worthy (Ruby/Sapphire). Now, I’m not sure how exactly espeons determine if someone is worthy or not, but I trust you, readers. I think you’re probably worthy. Only worthy people read this blog. Also, I bet treats would help.

Espeons have a strong protective instinct, and will do everything in their power to protect beloved humans (Ruby/Sapphire). This species had evolved some impressive precognitive powers specifically to protect themselves and their trainers (Ultra Sun, Ruby/Sapphire), but these powers aren’t all psychic. Espeons are covered in fine, velvety fur that is sensitive enough to read air currents and predict the actions of any perceived threats (Gold, Diamond/Pearl) or even the weather (FireRed). Their predictive abilities, based on this physical sensitivity, is said to be so advanced that espeons can even predict what their enemies are thinking (Black2/White2)! They use this power to keep the ones they care about out of harms way, which is. A huge plus. Unfortunately, it also means that they will be able to tell when you are planning to give them a bath or take them in to the vet for a check-up, so some extra coaxing might be needed.

Given their predisposition to protect humans, espeons are pretty unlikely to attack a human. This is good, since beyond their sensitive fur they do possess some pretty formidable psychic powers. Espeons built up energy in the orb on their forehead by bathing in sunshine (Ultra Moon), which they can unleash in powerful attacks (Moon). Espeons can use moves like Confusion to not only hurt targets but send them into a daze, or use other moves like Psybeam, Psychic, and Future Sight to batter enemies with telekinetic power. Espeons can also attack physically with bites and scratches, though these are not quite as dangerous. All things considered, given their protective instincts, these abilities aren’t too much to worry about so long as you have your espeon’s best interests in mind. If something does go wrong, however, you’ll be able to tell when a psychic attack is coming if the orb on their head begins to glow (Diamond/Pearl). I would strongly consider training as well, just to ensure your espeon doesn’t attack someone on the street because they assume they’re a threat to your safety.

Overall, given their loyal personalities, espeons would make great pets. So long as they are properly socialized so as to not be overly paranoid about other people in your life (and so long as you are worthy), they aren’t too much of a threat, which is an added bonus. Also, as I always much point out even though it doesn’t really impact their score: they are very cute.

[pokemonshelterstories]

Even after reading your FAQ and a bunch of asks you've answered, I'm still not sure if a shelter blog is the best place to ask this, so do feel free to delete this (or tell me privately that you won't post it, but only if you have the time and energy), but I can't think of anyone else, and if you do post it, you or some of your followers might have some interesting thoughts, so here goes:

How would you feel about using Pokeballs to catch Pokémon you're planning to eat?

For context, I and my siblings grew up in a small, mostly off-grid community, and while most details aren't relevant, we did hunt for food occasionally. We never used pokeballs, but instead bow and arrow, fishing rods, nets and traps.

These days I live closer to a big city, sharing a house with my brother, his husband, and their teenage son (my other nibling, their older child, has moved out a while ago, so they're not part of this story).

Last month, we visited the community my brother and I grew up in, and during our two week stay, I took my nephew on a hunting trip. He was decently enthusiastic to train his archery, but he asked why we don't just use pokeballs. Wouldn't it be easier? I didn't have an answer for him then, only that we'd been taught this way and that I'd never considered using pokeballs.

But I've been thinking about it. It would be easier, but wouldn't it also be more cruel? After all, by catching it in a pokeball, you're giving the pokemon false hope of a nice life with a trainer, only to then kill it. I feel like killing it quickly while it's still in the wild and doesn't know any better is more, like, honest maybe?

What do you or your followers think?

(If any angry vegans find this post, don't even waste your energy on a mean response or lecture, because most likely I have you blocked already, and if I don't, I'll correct that when I see you being rude to me)

oooh, this is an interesting ask to get...

i think this is really more of a matter of personal comfort with the idea of eating a pokemon that's been caught in a ball, but as long as it's done properly, i don't see anything wrong with it. after all, pokemon for the most part don't really have any concept of what's going to happen to them in the future.

as someone who hunts, you (i assume) understand our duty to give the pokemon we eat as painless of a death as possible. then, as trainers, we have a duty to maintain the 5 freedoms for our pokemon, which includes freedom from psychological stress. provided you meet those requirements, i think it's ok to catch a pokemon in a pokeball for the sake of eating it. it's more humane than certain types of traps that leave the pokemon struggling until the hunter comes to check them, and pokemon tend to relax in pokeballs, since they mimic the way pokemon curl up when healing. when the pokemon is released from its ball, you then just need to humanely slaughter it. there are some pokemon that i wouldn't do this with, since they don't immediately take well to being caught in a ball; buneary is a good example. but many common game pokemon do just fine.

i've actually used a different tool to help out with culling food pokemon- my styler! there are a lot of farms out near artazon, and rangers do sometimes get asked to help with keeping livestock mons calm in the moments leading up to slaughter. i've met rangers who aren't comfortable taking on those cases, and i've definitely gotten fussed at by my share of pokemon rights activists, but i think pokemon raised as food deserve as calm of an environment as possible. so, no, i dont think using pokeballs to trap game is cruel as long as you know what you're doing and don't stress the pokemon out. but if you're used to the way you already do things, don't feel like you have to change it up either.

[jisuto]

On the topic of game reception, what are your thoughts on the current state of pokemon?

OK THIS ASK WAS SENT BEFORE THE HUGE LEAK LOL but I have a lot to say:

I watched VHS tapes, played the games, and owned merch since a young age so the series is very special to me. But I don't like the current direction at all and it's not because of the designs or nostalgia. The quality and game performance plummeted so how can I enjoy playing when there's mad lag or low frame rate that hinders my progress and worsen the experience??

It took too many years for them to realize they need to put quality over quantity after the SWSH mess, seeing that they can get away with pretty much ANYTHING and still make huge profit. You see people say that Pokemon should've never went 3D and stay 2D but tbh, it's a series that improves it's graphics as technology advances so it's not a surprise for them to finally go 3D and personally I think that's fine but just keep it looking good and fun (though I would love a 2D/3D hybrid). XY introduced a lot of new features but still lacked in some aspects that still haven't really been solved or added.

Reusing assets is common in the industry but only to a certain extent. They claimed that SWSH was taking a while to make because they were making brand new models which turned out to be a lie and they look like bootleg figures with the new lighting. The 3DS models were ripped from Pokepark, including some animations, but a lot of them still barely have any character. They have their own in-house team (Creatures Inc) so they made the decision NOT to have pokemon properly animated or look alive.... Also they made spin-offs like Ranger, Colosseum, Pokepark, and Pokken which look AMAZING

FRLG took only one year while HGSS was being developed at the same time as Platinum and took 3 years to finish that turned into one of the best games and remakes ever made. As the franchise expands, the team also needs to add more manpower but Game Freak can definitely afford to get more resources to help them?? They can't continue having a ragtag team of like 20 people to make a game back then and do the same now then expect good results... Hire more people who know how create with current gen consoles IT'S COMMON SENSE PLS also I can't believe they had a different company create BDSP knowing how beloved and groundbreaking DPPT was?? No redesigns like the previous remakes and thought it was a good idea to keep it looking a carbon copy to the DS style...

Also it's shocking to see how fan reception can change how the devs direct the next gen ESPECIALLY when it's not even real constructive criticism?? When Unova came out, I remember seeing all the online outcry about "OH THEY HAVE AN ICE CREAM CONE POKEMON AND A TRASH BAG, THEY'RE RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS EW" then actually hear it being repeated at school.... I WAS TRYING TO SURVIVE SINCE DAY 1 IN THE TRENCHES DEFENDING THIS GAME IT WAS ALWAYS GOOD AND DIDN'T NEED 10 YEARS TO AGE WELL. It's crazy how these are the same people who want another Kanto when Trubbish is Grimer (garbage waste) and Vanillite is Voltorb (based on literal items) then you could not catch any other pokemon from different regions in the main game. And the leak confirmed that the disgruntled hate from the west made the devs not release new pokemon in B2W2 and move them over to XY instead AND NOT GIVE A SINGLE GEN 5 MEGA EVOLUTION. So we were robbed because of genwunners who were fixated on the wrong things and ignored all the great content Unova brought us. It's strange how players keep complaining they want a different and fresh game, but want it to continue being super formulaic and binary like wtf do you want make up your mind

None of the switch titles really got me invested and I always end up replaying the older games but hopefully PLZA will break the curse and finally give us a nice game. Also why don't we have more spin-offs on the switch if there's so many of them floating around like the DS had a bunch??? STOP BEING COWARDS I WANT A POKEMON NINTENDOGS GAME OR THAT FIRE EMBLEM CROSSOVER WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET. I JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN AGAIN ;w;

[bethanythebogwitch]

I talked before about fish Pokemon and that was great, but it's not the only mon series I like. So fuck it, fish Digimon time. This will definitely be less analytical and more me gushing about Digimon I like because I may be a bit out of it right now. Also sorry if I missed any.

Starting at rookie/child level we only have one fish but why would we need more when we have Swimmon?

Loot at it, it's amazing! It's some some sort of tropical fish, obviously, but with some embellishments, like the beak full of teeth. I love how colorful and pointy it is. It works great as a rookie for so many aquatic lines. I think some great lines for it would be Swimmon -> Coelamon -> Piranimon -> MetalPiranhimon or Swimmon -> Tobiumon -> DIvemon -> Surfimon. Speaking of which...

I'm going over champion/adult Digimon together and starting with Coelamon.

It's a coelacanth! Coelacanths are amazing as some of the last lobe-finned fish. In this case, the lobes have been exaggerated into proper limbs, like how lobe-finned fish are the ancestors of tetrapods through intermediate limbed fish stages like tiktaalik. Its armor might also be based on placoderms, extinct fish with bony armor.

We have surprisingly few shark Digimon, but one we do have is Tobiumon, and it's amazing.

A shark with arms that can fly with its fins is such a Digimon concept that all it needs are some guns to be peak Digimon. It even has a remora missile launcher on its chest!

The armor Digimon give us several fish, and while I don't think any of them particularly work as armor evolutions, they're fine as Digimon on their own. And before anyone mentions it, Tylomon is a tylosaurus, not a fish. The first is Manbomon, and while it's a terrible armor evolution for Patamon, A mola mola wearing boxing gloves is such a goofy concept I can't help but love it.

Next is Seahomon, which is pretty obviously a seahorse, but its snout is a trumpet and it has a cape that turns into wings I guess? I dunno, it's a pretty weird one.

My favorite of the three is Mantaraymon. Despite the name, it doesn't have a manta ray's face, instead having a rostrum like a shovelnose ray or even maybe a dolphin. I do like how they used Patamon's ears as the cephalic fins.

Mantaraymon also has a more mechanical X-antibody variant that gives it kind of a stealth fighter vibe. I kind of like it more than the original Mantaraymon, which is saying something since I usually don't like X-antibody Digimon.

Moving onto the ultimate/perfect level we have a new mon from China, Huankunmon.

I love this design so much. Its based on the peng, a mythical creature that can turn from a bird to a fish. Fittingly, Huankunmon's line goes from a bird (Xiquemon) and goes to a bird/fish/dragon hybrid (Xiangpengmon). It'a also based on a flying fish since it can fly with a swimming motion. And it can turn invisible. There's nothing not to love about it.

Next is Piranimon, and look at this absolute beast

Some might call it overdesigned, but I absolutely love it. I particularly dig the tail being a fish hook covered in barbed wire. Its based on a red-bellied piranha, but the pop-culture version where they're bloodthirsty monsters that attack everything they see. Real piranhas are not like that. The helmet it wears may also be based on placoderms, some of which only had the bone armor on the front of their bodies.

Finally at this level, we have Divemon.

I'm not as big of a fan of this as I am of the other two, but I do like the Polynesian-style tattoos it has. Its a combination hammerhead shark and professional swimmer.

Maxing out at the mega/ultimate level we have MetalPiranimon.

While I appreciate any fish megas, I think this is a step down from Piranhimon. It's just a red-bellied piranha with a big metal head dragging around a counterweight. I'm not saying its bad, I'm just saying that Piranhimon is better. Fun fact, Metalpiranhimon came first. Piranhimon was designed because someone thought it was weird that there's a MetalPiranhimon but no regular Piranhimon. There are a few examples of that in Digimon, like SkullBaluchimon coming before Baluchimon.

Next is Regalecusmon, which might be stretching the definition of fish a bit, but it does have an oarfish for a head.

I really like this design, especially it using Zudomon's horn as a sword and what looks like Ebidramon's claw as a shield. I think it would make a great villain for an aquatic episode or storyline of a show. Maybe like a more modern version of MetalSeadramon from Adventure.

Finally, we have Surfimon.

It's a mechanical shark man riding a rocket-powered hammerhead shark surfboard with a buzzsaw on the front. We have reached peak Digimon, people. And even better, it was created by a fan as part of a contest. Frankly, it's a shame that it hasn't gotten any appearances in the anime or games. I don't get why some fan-made Digimon can go onto have major appearances like Dobermon, Cyberdramon, and SoundBirdmon while others get ignored. A lot of them don't even have art. I'd be pretty bummed if I was a kid who won a contest to have my design become official and then it was never used. I think Surfimon should get an anime appearance and the English dub should make it talk like a Californian surfer dude.

[moderator-monnie]

Unlikely Friends. (part 1 out of ???)

Meowth found himself alone as he was separated from Jessie and James. 

So he was on a journey to find them and also avoid any trainers; he hated to admit it, but the twerps would be the best people he could run into since it's likely Jessie and James wouldn't be far behind.

He saw that it was starting to get dark, and that had him worried since he was in the forest, but then he noticed a small campfire up ahead.

"Oh, thank Arceus , let's hope whoever that belongs to let's me stay with them."

As he grew closer, though, he began to hear strange sounds; they sounded like other Pokemon noises, but they sounded distorted and in pain. So he decided to hide behind a tree once he got close enough and saw something he didn't expect to see—a strange Porygon sitting on a pillow next to the fire, though it wasn't just any old Porygon. 

It was a Porygon Z with strange colours and wearing glasses. The pokemon was on the pillow seemingly glitching out. Meowth wasn't sure what to think or even what to do but soon yelled as he heard a voice coming from an abandoned walkie-talkie on the ground next to him. The voice sounded glitchy but also in pain.

"HOOCHI [momma?] THE [pain split] FROM MY [hardware malfunctions] IS BAD TODAY. IF THIS DOESEN'T [clear sky's] BY MORNING, I SHOULD VISIT A [professional technician only 19.99 per minute.] I'M ALSO NOT [pipis] LAYING TODAY, THAT ISN'T [normal type] FOR ME!"

Meowth listened to the words carefully; he could hear the strange advertisements like an advertisement; he knew about Porygon Z's; they were corrupted, and he hadn't talked to many, but none sounded as bad as this; clearly, this one was extra messed up.

Meowth mumbled to himself quietly. "Maybe I should leave, but… it really is dark, tch… fine, I guess I can see if this fella's okay."

Meowth took a deep breath before approaching the figure carefully, and he cleared his throat once close enough.

"Eyyy, um, hi there?"

Spamgon suddenly made a 'cha-ching' noise as his head spun violently and moved away from his body. A strange laughter came from his body as he floated in the air once he noticed the visitor, and his head soon floated back as close as possible to his body.

"OH [lock-key] HERE! IT APPEARS I HAVE A [uninvited guest]. HEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE"

"HI THERE [STRAnger] THE NAMES [spamgon gpory spamgon] ODD A [miitopia] SPEAKING [hue jackman] I ONLY HEARD ABOUT ONE, EVER DOING THAT AND HE'S A [uh oh stinky] [rocket] [rocket] [rocket] BUT YOU DON'T APPEAR TO BE WITH ANY [jet fuel] MEMBERS?" 

Meowth continues to listen to the strange Porygon Z through the walkie-talkie; he swears he could recognize that name. 

He had heard some of the higher-ups mention it once or twice. Normally he'd be excited for a pokemon to catch, which the boss might be proud of if he brought in.

But he could see the pain on the other Pokémon's body, and he could tell Team Rocket was behind it, and he might have been loyal thanks to Jessie and James, but even Meowth had his morals, and if this thing ended up back in Rocket custody, who knows the pain it was under?

He grumbled to himself before taking a deep breath and deciding to lie, just for the sake of not causing a fight. 

"Uh, yeah, no, I'm not that team rocket meowth; I just so happen to be another talking meowth! Yep, Yep, Yeep, that's right! Would you mind if I stayed with you for the night? Also, are you, uh, okay?"

Spamgon began to make dialup noises as he processed the Meowth words, and then when he was done thinking, he made the windows start up noise from his boy.

"SEEMS [legit item for sale] TALKING [pokerman] AREN'T TOO WEIRD AT [yeast] TO ME, HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHH."

"HMM, I GUESS YOU [canned slowpoke tail] STAY WITH ME FOR THE NIGHT! BE RUDE TO TURN DOWN SOME [1] IN NEED! THOUGH EXCUSE ME FOR ALL THE [] I'M A TAD MORE BROKEN THEN YOUR AVARAGE [2Z] DON'T WANNA GET INTO WHY."

"BUT [soma] NIGHTS ARE [bratwurst] THEN OTHERS FOR ME, WHEN IT COMES TO MY [glitchy red] YA HEAR ME?"

"AND YES, I'M [oki-doki] MY [… lost… broken… corrupted] CODE JUST MAKES ME MORE, ME AT THIS POINT!"

Meowth nodded before sitting down near the campfire; he did find himself chuckling a little as he listened.

"Well, thank you. I appreciate this."

He'd be staying here for awhile with this strange pokemon, so he had plenty of time to learn about him, plus it felt nice to talk to someone again. For now, though he rested his feet and just relaxed, even if deep down, he felt a strong sense of empathy for this poor pokemon.

[whentvsfly]

S.E.E.S, but Pokemon. (Kudos to those who can tell who's who without the readmore)

More info after the cut!

Tried to make everyone look like themselves without adding clothing/accessories. More difficult than expected, but a nice challenge!

I imagine either only persona users can use their moves (at all, or effectively, not entirely sure which) or when they use their personas (personamon?) they appear as an altered version of their fully evolved forms. Kinda like the second one better, as a way to use more powerful attacks and keep in theme with Persona games

Tried to keep them with their elemental affinities:

Mitsuru Kirijo: Sneasel. It just had the right vibe for her, and I curled the tail (feathers?) to make it look like her hair (although Akihiko is standing in front of most of them).

Akihiko Sanada: Pawmo. I needed electric type, and with his affinity for boxing and being fit, I figured an electric/fighting type would work well for him! Didn't want to do Pawmi because it wasn't yet fighting type (maybe he evolves sometime after The Fire) and didn't want to do Pawmot because no one else is evolved, so having him be max evolution would feel *weird*.

Shinjiro Arakgaki: Scraggy. A solely phys skill user HAS to be fighting type. There were several choices for him - Mankey was one, I believe - though something about Scraggy's appearance made me go with it.

Minato Arisato / Makoto Yuki: Castform (Sunny). I like to make the wild cards pokemon with several forms, or the ability to transform in some way. His 'base' form in Tartarus is Sunny, since Orpheus has fire attacks, but he shifts with whatever element he's using.

Yukari: Ducklett (Shiny). She was just going to be normal ducklett, but then I remembered the shiny was pink, and it makes her more 'special' and talk of the school, so I decided that's fine haha. Flying is the wind equivalent, here, so it was hard to Not make her some sort of bird. It works though, I think!

Junpei Iori: Charcadet. Needed a fire type, and charcadet seemed spunky enough to be him, out of the ones available. After Chidori [redacted], his personamon changes from an Armarouge-equivalent to a Ceruledge-equivalent.

Fuuka Yamagishi: Psy attacks don't exist in p3, though they do in p5, who I also already pokemoned, but Psychic still fits both psy attacks and navi abilities, so I'll let them overlap. She was able to avoid being killed in Tartarus for 10 hours, so she would have been using teleport to keep herself safe, as well as other psychic moves to detect where shadows lurked. Wanted a pokemon not usually known for attacking, to fit more with the navi role.

Aigis: Iron Valiant. Another phys-heavy user, so I wanted fighting type, and Iron Valiant happened to be just that. Looks like Gallade/Gardevoir (*is* Gallade/Gardevoir but in the future/ an alternate dimension?) but is also distinctly Robotic. Luckily most people pin the oddness about her as 'why is she fully evolved and in highschool' rather than 'hey, that's not a pokemon I know, what the hell'.

Koromaru: Houndour (Albino). There are not too many fire/dark pokemon, to go along with Koro's fire/curse attacks, and one of them just Happened to be a dog. I had to. I also made up an 'albino' coloration, based off of real albino dogs. If shiny, as a genetic mutation exists, then others can as well!

Ken Amada: Dedenne. Very similar to Koro, there are exactly two (2) pokemon that are electric/fairy, as I equate bless to fairy type, and one of those was a legendary. So Ken is Dedenne. It oddly works out, since he looks up to Akihiko, and they're both small, rodent pokemon (who happen to be their pkmn generation's equivalent of pikachu :P)

I have Many more thoughts on this crossover, if anyone wants to talk about it! I have a few more P3 characters planned out (Strega, pharos, ryoji, nyx avatar), P4's Investigation team, and P5's Phantom Thieves, though I need to actually Draw them all.

[salsa-di-pomodoro]

Emmet breaks spacetime to find his brother this, Emmet goes feral without his brother that (which you shouldn't take too far btw), where are the Ingo goes apeshit fics. Where are the fics where Ingo single handedly corrals the gods into getting him (and Akari, if she's tired of being in charge after having to save the world) home. This man is depressed one day about his memories and then his unovan religion socialization kicks in subconsciously and he goes 'no fuck this. I am going to get my memories back whether they comply or not' and that escalates into 'i am going home no matter what' and also 'i am going to be happy. I will make it so'. This man didn't get raised with the values of TRUTH and IDEALS for nothing. That shit sticks in your mind so much even if you don't personally think about it much. Have you seen how many times unovans mention truth or ideals in the games. They're important to them. And they're important to him.

I don't even mean that Ingo becomes a villain or anything. I just mean to say he sees a child befriending gods and goes 'hey what the fuck. If they can do that i can do something about my own situation as well for sure' and don't try to tell me the gods wouldn't listen to him. First off i believe Arceus and everyone else do love their creation, they just sometimes don't understand it. Second of all even if that wasn't true not all the gods agree with each other. If Arceus couldn't or didn't want to do anything he could just ask giratina. Or dialga and palkia. How would palkia help? They bring him to celebi. There's no way he wouldn't get celebis approval especially with palkias help.

What? The Pearl clan wouldn't let him go? Lmao what are you even talking about. Even if they didn't want him to leave the position of warden they value space very much. They'd want him to find his own before all else, and even if they didn't Irida would and her judgement is the most important one in the clan. I'm pretty sure she mentions wanting to travel, too, so she might join Ingo for a time as well.

Something is wrong in Unova upon his arrival? Impossible. Unova loves their Subway bosses and Emmet loves and trusts Ingo enough for that not to be a problem. Even if he didn't Chandelure would be proof enough of something off. i don't think she would just feel her trainer's soul disappear in a split second and not cause a commotion, she'd immediatly begin to freak out. Even without that you know what always fixes shit? Communication baby. This man will not let something go until they've properly discussed it. If the other's opinion is still the same after they've all explained themselves, then fine. But i guarantee you it won't be. If communication is difficult for some reason there is nothing that stops him from making it easier or doing it anyway. He can also go to a god again and have them help out of it's something he can't do anything about himself. Grudge? Gone. Death? Xerneas'd. Legal trouble? Over.

There is nothing that can't be fixed, especially in the pokemon world. It's going to be exausting, and probably very taxing on the mind, but it would be worth it so much. And there is no way Ingo and Emmet aren't both going to go to therapy anyway in the end.

Even if the gods couldn't fix it and send him home, they'd at least grant them both peace of mind. A letter, a picture, sent back or forward in time. With proof that it's real, obviously, and that yes it is god that brought this to you, so there's no misunderstandings. And don't tell me they can't do that, you've seen the arc phone. A space time distortion, conveniently timed on both sides, courtesy of dialga and palkia. They're going to get to be happy eventually, whether that means moving on or being reunited. Though there's like no way they don't get reunited lol

[gotta-pet-em-all]

(@wingsofachampion) What are human mobility aids like? -Tropius

HI HI HI OKAY SO THIS IS ACTUALLY AN INTEREST OF MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!

okay okay i'm gonna be normal about this i am going to be soooo normal yeah no that's a lie i love this so much

so!!! first off we have canes. canes my absolute fucking beloved! you got wooden ones and metal ones, plus a smattering of funky materials, but it's mostly the first two. There are different types of handle, depending on what you use it for. Some people like decorative handles that are carved in the shape of pokemon! Here, I'll grab some fancy ones so you can see.

My first cane was a black aluminum folding cane, with a functional wooden grip somewhere in the derby range. It was adjustable for different heights, which is helpful because if you use mobility aids wrong, they can actually hurt you! It's designed specifically to alleviate the strain from certain areas of the body, and if it's not ergonomically sound, it will put unexpected strain on you.

If your cane is too short, it forces you to lean over, which throws your entire body alignment out of wack. If it's too tall, your elbow is forced to take on the extra strain, which is bad for it. Always get your cane properly fitted! You may need to adjust it if you're wearing shoes with any kind of heel.

Here's an example! This cane has a derby handle, is probably metal, and comes with a carrying case. I love the flowers on it! It's sort of a disabled community thing that a lot of us like to customize our mobility aids, because they're a part of us. When I dream, my cane is with me. Because I would feel naked without it, you know? It's part of me.

Another reason to customize your aids is to emphasize that your disability is permanent. You don't waste holographic stickers on something that you'll only be using for six months as you recover from an injury; it's a way of saying "I'm here and my condition is here to stay, and I'm making the most out of life." And I think that's extremely c-punk.

....i am realizing i'm running out of steam here. oops. i really really just love canes, but i promise there are other mobility aids!

There are forearm crutches! they require both hands, but they give more support than a cane, and on both sides! they're also arguably better than underarm crutches in the long term, but the trade off is that they take longer to use.

Sometimes, leg amputees will use these instead of a prosthetic! Prosthetics are cool and all, but they can chafe or put pressure on the stump, and sometimes they're just not worth it. A lot of amputees actually choose not to use a prosthetic because they manage just fine with the limbs they have, and that's fine!

Next category up is walkers and rollators, which admittedly I'm not as knowledgeable about? But I've seen people attach really cute quilted bags to theirs, and they're very good for long periods indoors.

Next up is wheelchairs-- oh gosh there is so much variation in wheelchairs. At the bottom tier is hospital wheelchairs, which are designed to be pushed by someone else, and then you've got self propelled chairs where the user pushes the wheels using their hands to move forward. and then there's electric wheelchairs, which are for people who don't have the physical strength/coordination/whatever to push themselves manually, and so they just steer!

There's a specific brand of sports made for people in wheelchairs! Like power soccer, or wheelchair basketball! Disabled people can be athletes, or just enjoy the fun of playing a sport for self improvement. There's even a guy I watch on Mewtube who does some pretty sick skateboarding tricks on his chair!

(Side note: I'm not usually a huge stickler for language? Like, I know people who have reclaimed the word cripple, and that's fine. I know people who say differently abled like it's a curse. However! Please note that "wheelchair user" is considered vastly preferable to "wheelchair bound." It's a mobility aid! it's freedom! It can be cool as hell!)

Anyways. Don't take my word as gospel, this is nowhere near comprehensive, but there you have it! my big old ramble on mobility aids! ehehehehehheh i love them so much, such a huge fan of technology invented to make people's lives easier. anyways ough i'm stimming so hard right now but also i am fresh out of spoons from this rant so gnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jeannedarkterraguard]

Holojustice Debut Reactions

Another HoloEN generation another post from me...

Actually i have another Holo-related post in the works but i actually need to do some work for that one...

Anyway first up Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame

-well she's certainly British

-starting off with a song huh... neat

-i know it probably bothers literally nobody but me but her... shoulderpads?... pauldrons?... seem to interact weirdly with her boobs when she moves...

-no Liz you're not tall... no one in hololive is tall... we've been over this

-impressive impressions

-cheeky chicken... so she likes Kiara

-okay that takamori bit was funny

-she dislikes tea? I didn't think that was allowed in Britain

-did... did the stream just end in the middle of her song?

Gigi Murin

-okay that intro video was... confusing... but I liked the artstyle

-a... shock collar... what the fuck

-a jar is not better Gigi... I actually think it's worse

-cool character sheet

-she's really speedrunning this

-i did not expect this vote to be so close...

-she failed to put on shoes...

-see this is what I expected from hololive fans... they made her bark at the dog

-go into the forest there's no way that could go wrong!

-damn!

-i don't think Gigi could lift chat...

-i stand corrected

-holy crap there's a chat game?!

-that was predictable it took twitch forever to beat pokemon... and pokemon doesn't require any kind of timing

-that's... that's European friendly... somewhat it's still 11pm here because of summertime which... nope not gonna rant about that that would take all day

-also I just noticed we didn't get a schedule for Elizabeth

well that was fun... now bedtime and then the other two tomorrow

Cecilia Immergreen

-okay I think she broke

-nevermind she's fine

-her voice sounds somewhat familiar but I really can't put my finger on it... damn this is gonna keep me up all night...

-she speaks German... that's cool

-don't worry Cecilia I also hate coffee... though I also hate tea... or anything that's served warm really... drinks are meant to be refreshing not make me overheat even more

-that went better than Gigis game...

-I've never heard of any of these anime

-or these manga

-violin music... man this brings back memories from when my sister had a Lindsey Stirling phase and wanted to learn to play violin... I think my eardrums still haven't fully recovered from that

-Aaand she crashed the car...

-that was a really weird dream

-more EU friendly streams...

Raora Panthera

-wow... that's an accent...

This is where the sleep deprivation seemingly caught up with me because Raoras movement were actually blurry in my eyes so I did the responsible thing and NOT drink my 5th can of energy and instead went to bed... so everything from here on is me watching the VOD...

-wow her desktop is even messier than mine... barely...

-Italian... so we have a German, an Italian, a British and whatever Gigi is (since she only speaks English and doesn't have an obvious accent I'm gonna assume American)

-also I think this is the first generation in all of hololive where no member is fluent in Japanese right? (Calli and Kiara in myth, IRyS and Bae in Promise and Fuwamoco in Advent... yeah)

-she want's to become a mama in hololive... that would be interesting

-well I think that was her 7th live

-doesn't like reading and skips text in games... Undertale is one of her favorite games... something doesn't add up

-how is naming all the pokemon a talent there's only like... a thousand of them... okay maybe that is a talent...

-4 covers and an original song... they really went all out with this generation...

-7 am EST... we EU fans are really eating good right now

and that's it for this gen they're all really fun but I think Cecilia is gonna be my favorite... anyway see you in my next post...

[adobe-outdesign]

Wobbuffet and Wynaut for the pokemon reviews?

Wobbuffet is inherently a pretty clever Pokemon—not only is it themed after a punching bag, but it has a moveset to match that's mostly defensive or counter moves. (It's also vaguely based off of Sanpei Hayashiya, a Japanese comedian, but that's beside the point.)

What really makes Wobbuffet stand out though isn't its theme or even its design—it's its tail. The bright blue body distracts from the all-black tail, which has eyes, and the 'dex mentions how it will hide its tail by hiding in the darkness. In other words, its implied that the tail is the actual Pokemon, with the "punching bag" part of it being a decoy to distract predators. That's really cool!

And visually, it also gets the idea across with its oval-ish body shape anchored by its legs; it certainly looks like something that would bounce back if hit. I also really enjoy its expression.

Gen 3 brought us a pre-evo in the form of Wynaut, which is fine. I don't think it really adds a lot to the theme or was really needed, but it's at least different enough to be visually memorable.

I like how elements of it play into Wobbuffet when it evolves as well. For example, the eyes "turn sideways", the round part of its head flips backwards, and its ears move down to become Wobbuffet's arms. The single eye on its tail also doubles up, and I feel like the single eye looks a bit better anyway due to filling the space better. I also like how the "dress" edge matches the shape of its mouth.

If there's one issue I have with it, its that it doesn't really come across as a punching bag all that much; I guess you could argue that's the point, that it "grows into" that theme, but I still wish they had found some way of incorporating that idea into the design more. Still, what we got is pretty decent.

Overall, some very interesting concepts and a pretty memorable line as a whole, and that's the way it is.

[crystalelemental]

Crystal Reads PokeSpe - GSC Arc

Alright wife, you win. The manga does in fact get pretty good.

Johto is my region. I'm a huge fan of all of it, so going into the manga, there was a bit of...let's call it apprehension over what it would be like. My wife of course talks to me a bit about the series as she reads it, so I knew a little, and hearing how Gold was, I wasn't really looking forward to it on the whole.

The good news is, I actually kinda liked Gold? Still not that much, but he was better than anticipated. There's only one real moment where I got seriously annoyed with him. Otherwise, he's generally fine.

What makes him fun is the dynamic with Silver. In the early volumes, Silver is blatantly just stronger than Gold is, and is constantly ahead. Moreover, for how much of a little shit Gold is, he is genuinely kind to others, and Silver mimics that by being harsh in his words but compassionate in his actions. It makes them believably antagonistic but constantly willing to set difference aside to cooperate, and it's a lot of fun.

Crystal is, of course, my girl. I kinda love that she gets involved because Oak is just losing his damned mind over none of the dex holders doing their proper jobs of catching things, and Kris is the only one talented in this regard. She's really fun to see in action, being quite confident and clever. Her team is great, with movesets and decisions that actually work beautifully for someone whose focus is capture, including False Swipe Cubone, Spore Parasect, Mean Look Smoochum which I personally loved as a nod to how many wild Pokemon just book it in Crystal. Her sets are super well attuned to what's going on. She also gets a fun dynamic with Eusine, who is a delightful lunatic.

My biggest complaint with the new trio is that they kind of lack for a cohesive trio dynamic. When Crystal joins the group, Silver shows himself out, only showing up for the final battle. And Gold and Crystal...I don't really care for their dynamic, because they barely have one. They don't have a lot of interaction, and most of what's presented as outline is "Gold is the hotheaded boy, Crystal the level-headed girl who needs to keep him in check." They step out of that when things start moving, but it's not a great initiation, and it's the framework their dynamic is seen through. Which is not my favorite.

The gym leaders of Johto are all pretty fun, though some don't get much time in the spotlight. Chuck is really interesting as Blue's old teacher, Bugsy is fun as an active ruins enthusiast, and Falkner being the new gym leader after his father stepped down and an officer on the side is interesting. I do think that Jasmine kinda gets sidelined, outside of her one really interesting moment of revealing Steelix, as does Clair unfortunately. What's more interesting is that Ethan isn't on the gym challenge. I kind of expected that the gyms would be the central focus goal of every main protagonist, similar to the games and anime. But nope! Gold has no interest, Crystal has no interest, and Silver just stole his badges. It lets the leaders do more than just appear for battles, which is nice.

The return of Kanto's gym leaders in the later books is nice, too. Surge gets a surprisingly large amount of screen time for some reason, I guess gearing up for the redemption culminated in Raikou, but it was still unexpected. The return of the protagonist trio is...a mixed bag for me. I like the bit of Red turning out to be injured from Lorelei's ice, and that he turns down the Viridian Gym position that Blue takes up, and I love Green's dynamic with Silver. I do feel like, as things really escalate, the Kantrio takes over more than they should. It's a lot of time on them, and not as much on Johtrio. I feel like this is part of why Crystal and Gold don't get to have much of a dynamic at all.

Now, story stuff. This is where Johto is just way stronger.

The introduction was already pretty good. I like that Gold is very familiar with Pokemon because his house is just full of them, and I like how Silver's thefts are framed and set up. But the end of the first book also introduces the pivot of the Masked Man, who becomes the recurring central antagonist. Things that happen feel well paced, and there's a good amount of serious events as far as Ecruteak's destruction and what happens at the Lake of Rage, into the fury of Lugia.

What I think is particularly interesting is that this set gives a lot of answers and depth to things set up in Kanto. We learn that Green was taken by the Masked Man just like Silver, and that Ho-oh was specifically the bird that took her away, during the time the Masked Man had control over it. Which, side note, I love that the order was "steal children with battle potential," and the only Pallet Town kid stolen was Green. Correct. It gives an explanation for collecting badges as "bypassing the league" rather than a strict entry condition, allowing the gym leaders to be way more threatening. It introduces that sure you can have like 30 Pokemon on you if you wanted, but it's generally agreed that 6:1 is the best ratio to properly care for them so everyone treats trainers with more than six like they suck ass. It brings up Red's presence at Mt Silver in a way that makes sense beyond just "he's training," and I kind of appreciate it. Most significantly, it keeps with the idea that some of the gym leaders were with Team Rocket, but that there wasn't conclusive proof so they're accepted back in, but some that didn't return have vacancies and that's why they're being filled, including with Falkner's gym. Bill is spearheading an effort to make sure that people of decent moral character get hired into the role, not just battle masters, and it's an interesting tie-in given the events of the last set.

Crystal's arc is solid with its introduction, and I like that she kicks Pokeballs because she broke her arms on day 1 of training and never learned how to throw them. It's also a perfect tie-in with the beasts awakening, leading to Crystal's travels and involvement with the larger plot. It ties itself together nicely, and leaves a really long cliffhanger over what happened to Gold and Silver as they were getting rocked by the Masked Man.

The inclusion of the legends as major factors in this arc is nice. The birds were only somewhat important in Kanto, and while Mewtwo was there, it was in an awkward spot of only tangential relevance. Ho-oh and Lugia are centrally important in their connection to Celebi, who is the entire crux of the Masked Man's ambitions to go back in time to undo a great personal tragedy. And yes here's where the spoilers really come in.

The Masked Man's reveal is interesting. I had him pegged at the end of book 2 just given battle style, recognizing that they're setting up "oh there's a lot of ice going on here" as being undeniably Pryce. They finally reveal him as Whitney and the radio crew go down there, train against a Suicune he made out of ice in anticipation of "What is Suicune challenges me like it did all the other gym leaders?" Then they start the hints. Pryce internally hinting that Suicune would never come to him for some mystery reason. Everyone commenting about his age and mobility in the wheelchair so how could it possibly be him? It seemed very obvious. But then the Masked Man is fighting Ho-oh above Tin Tower, while Pryce is in the stands for the tournament, and it's like...huh. Okay maybe I'm wrong? Only for them to pull out that his cane is a camera device that he taps to relay signals to control the ice doll version fighting a legend, while he's doing his own thing. It's pretty neat, actually. I like how they set him up.

His motivation is interesting too. He wants to capture time, in order to go back to save two Lapras that died when he was young. Their egg hatched just then, into his current Lapras and his baby boy I guess, but he never got over the guilt of their death. Despite attempts from his friends to get him to recover, he couldn't accept their efforts in a tribute song, and went down the path we see played out, where he kidnapped children, levels a city, revives a criminal organization, etc. in order to go back to that point in time and...I guess save them? His focus is kind of that anyone and everything around him are just tools to that goal, to cover his past trauma by erasing it completely. It's...interesting. I like it a lot more than Giovanni and Lance's motivations. It's compelling.

I think my biggest hangup is the final battle sequence happening in...kind of the way it does. The events culminate in a staged tournament to draw out the Masked Man, whose identity is only recognized as "one of the gym leaders," where all the gym leaders are brought together and battle for funsies. The tournament is cool! Jasmine being a former Rock-type and showing off Steelix is cool. Whitney should've beaten Misty. Morty and Surge tying is alright, can't complain. Janine and Falkner is a bit of an anticlimax, but I like to believe Falkner was winning. I was kinda rooting for Bugsy but I can't be mad about Sabrina winning. Blue beating his old mentor is really cool, big fan of that. And Price vs Erika was really fun too. Clair vs Blaine happens a bit later and it's fine, but Clair should've won that one.

When it pivots into the action, Gold and Crystal have a decent fight, but the Masked Man escapes, and now we're on to Green trying to get to him, and reuniting with Silver, but the action part is squarely on Green. Then Red and Blue arrive and they're hot on the guy's heels, and the action mostly follows them. Yellow is around too. The legendary beasts being active puts a lot of focus on Misty, Blaine, and Surge. Do you see my issue?

Gold, Silver, and Crystal are not central to the finale. They're fairly sidelined, if anything. They show up late, don't contribute quite as much, and even then Gold kinda goes it alone to directly stop Pryce. So Silver and Crystal are...kind of completely immaterial to this conclusion? They get a bit of a fight, with Crystal having her matchup against the legends (with Ethan) and Silver having his fight with Will, but that's kind of it. Their contributions are otherwise rather minimal. So it feels like the Johto group doesn't get quite as much significance as I would've liked. I can't say this is all that distinct from Red (and then Yellow) being the central protagonist lens for the RBY arc, but it'd be nice to have a bit more balance among the three.

I'll also admit, I'm...not as big of a fan of the Red/Yellow/Misty thing going on? It's thankfully kept very background, not much time is spent on it at all. But I dunno, I think instead of just having two girls be interested in him and treating that as a battle raging despite them seeing to not even really know one another, it'd be nice to have Red just like...reciprocate one way or another. Manga Red is a better incarnation, so it's not even like I hate him like I would games Red, I just (1) find it a little boring that Protagonist Man has two girls interested in him as the only implied romance in the series thus far, (2) the two girls having interest is treated as "there's still a battle going on" despite neither of them seeming to really acknowledge the other, and (3) Yellow feels like the cut and dry answer to me, and I will never get that into a love triangle I feel I would personally solve easily. That last one is petty, but I'm just saying, Red got pretty flustered when he realized Yellow is a girl. I'm just putting that out there.

On the whole, liked GSC a lot better than RBY. I feel like it's more cohesive and does some more interesting stuff with its concepts. RSE is next, and this is my wife's current favorite that got her to play ORAS, and now Hoenn is her second favorite region, so like. High expectations. Kinda looking forward to it.

[pkmnprofloblolly]

Hi! I don’t have a specific question, but I wanted to learn more about trapince, vibrava, and flygon? They’re super cool and I love them but as I’m growing older and learning how much I don’t know, I’m realizing I don’t know a lot about these guys! (How is your flygon also? Did you raise them from a trapinch?)

sure!! flygon is one of my favorite pokemon in the world, i'm always down to talk about it.

i think the biggest misconception about flygon is what it actually is. the majority of dragon-type (or just dragon-like, hi charizard) pokemon with arms, legs, and wings as adults- species like dragonite or salamence- are part of a group of squamates (lizards, snakes, and six-limbed dragons) called the hexapodisauria, meaning six-limbed lizard/reptile. and you'd be forgiven for thinking flygon is part of that group! but in actuality, the trapinch line are actually insects. seriously! they're a kind of antlion, also called a doodlebug (joyous). most of their relatives aren't pokemon (many invertebrate species are not!), so their closest pokemon relatives most would be familiar with are beetles like pinsir and heracross.

you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise, though- they've secondarily lost their first pair of legs (though to be fair, there are many insect pokemon which have only four limbs plus wings), and while trapinch and vibrava are covered in a chitinous exoskeleton, flygon's exoskeleton is only present on its head, legs, and tail. it also, rather uniquely, has a highly developed endoskeleton compared to its relatives. arthropods do indeed have endoskeletons, though they're much less substantial compared to their exoskeleton.

(in case anybody in unfamiliar- skeleton just refers to the supportive structures of an animal's body, and can come in forms like hydrostatic (supported by fluid pressure, as seen in many squishy invertebrates such as frillish or pyukumuku), exoskeleton (skeletal elements on the outside, like the hard carapace of a beetle), and endoskeleton (skeletal elements on the inside, like your bones). arthropods have skeletons made of chitin, while you and other vertebrates obviously have skeletons made of bone.)

the endoskeletons of arthropods are generally for muscle attachment or connective tissue. flygon's endoskeleton is derived from the exoskeleton, and has convergently formed elements similar in function to a tetrapod's skeleton. though, if you were to dissect one it'd look wildly different, more lattice-like in shape in addition to being made of different materials.

& my flygon's doing fine! she's her usual grumpy self. gummy worm (eelektrik) has realized that ground types don't take electric damage and has taken to zapping hermes for fun and she gets SO mad about it

&& nope, i met her as a vibrava! in the desert between castelia and nimbasa, pretty soon after i moved to unova in my first year of college.