yin-serpent

[yin-serpent]

In the Pokemon fandom, every once in a while you stumble upon a ‘Pokeballs are $200′ joke. In reference to how Pokeballs cost 200 of the in-game currency:

What a lot of fans, especially more casual ones, don’t seem to realize is that the currency in the Pokemon games it based on the Japanese yen. The symbol for the currency in the games even resembles the yen symbol:

In fact, according to Bulbapedia, the ‘Poke dollar’ symbol was specifically created for the English translations of the games, and the original Japanese versions use the yen symbol.

Now, for perspective, although the exact exchange rate naturally varies, a US dollar is equivalent to about 120 Japanese yen. So, 200 yen is about $1.67. 

A Pokeball in the Pokemon games actually cost less then two bucks. 

There’s a REASON we see so many young kids training Pokemon, especially early in the games. The cost of investing into a Pokeball to try catching their own Pokemon easily falls into the range of a typical kid’s allowance. A Potion for healing after battles is 300 (or about $2.50), but since Pokemon Centers offer their healing services for free, that’s a moot point.

Youngsters in the early game only give within a range from 50-150 of the currency, which is about equivalent to $0.40-$1.25. The first Gym Leader in Hoenn Region, Roxanne, give 1,680 in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, equivalent to about $14. Which is about right for the equivalent of a middle or high school honors student. A later Gym Leader, Winona, gives 4,200, or about $35. The Champion, Steven, gives 11600, or $96.67.

The winnings from enemy Trainers varies, but Ace Trainers seem to give out about 1500 or $14 on average, give or take. Swimmers (especially common later in ORAS), award a range from 400-800, or $3.33-$6.67.

Vitamins (such as Calcium, Iron, and HP UP), cost 9,800 or $81.67 each. An Ultra Ball cost 1,200, or $10. A Paralyze Heal costs the same as a Pokeball, while an Awakening is half that. A Revive is 1,500, or $12.50.

What’s the point of doing this? Well, for one, to get a better sense of the in-game economics, which can be hard to grasp if one doesn’t realize the in-game ‘Poke dollars’ are based on the Japanese yen. And a look at said economics reveals some interesting details.

First, it shows basic Pokemon training and raising is well within the affordability of a ten-year old, or older. Which makes sense as Pokemon is aimed at younger kids, and the develops would want them to have the sense that going on a Pokemon journey is something they could do if they somehow ended up in the Pokemon world.

On the other hand, it also shows there’s really not that much money to be made in Pokemon raising and traning, unless you battle frequently and regularly against higher-level opponents regularly and and win. Which is…very much in line with how professional sports work in real-life. Pokemon battling gets compared to a sporting event a lot for a reason. The initial 3-D games were even called Pokemon *Stadium.* Parallels are frequently drawn between the Pokemon League tournaments and the Olympics in the anime. The low money output is probably also why we often see Gym Leaders and the like working other jobs.

Just something interesting I decided to look into. I’m a Pokemon fan first, before any other fandom, and always will be. It’s shocking that I haven’t written any meta on it yet.

Hope you enjoyed!

EDIT:  As pointed out by invenblocker:

The 1000000 price for the bicycle translates to $8259.51, which is the price of a top quality bike for proffesionals.

Excellent catch! Helps explain why the bikes can ride through stuff like snow and sand. They are of excellent make.

And it also helps explain why the bike shop owners are happy to give out their bikes to a prospective Pokemon Trainer for free (whether through a voucher or otherwise). Your average Trainer taking the Gym challenge puts those bikes through the *wringer.* Riding them along mountains, through marshes, and even through snow. But a bike being able to endure that is the kind of thing a professional rider would look for, and desire.

Most Pokemon Trainers will never be able to afford the bikes, but are in one of the best positions to push them to their limits. So giving them out for free is actually a clever marketing move. Imagine a potential buyer seeing a Trainer riding one of those bikes in Lillycove, and said Trainer reveals they rode it from Rustboro (which means they rose it around a mountain, several caves, a few marshes, and possibly other environments I’m not thinking of right now). That’s a hell of an impression to make, and a fast, easy way to sell the buyer on getting the bike themselves, especially if they ride competitively.

Case in point, in Pokemon Gold/Silver and their re-makes, the bike shop even gives you the bike specifically as ‘advertising.’ After you’ve ridden it around long enough, you get a call saying that because of you doing so, their sales have shot through the roof (and happily tell you to keep the bike). And it’s no wonder why.

[yin-serpent]

Hey you remember that huge ass log Ash ran with and tossed in that one episode? Well I calculated how much the log weighs, if you're interested.

You have my attention

[yin-serpent]

Honey is classified as raw meat by the FDA.

Fun Facts About Honey

- Honey is mostly sugar (WoW!) it is 80% sugar and 20% water (double WoW!)

- There are over 20,000 species of bees, but only 4 make HONEY

-Honey is the ONLY food that contains all the substances you need to survive (Including WATER)

-Children under the age of 1 should not eat honey… why? because sometimes it contains bad stuff called botulism and can cause them to get botulism poisoning (that sucks, even infants should taste the deliciousness that is honey)

-Honey will crystallize under optimum temperatures (this has a lot to do with how you store it)

-Bees produce honey to eat during the winter when there are no flowers and no nectar for them.

-A honeybee would only need an ounce of honey to be able to fuel a flight around the world (this makes for a very cultural bee!)

-A typical beehive can make up to 400 pounds of honey a year! (Wowza!)

[yin-serpent]

[yin-serpent]

No the avatar state is south australia.

sokka: what even is the avatar state?

aang: wisconsin

[yin-serpent]

Which god is giving you those rights? There are so many.

I'm a red-blooded corn-fed AMERICAN MAN and if I wanna get my tits chopped off that's my god-given right as a tax payer.

[yin-serpent]

It’s Ammut not Ahmet

[yin-serpent]

This totally makes me think of Taoism. Find the path, but there is no path.

I know I’ve talked about it before but it never ceases to amaze me that the city of Toronto created this labyrinthine series of underground walkways that stretch for kilometres under the heart of downtown and they called it the fucking PATH. like how much more ominous could that even be. It doesn’t even stand for anything it’s just the PATH, all caps. What fucking fae named this artisanal bakery maze.

[yin-serpent]

Is anyone else upset that the Chinese zodiac firestarter pattern is seemingly broken?

So the region is based on Spain. A male crocodile is called a bull so I’m hoping it evolves into something ox like. It would make sense because running of the bulls is in Spain.

There’s ox, sheep, snake and horse to go in the theory and I’m really hoping snake is used for an Australian based region.

Also I hope they mean purple by violet. I’ve heard refer to the games as red and blue reboots because “violets are blue”. Purple is my fave colour and it would be awesome to have a purple Pokémon game.

[yin-serpent]

Lobsters are scary. They can summon sharks by screaming

'mobsters' are part of a 'mob'. and so you'd think 'lobsters' would be part of a 'lob', but ohohohhohoho, life just isn't so simple

[yin-serpent]

You leave Eugeo out of this. Asuna and Kirito forever!

kirito exhibits the exact same behaviour towards eugeo in alicization and asuna in sao progressive and that is "i will teach this person everything i know and watch as they outgrow me with their massive potential". malewife tendencies

[yin-serpent]

Yelena and Natasha in 1995

Azigen !

[yin-serpent]

It’s not year of the tiger just yet.

2022 intensifies

[yin-serpent]

Yelena is aro ace in the comics. So. I hope this is purely platonic.

Eventually

Pairing: Yelena Belova x reader

Summary: In the wake of Yelena finding out about her sister's death, you are there to help pick up the pieces

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: mentions of Natasha and Tony's deaths, Yelena has a LOT of trauma, lots of crying, very brief mentions of a gun, talks about death and grief

a/n: this is a pretty heavy one, I did kind of cry writing it

･☆: *.☽ .* :☆

"Lena, I'm home!" You kick the door closed with your foot as you balance the paper bags full of groceries in your arms. Your brows furrow together when the normal welcome home greeting, you're used to getting, doesn't come. Maybe she went out... and left the tv on? You walk into the kitchen to dump your bags on the counter and you shrug off your jacket, leaving it draped over one of the dining chairs. Then you move toward the faint sound of the tv in the living room, there you find Yelena standing frozen in the middle of the room. She's clutching the remote to her chest as her mouth hangs open and she stares at the tv with glassy eyes.

"Yelena?" panic washes over you at seeing your normally well put together, strong girlfriend almost in tears. Quickly, you cross the room to stand in front of her, hands immediately rubbing the top of her arms as some form of comfort, "What's happened?"

Her sad eyes lock with yours and it's as if she's knocked out of a trance because every emotion washes over her at once. Then before you know it she's full-on sobbing, your eyes go wide as she sinks into your body. Her legs give out and slowly you lower the both of you to the ground and you hold her tight against your chest. You're so unsure of what to do, Yelena has never knowingly cried in front of you before. Only on a few occasions have you heard quiet sniffles in the middle of the night when you're both wrapped up in bed.

Her cries sound painful as they rip through her chest and you're sure this is one of those moments that will stay with you forever. Yelena grips tightly onto the front of your jumper, her muffled scream rings in your ears.

In a press release earlier today CEO of Stark Industries Pepper Potts confirmed the death of Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff.

Your head snaps around toward the tv upon hearing the names roll off the news anchors tongue. All you can hear is the ringing in your ears as you shockingly watch pictures of the fallen Avengers appear on the screen.

Yelena always spoke so highly of her sister after they had reconnected, it truly warmed your heart at how close they had become. You however had only recently grown closer to Natasha, her wary nature and busy schedule had made it difficult to meet her in the first place but now after The Snap, the sisters spent any free moment together, grateful to still have the other. The last five years hadn't been kind but at least Yelena had you - and Natasha.

The pair supposedly sacrificed their lives in the battle against Thanos. Though some details surrounding their deaths are still unknown, Ms. Potts made it clear that the pair should be remembered for the good they achieved as members of the Avengers.

Yelena's sobs come back to the foreground and you turn your focus back to her. Your hand rubs against her back as she continues to loudly cry. Your heart begins to break as you realise you can do nothing to take away her pain. She'd only just got her sister back after years of torment and now she'd lost her all over again in the worst way possible.

The news continues to play as a constant reminder that Yelena and her sister had been torn apart yet again. You try to fumble for the remote that Yelena had dropped when she'd started to break down. You stretch your arm out as far as possible, just managing to pull the remote closer to you. Finally, you manage to turn the screen off and Yelena's cries sound even louder now there's no interfering noise.

You urge your brain to say anything but you keep coming up blank, the only thing circling in your mind is Nat's dead. You'd just seen her last week, she'd come over to your apartment for your weekly dinner and a movie night. The three of you had laughed and made fun of the cheesy rom-com you had picked. Then you'd all ate so much that you fell asleep on the couch and woke up with pains in your necks from the awkward sleeping positions.

Your own heart aches the more you think about it and you can't begin to imagine the amount of pain Yelena feels at that moment. In your effort to think of anything other than Natasha you don't hear Yelena's sobs suddenly stop. Then in a second she's on her feet and marching away from you. You look at the doorway she'd just stormed out of with wide eyes, then you're scrambling to your feet to follow her.

"Lena, what are you doing?" You follow her into your shared bedroom and see her pulling a duffel bag from under the bed, dumping it on top of the bedspread and turning to her chest of drawers. She pulls out clothes before stuffing them into the bag and then she moves toward the wardrobe, rummaging around until she pulls out a handgun. She acts as if she hasn't noticed you standing in the room when she moves past you to go to the bathroom but you jump in front of her before she can enter the room. You try to plead with her, "Yelena, talk to me."

She looks angry. Her cheeks are flushed and there's still wet tear trails all over her face but her eyebrows are knitted together and her chest is heaving.

"I'm going to kill them." She moves around you, roughly bumping your shoulder on the way and knocking you back a little.

"Kill who?" You follow her into the bathroom, full of worry because you've never seen her act this way. Your Yelena is soft and squishy, she always makes you laugh but this Yelena is hard and cold, she cares only for her mission.

"Them! That sad excuse of a family that let my sister die!" You flinch at the harsh tone, "she did everything for them and they let her die! My sister is dead!" Her entire body is shaking with anger now and there's a moment of stunned silence before her breathing becomes uneven and her eyes start to water again.

Before her legs give out again, you catch her, your arms enveloping her in a tight hug as she angrily thumps her fists against your chest. It doesn't hurt but you hope it gives her some relief from the overwhelming anger she feels. Her sobs bounce around in the small bathroom, creating an echo of cries.

"I'm sorry," is the first thing that comes out of your mouth. Your hand strokes her head as you hold her up, "I'm so sorry, Lena."

"My sister's dead," the cry is muffled against your jumper again but that doesn't stop it from piercing your heart.

"I know, I'm sorry." It's the only thing you can think to say. What do you say to your former assassin girlfriend whose crime-fighting, world-saving sister just died trying to fight some purple space alien? There's not exactly a handbook.

“Stop saying you’re sorry,” her head lifts so you can see her teary eyes. You stop yourself before you stupidly say it again, your mouth opening for a second before closing. Yelena sighs deeply before she pulls away from you, gently walking past you this time. You quietly follow her as she enters the bedroom again, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at her hands. Uncertain as to whether she wants you close or not, you stand awkwardly in the middle of the room and wait. Uncertainty seems to be clouding your mind, not sure how to make the situation better, not sure what to say to make her feel better.

"She deserved better," Yelena wipes the end of her nose with the back of her hand and instinctively you grab a tissue from the bathroom and hold it out toward her. Yelena's head lifts for a second and the smallest smile spreads on her sad face as she takes the tissue. This time you decide to sit next to her on the bed, making sure to leave some space between your bodies.

"She always deserved better," she sniffles again, wiping her nose with the tissue before continuing, "I know we weren't real sisters but she was the only family I'd ever known. And I-I," more slow tears roll down her face as she gets worked up again, "I miss her already."

The second Yelena looks up at you and says those few words you finally start to feel the prickle of tears in your own eyes, you'd be so concerned for your girlfriend that you'd forgotten that Natasha was your friend too.

"I miss her too," your lip quivers and tears start streaming as Yelena reaches her hands out to grab your shoulders and tug you in for a tight hug. You hold each other for a long time, both crying and heartbroken for your fallen friend which after a while turns into teary laughing as you remind each other of good memories. Like the time Nat had unexpectedly fallen asleep during one of your movie nights and both you and Yelena decided to play a little game of human buckaroo.

Piling anything from pillows and blankets to mugs and bottles. You both laughed as Yelena reminded you of the way Natasha had woken up as you were placing a mug in her hand and it ended up flying across the room, smashing into millions of pieces. She'd given you both a stern talking to after that and she watched as you both cleaned it up.

Yelena even shared a broken memory from her childhood with Natasha, smiling fondly as she showed you the upside-down stance they used to do as children. You were both giggling on the floor as you attempted to copy her before falling on your back, Yelena laughed as she flipped back over to cradle your head in her hands. Her smile slowly faded as her eyes watered again, your hands moved up to hold hers that were resting on your cheeks.

"It'll be okay," you faintly squeeze her hands while giving her a gentle smile, "not right now but eventually." She pushes out some air, in what was almost a laugh and she gives you a tight smile.

You know this isn't going to be easy, it's going to be one of the hardest things Yelena has ever experienced - and that's saying something considering all she's been through. Immediately upon seeing Yelena's sad upsidedown face looking down at you as she holds your head, you make a promise to yourself. A promise that you'd stay, you'd be there for her no matter what, that you'd hold onto each other throughout this painful grief. Then maybe, just maybe, eventually you would both be okay.

[yin-serpent]

I made a difference in the world!

[yin-serpent]

My fave games are Ruby and Sapphire. But I’m 32 and I’ve played all of the games.

[yin-serpent]

Which god