#xy specifically because z-a this year!!!

[sparksterssillysongs]

Pokemon X & Y - Title Screen

[doubleddenden]

Had a thought about Pokemon for the first time in a while. DD's theory corner time:

Legends Arceus- Arceus is in the title, basically the kick to get the plot ball rolling, our ultimate goal

Legends Z-A, if we were to try basing it on the one title before it, probably references Zygarde. Makes sense if we compare the Z to XY- except the A.

Theory: Legends "2" has two title legendaries associated with it. The A is a new Norse inspired Pokemon that represents some new aspect of dimensions (like the X, Y, and Z planes of a graph that formulate latitude, longitude, and the spaces between).

I know I'm not the first to speculate this, but I think I do want to speculate exactly what the A could be. A certainly doesn't fit in with the XYZ planes (or at the least, nothing is really turning up on Google). HOWEVER, the Norse angle does have a hit we could try to wrestle with.

Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde all represent various aspects of the specific Norse iteration of the World Tree mythos (the reason it's so popular world wide is because- much like the world turtle- mythos for world trees exist all around the world)- in this case, Yggdrasil.

Xerneas is the embodiment of life, and embodies aspects of the tree itself, plus seems to be based off of the 4 stags that eat at the branches of the tree. Their names are Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór- no, I don't know how to pronounce those either, but basically as they eat at the branches, the life dew that forms on their antlers flows downwards to create rivers of the world. That's how we get to Xerneas being the tree, the stags, and life itself.

Yveltal is death, and possibly based on an "unnamed eagle" that sits atop the World Tree- aka the Y axis- Or it could possibly be the hawk called Veðrfölnir that sits between the eyes of the unnamed eagle. These birds are attested to be a source of knowledge and possibly are based off of Odin's ravens, which fly off and return with new knowledge. Hawks, Eagles, and Ravens are all birds associated with death to some degree, whether killing prey itself or scavenging dead corpses. That could be how we get a death bird that opposes a life deer

Zygarde is most likely based on the Nidhogg, a dragon that feasts on the roots of Yggdrasil and in particular seems to actually be a villain in early stories. The Nidhogg apparently nibbled and ate corpses of those who lost honor, particularly those guilty of adultery, murder, and oathbreaking. In this case, the fact that Zygarde watches the ecosystem could be a simple role reversal to what Yveltal was supposed to be, and could even embody various aspects of Norse pantheon itself.

Now there is one more prominent creature that could be worked with- Ratatosk- which is a squirrel like creature that communicates messages between the unnamed eagle and Nidhogg, and basically was sort of a chatty gossip that seemed to start shit on purpose, basically harassing the fauna of the tree and continuing the fued between Eagle and Nidhogg. This could already be incorporated into Zygarde's cell system, as the cells communicate with each other across the world- but seem to exist to SOLVE problems instead.

Still, as we've seen from the above, Game Freak isn't afraid to remix or twist ideas to make their own. So I'm gonna say Ratatosk has a strong chance of being legendary A, in this case. Something to note is that it may not be 100% a squirrel in this case, much like how Zygarde is a snake and a dragon, but it's still something that can be meddled with.

Now the question would be: what does A bring to the table that Life, Death, and Order does not?

Before that, let's ask WHY there'd be a Legendary A. Xerneas and Yveltal, by nature, are beings that go into long slumber once they've done their jobs- according to XY, that would have been about 3k years before the start of the story, where Yveltal drained the life of everyone and thing around it before turning into a cocoon, and/or Xerneas becoming a tree that granted life instead.

GF can do whatever they want, but there's something else to note: if ZA takes place ENTIRELY within Lumiose, that means we're not going to Geosenge where the cocoon or tree were to power the cannon Lysander almost destroyed the world with. Now they'll probably bring them back anyway, but if they'd play as big of a role as Zygarde, why not call the game XYZ like the anime?

Hence A. Pokemon loves legendary duos, and so A could potentially be the opposite of Zygarde. In other words: CHAOS, the opposite of order.

This could fit imo, given that Ratatosk loved to start shit. Not to mention, A is opposite to Z in the alphabet- certainly would explain why it pops up against the established XYZ.

Of course, you can't talk about Norse mythology in the modern Era without bringing up Thor or Loki. While Thor has yet to be represented imo (and hey, who is to say all we get is A in this case for a new legendary), Loki is probably one of the most well known people from this mythos. And, again, given that we've established that GF isn't afraid to mix things around, I personally think A will be a mix of Loki and Ratatosk.

In other words, a trickster that THRIVES on starting shit.

While it's initial basis for Ratatosk is a squirrel, Loki was a shapeshifter that took on various forms, including the infamous horse that would give birth (yes Loki got pregnant and gave birth) to the 8 legged horse, Sleipnir. Loki also took forms of creatures such as a fly, a salmon, and even an elderly woman.

Now picture this: doesn't this sound like something that could be used for traversal? A salmon or fish form for surfing, a fly or flying insect form for gliding or flying, a horse for faster traversal- if we throw in the squirrel, that could easily climb things, and the elderly woman could easily be worked in either as a villain, npc, or even integrated into a final form akin to Zygarde's 100% form.

So does the Pokemon transform? Does it work like Zygarde and have bits and pieces to collect? If it's Chaos, why would it help us?

That I'm unsure of. It may not even happen- but we do need a reason as to why suddenly Zygarde is okay with humans rebuilding Lumiose. And again, it could simply be trying to start shit, perhaps helping us retake a Lumiose reclaimed by nature as a way to simply piss off Zygarde. Of course, it could also be the enemy that took over Lumiose to begin with, or it could simply be a generic friend Pokemon, who knows.

It could even be that those forms mentioned earlier could be taken separately as new forms or special Pokemon akin to the likes of Wyrdeer or Kleavor. Or not at all of course.

We won't know jack until we get an actual trailer for the game itself, but I think that the red tinge in the title art could indicate something. Unclear what.

If I were to think of a name... Aosk? Like Chaos and Ratatosk. And the animal? A rat. On the nose, but snakes eat rats, and Zygarde is a snake. Duality, bitches.

We can probably assume AZ will be here since he's cursed with immortality, and we can't ignore the fact that Z-A is AZ backwards. So whatever it is, legendary A might have something to do with him as well.

In fact, now that I think about it, that red tinge does match the color of the canon... what if this was a Pokemon directly created as a result of the canon?

Anyway that's all my rambling.

[bleedingmyway-blog]

on the subject of nintendo hype, i also miss pokemon hype pre XY (which are already 11 years old, wow !), which i know is : 1- oddly specific 2- really old ? i'm talking about basically, back in 2006-2007. now, while i was pretty much a kid back then, i remember that the internet was only useful for three things for me back then : 1 cartoon/anime openings (the dragonball Z op was the first thing i ever searched for on youtube) 2 videogame help and 3 pokemon. whenever i had access to the internet, i'd look for stupid fan art of pokemon fusions, fanfics shipping a variety of the characters from the series and news on the games.

the reason why i specified before XY is because Pokemon X/Y were the first episodes of the series to be announced globally.

on tuesday 8th of january 2013, pokemon xy was announced. i remember running home from school at 12 to open my laptop (that i had left on in the morning so i wouldn't waste a single second) to see the trailer

you have to understand that before, the games were first announced in japan, released there and then eventually announced for the rest of the world (europe, usa) and released. this was a BIG event. but prior to xy, unless you could speak japanese and lived there, you were practically left in the dark about the most recent pokemon news/events. "why not watch the trailer in japanese then and quit dramatizing past events lol ? "

the reason is that back then, a trailer was the culmination of months and months of mystery and hype. you didn't get the trailer first. rumors would circulate from "insiders" and so called trust worthy leakers from japanese and american image boards that a game was in the works (and these rumors would usually start 6-9 months after the release of the most recent mainline game), then speculations about the region, thematic, features would start; i remember how each gen we had someone saying "this time, we'll be able to explore ALL regions !" or "this is going to be open-world in 3d on the TV console !".

remember : the internet was a much more decentralized entity back in the mid/late 00's. information did not drip down from a single verified source on 3-4 social media accounts ; it spread unevenly, gathering misinformation, theories and the interpretation of the relayer along the way. you're probably going to ask "well, if you didn't get it from the official twitter/facebook (this is 2008), where did you get the info from ?"

we got it the old fashioned way. i present to you, the corocoro magazine

the magazine, launched in 1977 is a children's mag that advertised a variety of manga and most importantly video games to a younger audience. and you would not believe how dependant the online pokemon community was on this magazine : any info concerning a new game, teasers, shadows for the shapes of starters would be there. mind you, google trad was not as developped as it is today : you couldn't just up and whip out your phone to translate the text from your computer screen. you had to wait for translators to do so; and boy, was it exciting. i remember how on the french pokemon bubble, it was a race between various websites to translate the info first ; either from the english translation, or directly from the source, if they could comprehend japanese.

source : japanese TV show "Pokemon Sunday" circa 2010-11

and since i mentionned shadows, here is a tradition that sadly disappeared : shadows of the new gen starters as a teaser. surely, i don't have to name or even show you the starters on the picture above for you to recognize them. instead, let us see how creative such teasers got the community :

(i'm too lazy to currently fire up the wayback machine and get some of the fan designs which i remembered to be quite interesting back then)

and so it went on: drip fed teasers, leaks and speculations about info that we take for granted now, like the very names of the new pokemon in english, of the rival and the game's evil team, new or returning mechanics, etc. the hype would go on, info would become clear as we near the japanese release, then once it does, we all sit behind our screens jealous at the lucky ones who either lived in japan or uhm, accidentally received an online package containing a rip of the game's file (jokes aside to avoid getting censored, if this was the case, the games would have safety patches that didn't allow it to be read by the current firmware of jailbroken consoles).

the lucky ones would document their adventure, some try to prepare guides in advance for the international release, others cook-up fan translations ; and at that point, theories have begun. all before we even get the game !

to be honest, i did not expect this to be this long, but as i wrote, i remembered more and more, and like an old sailor, got to recall why i was so excited for pokemon back then. i lived for the hype : play pokemon, next game gets announced, get on the hype train, write theories, debate with other fans on forums, convince people that we're not getting a 3rd gen remake on the Nintendo DS, game releases, rinse, wash and repeat.

to me, this entire topic is an interesting look at the aspect of a bigger topic; the centralization of the internet over the years and the controlled spread of information. of course, i won't get into this here or now, but i'll also add that whatever i put down does somewhat apply to not only nintendo but also games from japanese manufacturers as well : even more obscure light novels on ps4 are getting releases in various languages now. before, you needed a japanese console to play japanese games, a german game would not work on an american console, etc. i am not necessarily nostalgic for this - it was annoying, and some of us missed many games because of it. but i will admit that the absence of teasers and hype when you can just datamine or immediately get the info on twitter from a game dev is saddening. i shall leave you, dear reader, with this trailer for pokemon black and white 2 that had me excited for a month :

[sleeping-realist-waking-dreamer]

currently sad abt how paldea just has No culture

long post ahead i rambled longer than i expected

like ive been replaying gen 7 and like. the regional identity and theme is so strong??? the island deitys, the overhauling of traditional progression, the clear messages of friendship and family, kindness, nature, etc. and even between different towns, theres the tourist downtown strip, malie which has been built by those who immigrated from Johto, fuckin PO TOWN. but dont even get me STARTED on how powerful team skull is, being hoodlums of teens forgotten and ignored by the world now rejecting the island challenge and everything it stands for in pursuit of finding their own family with the other team skull members.

what does paldea have. they all need cyclizars to get around this obscenely way too large map or taxi money to go in a cab lofted by parrots because theres seemingly no other ways to get around. also the citys are based off those in spain and like. they type of gym leader there but ultimately have next to no individual flavor. nobody talks to you about the towns or world, the overarching theme of the game is "treasure" which is already dumb but also barely feels present beyond everything you do, the "evil" team is interesting but ultimately a self contained plot point that basically only hinges around the school, noone talks about team star outside of their specific scenes or the intro sequence. theres no god tier legendaries the people respect and look up to, nobody talks about the world at best people talk about that rich school thats so important for Some Reason and yet we still know so little concretely about it and. ARGH.

this game has such good plots and stories but ultimately despite supposedly being open world, the world doesn't EXIST. the people here dont have any serious beliefs or culture, they just talk about battles and sandwiches i guess.

Like, compare this to Every other game in the series. Kanto was. kanto. but like, even then lavender town and some other locations give more character to the graveyardless (DESPITE HAVING A GRAVESTONE POKEMON) Paldea. even while less cohesive, Johto is astonishingly rich even this early on, Hoenn has connection between people and Pokemon, sinnoh has. so much i love sinnoh even tho its a bit weaker imo but still has belief in good versus nihilism with Cyrus, with several towns having their own flavors, unova was unova yall already know its better, gen 6 region name even bests paldea with having beauty of life as a theme, alola i talked about, galar i never played nor got invested in but i feel like its better than PALDEA.

i say this as someone with 200+ hours in this game. i hate how little real identity it has. the fact that this main entry thats actually proud of itself is better than xy-KALOS IT'S KALOS. the fact that this does better than goddamn kalos in generation six, year of the "we got scared of regional identity and were dealing with a lot right now, we put gen 1 in here to appeal to the genwunners pls enjoy and buy game. also we're too scared to even do a pokemon Z. please dont pay attention to anything new this game brought to the series pllllssss" is ASTONISHING. FOR A SUPPOSED OPEN WORLD GAME!

and NO! scarlet and violet are not "open world" games. Theres no world to explore, theres no extra things you Get for exploring, theres nothing to see that doesn't look like Plastic, there is still an intended progression order you need to follow to even have a shot at enjoying the battles, theres no extra stories you get for exploring, no extra cities, noone who talks about anything interesting, nothing. The world exists only as a map you use your sandwich dragon to get across. Which, it's UNNECESSARILY MASSIVE. there is NO reason for the map to be this large.

BECAUSE THERE'S NO CULTURE OR IDENTITY THE OPEN WORLD FEELING SUFFERS. you dont get anything for going out of your way and exploring the world at hand, you just get like, scattered XP candies and berries or an HM or two. a couple trainer battles with generic dialogue. In a good open world, there are sidequests in various locations, that give you something about the world and offer a unique task. A random trainer at the bottom of a cliff is charming but... Why cant we help???!

Also, I'm not talking about DLC. Glimmerazzi, ogre ousting, the absolute dogshit BBQ situation are all interesting but I'm not paying Another 30$ for a finished game and also most of that has nothing to Do with paldea so cope. I will say though that the base game needed more glimmerazzi or perrin's pokemon snap quest. Like, being given the opportunity to do something that doesn't tie back in the story, just being there to do aside from the story.

anyways this post is a mess im so aurgh about this game ok. i love it and i want to see it be better. i keep trying to think about the characters in the world itself but paldea just has. Nothing!!! there's nothing we learn about them and it's so frustrating bc i Want to see that!!! and yet there's just. Nothing.

[thaorins-gate]

Neterar'iris Reproduction

Neterar'iris reproduction is far more complex than Humans. The Neterar'iris adopted the Z chromosome from the Xorcid.

Neterar'iris sexual and waste expulsion organs are located around the base of the tail and hind legs.

The Neterar'iris have two primary sexes:

Dosa

xx or xy chromosomes

Ago

xyz or xxz chromosomes

The Dosa go through heats once every six months, that last for three to four days. During which their bodies constantly produce slick and prepare itself for pups. They will overeat two days before their heat (pre-heating) and eat very little during their heats. Their Immunol technology often helps keep them alive during heats. During their heats they feel an overwhelming urge to have sex with an Ago, to produce pups. They will also prepare a nesting space to spend their pregnancy out of clothing and blankets with familiar scents.

The Ago undergo ruts once every twelve months, that last for three to six days. Because Ago have less frequent ruts a two-Ago, one-Dosa polycule are the most common dynamic. During their ruts Ago have strong impulses to seek out a Dosa to breed and knot. The Ago have the ability to trigger Dosa heats by biting them, as they produce a specific antigen during their ruts. Similarly, Dosa can trigger Ago ruts through a pheromone detectable through their antenna. Ago also have a nesting instinct when rutting.

Out of heat/rut, Dosa and Ago produce individual pheromones. These pheromones can indicate their mood, and be used as a form of identification as no two pheromones are the same. Pheromones are detected via Neterar'iris antenna.

Neterar'iris develop their secondary sex characteristics (Dosa and Agro behaviors) at the age of 16-18, however, they are not considered an adult until they are completely physically mature (18).

In regards to genitalia. Neterar'iris with y chromosomes will have a pseudo-phallus that produces a slick, viscous fluid with no semen. Ago (Neterar'iris with a z chromosome) have a functioning phallus that produces semen. Dosa carrying an x chromosome have a womb and vaginal canal; Ago do not (even if they carry an x chromosome). In the absence of a y chromosome, the Dosa will have a clitoris. Ago with a y chromosome have a vaginal canal, but no womb.

Pouches and Pups

Neterar'iris are biologically polyamorous out of necessity as pouches are determined by a gene, rather than their sex. If they want to have pups, they need to find a Neterar'iris with a pouch, in addition to a Neterar'iris with a vagina. Both Ago and Dosa can have pouches. The Neterar'iris with a vagina does not need to have a pouch to get pregnant. Pregnancy lasts six months, and litters are usually three to nine pups (though a margin of one or two pups is not uncommon). When pups are born they are three to six inches.

Parturitioning Neterar'iris produce an antigen in their saliva, they then bite a Neterar'iris with a pouch. This antigen will trigger the pouch to start preparing for pups, and it will begin to produce milk within twenty-four hours. The Neterar'iris has a twelve hour window to bite someone after parturitioning.

Neterar'iris with pouches will develop breasts, regardless of their sex or genitalia. Pups will stay in their pouches for six to eight weeks, and when they are ready to leave, the Neterar'iris' breasts will start to produce milk. Pups are breastfed for up to a year after leaving their pouch. Pups are usually a healthy twelve to eighteen inches after leaving their parent's pouch.

[quilveor]

Friend sent me this, and as a self-titled pokemaniac, I'd do wrong to not reply and elaborate on every single of those points. I already did to them, after all.

Quickest summary: Yes, the pokemon universe is ripping apart at the seams. Some details sound off, though, but the world is just gonna snap in half any time soon. Beware spoilers for almost all mainline [gen 3 onward] and all PMD games.

1) It's unclear where Mega Evolution actually comes from. There's two leading theories - yes, ORAS says meteorites, but XY says the energy of the Ultimate Weapon. The answer is probably both, because Pokemon doesn't care about consistency. Alternatively one set of worlds just has a lot more energy in it. 1.2) This is merely trivia that was certainly just an offhand meta joke, but in HGSS, Steven says he was fought by multiple identical-looking kids, implying every single playthrough of Ruby and Sapphire is set in the same world. The implications are hilarious. 1.5) Yes, Anabel is from Emerald world. People falling through holes is often enough to get them a name of a "Faller". Other notable Fallers include Mohn [husband of Lusamine, main villain of gen 7] and Looker [a detective from Platinum that appears in X/Y too]

2) True. I forgot they were silver-skinned myself, but the humanoids are called Ultra Recon Squad. Their world is devoid of light due to Ultra Necrozma. Also important is that, due to those wormholes, local pokemon are imbued with special energy called Z-Power, overdose of which turns individuals big. This is the same energy that Ultra Necrozma possesses.

2.2) Another minor trivia: Lunala, Solgaleo and Necrozma are all technically ultra beasts, but they are not counted as such in game's code. Probably to let you catch 'em without doing a post-game quest, but still, funny.

3) More specifically, you can capture Cosmog [which evolves into Cosmoem, and then into either Solgaleo or Lunala depending on your game version], but the mirror world thing is true. However, I am not sure it allows your pokemon to evolve into the other mascot. I'm not saying not, I'm just saying I'm not sure, since evolution is version-locked. 4) Eternatus. That's basically the plot of SwSh for those who care. There was a Catastrophic Event™️ including him, but he got defeated - then, in current times, local energy plant owner got him and wants to do Catastrophic Event™️ again because we will run out of energy in a thousand years. I am not joking. It's dumb. Rose is dumb. 4.2) Eternatus came from a meteorite, too. Perhaps Dynamax phenomenon and Mega evolution are two sides of the same thing? 4.5) Said energy made its mark for long enough that on a nearby island, mushrooms grow that allow the pokemon to enter their alternative big boi modes, "Gigantamax", or "rearranged genetic makeup" as OP calls it. It's a temporary form so I wouldn't be so dramatic myself. 4.7) Eternatus has his own special big boi mode where he turns into a huge-ass hand. It's called "Eternamax". During the fight with him, you get to see flashes of other locations and times in the background.

5) Mmmm, ScaVio's time machine. It's important to stress that the theory that paradoxes are basically Sada/Turo's imagination is just a theory. It's popular, sure, but paradox pokemon have been in the region for over 200 years, and the original research team was there in search of treasure, not weird beasts. What is true is, those creatures are there in the crater of Paldea, and it's also the source of Terastal energy which is basically the local phlebotinium. The robot in question is professor's AI in a robot clone body. It's specified that scientists cannot do such technology yet, but Terastal energy helped out somehow. It is hard to say however if it's sentient, or just very sophisticated, cases can be made both ways. Pokemon doesn't need to explain a damn, after all. The Time Machine that's mentioned was built by Sada/Turo, and is said to send things both ways. Professor uses them to send pokeballs into past/future and catch pokemon like that, but it also makes paradox pokemon spontaneously appear in the vicinity too.

6) True. There's also a large drawing in a secret cave where paradox Salamence/Gallade spawn. There's an implication that the DLC will explain a little bit of that, but it's merely an implication for now.

7) This is pretty much just the plot of DPPt. To add a little bit, the "banished god", Giratina, lives in an extremely splintered world where gravity is local and things don't obey typical laws of physics, changing all the time.

8) Oh boy this is a big one. At first I want to stress that PMD isn't treated as canon in mainline series, but I will ignore that for the sake of argument. 8.3) In PMD universe as a whole, humans are something between ancient history, myth, and a fairytale. Pokemon are aware of humans, and they're mentioned to have existed in the past, but no longer. There are even ruins of human constructions as seen in Rescue Team's Decrepit Lab 8.3 a) Rescue Team has two humans of note. Gengar and the protagonist. First is said to have been cursed by Ninetales to become a pokemon, second was approached and willingly agreed to go to the pokemon world. So it's hardly world splintering in this case. 8.3 b) Explorers have a single human, the protagonist. They've come from far future of darkness, being a partner to Grovyle. However, there's no explanation whatsoever as to what a human was doing there. [Unless you consider that Bidoof's Wish is responsible for the entire game happening. Then we can blame Bidoof.] 8.3 c) Gates have many humans and they're actually explained. They've been called from other worlds by an entity called Voice of Life in order to save the world. Notably, every human except the protagonist is also sent back to their original world by the villains. 8.3 d) Super has a human protagonist, and also an ancient human in the past. First was brought by Mew, but the second one is just kinda there? That one's not explained. Notably, the protagonist of Super does not return to the "human world" upon completion of their quest, unlike all other protagonists. 8.3 e) Adventurers has no humans. I just wanted to mention it exists because if I suffer this knowledge, so shall you. 8.6) Legends has two notable humans. Protagonist has been sent across the time by the literal will of God Himself, however Ingo fell through the time on his own and [like Fallers of SMUSUM] has amnesia. However, in this case, what's far more important is that the timespace continuum in Legends: Arceus is absolutely, positively, and completely FUCKED. There's just holes in reality all over the whole place. Left and right. You can enter those and catch a Porygon there if you so damn please. You can catch ancient [fossil] pokemon there. What the fuck happened.

9) Time eroding is a conscious effort made by Darkrai in order to create a world of darkness. He actively sabotages everything that can happen for it behind the scenes. This doesn't change the fact that time is kept in check with literally a single location that, if it crumbles, time will eventually stop. [But there are spare time gears. Explorers of Sky informs us of at least six, and you only need five. [Limestone Cavern in Here Comes Team Charm! special episode has the sixth one. Also it's implied there are time gears in Drenched Bluffs and Waterfall Cave because Dimensional Scream activates there.]] However, yes, Mystery Dungeons are unexplained locations that warp and distort. They also are said to appear due to a large amount of local disasters happening in Rescue Team.

And yes, the list is fairly non-exhaustive. You have time/dimension travel in BWB2W2 [trading between versions is implied to be time travel by one npc in Opelucid; and Entralink exists], you get the entire Rainbow Rocket episode of USUM where you just have villains that actually managed to conquer/destroy their worlds because there was no protag vibing into your world, Alolan wormholes opened over Galar in Crown Tundra... Yep, those worlds are fucked.

Have a good day!

I absolutely love that the Pokémon universe is literally tearing itself apart at the seams. Fantastic worldbuilding, A+++

[pkmnjesus]

The 2010s Decade of PokéAni (An overview - Part 2 of 2)

← Continuing on from the first half of this PokéAni 2010s overview....

2015: Serena cuts her hair to chase a dream

February 12, 2015 Serena’s character arc had a rocky start with her not really sure what to do after becoming a Pokémon trainer meeting her Fennekin for the first time. I was really excited when her character was first announced, but I wanted to like her more than just being “that pretty girl who has a crush on Ash”. Maybe it’s because I’m not that shippy of a person, nor a romantic type of guy whatsoever but I didn’t want a main character to just be defined as a potential love interest. With her development slowly leaning towards a clear goal on wanting to become a top Pokémon Performer, I was happy she was finally carving her own path. However it was this specific episode that marked a major turning point for her ambitions, and made me truly invest in the new and improved Serena.

It was finally Serena’s debut as a Pokémon performer competing in her first Pokémon Showcase in Coumarine City, along with her friend, rival, and fellow-performer, Shauna. The performers in this showcase are divided into groups, and only one from each group gets to move on to the next round. Going into the first round, Serena was nervous yet confident. It was a Pokémon styling contest, and Serena put a lot of care and effort into making Fennekin look as cute and gorgeous as possible. But maybe it was a bit too much...

As they walk down the runway showcasing Fennekin’s fashion, everything went well and both were having a great experience in their first showcase...until something terribly went wrong. Fennekin accidentally trips over its ribbon while walking the runway which ends up scattering all the decorations Serena had styled over her. She made a crucial mistake in making the ends of the ribbon too long, thus costing them the round and ultimately eliminated her from the competition. Shauna was able to advance from her her group easily, and all Serena could do now was watch the rest of the competition from the stands. Shauna ended up winning the Showcase and her first Princess Key. It was devastating defeat going into your first performance having to lose like that. On the outside, she tried to put up a good face for her friends comforting Fennekin and even congratulating Shauna on her first victory.

But in the inside, she was grieving and blames herself for not realizing the error she made while styling Fennekin. Even Ash knew that she would be alright all along knowing her strength. The following early morning when no once was watching her besides her Pokémon, she decides to let it all out and break down in front of the ocean. It really broke my heart seeing her crying like that knowing that she really did care about pursuing a performer career. Fennekin and Pancham immediately try and cheer her up as they engaged in a lovely group hug. After understanding the disappointment in defeat, she knew that this was a part of every dream. You can’t be successful without making a couple of mistakes and that it’s okay to cry sometimes to let the bad stress out. No one is perfect, and that same goes for some of Ash’s gym battles or what happened to some of May and Dawn’s contests in the past. It was all part of the process of chasing her newly found dream and Serena finally realized that. It was just the beginning, and she wants to keep going until she gets to Aria. She decides that going forward in this new chapter, there needs to be a change. She got her big scissors out and starts trimming her own hair (for her to do that on the spot without a mirror, she was pretty darn impressive to properly cut her hair like wow lol) as Palermo watches in the distance from her limo. She knew that was the same performer with the tripping Fennekin. It’s possible she saw potential in her that early. Serena rejoins her friends and surprises them with a new look!

If you ask me, I like this new outfit of hers way better (and I think girls with shorter hair cuter ^///^). Also you can’t forget about the blue ribbon Ash gave her prior to this, it was a really cute touch knowing that he helped her get stronger through her personal journey as a trainer. Now that’s fitting ;) You know even though it was spoiled early on that she was going to have a redesign, I’m really happy on how they did it and it wasn’t just random day where Serena decides she wanted to cut her hair. I’m no girl, but apparently (I researched this) when a woman cuts her hair shorter, it symbolizes a change or a major life event that has happened. To Serena, it was a major shift in her character after the embarrassing loss. She eventually went on to win future performances evolving her Braxien, and even got to be friends with Aria! Remember, Serena is MORE than just AmourShipping...she is our Kalos Queen <3

Honorable mentions from this year: There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to 2015 PokéAni. Ash had 4 gym battles that year, including his battle with Clemont which I was very hyped about. To the point of him temporarily leaving the group to prepare himself at the Lumiose gym, that’s how much he cared about being in the best battling shape for Ash. There was that infamous “date” episode that Ash & Serena had, Meowth & Bonnie being stuck together, Cosplay Pikachu everywhere, Trevor trying to get a picture of a Moltres, and the debut of Sawyer, the Treeko trainer who was fascinated by Ash. One of my personal favorites too was when Bonnie wanted to ‘keep’ a Tyrunt/Tyrantrum (matched her pajamas too :3) she helped and befriended but unfortunately already had a trainer </3 It was a year of a couple of catches like Ash’s Noibat, Serena’s Eevee, Clemont reminiscing the time he caught a Bunnelby, and of course the lost Goomy. Within months after Ash caring for the Goomy, he was able to evolve it to a Goodra but had to leave it behind when they finally found its homeland it had to watch over with a Floette. We got two more Mega Evolution Specials before it merges with the main anime the following year, but we did get start of the XY&Z arc where Ash’s (then) Frogadier would fulfill a prophecy to save Kalos from a great danger. When they met up with Sanpei in the Ninja Village, Frogadier would finally evolve into Greninja. It would be the year when Team Flare would initiate their plans, attempting to capture all the Zygarde cores. There was one specific Zygarde core that Bonnie was able to befriend and bring it along with them naming it Squishy/Puni-chan. If you thought 2015 was awesome, wait until what PokéAni does in 2016!

2016: Gym Leaders assemble - the last line of defense

September 15, 2016 The fallout following the Kalos League took a dark turn when Lysandre broadcasts Team Flare’s manifesto to create a new world order, where only the “chosen ones” will join them. Alain, feeling betrayed with Lysandre’s true nature, decides to team up with Ash and the others to take down Team Flare. Lysandre’s gone mad, and even Malva thinks that this is too much. On other side of the story, Mairin with Serena, Professor Sycamore, and Hoenn League Champion Steven, rescued Chespie/Hari-san from Lysandre Labs.

While all the chaos is going on outside, Clemont reclaims the Lumiose Gym from Xerosic at the cost of terminating his good ol’ Clembot/Citroid assistant he invented for the Gym. I can’t remember how sad I was on robot’s death and nearly cried on it...they really made this scene heartbreaking for Clemont to push that shut down button. You can see the bot’s loyalty towards him volunteering to sacrifice himself for the greater good. But thanks to their bravery, Team Flare no longer controls one of their Zygarde (Z2). Squishy was also able to show its true form (50% so far) when it called upon the other Zygarde cells under Team Flare’s control, but thanks to Bonnie’s bond with it, she was able to breakthrough that mind control by singing Puni-chan’s song (don’t think the dub has an actual name for their version) she often sings when they’re together. The development Bonnie had with Squishy throughout this whole arc was fantastic, because it gave her more responsibility and sense of friendship even after Squishy was under the control of Team Flare destroying every thing. This was her own trial to prepare her for what’s to come when she eventually becomes an official Pokémon trainer and own an overpowered Zygarde in the future xD. Squishy also trusted Bonnie as a human it can rely on.

With Team Flare looking to be defeated, there was one more threat looming over Kalos. What was that threat? A ROCK. But no ordinary rock, it was The Giant Rock (Meaglith) that Lysandre created based off Primal energy form a beast like creature similar to Zygarde’s 50% forme. It was his last ditch effort in creating a new world, and we have never seen anything this catastrophic from an evil boss since probably Cryus. The Zygarde-like rock beast even absorbed Mairin’s Chespie which makes it even more difficult for them to stop it. It’s destination was the Anistar City Sundial to trigger a massive explosion that could destroy Kalos and the world! Everyone joins up to stop this calamity from happening, but is their strength with Mega Evolution enough to bring it down?

Then, the epic back-up finally arrives! The whole Kalos crew is here with Champion Diantha uniting all the Gym Leaders (minus Clemont/Clembot) within the region. They even got their own solo introductions. This never happened in the previous regions of the anime, where the Gym Leader would just appear once battling with Ash, but in here they interjected themselves to the Zygarde’s story arc. This really reminded me of what happened during the climax of the Black & White games, where the Gym Leaders joined forces to stop Team Plasma. But this isn’t Unova, this is Kalos, and this is their last line of heavy defense against Lysandre! With 2 League Champions, a Blaziken Mask, Ash-Greninja, Z2′s army of cores, and 7 Gym Leaders, this Giant Rock wont stand a chance! When Zygrade finally reached its 100% forme, it uses Core Enforcer to end Lysandre’s evil plot once and for all (RIP him btw). From Steven Stone’s assistance, to Clembot’s sacrifice, to Team Rocket’s aide, and Diantha leading the region’s top gym leaders, this was an epic way to end the XY&Z saga with. For them saving Chespie, and bring back peace to Kalos.

Honorable mentions from this year: The closing year for the Kalos ended in epic fashion before taking flight to Alola. Who could forget the episode where Serena wore or should I say cosplayed as Ash? She even almost got to a dance with him during Monsieur Pierre’s party. She wasn’t able to, but at least got to evolve her Eevee into a Sylveon! Clemont also had a new bride that Bonnie wasn’t too fond of (despite her asking multiple ladies to ‘keep’ for him) when her jealousy kicks in. Ash’s Noibat also evolved into Noivern, and briefly reunited with Goodra. Serena got all her Princess Keys needed to compete in the Pokémon Showcase Master Class, and even went head to head with Kalos Queen Aria for her title! She was unsuccessful, but it still won’t stop her from getting better. It was also the official birth of Ash-Greninja when he had a battle with the Kalos Champion, Diantha! Ash finally meets our Mega Evolution protagonist Alain and gained a new rival for the League. Before the Kalos League, he struggled a bit with getting his final badge from Wulfric eventually perfecting Ash-Greninja. In the Kalos League, he had a great battle with Sawyer (who can now use Mega Evolution), but came up short against Alain in the finals. It was a loss everybody was bummed about, and it would take another 3 years for him to compete in another league...we’ll get to that :> But the farewells were unforgettable. Greninja had to be let go in order to destroy the reappearing roots with Squishy and Z2 protecting Kalos from further calamity. And I know y’all can’t forget about the ‘kiss’ heard around the world when Serena leaned in for her parting gift to Ash <3 Him and Clemont have one final battle (just like how the XY series started) before heading back to Pallet Town...”And to our own way”. But 2016 had to end on a happy note, where we see Ash finding a new home in Alola enrolling in their Pokémon School program. Upon arriving, he was blessed with a Z-ring from Tapu Koko, an Alola deity, because he saw something in our boy. Through his class he made 5 new friends, got a Rotom Dex, a little Rowlet birb chilling in his backpack, and meeting a feisty Litten. WHAT. A. YEAR. !!!

2017: Stoutland’s final days with Litten

April 6, 2017 In possibly one of the most depressing and emotional episodes the Pokémon anime has to offer, the wild Litten that always stole Ash’s food finally gets to be apart of his team. But what made this little kitty finally gave Ash a chance to train it after escaping him so many times when he tried to reach out to it?

Ash tried to help the loyal Stoutland Litten was living with after following it from stealing his groceries, but due to Stoutland’s old age and declining health, there wasn’t much Nurse Joy could do. The tree shots with the falling leaves throughout the episode pretty symbolize the time Stoutland has left.

Litten, bringing back his mentor to their old spot after spending the night at the Pokémon Center, still wanted to spend as much time with Stoutland and master the Fire Fang move it was trying to learn. Then the leaves were out, and the finals days of this Stoutland were up. Litten slept with his friend one last time, and even had a dream of Stoutland attempting to chase after it going off in the distance. This symbolizes Stoutland’s departure from being under its care.

It wasn’t directly shown, nor mentioned, but it is clear to me that the Stoudland had passed away. *sobs* The gloomy rainy weather, and the dark tone shown during this part of the episode signifies the sadness and mourning every character that was involved during Litten’s struggle to find help for its good ol’ friend, not immediately realizing that Stoutland was gone for good. Meowth tried to communicate with his fellow feline to understand what it was feeling, while Ash even spends the entire duration of the rainfall with Litten even though it refused his food offer many times and didn’t want his help. This definitely took me into a feels trip because it is rare for this anime to even do an episode about a death of a Pokémon, even though it was indirect with how they presented it. Not mention, every time I was on my Stoutland ride Pokémon when playing Pokémon Moon (to help detect hidden items), ridding the big doggo always made me think about this particular episode. ;_;

Eventually the rain stopped, and a rainbow bloomed in a distance that made Litten feel better remembering the good memories it had with Stoutland. Finally, Litten decides to give Ash a chance, but didn’t want his pity over what happened. Litten was a tough little cat and wanted Ash to earn its respect through battle. Litten finally joins Ash’s team after battling with Pikachu and successfully catching it. Ash was also able to feed Litten after accepting it as its trainer. This was probably what Stoutland would have wanted for Litten.

Stoutland knew what kind of trainer he was and wanted Litten to go with Ash to finish the training they started. Besides mastering Fire Fang, they did a lot more in the future to come. When Litten saw the rainbow and familiar cloud formation, both smiled in peace. Stoutland knew that Litten was in very good hands. The memories learning and training with Stoutland are never forgotten, as Litten embarks on a new journey with brand new friends and a caring trainer.

Honorable mentions from this year: The first fully fledge year of Alola! Ash owning the first discovered Dusk Lycanroc in the anime verse, Lana getting her own Z-ring and how can I not forget Brock and Misty’s (especially MISTY) big return to the anime when the class went to Kanto! We had new Pokémon caught added to the main cast such as the birth of Lillie’s Snowy/Shiron, James’s touchy Mareanie and Kiawe’s Alolan Marowak. It was Gladion’s debut year becoming Ash’s new rival. Ash’s Z-Crystal collection kept on growing bigger through his adventures in Melemele and Akala Islands, and even clears its respective grand trials. We were also introduced to a little Cosmog turned Solgaleo, Nebby. The bad guy in Faba to steals Nebby however to summon, an Ultra Beast (Nihilego) that would eventually consume Lusamine (just like in the games, only she is less obsessed here). Thus, a Z-Powered ganbaLilie was born to save her mom! With the help of her brother and friends of course. We had family matters like Sophocles thought he was moving a way for good, and fun little fillers like the pancake and Charjabug races, or raving with an Alolan Dugtrio blonde wig. A personal favorite of mine was when Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio had mini-adventure of their own, and outsmarted Team Rocket nasty schemes. Speaking of Team Rocket, we got a short glimpse of them versus a trio of Team Skull members. Kukui’s class activities like the baseball teams, camping outdoors, switching Pokémon partners with fellow classmates for the weekend, and sleeping over at the professor’s house were awesome too! Their field trip seeing the beautiful white-colored Aether Paradise, and traveling through the mysterious Ultra Space were treat as well. We got to see the development of Kukui and Burnet’s pre-married relationship, which wasn’t featured in the games…AND WE GOT A PROPOSAL AND WEDDING OUT OF IT! There’s a reason for the animation change, and to be honest I’m happy that they did! The art style definitely fits the tone and theme of the jolly Alola region. In conclusion, 2017 was a pretty cool year if you ask me!

2018: The People of Alola vs. Necrozma

September 13, 2018 The conclusion to the Poipole/Necrozma arc is probably the biggest highlight for this year. In Japan, this marked a major end of an era because this was also the final episode on a Thursday night (for 20 years!) since the series was officially moving to Sundays starting with the episode after this (~pika ;3). 

From Gladion joining the Ultra Guardians, to Team Rocket’s Matori Matrix attempting catch a fused Necrozma, to Nebby returning to assist with the mission, to rescuing and healing a weakened Lunala, to visiting Poipole’s home world and hear a Naganadel talk in their minds…I’m at the edge of my seat! The Masked Royal’s identity was first exposed here too when Faba fought alongside Kukui to ward off the Matori Matrix. Luckily Faba can keep a secret. The whole time this arc felt like it could be one Pokémon movie. This should probably make-up for why there really isn’t an Alola region based Pokémon movie for this series specifically. But going back on topic, the entire region of Alola was still in crisis as Necrozma absorbs all the Z-Power the Ultra Guardians tried to strike back with. At this point, Nebby was already fused with the Necrozma and they knew that they had to separate them just like what happened with Lunala. So what does everyone do in a time like this? UNITE! Not just the Guardian deities, not just the Ultra Guardians, not just the Aether Foundation, not just the Kahunas participating in the Manalo Festival, but Alola as a whole teamed up in various locations where citizens swarmed together and gave their “light” by doing Tapu Koko’s pose to bring Necrozma back to its original form, The Blinding/Radiant One! Nebby has been freed, and rejoins the Ultra Guardians.

In one last Ultra stand, Nebby (with Ash holding Solganium Z) and Lunala (with Gladion holding Lunalium Z) gave one final blow to Necrozma with some Ultra Aura. After unleashing the combination of Z-moves, Ultra Necrozma rises from the light and uses its power to restore all the damage that has been done to Alola, thus ending the chaos ensuing in the region. The Matori Matrix did try to go to Ultra Space when an Ultra Wormhole opened, but Tapu Koko was like “not so fast!” eventually forcing this Team Rocket unit to retreat.

Not only did they save Alola, but also brings back light to the Poipole home world. Of course the most emotional thing out of all this was saying goodbye to our little sticky Poipole friend who had remain in its home world. It left its home world to find a better home, and it did when Ash gave Poipole a spot in his team and is even an official member of the Ultra Guardians squad. Now that the home world has been restored, Poipole knew it needed to stay and protect its original home from further threats. As the Ultra Wormhole closes with Nebby and Lunala accompanying the Ultra Guardians back to Alola, Poipole painted Ash & Pikachu’s face as a sweet goodbye gesture. The flashback scenes, and the music in the end was absolutely magnificent to top it all off! This teary goodbye even had me tears. We’ll forever “like, like, love” you, Poipole <3 Maybe Ash will see it again one day...oh who am I kidding xD If you’re up to date with the anime, you know already what happens in the future ;]

Honorable mentions from this year: The year of Ultra Guardians! They’ve had multiple missions in bringing back the Ultra Beasts to where they came from.  Anime debuts of Ilima, Mina, and the long-awaited Hau make their respective appearances. We also got to see James “fighting” a Toxapex, Lana & Mallow’s childhood past, Lillie getting her first Z-Crystal and even Rotom Dex joining the set of Detective Laki. There were significant evolutions like Ash’s Litten evolving to Torracat starting its rivalry with Masked Royal’s Incineroar (while Burnet fangirls over them) and Mallow’s Steenee evolving to a Tsareena. And how can I forget Sandy/Nagisa? Those Eevee mini-specials ultimately led it to Alola for our great Lana to catch! The Ula’ula trials were highly significant too when Ash trained with Acerola and tested his strength against Kahuna Nanu. Specials include Mallow’s big brother visiting home, and the 2-parter with Dia and his Zeraora in the mysterious Ultra Ruin. For Team Rocket, they temporarily get an Alolan Meowth, but got a permanent family member with a Stufful later on (Bewear’s child!). I’ve gotta mention the fun ones too like Ash dressing up as a female nurse the class helping Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center, the class making their own school play, and Faba accidentally shrinking Ash, Lillie & Sophocles. Finally, in another emotional themed episode, Molayne showed everyone the beauty and sad reality of the Minior Pokémon at the Hokulani Observatory. Such a strong theme of having precious memories with a sad outcome due to the nature of that certain Pokémon :( Just look at the variety! I could still go on, but in summary was 2018 one heck of an ULTRA year!

2019: Ash wins the Alola Pokémon League 🏆

September 15, 2019 In the last highlight of this 2010s decade, it may probably be the biggest one. Ash vs. Gladion. Pokémon League finals to determine the first ever champion of Alola. I’ve already made several posts about this (maybe one too many) in my blog, so let me quickly reiterate the significance of this special event one last time. First thing I have to mention, is that Ash’s rivalry with Gladion has been amazing from the get-go. From their first meeting at the beach by Kukui’s place with a feisty Rockruff that wanted to battle, to the Manalo Stadium battling for a prestigious championship title with Ash’s Lycanroc fully controlled over its rage with dirt. It wasn’t a traditional full 6-on-6 battle, but the 3-on-3 showdown still gave us one heck of battle! It may not be considered the best battle of all time, but it was still an amazing and fun match between two trainers who promised each other to meet in the finals of the big stage since the start of the League.

The laugh they shared, the flashbacks that was shown to us (with the awesome Type: Wild! music playing in the background), and their storytelling on who wants the W more makes you invested, and cheering for Ash all the way to finally win a major Pokémon League. Ash’s newly evolved Melmetal showcased it’s new strength but still wasn’t able to beat Gladion’s Silvally. Then, when Zoroark and Pikachu knocked each other out, it was the 1v1 Lycanroc battle that really put this friendly and competitive rivalry full circle.

Ash has NEVER defeated Gladion…until this moment. He’s been training for this, and it finally paid off. The two Lycanroc’s took no prisoners and went back and forth with one another. In the final blow of that match, Gladion’s Lycanroc used Counter against Ash’s Lycanroc that was charging towards it, but then our big brained hero fights back with their own Counter attack.

Never have I heard of countering a Counter in the Pokémon universe, but using it in this one moment nobody expected, was a perfect opportunity to swerve fans with Ash almost losing the match but ultimately gave the hypest and sickest counterattack ever that would knock out Gladion’s Lycanroc to the wall. And for the first time since the Orange League, Ash is a Champion. Only this time it is a way bigger deal! Mostly because this is a game-based series which has more meaning when it comes to the Pokémon League. He proved non-believers wrong thinking that the Kalos League was the closest he’ll ever get to victory, but I always knew he would win this one since this League started. If you look at my Twitter, I predicted it since last July and this is speaking from a person that DIDN’T believe he would have won at Kalos (I must be good at League predictions then lol). But even Ash himself couldn’t believe it. The moment his named was announced the victor and everyone cheering him, it took a moment for him to process it all until he realized he won the whole shabang. Old fans, new fans, and casual viewers a like were buzzing within 24 hours after this episode released in Japan that caught mainstream media attention. People who have never seen a Pokémon anime episode in their life (or a subbed episode for that matter) past the original series, wanted to see how this episode went down to see a childhood hero achieve a major trophy. 

This is how big of a pop-culture icon Ash & Pikachu was among many generations of fans since the show’s launch internationally. To me personally, it was the reason why I’ve always watched this anime for years since 1998 as a kid and NEVER stopped watching (took a few breaks here and there growing up but still have been consistent and up to date! Never grew out of it whatsoever ...why would I even made this decade post?). I was waiting all that time for him to win the big one and he finally did it in 2019. The long journey was worth watching all those episodes (NEVER skipped a “filler”). I doubted at times, but deep down I know I always believed. I grew up with Ash and he feels like an imaginary brother. Seeing him hold that trophy felt like my childhood had closure. He became the FIRST EVER champion in the Alola anime-verse and no one can take that away from him. BUT, the journey isn’t over yet. Remember, his dream is to become Pokémon MASTER, NOT a CHAMPION which people often treat the two as the same. He probably still wants to go to more places, so he can get stronger and be friends with even more Pokémon. Finally, I’m glad that it was Gladion who was Ash’s opponent in order to get the title. The boys and the doggos shake hands in the end as sign of respect for one another. Unfortunately, Guzzlord had to ruin the closing ceremony afterparty…but our Alola Champion and his friends were able to take care of that properly :)

Honorable mentions from this year: Another marked an end of an era, but a start of a new one too! From overcoming his final Grand Trial and gathering his Z-Crystals, Ash was ready for the League. If you ask me, this was one of the best Pokémon Leagues ever because of how much importance each competitor played a role in that tournament, and the match-ups were good. It wasn’t just filler characters or last minute rivals. Alola had a lot of great characters! I couldn’t stress that enough. But besides the historic Alola League, we also saw the continuation of Brock & Misty’s trip to Alola, the class’ crash-course golf lessons with none other than Kahili! Ash catching a rare Meltan that appeared out of nowhere, Guzma’s debut that EVERYONE was excited about, Ash challenging Ryuki’s Kantonian Gym, Lana’s fully evolving Primarina (thanks to hooking a Kyogre mind you!), Mallow’s meal for Tapu Koko, and Matori’s unexpected visit to the Team Rocket base in Alola. Ash even time-traveled to the past and met Kukui when he was little. It would ultimately build up to the actual final full 6-on-6 battle between Ash faces Kukui (just like in the original Sun & Moon games), and it was a 5-STAR BATTLE in my book for this 5-PARTER battle. Seriously, they didn’t had to make an exhibition match that good but they did, and Ash WON that too! Ash’s Incineroar evolved and Pikachu finally defeats Tapu Koko in a battle. For the feels portion of this year, Mallow briefly reunited with her mom and getting a Shaymin to care for in the process. The whole side-arc with Lillie, Magearna and a missing Mohn had a huge impact on our young miss. She got a Z-Ring out of it, just like everyone else in the class with their respective focus. And, the final episode of Sun & Moon was probably the most emotional farewell episodes in the anime’s history similar (or even greater) than Brock & Misty’s goodbye in Johto for you nostalgia fans out there. Everyone in the Alola crew knew what to do post-League, but for Ash, he wanted to explore the Pokémon world more, which transitions to the new on-going series today. 2019 of the Pokémon anime will never be forgotten!

LET’S GO to the 2020s and beyond!

We already got a taste of what the new series brought us late 2019, from Pikachu’s pre-series background story to our newly appointed research fellows, Ash & Go. It is was Lugia brought these two together, and are now living under the same roof. And with Go having his newly caught Scorbunny by his side after that Gigantamax Snorlax incident, it shows us a little taste of the cool new adventures await them when traveling in the Galar region. It’s also refreshing to see updated animation within Kanto where they’re home base is at, and I absolutely cannot wait for them to go back to other past regions with this fresh new art style. With Go’s goal to catch every Pokémon there is for him to index, he’s bound to meet Mew again one day! He’s literally every Pokémon games’ protagonist and I’m glad we have a main character like him who actually focuses on catching them all. As for Ash, he’s still our Ash carving his own unique path on his continuing journey to become a Pokémon Master because it’s more than being the strongest trainer and more than just catching Pokémon.

Some people may not be invested in this series yet, but it’s okay as it is still new! Everyone has that “pacing is slow” excuse from EVERY anime series, or it may not just be your cup of tea. But, I’m sure it will definitely pick up the pace sooner or later especially with the upcoming episodes announced (as of this posting) getting a Koharu-focus episode and the debut of Galar Champion Leon facing off against another League Champion...the return of Lance! Now that’s hype...and that’s what I’m looking forward to in this series more returns and cameo appearances hopefully. They gotta make it special of course and not just some fan-service to please series-specific fans. Oh, and Ash competing in the Galar gym challenge too of course! In addition to that, we can look forward to the new movies in the 2020s! We already got a preview of the 23rd PokéAni film, Pokémon the Movie - Coco...so we Tarzan now?! and it looks like they’re still continuing the AU-verse Ash instead of using the canon series’ universe. I mean if The Power of Us was great, you gotta give this movie a watch too! This is what I love about the anime because it separates itself from their game counterparts. The anime is doing its own thing with their original stories to tell.

WOW! What a decade. I’ve put in a lot of time reminiscing my experience watching the anime this past decade on these 2-part posts, and I had a lot of fun. From being a high school student all the way to being a full-time working adult...time truly flies by quickly. If you’ve read everything I had to say (I’m sure there are a few typos I probably missed), then thank you for your time (and sorry for the dash spam lol)! Feel free share your own favorite PokéAni moment decade in the replies if you choose to do so. Also, check out the strawpolls I made for what you think the best Pokémon anime battle and movie is in the 2010s. Now, it’s time for us to GO to 2020 and the next decade of PokéAni to witness multiple generations of new Pokémon series to come (hopefully they’ll still be making them by the end of 2029...and your boy P J will still be watching as a 30+ year old adult, heh). Alrighty, let’s have some fun! ϞϞ(๑⚈ ․̫ ⚈๑)∩

[something-tofightfor]

Are there any headcanons some writers have that you don’t agree with? What are some big ones? Do you disagree because they don’t fit your perception of the character(s) or because they don’t fit the character, period?

This is a loaded question, ma’am.  Well, the first thing I’ll say is this: people write what they want to write. They characterize people the way that they want to, and they focus on the traits that they want to when they build their characters. This also goes for what people choose to read, too! Fanfiction allows there to be something for everyone, and that’s amazing. 

It doesn’t matter what genre or fandom, there are always so many interpretations of things to provide a variety of content by a lot of really talented writers - but that doesn’t mean that every single story or headcanon is going to be something that every reader agrees with. And that’s life - it’s no different than published work or TV or movies... which is why we write and read in the first place, right?

There are a lot of characterizations of certain characters that I don’t agree with that I’ve seen and read - but I’m sure that the same goes for people that read my work too.  (Under a cut because I am wordy)

I’ll answer your second question first:  I think a lot of it is that they don’t seem to fit with what we know of characters in canon, and it kind of bothers me when people consistently throw away every aspect of canon just because they don’t like them. There’s a huge difference in reshaping things to work in an AU (what I’m doing with Billy’s injuries in Steel City) or a to give something a different outcome (Logan’s choice to seek help instead of self-destructing in HCtS) and flat out re-creating the character to make them fit into a specific narrative.  When something is a flat out AU, I can look past it much more easily. In that scenario, you’re supposed to look at things as completely different. Sure, names will be the same, maybe professions, certain parts of the backstory... but an AU is a license to change a ton - and when done properly, they can be amazing.  And while I think that everything fanfic writers write is an AU to some extent, the truth is that not everyone reads stories because they want a complete turnaround from canon and from what we know, so everything in a story being different than expected is jarring. That’s a personal preference - definitely - but you asked. I don’t read a story because I want to know how a completely fictionalized version of Billy reacts to XY and Z. I’d like to see him worked into a scenario that’s different - but see how HE handles it. 

Take Logan out of Westworld? He’s just a businessman with some serious familial issues and an addiction problem. Benjamin completely removed from Julia and the Days? He’s a middle-aged man with a shady past and no money or solid place to stay. There are certain core characteristics that need to be kept, otherwise, it’s literally just Ben’s face and you’re Mad Libs-ing in a job and a personality.  And to answer your first question, there are many. And again, it’s just a personal preference because I try to keep my writing as in-character as I possibly can ... so when I read, it’s hard for me to disconnect from that. So while I don’t want to call any specific writer or story out here because that isn’t the point, there are a lot of overarching headcanons and characterizations that it’s really hard for me to get past.

The biggest one - and I know, know, KNOW I’m going to get shit for this one - is that everyone is so quick to write these guys wanting kids and to settle down. Of course, we want to imagine Billy and Logan and Ryan and even Benjamin healthy and happy and with people they love... but the truth is that not everyone’s definition of a happy or fulfilled life includes kids... or marriage. So being quick to include kids or the desire to have kids or just the feeling that children are necessary pulls me out of stories a lot. 

I actually don’t even read ones where I know the characters have kids, because I just don’t identify with that Reader character or that chosen lifestyle. ** The exception is Logan with Emily, because he’s the best uncle ** 

Love is another thing. With Billy and Logan in particular - it’s hard for me to comprehend them going from 0-60 in no time at all and just... being over the moon for someone and then expressing it. Especially Billy. Logan in canon is so much closer to being ready to love someone because he at least knows what love looks and feels like - he had his mom and he had Juliet. Billy didn’t. Benjamin is the only character we’ve seen that foolishly falls in love quickly. And Ryan? You gotta stay in contact with someone or stay in one place long enough to fall in love. You might know you have feelings for someone really quickly, but it’s not just meet - go out to eat once - profess love - drop everything - get married - pop out kids. 

Individual characters:

Billy: 

Without a good reason, Billy’s not going to meet someone and immediately fall in love with them. He spent 20+ years keeping people out, and there’s no way in hell one night is enough for him to drop his defenses entirely and accept someone into his life.  Billy using pet names pulls me out of a story really fast, especially in bed. A sarcastic ‘sweetheart’ is about all I feel like you’d get out of him. I don’t think he needs to rely on talking to someone in bed in order to keep them in the moment. He says NOTHING in bed with Madani, and again with Krusty, and he was straight-up playing Madani, so if he was one to use pet names and dirty talk to bait someone... it would have happened.  Billy never opened Anvil so that he could shower other people with gifts. His money is meant to be his own, and while I don’t think he's stingy, I don’t think he’s going to drop obscene amounts of money on someone, even if he’s in a relationship with them (in canon - and EVEN for HNH reader). Romance - in the knock you off your feet sense - is not EVER going to be in his wheelhouse. 

S2 Billy is not a child. Stop treating him like one. In the beginning, maybe...but the more he learns and grows and remembers, the emotions that he has aren’t tantrums - they’re a very real mixture of fear and anger and misunderstanding. He literally doesn’t know why he did what he did or how everything went wrong - but that doesn’t make him a child. 

Logan:

Logan is more than a sex-crazed millionaire. That is a front. And I know that he’s going to be great in bed and very hands-on with his partners, but canon Logan uses sex and excess to keep people AWAY...not to pull them closer. 

Logan doesn’t want or need extravagant gifts.... because he can get anything he’d ever want for himself. It’s more about the thought than the money for him.  Logan is a lot of things, but him being a dick and belittling someone for being of a different socioeconomic status really bothers me. 

Ryan: 

... Very few people write for Ryan, so there’s little here that I take issue with, except maybe that in some of the stories I’ve seen people seem to confuse his lack of a formal education with him being uneducated in general.  Benjamin: 

Benjamin is impulsive but he is not stupid. 

Caspian:

Every time someone writes Caspian as being hellbent on adhering to tradition and following the Narnian customs and rules of succession I want to rip my hair out.  Don’t sit there and try to tell me that a King has to have a blood heir when the Pevensies are proof that ANYONE can be a King or Queen of Narnia, no questions asked. They weren’t even FROM Narnia, and they got thrones. It’s not about blood - it’s about integrity and a person’s true desire to lead the people and keep them safe and happy. 

** One more overall thing that takes me out of a story faster than anything is the use of Y/N. Maybe I’m an idiot, but every time I see those I think “yes/no” and not “your name”... and it throws me. **

I’m gonna step off my soapbox now. BUT. I will end this by saying: 

As much as I disagree with some of these qualities and traits in writing - when they are done super well, I don’t even notice them. Some of my favorite stories are “Y/N” inserts. One of my favorite Logans calls his girl princess. There’s a coffee shop AU that I absolutely loved and it changes the main character COMPLETELY.  It’s all subjective. I’m not saying any of this to offend anyone, and so I hope that if any other writers read this whole thing and feel as if I’m calling them or their choices out - that isn’t the point. I’m not trying to hurt feelings or pick apart your writing, but this is how I look at characters and the way people portray them when I choose what I want to read.

I write for a living. Like, actual get-paid-to-put-words-on-paper writing. I have to look at details for my work. Things have to make sense. There has to be clear connecting threads. And that makes it much more difficult for me to completely disconnect from that mindset when I write or read. I can’t help it.  TLDR: Write what you want to write. Read what you want to read. Think what you want about these characters and stick to it. But know that not everything you post is going to get the kind of engagement you hope for - because not everyone is able to suspend disbelief about the characters they’ve spent HOURS growing to love and carefully thinking about when you change 95% of their canon characteristics to fit your plot. 

[kankri-is-a-transmed]

"hey guys im a homestuck fan and a transmedicalist" you are so embarassing

i started reading homestuck since 8-9 and its been a hyperfixtation of mine for coming up to 2 years, fun fact!!!

oh and:

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/15toJ-ueCWxwMkpv_qHohGbX3v1pQJgg5ID0IeRTRSMg/mobilebasic

https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/11/6/490/370633

https://www.endocrine.org/advocacy/position-statements/transgender-health

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150107082133.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150213112317.htm

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/gender-lines-science-transgender-identity/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/beyond-xx-and-xy-the-extraordinary-complexity-of-sex-determination/

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/gender-lines-science-transgender-identity/

https://stanmed.stanford.edu/2017spring/how-mens-and-womens-brains-are-different.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25667367

https://www.nature.com/articles/378068a0

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/study-finds-some-significant-differences-brains-men-and-women

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4987404/

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/01/26/scans-show-difference-in-transgender-brains/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4585501/

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/males-and-females-differ-in-specific-brain-structures

http://www.religioustolerance.org/why-are-some-people-transgender-3.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/27255307/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19341803/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23724358/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24567168/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17765230/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/18962445/

https://sites.dartmouth.edu/dujs/#.Wsg44i7wbIU

https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scientificamerican.com%2Farticle%2Fis-there-something-unique-about-the-transgender-brain%2F&t=NzJlMGNhMjZhMTJhMzA0ZDllOTlhYThlOTY3MDE3OGIwODNmZTg3MCxEZXlmdUxSbA%3D%3D&b=t%3AU5iGQ12XpfH0b1XjpmFa6w&p=http%3A%2F%2Fthe-defiant-pupil.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F172797061688%2Fmy-brain-is-literally-a-male-brain-what-is-a&m=1

sorry they aren't links you can click on. i should've actually cared about your opinion, because you obviously dont have the capacity to copy and paste. "Apologies"

[shinneth]

Hmm... this is actually quite fascinating.

Conway being the debut user of Trick Room in the anime is a well-known fact amongst us Conway-loving geeks. But I didn't actually stop to recognize that he's either the sole user or one of very few in this 2.5 decades-long series of moves beyond that. Part of that is because I stopped keeping up with the anime after XY, but it's still wild to me that to this day Conway's the only trainer to use Power Trick!

I actually considered putting moves on the poll list, but held back when I saw that Professor Kukui is already listed as a move specialist and was trying to avoid repeat specialties. It's been several years since I played Moon, and at the time it didn't hit me that the moves Kukui focuses on are actually the Z-Moves. I don't personally recall Kukui focusing on moves outside of those, so that's my bad, lol.

Conway being a professional esoteric move enthusiast makes a hell of a lot of sense, actually! And it's distinct enough from the Z-Moves to warrant eligibility.

By extension, his choice of Pokémon factor in as well. After all, Trick Room could be used by an ignorant trainer with a speedster-type 'mon and they could be wondering why everything went south for their battle, leading to them never wanting to use the move again because seemingly bad things happen whenever they do. As a casual player, I know there are a ton of moves out there that I initially dismissed because their descriptions often belie just how useful they truly are. I never would have figured out on my own how crucial a move like, say, Baton Pass was in fact a very useful move to have in battle. Seems like that move specifically, despite existing since Gen II, never got used in the anime at all.

The anime is often inconsistent with how moves are learned, though sometimes they kinda have to write around new special moves they wanna promote that didn't exist when the show began. Volt Tackle, for example - normally Ash's Pikachu could only have that as an Egg Move whilst one of his parents were equipped with a Light Ball if we're strictly following the game rules, meaning he should have had at the start. But being that Volt Tackle is a Gen III move, there was no way to plan for that ahead of time, so they had to improvise a bit.

I'm still fucking salty BW took it out of Pikachu's move set in favor of stupid-ass Electro Ball--

It does feel like, starting around maybe the Advance era but especially in the DP era, the writers were actually paying attention to game mechanics and adhering to the rules and limitations set by them for the most part. Going by Ash's Pikachu's move set across the entire series, it feels like maybe they weren't really adhering to the 4-move limit rule until much later on. Because by DP, it definitely felt like they were consistent with Pokémon only having four movies apiece.

Thusly, by the DP era I'd like to think the writers were at least on the starting point of being more faithful to how moves are learned in the games. All of Conway's Pokémon, for example, have no more than 3-4 moves each. Shuckle does learn Power Trick via leveling up, although in Gen IV it only gets that at Level 48. I know levels aren't really a thing in the anime, but there is a precedent for major characters' Pokémon learning moves in a logical order. Ash's Turtwig, for example, didn't learn Energy Ball right off the bat. It only learned that move over 50 episodes after its capture. So going by that reasoning, Conway likely had a set plan he wanted for Shuckle and fully intended for it to learn Power Trick down the line.

For Trick Room, however, that is only learnable by Dusknoir via TM in Gen IV. TMs were never a thing in the primary series (only in that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon special and Origins). So while I'd love for Conway to become someone who invents TMs down the line, it wouldn't explain how various Pokémon in the series were learning TM moves beforehand. I suppose one could say Conway identified the specific phenomenon in which Pokémon learn moves that are not part of their native move set and managed to create a tangible simulation in the form of TMs, perhaps?

He could also function as a Move Tutor. Lickilicky does have Rollout in its native move set in Gen IV, but interestingly, in Platinum and HGSS, it can also learn the move via a Move Tutor. There are a load of informal move tutors in the anime, amusingly. The aforementioned Energy Ball eventually learned by Ash's Turtwig was via tutoring by Kenny and his Breloom. As it turns out, in-game Turtwig can't naturally learn Energy Ball - that's a TM move. Incidentally, Breloom also can only learn Energy Ball via TM, so how Kenny's knows it is anyone's guess, though he spouts some stuff about how Turtwig would've learned Energy Ball quicker if it knew Bullet Seed first for their similarities in "focusing power" - except Bullet Seed is ALSO a TM-only move for Turtwig so I like to believe Kenny's talking out of his ass here---

There's a more straightforward example in Reggie, who used his Staraptor to teach Ash's Staravia Brave Bird - a move it learns via level-up, so it's not just TM moves this is restricted to.

Much later in DP, there's a CotD named Wilma - interestingly, a direct adaptation of an NPC by the same name in DPPt. In the games, her sole function was to teach Draco Meteor to eligible 'mons who have their friendship maxed out. Ash and his Gible meet her, try to learn Draco Meteor, but as we know, Gible didn't properly learn said move until...

Guess Conway was inadvertently move-tutoring even then!

Interestingly, all the anime "move tutors" listed in Bulbapedia only come from the AG series, the DP series, and the SM series.

Damn, I feel like I went on a tangent. Basically, AG/DP felt like the starting point of the anime taking game mechanics a little more seriously/faithfully. We saw a proper Pokémon trade, a lot more active status effects (Burn debuted in AG, but was shown off only once - it was shown off several times in DP), as well as abilities that can cause status effects. There were several times where physical moves were distinct from special moves, and so on. I appreciated how typing wasn't the end-all, be-all factor in winning a battle during this era, yet it wasn't completely disregarded, either.

This totally isn't me being salty at BW for going ass-backwards with how it treated type interactions, Ash going out of his way more often than not to pick a bad type match-up for his battles, and losing the few times he DID adhere to type logic, and the narrative trying to make it out like it's totally in Ash's character to just flip the bird to established game mechanics when they were largely respected in the two prior series--

SO, I see no issue with referring to the native game mechanics and making efforts to connect the anime to the game concepts that weren't adapted. Conway always struck me as someone who just loves to learn everything he can about Pokémon - it's pretty much why making him a Professor makes the most sense for his career path. I've written Conway as something of a Pokémon Freelancer - dabbling in anything and everything, trying to find the route that truly speaks to him. He's got tunnel vision whilst ironically being directionless.

Luckily, he's already got something of a unique style that makes him stand out above the crowd even if he's gotta shout out loud.

Arguably, it can be said that Conway fits the Metagamer, Compatibility, Battle-Extracurriculars, and maybe even Type categories as a Move Specialist. After all, as was said way further up in this post, Trick Room can be a great move, but requires context for the right kind of Pokémon to use it. By extension, it requires the wisdom of determining what Pokémon are best suited to any given trainer's style. How it's going to be used - in battle, in a Contest appeal and/or battle, or something else. Maybe Conway discovers that STAB is indeed a thing that happens in the anime!

I can also see him massively geeking out over Inverse Battles - just the concept of flipping the entire Type table on its head and going over how wildly certain Types differ under Opposite Day circumstances. I'd love to see Conway create the whole damn concept, considering it was never utilized in the anime.

If he can teach math to a Venonat, Conway could do damn near anything he sets his mind to. ♥

Damn, #Conway Day snuck up on me again! My first instinct was to rush a shitty picture, but honestly, with my years of accumulated artist's rust, I doubt I'd be able to draw anything better than that piece-of-shit second picture anyway. :P

But I had a better idea soon after!

So, all of these pictures are three separate perceptions of a grown-up Conway becoming a Pokémon Professor: the first design belongs to @nerdinsandals , the second is mine, and the third is @anghappylady's.

We all seem to be in agreement that this is what Conway would ultimately grow up to be, or at least, ideally, what suits him best!

Two things none of us ever seemed to settle on (independently or as a collective) was A) Conway's surname... and considering current-gen Profs are branching out into other plant-based names rather than sticking just to trees, means the potential name pool got a lot wider, potentially.

But the more interesting aspect is this: What would Professor Conway specialize in?

This also seems to be a point none of us were able to pin down. Unless of course I'm missing anything, in which case beat me over the head with it--

So for this Conway Day, I figured the best contribution I can make is open up the discussion for what route of Pokémon study would best suit a Professor Conway?

A lot of those ideas I pulled straight out of my ass, but hopefully this might foster a nice, fun discussion for a character who deserves the love and attention, what little he receives?

[themattress]

Best Wishes vs. Sun & Moon: comparing the similarities and analyzing the differences

In terms of the three Pokeani shows that have run throughout the last decade, Pokemon: Best Wishes (2010-2013) and Pokemon: Sun & Moon (2016-2019) are a lot more compatible with one another than Pokemon: XY (2013-2016), and the reasons why are worth analyzing. 

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BEST WISHES AND SUN & MOON:

Ash has a sillier, more immature portrayal and screws up a lot more - In an effort to return Ash to his roots and justify keeping him eternally 10 years old, the writers made Ash act more like a real 10 year old would. After all, his skills as a trainer shouldn’t have to make such a drastic impact on his personality, and their core audience in Japan reportedly found the “mature” Ash of XY terribly boring, which factored into that show’s ratings decline.

Ash travels to the region with his mother on a trip and stays there unexpectedly - In both BW and SuMo, Ash doesn’t set out to the show’s region by choice. He instead accompanies his mother there when she’s going on a trip (in the case of BW, alongside Professor Oak as well) and then stays after finding out about something: for Unova, it’s that it has a League Challenge, and for Alola, it’s that there’s a Trainer School that he thinks is cool.

A Legendary Pokemon takes an interest in Ash and Pikachu at the start - In BW, it’s Zekrom, who lends Pikachu its power, in SuMo, it’s Tapu Koko, who gives Ash a Z-Crystal.

Ash gets a regional starter who remains unevolved and mostly used for comic relief - In BW, it’s the spotlight-hungry Oshawott, in SuMo, it’s the lazy, backpack-dwelling Rowlet.

A recurring Pokemon ultimately becomes part of Ash's team - In BW, it’s a Sandile turned Krokorok who wants to defeat Pikachu, in SuMo, it’s a homeless, distrustful Litten.

Ash gains a main rival with blonde hair and a bad attitude - In BW, it’s Trip, who looks down on Ash for being a foreigner, in SuMo, it’s Gladion, who is an ill-tempered loner.

Ash gains a goofier rival more akin to him shortly before the League - In BW, it’s Cameron, who goes on to defeat Ash at the League, in SuMo, it’s Hau, who Ash defeats.

Ash's companions are all regarded as his equals - In the OS, Ash and Misty were equals but Brock was clearly in a higher position and was their caretaker. In AG, Ash and Brock were now equals but May and Max were beneath them, with May gradually becoming their equal overtime. In DP, Dawn started out beneath Ash and gradually became his equal, but Brock somehow sank to a lowly, almost useless position in the group. And in XY, everyone was beneath Ash from start to finish. BW and SuMo are the only times where Ash and his companions are all equal in their group dynamic, with each bringing something to the table.

Lana and Mallow bear some similarities to Iris - Iris is the heroine of BW, while Mallow and Lana are two of SuMo’s heroines. Like Iris, Mallow has dark skin instead of pale skin, a cheerful disposition, and a detailed emotional backstory. Lana meanwhile, shares Iris’ wild athleticism and prodigious affinity with nature, plus a frequently snarky and teasing attitude. 

Kiawe bears some similarities to Cilan - Cilan of BW and Kiawe of SuMo both appear at first glance to be fairly serious and professional in their attitudes, but pretty quickly show that they are far more flamboyant and comedically gifted characters than you would expect.

The TRio is sent to the region by Giovanni himself under a certain directive - In BW, it’s to lead the charge in a large-scale operation to take over Unova, in SuMo, it’s to conduct research on Alola’s Pokemon and capture the strongest ones (and later to master Z-Moves).

The TRio are the stars of their own subplot with their own new status quo - Rather than just following Ash and his friends around all the time like in the OS, AG, DP and XY, the TRio in BW and SuMo usually have their own matters to attend to. In BW, it’s engaging in missions for the Team Rocket organization, in SuMo it’s any number of odd jobs and side exploits. Through most of BW, they stay in Dr. Zager’s mobile research lab, through most of SuMo they stay in Bewear’s cave on Melemele Island which they construct a secret base above.

The TRio don't appear in every single episode - Although XY also kept this trend up.

The TRio are more competent and successful than is normal for them - The TRio succeed at their endeavors just about as often as they fail, and even their failures don’t tend to come so easily as their strategic thinking, technology, and Pokemon power has improved.

The TRio don't do much "blasting off" anymore - In BW, they usually make escapes (often on jetpacks) when defeated, in SuMo, Bewear almost always arrives to rescue them.

The TRio have another mission commander in place of Giovanni when he's busy - In BW, it’s Dr. Zager whom the TRio gets along with, in SuMo, it’s Matori whom they do not.

Giovanni takes up the Big Bad position once again - BW and SuMo are the only other times after the OS where Giovanni is the primary overarching villain who has conceived and is now conducting a master plan to take over the world by harnessing some great power. This transpires during the first and second years of BW, and just during the second year of SuMo.

It's a three-year show with mostly excellent pacing - For the most part, things don’t drag in BW and SuMo, with each stage of the show as determined by the current plot directive lasting precisely as long or short as it needs to. The only exceptions are the entirety of BW’s third and final year, and the middle of SuMo’s (between Poni Island and the Alola League). 

The region is faithfully adapted from the games - Although XY also kept this trend up.

The N / Team Plasma arc has similarities to the Nebby / Cosmog arc - Both of these story arcs are similar in length (14 episodes and 12 episodes respectfully) and thus have a very tightly-written, compact plot that plays almost like a mini-series. They are also loosely adapted from the games’ plots: a mix of B/W and B2/W2 for the former, S/M for the latter. 

The Meloetta arc has similarities to the Poipole arc - Both are as near cinematic as the previously mentioned arcs but less tight and more open in range, able to be extended through other plot points in the show. They also both feature a cute, rare Pokemon (well, Ultra Beast in Poipole’s case) who take a liking to either Ash or Pikachu and travel with them. Both arcs are also a part of both shows’ second years and conclude at the end of that year.

There are specific callbacks made to the Original Series - The biggest one in BW being the return of Ash’s Charizard, the biggest in SuMo being two guest spots by Misty and Brock.

The pattern of the movies in each year is the same - A well-crafted but notably flawed movie in the first year, an excellent movie that does something entirely different than what’s come before in the second year, and the weakest movie that stars Mewtwo in the third year.

The show's primary focus is on humor, adventure and character dynamics as opposed to shonen-style battling, shojou-style beauty contests, or adherence to formulas of the past - Really not much else to say here. That description kind of speaks for itself already.

The Pokeani fandumb can't stand it - For many of the reasons listed above, especially the previous one, since BW and SuMo both directly followed shows that were fandumb darlings because their primary focus was on shonen-style battling, shojou-style beauty contests, and adherence to formulas of the past: DP and XY respectively. Thus they will not shut up about how much they hate BW and SuMo, especially when compared to DP and XY, and take every opportunity on every platform they get to bitch and whine about how they’ve ruined the anime because they dare to be catered toward kids and not toward them and their entitled desires. But personally, I’ll take a well-made kids’ show over a bland, edgy pander-fest any day.

WHAT SUN & MOON DOES BETTER THAN BEST WISHES:

The animation - Many knock SuMo’s art style and I will admit I prefer BW’s, but the actual animation in SuMo is leagues and bounds ahead of not just BW but every previous series.

The humor - Not that BW couldn’t be funny, because it often could, especially when Shoji Yonemura wrote an episode. But SuMo, under new direction and with a new head writer plus many other new writers, is fresher and funnier in its humor, and it makes me laugh harder.

The worldbuilding - Unova may be rendered faithfully from the games, but Alola is even moreso. And because it only has a limited number of locations to use, it can flesh them out considerably more than locations in previous regions, building a recurring cast of side characters along with it, and as a result Alola feels realer and livelier than any prior region.  

The central cast - In BW, the central cast was relatively small as usual: Ash, Pikachu and the rest of Ash’s Pokemon, Ash’s two new companions and their Pokemon, and Team Rocket. Everyone else were occasionally recurring side characters. But in SuMo, we not only have Ash, Pikachu and the rest of his Pokemon, and Team Rocket, but also Ash’s five new companions / classmates, Professor Kukui as the first professor to be a regularly appearing character, Burnet, Samson Oak, Lusamine, Faba, Wicke, Gladion, and each of these character’s Pokemon!  And they all manage to be so varied, interesting and enjoyable! 

Ash, Pikachu and the TRio’s characterization - Ash may have had a sillier, more childish personality in BW, but it wasn’t done well. He was still written as pretty boring, irritating, and 1-dimensional, with Pikachu still being little more than a parrot who just reacted to everything in the same way Ash did. You can chalk that up to Atsuhiro Tomioka still being the head writer. And as badass as the TRio was in BW, they mostly had to suppress their personalities while on the job in order to get things done, and this rubbed many viewers the wrong way. SuMo, thanks to head writer Aya Matsui, actually writes all of these characters better, with Ash being enjoyable and endearing in the first time since forever, Pikachu actually having personality beyond Ash and even able to do things without him, and the TRio managing to be badass while still displaying their personalities...and it’s their actual personalities from back in the OS days, not the flanderization from AG and DP or...whatever the Hell they were in XY.   

The personal arc of the heroine(s) - Iris has one of the better personal arcs of any Pokeani heroine, but it was still notably flawed: in the middle of the show’s second year it suddenly stopped for a lengthy period of time while Ash and Cilan hogged the spotlight, then the writers had to pick it up again in a totally different and bumpier way than intended thanks to B2/W2, and then it got rushed to its conclusion at the start of the third year, with no follow-ups until an episode in the Decolore filler arc and a connected side-story special that aired five months later than it was originally intended to. There are no such issues with Lillie, Lana and Mallow’s arcs, which progress in a natural way, with Lillie’s standing as the best in the whole Pokeani.

The Myth Arc - Wow, was BW’s Myth Arc screwed over! Iris’ connection to it was severed, Zekrom never showed up again after the first episode, N and Team Plasma didn’t appear until the third year and their storyline was drastically altered from what was originally intended, there was a 45 episode gap between events transpiring within it, and just like DP’s it ended in an anti-climactic way and well before the actual show was ready to end...it was just a mess. SuMo, otoh, has its Myth Arc centered around the secrets of Alola unfold from start to finish without a hitch, and unlike XY it actually fully transpires within the confines of the show.  

The League Tournament - The Unova League sucked, there’s no way around it. Aside from Ash vs. Stephan, it was a travesty in everything from characters to story to battles. But the Alola League is the exact opposite, being the best League arc the Pokeani has ever had.

The show's structure in general - BW’s structure is solid for the most part, but there are some problems: half of the second year’s story stages (Nimbasa City Tour, The Road to Mistralton, and End of the Badge Quest) are notably shakier in content than the other stages from the first year and other half of the second year. And then there’s the goddamn third year, which not only has the aforementioned Unova League but also is paced like a checklist for the rest of the Unova Saga, speeding through the climax of Iris’ personal arc, the Unova League, and the N / Team Plasma arc that wraps up the show’s Myth Arc, and then wasting the last 5 months on the wildly uneven, passionless Decolore filler arc which was clearly mandated so that early Gen VI promotion could happen that would be certain to air in the US during those games’ worldwide release. SuMo’s structure is almost flawless in comparison.

The “Shudo style” - While both BW and SuMo aimed to follow the style of the OS’ original head writer Takeshi Shudo, the writing team of BW under Atsuhiro Tomioka weren’t quite as properly equipped to do so in spite of director Norihiko Sutou’s best efforts, often coming off as trying too hard. When they nailed it, they really nailed it, but otherwise you could tell it was an imitation. With the writing team of SuMo under Aya Matsui, it feels so much more natural and true. It’s ironic, since all of BW’s writers actually worked alongside Shudo when he was around, but Matsui and her team are somehow more instinctively inclined to Shudo’s style.

WHAT BEST WISHES DOES BETTER THAN SUN & MOON:

The villains - SuMo has a villain problem. Team Skull doesn’t show up nearly as much as they should and Guzma only appears in the third year to be the villain of the Alola League arc, Giovanni and the elite Team Rocket squad of Matori Matrix are great but also very seldom appear, Lusamine isn’t a villain at all, Faba does a good job as the villain of the Nebby arc but he becomes a full-on good guy afterward, a rich asshole named Viren becomes less threatening and more comedic the more he shows up, the Ultra Beasts are just rampaging monsters, even the TRio and their Pokemon sit out of doing evil deeds regularly. BW, when in Unova at least, handles its villains a lot better: the TRio as the regular villains are actually competent and threatening and true representatives of the Team Rocket organization, Giovanni has a constantly looming off-screen presence even when he isn’t showing up in person and Dr. Zager is great at filling his commanding role in his absence, and Team Plasma appears with their own story arc after the overarching Team Rocket arc finally concludes at the end of the second year and, Ghetsis aside, are portrayed very well.

The rivals - The only rival characters in SuMo are the games’ rivals, Hau and Gladion. Hau only appears in one episode before the League, where he loses to Ash in a hilariously cruel way that underscores just what an afterthought he was to the writers, and while Gladion is a great rival for Ash, his personal arc has nothing to do with him whatsoever, it’s all about him and his family. While BW’s cast of rivals weren’t always handled properly, they at least provided a lot of variety: with Ash’s rivals being Trip, Bianca, Stephan, Cameron, and a League-exclusive rival Virgil, Iris’ rival being Georgia, Cilan’s rival being Cabernet, and even Ash’s rival Stephan getting his own tournament rival in Montgomery. It especially seems odd that SuMo has such a larger central cast than usual, and yet only Ash gets any rivals. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Lillie, Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and/or Sophocles had rivals? Yeah, large casts of rivals didn’t work too well under Tomioka, but Matsui could’ve made it work!

The scenery - The price for such great worldbuilding in a limited number of locations is that the scenery is going to stagnate. You’ll be seeing the same environments episode after episode after episode, and it can get tiring. The benefit to a series where the characters are always traveling is a variety of scenery, as almost every episode has a new location in it.

The dramatic weight - I don’t know what it is, maybe the art style, maybe the constant injections of humor, or maybe just the situations themselves, but the occasional high-stakes events in SuMo just don’t have the same gravitas that the high-stakes events in BW have. With BW, I always felt something serious was at stake whenever a big crisis hit, whether that be Castelia City, Milos Island, all of the heroes’ Pokemon, individual lives, the entire Unova region or, in one case, the entire world. I’ve never felt that with SuMo, all of the big events involving Ultra Beasts and Legendary Pokemon feel smaller in scope and more contained.

The English dub - The English dub of BW gets weaker as it goes on, but on the whole it is serviceable, with a lot of good performances. The English dub of SuMo, otoh, is a disaster. There are very few redeeming qualities to be found. Just stick to subtitles for this one.

[michael-radi-the-glamorous-life]

God I Hope I Get It

Audition (noun) - A necessary, and often grinding, step to acquiring a theatre performance job, which some actors love, many actors hate, and everyone else is relatively indifferent to

*Warning: This post is geared mainly toward the actor-folk and those interested in the audition process!

Last week I found myself once again in an audition room - this time behind the table, which was a lovely change! Generally speaking, whether or not I am part of the casting team, I’m hearing/viewing auditions on a weird side angle from the piano. So this was a lovely little treat!

Over my years of taking classes and workshops on “THE AUDITION” I have certainly learned many things about the audition process, and particularly about myself as an auditioner. But there is no better way to learn the ins-and-outs, dos-and-don’ts, and [other-cliched-phrases] of auditions than to sit on the other side of the table and observe with non-actor-oriented eyes/ears.

So, here are some of the things I’ve learned about auditioning.

How Many People [Do They] Need?

Auditioning and Performing are completely different skills.

WHAAAAAAAAT???

Yep.

But how can that be? You’re performing something for other people in both cases.

Yes, italics-half-of-this-conversation, but to entirely different ends! And each requires it’s own skill sets.

When you perform in a show, you are part of a living, breathing production. It doesn’t matter how grand or how bare bones that production may be - or how large or small the cast is - a production is a live event in which the artists and technicians have crafted a piece with the purpose of conversing with an audience. And audience who has invested their time and/or money, nonetheless.

Auditions are not a production. The only people helping you out are the monitor and accompanist (if it’s a vocal audition), and they’re really there just to do their jobs and to work with every person auditioning. This time in the room is for you and you alone. And though you are not shutting out the other people in the room, your work is not a rehearsed theatrical piece meant to make them ponder XY or Z about the human condition - that’s not the conversation you are having. This conversation should be “Here I am, this is what I do, and let me know if this fits with what you’re looking for. Thanks!”

So what is step 1 to a great audition? Preparation.

Whether going into a room with an appointment or at an open call, know exactly for what you are walking into the room.

What are the shows? Especially if you’re being seen for a full season.

Who is behind the table and at the piano? Know this please!

What did they ask you to prepare? Do you have that, or are the stretching with your choices?

Did you arrive on time? Did you have time to breathe, fix yourself up, warm up, etc.?

Did you research the theater or production company? Always a good idea to get a sense of who they are and specifically what they might be looking for.

Did you enter the room with excuses ready? The train…I’m sick…Allergies…ehn! Just do what you can today! Excuses are unhelpful.

I am floored by how often it seems as though actors have not prepared before they enter a room. They may make choices that are incorrect for the season at hand, or they make excuses before they begin, or they miss their appointment times, or they treat someone (the monitor, pianist, reader) rudely…all of this is easily avoidable with a little research and time! It’s worth that extra little bit of work - it will make your auditioning life much easier!

*A particular note about accompanists: Please know how to speak to you accompanist about your piece(s) in a way that is professional and efficient. Things to note:

They are not your enemy - in fact, they’re the only help you’ve got!

Treat them kindly - Not only is that good human behavior, they may also very well be the Musical Director. And even if they’re not, they will report rude behavior to the casting team.

Succinctly tell them: 1) What the song is, 2) Where you are starting and ending, 3) Whether you’d like an introduction or a bell tone, and 4) Your tempo.

Speaking of Your Tempo - Clapping, stomping, tapping, and snapping your tempo is highly discouraged. It’s loud and comes off as rude. Simply sing a few bars of the song to them at the tempo you would like.

Thank them…twice. Once as you leave the piano to audition and once on your way out of the room as you grab your book. Kindness is memorable!

I Can’t Imagine What [They Want}

One of the weirdest things about auditioning is that everyone involved wants you to be the answer, to be exactly what they want/are looking for. You’d like that, the auditioners would like that, the artistic team would like that, etc. Everyone would be happy.

BUT…that cannot be on your mind as you audition. Oof. That makes things more complicated.

But why not? What if thinking about what they wants wills it into existence and I suddenly shine with the perfection of the role they’re casting?!

Uh, yeah. Cool. Though, I’m fairly certain it doesn’t work that way.

It should be an incredible comfort to the auditioning actor to know that you have zero control over whether or not you are the right fit. None. Whatsoever. Not a jot.

Then what’s the point of even preparing and trying???

Well, you always want to be prepared to showcase your best self. And if you want to work in theatre, then you have to keep trying (or else you won’t get jobs…). But this idea should be freeing to you!

It’s not about how well you feel you sang your cut that day, or how you didn’t like the way the pianist played your music, or that you had some flyaway hair you didn’t notice, or that the casting personnel barely looked up…these are all things that happen all the time and have no bearing on the outcome of an audition.

So what to do?

What Should I Try To Be?

Yourself.

That’s it. Just be you. Show us what you do best and what you enjoy doing.

If you’re possibly what we’re looking for, awesome! We’ll give you a callback and explore who you are a little further. And if you’re not what we’re looking for then there are several possible outcomes:

We enjoyed you and you made the day of auditions a little less terrible. (For let’s remember, sitting through auditions is rarely an energizing and lovely experience!)

We put you on file because you were great even though you’re not right today.

You’re right for another project someone in the room is working on and you will be kept in mind.

You actually were potentially right for the role, but we had to be stingy about callback time and made some cuts.

And you may never learn any of this, but it happens all the time. There is a gigantic machine of thought and consideration that auditioning performers never get the opportunity to experience. You just have to trust that your work - if it was genuine and good - got you noticed and considered in ways you may not hear about for weeks, months, or even years.

So how to be yourself?

Make sure your pieces are things you enjoy performing. Auditioning with your own, chosen material should be fun for you. It should not stress you out. Don’t choose something where you’re unsure that you’ll hit the high note on a given day, or where you haven’t gone through the acting moments yet, or just because it’s been in your book for a while, or because it booked you that one gig five years ago. What do you enjoy doing now?

What shows you off the best? Know the styles of material that work best for you, your voice, your acting ability, your style, your type, etc. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Play you your strengths.

Keep your audition book thin. Relieve yourself of the burden of songs you don’t perform any more or any other excess. Accompanists will absolutely look through your book, which means that anything in there is fair game to be asked of you to sing. So only keep the 10-12 song cuts that you can whip out at any time with confidence!

Be a human. This one may seem obvious, but people get weird when walking into audition rooms. Read them room on when to say hello. Try not to interrupt if they’re talking behind the table when you enter, but definitely say hello before slating your pieces. All of the rules that apply to general polite conversation apply to the audition room as well!

Treat the casting team as fellow humans before you perform, then ignore them. Look people in the eye and be yourself as you say hello and tell them what you’re going to do, then perform to a point that is not their eyes. It’s rarely a good thing to make people feel uncomfortable.

Hold the last moment of your piece! Don’t break the moment too soon, for this can ruin the effect of your audition piece - especially if you created a captivating moment.

Say thank you to the room, and then to the accompanist. It shows that you’re done with your audition, you appreciate their time, and it’s also just polite.

Walk out of the room. Sounds silly, but sometimes people run out, which can feel abrupt. Also, if you run it doesn’t give them time to potentially share glances and ask you for something else! One the flip side, don’t saunter expectantly out of the room either. That’s uncomfortable for everyone involved, and if they want to see more from you they will let you know!

God, I Really Blew It

Nah, you probably didn’t.

We are way harder on ourselves than anyone else is going to be. Let’s not forget that the people who are casting you are trained professionals who know how to spot what they’re looking for - the potential to be the right fit.

If you mess up a line or a note, they don’t care. They’re taking you in as a whole human and performer. We can easily hear around the errors to find what we need.

So don’t be so hard on yourself.

Treat auditions like another part of the day. It’s a job. You come in, you do your thing (and enjoy doing it), and then you leave. On to the next!

It’s easy to put large amounts of stock into an audition, especially if it’s a job you really want or if you haven’t been cast in a while, but those pressures aren’t going to help anyone - and least of all you. No one audition is make or break, so be kind to yourself.

God, I Think I’ve Got It

I know that’s a lot of information, but like any other set of skills it will become second nature with practice.

There will be good auditions and bad auditions. You’ll be thrilled with your work at times and bummed at times. You’ll get callbacks, you’ll get ignored, you’ll meet some great people, you’ll have (too many) terrible MTA experiences, and you’ll do it all over and over again. But that’s the gig!

Auditions are not monsters, they’re just your stepping stone to the jobs you want. Work on them, trust your skills, and be yourself. And hopefully, you’ll then be…as the kids say…#BookedAndBlessed.

[ribarukirikaindenial]

Thinking thoughts about endgame battles and opponents in anpk and what they bring to Satoshi’s journey so I’m writing them. 

My personal view of “endgame battle” and “endgame opponent” in anpk is that the series in question was constructed around this eventual final battle, that the battle needed to happen for the series to reach its logical narrative conclusion, and that the opponent is a character that was set up from the start and is closely linked to Satoshi throughout the series in question and brings a lot in terms of development as a trainer, challenge, and meaning, etc.

In my view, over the course of anpk, there are exactly three characters that count as endgame opponents (going with my criteria above): Shinji, Kukui, and Dande. (I don’t think there were really any characters like that in OS, AG, BW, and XY. While these series had rival characters and their own rivalries to tell at times, and while there were tough walls to overcome like Jindai in the Battle Frontier, having a specific dynamics that shaped the structure and the direction of a series/functioning as a continuous thread from the beginning to the end actually didn’t happen a lot in the anime.)

In order:

Shinji: The climax of DP was literally their battle at the league etc, as soon as that narrative challenge was concluded, DP ended quickly ww Shinji was set up from the start of DP, he was a recurring rival, he is closely linked to Satoshi throughout the series. Their final battle was the culmination of everything that happened during DP, it was carefully built up and constructed over the years so it would pay off during the league (they had many echos to their past battles in the final one etc). In fact, their rivalry was set up before DP even started: the conflict between Shuu and Haruka towards the end of AG (their talks about complimenting your Pokemon or not just because they did well etc), in a way, set the ground for the upcoming rivalry between Shinji and Satoshi in DP, Shigeru battling Satoshi with an Elekible at the end of AG hinted at Shinji’s final Pokemon to defeat in the league, etc. 

Arguably, I would say that that battle was the culmination of the OS to DP era since Satoshi’s whole philosophy as a trainer and methods/views were put at stake there. He had to win and prove everything he built as a trainer there. 

Kukui: While Kukui wasn’t exactly introduced as a raibaru at first, it becomes increasingly clear during the series that he is going to be the final opponent in SM. He is Satoshi’s father figure, and he is also his teacher at school. So he is both the mentor/teacher and father to surpass, and that trope is an old one. There is also the fact that he is Royal Mask and Satoshi admires Royal Mask and wants to battle him etc. I think that they had one battle as Royal Mask vs Satoshi (can’t remember how many times they battled right now rip) which ended in Satoshi’s loss and set up the rivalry between Nyabby and Gaogaen? So it set the promise for more to come. Moreover, Kukui’s dream was to make a Pokemon League in Alola. This becomes much more personal for Satoshi once we get to the episode (SM125) where it is revealed that what made this dream possible is that Satoshi and Kukui met when Kukui was a kid, thanks to Celebi sending Satoshi in the past. Satoshi told Kukui about his adventures and leagues and stuff, and it’s thanks to their meeting that Kukui had the dream of hosting the first league in Alola. So it’s only fitting that Satoshi won it and that the series ended with the father and son battle, things coming full circle etc. The battle also functioned as a “graduation ceremony”, especially with Kapu Kokeko being Kukui’s final Pokemon. Kapu Kokeko watched over Satoshi from the beginning ever since he came to Alola, gifted him a Z-Ring, and Satoshi defeated Kapu Kokeko with a Z-Move, poetic cinema etc. So, father vs son, teacher vs student, and Satoshi’s graduation ceremony before he left the school. A battle about their love for battles. 

Dande: Dande has been Satoshi’s goal ever since he heard of the tournament and had an unofficial battle with him. Dande is basically Satoshi’s mirror, he is exactly like him, down to the fact that they both have a childhood friend who started as a trainer and ended up taking on the path of a researcher. Shigeru and Sonia are parallels for a reason (and they are both grandchildren of famous researchers, too). (It could even be argued that Dande having a little brother is similar to how Kukui and Burnet totally consider Rei Satoshi’s little brother.) Other than that, their training ep really showed how similar they both are in terms of personalities and outlook towards Pokemon. Sonia described Dande as a big kid who is really into Pokemon (a pkmn baka ww), and this description fits Satoshi as well. Dande is just really how Satoshi could be when he is older. And just like how we see Satoshi in Dande, the latter is reminded of his first days as a trainer when looking at Satoshi. In the PV, this battle was described as the culmination of everything that Satoshi and Pikachu have accumulated through their adventures, so it really encompasses their different journeys as well.

We’ll see how it ends, but I’m liking how elements of past endgame battles are incorporated into this one. And it does feel more meaningful that Kukui and Shinji were specifically brought back in a row to battle Satoshi before the M8. It is definitely intentional and has more weight to it considering all of this. They both represent major parts of Satoshi’s journey, and he had to face them both one more time before the end. Also, Type Wild was played as an insert song during both their battles in DP and SM, so the rule kind of says that it needs to be the same now too. Type Wild really is the endgame battle insert song.

In conclusion (or not), how I see it is that Shinji vs Satoshi (first endgame battle/opponent in the anime) was about overcoming/surpassing the rival (the opposite, the other side of the coin), proving one’s philosophy.

Satoshi vs Kukui was surpassing the father, the mentor, the teacher.

Satoshi vs Dande will be Satoshi surpassing himself (?).  

Also, as a last note, it is interesting that Satoshi’s first endgame opponent was someone who was the complete opposite of himself (Shinji, two sides of the same coin etc), and now, the current one (Dande) is someone who is a reflection of himself. It is really that deep. 

[its-whitetomorrow]

Honestly, another great TR episode and not even ‘ordinary’ great...

Let’s sum up what I mean here...

1. SM remembers about plots and also gives us decent reasoning: Z Crystal is back for TR but they just didn’t really give a damn about it since it was useless for them so far.

2. Giovanni appears yet again, speaking more. Matori speaking a little more too. And smiling... and adopting a pokemon...

3. Giovanni/HQ appears to advance the plot of an ‘episodic’ pokemon (and possibly include him into recurring SM cast) rather than just for the sake of being there or foreshadowing a huge plot/ominous presence. WOW. When was the last time this happened? Wait, perhaps... never?

4. Team Rocket being adorable family in their secret base but Giovanni pops up and they are all serious business, only not for long because they’re completely out of shape and each of them with different unbelievable funny expressions. And all of this feels completely natural! No overdose of idiocy either so it’s not distracting, really. Boss is cool with them and the tone of the episode isn’t about some serious villainous briefing (like BW/that one time in XY) so it’s exactly what it should be. They can do that, even with Giovanni in front of them.

5. Alolan Nyasu actually spying on Team Rocket for his own reasons and aiming for Persian’s place. Just no words. Amazing way to spice things up for this 20 years old Persian/Meowth rivarly... It feels like you’re watching Pokemon for the first time, in a way.

6. Something TR-focused that includes some pieces of TR friendship crisis episodes, Evil Togepi, BW TR, enormous comedy, TR being good friends (but villains as well, working for their mafia boss) and also has Meowth sitting at a cafe of a certain pokemon from back then? I mean, do I even need to say more? This is yet another example where SM beats records and I very much would love to start seeing more of it. Always feels amazing and if it’s done right like here, then I’m all for more ‘mixing’ of TR aspects in single instances (rather than seperating them between specific episodes/arcs, as it’s usually done). Meaning friendship, villains, drama, rivarly, job, their organization, some inside dealings and crossings, comedy, pikachu, TR insignia, encounters with different characters, being a little family, everything please! Not excluding adorable, sweeter things NOR technological gadgets and bigger arcs. I’m all for it. That’s all I ever wanted to see TR evolve into after BW, tbh.

[0chazuke]

Rika Matsumoto, Ash's voice actress, gave a quick interview to Anime!Anime! about the new pokemon movie. It has some interesting stuff, for example...

The number one key point of playing Ash is thinking him as a boy who wants being closer to other children. Rika would like him to be a character that, when seen by the kids, can be a friend who supports them through difficult times/when they feel lonely. Rika wants to be the Ash that can reach people's hearts: she is positive about viewers seeing Ash not only as a friend, but maybe as a little brother, or an older brother or even like a son instead.

When asked about instances that surprised her while playing Ash, Rika commented how sometimes Ash says some mature stuff - she specifically mentioned Ash's emotions and deeply understanding in Greninja's departure scene in XY&Z.

Her words about Pokemon's meetings/farewells and Ash's relationship with pokemon, in very simple words: "a love that asks nothing in return" (無償の愛) .

Rika often answers "Bye bye Butterfree" when asked about "any episodes that you like?"- she recalls how she watched it being broadcasted on TV together with her mother and both cried really hard (aww).

She talks about this scene (0:37 - the do you dislike me? I like you!), how she intended to play an atmosphere of a parent-child moment. I think it's sweet how she used to practice these scenes with one of her dogs, who really reminded her of Pikachu. Rika explains how 20 years ago she was still young and how she managed to convey Ash's love straightaway - still, for this year's movie, she thinks that this time she could really deeply express that affection. (Yeah, I personally think so too - that is definitely one of the big things that make m20 really shine!)

Any changes after these 20 years playing Ash? Yeah, her sense of responsibility became stronger: even speaking as Rika Matsumoto, she's very conscious about her words because she doesn't want to betray those who love Ash and want always to encourage and give energy to everybody. ♥

[pkmnjesus]

5 years of the PokémonJesus

Before the night comes to a close, I would like to personally reflect on today’s importance (thus the reason for the Takeover queue). It’s been 5 years since I officially became engaged with this fandom that has really became a weekly routine of mine when new episodes come out. This is really just to put my thoughts out there in the blog archive, so I would prefer if no one reblogs this. P J’s beginnings started all the way back with Serebii Forums...

2013-2014 (The Pokémon forums Era)

I have been lurking in the fandom as early as the Best Wishes days, and often visit sites like Serebii Forums or tumblr’s Pokémon anime tags around 2011. I usually talk Pokémon online when it comes to the games when battling or trading in certain chat rooms (was really active during the Gen. IV era of games), but never really talked about the anime with. I have been a spectator to the discussion while the BW saga was rolling a long, then I decided on September 26th 2013 (which was the airdate for the final BW! episode in Japan) to create a serebiiforums account under the username PokemonJesus123, just in time for the start of the XY series which I was mad hyped about! I WAS A FAN SINCE DAY 1...some y’all just tagged along in XY&Z NO LOYALTY xD . My serebii profile is still there actually, so you can try to find my old inactive page if you want lol (my avatar was me holding up my 3DS in a cringey way...looking back why tf did I take that photo lol delete later). Coming into 2014, I joined tumblr as well under the url name you see right before you. Never changed it, and probably never will. The origin of this name you ask? You’ll just have to ask me personally for that story 😉 I absolutely joined tumblr out of pure boredom to view and follow blogs I was a fan of. I had no intention of posting whatsoever. Oh, and I made a Twitter account under the P J name too! Follow ME :^)

2014-2015 (Thursday LIVE! tumblr era)

After a couple months of finally creating a tumblr account and actively posting on serebiiforums and bulbagarden, XY episode 50 (the episode where big lips Nini/Nene debuted) was the first EVER Pokémon anime episode I ever posted about in my blog. I was still new the #pokeani tag (funny story, I didn’t really knew what it meant back then besides to tag it lol), but I got as much as around 30-100 notes. Seeing those notes already got excited that it pushed me from making it a weekly thing since I had a livestream to watch it every Thursday night and screen-cap it. My goal from the very beginning was to try to be the first one to post about here, like what the Japanese fans do on Twitter under the #Anipoke tag. Of course, most of my notes came from either an AmourShipping post or a Serena post. I’m not going to lie, I was really a huge Serena fan when the series first started. I rambled a lot too getting hyped for Citron/Clemont episodes because he was probably my favorite character at the time xD

2015-2016 (A growing blog)

This was the era I started to do special long posts in celebration with Pokémon’s 20th anniversary. Around this period is where my blog was in a developing state getting like 2 or 3 followers every week. And trust me, there were A LOT of posts that I regret posting, but I learned to watch my words every week and say the right things (I really try not to trigger anyone here). I took a couple of weeks off when new episodes aired since I was really busy with college, or I wasn’t into XY filler episodes that much. Would usually tune in live when Team Flare was involved or anything with Squishy/Puni-chan (I absolutely ADORED Bonnie/Eureka in this arc), but I didn’t post that much on tumblr...unless if there was like an AmourShipping moment that happened xD. The hype for Gen. VII was already looming, and I kinda got bored from the anime A BIT. When Ash-Greninja came into the picture however, I got excited again! Then the Kalos League happened, and the anticipation of Ash’s journey hit a climax! We all know what happened, and the rest was history...

2016-2017 (GIFmaking era)

So the Sun & Moon anime happened late 2016, and the hype for a new series was within me again! This is when my blog REALLY started to boom, as well as the birth of my Pokémon Discord server PokéTōku. My notes were higher than over compared to what I posted from XY. One possible reason is that a lot of pokeani bloggers from back then weren’t really interested in Sun & Moon (probably because of the animation change), so I was one of few who still stayed for the ride and that really benefited my blog’s exposure. I absolutely loved Lillie’s character development, and I also did not expect myself to enjoy Lana/Suiren’s character so much! Brock & Misty’s was a huge highlight for me as well seeing my childhood come to a modern-day Pokémon series. I was surprised to have popular people reblog my stuff that destroys my notifications per second. I was even flattered when popular pokéblogs such as shelgon, corsolanite, chasekip, and a few others followed me. Back then I really wanted to get a lot of notes, but at this point I just wanted to be myself and post screen-caps that I feel like talking about. The series also motivated me to start making GIFs since I finally had access to Adobe Photoshop through my university’s application benefits. Later in 2017, I graduated from college and it gave me more time to improving my blog. Also, can you believe it took me 3 years to get 1,000 followers? If you asked me from day 1, I would have never expected to get that much since I had no idea about tumblr’s audience.

Everyone here knows that my blog doesn’t really follow “traditional” tumblr methods such as tags or making specific posts and what not (since I’m not really that into the tumblr culture lol...I’m just here for fun doing my own thing), but I hope I’ve brought something different to your dash experience 🙃

2017-2018 (Making friends)

From 1,000 to 2,500+ followers the next year. You’d be surprise how small that still is compared to the other popular Pokéblogs that joined tumblr later than me, but I’m still grateful for that number. My hype for movie 20 was crazy! I’d always make a post about it when a new trailer was out. But just like Sun & Moon, not everyone was looking forward to the AU it produced. The Let’s Go games shared the same fate as well since everyone didn’t want another Kanto, but I always defend the things that deserve a chance! I fairly enjoyed movie 20 though, and was the first movie that I posted screen-caps and GIFs for in this blog, even made an experience post about it watching it in the theaters! What’s MOST important to me during this time was actually interacting with some of my followers...or should I say friends now :) Out of the 5 years I’ve been here (not counting serebiiforum peeps I’ve known since 2013), I only recently talked to some of you around 2017. My interactions with people here have been awesome (for the most part at least lol) from sharing interests, geeking out over the anime, sending memes xD and concerns when P J isn’t feeling P J. You know who you are, and THANK YOU for cheering your boy up in times when I needed it despite not telling you about it <3 Going back to PokéAni hype, my next excitement attack was when they announced the Aether Foundation and Ultra Beasts were getting involved in the main story. It really makes up for no Alola movie...but hey we still got 1 year left, so maybe there’s hope?

Despite the brief breaks I took, P J’s activeness in the fandom has reached its highest when I managed the time to do scheduled posts and even started a few mini-blog series this year. Even during stressful times, I always make it an effort to find time and contribute to the fandom. I honestly don’t care if I get any asks because I know who the real homies are ◉‿◉つ A special shoutout as well to all the people that joined my Discord server through this website. I couldn’t have reached 100+ members without some of your blogs ^_^ And to the lurkers out there (I know some of y’all are creepin’ in the shadows of my blog without liking anything), you may not know it but I love you people too ლ(́◉◞౪◟◉‵ლ)

Anyway this is just a summary of my journey here so far, and if you’d to hear a more in-depth story on some toxic things I’ve experienced in this fandom just message me. I personally don’t like venting out stuff in public because it just promotes more negativity, and I’m not about that. I will make a separate post on my feelings toward the schedule change maybe next week, and an appreciation post (5th tumblr blogaversary) for my specific followers January 2019. I am still preparing for that because there are so many people (even ones I don’t even talk to) I want to thank ❤ Moving forward into my 6th year, I probably won’t make another post like this anytime soon...but I am very hopeful for the future of the SM series and possible Gen. 8 anime late 2019. I also do plan on making some PokéAni-related stuff in my YouTube channel when the time is right, and have the resources to do projects. Keep your eyes out fam 👀LET’S F’N GO!