#willow's independent study in paldea

[couldbebetterforsure]

Shoutout to Mr. Atticus Pokémon for putting the fear of God in me by nearly wiping out my whole team. My squad was on even levels with his it’s just that he had an answer for basically everyone or ended up hitting WAY harder than I expected. It turned into a war of attrition and I used up a good number of Super Potions and Lemonades trying to hang on by a thread! Trueno and Freyja ended up being the only survivors, and just barely at that!!! Holy fuck thank goodness Freyja’s immune to Poison and otherwise tanked everything else (including a bunch of super effective moves) or this would’ve been a complete shitshow on my end!!!

Well I never claimed to be a master Pokémon player…….Even after all these years………

Anyways, in more positive news, still making great progress in this game! Halfway done with the gyms, the Team Star bosses, and the Titans! Same thing with the academy classes. So basically halfway through the game! I am aware of certain endgame spoilers but I don’t mind, I’m still having a good time! And other than a few minor graphical glitches I have been safe from glitches spoiling my fun! The characters have been very likable so far but, as my Tumblr will tell you, Arven is the one I’m fondest of. Very predictable of me, I had a feeling it’d be him from back when we first got previews, but I was really surprised by how much he ended up clicking with me. As I said in some of my tags on other posts I haven’t clicked this hard with a human Pokémon character since Ash himself!

I also had some evolutions! So my squad is now Carmine the Floragato, Trueno the Pawmot, Anyu the Dachsbun, Gwendolyn the Ceruledge, Freyja the Tinkatuff and Havilland the Kilowattrel.

I haven’t spoken about the evolutions much yet have I? Carmine is adorable and I know the final evo is stage magician based and, potential unpopular opinion, but I really love it and am looking forward to him reaching his final evo. I really love how Pawmot looks like a little shounen protagonist, it’s as funny as it is adorable, especially considering my Trueno is a girl 😆 Anyu my precious baked pupper, my (literally) sweet girl~! Gwendolyn looks soooooooo badass as a Ceruledge, my girl is ready to KILL. Freyja definitely looking more confident and I wanna see her get her giant hammer in her final stage so bad! And, as I’ve said before, did NOT expect Havilland to be sooo huge but he is my big bird and I love him!

[couldbebetterforsure]

I finally got my sixth and final member of my team in Pokémon Violet a few days ago!!!! I ended up catching a Wattrel who I named Havilland, in keeping with my tradition of naming my team flyer after a famous aviator.

Havilland has already evolved into a Kilowattrel (and holy shit did NOT think Kilowattrel would be that big). And he ended up being male so Carmine had a fellow guy on the team after all!

This is possibly the earliest I have ever got my entire final squad settled! But yeah my Paldea babies (as they currently are since not all of them have reached their final evolutions) are: Carmine the Floragato, Trueno the Pawmo, Anyu the Fidough, Gwendolyn the Charcadet, Freyja the Tinkatuff, and Havilland the Kilowattrel.

[couldbebetterforsure]

HI THERE!!!!! It's so nice to see you back after so long 😭😭😭😭😭

Seeing your Pokemon posts reminds me how we missed out on the rest of your Alola liveblog. And I guess you've played the other Pokemon games that came out since? What teams did you end up going with?

Also how was Ultra Necrozma back in USUM? 😈

Aww, how sweet! Thank you for the welcome back! And yeah it really is a shame I never got to complete the Pokemon Moon liveblog but it is what it is. I also have to continue my Tales of the Abyss liveblog one day! Yeah I've had ample time to play it myself and finish it but even though I really wanted to play Abyss it didn't feel right to do so without the liveblog, especially since so many kind people were giving me advice throughout the experience or telling me how excited they were! So I've stayed strong and not played it and also did my best to avoid spoilers (still got a couple because that's my luck 😔) so that one day I can complete that playthrough!

But anyways my dear anon, you asked about my Pokemon teams and I'll gladly tell you. Heck, we'll go in order and I'll tell about all my babies!

Fire Red: Rave the Charizard, Thunder the Raichu, Bella the Butterfree, Arrele the Vaporeon, Draco the Dragonite, and Kori the Articuno. First game to also start one of my traditions of having an Eeveelution on my final team. First and only time I ever had a legendary on my final team and that was mainly because this was my first time playing Pokemon and I sucked bad...Mostly it was because I was having shit luck with Lance, you guys should've seen how hilariously shit I was when I played this game! And yeah as you can tell I wasn't the most creative nicknamer at this point.

Soul Silver: Stuey the Feraligatr, Lindbergh the Fearow, Zappy the Ampharos, Rocky the Onix, Vula the Ninetales, and Kaede the Espeon. My mixed Kanto/Johto team! Started my tradition of the Flying type named after a famous aviator, which is supposed to be the regional bird but I grew too attached to my Fearow Lindbergh to replace him. Also yes Rocky is indeed the same Rocky you get in an in-game trade...I loved him too much to let him go too. He and Vula, who was only a Vulpix when I faced the Elite Four because I couldn't get a fucking Fire Stone, did really well despite not being evolved!

Alpha Sapphire: Sascha the Sceptile, Twizzler the Linoone, Auriol the Swellow, Lyn the Manectric, Odense the Glaceon, and Capricia the Armaldo. This was the game I really got into my other tradition of having an Electric type with a name based on light/thunder/lighting/electricity/etc. Twizzler was another one of those "not supposed to be on the final squad but grew way too attached" Pokemon. This was also one of the few generations I loved the Grass starter most.

Platinum: Tarrle the Infernape, Sparks the Luxray, Earhart the Staraptor, Burgess the Roserade, Bemo the Floatzel, and Juby the Umbreon. Juby my baby boy was my MVP against Giratina he stalled so well while I tried to catch my shadow dragon baby. Gosh, just looking at these guys brings me flashbacks of our Cynthia attempts. This was also the first Pokemon game I played where I experienced a glitch! It was right before I caught Burgess, I was trying to catch a Budew and the game just randomly froze up on me.

Black: Ashby the Samurott, Richthofen the Unfezant, Lochrin the Krookodile, Fulgur the Galvantula, Bia the Beartic, and Drachen the Hydreigon. Drachen was still only a Zweilous when we completed the main story because I have a strict "no being a higher level than the Gym Leader/Champion/Final Boss ace" rule. And I'm no cheater like stupid old Ghetsis!!!! I love the Joltik/Galvantula line so much like way to make the cutest spider ever, so I was so excited when I got Fulgur!

White: Mariele the Serperior, Brinny the Stoutland, Ame the Simipour, Bolt the Zebstrika, Yeager the Archeops, and Dexio the Druddigon. Originally only stuck with Simipour because I needed a Surf user and we all remember Unova was really lacking in the Water type department. But he honestly grew on me more than I thought he would that I was like "no he's my child don't say anything about him >:(" to anyone who hated the elemental monkeys. Also, just like with Black, no Eeveelution on my team this time around.

Black 2: Telavive the Emboar, Milan the Leavanny, Lelouch the Lucario, Piorun the Jolteon, Cassie the Sigilyph, and Arach the Haxorus. I'm listing my teams in order the Pokemon games came out but Telavive was my first female starter, not Mariele. I don't even like Code Geass but for some reason when I caught my Riolu the name Lelouch just clicked with me. Cassie here was the real oddball of them team because I always considered Sigilyph so offputting and never considered having one on my squad. And yet she really ended up growing on me as I battled with her.

Y: Ketchum the Greninja, Andrieux the Talonflame, Kaname the Sylveon, Éclair the Heliolisk, Amarin the Aurorus, and Lulu the Goodra. Can't believe it took me until Gen 6 to name one of my babies after my precious gem Ash. This game was the reason I bought the 3DS in the first place and I had thought I wouldn't do well with it but that system introduced me to so much stuff. Also as I mentioned a long time ago, my Y game was stupidly lucky!!! There were so many good Pokemon in this gen.

Moon: Oliver the Decidueye, Anoli the Flareon, Torden the Vikavolt, Coleman the Toucannon, Vitenka the Mimikyu, and Yurinova the Drampa. For anyone who asks I named my Decidueye Oliver because I liked the name not because of a comic book character, that's just a really incredible coincidence! You guys may recall from my liveblog that Torden was just there and I had no intention of him staying but then like 24 hours later he was my grub son. I had so much fun playing this game and yes, of course, I named the legendary Nebby!

Ultra Moon: Marseine the Incineroar, Orage the Alolan Raichu, Avonaia the Dusk Form Lycanroc, Ulrich the Leafeon, Falomi the Ribombee, and Quimby the Noivern. The last game I played with an Eeeveelution on my team because with Ulrich I had one of each and there haven't been any more forms released yet. Orage, Avonaia, and Quimby were all Pokemon I wanted back in Moon but Alola had so many good picks they had to make the cut. So I was glad to have them on a final team at last!

Sword: Einwald the Cinderace, Crossfield the Corviknight, Elodie the Alcremie, Mirum the Flapple, Salama the Toxtricity, and Philomena the Frosmoth. Elodie is specifically a Mint Cream Berry Sweet version because I adore blue so much! Almost didn't get Berry Sweet because it was taking me FOREVER to get the berry decoration but on my last attempt I finally got one. I never was closer to the end of my rope than when I was desperately trying to level up Mirum while waiting to get his evolutionary item. I know people have grievances with gen 8 but I sincerely had a great time playing and loved the cast and there were great Pokemon to be found in this gen!

Legends Arceus: Takamasa the Hisuian Typhlosion, Shigure the Wyrdeer, Megumi the Kleavor, Yoshie the Hisuian Lilligant, Shinobu the Hisuian Zoroark, and Konoe the Sneasler. The first time I ever broke both my Electric AND my flying tradition. It was because by the time I got attached to my squad there weren't any other Hisui only Pokemon left that I really clicked with but then again how fitting for a Pokemon game so out of the norm that none of my personal Pokemon traditions made a showing. And as you can see in keeping with the setting I stuck with Japanese names for my babies. I had so much fun with this game and would love to see more Legends-like Pokemon games in the future!

WOW that got pretty long huh? Sorry anon, I'm sure you didn't ask for the essay but I got excited to talk about my Poke babies~! I'm also casually playing some Nuzlockes/Wedlockes on other versions but those are very much a work in progress in terms of what my squads will look like there so it'll be a LONG time before I update you on those teams.

I'm currently going through Violet and while my final team isn't set yet I have Carmine the Sprigatito who's gonna become Meowscarada and Trueno the Pawmi who will become Pawmot. My plan as of now is to have Tinkaton, Dachsbun, and Ceruledge on my final squad but anything can happen between now and me getting them. My one big question is I can't decide on who my Flying type should be because I saw several options and I'm torn between them. Will update once I have a final squad for Paldea! Oh, and even though he's not technically a battling member, Karui the Miraidon is OF COURSE a part of my final squad by default!!!

And to close this out, how was Ultra Necrozma you ask? Well I had heard about its level and how obscenely hard a fight it is but I also heard the following Kahuna battle was at a lower level. So, in keeping with my strict rule mentioned in the Black section, I went into this fight really underlevelled and scared as fuck.....Only for Marseine to hold on with one HP because he loved me after getting smacked by Power Gem and then proceed to OHKO Ultra Necrozma with a critical hit Malicious Moonsault.

So yeah lol 😂😂😂

[couldbebetterforsure]

Making some good progress playing Violet! I already have five out of six members of my final team!

Carmine the Floragato, Trueno the Pawmo, Anyu the Fidough, Gwendolyn the Charcadet, and Freyja the Tinkatink.

The funny thing is Carmine is the only boy on the squad so far! I guess we’ll see if that sticks whenever I find my final team member. I’m still trying to decide who it should be. In keeping with my personal tradition it has to be a Flying type so I can name it after a famous aviator but there’s a bunch of flyers in Paldea, I don’t know which one to get! I guess I’ll see which one I end up clicking the most with.

Oh and of course Karui the Miraidon is our unofficial seventh member of the squad. I love my robo doggy lizard bike to bits, he is my sweet sandwich loving baby and just as part of the team as everyone else!

[couldbebetterforsure]

I never did get to update so I’ll say it now. A couple days ago I finally finished the main story for Pokemon Violet!!!!

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

The end of Arven’s storyline broke my heart as much as it healed it. I was so happy to see Mabosstiff stand up and ready to play with Arven. And Arven just hugging his good boy, in tears. He deserved it! And you know what for a guy who says he’s bad at battling my boy Arven packed a hell of a punch in his battle! Especially his Mabosstiff, the good boy was a scary boy!!!

I was not surprised at all by Penny being Cassiopeia. Like, I would’ve been genuinely more shocked if it really HADN’T been her. Also gotta say...Clavell gave me a much harder time than her 😅 Though I appreciate the Eeveelution theme! And it was a really sweet ending that Team Star weren’t punished for being victims, that the truth came out and they can now move forward from their bullying openly and all together.

The Elite Four ended up being pretty easy overall, Hassel was the only one who gave me actual trouble. But I liked all of them as characters, especially my beloved crybaby grandpa Hassel, and I like how they stick around and make comments after each one’s turn. Geeta was also surprisingly easy for how she was built up as La Primera. It was both funny and kinda adorable that she had a Gogoat on her team. Honestly if she had put that Glimmora of hers in the lead I would’ve had a MUCH harder time. Nemona’s final showdown finally came along too aaaaaand....I demolished her. It’s actual hilarious how badly I wrecked her. Sorry Nemona!

As for the final storyline, Area Zero was gorgeous! And it has some of the best area music in the game! I loved interacting with the robo future Pokemon and I enjoyed the slow hints over what happened and the reveal of Turo’s true nature (even though I was already spoiled on this it didn’t make the reveal any less wow). My only problem was I kept having trouble figuring out how to get to certain areas that I would literally send my character plummeting off cliffs and the sides of roads because I couldn’t figure out how to get down 😅

The final Turo battle was soooo much fun! A fun challenge, great music, beautiful environment, it had it all! And the Miraidon vs Miraidon showdown was so great, even if it’s a scripted battle. Karui, baby, you earned that comeback against the other Miraidon! And for fuck’s sake, what does Gamefreak have against Arven???? This poor kid...this game, ESPECIALLY this finale, was not kind to him. My sweet little sunbeam chef, I knew I chose right having you as my fave. The ending group picture was super cute. And hell yeah, I finally got to officially get Karui and actually NAME him Karui at last! I’m keeping him in ride mode though since that way he can actually hang out with the rest of the gang.

So yeah my final Paldea squad is Carmine the Meowscarada, Trueno the Pawmot, Anyu the Fidough, Gwendolyn the Ceruledge, Freyja the Tinkaton,  Havilland the Kilowattrel, and Karui the Miraidon!

I actually had a great time in Paldea! The story was fun and the characters were lovely. It’s a shame, I feel a little more time in the oven and this game could’ve been something real special for everyone instead of being so known for its bugs. But either way, I enjoyed it a ton and, maybe after I finish Engage, I’ll be continuing to do post game and catch those Ruinous Legends!

[couldbebetterforsure]

I know I’m going slow as molasses but I’m almost done with Pokémon Violet!!!!

I finished getting all eight badges and I also finished getting all the Herba Mystica. That final cutscene between Arven and Mabosstiff murdered me from all the emotions I felt. I was so happy that big old doggo was alright, especially for Arven’s sake! All that’s left for me is facing the last Team Star boss, taking on the Pokémon League, and then whatever the hell is going down for the endgame! I’m super excited for this!

Also my whole squad has reached their final evolutions. And so my Paldea babies are Carmine the Meowscarada, Trueno the Pawmot, Anyu the Dachsbun, Gwendolyn the Ceruledge, Freyja the Tinkaton, and Havilland the Kilowattrel. Oh and of course we cannot forget my sandwich loving robo dragon puppy bike Karui the Miradon!