#yes. Yes it is clemont. They don't exist.

[themintman]

whoever decided to make me so emotional about fictional characters deserves to be shot.

Like, I'm ok with real people. Worst case scenario I'll cry cause Im terrified that me calling your outfit cute has somehow offended you. Fictional characters? NOPE NO CHILL

If I think about characters I like too hard I feel actual physical pain because my stupid brain decided to gaslight the rest of me into thinking of them more like real people than ACTUAL real people. So to my STUPID BRAIN they are just friends I can't hug.

LIKE WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS BRAIN??? NO I DONT WANT TO CRY CAUSE I ACCIDENTALLY MADE THE SILLY OLD MAN DISAPPOINTED??? BUT NO, I GUESS IM GOING TO SOB INTO MY PILLOW CAUSE I THINK I UPSET HIM (he's not even real?????)

[crystalelemental]

Alright, I'm in the vibe for some of this month's pairs, so let's give one more Gauntlet Sweep with Akari.

Vs. Tapu Bulu I just realized these are organized from most recent to most ancient game release. Wild. Anyway. Tapu Bulu started what you may notice is the combo. BP Olivia actually works really well with Akari, buffing both defenses and supplying the recovery from gradual healing. Her pop healing is good enough that Akari won't be distracted by Potion use too much, keeping her Buddy move's damage at its maximum. My Olivia is sadly not EX, so I couldn't go full crazy on Akari, but it's sufficient. I would also point out here, yes my Akari is 5/5. I got really lucky on the scouts.

Vs. Tornadus Lana's not a bad pick either. Unlike Roxanne, Akari doesn't have perfect gauge management, but 2-gauge spam and the TM giving +4 speed isn't atrocious. It's not great, either. But it can work out okay. Lana's the kind of defensive pick that can make use of Akari's Potion in a pinch.

Vs. Terrakion I had to do at least one with Dawn. Terrakion is a good one, because Dawn cuts off its physical attack boosting while Akari just beats it down. Her damage field counts for its Clear Advantage, so she's just a pure beatdown.

Vs. Cobalion I went back to Lana to avoid Dawn being the easy answer. Unfortunately, you need paralysis, so I brought Norman. It's fine.

Vs. Azelf This is where BP Olivia took off. She has access to Stalwart/Unbending, which is ideal to counterpick Azelf. In truth? This feels like her niche over Morty and Clemont. She's incredibly sturdy, even against Azelf. And the 5/5 really worked out here; debuffing defenses per hit let Akari keep wailing on it even with its damage reduction.

Vs. Uxie Uxie's also pretty easily handled by Olivia, we just need BP Erika for Trap/Toxic combo, otherwise we're hard walled. I went with Erika over Lucy, because Olivia already supplies Gradual Healing, which is redundant with Lucy.

Vs. Latios Easy enough, Akari just beats the shit out of them. Again, Olivia's Stalwart/Unbending combo is nice here, completely blocking Latios' bullshit.

Vs. Latias Okay, this one was a challenge. Latias could beat us, if Olivia missed. The main benefit of Akari is that her buddy move can't miss. But her main move can. So you really want to end bar 1 with regular Ceaseless Edge, to set up a long duration for Buddy move. But as you may guess, Olivia needs to hit like every attack, in order to avoid the mid-bar +6 from annihilating all hope. Fluid Fortification gets nasty. It's frankly riskier than it's entirely worth. But they can do it as a duo.

Vs. Registeel This is approximately what I did for Gauntlet. Akari at 5/5 absolutely annihilates this idiot. Without 5/5, Akari offers basically nothing in this fight, you'd need a trio to manage defense. But with 5/5, it's the hardest dunk on this list.

Vs. Regirock Regirock is much tougher. You need the flinch, or Akari just takes too much and it gets out of hand. That said, we missed flinch on the Iron Defense, so it got to block a ton of crits. Akari still pushed through. Her DPS is ridiculous.

Vs. Entei Getting a bit redundant, but Olivia also has Quick Cure, so she beats Entei's Fire Spin. By the time you get to the last bar, Akari's able to pop trainer move and blow it away in like two moves, even through burn. BP Morty is another option to flinch them.

Vs. Raikou Akari can't quite OHKO the sides pre-sync, but she comes close. She's strong enough to handle a lot of this. Also if you have Strike role, she'd probably one-shot on sync. Akari's a bit ridiculous.

Final Thoughts Akari's draw is her absurd DPS. Her Buddy move is absurdly overpowered, and if you have 5/5, it's completely over. I think lower move levels would have a much worse time with all of this. You're dealing with a lot less damage because you don't have any defense debuffs. But also, eggmons exist, and most of these are duos. Sincerely, you can just slap like Lickitung or Parasect on these fights, and cover most gimmicks and still have your debuffs. It's not a huge ask.

The oddity of Akari is that her sync kinda sucks, but she's still great at Gauntlet. Figure that out. I think it speaks well to the power of her Buddy move that she's a poor sync nuker who still pushes through. The lack of conditions like Emma and SS Lysandre, where stages can just deny the entire gimmick, makes her relatively hard to stop as well. In most situations, the DPS of pairs like this get stops cold by stages that counteract you, but nothing really blocks Akari's damage field. It's funny, really, seeing Damage Field contribute. I know it's mostly in how it unlocks better damage for her moves, but I think that's a sane approach. The damage fields can't be stopped, nor as far as I'm aware, overwritten by one another. It's an incredibly free condition to apply, so as far as multipliers go, it's about as safe as Restrain. Big fan of the design of this kit.

[eternalstargazer]

Delia asked Goh to look after Ash, entrusting him with her son's safety and well-being. She barely knew Goh at the time, yet she could sense Goh would be a good companion for Ash. Call it maternal instinct. A mother sometimes just knows.

Kiawe however wasn't sure Goh was deserving to walk alongside Ash. Kiawe had come to respect Ash over time, and believed he required a strong rival to reach his potential. Kiawe needed to know "the person closest to Ash" possessed strength of character and could help him reach his dream. By accepting Kiawe's challenge and speaking his heart and mind, Goh proved himself in Kiawe's eyes.

And then along came the Child Prodigy of Pallet Town, Mr. Ten Out of Eight Gym Badges* himself, Gary Oak.

Delia and Kiawe both believe Goh is capable of watching over Ash and they feel better knowing Goh is at his side. Gary? Seemingly not so.

But this is Gary. He's the guy that can never be honest with what he's feeling, as Ash points out near the end of the episode. Who knows Gary better than Ash (aside from maybe his grandfather, and he seems to feel the same way about Gary's behavior)? Gary's intentions aren't always clear (I go into more detail about this here).

Anyone remember Gary making such a big deal about Ash's past traveling companions? As someone that's watched the anime since 1998, I don't. How many times did he even acknowledge the existence of Misty and Brock? What about Dawn? When he did exchange a line or two with someone else in Ash's entourage, he never made a point of questioning their abilities as a trainer.

Gary doesn't treat Goh the same way. At first glance, it appears Gary actually has a lower opinion of Goh than those that have tagged along with Ash in the past. It's one thing to not bother to take notice of someone. It's a whole other thing to go out of one's way to insult someone.

And yes, Goh feels insulted that some guy he just met moments ago out in the middle of a forest is questioning his skills as a trainer and declared he doesn't meet the qualifications to be Ash's buddy.

I imagine this also hit a bit too close to home for Goh given his lonely childhood and past failed friendships. His friendship with Ash is very important to him - precious even, as Goh himself said in episode 91, and here stands Ash's childhood friend essentially telling him, "yeah, you're not good enough for him," before offering up one of his patented smirks.

Gary's words cut deep.

Ash recognized this behavior in Gary, having been on the receiving end of it in the past many times, and what Gary said to him would often leave him feeling angry and hurt, but it also pushed him to become stronger and reach new heights. Back then, it seemed like Gary was just being a jerk to Ash for his own personal amusement, but again, Gary's motives aren't always obvious and what he says isn't necessarily an accurate representation of how he feels.

Goh decides to prove Gary wrong. And in doing so, he does precisely what Gary wanted him to do. Join Project Mew.

Gary sees potential in Goh, otherwise he likely would've either outright ignored him or barely acknowledged his presence, just as he did with Ash's former traveling companions. Gary wants Goh to get stronger, in part, because he's all Ash has right now.

Ash has consistently been in the company of strong trainers that could and would help and protect him. He has almost always had at least one or more gym leaders with him on his journeys at any given time (Misty, Brock, Cilan, Clemont) and while in Alola, Professor Kukui and classmates like Kiawe were always around or nearby. As reckless as Ash can be, Gary never lost too much sleep worrying about his safety.

Now? Now it's just Goh. And that concerns the guy that can never be honest with his feelings. When Moltres was swooping in to attack Ash and Infernape, Goh yelled to Ash to watch out, but it was Gary that instinctively jumped into action to protect Ash and Infernape by calling out Blastoise.

Gary does see potential in Goh, but he also sees someone that lacks experience and confidence, and as a result isn't able to think on his feet and react quickly. Both Ash and Gary stepped in to save Goh and Cinderace when Cinderace's attack missed and Moltres countered with an attack of its own. Goh didn't know what to do or how to respond, and simply froze, but Ash and Gary - two trainers that have spent years sharpening and honing their skills (despite being ten still, don't think about it) - both had the necessary experience and confidence in their abilities to instantly react.

Gary knows Goh is capable of so much more, so he does what he did with Ash: nudge him in the direction of bettering himself through the use of teases and remarks that Goh sees as belittling. The Project Mew Trial Missions are perfect for this as they are a test of not just a trainer's battling ability, but character as well. And of course, Gary knows Goh will want to prove just how wrong he is about him, so that in itself will be a big motivator for Goh to level up his abilities as well as himself.

Gary knows that this is a far more effective strategy than coming out and saying to Goh, "when I'm not around to protect Ashy-boy here, I expect you to. Get stronger and don't disappoint me!"

After all, Gary knows it's only a matter of time before Ash decides to jump off another cliff/tower/something high, high up or gets mixed up in another plot for regional/world domination/destruction where The Chosen One again chooses to risk life and limb.

Gary needs Goh to be ready for that day.

And what better way to prepare Goh for that day than by getting him all riled up by saying he's not qualified to be Ash's buddy?

Gary is asking Goh to look after Ash, just in his own unique and special way, because he's Gary and nothing is ever that simple and straightforward with him.

...

Or it could just be that Gary enjoys a good rivalry, and it's really as simple as that. 🤣

*Thank you, @deamsgirl, for helping smooth over that sentence during the drafting process and for putting my mind at ease that this reference wouldn't be too obscure! 😅

I already had a good idea where I wanted to go with this post, but talking with @deamsgirl about the Ash/Goh/Gary dynamic, this episode specifically, and possible subtext, definitely made writing this easier - and more fun! 🤗 There's a reason Ash, Goh, and especially Gary are so good in the stories she writes; it's because she knows them so well! Her insight and thoughts are always truly appreciated! 🤗

Speaking of which, if you're not familiar with her writing, you need to be! 😉 Her collection of ShigeSatoGou/Gary x Ash x Goh stories are hilarious and heartfelt reads, along with her palletshipping fics! So check out her works over on AO3 and enjoy! 💛

[askthejourneysgang]

To Ash, (+Goh, +Chloe)

I don’t how you have stayed alive (relatively) for almost a full year with all these crazy disasters back to back. Yes, I know you died like five times and got brought back which is another thing entirely... Anyway. There is a dimension-hopping therapy group for heroes like us. We include all kinds of different people, some Serenas will go the champion route while a Lillie did the island challenge in an Ashless universe. Most tend to have caught their regions’ Mythical/Legendary Pokemon so you could have so many unique battle opportunities.

An invite should be sent to you after the Masters Eight Tournament finale. Heads up, we try not to do the “I was hurt worse/went through more pain” thing cause we’ve all suffered :,). You can talk to people resurrected to continue giving you the world. Or the similar theme of adults not being able to step up to help us when we need it. Word of advice never push anybody in battling with the word “Nuzlocke” on their nametag. Their worlds are where Pokemon die in what would be regular battles. Sometimes it is even only just them suffering from the Nuzlocke Curse.

The basics are: Hoenn gets environmentally messed up causing mass Pokemon migration, Unova gets caught in a political war in which the possibility of Plasma being right pops up once in a Blue Moon, Kalos deals with the ultimate weapon always destroying Geosenge Town, Alola tends to sort itself out since Lusamine is the only one kidnapped by Nihilego or the Ultra Recon Squad handles Necrozma, Galar is precarious with Enternatus needing to be distracted long enough for the legendary wolves to show, and lastly Kanto-Johto only ever gets truly bad when Giovanni is far more greedy than usual. We had to take down the dimension-hopping Rocket Boss a while back.

Do not try to catch the Mystery Dungeon universes’ heroes. Pokeballs affect them weirdly and they can dodge quite well from having to be in direct battle against smart wild Pokemon. Not to mention most of them were human at one point so it’s kinda insensitive to capture them when they still speak English/Common. Took a collab between Sophocleses Clemonts and other technology gifted to allow them the choice of temporarily changing back to human. They will fight you on equal terms if angered.

—Champion Wally, Mega-Timeline FC Chosen of Latios.

P.S- Nametags will be distributed to you. Any titles like Champion/Ranger/Coordinator/Trainer/Type Specialist will accompany your name. FC means first contact, so I was the first one contacted from my timeline. Which Legend you have been mainly chosen by goes next.

Ash: Ooh! Seems interesting. I think I'll join 😌

Goh: A therapy group? Hmm...

Chloe: I think you just need regular therapy, not, you know... five-times deceased immortal chosen one therapy

Goh: True... but I hope you get some good help there, Ash. I know you've needed something like this for a long time, even if you never liked showing that side of you to us

Ash: Don't worry, my scone! I'm sure it will goh great and I totally won't get roped into some multiverse-spanning adventure to save all of existence 🤞

[theangrypokemaniac]

Ma and Pa James?

Best parents in Pokémon.

Hear me out now.

The only reason they appear bad is because they're visible, but compared to the rest?

• Ash's dad abandoned him. Or, if you prefer, Ash's dad is a Mafia crime lord who abandoned him.

• Misty's parents walked out on four children.

• Brock's dad left a wife and ten kids, and then was a failure at what he left for. Given his libido there's probably a lot of other disregarded offspring he sired on the road.

• Brock's mom was a noble, long-suffering saint who died of exhaustion, and then they decided to resurrect her, making her more of a scumbag than her husband, so she's just dead to me.

• Jessie's mom had the decency to die, although in some versions she just didn't come back.

• Jessie's dad never even existed.

• Gary's parents buggered off.

• Tracey has no background whatsoever.

Everyone is either an orphan or from a broken home with no contact with one or both of their parents.

And you wonder why children leave home at ten years old. There's no bloody home to go home to!

By bothering to bring up their own child Ma and Pa James are morally superior to everyone else.

About the only competition they've got in the parenting stakes is Ash's mom, but however much you love Dame Ketchum (and I do), at best she fell pregnant in her teens to a deadbeat who dumped her at the first oppotunity, and at worst may have been a gangster's moll.

In consequence of such recklessness, those mischievous shippers match her with every animal, vegetable and mineral under the sun, the rascals!

I know what you're going to say:

Oh what about May and Max?

Bah! That's a sham marriage if ever there was one. Norman is what's known scientifically as a mad bastard going through the typical male mid-life crisis, and consequently having it away with that Nurse Joy.

Ooh, foul temptress!

You think I swallowed that blatant lie about the fireworks? As if!

Oh of course, Joy became a pyrotechnician! That'll come in use in her daily life.

She makes the night go with a bang.

If you want to take it further:

• Dawn has a pushy mom but no dad.

• Iris lives in the woods.

• Cilan has to wait tables.

• Serena has a shark-eyed, domineering mother but no dad.

• Clemont and Bonnie got no mom and their dad's a fantasist.

Don't bring up the Alola mugs as examples of fine behaviour, because as I pointed out...

Them fecking inbreds! Freaks of nature!

It's a strange world, is Pokémon. On the one hand, it's a harsh enough environment that producing children and then leaving them to survive or die is socially acceptable, and so common that no one thinks anything of it.

On the other, despite a constant stream of strangers passing through as well as the perils of electrified or poison-spewing animals, it's so safe that when your child runs away from home, you just shrug and wait for it to come back, and don't alert the police to mount a full-scale search whilst you fall into hysterics imagining them lying face down in a ditch.

Then when they do turn up, rather than you being swamped in an overflow of relief, tears, welcome, all is forgiven, you sit there whilst they get beaten for their impudence, therefore submitting them to the kind of treatment that caused them to run off in the first place, presumably as punishment for leaving.

Actually, it's probably worse treatment, as I bet Little Jessibelle didn't own a whip, nor have access to such a variety of implements of torture.

But apart from those minor details, just consider all the positive aspects of James's parents:

• They stayed together!

• They have the one lasting, happy marriage!

• They kept the magic alive!

• They didn't walk out on their son!

• They're generous with knitwear!

• And candied peel!

• And ice-cream sandwiches!

• They spoilt him on Kids' Day!

• And at Christmas!

• It's not as if James has no good memories of childhood.

• They got loadsa money!

• And a massive house!

• And a swimming pool!

• And stately homes all over!

• They only had one child so James will inherit it all!

• They're kind to Magikarp! Shame they didn't pass that down.

• They let a little boy have a fire-breathing dog as a pet!

• They looked after the dog when James left!

• They kept the dog despite Jessibelle's protestations because he's their boy's dog!

• They gave a mansion to the dog!

• The dog's in the family portrait because they bloody love that dog!

• James loves his parents enough to leave Growlie behind to protect them!

• James put their welfare above being with Growlie himself!

• He trusts Growlie will be safe in their hands!

• They care so much about James's future they found him a bride!

• They chose a young, pretty girl for a daughter-in-law, one whose looks are evidently to James's taste! They do know him well then.

• Yes, she's a bit odd, but you can't fault Jessibelle for keeness. She's certainly fully committed to the relationship.

• They made a valiant attempt to pull James away from the criminal underworld, where success is stealing from children and failure is grinding poverty, starvation, pain and misery.

• They want him comfortable, settled and law-abiding.

• Doing so shows more concern for him than practically all the other moms and dads put together.

• One of them has parents, giving James the most complete family tree of anyone.

• They have a nice design, resembling James to be believable as parents, but distinctive enough to be memorable.

• They're certainly not boring.

• Their son knows where they live!

• When he wanted rid, James had to leave them!

• They're not violent, they just let it happen!

• It's The Untold Love Story of Pokémon!

• Pa loves Ma and isn't creeping off to Nurse Joy's bedsit to give 'er one!

Unlike some I could name.

I can't believe sleazy couplings like Flint and Lola's are honoured with ship names when True Love like this isn't celebrated!

MaAndPaShipping here we come.

If you live in Pokémon, they're the best pair of parents you can hope for.

God bless 'em!