#I feel bad for scorbunny now but he was never in the running for me

[pompompinkdandelions]

No offense to the bunny, but I would die for baby Sobble and Grookey. Unfortunately I really dislike everyone’s evolution look after this 😢

#I feel bad for scorbunny now but he was never in the running for me #gaming #pokemon #nintendo #nintendo switch #the pokemon company #game freak #pokemon sword and shield #sword and shield #pokémon swsh #grookey #sobble #pokegraphic

[punz4lyfe]

Wasted Plotential: Pokemon Journeys Beginning

While Pokemon Journeys has certainly proved to be quite unique when compared to other series in the Pokemon Anime, one thing that has particularly bugged me for a quite a while was the beginning. Now don’t get me wrong, the beginning isn’t “bad” in any way, it’s just that when looking at it, I just feel there could’ve been a bit more done to it. So for this post, I’ll be going over the first two episodes of Pokemon Journeys and what I would do to change them to make them stand out more. I would do a little more than that, but considering more important events happen in those episodes (such as the introduction of Galar and Goh’s capturing of Scorbunny), I think I’ll just leave it at the first two to keep things a little more simple. So without further ado, here we go.

Episode #1: Enter Pikachu!

There’s not really much to change in the first episode. Pikachu’s backstory is fine as it is, as well as Goh and Chloe’s side of the plot as it properly introduces their characters and distinct personalities. Ash, however, is on another story.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but Ash is really treated like a joke throughout the first episode. Sure, this is way before the canon plot of the series even begun where he has shown to be much more capable and competent once he gets older, but seriously, first episode and you’re gonna write him off as a joke even when he just won his first regional league in the present? C’mon.

Anyways, just like in the episode proper, Ash wakes up too late to properly Professor Oak’s Summer Camp. He tries to leave the house in his pajamas, but this time, he is stopped by Delia, not wanting her son to humiliate himself in public. While he argues a bit at first, he soon relents and sulks back up to his room. To pass time, Ash sadly scrolls through a small booklet filled with pictures of Pokemon. Delia notices her son’s miserable state, so she walks back down to the first floor and the scene ends with her picking up a phone, dialing in Professor Oak’s number.

When the episode focuses back on Ash, he is still upset in his room for having to miss Oak’s Summer Camp. That is, until his mother comes back from downstairs to tell him some good news: Professor Oak will be having another Summer Camp session within the next few weeks and she had already signed her son up for it via a message she left on Oak’s phone from her previous phone call. The news excites Ash and Delia quickly reminds him to wake up early next time and never try to walk through Pallet Town in his pajamas. Ash eagerly ensures her that he would never be caught running around in his pajamas in public (which we, as the audience, knows that’s a blatant lie) and he grabs a random bandana from his drawers and proclaims it as a good luck charm to help him make it to the next session on-time, with the bandana being the same one he will give to Serena. With his vigor restored, Ash’s backstory part of this episode ends with him looking through the Pokemon booklet again, wondering to himself the many Pokemon he could come across at camp, such as Poliwag or Rapidash, a reference to the times he saw those Pokemon in flashbacks from the Diamond & Pearl and XYZ series.

With these minor changes, the episode’s narrative is hardly changed, Ash is treated with a bit more respect, and the some continuity of other flashback shown in previous series is established.

Episode #2: Legend? Go! Friends? Go!

Here’s when the changes really pick up.

At the beginning of the episode when it shows Ash’s many accomplishments from his past adventures, alongside that shot, we also get a little flashback montage of some of Ash’s most proudest battles, with those battles being against the likes of Lt. Surge, Drake, Gary, Noland, Spenser, Brandon, Paul, Trip, Sawyer, Alain, Gladion, and Kukui, usually showcasing his more iconic mons, such as Pikachu, Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Oshawott, Greninja, Hawlucha, Rowlet, Lycanroc, and Torracat. I mean, if the manga wasn’t afraid to showcase Ash’s old mons, I don’t see why the anime itself would be.

When Ash makes it to Oak’s Lab, instead of with only having Pikachu in his party, Ash goes to the ranch to withdraw 5 Pokemon. It honestly doesn’t make sense for Ash to only have Pikachu alone in his party when he’s not going on any big and particular adventure at the moment. Since he’s most likely been at Kanto for a hot minute and since we all know that Ash treasures all of his Pokemon, it would honestly make a lot of sense for Ash to rotate 5 random Pokemon every day from Oak’s ranch when he’s not traveling in order to keep every his mons in tip-top shape and show that he still loves being by their side. Otherwise, it kinda just makes Pikachu’s little tantrum later down Journeys look even more OOC and inconsiderate as it already is. Anyways, since he will attending a Kanto-related celebration, the 5 mons Ash brings with him are Bulbasaur, Charizard, Kingler, Muk, and Tauros, promising Bulbasaur he will return him to Oak’s Lab as soon as he can in order to ensure Bulbasaur’s peacekeeping duties. He also has Bulbasaur out of his Pokeball for the time being, giving Ash’s iconic and first-ever grass-type some more screen time.

Ash, Delia, Mimey, and Oak make it to the lab and that’s when Ash comes across Cerise’s Yamper. Instead of pulling an incredibly OOC moment by invading a clearly defensive Pokemon’s space, Ash simply just keeps his distance while gently beckoning the unfamiliar mon to come to him for a pet. Yamper is, of course, distrustful, but after some reassurance from Pikachu and Bulbasaur, Yamper soon approaches Ash and happily allows the trainer to pet him while making friends with his two outside mons as well. Yamper soon suddenly jumps back up to its feet to run past Ash and return to Chloe’s side, setting up for an awkward introduction instead of Chloe being an inconsiderate jerk by leaving a person her Pokemon clearly has attacked left stranded alone without even calling for help or checking on him. Ash asks her if Yamper’s her Pokemon and she just says “no”. Ash then tries to introduce himself, Pikachu, and Bulbasaur, but Chloe, not wanting much to do with the sudden stranger, simply walks right past them to return home, with the only thing she says being a subtle, but polite “excuse me”.

Ash soon regroups with Oak and the rest of the episode plays on the same way up until the encounter with Lugia. When Ash tries to make his way to the Legendaries location, he has Charizard fly him to its location. The rough winds occurring as a byproduct of Lugia’s presence kinda messes up Charizard’s flight path, justifying Ash’s late arrival compared to other trainers. Upon arriving to Lugia’s location, Ash decides to watch from the side, marveled at both the Johto Legendary and the many powerful Pokemon used by the other trainers. When Lugia begins to take off, Ash gets back on Charizard to follow it, which Lugia, being a friendly mon, sees that Ash and his Pokemon mean no harm and happily flies alongside them. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is when Ash meets Goh.

Ash finds him holding onto Lugia’s tail for dear life, so he helps him onto Charizard’s back. Goh, seeing Ash, becomes a bit stargazed upon seeing a trainer about his age with such a powerful Pokemon as Charizard. Before any former introductions can be, Ash suddenly hears Charizard roar for him and he turns around to see Lugia looking right at him and Goh before slightly turning its backside towards them. While Goh is confused, Ash quickly gets the message that it wants to take them for a ride, so he takes Goh’s hand and leaps onto Lugia’s back with Pikachu while Bulbasaur stays behind on Charizard in order to keep an eye out for their trainer in case something goes wrong. At first, Goh is scared out of his mind until Ash ensures him that Lugia means no harm. The montage of Lugia soaring around with Ash and Goh plays the same for the most part, with a little comedic moment added in when Lugia takes its passengers underwater, causing Bulbasaur to panic before Charizard calms him down, knowing that Lugia is just having fun. Ash and Goh then introduce themselves to each other and once they are left at the flower field, Goh panics due to having no idea how to get home until Ash calmly ensures him that they could just ride Charizard.

The two return to the lab and as soon Charizard touches the ground, Goh collapses out of exhaustion and relief, given the fact that he’s never flown on a Lugia or Charizard before. Yamper greets both Ash and Pikachu in a friendly manner and then we go into Cerise recruiting Ash and Goh. He’s impressed at Goh’s footage and states to himself that he is indeed of some enthusiastic research assistants, which is when Oak steps to inform Cerise that Ash himself has already traveled through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola (which surprises both Goh and Chloe), so he could definitely be of some good use thanks to his previous adventures in those regions. Not only that, Delia also steps in to state how much of a strong trainer Ash is before whispering to Cerise’s ear that he’s Alola’s Champion. I would make a version where she says it out load for Goh and Chloe to hear, but for now, I think I’ll just leave it as a surprise in case the canon anime does that as well. With more than enough reason, Cerise recruits Ash and then, to Goh’s shock, does the same for him, noting that being an assistant could be beneficial to the beginning of his trainer career. The two boys are then introduced to their dorm room (with Ash humbly allowing Goh the top bunk instead of fighting over it like a 6-year old), Delia leaves Mimey with Ash to help take care of him, Ash gives his other 5 mons’ Pokeballs to Oak to return to the ranch since he now has a new adventure (and thus an actual reason to start from scratch with Pikachu again), and Delia and Oak then make their exit. While Delia still reminds Ash to eat healthy and brush his teeth (because that’s what moms do), she doesn’t ask Goh to watch over her son in my version, considering it would be stupid to say that since Ash is leagues above Goh and that’s why she left Mimey at the lab in the first place. Instead, it’s the other way around, with Oak asking Ash to watch over Goh, pointing out that he’s new which Ash promises, much to Goh’s embarrassment. And then the rest of the episode plays out the same way as it did originally. (seriously, what was this episode’s love for embarrassing Ash 24-7 like he’s Dan freaking Hibiki?)

Closing

It honestly really bugs me on how much Ash, the main character of the anime series, is treated like an utter joke throughout the first two episodes of Journeys. If it wasn’t for his past achievements being shown at the beginning of the second episode, one unfamiliar with his character could easily mistake him as just as much as a beginning as Goh and Chloe due to his constant immature behavior that leads him making mistakes that he should be more than smart to not do (invading Yamper’s space, arguing over a simple bunk, etc.), and sadly, this is kinda an overall issue for Journeys as a whole, but that’s another story. Ash just conquered the Alola League, he should be portrayed as a mature, yet fun-loving mentor, not someone who could easily pose as Goh’s younger brother behavior-wise or a kid Chloe has to babysit.

#pokemon #pokemon journeys #anipoke #pokeani #ash ketchum #pikachu #goh #chloe #yamper #professor cerise #delia #mimey #professor oak

[saywha413]

More bad writing by me :D 

I imagined a proposal scenario for our favorite gays

I included the entire past fic, so you can skip it if you’ve already read it.

Also posted on archive of our own, so you can read it there too

20-year-old Goh was sitting at his desk, working hard (or was he hardly working 😏). He was writing a bunch of notes from his research on eevee and their evolutions. While he was proofreading it, the memory of his boyfriend, Ash Ketchum, asking him on their first date popped into his head…

It was a gorgeous day in Kanto. The sun was shining, the pidgey and spearow chirping, and the aerodactyl in Cerise Park sleeping. Professor Cerise let all the researchers have the day off, so they were all in Cerise Park. Chloe and Chrysa were watching an improvised game of soccer by the Pokémon and talking about the latest Pokémon Food Contest, Ren and Professor Cerise were hanging out with Goh’s other Pokémon. Suicune even appeared, it sensed something special was going to happen today and wanted to see it. Goh and Ash were sitting (closer than just friends would be) above all the others and talking. Eventually they fell silent and just watched the others. “Hey Goh?” Ash asked out of the blue. “Yeah?” Goh turned his head from the scene below. “I know we’ve done lots of things together, and even done date-like things, but never really gone on a date, so will you go on a date with me?” Ash gushed. He noticed the huge blush on his and Goh’s faces when Goh responded, “Of course I will!” He tackled Ash with a hug. The two research fellows were completely unaware that all the people and Pokémon in Cerise Park had witnessed what just happened. “I should go get cleaned up,” Ash stated. “Ok, I’ll pack a lunch or something…” Goh walked to the kitchen while Ash dashed to their shared room. Chloe, seeing an opportunity to tease them, followed them inside. She walked into the kitchen and greeted Goh who was making sandwiches for him and Ash. He got some donuts and drinks, as well as Poké Food for all their Pokémon. “You excited for your date?” Chloe teased, a huge smirk on her face. “What?!” Goh’s face turned bright red. “No I’m not.” He stated. They had been friends long enough to know he was lying instantly. “Stop teasing me!” He shot a glare at Chloe. She just laughed it off, teasing Goh was both easy and fun.

As Chloe walked up the stairs to Ash and Goh’s shared room, she wondered how she could tease Ash. His dense brain probably wouldn’t understand any of it. She knocked on the door and was answered with a “Come in!” She plopped on the bottom bunk and calmly stated “You and Goh make a cute couple.” Ash blushed a little and responded with “Thanks.” “Where are you taking him on your date?” Chloe innocently asked. “Oh. I don’t know.” Ash shrugged. “You don’t know?!” Chloe deadpanned. “I figured Goh would know what to do and where to go…” Ash packed up the last things he would need and said bye to Chloe. Chloe rushed out to Cerise Park and asked all the Pokémon and researchers, “Who wants to follow Ash and Goh on their date?” She was met with a various amount of grunts, roars, and other Pokémon noises. Chrysa agreed, she wanted to see the date for herself, but the Professor and Ren politely declined. Soon Ash and Goh left with the lunch and their main Pokémon (Pikachu, cinderace, lucario, sobble/drizzile/inteleon). They didn’t notice the two girls following them and the dragon or the ghost or all the various other Pokémon. The research fellows walked to the Cerise park and set out all the food, even the food for the Pokémon, and they let the Pokémon go free and walk around. They didn’t notice that Professor Cerise and Ren had left earlier or that suicune was still there, just watching from a different spot. Ash, being Ash, was shoveling food into his mouth while Goh was eating at a normal pace. Ash was so focused on food and Goh was so focused on Ash that they didn’t notice Chloe peeking at them from behind a tree, or that lucario and the others had come back to see the date from behind a bush. Soon there were only a couple donuts left and all the sandwiches were eaten. Ash took one and turned towards Goh. “Do you want some?” He held the donut close to Goh’s mouth. In response, Goh blushed and stuttered out, “A-are you sure?” Ash just smiled, so Goh took a bite while still blushing. They (again) were so focused on each other they didn’t notice Chloe or Chrysa squealing because of how cute it was. “Where do you want to go next?” Ash asked Goh. “I don’t know, just walking around is fine.” Goh commented and Ash agreed, so they left the Pokémon in Cerise Park unaware of the big group following them now.

While they were walking Goh spotted a vulpix, which he didn’t have, and ran up ahead and tripped. Just before he landed on his face, someone caught him. Goh looked up and it was Ash. “Are you ok?” Ash was holding him bridal-style. “I’m fine. Thank you for catching me.” Goh was blushing very hard now and Ash (behind dense) didn’t understand. He put Goh down and they kept walking. Soon they passed a clothing store. “Come on,” Goh insisted. “Let’s check it out.” “But we look fine!” Ash protested, but it was too late. Goh dragged Ash in by the hand. The store was empty at this time, and the cashier was playing something on his rotom phone. (Note: I know nothing about clothes and wear pjs all day so this part will sound a little weird) Ash was looking through the Pokémon clothing section, maybe he could find something pikachu or the rest of his Pokémon would like, then Goh called him over to the changing rooms. “Try this outfit on,” he insisted. Ash went in and soon called out “Are you sure this will look good?” “Just show me!” Goh pushed. When Ash came out again, he was wearing a simple black t-shirt and some blue jeans with a belt that had a small lightning-bolt shaped buckle. “So, uh what do you think? How do I look?” Ash glanced very nervously at Goh. “You look handsome.” Goh immediately responded. This caused Ash to blush even harder than he was before. “Now you pick me an outfit!” Goh jumped up and down a little. “Ok! Give me a couple minutes.” While Goh waited he was staring out the window and swore he saw a dragonite and a girl with magenta-colored hair on his back. “Is that Chloe and Ash’s dragonite?” Goh thought to himself. “Nah it can’t be.” he dismissed the earlier thought, not knowing that it was right. “Ok I’m back!” Ash handed a small pile of clothes to Goh. While Goh was changing, it was his turn to ask “Are you sure this will look good?” Ash replied, “I’m sure it’ll look great!” When Goh came out he was wearing a dress with a pikachu and scorbunny pattern. (But the pattern is pretty small if you want to draw it) “How do I look?” Goh asked, more flustered and nervous than Ash. “Beautiful.” Ash simply replied. They stared at each other for a while and had their fingers laced together. Right when they were about to kiss, a voice from outside the changing rooms yelled “You better not be smoochin’ in there lovebirds!” This made the lovebirds research fellows even more bright scarlet than they already were and Chloe, Chrysa, and the Pokémon laugh outside.

Ash and Goh left the clothing store wearing their new outfits and walking back to the Cerise Lab. They were (again) holding hands and chatting about random things. “Do you remember that time we were on that slowpoke island?” “I’d rather not think about that.” When they made it back it was almost night and the sun was setting. “Do you want to watch the sunset with me?” Ash asked, though it was kind of unnecessary because they were already walking towards a bench. When they sat down, the research fellows spent more time losing themselves in each other’s eyes than actually watching the sun set. Their fingers still laced together, they brought their faces closer. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Ash gently asked, almost whispered. “I think we’re thinking the same thing…” Goh whispered back. When their lips met it it invoked a new feeling into both of their hearts: love. They held that position for a minute, but that minute drifted into two, then three, until they broke it to breathe. “I love you Goh.” Ash kissed his cheek. “I love you too Ash.” Goh kissed him on the lips again. Both the research fellows knew that this was only the beginning as the journey continues… 

(The people and Pokémon in the lab saw the kiss, Chloe and Chrysa were fang irking and Ren and the Professor both were a lil surprised but not a lot. The Pokémon all had different reactions)

He blushed remembering that day, but his thoughts were interrupted by a small sound. “Meww!” He jumped up and woke his sleeping Pokémon, cinderace, inteleon, and thwackey. “C’mon guys!! Mew is in the area!!” Goh ran through his lab and grabbed a single Pokéball. When he checked himself in the mirror, he remembered when Chloe insisted on braiding his now very long hair (she had cut hers recently and missed braiding hair) and he wasn’t sure if he liked the braid. Ash had come in and commented that it looked good on him, and now Goh has Chloe braid it every day. He looked at his fingernails, which were painted the same shade of blue as his eyes today, and remembered something similar had happened with those too. Chloe had cut her nails too short and insisted on painting his instead. He, again, wasn’t sure if he liked it, but Ash did, so he kept repainting his nails. The last spot his eyes fell on was his earrings. He had a small red stud and a keystone earring the same shade of blue as his eyes that Ash had given him(I tell you I really like “Hiding in Public” by Negira1239… The earring bit is my favorite :D). He shook himself a little, what was he doing? He had to find mew! He and his 3 Pokémon ran towards the entrance. “What are you doing?” His lab assistants Chloe and Horace looked at him with confusion, they weren’t used to seeing him run around like this. That was more of an Ash thing. “I heard mew and I’m going to catch it!” “With that?” Chloe pointed to the single Pokéball in his hand. “Yup. Okbye!!” He sped out the door before they could ask any more questions. 

When he reached the forest behind Cerise Lab (It’s actually in Galar, they named it after professor Cerise) mew stopped and looked at him, as if to challenge “Come on! Throw that Pokéball!” He simply stated, “Look mew. I don’t want you to stay in a place you’re unhappy. So,” He held the Pokéball out to mew. “If you want to join me, you can. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Mew, who was touched by the speech, placed its paw on the Pokéball and then 1, 2, 3, “Mew was registered to your Pokédex!” Goh jumped up and cheered with cinderace, while he received high-fives from inteleon and thwackey. Too bad Ash couldn’t be here to see this, he had to battle someone….This gave him an idea! “Come out mew!” Mew popped out and Goh asked it, “Can you teleport me and my Pokémon to Wyndon Stadium?” Mew obliged and in a flash, they teleported what would have taken about an hour or two to walk. He put mew back in its Pokéball and entered. (Note: In my universe Ash swaps all his Pokémon, except pikachu, around to better combat your team. He also switches between singles and doubles. This makes him the hardest champion and, some people even say, the hardest trainer to beat in the world. Also, all his old Pokémon evolved, like bayleef to meganium and bulbasaur to venasaur, etc. For instance, you have a charizard and flareon, he uses samurott and blastoise. He also uses megas, z-moves, AND g-max, but only one per battle.) This time, Ash was in a double battle with dracovish and samurott against a centiskortch and mudsdale. “Use fishious rend on centiskortch!” Ash commanded. “Dodge it!” The challenger tried to combat it, but centiskortch was too slow and got knocked out. Then, Ash commanded samurott to use its signature move on mudsdale and quickly finished it. The challenger was upset, tears forming in their eyes, but those tears quickly faded when the champion held his hand out. “Thank you for the battle,” he commented while shaking their hand. “You have impressive talent and great Pokémon, I’m sure we’ll face off again soon.” The challenger shook his hand with a new, confident, expression. “I’m sure we will!” Goh ran over to his boyfriend and shouted “ASH! I CAUGHT MEW!” Ash hugged him around his waist and spun him around. “I knew you could do it!”Ash congratulated. Then Ash kissed him. (on the lips) The crowd and announcers and people watching from their homes gasped. They knew that the champion was dating someone, but he was very private about it. People had predicted that he was dating the performer Serena or gym leader Misty. Some people guessed he was dating the Island Kahuna Kiawe or Gladion, who people weren’t sure what he did, or maybe even Professor Gary. No one had ever thought of the regional professor of Galar.

“Come on! I have something to show you!” The champion dragged the professor away, by the hand, leaving all the Pokémon behind. “Can you watch our Pokémon? Thanks!” Goh called to the bewildered challenger still on the pitch. Ash took Goh to a secluded part of the park nearby, where no Pokémon or people other than the 2 of them were in sight. “Goh.” Ash stopped walking and turned to face him. “We have been friends and boyfriends for a long time. You are the most important thing to me, and the love of my life.” Ash got down on one knee. “Goh, will you marry me?” Goh, who was blushing madly and had happy tears in his eyes, enthusiastically tackled his fiance with a hug and responded with, “Of course!!” Little did they know, all the legends and myths were watching over them, and Dialga knew they would have long and happy lives. Together.

#satogou

[its-railou]

What is important

Ash has a strange way of catching pokemon, in Goh’s opinion.

And what’s up with that Riolu, anyway?

Set post New series episode 21.

Read on AO3 or below the cut

  ”Why aren’t you catching any pokemon?”

Ash turns his head and looks at Goh from where he’s lying on his stomach on the grass, currently in the process of creeping towards sleeping Riolu, and cocks his eyebrow.

“I just got Riolu yesterday, though”, he uselessly points out, looking back at the vibrantly blue pokemon. Riolu twitches in its sleep, and Ash grins at it, before glancing back at Goh curiously. “What’d you mean?”

“I mean”, stresses Goh, leaning heavily against a cherry tree in Professor Cerise’s garden, and looks at Ash with a raised brow, “when we go out to catch pokemon, you never actually get any! We’ve seen lots of cool and strong and rare pokemon, and I know you could catch them even if I can’t, but you never even try! You’ve only caught three so far, and those catches weren’t really…”

He trails off, waving his hand around vaguely, like he’s waiting for the right words to appear so he could grab them from the air and hurl them at Ash’s direction.

He doesn’t need to say anything, though. The way Ash’s mouth thins into a line tells Goh Ash knows exactly what he means.

Those hadn’t really been proper catches, not the way the general world sees it – the pokemon had essentially walked into their poke balls with no effort from Ash’s side.

Ash abandons his plan to approach Riolu and he pushes himself up to sit cross-legged on the grass, shoulder hunched and tense.

“Well, I’m not trying to catch every pokemon”, he says with a slight frown. “I already have loads of pokemon, and anyway, I’m mostly gonna catch pokemon that…” His voice drops, face settling into a look of uncertainty.

“That you already like? That like you, first?” hazards Goh, thinking about Dragonite, and Gengar, and Riolu.

Ash looks at him blankly for a second, before shaking his head slowly.

“…That I feel some sorta connection with, I guess.”

 Of course.

Go huffs, “You know, I really don’t get you sometimes. What connection?”

“Eh, y’know that”, says Ash, his face lighting up with a thoughtful smile, his eyes drifting to the side to look at his pokemon playing on the other edge of the garden. “That thing where you just know you belong together with someone!”

But Goh doesn’t know, and isn’t that exactly the problem here?

“You mean something like what you had with Riolu?” he asks haltingly. “Like sensing the egg and stuff?”

Ash’s gaze snaps back at him and then at Riolu. He stares at the sleeping baby pokemon, his eyes going vacant for a second before he jumps a bit, startled by something invisible, and turns back to Goh.

“Ah, no…” he mutters. “Riolu is… different.”

He doesn’t elaborate, and despite how curious that statement makes him, Goh suddenly gets the weirdest feeling that he shouldn’t press.

Not this, not now.

He swallows down his questions and asks, instead, “Okay, then what?”

Now it’s Ash’s turn to wave his hand around desperately, trying to find the right words. He gives up after a moment and flops back down on the grass, his fingers idly grasping the blades of grass by his sides and his eyes trained somewhere far away. He sighs, and Goh watches as some of the tension drains out of him, his body relaxing bit by bit.

“Man, I dunno how to explain it any better”, he eventually replies with a pout, but smiles then, eyes shining in the sunlight. “You have it with Raboot, though! I mean… You would do anything for it, and it would do anything for you. And back then in Galar, you knew, right?” He stares intently at Goh, the look in his eye simultaneously assertive and oddly fragile. When Goh doesn’t reply, he continues: “You ignored it at first, cause you were so focused on Mew, but you knew Scorbunny would become your partner from the moment you met. That’s the connection I meant! When you both know, deep down and all over, that you got no other option but to be there for each other!”

He sits up suddenly, grinning, alive in a way he hadn’t been earlier, the oddly pensive mood he had been in apparently lifted.

It takes a beat of silence and then he chuckles, rubbing a nervous hand against the back of his head.

“…Right?”

Goh realizes still hasn’t said anything, totally blindsided by Ash’s words, and he jerks his head for a nod.

“Right”, he chokes out.

Ash is… correct, as much as the concept confuses Goh. Scorbunny is something special to him, and has been from the start. Compared to the dozens of other pokemon he has…

Wait.

“Hold on”, he splutters, eyes widening. “You mean you have that- than connection… with all of you pokemon?”

Ash nods, and grins. “Yep, for sure!”

“How many pokemon have you owned, anyway?” demands Goh, since he actually has no idea.

Ash starts to count with his fingers but quickly gives up, mouthing something so quietly Goh can’t make it out. Listing his pokemon, Goh realizes. Ash stares into space for a moment longer before shrugging, glancing at Goh thoughtfully.

“A bit under a hundred, I think.”

Goh blinks. Ash goes on: “I’ve released some of them, though. And not all of them are staying in the same place with the rest of them. And thirty of them are tauros.”

“Thirty of them are…” mutters Goh, before yelping: “No way! I’m not buying that, you don’t have it with all of those tauros, right? And how come you’ve released some of them if they were that important for you?”

Ash flinches minutely. His fingers curl into fists and he takes in a sharp breath, heels of his shoes digging into the soft ground.

“Oh, Butterfree and the others needed to go – um, they had more important stuff to take care of. They’d never have been as happy living with me.”

Ash is smiling, but there’s a longing edge in his voice, and his eye are downcast, wistful. It twists something deep in Goh’s chest, and he glances around, seeing all of his pokemon milling around, and he wishes… he’s not sure. That he can feel like that about someone, eventually. That he can know, really know, what truly is best for them – and be strong enough to give that to them, even if it hurts.

“Do you think…” he begins, deciding to say what's on his mind before he can back out, and contain it within himself for the rest of forever. Ash looks at him curiously, and Goh grimaces, says, “Am I a bad person for catching pokemon the way I do? You know… Like it’s nothing more than a challenge?”

It’s been his ambition as long as he can remember – filling the pokedex, catching them all – but for the first time in his life he’s starting to wonder if it’s not as good a goal as he’d thought.

“Huh?” says Ash, his smile slipping, his head tilting in confusion. “But you’re working for your dream, right? And it’s not like you’re collecting them and then abandoning them, like some people do. Your pokemon are all really happy – they have lots of friends here and a great place to live!”

He sounds genuine, and Goh would trust Ash in matters like this – more than anyone else – but he’s not so easily swayed from his doubts.

“I mean, yeah, but still…” he murmurs. “I don’t wanna treat them like they’re just tools, or some sort of achievements. But I dunno… am I too late? Maybe I should’ve been more careful when catching them – maybe they didn’t wanna come with me at all…!”

Ash grabs his crossed ankles, leans backwards, and looks up to the glass ceiling. “Man, no way Goh, you’re not late”, he says kindly. “But if you wanna get to know them all, it’s better to start pretty soon.” He pauses for a moment and smiles at Goh. “I used to be kinda like you in the beginning. I caught a lot of pokemon in a really short time, and didn’t get to know many of them until way later. Like my tauros! But I know them now, and they know me, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything. Sure, I do it differently now, but in the end I think that’s what matters.”

Goh nods, a heavy lump in his throats, and sighs, “Thanks, Ash.” Oddish skitters past him, chased by Rattata, and Goh reaches out and grabs it gently, bringing it onto his lap. Oddish croons, its eyes twinkling with joy.

“Hey there”, Goh says softly. “Are you happy here?”

“Dish!” Oddish nods, its tiny mouth stretching into a grin. Rattata stops next to Goh’s leg and pulls on his shirt with its sharp nails.

“Ra-tat!” it chirps, annoyed by the interruption in their game. Goh lets Oddish go, and the two pokemon run off again, leaving behind only the sound of their shrieks of excitement.

Meanwhile, Ash has turned around again, this time on his knees as he crawls towards Riolu with a carefulness Goh had rarely seen him execute. He reaches out his hand, his fingers inching closer to the sleeping pokemon, ever so slowly.

Goh not sure what happened then, but one second everything is calm and serene around them, and the next the air is crackling with danger and Riolu is on its feet, vacuum wave building between its paws. On the other side of the garden, Pikachu’s ears perk up and Gengar fades out and in of existence, appearing next to Ash in a flash.

Riolu glares at them all, eyes full of mistrust. Ash hasn’t backed off, though, and he’s still smiling, arm reaching out to block Gengar. Goh can see it in his mind’s eye – how he’ll get blasted back by Riolu, how he’ll yelp in pain and tumble around on the grass-

But Riolu doesn’t attack. Instead, it relaxes, the move dying out and its arms dropping to its sides.

Ash sits back on his heels, resting his forearms on his knees. “Hey”, he greets it softly. “Didn’t mean to startle you. You were having a bad dream, right?”

Riolu glowers at him for a moment before admitting, “Lu…”

“I thought so”, chuckles Ash. “It’s okay though. We’re all friends here.”

He glances at Gengar, who makes a face before disappearing and appearing a bit farther away. Pikachu has crossed the park and hops onto Ash’s shoulder, pushing its paw against his cheek.

“Pikapi”, it says, tone demanding. Ash laughs and brushes a hand through its fur.

“Don’t worry, buddy. Riolu is still getting used to its new surroundings. It’s just… like you know.” His tone quietens, his eyes fixed on the baby pokemon and Goh is not sure he’s doing it intentionally or not. “When Riolu is feeling anxious, I can’t help feeling a bit… off, too. But that’s fine. We’ll get used to it.”

“Pikaa…”

“Olu?” Riolu asks, its annoyed look morphing into something softer, almost worried, as it stares up at Ash.

“It won’t be just for the bad emotions!” Ash hurries to say. “I’m accustomed to it, anyway. I always know when my friends are feeling strongly about something anyway – with you all that’ll just be a bit more intense, that’s all.”

“You always know when your friends are feeling strongly about something?” repeats Goh incredulously, because in his opinion that needs to be addressed.

Ash seems a bit tense as he shrugs, “Eh, a little bit, yeah? But it’s not as weird as it sounds…”

He stands up suddenly and rubs his stomach conspicuously. “Man, I’m so hungry! Are you hungry, Riolu? We should have lunch!”

“Wait-!”

“Right, Pikachu?”

“Pi-ka!”

Ash pumps his fist and grins, hollering across the park to Dragonite and Mr. Mime, “Come on guys! Let’s go eat!”

He starts to jog off, and Goh scrambles up and after him, not aiming to be left behind.

He feels like every time he has a conversation with Ash, he only comes out with even more questions. But maybe that’s okay.

Learning, figuring things out... These things take time. And maybe, in the end, he’ll be stronger too.

#pokeani #pokemon #pokemon ns #pokemon journeys #goh #Ash Ketchum #riolu #ns021 #goh tries to understand the mystery that is Ash #he's not entirely successful #Ash it's not as weird as it sounds Ketchum #Riolu is a cutie #railou writes #railou posts

[mamawolfblood]

Love is a double edge sword

Chapter 3

When we make it to the train station I see Leon again. "Oh Leon is your brother?" I asked putting two and two together.

"Yeah he is! Wait if your not from here how do you know Lee?" Hop asked confused and the other kid Gloria I think was her name now looked at me.

"At the train station we ran into each other. Her Flygon was acting like it was protecting a baby Trapinch. It was honestly cute. It also showed the closeness they have." Leon said taking my hand before kissing it. His eyes looking looking into mine.

It was an intense feeling it was like I was prey to him. "Lee come on don't scare her. Mom is expecting us let go." Withe a sigh he followed after his brother leaving Gloria and me to chace after them. Once we made it back to Hop's Leon started talking.

He tossed three pokeballs and three pokemon appeared. Grookie,Sobble,and scorbunny they were the starters. Gloria went with Grookie the cut monkey fist bumps her.  Hop picked Sobble who gave him a high five. That left me with Scorbunny. It looked up at me so I knelt down.

I held out my hand to it giving it the choice to come with me or not. "It up to you buddy. Don't want to force you into traveling with me."  It jumped hugging me nuzzling my shoulder. I hold it getting on my feet.

"Looks like your coming with me buddy." I said tossing it in the air making it laugh and squeal when I caught it. "Well looks like I don't have to worry about you out there." I turned and saw my mother walking with Gin her Blaziken. Gin runs up and hugs me crying.

"It's ok Gin I will stop by and visit." I said patting his back. "Iris I also want you to have this. Your father got it when you were born." She handed me necklace with a green gem attached to it. "I think this is green amberite. They are said to be good luck.

Are you sure dad got it for me?" I was a bit skeptical on the whole thing. "Your father wasn't always a jerk. He was a kind trainer and man ,but that night during a black storm it all changed. He was struck by a black lightning bolt and he just flipped the switch. One thing never changed his love for you and your brother. The both of you are his world and he would do anything for you. I was the one that told him to leave.

He didn't want to thats why he left Zephyr. He never wanted you to forget him. Him doing that lets me know the man I love...He is still in there." She said whipping away tears. I didn't know that but pokemon have abilities to cause reactions. I kinda feel bad for the hate I gave him.

Hop and Gloria's mom came up and invited us to a cook out. The food was amazing but it felt weird the way Leon was watching me. I hope I did nothing wrong or upset him.

#original characters #romance #pokemon #pokemon sword leon #pokemon sword and shield

[adrianasunderworld]

Leon x female!Reader

Meet the neighbor

***

  He was so eager to be home. Leon had not been back in ages, Hop had probably shot up like a weed since last he saw him. Before he had left Wyndon on the train, Hop had talked his ear off over the phone about how raising his Wooloo was going, and went on and on about his friend ___. Ever since Leon had moved out a few years ago ,a new family had taken up residence shortly after, and Hop had become fast friends with their kids, a brother and sister.  

    Leon always chuckled when Hop rambled about sister. He would always bring up how good she was with pokemon and how nice she was, and of course how pretty she was. It was adorable how obvious his crush on the neighbor was, but chose not to comment on it. 

  It wasn't long after he got off the train that the towns people crowded around him. He of course smiled and greeted them, but around the back of the crowd he saw a familiar face wave and call out, "Lee! Lee!" Hop jumped with glee as his brother greeted him. 

     He hugged his younger brother and saw a boy stand awkwardly and wave. This must have been one of his neighbor friends. "You must be Victor!" 

    The boy nodded and grinned. "Yep! It's nice to finally meet you, Hop has told me so much about you."

    "And he's told all about you and your sister," Leon looked around but there was sign of a girl with them. "Did she not come with you?"

    Victor shook his head. "No, she was helping mum with the garden. She should be done soon though." 

    "You're gonna really like ___, Lee. She's a pretty strong trainer too."

    That caught his attention. He couldn't recall many details, but he didn't remember either of them having pokemon. Oh well, he was sure the three of them would still appreciate the ones he brought.

    As Leon walked with the boys down route 1, he saw an espeon sit on the stone fence of the property across from theres. It was almost unnerving how it seemed to stare right through him. But neither boy seemed bothered as they walked closer. The pokemon eventually hopped down and walked with them, Victor reached down and patted it in the head. 

   Victor and the espeon ran to the front steps of his house and called out, "Sis, were back! Get out of the mud already!"

   "Back already?" Called out a female voice. Followed by footsteps. The source of it was most definitely not a fourteen year old girl like he had expected. Instead it was a young woman much closer in age to him than Hop. The espeon ran up to her and affectionately nudged her leg. She grinned at both boys before her eyes settled on Leon. "And you're back with company no less."

    "You must be ___," Leon said ,holding in his surprise. "Hop has told so much about you." 

   ___ smiled as she walked down the steps and pulled off her gardening gloves to offer her hand. "And Hop always talks about you. Good to meet the famous champion." 

    Leon felt his face warm as he shook her hand. Despite all the dirt smudged on her face, her eyes were bright and smile warm. Hop had not exaggerated how pretty she was. He cleared his throat. "You're pretty famous yourself the way Hop talks about you."

   "Oh really?" She looked over at Hop, who had a cheeky grin plastered on his face. "Talking smack are we?"

    "Of course not!" Hop defended before turning to his brother. "Wait, Lee! Didn't you say you had a surprise for us?" 

  Leon nodded and gestured for them to follow him to their house. 

   "Come on, __" Victor called out to his sister, who only laughed as she trailed behind.

   Leon released the small pokemon from their balls, and smiled in amusement as Hop and Victor gawked in excitement as the young starters ran around the yard. 

   "So we get to pick one?" Victor asked, his eyes bright and hopeful. 

    "Of course!" Leon replied. "I brought them just for you guys."

    "You can pick first, Victor." Hop said before the two of them looked over the pokemon, talking amongst themselves.

    Leon had almost forgotten ___ was with them. She had been standing several feet away, but walked closer to Leon with a grin. "This is very kind of you." She said as she stood beside him. "Victor has been going on and on about wanting to train and go on a journey."

    "Its nothing, I'm happy to help Hop and his friend get started. I hope I haven't over stepped if you were planning to get him a pokemon."

     She shook her head. "Nah, I would have,but I think he's much happier with this arrangement." Victor cheered as he held up Scorbunny proudly. "This suits him more than any of my pokemon would." She patted the espeon on its head and it purred happily. 

      "Are you a trainer yourself?"

      She nodded. "Yes, though I admit it's been ages since I've had a proper battle." 

    Leon's ears perked up at that. "Oh really? Why's that?"

     She shrugged as she watched the boys run amok with the starter's. "No particular reason. Just busy helping mom with the farm and all that. There was a lot to be done after we moved here from sinnoh a couple years back."

    Leon nodded. He understood the feeling well. Despite how much Leon wanted to train he had always been worried about what went on at home. Even after all these years.

    "Don't look so glum about it." __ said, snapping him from his thoughts. "I had my time to run around and adventure. I collected all the gym badges, made it to the league and everything."

    Leon could feel the familiar itch in his palm to reach for a pokeball and challenge her. If she had really done all that, she must have been strong. "Well then you and I have to have a battle sometime."

    "A battle!?" As if he had been summoned, Hop appeared in front of them, bouncing in excitement. "You guys totally have to battle!"

     "Yeah, sis!" Victor agreed. "Show Leon what you can do."

      ___ seemed a bit reluctant. "I don't know guys...its been awhile."

    "Please!" The boys whined in unison. Leon chuckled a little. 

   "We don't have to right now if you'd rather prepare for a later date."

    She shook her head. "No, no. It's alright."

   "We can have a single battle if that makes you feel better. One pokemon each."

   ___nodded and looked to her espeon. The psychic pokemon had its game face on. "You ready girl?"

   "Espe!" The pokemon agreed and ran to the backyard pitch, ready to go.

    Leon nodded to his charzard and they made their way to the other end.

    Hop and Victor sat by the pond wooloo and the starters sitting in their laps, eagerly waiting for their older siblings to start.

    "A one point match, agreed?"

   "Agreed." She nodded. "Go, espeon!" Espeon let out a cry as it took its stance.

   "Go Charzard!" Leon cheered as his partner let out an intimidating roar. "Flamethrower!"

   "Go left!" Espeon dodged to the side, its eyes started to glow. "Dazzling gleam!" A shining pink light emanated from the pokemon, causing charzard to be temporarily blinded and stumbling back. __ grinned before her next command. "Grass knot!" Blades of grass shot from the ground and entangled themselves around charzards feet, tripping it up. 

   "Charzard fly!" As if the command had broken it from its daze, charzard spread its wings and flew upward, breaking the grass that held it. 

    "You two go right for the throat,huh?" Leon grinned. 

   "Go big or go home," she replied."espeon calm mind." 

   Espeon shut its eyes, Leon  could see the gem on its forehead glow, signifying the energy it was building up. Nope, can't have that. 

   "Charzard, tackle her!" The fiery pokemon swooped down from the sky, ready to dive right into espeon.

   "Espeon dodge!" The pokemon opened its eyes at the very last moment and jumped right over charzard, who had flown low to the ground to reach the much smaller creature. Without waiting for her partner to land, ___ cried out, "psychic!"

    Espeon eyes glowed as its power temporarily took hold of charzards mind to hit it with a psychic blast that sent it tumbling back.

   "Go espeon! Get him!" Victor cheered.

   Hop sat there slack jawed before cheering himself. "Come on charzard! You've had worse hits!"

   Charzard shook off its daze and glanced at its audience before staring down its opponents. Leon grinned. He knew that espeons could sense even the smallest shift in the air, useful for detecting attacks, but it seemed this one had been trained to be particularly adept at this skill. This was going to be fun. "Charzard, use ancient power!"

     His partner summoned the rocks from the ground and flung them at espeon, who proved Leon's theory that she was more evasive than most. She dodged the first and second rocks with ease and jumped over the third. However, charzard flung two at the same time, and while she managed to miss the first,the second came a moment to fast and smashed into her side, sending her skidding through the dirt. 

     "You alright?" ___ asked her pokemon. Leon could hear the concern in her voice,and for a moment he felt rather bad. Maybe he should have told charzard to hold back… however, Espeon forced herself up and growled at charzard. ___ nodded and looked at them with a determination that mirrored her partner. "Alright then… psyshock!" Espeon sent another blast of psychic energy at charzard right before running towards it. "Iron tail!" Espeon jumped and swung its tail at its opponent.

     "Protect!" Leon shouted. Espeons attack bounced off the sheild, only inches from charzards head. "Been awhile huh?" Leon commented. 

     ___ only grinned. "I never said we were rusty." The battle continued like that. Espeon dodged with expert ease but when charzard landed a hit, it hit hard. And even though Espeons attacks were not as powerful, they came fast and often. Before Leon knew it, a fire blast was sent towards it, and ___ called out for shadow ball to counter. The two collided and there was a flash of light from when the attacks collided. Both pokemon at this point looked exhausted but unwilling to give in. Leon contemplated if they should stop, however before he could say anything, both pokemon collapsed at the same time. 

    The silence was deafening. 

    ___said nothing as she ran to her partner and cradled the pokemon in her arms, mumbling words of comfort and praise. The boys however were far less gentle as they broke out of their shock and started shrieking. 

    "Holy Miltank, it's a tie!" Victor cried out excitedly.

    "I've never seen Lee in a draw like this!" Hop said, mouth hanging open as he looked at his brothers fallen pokemon. Leon had been doing this for so long, and yet he could not recall a time when he had a close match that ended in a draw either. The groan of charzard broke him out of his daze. He needed to tend to his partner. Leon grabbed the bag he had brought with him that held his supplies and crouched beside his old friend. "You did great buddy." He patted the creature on the head before setting to work using a revive and full restore to get charzard back on its feet.

     Then he looked over to ___, who still held her espeon in her arms. Leon could not help but smile at the obvious bond they shared. 

      "Its ok, we'll get you home and patch you up." ___made a move to get up from the ground, but Leon was already on his feet and rushing towards her. He wasn't quite ready for her to leave yet. 

    "No worries, I have plenty right here." Leon broke out another set of revives and full restores and set to work on healing her. "You're a tough cookie aren't you?" Leon cooed as he healed the pokemon. "I wouldn't want to be on your bad side."

    "Espeon." Espeon seemed to agree that he should not before getting on her feet and shaking the dirt from her fur. The pokemon licked his hand in thanks.

    ___ chuckled. "She likes you." 

    "I hope her trainer can say the same." 

  ___ smirked at that and replied, "I don't know...shes not so easily swayed."

   Leon could feel himself break out a wide grin when he heard his moms voice from behind him. "Goodness! What happened here?" The boys ran up to his mom and another woman who he could only assume was Victor and ___ mother, talking at length about the match. 

   Leon quickly glanced at ___. He caught a glimpse of her smiling at him before she looked away and walked off to help his mom get the supplies for the cook out.

    Hop was right. He did like the neighbor.

#drabble based on a post i made a while ago #the battle was fun to write tho #pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon sword hop #leon #champion leon #leon x reader #champion leon x reader #pokemon x reader #fanfiction #trainer victor #trainer hop #rival hop #drabble #may write more but we shall see #Leon: I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass.

[musashi]

I know I send you a lot of asks like this but I enjoy thinking of the possibilities so - assign the Contest Fam the following? 1) A Galarian form Pokémon 2) A Lycanroc 3) Traditional starter (May just gets another one xD) 4) A gym type to run 5) A mythical/legendary!!

I RAN OUT OF ASK ENERGY BUT ITS BACK NOW

1. A Galarian form pokemon:

may: meowth, i... CANNOT explain this is pure kinstinct

drew: fucking rapidash no one contest (haha) me

harley: obstagoon

solidad: like the easy answer here is slowbro. like she sees a second, slightly more poisonous slowbro and is like oh that is my Friend. but i can also rly see her w Mr. Rime!!! that dude belongs in a contest hall

2. A Lycanroc:

may: unevolved rockruff (shush its not cheating)

drew: dusk

harley: midnight

solidad: midday

you could flip drew and solidad (dusk goes really well with solidad because she’s like 95% Sunset Colours) but i think midday just fits her personality/aesthetic more? dusk just seems more Right for drew because it requires very specific care to evolve right and it has those striking green eyes. and i just kinda reflexively associate drew w/ sunsets because a lot of his most meaningful scenes take place at dusk sdfgsf.

3. a traditional starter:

may: tepig!!!!! i have no basis for this other than its ears look like her bandana (though i guess grookey and scorbunny would work for that too sfhfg)

drew: DARTRIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! like he never evolves it into decidueye it stays a dartrix fghfghf

harley: fucking serperior

solidad: god im honestly torn between delphox and primarina. girl has too many water types so im gonna go w delphox

4. a gym type to run:

may: my kinnie fingers are physically resisting typing this. i dont want to type this. i am like sitting here psyching myself up you know what we’ll do this one last.

drew: grass!! i know he looks the part but a lot of people HC that drew likes spending time in nature because he grew up in LaRousse which is, like, a fully roboticized city. there’s cute little parks dotting it but basically everything is grey and futurecore and automated and the General Consensus is that drew was desperate to get out and just BE in the natural world, so even though he only has one grass-type in canon, i think a gym paradise for him would just be decorated in hanging vines and rose gardens. 

harley: quintessential dark-type trainer. literally could not be moreso. already wearing the outfit. regardless, will make 5 more. this is not a question.

solidad: i’m settled on ice, i think! like its between that and flying gvdhgd. ice specialists tend to either be rigid and unmoving or have that wild air of grace/beauty about them, and solidad has that in spades tbh! something about ice specialists just feels, like, untouchable in the same way solidad does to a lot of coordinators meeting her for the first time, so that’s the General Vibe im getting.

may for real this time: NORMAL, ARE YOU FUCKING HAPPY DAD??? ARE YOU FUCKING HAPPY??? HYPOTHETICALLY!!!!!!!!!!! HYPOTHETICALLY I’M RUNNING THE GYM!!!!!!!!!! HYPOTHETICALLY!!! FOR THIS HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. a mythical/legendary:

may: lol manaphy. victini if i can’t use the easy answer :P

drew: my heart is REALLY saying xerneas for this one. cannot elaborate. thats just what i keep coming back to.

harley: legit difficult because i could see him with a LOT of ultra beasts but i think it’s hoopa. if it’s hoopa he can just get all those ultra beasts anyways. which is too much power for harley of all people to have so i’ve decided his hoopa doesn’t do shit except bake donuts with him and then eat all the donuts. the donuts are not half bad. 

solidad: ARTICUNO BABY. again cannot elaborate. heart just says articuno

#i used to joke abt norman turning on the tv and seeing may in some contest w her three fucking normal types #like aww thats my girl :) #h2s2 #ag #like no one ever was #nogeese #wendy answers

[dracula-in-purple-story]

Romantic Idiots

How to confess to your crush(es)?

Option 1 : Do not let your brain and heart clashes together and give you mixed signals. Then confess.

Option 2 : Give him/her/them an Applin or any shiny Pokemons. Then confess.

Advice : Panic if fail. 

“Panic if fail? What’s that supposed to mean, Grandpa?” Hop glanced up hesitantly as he finished noting down the old man’s advice. His ex-champion brother nervously clenched around his Charmander plushies. 

The grandfather smiled coyly as he went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of tea while the brothers tried to follow behind him. Their mother chuckled at this silly scene before the grandmother answered for her husband, also smiling coyly.

“Panic as in running away like an idiot. I swear to Arceus, when I was at your age, Leon, your grandpa over there tried to asked me out by throwing a Poke Ball at my window. Poor Appletun dearie got a fright that time and refused to acknowledge him for a decade.”

“Hush, sweetheart.” the blushing old man ruffled his wife’s hair before settling down. “Our daughter-in-law got it worse than you. Am I right, Helen?”

The said woman just sighed blissfully before snorting out loud, almost making the brothers laughed if they weren’t asking for some love advices. Standing up, she shuffled through the living room to picked up her wedding photos and was reminiscing the moment.

“Mom?” the older brother asked gently as to not interrupt the moment.

“Yes, Leon?”

“How did Dad confess? It can’t be worse than Gramps’ attempt.”

“Yeah!” the younger brother butted in while grinning at the offended-looking man, “What was it like? Could it be he try to serenade? Bet he sounds goofy and passed it down to Lee!”

“Hey! I sound amazing, Hopscotch! You are just jealous!”

“Boys,” the mother smiled at her sons’ playful banter. When they finally stopped, she smiled even wilder as she recounted the fateful evening.

“Well, he didn’t serenade, for starters. But he did tried to make an A Capella with Rotoms and Dittos. Never worked out since he first practised it at the Lake of Outrage. The Rotoms snitched on him with the Dittos were making ‘He love You’ letters while I saved his arse.”

“Oof, ouchies.” Hop scrunched up his face jokingly while Leon laughed as he imagined the scenario over and over. They pulled out their own RotomPhones when they were done though. 

“You better not snitch on me, dude. I must do this myself.” The ex-champion pleaded with his little bro nodding beside him.

“You got it-Roto! Don’t stutter when you confess-Roto!”

“We make sure to taped you guys so we can see who’s got the worst end of the stick-Roto!”

“ROTOMS, NO!”

The purple-haired brothers panicked as they chased their cackling phones, leaving the amused adults behind. 

“I bet two thousand PokeDollars that they would failed terribly and cutely at the same time.”

“No need to bet, Mother. It’s obvious that their ability to confess is still strong in their blood.”

“Rude, ladies. Very rude.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Now back at their shared apartment at Wyndon City, Leon was pacing around. His little bro had already went out to find his crushes. The new chairman wished he had this kind of courage. He wished, just not gonna happen. He and Raihan are just friends with a healthy rivalry of ten years! How is he going to react if he just confess out of the blue?! That’s why he got a perfect plan! Sonia had helped him devised a lot of plans. Plans related to shiny Pokemons were quickly rejected due to him being a natural shiny repellent. Flowers were also a big no, Raihan’s Pokemons tend to gobbled up flowers from his fans. Chocolate was supposed to be part of the plan, but Sonia rejected that idea because it was overrated. So this is the result. Just ask Raihan to go out with him and make sure he knows it’s a date and not a Valentine’s Day hangout. Solid A+ Plan! “Over a phone call? So outdated, Master Lee. Not gonna lie but that’s so last season,” the RotomPhone floats around in front of Leon while showcasing the contact details of his master’s dream man. “I don’t want Raihan to see my face if I ask him face to face! It’s too obvious!” “Ain’t that the plan?” “No!” “Okay, okay! Geez, you humans are so overly complicated. What happen to mating calls? It’s so much easier.” “Shut it, Rotom...” With a heavy sigh, he slouched over the single-seat coach. Maybe it’s a bad plan, but it’s the only foul-proof plan he could ever execute. “Okay,” Leon sat up and slapped both side of his cheeks to concentrate, “I’m ready! All I have to say is ‘Go out with me this evening’!” Snatching RotomPhone from the air, while apologizing, the purple-haired man pressed ‘Call’ with confidence. It rang for a few times before the Dragon Gym Leader picked up with his smooth, husky voice. The voice he should still get used to but still melt every time he heard it. “What’s up, ex-champ? Feeling lonely on Valentines?” Let’s be boyfriends. Leon’s mind went on short circuit for a bit. He didn’t respond for a minute, making the silence unbearable. “Uh, Leon? Are you there?” “LET’S DO BOYFRIENDS’ DATE!” Unfortunately, his mind ended up fusing what he initially going to said and his current thoughts. Freaking out, he ended up the call without hearing the reply. He just screwed up. He managed to screw up the only foul-proof plan. This is not what it should happen and yet, here he was. Leon stomped his way to his bedroom, slammed his door open and threw himself onto the bed in frustration. He really shouldn’t take Option 1. ~~~~~~~~~~ Arriving at the Hammerlocke Gym, Hop quickly strode towards the lift, and quickly slid his access card. He went in but not without getting bumped by Raihan, who never seems to noticed him as the top Gym Leader dashed outside with the biggest grin plastered on his face. Leon succeed, huh... The lab assistant shook his face to focus on his mission. He really put a lot of effort finding these Pokemon after all. Gramps’ advice always worked! Reaching his destination, he walked out slowly towards his so-called Rival Gang. They were grooming and playing with Zacian and Zamazenta. The Legendary Pokemon was really ease up on Victor and Gloria real quick. Hop let out his own Legendary Pokemon partner, Eternatus, scaring the occupant in the room, especially the albino-haired boy. “Hop! You idiot! Are you trying to scare me half to death?!” I wanna smooch you til I melt though. Grinning characteristically, he settled himself down between the girls, who now switched their focus on Eternatus. Victor, the new chairman’s secretary, smiled gently at him as greeting. Arceus, I would love to see your smile everyday, every time. “So, how’s the research coming up, Hop? Having such a rowdy Pokemon like this dragon must have damage the lab a few times.” Marnie smirked at Hop while throwing a Heavy Ball for it to catch. Such a graceful badass. With a super effective smirk. “Natus can shapeshift to a smaller size to roam freely so it’s not a problem,” the lab assistant answered before side-glancing his Legendary partner, “the problem would be giving Sonia a hard time to examine it.” “Typical. Seems like giving you Eternatus is the right choice. After all, I don’t think I can handle two huge responsibilities at the same time. Am I right, Zacian?” Gloria, the newly-crowned champion, winked at the Sword-wielding Warrior Pokemon. Zacian huffed out a pleased grunt, almost indicating it agreed with her. Are you trying to faint me with your adorable wink?! Finding the right time, Hop waited for the opportunity as they talked and played around. Occasionally battling or betting matches, making curry at this unusual location, talking about work. Hop had to thank Arceus when Victor popped the question. “So... today’s Valentines Day, ain’t it? You guys got some confession to make?” Silence taking over the room. Marnie and Bede tried to hide their blush but failed miserably while Gloria was looking embarrassed for once. Hop took a deep breath. “I do.” Shocking his gang again, he took out four Love Balls. Each of them had their unique designs that Hop took the time to do. “It makes me sound crazy but I think... I have a crushes on you guys. Super, duper big ones,” he slowly exclaimed as he handed them each of their own unique Love Balls, which they took it gladly. A good sign. Victor had Sobble with heart-shaped eyes drawing; Gloria had Scorbunny with its ear forming a heart-shaped drawing; Bede had a heart-shaped Solosis drawing; Marnie had Morpeko with heart-shaped cheek pouches drawing. “Hop, I hate you,” the Fairy Type Gym Leader started scowling. While Hop thought he was already damaging their friendship, the blushing albino head also threw him and the others a Love Ball. “You make me look so underprepared that it hurts.” “Me too.” The Dark Type Gym Leader joined in as she too had four Love Balls. “Me three.” The secretary chimed in, also with another four Love Balls. “I’m an idiot,” Gloria was flushed red as she took out four boxes of chocolates. The gang bursted out laughing at their rightfully-called lover. Lovers... that rings nicely to my heart. Our heart.

#One Shot #Valentines Prompts #Pokemon Sword and Shield #TrueRivalShipping #RivalGangShipping #Pokemon Trainer Victor #Pokemon Trainer Gloria #Rival Hop #Rival Marnie #Rival Bede #Champion Leon #Gym Leader Raihan #Zacian #Zamazenta #Eternatus #SWSH

[medea10]

Medea Plays Pokemon Sword: Part I

So the long-awaited Pokemon game has finally hit the shelves. And you know my dumbass had to get me a copy. Actually, this time I wound up getting the dual pack (since my mother thought it would be cool to give that to me for my birthday present). I know, weird to have a birthday present two months later, but here we are.

Now these games came with some massive baggage of controversy. With cutting at least 60% of the pokemon listing and complaints of Game Freak reusing designs from the Nintendo 3DS games. You know what, I’m sick of people complaining about shit before they even try the game. I know I’m going to enjoy this regardless of some obvious glitchy moments and lack of Dragonite, Ampharos, and Poliwraths.

With that said, shit post begin!

This guy.

I know he’s gotta be a shady-ass. I don’t care if he’s giving the “Welcome to the world of Pokemon” speech like all the professors in the past, I do not trust this guy right here. Prove me wrong, I’ll wait.

Before I forget, feel free to add me as a Switch buddy if you want.

SW-8454-1538-4501

Okay, they managed to get one thing right about my mother.

But Game Freak totally missed the opportunity to have Stand By Me showing like in every other Pokemon game in the past. It’s the little details, yo.

Okay, my mother has a Munchlax. Also, somewhat accurate.

Okay, they kept a random guy marveling at science. Some things will never change, but technology will always change.

Time to go meet my rival, Hop.

Dude, your brother is like 6′ 7″. How the holy hell is he gonna fit in one of those dinky-ass cupboards?

Champion Leon has got quite the collection of hats. As long as none of them say MAGA, I’m quite okay with this. Speaking of Leon, let’s meet him...

This fool trying to act like he’s the best thing since Freddie Mercury.

Hey dummy, you’re signing the number 3 right there. That means you’re only the third best. Possibly after Dianthe and Cynthia.

This guy is just totally full of himself compared to some of the other champions of the past. While he’s not on Mr. Satan levels of hammy, he still can get a little showboaty in front of the peanut gallery.

Time to pick my first pokemon and...yeah, you know what I picked from the first picture.

I picked Scorbunny. His name is Sonic. Because what is creativity?

In a very similar scenario from the Diamond and Pearl games, you and your rival do run into a rare beast.

Don’t worry, all of your attacks are worthless in the eyes of legendary doggo here and he leaves you in the fog.

After all that mess and a rival battle, time to meet the professors/researchers of this...

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

CUTIE BREADLOAF! OOH I WANT ONE SO BAD!

Sonia has this cute little thunder-butt! Granddaughter to Professor Magnolia and...

Oh-ho-ho. I wonder if these two could be something more. In fact...

I’m seriously teetering on supporting Leon x Sonia.

So then, this happened.

Alright lady, in 10 months, I expect to run into a legendary pokemon. I’ll take Mew, Arceus, or Diancie.

In the meantime, let’s get to catching pokemon.

GETTO DAZE! Everybody, meet my...

Winston Corgles Ein Handbanana the Breadloaf

(Winston for short)

He hangs with Piki

He plays with toys

Aw, mommy’s little breadloaf likes to hop around in the rain.

Behold my Winston. I will spam the fuck out of this cute doggo until I start catching Clefairys.

But seriously, I have been catching a lot of pokemon. And that wild area has been fun with camping, dynamaxing, and catching lots of different pokemon in different areas. It’s just that I had to do a lot of running away.

Sometimes it’s just annoying little nuisances like Electrike that follow me around. But then there are those pokemon that are insanely stronger than you and you have no business catching them right now.

LIKE THIS FUCKING BEAST!

Oh hell no! Get the fuck out of there!

Still better off than this poor git.

Pokemon Sword & Shield: Rated E for EVERYONE

Okay, what else? Oh yeah, gym “challenges”. Whatever, we’re doing gyms again and I’m down with that.

Before you can even challenge the gyms, you have to get an endorsement from Leon (or in some jerk’s case, Chairman Rose). Now as for the...

JESUS H. FUCK! WHAT THE SHIT IS THAT?!

WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS GAME FREAK?!

No, I’m not digging Pokeball Man. He’s got a face only a flamethrower can love.

Let’s move away from that trainwreck to the gym leaders. Only 7 of them are shown because one of them is a *spoiler* and I’ll probably talk about Alister and Big Tits Sally Melony when I start playing Pokemon Shield.

Hmm...I’ve got two stupid things to say here.

For some reason, I hear George Takei’s voice whenever this guy is on the screen.

*spit-take*

Is this chick one of the Triplets of Belleville?

Legitimately asking here.

Well, it’s about that time for me to run into some trouble.

With the Yelling Hooligans.

And this snot rag!

You know what, he’s got that uppity arrogance of Drew’s. But instead of him being awesome like Drew, he’s just a Psychic User knock-off with the personality of Trip.

In short, Medea no likey Bede.

Boy, you’ve got the face only a clenched fist could love.

Ugh...let’s get away from this fuck face and catch more pokem...

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?

MA! MA, THERE’S A WEIRD, FUCKING STRAY CAT IN MY VIDEO GAME!

BLINK MOTHERFUCKER!

It’s like if Meowth fucked the cat-bus from Totoro and got shit out through Captain Caveman’s anus!

Let me get to my gym battle before I have a heart attack from creepy-ass things.

Go away Ball Man. I know you give me balls, but your ball face scares me.

First gym challenge...

Chase 20 Wooloos through an obstacle course.

Oh good, I think all of us were thinking there was no way Game Freak would give us a task that’s as daunting as finding Farfetch’d in G/S and Furfrou in X/Y. But they said, hold my sake and chase twenty wooly bastards.

Needless to say, I took out Milo, no sweat.

Good time to stop for this shit-post.

To be continued.

#pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #milo #yamper #meowth #pikachu #team yell #bede #chairman rose #leon #hop #kabu #opal

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Been feeling under the weather all day so I finally started SWSH and put a couple hours into it here are some of my initial thoughts:

Chairman Rose: Welcome to the world of Pokemon! Me: Oh you’re definitely the bad guy. I’m definitely gonna have to kick your butt at some point I just know it

Ok first of all I just want to say I frickin love the poses I can do for my trainer card and the SECOND I saw this one I actually shouted “YES” out loud. Everyone, meet ya girl Orion. (I’ve since updated my shirt and tweaked a few things but I forgot to take a picture of that).

I love all the starters, but Soccer Is My Life so Scorbunny won me over (Grookey was a close second though)

I’m weak to bunny fistbumps.....

Hop is a sweetheart and I already know by the end of this game I'm gonna be crying...Hop you're trying so hard to be the best like your bro but I've been playing this game since before you were born, YOU HAVE NO CHANCE....

Hop's mom and my character's moms as soon as Hop and I are gone: FINALLY let's go have ladies night *high-fives*

Leon: *appears with his stupid ad-riddled cape and white booty shorts over white pants look* Me: gosh I can't believe how much smut I've seen of this dude on twitter Me after playing the game for 15 minutes: Oh he’s a handsome idiot, that’s why.

I booked it to the first clothing store I saw to change outfits, why you killing me with expensive fashion stuff SWSH???? Let me be a cheapskate in this game I’m begging you I DON’T WANNA PAY $20 FOR A SHIRT IRL OR IN A VIDEO GAME

It was actually super cool seeing all the gym leaders walk out an get introduced but for a moment I was like “Oh shoot am I gonna fight them all here??? Right now??? I mean I totally could but that sucks that I don’t get to go to different cities / gyms” and then the celebration ended and I was like “Oh ok then” lmao.

Which also begs the question: did all the gym leaders (minus one) just come on out specifically to walk across the stage and show off? Man no wonder Goth Gym Leader dude stayed home, I would’ve too

I forgot fighting gal wasn’t in this game.... :( I’m sorry fighting girl you were really cute but unfortunately the Galar Unicorn was also cute and I need me one of those

The only reason I know this dude’s name is because everyone ships him with Leon. His sly smile is really cool and I instantly liked him because he seems like he’ll be a fun character (also I have a dragon trainer bias) but then he whipped out his Rotom phone and took a selfie and that cracked me right up

Marnie was so much sweeter than I thought she'd be omg???? I'd die for you sweet goth girl

Bede (or as I like to call him, the Pink British Bastard): OHOHO YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUGH ENOUGH TO DEFEAT ME? Me, oneshotting every single one of his Pokemon: yeah dude

Man I can tell I’ve been playing too much BOTW because my first reaction at seeing the wild area was “Wow that’s kinda small”

I did discover the other half of it later though so I’m somewhat mollified. I love the concept of it though! The only downside is if I see 10 of the same Pokemon in a bunch of grass I’m a little less-inclined to explore that section.

I wasn’t too impressed with the Dynamaxing thing when I first saw the ads for it but it seems fine (I still prefer the Mega-Evos though). I encountered one of the “Special” Raids while nyrooming around the Wild Area too so that was fun.

I'm always worried about under-leveling so I wound up dinking around in the wild area WAYYYY too long and over-leveled my starter and every other pokemon I had lmao

Speaking of, here's my current team layout:

I swapped out my Yamper a bit ago because I found a yellow glowy one and I already feel super bad.....Yamper I love you but GOOD STATS....

I genuinely feel HORRIBLE about switching her out for this new dude I'M SORRY COMPETITIVE POKEMON BREEDING IN XY HAS RUINED ME FOR POKEMON I'LL TRY NOT TO DO THIS TOO MUCH

Me seeing a tympole: Juliana!!! :D The same tympole: *zooms towards me at terrifying speeds* Me: JULIANA NO

I keep stopping Scorbunny (King Kazuma) from evolving because I DONT WANT MY BABY TO GO THROUGH HIS GRUMPY TEEN PHASE YET HES SO CUTE

The curry minigame things are so much fun please let me cook more  in video games I love it...

I think my biggest complaint so far is I wish soft-resetting was faster. I love all the “we’ll heal your Pokemon!” folks and the wandering Pokemon, that’s cool (and the little details like the Key Item Escape Rope and the reminders on the map of where I’m supposed to be going at the moment) and the instant access to the PC box. 

UH OK ONE MORE THING: I JUST RAN INTO AN EEVEE AND UHHHH THAT”S NOT WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE LITTLE BUDDY, DO YOU NEED TO SEE A VET?

Man that’s a bummer, I actually loved Eevee’s old cry. I’m assuming this was a switch after Let’s Go Eevee / Pikachu.

Wild Budew: *uses Worry Seed on my Yamper The Game: Yamper acquired Insomnia! Me, laughing hollowly: Me too

It’s gotten to the point where my Pokemon are so over-leveled I’m legit worried they’ll stop listening to me THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE...WHY DID I DINK AROUND IN THE WILD AREA FOR SO LONG...I’m actively avoiding trainers / pokemon battles trying to get to this dang gym

Milo: Can’t wait to see you at the stadium! :) Me, with my severely over-leveled team and OP fire-type starter Pokemon: Haha yeah....me too

Me: FINALLY the Gym is in sight! Hop: Actually you need to go somewhere else first! Me, shaking him by his shoulders: HOP YOU DON”T UNDERSTAND, I HAVE SIX MINOR-GODS ON MY TEAM I NEED A BADGE TO CONTROL THEM

“All companies running ads are owned by Mr. Rose” oh yeah he’s definitely a bad guy

Aw the little Grass-gym mission is cute, that’s a kinda fun new addition to the gym battles haha.

WHY are the NPC trainer dudes at the Grass gym so CUTE

Aw Milo is cute

“You can now catch Pokemon up to level 25!” ONLY 25??? You’re killing me SWSH

I like that the badges are all pieces of a puzzle! Neat little detail.

#i talk #I'm playing Pokemon #SWSH talk #ALRIGHT I'm exhausted it's time for bed

[oops-prow-did-it-again]

Pokémon Sword & Shield: The Novel (Chapter 1 - Pomp & Circumstance)

Part of Pokemon Retold. Find it on A03.

Prologue

-----------------------------

“Exhibition or not, Leon, your pristine record is about to end—when I beat you here today!”

“You know I don’t lose battles, Raihan! Charizard—DYNAMAX!”

Gloria couldn’t stay still in her seat. It was always a treat whenever Raihan and Leon battled—which, to be fair, was quite often even outside of the gym challenge seasons—due to just how intense both were. Raihan had an almost feral air about him once he got into battle, and Leon had such unbidden confidence. Though she was miles and miles away from where they were really battling in Wyndon, as she clutched the little Rotom Phone in her hands, she swore she could feel the crackling of the tension from the two in the air.

A harsh slam! pulled her nose from the device. Throwing a look over her shoulder and the back of the couch, she saw Hop rubbing his head and slowly closing the door behind him. She supposed he had ran into the doorframe. Giggling, she raised a brow at him. “Everythin’ okay over there, you Rapidash?”

“Haha, very funny! But hey, you better hurry up and come with me!” Hop exclaimed. He deftly rounded the corner of the couch and gestured for her to get up. “Oh, you’re watchin’ Lee and Raihan’s exhibition,” he said, “well, just record it! That’s what I do with all of Lee’s matches. But come on, come on!”

Gloria’s mother had now entered the room. She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. “Now Hop, what on Earth’s got you so riled up?”

“Oh!” Hop whirled around to face her. “My bad, miss. You see, uh, well… My brother Lee said he’s goin’ to give us both a Pokémon today! If that’s alright…?”

Gloria practically fell over the back of the sofa trying to climb over it to reach him and her mother. She grabbed Hop’s hands and made him face her. “Really? We’re—we’re getting a Pokémon today?”

Gloria’s mother let out a hardy laugh. “Yes, that’s fine, children. Just be careful, don’t hurt yourselves. Gloria, don’t forget your bag and phone.”

Hop grinned from ear to ear and pulled his hands free from Gloria’s grasp. “Yes! Come on, Gloria, get that bag of yours and let’s go! No time for dallyin’!”

Gloria nodded and scurried upstairs to find her backpack. She was already dressed for the day, and just needed to get that to carry some things in. Her mind was swimming. A Pokémon! She had avoided getting one up to this point since she felt she would have nothing for it to do and would waste its potential, but, well, if Leon was going to hand one out, she certainly wasn’t about to say no. No idiot would say no to a handout from the champion himself!

Once back downstairs, Hop began to laugh hysterically. “What?” she demanded. “What you laughin’ at me for?”

“That bag!” Hop rasped. “That thing looks like it’ll pull you to the floor!”

Gloria rolled her eyes. The bag had belonged to her mother during the gym challenge she had embarked upon during her teen years. It was massive, but at least it had room for everything she could ever want to fit inside it. “So, we goin’ or what?”

“We got to go get Lee from the Wedgehurst Station, he’s rubbish with directions and says his Charizard’s tired,” Hop said as he wiped amused tears from his eyes. “C’mon, the sooner we get him, the sooner we get a Pokémon!”

“Good luck, you too!” Gloria’s mother called. Gloria waved goodbye and ducked out the door in a heartbeat.

As soon as their feet hit the dirt and they no longer had to worry about her mother overhearing them, Gloria and Hop started chattering to one another. They were more excited and louder than a whole flock of Rookidee on an early Sunday morning.

“So, how’d this come about?” Gloria asked.

“Well, he apparently visited yesterday while I was away at Wedgehurst,” Hop said. “And as I was comin’ back from helpin’ at the station, he just started talkin’ to me and was like, ‘Hey, I’m goin’ to come back tomorrow. Want a Pokémon?’ Of course, I said yes!”

“Did he happen to say what they were? Maybe a Yamper, or a Skwovet? Rookidee would be awesome!” Gloria beamed. “Corviknight is just the most majestic Pokémon!”

“Corviknight?” Hop questioned. “Thought you said Rookidee?”

“Don’t be silly, come off it!” Gloria laughed. “Corviknight evolves from Corvisquire, which evolves from Rookidee.”

“Right, right! Sorry, blond moment there I think,” Hop apologized and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at Wedgehurst. The two towns might as well have been one town, seeing as they were separated by just a short walk down an uninhabited route. You could practically throw a stone from one to the other, but Wedgehurst stubbornly remained outside of Postwick’s jurisdiction, and was home to its very own train station, a Pokémon center, a clothing shop—anything one could need, just about. Gloria and Hop found that today, its typically plain streets were brimming with movement, and it didn’t take long to see why.

A brilliant glow emanated from the center of town. It threw orange and red lights across the gathered crowd. The fire being blown sky-high was of course from Leon’s Charizard. Leon himself was standing ahead of the formidable Fire Pokémon, striking his unmistakable pose. Everyone nearby, including Hop and Gloria, mimicked him, throwing two fingers into the air. Hop took it just a step farther, however, showing how he had perfected the pose over the years.

“Galar has got the strongest trainers in all of the world!” Leon was bellowing across the crowd. “And I want to keep it that way! So, as always, I want all of you to train as hard as you can! Come after me in the Major League if you can! We can keep showing the rest of the world how to have a champion time!”

Raucous cheering followed. Gloria flinched a little from the sheer noise. She had seen Leon and his fans that seemed to converge from the woodwork whenever he was around before, but that didn’t mean she ever started enjoying the crowds he drew. They were noisy and people acted so strangely around him. She loved him too, but she was nowhere near confident enough to stride up to him and demand his attention like others did.

“Oh, and if it isn’t my biggest fan!” Leon locked eyes on Hop and casually strode over to his little brother. He ruffled Hop’s hair and winked at him. “You’ve grown taller, little boy.”

“Lee! You just saw me yesterday!” Hop remarked, moving Leon’s hand off his head. Leon’s Charizard landed behind Leon and appeared to be watching the gathered crowd carefully. His tail swayed irritably. Gloria acutely became aware of how the Charizard never seemed relaxed. It always seemed so tense and anxious…

Leon turned his attention back to the gathered Wedgehurst mob. “Thank you, thank you, everyone! Now, I’ve got some family business to attend to, so I’ll be seein’ you later!” He waved the people goodbye, then whispered something to his Charizard. And with that, Leon, Hop, and Gloria began to walk back to Postwick. Leon’s Charizard brought up the rear, following much more slowly.

“Oh, Champion Leon, please don’t go just yet! Please let me have an autograph!” A feminine voice practically screeched behind them. Gloria heard Leon’s Charizard growl and turned just in time to see it flare its wings wide and stand tall over the woman that had decided to try to follow them. Gloria couldn’t see the woman or Charizard’s face from where she was standing, but she was quite certain the woman’s eyes were bulging from intimidation, and that Charizard had embers curling from the edge of its muzzle.

“Charizard, easy,” Leon said sternly. “No autographs today, I’m afraid. Really, I’ve got to be home for a while.”

Charizard’s throat rumbled to emphasize his trainer’s point.

“Understood!” the woman choked. She pattered away back into Wedgehurst’s borders.

“Man, Charizard is so cool,” Hop said breathlessly. “And so protective!”

Leon didn’t seem to have much of a response for that. Gloria looked up at him with a bit of a frown, wondering why he had nothing to say about such a comment. Leon’s expression was suddenly very unreadable and stoic. She shook her head and silently followed, listening in as Hop and Leon talked a bit here and there. But even Hop didn’t seem to be able to carry a conversation with him. Leon always had lots to say in public, but Gloria always found it extremely hard to actually talk to him in the few times she had met him in private with Hop. He was so… unyielding…

Back at Hop’s front yard, however, Leon’s bright and sunny persona resumed. He joked a little with them both before chucking three Pokéballs from his belt to the grassy terrain. Hop and Gloria both gazed in wonder at the three creatures that emerged. They had only ever seen these kinds of Pokemon on TV!

--------------------

Hop had never seen Pokémon like these in the flesh before! He had heard of them, of course, and seen their evolved forms in matches on TV. They were incredibly exclusive to Galar itself. Sobble, Grookey, and Scorbunny; the deceptively adorable pre-evolutions to the monstrous Inteleon, Rillaboom, and Cinderace respectively. The Sobble in front of him quickly found its way to a small pond that had formed in their yard, where it settled in and began to lazily paddle about. The Grookey scampered over to the tree overlooking the pond and clambered high up its branches. It grabbed hold of a stick with a few leaves clinging to it, and waved it about happily, spinning in circles. The Scorbunny rapidly tapped its powerful feet against the dirt of the battlefield in their yard, and then started to jog in place. Jogging quickly turned to a full-blown run and small embers kicked up behind the Pokémon’s paws. Nobody was all that concerned, as the flames quickly died out.

Hop copped a smirk and crossed his arms. He looked at Gloria. “Why don’t you go ahead and choose? I’ve got my Wooloo already, after all.”

“Sobble,” Gloria practically spat before he had finished telling her that. “Sobble. It’s so cute. Please.”

Leon laughed and gestured for her to head over to the Pokémon. “Sobble’s all yours, Gloria.”

Gloria gleefully bounced over to the pond, where Sobble gave a start from her sudden movements. Gloria extended an arm slowly toward it, and the Sobble warily moved closer to inspect her hand.

“You goin’ to choose now, Hop?” Leon asked.

“Of course! I’m goin’ to go with Grookey!”

“Oh, you little git, you tricked me!” Gloria gave Hop a disbelieving smile. “You wanted me to pick first so you could get the starter that’s super-effective on mine!”

“You got it!” Hop snickered as he got closer, urging the Grookey to come down from the tree. It earnestly bounced down the trunk and landed on his shoulder, where it accidentally jabbed him with its favorite stick a few times. “Hey, ow—”

Scorbunny looked about the yard with a bit of confusion, and then its gaze settled on Leon himself and the massive Charizard standing at his side. It seemed to cower a little bit as Charizard leaned down to sniff its ears. “Haha, come now Charizard, you’re scarin’ it,” Leon said, walking over to the little Scorbunny. He scooped it up in his arms and scratched between its two ears. Its left foot began to kick rhythmically against his chest. “Charizard’s strict, but kind. It’ll be alright,” he reassured it.

Hop couldn’t help but smile wide at his brother. He was just so perfect with all Pokémon he came across. He seemed to know everything one would ever need to know about them and always made fast friends with new ones. He looked over at the Grookey currently chilling on his right shoulder. “I hope you and I will be good friends too, y’know,” Hop said. “You and me, buddy. Just like Wooloo. I’ll let you meet her soon!”

Grookey gave a happy squeak and bashed the stick against Hop’s shoulder a couple more times.

“Well, that kind of hurts… maybe I’ll get used to it,” Hop muttered to himself.

“So!” Leon clapped his hands and brought everyone’s attention back to him. “Everyone satisfied with their choices?”

Hop glanced at Gloria and saw she was cuddling her new Sobble tight against her chest, much to the creature’s apparent dismay. “Definitely!” she replied without ever looking up at them.

Hop nodded vigorously. “I like Grookey!” Grookey seemed to emphasize the point by jabbing Hop in the ear with its stick. Hop cringed and gently pushed the stick away from his head.

“Good! I’m starved. I’ll get the barbecue goin’, what you think?” Leon asked, slapping a hand to his stomach. He had handed his Scorbunny off to Charizard, who was doing its best to keep his tail flame away from the curious little Pokémon.

“Yes, please!” Hop begged. “I’ll go tell Mum and Dad!”

“Sounds good, I’ll get the grill goin’,” Leon said.

 -------------------------

Another jab to the neck and Hop finally lost his patience. He gently removed the Grookey from his shoulders and set it to the ground. He blocked its advances to get back on him. “Look you,” he said, “you’re cute, but that stick bloody hurts. Stay off my shoulders or stop jabbin’ me, would you?”

It huffed at him and prodded his Wooloo laying next to them. They were outside still and had gathered beneath the shade of the big tree next to the shallow pond. Away from everyone else, Hop enjoyed talking to Wooloo, so he decided the best way to start off his relationship with his new partner would be to talk to it as well. Wooloo was less than affected by Grookey’s jabs. Her thick layer of wool meant the stick barely fazed her. She looked as unaware as ever.

“You know, it’s so weird havin’ Leon over,” Hop said, petting Wooloo’s head gently. He glanced past the two Pokémon over at his brother. He was leaned over the grill. He had begrudgingly removed his cape to prevent it from getting caught in the grill’s stray flames and had even pulled his hair back. A few people were gathered around him and Charizard was laying nearby, lazily flicking its tail to keep Leon’s Scorbunny busy. It appeared to be dozing off on occasion, but every time it did that, its tail would fall flat against the ground, and Scorbunny would seize the chance to land directly on it. In turn, Charizard would jolt awake, causing its tail to lash and throwing Scorbunny from on top of it. Scorbunny must have seen it as a game since it kept coming back.

Hop kind of wished he could have been over there talking to Leon, but some reservation kept him planted in place with his two Pokémon. He always found it hard to talk to Leon whenever it wasn’t private or with just immediate family. Leon had a slightly different persona when others were around and sometimes he could say things that didn’t quite make sense. Hop also couldn’t shake the feeling that he came off as annoying to his brother. Leon had to be dealing with people constantly, all day, every day; having your irritating little brother at your side constantly begging for attention probably wasn’t very fun.

He jumped as Gloria sat down next to him. “Oh, h-hey, Gloria!” he stammered.

“So, why you think Lee gave us Pokémon, anyway?” she asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Do you think Lee’s goin’ to… endorse us?”

“Shut up!” Hop gasped. “You think he’s goin’ to endorse us?”

“I dunno, really,” Gloria giggled, “but why randomly give us three super rare Galarian-exclusive Pokémon if not to give us a head start on the gym challenge, hmm?”

“You’ve got a good point…” Hop said, rubbing his chin. “Man, I hope he does!”

Gloria fell silent for a moment as she looked over at the grill. “Who even are those people?” she asked about the small throng of people gathered around him.

Hop shrugged. “I’m not sure to be honest. But I’m sure they’re just good friends to him or somethin’.”

Gloria sighed. “Yeah, sounds about right.”

#pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #swsh #pokemon swsh #hop #gloria #leon #grookey #sobble #scorbunny #charizard #pokemon sword #pokemon shield #sword #shield #fanfiction #fanfic #novelization #pokemon retold

[suicunerider]

A’ight, having finished Pokemon Shield (minus the Pokedex), beat the postgame, blah blah— my final verdict: (Short, spoiler free)

5/10. It was okay. Not the worst Pokemon games I’ve played (tie between ORAS and RBY), but not god tier (BW/2, Platinum).

The story was horrific. I felt like it meandered 95% of the time and its main conflict only truly showed itself after being shoehorned in at the very last second. It’s main villain was also extremely poorly written and their motivations felt like they came out of nowhere.

I don’t like Hop. At all. His conflict in the middle act felt unnatural, and on top of that, being forced to run into him every five minutes did nothing to help me appreciate him or his hybrid Barry/ Hau characterization that the writer was trying to convey with him. He never felt like a rival— more like a blockade I had to crash through and free EXP. Leon isn’t any better in my opinion.

“Oh my god whoops, I’m lost— CHARIZARD! CHARIZARD! Did I mention my goddamn Charizard?! Everyone’s sucking my dick because I’m me— oh, but wait! The big crisis can wait a day—! Stop!” He needed more time and more development. I love his postgame attire, and his actual Champion battle forced me into grinding and an actual rematch. I really liked that I had actual challenge with this generation this time around, and not being able to EV train and being stuck with whatever the AI gave me for my team’s spreads really sent me back to when I played casually. I haven’t been backed into a corner by the AI since I believe... Cynthia in Diamond and Pearl? That was back in 2007!

The Wild Area is a big mass of nothing. Online for it isn’t any better. You want to run around with other people? Good luck wih literal lag. You want the GTS? That’s gone! You want to trade something specific? Sorry! You can’t see nicknames up front! Voice chat from Gen 6 is gone as well! Have fun blindly miming your trades. Surprise Trade is literally just Wonder Trade again. Send something out, get back a low level Skwovet or Blipbug.

EV training is locked behind two huge walls: The very last town in the game ($10,000 vitamins) and the Battle Tower, where vitamins and EV training items are 10 Battle Points each. The Battle Tower itself was also stripped of modes. Single and Double battle modes (No Supers, Triples, Rotation, or Multi). All battles in a tier, as the tower is ranked now, give two BP per battle, and five for final battles in a tier. Not worth the trouble with breeding teams in my honest opinion.

The Pokedex itself is very hit or miss. While some Pokemon really stood out to me in how they played with Galar’s new roster, like Dragapult and Inteleon, others, such as the four combination chimera fossils, Cinderace: Scorbunny’s final evolution— and my starter, and Duraludon, Galar’s Dragon/Steel type left a lot to be desired, and I just... wasn’t really feeling the oomph and warmth I felt with something like Gen 6’s roster.

The music is extremely hit or miss, too. I’m not sure if my headphones are on their way out and need replacing or if the sound mixing in the game is bad in general, but very few tracks awed and wowed me. Even the stadium’s Gym Leader themes felt grating to listen to, and the legendary battles were all meh. I can’t think of a single track that got stuck in my head and made me want to go back to Sword and Shield’s soundtrack just to listen to them on their own. Not one.

Overall, this game was a mixed bag. And until Pokemon Home comes out and I need to pick Shield back up, or, Arceus willing, we somehow get Gen 4 remakes or another Pokemon game altogether, I doubt I’ll be returning to Galar anytime soon.

#pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #swsh #ooc

[sage-nebula]

Scrawlers you’re not gonna leave the fandom are you? I know a lot of people who are dropping Pokemon altogether because of this National Dex fiasco, which is really upsetting. Personally even though Pokemon’s main games have been in a slump lately I always stick with this franchise in the hopes that things will turn around but I know not everyone is that optimistic. I’d hate to see you leave because your passion for these games something I’ve always loved but it’s your choice in the end.

Your timing for this ask is spot-on because I was just about to make a post about it, haha.

Short Answer: No, I’m not going to leave the fandom.

Longer Answer:

Pokémon is not just a fandom for me. I usually express this through two separate jokes (“Pokémon is a way of life” and “Pokémon is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter”), but I honestly mean it in all seriousness. I have loved Pokémon for 21 years. Pokémon helped me overcome bullying (though my fists also did that) and make my first friends (my fists weren’t involved here) in elementary school. Pokémon was my go-to escapist fantasy during the hellish life I had in my childhood and adolescence due to parental abuse at home. I bred my arcanine so that my platonic soulmate would have a way to still be with me even after her death. Of course the arcanine is not the same as having the real, breathing dog, but it’s the best I can do with what I have. The original Pokémon overture brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. It’s the one fictional world I would want to live in, without hesitation.

That isn’t something I can let go of, or leave behind. Pokémon is way too special to me for that. It’s not something that I could replace with another monster series (hence why things like Yo-Kai Watch hold no appeal to me), or another game series. The idea of dropping the Pokémon games forever from here on out is painful to me. I pass on lesser Zelda titles all the time if they don’t look like they’ll be fun or interesting. I do the same thing with lesser Sonic titles. But Pokémon? The fact that the Let’s Go games were main series games that were such trash and that threatened in ruining the main series forever (which it seems they’ve succeeded in doing since no one listened and everyone bought them new anyway) upset me deeply. For the first time since 1998 I didn’t buy a main series Pokémon game. Sure, I saved $60, but it really, really hurt and upset me that I couldn’t be excited at the launch of a new main series Pokémon title. To be fair, I wasn’t excited for Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon either, but I still bought and completed Ultra Sun because at least it didn’t carry the threat that if it sold well the rest of the franchise would be negatively impacted. Let’s Go Pikachu / Let’s Go Eevee did carry that threat, and have now made good on that threat, and so I skipped them to do my part to try to save the franchise that I have loved with all my heart since I was eight years old.

But I alone wasn’t enough.

Masuda Junichi has given several different reasons why the National Dex won’t be in Sword / Shield, but every single one of them is nonsense. 

“We don’t have time,” he says, but not only would no one mind if the games were delayed if it meant making them better, but they could always patch in non-Galar pokémon later, and everyone would be fine with that since Home won’t be released until some time in 2020 anyway. 

“We’re making all the models unique and over 800 is too many,” he says, but:

Scorbunny’s kicking animation is the exact same as Buneary’s (pretty sure it was Buneary; maybe it was Bunnelby, but still)

The models they created for X / Y were future-proofed, meaning that they were already fully rendered 3D models that just weren’t being shown in the highest possible resolution on 3DS. They don’t have to remake models for all the old ‘mon, just the new ones.

They have walking / running animations for every single pokémon through Alola that they just haven’t used, meaning that so much of the work is already completed.

They could just upscale pokémon for Gigamaxing, and could have done the same for the Totem Pokémon in Sun / Moon, but apparently they don’t know how to do what is honestly a rather simple thing to code because they chose instead to make brand new models for the Totem Pokémon and likely the Gigamax one, and also created brand new models for NPCs for completely unnecessary reasons (e.g. they made a brand new Lillie model for every area she appeared in, which bloated the amount of models in the game for no goddamn reason), something which was found in the Sun / Moon datamine. If there is a lot of work to be done, it’s because Game Freak is purposefully choosing to work harder, rather than smarter. All this, despite the fact that they hired a programmer specifically for consoles about two years ago.

“We care about game balancing,” he says, but not only has Masuda in particular been adamant about killing off the competitive scene (removing things like the Battle Frontier because he thinks players will find it to be “too hard,” removing EV training from Let’s Go, and so on), but the only reason why having certain old pokémon in the game would throw off game balancing worse than in previous gens is because the Galar pokémon have stats that are just that bad, which spells bad things for competitive play in these games anyway. These games which, mind you, were supposed to be for us, the core players.

“We want to stick to a regional theme and will pick pokémon that apply to the widest base of players,” he says, meaning that only popular ‘mon and Pikachu are likely to make the cut.

“Having 800+ ‘mon is very intimidating to players,” he says, which is what ties the blame back to Let’s Go and its sales. Let’s Go only had the Kanto ‘dex (+Meltan) because they didn’t want Go players to be intimidated by the large amount of pokémon typically available in a new game. Of course, we all knew this logic was flawed back when that was announced: If Go players would be intimidated by the national ‘dex in Let’s Go, how was limiting it there supposed to help them get used to it in Sword / Shield? Well, now we have our answer: Masuda never intended to give it back to us. He always wanted to limit it, because he doesn’t want the core players to play the games anymore. He only wants the Go fans to play.

Here’s the thing: The majority of my One True Team™ is already confirmed to be in the Galar ‘dex. Charizard, Arcanine, Espeon, Umbreon, Mimikyu, Kanto Raichu, and most likely Lapras are all going to be in. (I say most likely, because a Lapras regional evolution was in the leak that has been spot-on about things such as Nessa and Gigamaxing so far, so I would be very surprised if Lapras wasn’t in.) The only ones who are still up in the air for me are Furret and Midday Lycanroc. So the issue here is not what I personally am able to bring over. The issue is the principle of the matter.

See, here’s the thing: I’m lucky because most of my One True Team™ are pokémon that most everyone likes. Everyone loves Charizard. Everyone loves the eeveelutions. Mimikyu was a surprise hit. Arcanine, while less loved than Ninetales, is tied to some cool east Asian mythology and so is unlikely to be cut, and so on. But not everyone is in the same position I’m in. My best friend’s favorite pokémon is Scolipede. Her second favorite pokémon is Kabutops. How likely do you think it is those two will make it in? And if they don’t make it in Gen VIII, how likely it is do you think they’ll return for Gen IX? 

Every pokémon is someone’s favorite. For everyone that hates Trubbish or Vannilluxe, someone out there loves them. And to say that those people shouldn’t be able to bring the ‘mon they’ve raised for generations over to this new region, even eventually—and to double down and say that every single new generation will be like this from now on—is unacceptable. During the press conference that aired the week before the Pokémon Direct, they said when announcing Home that the purpose was to allow us to stay connected to the ‘mon that we’ve bonded with over generations. They know that there are those of us out there who have brought pokémon up ever since the Game Boy generations, and they want us to continue journeying with them. They made it sound as if we could use Home to transfer our pokémon to Sword / Shield, and now they’ve yanked that away from us. They’ve gone back on their word. They lied not only to their fans, but to their stakeholders, during that press conference, and if you were watching Nintendo’s stock around the time the Treehouse video was airing live, their stocks took a dive as a direct result.

And while this is the thing I’m most angry about, it isn’t even the only thing. They also announced during the Treehouse that they’re not only removing the National Dex, but that they’re also removing Mega Evolution in favor of Gigamaxing. This one actually does impact me directly, because I bred and raised my Charizard around the fact that I would Mega Evolve her into Mega Charizard X. I painstakingly hatched hundreds of Adamant Charmander. I EV trained her so that her stats would be perfect. I gave her a moveset built around ‘Zard X. And now, even if I can bring her over to Galar, I won’t be able to Mega Evolve her because the Key Stone and Charizardite simply won’t be available in the game. This, despite the fact that they have the assets for it thanks to Let’s Go. There is absolutely no reason to remove Mega Evolution when Mega Evolution’s assets are already available in a game on this system. There is no excuse. They’re just doing it anyway, because they want everyone to focus on their shiny new mechanic, and demonizing Mega Evolution apparently didn’t do a good enough job of that in Gen VII. (That said, they’re also removing Z-Moves, so apparently they weren’t too attached to those either.)

I just … I can’t support this. I cannot support any of this. It kills me. I feel incredibly conflicted, because there is a lot in Sword / Shield that I still am excited for. I love a lot of the new pokémon, such as Corviknight, Zacian, and Yamper. I like several of the new trainers we’ve seen. I think the region looks gorgeous. But I don’t want to give Game Freak and Nintendo money for any of this, because that will make them think that what they’re doing is a good idea. Just like with Let’s Go, where Masuda said that if those games sold well they would shape the next twenty years of the franchise (which they did, and they are), I don’t want to reward them for poor decision making.

So I’ve decided to buy Sword used. 

When you buy a game used through Game Stop or a similar store, the store gets every single cent. Nintendo and Game Freak see none of it. I still want to play these games for the features I like. But I do not, and will not, support Game Freak and their asinine decision making. So while I might not be able to get Sword on launch day (though we’ll see; I’ve seen used games in Game Stop on launch day before), I’ll be able to get it soon enough and play it in a way that just doesn’t support Game Freak or what they’re doing. I’m only one person, and as we saw with Let’s Go, my lack of sale isn’t going to be enough to stop the train wreck. But if the severe backlash they’re facing now isn’t enough to do it (last I checked, the Treehouse video had 13k Likes in contrast to 24k dislikes, and angry hashtags about this are trending in both the west and Japan on Twitter), then I want to contribute in any way that I can. I love this series too much to just passively support every bad decision Game Freak makes that lessens not only my enjoyment, but also the enjoyment of so many others.

So no, I’m not leaving. I will always love Pokémon. And if Game Freak and / or Nintendo decide to listen to the backlash and backtrack this decision—say, make a statement saying they’ll patch in all the rest of the pokémon later, and hopefully even give us Mega Evolution back—then I’ll happily go back to buying a new copy of the game on Day 1. But until then, I’m buying used from now on. They don’t deserve my money if they’re going to act like this. And again, I alone won’t make a difference, but if there’s one thing that Pokémon has taught me over the years, it’s that that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try.

#orasforlife #pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #bringbacknationaldex #long post for ts

[soulerflaire]

So I beat the story of Pokemon Shield yesterday, and now I’ve had time to think about everything. Spoilers below the cut. Also super long post.

First I wanna focus on gameplay.

Overall, fantastic Pokemon game. I liked a lot of the new Pokemon, I felt there was a really good variety of Pokemon available throughout, graphics were good, the gym missions were (mostly) clever and (mostly) fun.

I heard people had complaints about the starters, but I like them. I picked Scorbunny and was terrified he’d end up Fire/Fighting, but Cinderace (and all the starters) remained single-type. I think their designs are cool! I love Rillaboom’s drum and Cinderace’s soccer fireball attack. I like Inteleon the least of the three, but I still think his design is neat. It is basically finger guns: the Pokemon, which is funny, but not particularly interesting to me. I’m glad I picked Scorbunny.

I liked the set up of the Gym Challenge, though the pacing was a bit weird. Not sure if that was me or the game, but I felt like there was very little story between each gym. That led to me doing several gyms in rapid succession, then spending 3 hours in the Wild Area doing nothing, then tackling another set of gyms. But the gym challenges were fun! Except the fire one. I hated that. And the battles themselves felt awesome! The crowd cheering (especially in the final part of the music, oh my god that was so good), the huge Pokemon, the dialogue, it all made for a match that felt like it mattered. Even if I one-shot all their Pokemon, the match still felt meaningful. It wasn’t just stomp and move on.

I think the Wild Area was a cool experiment, but either make the whole game like that, or don’t have it. It feels like the Safari Zone; an area disconnected from the rest of the game, with the express purpose of catching Pokemon and nothing else. Except it’s so huge and seems to have every single Pokemon in the game, so long as the weather is right, that I feel like there was no point in catching Pokemon anywhere else. Why bother even touching the tall grass when I’m travelling through the regular world, when I can just catch whatever would be in there in the Wild Area later? And frankly, I never really got punished for that mentality. I can just catch them all in the Wild Area later. The only hurdle is they all turn level 60 after you become champion, which I have very mixed feelings about. I would like to hear their explanation for doing that, tbh.

Max Raid battles feel really cool, but god damn, Nintendo, you have got to get a better connection system. Half the time, I can’t find any raids to join because there are no shout cards popping up and the button to get new cards isn’t there for some reason. Even when I can see the cards, most of the time I fail to join, either because the raid already started or the person cancelled the raid. There’s only a 3-minute window to join, and with the infrequent appearance of cards (with no timestamps) I have no idea if any of the cards I see are even from the past 10 minutes, let alone past 3. And the NPCs are randomly selected and use their moves randomly, so once you get to the 5+ star raids, you cannot use them at all. One of them is a friggin’ Magikarp that uses Hydro Pump for no damage and misses half the time anyway. Why!? That was funny exactly zero times!

The music, however, I have zero complaints about. Fantastic soundtrack! I love the gym battle music, and the Team Yell fight music, and the Wild Area bagpipes, and the legendaries fight music, and just pretty much all of it. If they release the soundtrack, I’m buying it immediately.

Graphics were good. I wasn’t blown away by them, but it’s a pretty game.

One thing I noticed is how rushed things started to feel towards the end. Initially, the world feels enormous. Routes are long and winding, and it really feels like exploring things. But the further into the game you go, the shorter the routes get. And there’s no Victory Road at all. Just an extremely short route called White Hill, with, like, 6 trainers and a couple grass patches. You take a train to the White Hill Station, and if you look at the map, you see you ended up skipping an entire mountain and a stretch of land twice the length of the actual route. Kinda feels like they planned to do something with all that space, but cut it later on. The forest that they did the 24-hour stream of, Glimwood Tangle? It’s tiny. Like a third the size of Viridan Forest. It’s gorgeous, sure, but I spent more time exploring the first town than I did in that place. The final town certainly looks enormous, but then it turns out you can’t access half of it, and a huge chunk in the middle of the part you can access is taken up by the rail station. Which has nothing important inside it. Just a generic mart and some NPCs to talk to. There was honestly a lot of stuff the seemed like it was gonna be something later, and ended up being nothing. If it’s all content that got cut to release the game sooner, that’s extremely disappointing. Frankly, I wonder if they bit off more than they could chew, turning Pokemon into a console game. They clearly were trying to make it worth being on console, but ended up running out of time.

Now for the story. This is probably the first Pokemon game I feel this way about, but honestly: I loved the characters, but found the story to be pretty lackluster.

Hop has a wonderful character arc, where he’s boastful and energetic, but slowly loses confidence as he keeps losing Pokemon battles, and falls into a depression after a particularly hard defeat. He seems to pull out of it after encouragement from friends, but then he spirals into it again when you beat him in the finals. He spends most of the endgame putting himself down and saying he can’t do anything to help, but as you travel together stopping the Dynamaxed Pokemon, he perks up again (thanks in part of Piers being a really good Dad despite having no kids), and all this culminates in him saying he’s realized being champion isn’t really for him; instead, he’s gonna become a Pokemon professor and travel around helping people and Pokemon wherever he can. It’s really sweet, and I like that we see a rival who actually does get upset that they keep losing to you all the time, without turning them into a villain. Hop is never not your friend during all this; he’s just sad and needs so many hugs.

Marnie was a lot more fun of a character than I was expecting. From the official art, I thought she was gonna be the super reserved, stoic character who gets angrier and angrier as she loses to you over and over. But she’s actually outgoing and fun, and loves battling the player even if she loses. And her brother Piers is just as good at subverting expectations. He’s all dressed up as a super punk rocker who’ll be a terrible influence on everyone, but he’s definitely the Tired Adult of the group when you’re travelling around trying to fix things, and he’s a good Dad friend. Team Yell is much less creepy now that I have context. Piers is a gym leader, and Team Yell is the gym staff that he asked to go help cheer Marnie on during her gym challenge. They’re overzealous, but they’re just trying to help her. Some of them even start cheering for you instead, once Piers acknowledges your skill.

Bede can go fuck himself. I know they tried to give him some kind of backstory or whatever, and some vague punishment/redemption with Opal making him the new Fairy Gym leader, but dude’s a dick, through and through.

I could go on and on about the characters, but this post is already getting too long, so I’ll talk about the story itself now. Through most of the game, you get hints that something bad is happening or going to happen, or something is going wrong, but every time one of those hints pops up, the adult say “Let us handle this, you focus on your gym challenge.” And that kind of bothered me at the time, because it’s like if you get the guard station outside Saffron City and start to argue with the guard, then Lance shows up and says “Hey, why not skip down to Vermillion City? I’ll take care of this.” And that’s the end of it. Next time you try to pass through, it’s open and there’s nothing wrong. You know something is going on, but no one will let you near it, so you just keep going on your gym challenge.

Later you find Leon (the champion) in an argument with Chairman Rose (owner of every corporation in the region) about an energy crisis. Rose says we need to start dealing with it now, Leon says it won’t happen for a thousand years, why do we need to bother right now. Then of course the Chairman triggers the Darkest Day right before your championship match with Leon, ranting about the energy crisis and whatnot, then you have to go stop the super powerful legendary Pokemon he released for Real Reasons That Definitely Make Logical Sense And Don’t Need Explained No Sir. At first, I thought this with a super shitty take on the energy crisis, that we’ll run out of fossil fuels and not have renewable energy ready. But if that’s the case, it’s extremely clumsy, because 1) no owner of a corporation gives two shits about anything a thousand years from now and 2) they had the guy warning everyone about the future crisis also be the guy who almost destroys the whole country. I chalked it up to being rushed and tried not to think about it too hard.

But now I’m thinking differently. There’s something Leon says, after the whole Darkest Day thing is averted: he’s gonna start thinking about the future now, and start working on ways to make the future better (or something to that effect). I think maybe the “moral” of the story is that we shouldn’t just let problems be until they come to a head, and we shouldn’t rely on others to take care of the problems. We relied on the adults to handle things in a reasonable manner, and it nearly led to the apocalypse. So maybe that’s the point? Don’t rely on others to take care of things; if you see a problem, try and fix it. And likely specifically talking about climate change and the destruction of the environment. Galarian Corsola is a bleached, dead coral for a reason.

If that’s the case, then A+ for message, D- for execution. But it’s Pokemon, I know they can’t get too serious about things. But it mostly led to a story I didn’t really enjoy, full of characters that I loved. While I would prefer to finally have the remake of Gen 4, I wouldn’t be sad to see a Sword and Shield 2.

#I really did enjoy the game #and I'm still enjoying it #gonna complete that Pokedex and play through my Sword version #though preferably after I have some way of transferring pokemon between my two versions #fingers crossed for pokebank

[epic-summaries]

British LegendsxPokémon - Oneshot

The muses gave me random inspiration and I wrote this. It became an exercise in worldbuilding. Think of Druids as Proto-Professors and Knights as Masters.

I hope this is a little good, it’s the first time I write a story in a few years. I better start practicing again because this was fun.

The Pokémon Squire

Arthur fidgeted with his golden hair. It was time for him to start his quest to become a knight. He was ten now. It was a special time, since this was when a child became a squire and received their first Pokémon. A child’s first Pokémon was very important, not just because they would be given a companion for life but also because they would be judged on that first Pokémon. It was the Pokémon which best described and represented you as a person. If someone received a Timburr, they were bond to become builders. Anyone with a Happiny were going to be healers. A Smeargle meant you were going to be an artiste. Anyone getting a Gible, you were going to be a knight. If you received a Pyukumuku, you probably weren’t going to do much in life.

That morning, Arthur’s father Sir Ector, the leader of their town, started the ceremony. Arthur was awaken at sunrise. Then was forced to have a special berry drink, made to bath in river, dressed in the ceremonial robes of eighteen colours (each representing a Pokémon type), he was given a Mew amulet, then his family brought him to edge of the forest. The ceremony was there for luck. Everyone wanted the best Pokémon for them.

Arthur’s mind raced. What if his Pokémon hated him? What if Arthur wasn’t worthy of them? What if he got a weak Pokémon and his father would be disappointed in him? If Arthur wanted to do anything in this world he couldn’t get a Finneon. Sure, they are beautiful to look at but they were not much use in battle. Kay would make fun of him. His father would be disappointed. Arthur needed a strong Pokémon if he wanted to do anything in this world. He wanted to be a Pokémon knight.

A Lucario walked out of the forest. Arthur looked back at his father and brother. Ector nodded proudly and Kay gave him a thumbs up. Torchic jumped up and down in front of Kay. Arthur almost felt calm enough to laugh.

He followed the Lucario into the forest.

Arthur had been in this forest many times. He normally liked to watch the Pokémon. The Cartepies and Treeckos climbing the trees. Brelooms fighting over territory. Seedots hoping in and out of view. At night, you had to be careful because Murkrows would try to steal anything shiny on your person. A few days ago, Arthur saw a Raichu hurrying up her littler of Pichus. However, Arthur didn’t notice anything on this walk. He was concentrating on Lucario like his life depending on it. He didn’t want to get lost. A person could be surprised how easily the dark blue fur could melt into the forest.

The two of them reached the Druid’s chapel after what seemed like days to Arthur. They called it a chapel but it was nothing like the man made religious buildings in town. This was the spiritual heart the forest said to have been touched by a Mythical Pokémon. There were different legends told around the campfire. Most people said the chapel was made by Celebie. Once Arthur heard the cave was made by a Victini celebrating a victorious Brutus. Another said Manaphy blessed it after an ancient ground Pokémon created it.

Guarding the chapel’s entrance was a Drampa. It wasn’t Arthur’s first time seeing that Drampa. Drampa liked to play with the child of the town. Arthur was the first one brave enough to take a ride with him. Then Kay went on a ride, saying if Arthur could do it, he would too.

Absol was sleeping near Drampa. He was kicking his left leg while making a yelping noise. He was dreaming. Arthur felt better that Absol was sleeping. He didn’t have to warn about a disaster.

Xatu stood unblinkly watching something. No one knew quite what she was watching. Was it the past? Was it the future? Was it both? Did she see far off lands? Only Xatu knew.

The last Pokémon protecting the cave was Torterra. Torterra’s head slowly followed Lucario and Arthur when they entered the cave.

Arthur could feel the spiritual strength of the chapel. The walls were covered with paintings. Arthur recognized Arceus creating the world and Mew. There was a scene of Celebi riding Keldeo. There were scenes of humans and Pokémon living together, working side by side or battling. There were Pokémon he recognized, like Sceptile, Flygon and Politoed. But there were also Pokémon unrecognizable to him, like a colourful rock bird or a beautiful icy long neck reptile. Arthur recognized Rhiannon riding a Musdale, Julius Caesar riding his Bravery claiming this island for himself. There were moments from modern history as well, Aurelus and Uthyr riding on Reshiram and Zekrom reconquering the island from Vortigern. The chapel was filled with history and meaning. It was truly awesome.

Merlin towered in front of a bundle of sticks. Ninetails sat dutifully beside him. A few of her tails were moving Merlin’s long cloak.

Lucario lead Arthur in front of the bundle of sticks. He stopped Arthur from walking anymore and then joined Merlin on the opposite side of Ninetails.

“Welcome.” Merlin studied Arthur with his amber eyes. Arthur bowed. “Today you start your journey to become Pokémon knight.”

Arthur nodded.

“Flamethrower,” commanded Merlin. Ninetails open her jaws and a flame shot out. In seconds the bundle of sticks caught fire.

Arthur took a step back. The heat of the fire was making him uncomfortable. He was sweating and to push his golden hair back.

Merlin raised his arms and looked to the skies. The look on Lucario’s face made it seem like Merlin was just being dramatic.

“By Holy Arceus and his anointed child Mew, I call upon the spirit of the cave and forest, send me the destined companion of this new squire.”

Plop.

Arthur felt something plant-like on his nose. His eyes took some time to adjust to the thing that appeared in front of him. He stared into very large blue eyes. Eyes which looked both young and old. Where did it come from? How did it get here? Arthur didn’t see anyone else in the chapel.

The eyes closed and moved away. It giggled and flew in a somersault. It was green and small. It’s head was huge for its tiny body. Its large eyes were circled in black. The back of its head triangled in a leafy tip. It was adorable. It was Celebi.

Celebi giggled again and flew around Arthur. They lightly poked on different parts of his body. Arthur tried to follow them but Celebi was to fast. They zipped and zoomed until they landed and sat on Arthur’s head. Celebi played in his golden curls. Their feet were in Arthur’s grey eyes. Then they made a cooing sound and an egg fell from the top of the cave and into Celebi’s hands. They pushed on Arthur’s head to only make it back to where they started.

Celebi cooed once more and gestured to Arthur to take the egg in their hands. Arthur took it.

Celebi exploded in flurry of coos and laughter while flying around the campfire. When they made it to the top of the fire, Celebi waved goodbye and disappeared.

“You are now a squire.”

Arthur looked at the egg. He couldn’t guess what was in it.

Arthur rode on Torterra on his way back to the town. He spent the entire time looking at the egg. He would put it up into the few pieces of light breaking through the trees. It was not see through.

Waiting for him were Kay and Bedwyr. Torchic chirped while Scorbunny sped up and hopped onto Torterra. Torterra didn’t seem to mind. Scorbunny looked at the egg and knocked on it. Arthur brought it closer to him.

“It will hatch when it’s ready,” said Arthur.

Ever since that day, Arthur watched the egg day and night. He walked everywhere with it. Someone told him that walking with the egg would make it hatch faster.

“Arthur!” called his father. “Drop the egg and come do your chores.”

“What if it hatched while I’m gone?”

“It won’t.”

“But…”

“Chores, now.”

Arthur put the egg in a safe place and joined his father in his chores. He didn’t pay attention to them and often did the same task twice.

“Stop worrying so much,” said Ector. He always seemed to sense what was wrong with his sons.

“You got a Kangaskhan and Kay got a Torchic. What if I get a Sunken or a Bidoof? What if Celebi thought I was weak and unworthy?”

Ector chucked. “Then it will be the best Bidoof it can be. Here’s a secret, the raw strength of the Pokémon doesn’t matter. I’ve seen a Hydreigon fall from the sky because of bad training. I’ve seen a Minun defeat a Gigalith. You can have a strong Pokémon but without love, friendship and compassion, a Pokémon can never truly be it’s best. So, if you get a stereotypically weak or strong Pokémon, you need love it and encourage it to be its best or that egg will never will never be the best it can be.”

Arthur hugged his father. “When did you see Minun defeat a Gigalith?”

“It was a weird tournament. That Minun won the tournament.”

After his chores, Arthur ran to his egg. Scorbunny and Torchic were both trying to keep it warm while Kay was practicing his swordsmanship.

“You’re getting better,” said Ector.

Kay beamed with pride. “Watch this! Scorbunny, Torchic you know what to do.” Kay held out his sword, the flat side perpendicular to the ground. Scorbunny ran towards Torchic, picked him up and threw him to Kay’s sword. Torchic made a couple of power kicks in the air and then landed on Kay’s sword. Scorbunny ran towards Kay and three of them made a finishing pose.

Ector and Arthur clapped. Arthur whispered into Ector’s ear, “Kay will have a strong team not because his Pokémon will evolve into strong Pokémon but because they have a strong bond.” Ector gave him a pat on the back and nodded.

Arthur ran around the castle. If walking made them hatch faster, then running must have doubled the speed. It had been a week. It had to hatch.

Arthur waved to Griflet, Lucan and Bedwyr trying catch Bedwyr’s new Zubat. Lucan and his Mime Jr. were trying to make barriers to keep Zubat in the great hall. Bedwyr and his Abra were trying to teleport around. Griflet was five and was just happy to be there.

“Don’t…” Lucan had started to say but Arthur had already ran into Mime Jr.’s barrier.

“Are you okay?” asked Griflet.

Arthur nodded. “Where’s my egg?”

Mime Jr. had quickly made another barrier and stopped it.

Arthur felt a tang of relief. Then he heard scratching. Oh no. What? Did the egg get hurt? Is it cracked?

Arthur raced towards his egg. It didn’t look crack but it was moving. Arthur could hear something scratching from within. Wait?! Arthur’s Pokémon was hatching! It was time!

Arthur gently put the egg on the floor. The baby inside scratched and clawed until a little white paw cracked the shell. Arthur hurried up and helped it out.

A pair of fiery brown eyes met with Arthur’s grey ones. Growlithe made a light whine and closed his eyes. Arthur slowly moved his hand and pet his fur. He finally took precious Growlithe in his arms. He was so tiny, like a three week year old puppy. The fur was a little gross and slimy but it was nothing Arthur couldn’t wipe off. And honestly, he barely noticed it. He had a beautiful little puppy cuddling soundly in his arms.

“Is it normally gold?” Griflet asked Bedwyr, who just finished putting Zubat in his Pokéball.

He had golden fur like Arthur had golden hair. They really were meant to be together.

#and ector said oh another fire pokémon #yes its a shiny growlithe he is still king arthur got to give him something nice #sorry for the pokemon i did make fun of and i really want i really want to give them out to make it up to them #i love the imagine of Celebi riding Keldeo #the religion is based on christianity and pokemon mythology to mix the arthurian and pokemon themes #pokemonxbritish legends #king arthur #pokemon #sir ector #sir kay #torchic and scorbunny make a cute team #writing

[mrnerdteacher]

Welcome, Grookey, to the Honorable Fraternity of Under-Appreciated Starters

As Gita Jackson so aptly said on Kotaku, upon the reveal of the “Sword” and “Shield” starting Pokemon:

“People are already picking favorites. I love Scorbunny, though I also have a soft spot for Sobble. Grookey is also present.” Yes, if memes are indeed an expression of fan-love, it would seem that people are not overly “fauna” of the newest addition to the “grass type” family. But fear not, little guy; you are at least in good company. Here, submitted for your collective disapproval, are the most overlooked/undervalued starter Pokemon from each generation.

Gen 1: Bulbasaur

Having two brothers when the o.g. Pokemon released, we each, through no prior agreement or instruction, picked a different starter. The oldest picked Charmander, the youngest Squirtle. I, also the under-loved middle child, chose Bulbasaur. No regrets, but it always kinda bothered me that this meant I didn’t get to have my final evolution on the face of the game box. I knew that in Japan it was Blastoise who got the cold shoulder, but that did little to appease 12 year old Jeremy. Maybe the recent trend of pro-Bulbasaur Propaganda would have helped, although it’s a few decades late imho.

Gen 2: Cyndaquil

At first glance there are no clear losers, which might be part of the reason why this set is widely regarded as the best of all time. However, as teenagers, my brothers and I were always disappointed in final stage of the fire starter, Cyndaquil. For comparison, Croconaw becomes a bad-ass alligator, and Bayleef a flower-maned brontosaurus. But the forgettable Quilava just kinda stands up. If you think I’m exaggerating, imagine having clay sculptures of the middle evolutions, and realize how much less work it would take to reform it into Typhlosion. Kinda too easy, right?

Gen 3: Mudkip

There’s a reason only one of these evolution lines got snubbed by the Pokken Tournament organizers. You’ve got a gecko, a chicken, and a… what even is that, anyway? Turn out he’s based on an Axolotl, which is at the top of zero “favorite animal” checklists. No wonder, Urban Dictionary lists the phrase “So I Herd you Leik Mudkipz” as an insult.

Gen 4: Chimchar

My first instinct was to go with Turtwig, as I feel his evolution line is the hardest for people to remember, but then I realized that Gen 4 was the origin of Fire/Fighting Fatigue. It’s now a running joke in the Pokemmunity that every fire starter will end as a yawn-inducing Fire/Fighting anime cliche, and it wasn’t until Infernape pulled off the hat trick in this generation that people really caught on/got salty. Thanks a lot, guys.

Gen 5: Oshawott/Tepig Can I be honest for a second? This is the only Gen in the series I never played, so I’m a little torn on this one and would love some feedback. Tepig definitely seemed to be the most boring design of the three (his name is one letter away from Tepid, for Christ’s sake), but I think Oshawott’s final evolution is kinda lost in the sands of time. I’m just ruling out Snivy because he was so beloved at his reveal that some, like Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft, still prefer his fan-given pseudonym, Smugleaf. I happen to agree.

Gen 6: Chespin Another tough call, but here’s my logic: Greninja is such a beloved ‘Mon that he plays major roles in both Smash Bros and the upcoming Detective Pikachu movie. I also eliminated Fennekin because of Japan’s endless love for foxes and Braixen’s endlessly adorable inclusion in Pokken Tournament. Chespin, as much as I thought his design was a breath of fresh air after way too many “flower dinosaurs,” just doesn’t have the clout. Plus, Louise Belcher wears it better.

Gen 7: Popplio

When Pokemon Sun and Moon were revealed, the disdain for this clown-seal was immediate and intense. People thought he looked too silly, too cute, too ugly; you name it. Furthermore, the devs faced actual backlash from the fandom, and responded to multiple interviews in which they were asked, “How does it feel to know people hate Popplio so much?”, making him the ultimate underdog/puppy-thing. At least his evolution line gets the last laugh by turning into a magical underwater opera singer. Litten’s final stage is so predictable and Bro-y it actually made my wife NOT pick the cat starter, which says a lot (trust me).

Gen 8: Grookey

Which of course, brings us to today, where this “curious, tricky bastard” rates a solid Shrug-and-a-half on the MEH scale. But don’t worry, little guy. You’ll always have a place on my team. My older brothers already picked the cooler ones anyway. :-P

#pokemon #Pokemon Detective Pikachu #Detective Pikachu #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon sword #pokemon shield #nintendo #nintendo swtich #switch #video games #gamer #gaming #meme