#Moon feels she will never be strong enough but Gladion feels he will never be good enough in general

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 223

While I’m on a roll about video games, I did say I would post about Pokemon Sun and Moon, compared to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Sun and Moon released in 2016, and to date, is my favourite Pokemon game since the switch over to 3D graphics. 

And I realized, as I was talking about Behind the Frame yesterday, that what I really liked about Pokemon wasn’t really the act of catching Pokemon. Rather it was the fantasy of being a Pokemon trainer, which weirdly enough isn’t the same thing. For me, to really live that fantasy, it meant that the world in which my character lived in had to be substantial in terms of world building, atmosphere and story. This is also probably why I loved Lil Gator Game so much, because the premise of that game was to be a little child pretending to be a hero fighting monsters and helping others through quests. It was a premise that Lil Gator Game delivered with flying colours and 99 percent of the time I didn’t just feel a player doing a thing. I was a child, searching for monsters, or playing ninja, or whatever crazy game the children (characters) in the game came up with.

This immersion of the game is admittedly not something Game Freak is particularly good at most of the time for their Pokemon games. But it may be more due to how the Pokemon games used to be marketed (and still are from my understanding). While the first Pokemon game was not purposely meant to parallel the Pokemon cartoon series, I won’t deny that the series is the reason why I begged my parents for that game. The series was also why I probably had fallen in love with the first and second gen games as a child. 

As a child, I was an avid watcher of the Pokemon series, it was the only thing that got me out of bed in time for school every single morning. My mother must have been thrilled by this as she didn’t have to wake me up. I just quietly went downstairs before she woke up, grabbed a glass of orange juice so I could take my medication (all by myself) and just watch this show.

So it’s no surprise for the first two games, I didn’t need an in-depth storyline. I had watched the cartoons, I could go to all these gyms and places that Ash and his friends had visited. I could be a Pokemon Trainer just like him.

At some point, I grew up, and stopped watching the Pokemon series. The Pokemon games still had interesting things for me, especially because technology was quickly changing. By Pokemon Pearl and Diamond (released 2007), Internet technology had become good enough that those games had voice chat ability, which looking back on it was surprising Nintendo allowed that. The first time @wereah and I ever talked was through Pearl and Diamond’s voice chat feature.

It also, by this point where the tradition of @wereah and I purposely getting the opposite game versions started to happen.

But the Pokemon game that made us both very excited upon playing it was Sun and Moon. Not because of the new Pokemon or the new features, but because this world was so alive. The characters, the people, and the places all had things about it that made it a living breathing world. That made us talk to each other constantly about our experiences in the game. When Professor Kukui just barges into your home, acknowledging that he knew your mother we asked, were they in a relationship in the past? When we found out about Team Skull and their leader Gladion, we felt kind of bad for him. Especially because it was implied by a house we found that he may have been one of those genius children who burnt out when things got hard, because he never knew how to fail. And the true antagonist of the game, Lusamine, probably was the darkest implied antagonist the series ever had, as there’s a strong implication that she may have emotionally (at the very least) abused both her children to be what she wanted them to be. And all of this doesn’t even scratch the surface of the Ultra Beasts (who we’re sure are Pokemon versions of eldritch horrors), or the coming of age ritual that replaced the old gym challenge formula. I was so invested in this world that I never completed my Pokedex even though I could have, because I didn’t feel like I could justify catching the guardian deities Pokemon in the context of this world.

This world inspired us so much that we wrote stories, and did role plays around this world because it was just so full of life. The idea that you’re not just going on a journey to ‘become the very best’ but rather to live your life full of joy and wonder was something we really liked. Our Pokemon trainers became little feral children who were more than happy to island hop on Pokemon just for the sake of doing so.

Which brings me to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, because at first glance, this should have been a game that we could have projected onto as well. Stories with school settings are fun, there is a reason why we’re doing a D&D campaign around a magic school. So you’d think a Pokemon game where you are a student at a Pokemon academy where every year the students get to do a large free study called a ‘Treasure Hunt’ where they are released upon the world to see the world, experience its wonders and joys and find their own ‘treasure’ would be perfect for us. In fact the concept of the Treasure Hunt is not too dissimilar to the coming of age ritual from Sun and Moon in terms of concept. And the characters you initially meet are interesting, fun, and even kind of kooky in a fun way. But…

There’s no life to it, and no drive.

The academy just becomes a place, a hub to come back to for class sessions that I don’t even know what the point to it is. Being a student just becomes this thin veil of a reason to have you wander the region. It became set dressing and nothing more.

My rival, while energetic and encouraging for me to do the gym challenge just doesn’t give me a good enough reason to do the challenge. In fact, the gym challenge becomes more of a chore, because of the level caps that I keep running into while trying to catch all the Pokemon in an area. While the gym leaders are conceptually interesting, I don’t really ever get to know them. In Sun and Moon I get to see the places where trial leaders live and/or work, and we get to know more about them through those around them, and additional dialogue after a battle. Whereas, the gym leaders are just there.

Helping Aven collect the mysterious herbs to help his Pokemon is great, but we don’t really interact with him beyond every time we find a herb. There’s also no further information or curiosity about the fact there are these huge ass Pokemon that guard these herbs. Aven’s story is unsatisfying despite the fact it’s meant to jerk your heartstrings over his very old and ailing Pokemon.

And I don’t even know why I would give a damn about Team Star and Penny. I only got to meet Penny in person twice, once to save her from Team Star and the second to listen to her proposal to help her bring them down. Team Star are clearly supposed to be students who have lost their way, but I don’t feel sorry for them. I hardly know anything about them other than the fact they are students who decide school is no longer worth the effort and they pressure others into joining like some kind of weird MLM scheme. I cared about Team Skull, I saw them scattered around the world loitering when I wasn’t in battle with them. They spoke about how they were disenfranchised with the coming of age ritual. Not only that, but they were clearly a group that cared about each other, who were these weird misfits just trying to find a place to belong. I don’t care about Team Star, they feel like brats throwing a tantrum because school isn’t cool or some shit.

Yea, the short summary of this whole thing is I don’t care. The Scarlet and Violet has not made me care about anything in this game. I’m not a student and Pokemon trainer, I’m just a player doing stuff apparently.

#pokemon scarlet and violet #scarlet and violet #I wrote this before news of that bug came out #pokemon sun and moon #sun and moon #this was a rant

[pokemagines]

pokevillain vampire!au

anon asked: “I’ve been watching Dracula and now I’m craving poke villains as vampires + chairman rose (he’s not a villain he’s just dumb)”

a/n: yes this is sexy ... love me some old vampire aesthetics also i genuinely couldn’t think of anything for rose or lysandre so i might make a pt 2 w them T_T 

since there r so many characters i went for a basic outline of how each character would act in a vampire au ... kinda wants to write a full story for maxie and cyrus... and maybe gh*tsis lmao -- mod touko 

giovanni (in which reader is a thief sent to steal his riches):

top BITCH of the vampire hierarchy. he may not look strong but he’s been alive for as long as he can remember. he lives away from any human town, but he has his hands in most all of their affairs from afar. makes his underling vampires do his bidding. 

if you manage to be a human caught in his web well... giovanni doesn’t take too kindly to humans. he’d think nothing of disposing you for his own means if needed, but decides to keep you around for feeding purposes. you were doe-eyed and so sweet he couldn’t help but feel for you, just a little bit.

but you’re smarter than he estimates. after a weeks time he finds your cell empty, a few of his most prized possessions stolen from his mansion. giovanni smiles to himself, finally, things were getting a bit interesting.

archie (in which archie’s best human friend has to be turned by him):

local ex-pirate (vampirate?). no one would even suspect a thing, fits in with the townspeople quickly and charms everyone with his knowledge of the seas and his grandiose tales of his pirate days. some sheep go missing every now and then but they turn a blind eye. archie was never a suspect.

you were his best friend, his sailing partner. he had revealed his true self to you many moons ago, and you had accepted him after a bit of prodding. sure, it was strange, but he was still the same archie.

it’s not until he finds you half-dead in an alleyway -- a robbery gone wrong -- that he realizes he can’t just let you go this easy. he turns you there, on the cold floor in the moonlight. when you wake up, breathing archie’s name, he looks incredibly remorseful. it takes a minute to figure out why, before an intense thirst surges through you.

maxie (in which reader is his apprentice, who he finds catching feelings for):

people are more likely to think him a witch than a vampire, with all the new inventions he comes up with, and a seemingly endless amount of good luck. maxie often finds his things missing or smashed when he wakes up, no doubt the townspeople’s doing. he doesn’t hold grudges against them -- people fear what they don’t understand.

you were his apprentice, sent to keep a watchful eye on the enigmatic man. it doesn’t take long to find out about how passionate he is about his studies, working through the night to cram in all the knowledge from books that he can. you often find yourself sleeping on his cot more days than he does. 

he clings to you the more time goes by. maxie doesn’t know what he’s feeling towards you but he knows its almost insatiable. he knows he can’t control himself for much longer if you keep hanging around him, so he tells you to go away. you’re furious, demanding an answer as to why, as he bares his fangs and tells you to leave before he does something he can’t help. he’s shaking with restraint, and you can feel you heart hammer in your chest as it sinks in just what kind of monster he is. 

despite everything you know telling you to do otherwise, you hold out a wrist for him, and tell him to drink. 

cyrus (in which town darling and weirdo vampire fall in love):

cyrus has long been used to being known as the village freak. he was ostracized and outcast, but he couldn’t change the circumstances of his turning. he decided that if they wouldn’t accept them that he would simply create a world in which they didn’t exist. where he could finally get some peace and quiet.

a knock at his door. cyrus thinks it odd, no one ever came to visit him. you greet him with a friendly smile, holding a basket of baked bread. “ah, sorry for the early morning visit but...”. and that was the start of an enigmatic friendship. the village sweetheart and the village freak made an interesting pair. he doesn’t know what you see in him, but even despite him constantly pushing you away, you would always find a way back in. he would teach you history lessons, and you would keep him company.

you finally confide in him that you were to be married to a wealthy man whom you didn’t love. cyrus felt his blood boil for you as you hold back your tears. that night, he sends you home, watching you until the door closes. in the morning, you wake up to the sounds of wailing from outside. your suitor had been violently killed, and you know just who did it. you feel your heart drop, cyrus would surely be blamed for this, you think, rushing as fast as your feet can manage to warn him of what would surely come next.

ghetsis (in which ghetsis takes over a town, befriends N):

wolf in sheep’s clothing. he comes into town seemingly from nowhere with promises of wealth and prosperity to the people if they promise him their allegiance. he has a hollow-eyed child who takes a liking to you quickly, introducing himself as N. you think it a strange name, but quickly shrug it off. everything about them was slightly off.

you stayed over later than you should, N begging you not to go. you hear the screams coming from below the house where the cellar was located. he didn’t want you to hear that, he grabs onto your coat, apologizing for actions that weren’t his own. curious as to what was going on, you open the latch to the cellar door and see unspeakable horrors -- a lifeless body, ghetsis’s cat-like eyes, and so so so much blood. 

“don’t leave,” N whispers as he watches you go, tripping over your own feet. was N a monster like his father? was he luring you here so he could...? you feel nauseous, throwing open the door and running out into the cold night. 

lusamine (in which lusamine’s darling finally lets her turn them):

she felt disgusted for becoming what she was. an immortal, ageless being that would never be truly normal. she had outlived everyone important in her life, mohn, lillie, gladion... it stung to think she could’ve turned them but she decided against as they didn’t want to. it took her a while to be mentally stable after their deaths, but you helped her work through it, day by day.

you were her human. she had tasted your blood once and couldn’t get enough. her mark on you was as plain as day, and she would make sure of that as she chose the outfits you wore as you worked for her in aether paradise. the other vampires knew not to touch you as lusamine was fearsome when angered.

she asks you one night if you’ll be with her forever, as she does most nights. usually the answer is no, but tonight you find yourself secure in your feelings for her. she kisses your knuckles, an elated expression on her face before moving her fangs up to your neck to pierce your skin.

#pokemon #pokevillains #giovanni (pokemon) #maxie (pokemon) #archie (pokemon) #cyrus (pokemon) #ghetsis (pokemon) #lusamine #giovanni #maxie #archie #cyrus #ghetsis #pkmn #x reader #imagine #ficlet #au #mod touko

[misskikuwrites]

The Colour of Love

lonashipping week 2020

Day 1: Alizarin Crimson

@lonashipping

-

Love takes many different forms. Many different shapes and feelings and colours. The love Moon had for her mother was secure and strong. Familiar and warm, a love that she could return to at any time and feel safe. A love that was soft and cozy like a thick blanket, a love of tight hugs and early mornings spent lazying around in the kitchen.

Moon's love for Hau was bright like the sun. Bright and dazzling, filled with laughter and smiles and hugs. A love that she could go to whenever she felt down and blue, whenever she needed the comfort of his smile. His love was the bright yellow of sunflowers, kind and gentle and soft like his Raichu. It was always there, always knew how to pick her back up with jokes and cheery laughter. It was the deep love of her best friend and rival. A love that pierced through her darkness, her fear, and gave her strength. A love that she could rely on.

When it came to Lillie, Moon's love for her quiet and soft, white and pure like a blanket of fresh snow. It was blinding yet gentle. Unmissable and striking, a guiding light in the night like the soft glow of the moon. It was always there, no matter the distance between them. It was a love that never changed, never faded, consistent and strong through the late night calls filled with laughter and tears. It was felt through the quiet goodbyes, the whispers of "I miss you" that they shared. It was a love that Moon felt long after they hung up, smiling with the knowledge that nothing had changed.

There was another type of love that Moon had struggled to place. A colour that kept changing, a feeling that kept swimming and swirling and blending into a mess she couldn't define. A first, it was black like the night. Hidden behind walls of distrust and fear, behind biting words and flippant comments. And then it had softened. Cracks had formed, and the dark veil had lifted as Moon realised there was more to him than just another Team Skull member. There was more to Gladion than his sharp glares and prickly demeanor.

Black faded into grey as little moments fell into place. It was murky and clouded, but there was more to him, a depth she couldn't yet reach. She realised that with a start the first time he trusted her. His apology for dragging her into a meaningless battle cleared the water between them. And when he'd smiled, the very first time Moon had seen him smile, that night on the docks as they waited for Hau, the dark fog around his heart had lifted. Moon felt warm. There was a trickle of colour, of light, and the world had changed. Everything was brighter. Her heart pounded harder.

She trusted him. She followed his lead without question into the Aether Paradise. His stubborn determination, the drive burning behind his eyes, gave her the confidence she needed to stand by his side and fight. He blazed like a wildfire and she felt safe. She stood tall when he faltered, when he lost to Guzma and began to sink into his fear and doubt and darkness again. She stood tall. The fire she'd felt burning in him ignited in her chest and she fought. She fought for Gladion, for herself, for Hau and for Lillie.

His words resonated with her, deep in her heart.

"You know… I know we aren't friends, but I'm glad you two are here…"

That was enough for her.

-

She couldn't deny it any longer when they met at the base of Mount Lanakila. The thrum of her heart was too warm, too loud, and she knew immediately the colour her love towards him had taken as they fought. It was no longer that empty void of black, dark like his familiar hoodie. It burnt bright and warm, a searing colour that washed over her cheeks like the slash of crimson on the front of Gladion's hoodie.

The faint smile he gave her tugged on her heart, but the words he spoke cut deep like an icy blade through her chest.

"I know we aren't friends… but we aren't enemies anymore either."

They weren't friends.

The pieces of her shattered heart filled her chest with broken glass. Bleeding with every breath, her love ran red and pooled in her lungs until she couldn't breathe.

It hurt.

Her love was the colour of blood.

-

She hadn't wanted to see him again. Not really. Something had tugged on her heart and she'd made her way to Aether Paradise once again without thinking. Her wounded heart hadn't yet healed, and it thumped with a stab of pain and warmth when she saw him, and her love, that dark crimson, washed over everything and she smiled. Her heart fluttered as though it had grown wings and she couldn't care about the pain. Her love for him was brighter and stronger, vibrant and vivid and burning. It was a blaze in her lungs. The flush on her cheeks that softened her smile.

It was a love that soothed everything else away.

And the words he said, a knowing smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, made her wonder if there was something else, something more, to the way he looked at her.

"Maybe it's time I see a bit more of the world myself… starting with that Pokemon League, I think. I hear that Alola's got a real strong Champion."

She wondered if he knew.

-

He came.

Moon's heart leapt in her chest when Gladion ascended the stairs before her, the pinnacle of the Pokemon League. She rose to her feet to meet him, unable to hold back her smile.

"You made it," she said, surprised at how breathless and giddy she sounded.

The determination in his eyes solidified her suspicion that he'd known all along that she was Alola's Champion.

"Hmph, of course I did. I came here for one reason and one reason only." Gladion lifted his hand and pointed right at her, the gesture making her pulse skip as though he'd tugged on the tight strings of her heart. "To defeat you. Everyone has their own reasons for coming here… but for me, I want the strongest rival for myself."

Moon's heart thumped harder and louder in her chest. She smiled at him, her blood blazing from his words, and for a moment she found it difficult to breathe.

"Good luck with that," she taunted, grinning. "I'm not so easy to pin down, and I won't go down without a fight!"

A smile spread over his face as though he'd expected that response.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

-

The battle was tough but, as always, Moon was triumphant in the end. She grinned at him as they recalled their Pokemon, and walked over to him. He was muttering something to himself, frustrated lines furrowing his brow.

"That wasn't how this was supposed to go…" Gladion clicked his tongue, before wiping the scowl off his face and meeting her gaze.

"Like I said, I'm not easy to pin down! You've got a lot of rivals to complete with if you want to defeat me," she teased.

His eyes lingered on hers. "It was close, but not close enough. Not if I want to defeat you and keep you all to myself…"

She blinked at him, unsure if she'd heard that right. She laughed, trying to hide the nervous crack in her voice. "Keep me all to yourself? Not sure if all my other rivals would put up with that."

He folded his arms. "They'll have to deal with it, one way or another."

The silence between them, the determination in Gladion's eyes, became too much for Moon. She pursed her lips and swallowed the anxious buzzing in her lungs.

"You know, you really shouldn't be saying things like that," she said quietly.

His eyes widened slightly. "Saying things like what?"

"About keeping me all to yourself." She smiled faintly. She knew what was coming and braced herself for it. "You might give me the wrong idea if you say things like that so easily. Since… I know you don't feel the same way about me."

Gladion stared. His mouth dropped open in shock and Moon didn't want to give him a chance to speak. Not now.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything." She breathed a dejected laugh. "I know, I know we're not friends, that you see me as a rival, but I… had to say something. I had to tell you." She managed a smile. A soft, gentle smile forced through the pain, the anticipation of what was to come. The wound on her heart threatened to reopen.

"I like you, Gladion. A lot. And I mean that in a romantic way. I have for a while."

Her smile was no longer forced. It was gentle and free, a smile of relief and honesty.

"I hope this doesn't change anything; my feelings towards you, I mean," she said sheepishly. "I still want to be your rival."

He was still staring, those gorgeous emerald eyes of his wide in shock. He blinked a few times before his shoulders sagged, and he dropped his head into his hand with a heavy sigh.

"Why are you… always one step ahead of me?" he muttered, his voice strained.

"What?"

Heat simmered behind the usually placid emerald of his eyes, burning into Moon as he raised his head and met her gaze.

"You say that you know I don't feel the same… and here I was, going to confess to you if I'd won."

It was her turn to stare. "You what?!"

He took a step closer as the heat in his eyes began to pool on his cheeks. Crimson.

"I feel the same," Gladion said, stopping just a step away from her. His words were gentle and quiet, yet so loud in the silence between them.

Moon's heart skipped. "You… do?"

His lips twitched in the beginning of a scowl. "Yes. That's what I said. Why else would I want to keep you to myself?"

His eyes slid away from hers for a moment before returning like a snap of elastic. Drawn back to hers.

She drew closer to him. "Then say it."

The air crackled between them. They stood a few inches apart, breaths mingling, their eyes fixed on one another.

"I already did."

"Say it properly," she urged. "So I know what you mean. So I won't take it the wrong way, so it's not ambiguous, so I know- Please. I want to hear you say it."

His mouth drew into a stubborn line. The crimson on his cheeks darkened and he leant closer. His lips brushed her ear.

"I love you."

Her gasp split the silence. Dizzying heat flooded her body and Moon clung to the front of Gladion's hoodie when his arms wrapped around her. His hands settled high on her back, pulling her into him. Against him. She burned inside and out, and knew her face was as flushed as his.

"G-Gladion," Moon squeaked. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to think or breathe or move. She couldn't believe this was happening.

His shaky sigh tickled her ear and she shivered. "You really thought I didn't feel the same…?"

"You… you said we weren't friends so I… I didn't think you liked me very much." She buried her face in his chest at her admission. His cheek nuzzled into her temple, she swore she felt his lips ghost over the crest of her ear.

"I did, didn't I?"

She could hear the sheepish smile in his voice.

"Even then… I knew what I felt towards you wasn't friendship. It was… so much more."

"You mean…? That's why you said that?"

Her heart thrummed. The pain was gone. She slid her arms around him as she melted into his embrace.

"You know, you really need to be more direct," she chuckled. "You're always giving me the wrong idea."

"I said I wanted the strongest rival to myself. I thought that was clear enough."

Moon snorted. "It's not! And what were you going to do if you had won? You can't be the Champion and the president of the Aether Foundation."

"I don't see why not."

She shook her head with a laugh. "You don't need to defeat me to have me to yourself. My heart belongs to you, Gladion. It has for a while."

Her words made Gladion pull her tighter against him, his arms squeezing her firmly as he sighed. His warmth bled into her, comforting and gentle, like a crackling fire on a cold winter's night. A steady flame in the darkness. Crimson like the blush on his cheeks, softening his gaze when he pulled away enough to meet her eyes.

And it made her smile.

#lonashippingweek #lonashipping #gladion #gladimoon

[artpharos]

1 2 3 4 8 12 16 and 23?

I’m just gonna assume lonashipping LOL also that is a lot of asks ok *cracks knuckles*

1. How do they fall asleep? Wake up? Any daily rituals?

IN EACH OTHER’S ARMS. No okay so they’re both night owls, but Gladion is the more disciplined of the two so he goes to bed first. Moon usually follows eventually, and she’ll turn off the lights and cuddles close to him but she doesn’t want to wake him- except he’s a light sleeper, so sometimes he’ll just roll over and hug her and THEN they fall asleep in each other’s arms. Gladion wakes up way easier than Moon because he actually has consistent working hours, so he’ll go and prep breakfast and everything and then after he that he checks on the Pokemon and once Silvally knows he’s awake, it bounds onto their bed and wakes poor Moon up. 

As far as daily rituals go, they eat breakfast together. Moon washes since Gladion cooked, and they always have a bit of banter and a small kiss before leaving for the day for their respective jobs. And when they come back home at night, the whole cycle begins again :D 

2. How’s their teamwork? Do they share well?

Surprisingly, they never really had that much trouble actually working together. Like sure, when they first met, they butt heads a lot since Gladion is all edgy lonerboy and Moon didn’t like how he just kept snapping and yelling at people. But when they worked together at Aether, they both realized the other could prioritize Lillie’s safety over their own pride, and they ended up trusting each other. After that they’ve had a bond of mutual respect for each other’s ability as a trainer, and that became the foundation they drew on to get closer to the other. They aren’t big sharers, but because they trust one another in a way that they so rarely do with others (except Hau, but Hau is the one they don’t want to depress from listening to their own troubles), they end up talking to each other a lot. Gladion’s probably one of the few people that Moon can talk to about Ultra Space, too, and because of her in-depth knowledge of what happened to his family, she’s one of the few people he can trust with his insecurities as well...  

3. Are they open about their relationship? How do they feel about public displays of affection?

They don’t hide it, certainly, but they’re both very conscious that neither of them really enjoy the spotlight, whether it’s around friends or from the prying eyes of reporters. So they don’t really do a lot of public displays of affection unless they’re really SUPER OVERWHELMED BY FEELINGS OF LOVE or something, but sometimes Gladion will reach for Moon’s hand when they’re walking together and the breeze is nice, or sometimes Moon will give him a little peck on the cheek when she’s proud of some amazing thing he said in a presentation/interview. 

4. First impression of each other? Was it love at first sight?

HAHAHA no. Gladion saw Moon as nothing more than a stepping stone to his path to strength, Moon saw him as a bully. (Also she was totally going to beat him to take the prize money)

8. What do the like best about their partner?

Gladion likes that Moon’s kind, and understanding, but she’d also give him shit if he did something wrong. Moon likes that Gladion’s always supportive and protective because as strong and capable as she is, it’s always nice to have someone to return to and keep you safe. 

12. Is there a wedding? What was the proposal like? Any kind of honeymoon?

They get married in the presence of Tapu Koko. There was lots of dancing, malasadas, and Lillie may have ended up hugging Olivia and they ended up bawling near the punch bowl. 

Gladion proposed in the same dumb way he always does- by challenging Moon to a battle. When Moon realized what he was up to, she laughed her ass off and then decided to reverse the proposal. After all, the victor is the one who claims the spoils. 

They honeymoon by taking a long journey through the wilds of Poni Island, enjoying the freedom and nature and the Pokemon they meet- after all, adventure runs in their blood, and was what brought them together in the first place. 

16. Do they keep secrets? Lie? Cheat?

Gladion is not good at being honest about his vulnerabilities, and likewise with Moon. So sure, they lie to each other about ‘being fine’, even though they know the other one knows they aren’t. Sometimes that leads to arguments and Gladion dramatically storming out, but eventually they calm down enough to talk to one another and as they begin to trust each other more and more, the secrets tend to stop. As far as cheating goes, maybe at the start they did question whether they were right for one another, but as they grow closer and learn more of the other/trust the other more, the idea of cheating is so farfetched because ultimately, they chose each other because they truly do love one another. 

23. How do they hug? Kiss? Tease? Flirt? Comfort?

Moon likes surprising Gladion with sudden hugs, while Gladion is the type to awkwardly put his arms around her shoulders and pull her close when she’s leaning against him. Their kisses range from anything from soft pecks to full on french kissing in the moonlight, and their relationship is defined by Moon’s constant teasing and flirting. Gladion started off being super conscious about it at first, but as his guard relaxed, he ends up being snarky in return, sometimes even surprising Moon with a sudden kiss. They draw comfort from each other’s presence, their weight against them, leaning against each other on a couch, by holding each other close when they sleep, and by seeing their smile every time they walk into a room. 

#lonashipping #ask memes #that was... a lot #HAHAHAHA

[alolanrain]

Hey! It's the anon once again. I was finally able to see your post once I got the Tumblr app. I want to thank you. You and your ideas got me back in the Pokemon fandom and actually inspired me to work on my own Pokemon fanfic. I also have some questions. What do you think of Ash? Who's your favorite and least characters from each game/anime? What's your favorite pairing? Some of your favorite headcanons? Why do you hate Rose so much? (Haven't played SWSH)

I’m so happy that you were able to see it!!! And I’m happy that my work and ideas brought i you ou back! And wnsnans I CAN’T WAIT TO READ THE FIC!!!!

What do you think of Ash?

I’ve always seen myself in Ash. He reminded me of a child with severe ADHD, and me a child with severe ADHD loved having a character I can somewhat relate to than just more than girl characters. I also love how close he is with his Pokémon, and how he treats them very differently from a lot of trainers. Along with how he never actually forces them to evolve, it’s always up to them if they truly want to do that. 

What is your favorite/least favorite character from each Game/anime?

(I’ll do the games another time but I’m sticking with the Anime for now!!!)

Gen 1

Fav: Ash 👀 which is obvious

Dis: Lance surprisingly, I liked him a lot better when he showed up in Johto and during the last fight in Hoenn. But never liked him to begin with.

Gen 2

Fave: Brock, Ash actually gave me some annoyance during Gen 2 and Brocks Normal antics with pretty girls didn’t really upset me like it usually does

Dis: Misty, for the soul fact I didn’t like her voice. It reminded me to much of one of my old pre school teachers that actually hated me so I just associated Misty with her until after the Sinnoh arc

Gen 3

Fav: May, she reminded me a lot like Ash and also with having a little brother. I have two little sisters so I connected more with May

Dis: Wallace. Fuckin’ Wallace for the reason being I hated his fucking outfit 

Gen 4

Fav: Cynthia, she wanted to fight Gods and I love her

Dis: mix up between Paul and Barry for reasons very blatant

Gen 5

Fav: Ash back at it again because Cilan and Iris were to fucking annoying

Dis: Iris and Alder. It’s a tie between the two. Alder because he’s a Bumbling idiot and doesn’t deserve the title of Himbo. And I took personal offense every time Iris called Ash a kid when he ended up doing a small thing wrong or doing something that he just Dose because he’s Ash.

Gen 6

fav: Professor Sycamore, when he found out who the mask Blaziken was it made me smile a lot because the Professor also kept the secret to himself for so long

Dis: Serena, she was a good character and loved by many, I respect that. Her voice was annoying, along with Bonnie but I had a weird connection to her since my sisters loved her, and how blantant she was with Ash. Even though it was his own fault for not seeing the obvious fucking clues

Gen 7

Fav: Professor Kukui and Ash, FAMILY BOND!!!!

Dis: Faba. Do I even have to explain him?

Gen 8

(Ik, IK it’s barley even out tho)

Fav: I’m having a feeling I’ll love Marnie if she comes to the anime. But for now it’s Ash, the art style is amazing and the scene with Lugia? B L E S S

Dis: Chairman Rose and Oleana, I know their not in the anime yet but I still can’t help myself.

What’s your favorite pairing?

Its a toss up between four right now.

Palletshipping- it was literally the second ship I got into and was also another reason for me to continue watching Pokémon after Gen 1 because my friend hinted that Ash and Gary made up, somewhat, after the Johto conference. So it’s an oldy but a goodie and I enjoy a lot of smaller headcanons about them.

Originalshipping- it was, I think, my fifth ship? I loved watching my older brothers play the first Pokémon games every Christmas Eve after dinner at my dads. It was a tradition that still goes on today. But besides that, I love stoic and silent Red with blabber mouth and energetic Green. I screamed when I found out they were going to be at the battle tree in the Alola Sun and Moon game.

(I blame @hiddenbyfaeries for the next two because she talked/screamed with/at me about them)

Ash/Hau/Gladion- their cute separate and together. And Hau and Gladion has a lot of good emotions in the game while both had very good episodes with Ash in the anime. Gladion and Hau just didn’t have any together from my recollection.

Leon/Ash/Raihan- I never stated anything about this in a post. But I will clarify that I mean Leon/OLDER!Ash/Raihan, for Ash would technicaly be around 20-something if the anime would let him age up instead of staying ten. But it’s slowly climbing higher in my heart of ships.

Favorite headcanons?

- Ash is strong, crazy strong. But his body doesn’t shown it, he still has soft baby fat and slightly round edges. Yet he can still chuck you to the moon if he puts enough effort into it

- my Tattoo!AU in general, which I’ll expand later on

- Brock is still the best cook to Ash, even when he gets older and all. Brock is the best

- Gary has a natural attraction to Dark and Fairy types. So when he goes to Kalos for a few month working under Professor Sycamore he ends up getting a sylveon, shiny or not is your chose to interpret

- Cynthia likes watching Dawn during contests, just like Diantha likes watching Serena in her contests

- ^^^ Diantha was slightly sad that Serena wasn’t going to enter in the Kalos contests. But she did warn Wallace about how good Serena is and got the older man to watch some of the girls old competitions. Wallace ends up falling in love with the girl and some how ends up becoming her pseudo weird ass uncle

-^^^^ she calls up May, who Ash sent her phone number to because he doesn’t want to approach Serena yet because of the kiss, and asks about Wallace

- May: *Sighs* he unofficially adopted you?

Serena: *panicked* he’s asking me to call him Uncle Wall!?

May: *seriouse* welcome to the family, you can’t escape

- both Gary and Ash melt when you pet their hair, like really get into it and lightly scratching their skulls. Their puddles of love and whine and complain when you stop.

- this is more canon I believe than a headcanon, but Professor Oak was an Ice type trainer before becoming a Pokémon Professor. So imagine him with an Alolan Ninetails

Why do you hate Rose so much?

I don’t have SWSH either, I watched my little cousins and older brothers play it on the Tv. I had an inkling of Rose since he was first introduced before the game. Something just bagged at the back of my head and grew as more content came out. This is the first time we’re dealing with a Chairman of the League in general, it’s usuajust the Champion that you see running it (or in Alola’s case, Professor Kukui). So having an actual Chairman just set off my warnings signs and I ended up being right that he was the bad guy. Oleana also didn’t help his image to me. But I’ve also felt with people like him and they were all very condescending to me, so just seeing him made my blood fucking boil.

#wolfy answers #headcanons #my pist #ash ketchum #gary oak #gym leader brock

[miraimisu]

2 smut or angst or 5 random/fluff because i like giving you choices

—

Gladion sometimes thinks he’s a little too unlucky to still be alive. At times, he finds himself in bed, completely zoned out as he goes over the many instances Arceus had clearly meant for him to die: rescuing Type:Null, taming it, meeting Guzma, meeting Plumeria, and encountering a bunch of Pokémon that clearly hadn’t wanted him there.

Most recently, he had survived getting through a beeline of Team Skull grunts that Moon had been kind enough to get rid of. He has known Moon for about a year now, and while how he feels for the trainer is for time and patience to decide, he knows that she’s one hell of a tough trainer. The moment they got through all these hurdles, his Mother had nearly obliterated him with her Pokémon, but that’s another thing Moon had taken care of.

If there’s something Gladion has learned, it’s that Moon is reliable enough to lend her his life if the occasion calls for such. If there’s something Gladion is certain of, is that Moon is unbeatable to the eyes of the Kahuna, the Trial Captains, the Totem Pokémon, Hau, Lillie, and himself. If there’s something the world and Gladion know, it’s that she’s an unmovable force that simply will withstand all of the challenges life puts them through.

But there’s one wall that she hasn’t managed to headbutt herself through.

And that’s Lusamine.

At the moment, Gladion isn’t sure where they are. The air is dense and cold, with Nihilego roaming about with soft coos of worry for their master, fused with one of their kind and looking at her prey with uncanny fierceness– a sentiment Gladion had seen many times when anger had slipped through her perfect presidential façade.

The façade is long gone.

And where toughness and hidden poison lay, now bubbles anger and laughter, picking the one unbeatable trainer off the ground with one of her claws. The air is electric with tension and all colors are becoming blurred in Gladion’s head as his consciousness wavers, threatening to bring him to his knees. Lillie is somewhere to his right. Moon is right before him, weakly squirming as Lusamine tightens her hold around the trainer’s neck.

None of her Pokémon, sprawled around the floor, dare move an inch. They’re long gone.

And Gladion’s feet refuse to move. Oh, the familiarity of it all.

“What a little pesky thing you are, Moon,” Lusamine drawls out. A shadow looms over her bright, yellow eyes as Moon squirms, trying to squeeze words out that never make it out. The sight brings Gladion to his knees, panting. “It truly is a shame my children got you involved in our affairs. Do not worry, though– they will not be awake to see your downfall.”

The choice of words is meticulous and designed to make him flinch, but he doesn’t. This far into the game, Gladion knows how his mother works and the many faces of her abuse. Holding somebody he holds dear is both a reminder of the power she holds over him and the madness behind said power. It’s a twisted game that nobody is bound to win.

But Lusamine still holds her up, tightening her hold around Moon as she chokes out a dry noise. It’s a horrible unbefitting noise that sounds wrong coming from someone as strong as her.

Lusamine holds her chin up, smirking. “Do you understand now, my dear? Remember when I told you that getting people in our private issues was a bad idea?”

Gladion squares his jaw. “Put her down, Lusamine.”

She gawks at him as though he just slapped her, but the surprise soon turns vitriolic. “What is this, calling your mother as though she were a stranger? Look at where your attitude got you, Gladion.” Another squeeze. Moon tries to move, tries to escape, and Gladion tries to move, tries to overcome the barrier between them, and yet– “Look at her, Gladion. I always told you defying your Mother was the wrong way to do things.”

“It’s not her fault dad is gone!” Gladion rasps out, much weaker than he would have wanted, but he hopes the raw emotion in his voice will bring her back to her senses and, most importantly, bring Moon back to the ground. “Drop her down! You already brought Lillie down with you, she doesn’t need to pay for this!”

“Oh, you are absolutely right, dear,” Lusamine drawls out, the veil of superior, wicked tease hanging tight between them. “Poor thing. She thought she could come into my kingdom, take what is mine, and run away into the sun. She is just as foolish as you and Lillie are. She will be a good riddance.”

The word riddance rips a void so wide in his stomach his heart falls right through it. “What are you talking about? Drop her already! You’re being ridiculous!”

“Ridiculous?” Lusamine gives Moon a very tight squeeze that Moon wheezes at. “Would you truly call this ridiculous, dear? Does it not feel terrible to watch somebody you hold close fade away right in front of you? Did I not warn you this was bound to happen one day?”

Moon’s fighting has become less frantic, less rhythmic. She’s running out of air as Gladion is running out of time– and they have run out of Pokémon. Run out of possibilities. And Lusamine is holding Moon’s life with a thread made of dust, so fragile it will take one word to snap it broken.

Gladion’s hands tremble, his jaw quivers and he lets out a sound akin to that of a choke. Lusamine laughs. “See? Did I not warn you that people would make you weak, Gladion? Did I not warn you that you were safe with me, at home, behaving like the nice child you used to be? Did I not tell you this was a mistake?” 

And Lusamine continues squeezing, continues snarling as Moon squirms, mutters his name, mutters a plea that nobody but he hears between the pumping of blood in his ears and the sudden desire to run away and never come back to this world. 

Gladion is witnessing the fall of what would have been the Champion of Alola. A girl with so much sunlight within her that it’s devastating to see Lusamine drag her soul out like the reaper she’s been all along. He’s witnessing the fall of a friend, someone he had contemplated spending his whole life with as comrades, maybe as something more.

His heart swells, and Moon soon stops moving with one last gasp that ends dry and lifeless.

And the worst part is that Gladion can’t do a single damn thing about it.

“No,” he utters, irises trembling as Lusamine loosens her grip a notch, inspecting her worth. A feeling he had long shed washes over him and leaves him numb at the shore when reality kicks in.

Fear creeps in like a ghost and makes itself at home.

And when Moon is no longer moving, Lusamine smirks at him. “You brought this upon yourself, dear. Mother always knows best. Maybe Lillie and you should have known better than to drag an innocent trainer into our warm, welcoming family.”

But before Gladion can talk back, react, scream, thrash and cry, a beam of light comes from the end of the corridor behind them, pushing the Nihilego to the side and hitting Lusamine right on her chest with a shriek. He hears a familiar cry – Lunala, he realizes – and Lusamine abruptly lets go of Moon as people he has never met rush to Lillie’s side to wake her up.

Moon’s body hits the ground with a hollow noise and she doesn’t get up. And he rushes to her in panic, with all strength he has left as holes of darkness and fuzzing sounds fill his senses. There’s a metallic tang in the air and a much harsher boulder in his heart that won’t let him speak.

And when he does, it comes out in an anguished, disbelieving and faded out cry. “Moon, open your eyes!” 

She doesn’t answer.

So Gladion tries again. 

“Open your eyes, please!” Because he can’t bear the thought of having seen her die. He can’t bear the thought of having let yet another person he holds dear go there where nobody can follow. 

He can’t imagine a world where her smile isn’t there to chase him to sleep. He can’t bear a world where he’s the one begging for her to come back like she had once done before this mess had begun.

And she remains motionless, and Gladion shakes her harsher. “Please, please, please, come back! You can’t leave now! You still have so much to do! Just open your eyes, please, please!”

Hands wrap around his frame to push him away from her, but he barely registers the feeling until he sees that distance is building between them. His feet scrape against the floor as they take him away and people in suits gather around Moon, talking in a language he doesn’t speak but conveying devastation that’s starting to coil at the pit of his very being.

A well of pain opens wide to swallow him, and Gladion jumps right into it as his consciousness fades away.

And the last thing he hears is the memory of Moon’s last laughter – seemingly so far away, now so far away from reach – and the last time she smiled to the sun.

—

#lonashipping #request #gladimoon #WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH (ALBEIT AMBIGUOUS) #I love how Texty gave me options wihilst probably aware I was gonna write angst anyway FRGYHUSOK #SO I KILLED SOMEONE HERE #so yeah in this house we HATE LUSAMINE and now she's a murderer #this is like 'what if pokemon SUMO went wrong but we throw some USUM stuff in too' #and Gladion is lowkey crushing on Moon #so yeah this is purposefully open-ended so yaddayadda #this is like 400CQ chapter 40 all over again except it's Lusamine and it's a little not as emotional BFDUDJISJNJFKUDJSI #I wrote this in less than an hour so that should say I'm sick and love going wilfd #though this isn't as wild LMAO #I HOPE YOU LIKE IT TEXTY I TRIED MY BEST JFJDKMNLJRGUFIKDEMRFIPDOSA

[bluerosesburnblue]

MMMMMMMMmmmmmmm I’ve been rewatching a playthrough of Pokemon Sun and one of Ultra Sun back-to-back (just to try and gather my thoughts about what went wrong with Sword and Shield’s writing) and hitting the end of Ula’ula Island and the mini-arc after that just made me mad again about how the Ultra versions just completely butchered the emotional core of the original Sun and Moon’s plot and also how poorly the Ultra Recon Squad were implemented (which sucks because I like all of the URS members as characters, but the plot does them no justice)

Edited with two points that I forgot to include last night

So, alright. In the original Sun and Moon you have our lovely villain, Lusamine. She’s an awful human being. She acts sweet, but the second you don’t conform to her standards of beauty and perfection, you’re worth nothing more than utter disgust. Those standards? How willing you are to conform to her control and let her decide everything

Her goal? Open up an Ultra Wormhole and go to the world populated by the Ultra Beast Nihilego, the subject of her affections. This is worth enough to her that she’s willing to torture and kill an innocent baby Pokemon to do it. A Pokemon that her own daughter has bonded with, while said daughter screams at her to stop. But because Lillie stole that Pokemon in the first place and ran away, defying Lusamine’s control, then she’s ugly and not worth listening to

Everything makes sense and is treated with appropriate tone. Lusamine doesn’t care about getting back to her original world, so Cosmog dying while she summons a wormhole? Way more wormholes opening up than she intends? Not her problem.

The player and Lillie having to gather information on other ways to traverse worlds by summoning the Legendary Pokemon? Lillie’s primarily doing it for her own sense of closure. She’s choosing to be a bigger person than her mother by trying to save her from being stranded in another universe, but she also needs to air her grievances for everything her mother’s done to hurt her. And there’s also the matter of Guzma, who went in with Lusamine out of a manipulated sense of loyalty. While he’s a troublemaker and a jackass, he doesn’t deserve to be trapped in a dimension with hell jellyfish for the rest of his existence. So Team Skull begging you to save him? Warranted

And the postgame reveals that Nihilego venom make people act out their natural desires uninhibited in an effort to protect their species. They’re parasites. Lusamine was always a controlling, beauty-obsessed perfectionist (though these traits may not have started manifesting until she lost her husband to a wormhole), but her obsession with interdimensional jellyfish and the lengths she was willing to go for them was induced. The ending makes it obvious that she doesn’t think she was wrong, but she may be able to be rehabilitated

The game never tries to force Lillie or Gladion to forgive their mother for the abuse they suffered at her hands. Gladion pointedly never calls her “mother,” always “Lusamine” or “the president” and he still doesn’t later on. Lillie wants to rehabilitate her mother, but after the whole scene where she calls Lusamine out on her bullshit it comes across more as Lillie trying to be a good person by helping an obviously sick person and it still leaves open the possibility that if the rehab fails, Lillie may just leave. No matter what, their family will never go back to what it was. It can’t, because they’re all different people. But Gladion and Lillie now have Hau, Hala, the Player, Kukui, and Burnet as family to fall back on. People who care about them for who they are, unconditionally

And then...

There’s Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

And I was honestly enjoying watching that playthrough up until the Aether arc hit. It was interesting to see how the trials were changed up and weigh the two versions against each other. I liked seeing the added dialogue for my boy Hau that really fleshed out his character. But the Aether arc...

So, alright. We have our lovely villain, Lusamine. She’s an awful human being. She acts sweet, but the second you don’t conform to her standards of beauty and perfection, you’re worth nothing more than utter disgust. Those standards? How willing you are to conform to her control and let her decide everything

Heard this before, haven’t we?

Except now the Nihilego venom is gone from the equation. Lusamine, in no uncertain terms, still tells Lillie that she has no children, “certainly not any wretched children who would run off and reject my love!” And then mocks her own daughter for wanting to save Cosmog while stating that she’s too worthless to even hang around the player character

And the game plays it off like she’s still a good person because her motivations have changed from “I wanna live with the toxic space jellyfish” to “yo if a light-eating inderdimensional monster destroys the world then it’ll fuck up my collection of cryogenically frozen Pokemon so I’m gonna kill it”

No, seriously. Lusamine’s now a good person because her daughter will be tangentially saved due to her trying to protect things she actually values

All plausible deniability she had is gone because there is no Nihilego venom in this version. Lusamine really is just that abusive and there’s no real possibility that she might’ve just had bad tendencies that she was keeping in check that got overridden by venom. She’s an abusive mother and there’s no getting around it. She still forced Lillie to dress like a Nihilego, except this time it was entirely about the control and not because she was being influenced by a glass parasite. Gladion still felt the need to run away with Type: Null because she was going too far, Lillie still felt the need to run away with Cosmog for the same reasons

The scene in the cryo-room just pisses me off so, SO much. Gladion calling her “mother” and begging her to let him take her place? And yet he still calls her selfish and still has his line about how “she’s real nice... as long as you mean nothing to her,” but also I guess loves her and wanted to protect her this whole time and that’s why he left? Fucking what? And it’s not like she didn’t show herself to be just as abusive as in Sun and Moon where he never forgave her! They’re forcing Gladion to excuse her abuse because she missed their dad I guess

Even if she calls them “good kids” in the very next scene, it still comes off of the heels of her verbally abusing her timid daughter for trying to stand up for herself! It just comes across like they’re only “good kids” because she expects them to go back to how they were before they left. She doesn’t care about who they’ve become at all

EDIT: And I forgot to bring up how stupid the thing with Cosmog is in that scene! Last time we got the impression that Nebby nearly died and was forced to evolve because Lusamine overtaxed them and forced them to open up way too many wormholes, because as long as she had one that went to the world of the Nihilego, she didn’t care what happened to the Pokemon world. Now she opens up one to a specific place... but still feels the need to torture Nebby to do it? And despite opening way less wormholes, Nebby��s still overtaxed and evolves? And Lusamine doesn’t bring Nebby with her, why??? Before, she didn’t care if she came back, but this time her goal is “beat Necrozma and come back to my collection.” So why does she jump through the wormhole with no way to get back? After intentionally screwing over the baby Pokemon that she would have needed to get back home???

And that’s not even the complete... just... dumbassery of the “we have to track Lusamine down” stuff. Because now instead of going to a world inhabited by only parasitic jellyfish and opening extra wormholes in the process, she and Guzma open one wormhole and go to a highly populated interdimensional city to piss off the local god, intentionally. And at that point, it’s less of a matter of saving them and more of a matter of cleaning up their mess

So you’d think the Ultra Recon Squad, interdimensional travelers who came to Alola because a hungry, furious legendary being was about to escape its prison and they didn’t have a way to stop it, would want us to get down to their homeworld as fast as possible to stop the local god from getting pissed off by two overconfident dumbasses. And what do they do?

“Yeah, if you play a flute you can summon a legendary Pokemon. We rode one here. Should be fine. What, no, we won’t help you look for the flutes.” But also, ten minutes later, “Stop! It’s our job to save our world, not yours! Lusamine betrayed us how can we ever trust you to help???”

The writing can’t keep straight throughout the game whether they just want to find strong trainers to take out their local deity before it goes on a cross-dimensional rampage or if they want to train themselves to be strong enough to take on the local god. But beyond that!

What’s the point of going through all this trouble to summon the legendary Pokemon when the URS already befriended the opposite version legendary and can just call it whenever? Especially since they do just that when Necrozma immediately absorbs the one you just awakened

No, seriously? What? We lose Nebby, who we have an emotional attachment to, immediately and have to rely on this other legendary that’s just... here??? I guess????????

One of the only things we know about the world of Ultra Megalopolis is that they don’t do the Pokemon thing, they just compensate for everything with extremely advanced technology! So why the fuck are they pals with a legendary Pokemon? Especially one that has lore in Alola, but not in Ultra Megalopolis?

And how the fuck do they know about the Alolan legend of summoning the legendary Pokemon, which they would never need to research because they have one already?

Literally why does Necrozma open like ten extra wormholes when it shows up. There’s no reason other than to have the extended “fighting Ultra Beasts” cutscene that no longer works because the Ultra Beasts aren’t important anymore now that they cut their postgame story out. And I know they go “Ah, Necrozma pulled in the villains from other universes! That’s why Rainbow Rocket...” Rainbow Rocket was just shallow pandering with no substance and wasn’t particularly fun to play. It wasn’t worth making the main plot nonsensical to have it in there. I would’ve much rather had a rewritten International Police postgame that includes the Ultra Recon Squad and has you traveling to the new Ultra Space areas to either return them to their natural habitats or just learn more about them to take care of them

EDIT: And why does Lusamine need Nebby at all, when the Ultra Recon Squad just had a legendary that they were gonna bring the strongest trainers to Ultra Megalopolis with? What makes her think they wouldn’t take her, their closest ally at the time? In the original, Nebby was the only way to get to other worlds. But they’re not in this version, so why does she go and hunt Nebby down instead of working with the URS or trying to steal their fully evolved world-hopping beast?

The whole climax is just tied together by utter nonsense. And it’s such a shame because I legitimately love the concept of the URS and Ultra Megalopolis and the general personalities of the four characters in it. It’s such a wasted opportunity because I guess they felt obligated to hit the same basic plot beats? Even at the detriment of their new characters?

And it’s such an easy fix, too. Just have the two URS members in the game be stranded on Alola. Their technology for dimension-hopping was experimental and based on their studies of Necrozma, who can hop worlds and who they have easy access to. But the inaugural trial is rushed because Necrozma’s looking to break free. Two members stay behind to monitor, two end up stranded in Alola with broken tech desperately looking for a way to get home in time to stop Necrozma

And that’s how they end up partnered with Aether, who have the most advanced tech in the region. It’s something they trust and understand, and Aether has the resources to help and a president who seems very interested in ways to get to other worlds. She’s even performing experiments already!

Unbeknownst to them, though, Lusamine’s only looking for ways to get to Nihilego as she still came into contact with their neurotoxin during experiments trying to find Mohn. Nebby’s kidnapped, several wormholes opened, Lusamine jumps into the Ultra Deep Sea to be with the Nihilego. Except this time, a wormhole opens up to Ultra Megalopolis where Necrozma is. It’s not long enough for Necrozma to get through, but long enough that it sees the light of Alola and knows exactly where to go when it breaks free...

You awaken Nebby and save Lusamine as in vanilla Sun and Moon. Then Necrozma breaks free, chases Nebby’s light through Ultra Space back to Alola, steals the light, bam. Back to where Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon kick off the climax. Maybe add in a section where you have to get the Dimensional Research Lab and Aether to work together to fix the Recon Squad’s dimension-hopping gear to break up the pacing. Save Ultra Megalopolis and Nebby. Now you’ve got something a little closer to Platinum’s additions to Diamond and Pearl instead of the butchering we actually got, complete with two climactic moments. One for Lillie, one for protag

Everything about and surrounding Necrozma’s addition was just so sloppily done, which is such a shame with how good both the base game and the ideas for expansion were

Also, move Mina’s trial and put Hapu’s back in its spot. I like having a trial for Mina, but why place two trials after the Necrozma climax? We just beat a god and you expect me to do trials? The original Sun and Moon understood that at that point you’re at the falling action of the story, may as well keep it succinct and only have it be the Pokemon League. And also, the Dragon trial is supposed to be this big, ancient final trial. Oldest of them all, the final task before being allowed to the Altar, Alola’s most sacred point. But now we have another trial and a Grand Trial after it?

Just have Mina’s trial as soon as you hit Poni Island and have the justification be that her trial takes you to the sacred sites of Alola where you can gather info on the legendary Pokemon. Bam. Lore opportunity. And if her trial’s also necessary for getting into the Dragon trial in a “you must prove your worth to the captains in a gauntlet for permission to enter the sacred final trial site” way, then even better. And Necrozma likes Z-Crystals, so you’d have even more stockpiled, further justifying its interest in you

And with Hapu’s Grand Trial back where it was, Lillie can have her Exeggutor Island fun. Which she could’ve had anyway and seriously why did you replace her with a nameless NPC in USUM?

I’ve had way too long to think about all of the ways I’d fix USUM’s story. And the sad thing is, if the story was better it’d be my favorite Pokemon game because the gameplay additions, new locations, and the fact that the game has sidequests make it near perfect otherwise and are the reason I always come back to Ultra Sun over Sun. But the abysmal climax to the story just doesn’t offer any incentive to replay the game at all

#liz's shenanigans #i think i planned to do a post like this back when the games first came out but fuck it i'll do it now #hau was literally the only character to be better written in usum over sumo and that's a travesty even though i love him #they could've ALL been good #and instead only my sunshine boy was

[solitaire-dreams]

Pokespe Gold, Silver and Bronze? An Arc Progression Analysis

Hey readers! I'm back and ready to attack a long post that had a long time coming. It is time for the part 2 of my prediction for the Gen 8 Pokespe dexholders/dexholder analysis. I would recommend reading my previous “What Type are you?” but there is a recap below for need-to-know info. Skip to the asterisks if you've already read (thanks).

Grass type dexholder = character who has self-intrinsic motivation despite life pushing them down and the path to their goal doesn't hurt many people.

Fire type dexholder = character who tramples over anything or anyone in the way of their goal.

Water type dexholder = character who hides important information from other characters and is secretive.

Gen 8 Male Character Counterpart = water type

Gen 8 Female Character Counterpart = fire type

Relationship (platonic) between the two = more emotionally charged and dramatic than other pairs.

***Today in our analysis, part 2 looks at exploring the progression of Pokespe against the evolution of...comic books of all things...and how the sets of holders mirror the ages of comic books.

DISCLAIMER: I am personally not a fan of comic books, despite my love for the superhero shonen of BNHA, and all this information is extrapolated from online research. Also this post was inspired by a post on the dexholders opinions of the pokedex which I can't refind for the life of me because I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THIS FREAKING SEARCH BAR CORRECTLY. Credits to them for inspiration. Somewhere out there.

SPOILERS BEWARE.

So, let's start at the beginning with the main arcs for our first three dexholder trios (RGB, GSC, and RS; with Yellow and Emerald to a lesser extent). These arcs represent the Golden Age equivalent in Pokespe.

The Golden Age (from the late 1930's to the middle of the 1950's) is described as the introduction of archetypes for the genre, and heroes and villains were depicted as very white and black in order to provide moral for a society in wartime.

While the original arcs of the manga were marketed towards 10 year olds in the 1990s-2000s instead of 10 year olds in the time of WW2, there is many of the same patterns in how they present the stories.

The RGB arc is the most shonen-esque out of all of them, where Red simply plays the role of the standard protagonist you've seen countless times and an episodic formula for chapters. The rival of Blue also feels standard by this definition and the conflict with Team Rocket is pretty black and white. Giovanni is a mafia boss who kidnapped an entire town, genetically engineered multiple Pokemon through harsh experiments, was willing to murder kids; and all for “The Glory of Team Rocket.”

GSC gives you the exact kind of story you expect with a shonen target market and a hot-headed + headstrong main protagonist (a f*ckboy). The main villain of the Masked Man who kidnapped children also keeps him firmly on the evil side and our protagonists who oppose him firmly on the good one.

Then while RS may have been unexpected for most readers, considering a secretive male protagonist clashing with a headstrong female protagonist, a stronger character focus and development was to be expected. Plus, despite Ruby initially ignoring the fight against the region and Norman (who I still maintain is a sh*tty parent and should not have been forgiven for his treatment of Ruby that easily) both are still painted on the side of good. Ruby does the closest in giving a complex protagonist, but by the time he locks Sapphire in the aircar and teams up with Courtney, the reader can understand he's still on the side of good.

Mainly, the reason they never seem too morally grey in the first arc is that the in universe characters do not address their flaws as in depth as they should. Plus, the villains of Maxie and Archie are both shown be extremely corrupt and willing to endanger their own for the end means; providing a level of villainy to overshadow the grey tones of Norman and Ruby.

The arcs are all often grouped together when talking about Pokespe as well because the first three regions of dexholders are the only ones that have actually interacted with one another. And the post which I CAN'T find classified their stance on the Pokedex as they take their roles as protectors of the region seriously and accept the responsibility.

This translates well into the Golden Age characterization as this view of all the dexholders makes them appear more noble than most; magnifying the heroic traits of dexholders and heightening the contrast with the villainous teams.

Next up in the timeline was the Silver Age. The notable features of the Silver Age (mid 1950's to 1970) are hard to peg down, but they conclude important aspects are: targeting a wider audience including girls and adults, science fiction overcoming gods and magic in use in stories, and the pop art style started in this time period.

The Silver Age honestly doesn't have much to apply to Pokespe, but the Silver Age is a transitional era for comic books, as its boxed in by the much more influential ages of the Golden and Bronze ages. For Pokespe, its version of the Silver Age does seem to adjust its target audience to a wider audience of kid Pokemon fans (as there isn't too much “mature” content in Sinnoh or Unova arcs). However, its new hook lies in “the power of friendship”; also noted in that elusive post.

The DPP arcs centres around a trio that all become very close friends, with the Pokedexs canonically serving a role to demonstrate the bond all three of the characters have developed. Plus, Dia is a protagonist who completes believes in friendship for all as he listens to Cyrus is the Platinium arc, possibly giving him the chance to amend his wrongs.

BW may not have a trio of great dexholder friends, but the connection that develops between Black and White have a strong focus, and Black's friends of Cheren and Bianca also have a strong present in the story and exhibit the friendship that exist all between them. Meanwhile, the power of friendship cannot really apply to Team Plasma, but they definitely manifest the transition from “evil for the sake evil” to “complex motives that may not make them evil”. Despite N being the near definition of “morally grey” in Pokemon, the manga keeps him in a dark enough light that the reader can't fully think of him outside of evil—unlike the game.

Following up the Unova adventures in B2W2, this arc does a better job of emphasizing friendship. While Lack-two/Blake claims to lack any emotions, I'm not sure if it would hold up to a power of friendship punch in his emotionless face. Whi-two/Whitley also learns a lot about becoming friends as she gets closer and opens up to Blake—despite it being a ploy for information—still pushes the friendship theme. The evil is team is dealt with better as well, because Whitley has sympathy for N and the old values of Team Plasma, being a former member herself; and we see one of the older members aid Hugh in his search for Purloin. By having the new terrorist branch of Team Plasma cover the evil, it allows the members who follow the previous values to be painted in a redeemable light.

Finally, we arrive at the two most recent arcs of XY and SM/USUM. Or the Bronze Age equivalent of Pokespe.

The Bronze Age (1970-1985) of comics is the one people who are fans may know fairly well. Darker plots returned in full forces, tackling more serious topics such as poverty, pollution, and dangerous substances. Heroes were also more flawed and complex than they had ever been; and villains were dipped deeper into grey.

And if you've read the XY arc, these traits are probably ringing some alarm bells. The arc was extremely dark, expanding on the games in a way they never managed to achieve. The main theme of the arc is the apathy of society and how its flawed, self-serving natures screws over anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in its wake. This stance that Team Flare took against society had radical actions (tons of it), but the sucky behaviors demonstrated by Kalos citizens in the manga prove society is far from perfect. The story of Emma/Essentia is also compelling as you understand she is on the wrong side, but with some right reasons.

X is additionally one of the most flawed male player character protags by far; the best way to describe him being all the negative mental problems shoved into one 12-year old boy (which I mean in the most loving way possible). Y also has her repressed problems, and a standoff-ish/headstrong nature that puts her at odds with others; most notably with the huge fight with her mom.

Then, in the SM arc, despite the more lighthearted vibes that come from Alola; that does not undermine the Bronze age themes present throughout the arc. The manga does not shy away from manifesting the trauma Gladion and Lille have sustained from Lusamine going insane, Guzma smashes his head into a wall after losing a fight, and Lusamine's fusion with Nihelego horrifies our protagonists; as it probably should if you saw that for the first time. The manga seems to be going in the direction that Lusamine has lost all her marbles and can't be fully held responsible for her crazy actions. Plus, Sun's flaw of hyper-focusing on gaining all the yen he needs to buy back the island/hatred for the Aether Foundation; and Moon's flaw of a hero complex that causes her to help one problem, but abandon it for a new one when it comes up (on top of her cold attitude to people initially).

Their Pokedex stance was summed up in the post by: “WTF is this thing? I don't want it.” which fits pretty well with their overall stance on the region crisis. None of these four protagonists ever truly consented to saving the region. In Kalos, the reasons the protagonists fight back is that their town is destroyed and they are being assaulted by the evil team. And as for Alola, both Sun and Moon get sucked in slowly with smaller events until it's like: “Hey, you've bonded with the incarnations of the Sun and Moon. Guess you’re the last line of defence for Alola now!”

Thus, if the Ages have each of the three rotations sets in it, Gen 8 in the Galar region will also stick with the Bronze Age vibes. Though, that's to be elaborated on in a later post (so sorry).

Tl;dr The progression of arcs in Pokespe follow the same progression of comic books throughout the different ages. RGB-RS (also Emerald) are in the Golden Age, with standard archetypes and black and white divides between heroes and villains. The Silver Age doesn't tie in much to DDP-B2W2, but they are both transitional periods for villain characterization (evil, but with a chance for redemption) and have a new hook; this time in the form of friendship boosts. Last lies the Bronze Age for XY and SM arcs, known for darker plots, and complex and morally grey villains paired with complex and flawed protagonists.

#pokemon #pokespe #original #analysis

[clefairytea]

Yo! So it’s International Fanworks Day, so I thought it would be nice to write a rec list of some of the fics I’ve most enjoyed reading (or re-reading) recently!

I’m only going to include completed works on here, but here’s a quick list of stuff I’ve enjoyed lately!

Pokémon

Anchor (https://archiveofourown.org/works/17572982/chapters/41416700) by mochawhip (@redteamocha​) Pairing: Red/Blue

This is such an unusual premise for a Red/Blue fic – it’s set in the World Championships in Unovan, and actually mostly focuses on Red dealing with Giovanni’s presence in the tournament. Red’s characterisation here is quite different from what I tend to lean towards but it’s also a great interpretation that makes total sense. I’m also a big fan of Blue’s characterisation – he’s both the unbelievably annoying person he is in canon, while also being very very likeable. Red’s character arc is also really great here and complements both the main plot and the arcs of the other characters well.

--

I’ve Been a Spoken Word (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15456126) by Skylord (@ventifacts) Pairing: Moon/Lillie

I LOVE multimedia fanfic and this one delivers it in such a delightful way. Moon and Lillie’s dynamic here is, obviously, fantastic, but what really sells this fic for me is the friendship between Moon, Lillie, Hau and Gladion. The chatlogs between them are really well-written, sounding believably Teen without being grating and each character has a distinct style of speaking that completely suits them. Reading this also makes me really hungry.

(Also: would totally read a Homestuck AU by this author. These four dumb babies trying to play SBurb would be delightful.)

--

coming of age (https://archiveofourown.org/works/8677552) by eggtimer Pairing: Lillie/Moon (with background Red/Blue)

Urgh I love this oneshot. It’s such a unique and interesting take on the protagonist’s role in Sun/Moon, how she was very much not the main character of her own story. Moon’s mixed feelings and weird resentment towards Lillie is a really interesting take I don’t see often and I love how it’s depicted here. Also, she has a really solid, cute friendship with Blue here and I am a massive sucker for inter-generational friendships like this.

--

Missed Signals, Lost Lines (https://archiveofourown.org/works/4239666/chapters/9591777) by Cryptographic_Delurk Pairing: Red/Blue

Okay, I know like, most people have read this one but it’s really good. It’s such a compelling characterisation of Red, where he yes, has a disability, and it is important and impacts his life and his characterisation, but it’s not his entire characterisation. There’s also some great and really interesting Pokémon world-building and like, a delightful use of the Fame Checker. If you haven’t had the chance to check it out yet, please do.

Persona 5

harbor (https://archiveofourown.org/works/11318535) by obstinateRixatric ( @obstinaterixatrix​) Pairing: Ann/Shiho

This fic is about Shiho owning Ann and then Ann immediately falling completely, helplessly in love with her and its incredible. Ann often doesn’t get a lot of focus in fanwork, but she’s so written with such complexity here. How Shiho’s blunt kindness and friendship slotted perfectly into the sort of lonely life Ann was living shines through perfectly. I also really love Shiho’s characterisation – she’s the same sweet girl she was in the game, but you also completely understand how she’s the kind of person to come up to a virtual stranger to tell her that her painting sucks. I love her.

--

bathed in sinking fish and sunlight (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15169457) by tandum(nea_writes) (@nea-chi) Pairing: Futaba/Self-actualisation

Futaba and her arc is my actual favourite thing in the original game and the depiction of it here is really really fantastic. It maintains her goofy, funny personality while never losing track of the fact she is also an abuse survivor, one who is struggling with mental illness and trauma. Her relationship with all the other PThieves here is great, but I’m particularly fond of her dynamic with Ren here. They get and love each other a lot while still being very distinct from one another.

--

this account’s tweets are protected (https://archiveofourown.org/works/14590842) by alsham and benetnash Pairing: Akechi/Akira, background Makoto/Haru

Okay, full disclosure: I usually don’t like social media AUs OR Akechi/Akira. I feel like that’s probably a testament to how good this fic is? It’s SO believable as like, Twitter posts these characters would actually make and it is so so funny. I had to put my phone down a couple of times just to completely lose it, no lie. All the different dynamics between these characters are totally delightful, and its such a great, fun translation of the game into a totally different context. Also. Holy shit I love this Akira characterisation so much. He’s so good. He’s such a mess and I love him.

She-Ra

how can anybody have you (https://archiveofourown.org/works/17547425) by lavendersgreen Pairing: Adora/Catra *NSFW WARNING*

The dynamic between Adora and Catra in this fic is so so so loaded and it’s so good and meaty. They really feel like two adults who spent their entire childhoods together, but are now in a very tense and conflicted situation. The premise is very simple and there’s basically no other characters involved, but the chemistry between them is more than enough to carry the 16k of this fic. Catra’s voice is particularly strong, I think, and you both sympathise and get frustrated with her in equal amounts. It’s also actually a very funny fic! More than one line made me laugh out loud.

(Also not to be gross, but the sex in this fic is hot and like, visceral in a way f/f sex rarely gets to be in fic and I really appreciate that.)

#clefairy squeaks #fic recs #long post

[pixel-sylveon]

LONA, 76. delicate!!

i see how it is lol

also i was listening to this on repeat if that helps at all when reading this

~~~

Moon knew, without a doubt, that Gladion’s heart was delicate. Delicate like the scales on a Butterfree’s wings, or like the expensive dishes her mother only ever used for important occasions. He never showed that side to anyone; not his sister, not his best friend. Not even his Pokemon, who he treated fairer than any other living being.

Moon only knew of this because they shared the same fate. They had gone through the same trials - figuratively, and literally. And though Alola had been at peace for a number of years, with no terrifying experiments or Ultra Beasts on the loose, Moon could still catch a glimpse, every once in a while, of a swell of emotion lingering in his eyes as he’d turn his head away.

She wanted to ask him about it, to get him to finally confide in her after so many years. But she was always unable to say what was truly on her mind, and by the time she’d work up the courage, Gladion would push down whatever was bothering him, and twist the cap closed on the bottle.

However, tonight was proving to be a different case altogether.

The group was situated around a fire on a Hau’oli beach, Pokemon playing and chasing one another off to the side. It was already late, nearing midnight, yet the full moon and stars were almost blinding in their beauty. Moon couldn’t help but look up towards the sky, making out colours of a galaxy far, far away as her thoughts lingered on her journeys through ultra space.

Across from her, Gladion studied her closely. He had noticed her change from a tomboyish, determined kid to a patient, unbelievably strong Champion over the years. She had become wise and intelligent in a way that floored not only him, but the group as a whole. No one had expected Hau to become the next Kahuna, especially at the young age of twenty, and no one had expected Gladion and Lillie to take over Aether - but everyone expected Moon to retain her title of Champion, probably for the rest of her life. He had seen the stress of the League get to her, though. His gaze lingered at the dark bags beneath her eyes, and to her hands, shaking only noticeable to one who had seen it before.

He wanted to grab her hands, to close the distance that remained between them, and let her confide in him.

But he was a chicken. Every time she moved closer to him, every time they were alone in each other’s company, he faulted, his determination nothing more than a fragile dish that had fallen from his grip, and splintered into a thousand pieces, absolutely broken.

Hau would chide him, and Lillie would mention how for years the two have never bothered with relationships, even though everyone around them had matured and moved on and grown.

Gladion would always say he was just too busy.

Moon would parrot his words, though her eyes hid a different reason.

He wanted to know what that reason was. More than anything, he wanted to be that reason.

Bottled emotions and liquid courage boiled beneath his skin, bubbling up to a finale Gladion wasn’t certain he wanted to create.

But he was sick of not doing anything.

He stood, excusing himself, and began to walk down the beach, towards where the Pokemon were chasing each other. 

He reached an alcove along the cliff side, and sat down on a piece of driftwood, elbows rested on his knees, hands locked together, resting against his jaw.

He hoped Moon would follow him, deep in his heart.

Moon was aware of what Gladion was doing. He had done it in the past, numerous times, whenever he wanted to speak privately with her. It had become a code the two of them shared, though the knowing look from Lillie was indication enough that everyone else knew it, too.

With a sigh and a steeling of her heart, Moon rose. She took slow steps in the direction Gladion left, heart beating faster and faster with every movement. Sooner than she liked, she found him, basked in the orange glow of the streetlight above them. His back straightened, head turned at the sound of Moon’s steps.

She stopped a few paces in front of him, head titled to the side questioningly. He rose and moved closer to her.

Close enough to grab her hand.

To envelop her in a hug.

“What’s wrong?“ Their voices echoed each other, question drifting away in the wind. Silence took over, snug soundly between them as they looked each other in the eye, at a loss for words.

Gladion swallowed his pride, tossed reasoning behind him, and reached for Moon’s hand with his own. He looked down at their joined hands, could feel his heartbeat pulsing through his body, could hear the hitch in Moon’s soft breaths.

Their eyes met.

With another bout of courage, Gladion pulled her into a tight hug, and her arms found their way around his neck, tugging herself closer to him. He could feel her shake, trying not to cry.

Moon was shocked, was overjoyed, feelings blooming all over her body as she stuck close to Gladion, her head against his chest. They stood that way as the stars gazed on over them, holding on to each other, delicate, yet stronger together.

#jane-plane #sleepy-jirachi #lonashipping #ask meme #answered #ill have you know as i was writing this i pictured gladion turning his head to look at moon #and his eyes glowing like #otherworldly bright green like a cryptid #and the picture was so fucking clear in my mind i had to stop what i was doing because i was laughing too fucking hard #hEY THIS GOT REALLY CORNY AT THE END #i ran out of juice #oof

[zedpercyfan]

Sun and Moon’s Problem (An Honest Opinion)

For a while now the current state of the Pokémon anime has been something I’ve had mixed feelings about, and it’s been a far cry from its predecessors for sure in terms of characterization and progression. But what’s been really gnawing at me is the fact that for as bad as I find Sun and Moon, it’s shockingly what is making Pokémon — as far as some people see it — popular with the anime community and the general public!  But for as positive as that is, considering that Pokémon is something that is meant to have a wide appeal range, I can’t help but feel that it’s also at the price of loosing what made Pokémon unique.

Allow me to explain, one of the appeals for a show like Pokémon is that it’s an escape from reality where you aren’t bogged by reality where everyday you can travel across forests, mountains, deserts, oceans, and through vast cities collecting badges, meet trainers and Pokémon, and to me that was amazing.  Sure the battling aspect was amazing to have, but the adventure aspect of the anime was a wonderful factor to have, on top of the small cast of characters who could have varying reactions and solutions to deal with the issues of day-to-day travel life.  But then here comes Sun and Moon and completely messes up the formula, Ash suddenly goes from adventurer to school boy in a matter of moments, which is without a doubt one of the biggest flaws to immediately surface for the show.  Ash in all other instances has shown that that isn’t something he’d want to do, most other times he’s clashing with others, and generally it’s clear he isn’t the sort who’d want that kind of life.  It isn’t to say it’s the worse thing ever, but right off the bat putting Ash into school just felt like the first mistake, because by taking away the adventure aspect the show now feels as bland as every other ordinary school based show, and hell, it’s only ‘special’ because — hey viewers — there’s Pokémon at this school...!  ...Yeah, sure...I’m meant to be fascinated by that?

Another annoying point I’ve seen thrown about is that somehow this is making Pokémon ‘better’, now obviously I’m aware that this is subjective to the individual who is more than welcome to their own opinion on the matter.  But what’s infuriating is when these people play these changes off as ‘better in the long run for the whole series’ just solely because it’s less about battling and more about the more slice of life side of the show...but...I really question if that’s beneficial.  Pokémon lately suffers from the most mundane filer episodes ever, people say that the filler is ‘part of the story’ but I fail to see that, characters never really seem to get anything out of their experiences, the reviewers make this sound like the story is continuous but I fail to see that, there aren’t the connections established to make it look like anything was gained at all.  There’s no progression, and hell, barely any of supporting cast have interesting Pokémon, let alone gags, after Marowak and Poipole none of the characters have really had a notable encounter afterwards, the likes of Mallow, Lillie, Sophocles, Lana, and Kiawe feel trapped in this void of nothingness.  Sure Lillie has the most development but I feel she never really goes anywhere with that, and it’s even harder to see her growth when she has nothing to compare it against, she’s not talking over Ash’s battles, she isn’t catching Pokémon, she’s just so underwhelming.  Heck, the other characters supposedly according to one reviewer ‘gain more growth in one episode than the original cast did in the entire series’...what?  I’m sorry but is that really the case with Sun and Moon?

The characters aren’t a group in my view, they feel more like individuals that are crowded without any real reason to get into each other’s businesses, and they never really have any meaningful conversations with one another, there’s never a change in them or their dynamic.  They don’t fight and make up, they don’t go from acting one way to another via any particular event, there’s no change in them.  People say the OS group had trouble but at least they experienced change, Ash and Misty went from hating each other to inseparable, Brock went from not confident to stand up for himself to being able to take the lead in his life.  With Sun and Moon...you really don’t get that feeling, Lillie’s barely shown improvement aside from touching Snowy and the others, and it’s not like Sophocles is helping others out with their issues of telling the truth...heck, Mallow feels like she’s experienced nothing at all so far.

Another issue is the handling of the Pokémon...it just doesn’t feel right, at all.  Isn’t the whole crux of having Pokémon is to have partners who can grow to be strong and have their own quirks?  Hell, remember when Togedemaru seemingly had a thing for Pikachu?  I miss that now that I remember it was a thing, sure at first I hated it (btw, as of the dubbed Marowak vs. Electivire episode, that has returned) because it kept popping up and ruining the stories flow, but heck, even that every few episodes wouldn’t be bad because these days it’s as if Ash’s Pokémon don’t have any developed relationships among themselves or with any of the others.  It never feels like there’s anything going on, they feel generic, they don’t have enough interactions with each other because we seem too focused on Ash and co. instead of equal Pokémon and human moments in the past.

Another thing about the Pokémon anime is the inconsistent idea that Ash is trying to be the best, I’m sorry but Gladion is hard to process as a rival, aside from being strong, there’s not a lot that seems to be driving Ash to call Gladion his rival. Gladion isn’t Gary who Ash just hates because of personal reasons, Gladion isn’t Paul who Ash is trying to prove a point to, and Gladion isn’t even Sawyer, who for as much as I hate, was at least someone tat Ash was showing off too, heck Misty wanted Ash to get stronger...but here in Alola it feels like he’s just goofing around with no one trying to make him improve.  In other series Ash was always seen battling his friends and rivals to get better, his Pokémon sparred against each other whilst others watched and cheered, but here there’s something extremely static about it, Ash never battles long enough, nor shows off any skills, instead it’s just an exchange of moves without anything behind it.  Maybe I’m speaking into the void, but the lack of this consistent training on screen, learning new moves, maneuvers etcetera makes every battle Ash has seem...not as cool as it used to be, it’s like he only trains when it’s important to the plot according to a case by case importance in each episode, as opposed to the long run.  Not only that but it’s like he’s not striving for victory...though maybe that’s just me.  Look, I’m not asking for the return of something akin to this apparent ‘Shojo Battling’ theme like in XY, but the least they could do is give us back the relevance of what it means to train strong Pokémon like say in OS-DP. Make the training look good, and show some progress, not simplistic class battling.

I just can’t bring myself to say this series is good.  With the changes they’ve made, it feels like Pokémon have alienated their older viewers who liked them back when they were more focused.  You see one thing about content making is that, yes sure, try to appeal to a wide range, get the most viewers in, but see that’s the problem, when you try to get out to a larger whole you’ll always miss a few people, whereas if you actually try and focus on a specific cohort, you will see the most success because you are capitalizing on what that group wants, as opposed to try and reach out to everyone.  Now I should note that I am by no means a media expert, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m a veteran critic or that my words should have significant weight.  That isn’t me, I’m not like other people online who act like they’re experts, this is just my a collection of my opinions as a long time fan of Pokémon speaking out to those who are like me.  I don’t wish to invalidate anyone over their views on SM, but to me I feel alienated, the show isn’t as good as it could be, there’s an inferior dub, and the dynamics and direction of the show just doesn’t strike me as special.

I’m not asking for hyper focus, but I’m asking for a more quality writing and characterization, something that actually has a cause and effect on what is happening let alone for it to be actually entertaining.  I’m not asking for it to reach the point where every episode is a must watch, but I ask for at least dynamic consistency, and a bit more entertainment value and character growth, puh-LEASE!

David, aka zedpercyfan’s ramble over.  By the way, I wrote this quite a while ago, and only now am up to publishing it.

#pokemon #pokeani #commentary #opinion #pokemon sun and moon #sun and moon

[sad-goomy]

Lonashipping Week 2018 -     Day 6

Soulmate!AU

Head on over to @lonashippingweek to see some other great stuff with this prompt and others!

"Where's your mark?"

The question pierces her chest and leaves a trail of frost to bite at her in its wake. Moon freezes in place, the hand that was petting Silvally's neck now dropping uselessly to her side.

She knew it would come up eventually, but she never expected Gladion to be the one to notice.

Silvally cocks his head at the lack of attention, watching as she slowly turns to look across the office to where Gladion stands, leaning against his desk with his arms folded. Still, she can make out the black smudges that line his fingers – a common spot for marks. As they've grown closer over the past weeks, she's found herself checking his marks more and more frequently, and she can't quite explain why she's always relieved to find that they haven't transformed into bursts of color.

She stalls for time, crossing her arms as she chuckles half-heartedly. "Why? Looking to touch it and see what happens?"

His eyes widen for a fraction of a second and then he's looking down and away, bangs falling to cover the blush on his face. Something tells her that answer hit a little too close to the truth, and it feels like Jumpluff are trying to escape her stomach, crawling up her throat and making her mouth go dry. Moon's grown worryingly used to the feeling whenever she hangs around her not-quite-rival.

He clears his throat, playing off the moment of awkwardness with a shrug. "I've just been thinking about them more, ever since Lillie and Hau..."

Though it was nearly a month ago, the memory is still fresh in their minds. She had been training with Hau when Lillie and Gladion decided to visit Iki Town. With the sun beginning to set, the four decided to grab dinner, heading down a familiar path as they chatted. Lillie, not watching her step, managed to stumble, and in a flash Hau caught her, and Moon gasped, the first to notice the change.

The black smudges on Lillie's forearms and Hau's palms had bloomed into brilliant brushstrokes of pastels and jewel tones.

Lillie and Hau stayed behind, left to have an awkward conversation that ended in laughter and hugging and exciting realizations according to them both.

Gladion and Moon proceeded to have the world's most uncomfortable dinner, in which they both had to pretend they didn't just witness their sister or best friend find their soulmate.

Moon nods, biting her lip. "Yeah, hard not to." While she'd been overjoyed for both of them, the entire event still served as a bitter reminder to her.

She gets lost in her thoughts and lets silence settle over the office. Gladion shifts, not sure what she's thinking and feeling himself grow more anxious, wondering if she's finally seen right through him.

"Not that I'm even sure I buy into the concept," he argues with no one, watching Moon snap back to reality.

A ghost of a smile tugs at her lips. "No, you don't seem like the type who would." It's comforting to hear, knowing she isn't the only one who feels like an outsider about something that seems to define everyone else's life.

"I just...everything about our lives is so random. It's hard to believe that we're just destined to be with one person out of the thousands we'll meet – and then what about all the people we'll never meet?" She can't help but chuckle when his rant picks up steam, Gladion beginning to gesture with his hands and scowling. Hearing her laugh, his body immediately relaxes, and he can't help but smirk at his own seriousness. "Sorry, I don't mean to be so negative."

"All part of your charm," she assures him. Behind her, Silvally lays down, deciding that if he isn't going to get attention that he's instead going to take a nap.

Gladion rolls his eyes, not quite wanting to believe her (but liking the thought that she might be right about it). "I digress. Life just seems a little too unfair for soulmates to really work."

Unfair, huh? Moon takes a deep breath, realizing that though she hadn't pictured it happening this way, if there's anyone she's going to tell, it's going to be Gladion. Still, she's not entirely sure how he'll respond, since he's managed to surprise her plenty of times as they've gotten to know each other.

She bites the bullet.

"I don't have a mark."

He blinks, his eyes growing wider by the second as her words fall in the space between them. Moon holds her breath, waiting for his reaction.

"...oh."

She waits for him to continue, but he fidgets – comforting people isn't his strong suit, but he tries his best and so she can tell he's still trying to figure out the right thing to say. She quickly assures him, "It's not a big deal to me. At least anymore. I've heard about other people without marks, so it's not like I'm the only one."

"Still," he interrupts her, sensing the tension that she tries to hide underneath the surface. He takes a few steps forward, not sure what he's trying to do but feeling like he should be closer when he says, "I'm sure it doesn't help that everyone around us talks about it nonstop."

Moon shrugs, feeling the typical discomfort around the topic crawling up her neck. "I've gotten used to it."

The silence weighs heavy on their shoulders, and Gladion frowns when he sees her curling in on herself; she's meant to bloom, not wilt. "I think it's kind of cool, actually."

She raises a brow. "Really?" she chuckles, and he smiles because this so much better than her frowning at the floor.  

This is probably the most upset that he's seen her since they've started to get to know each other, and Gladion immediately dislikes it. Her laugh makes him straighten, and he keeps going, trying to get her back to the bright state that he knows and loves. "I'm serious, it adds to your mysterious air."

"Watch out, maybe I'll come for your bad boy image."

"I'd like to see you try."

The two begin exchanging quips at lightning pace, and don't notice that Silvally has grown restless behind Moon. The Pokemon stands, wanting attention and quickly realizing that he's not going to get it with the two trainers so wrapped up in each other. A gentle tap of his head against Moon's back only gets him a quick pat on the head, so he decides that it's time for desperate measures.

Moon squeaks when Silvally licks half of her head, giving her the world's worst cowlick.

Gladion tries not to laugh as he scolds his Pokémon, Moon giggling as she tries to fix her hair once more. Silvally looks pleased with his handiwork, retiring to his bed in the corner and allowing Gladion to turn back to Moon.

She stops fussing with her hair, and the second she lets her hands drop, half her hair sticks up straight in the air, causing Gladion to snort. "Here, let me help," he mumbles, stepping closer and carefully running his hands through her hair to put it back in place. Moon holds her breath when she catches his green eyes, wondering if he knows that there are brilliant flecks of gold scattered in the emerald.

His breath hitches and he withdraws his hands from her hair like it's a hot stove, staring with wide eyes.

Her brows furrow. "What are you -"

But then her eyes flicker to his fingers, and where once there were black smudges, now there's a blur of rainbow. She looks just past him to catch her reflection in the window and staring back at her is her face with a new head of rainbow hair.

They stare at each other for a long moment, the beat of their hearts nearly loud enough to break the silence.

Moon says the only thing that she can think of in this moment, when she's finally uncovered the mystery of her mark only to immediately learn that one of her best friends is deestined to be her soulmate.

"Well shit."

I’ll try to link the post if I find it but this is absolutely based on that one post that circulated about people having a black smudge where they’ll first touch their soulmate that turns into a rainbow.

#lonashippingweek #mahinashipping #gladion x moon #lonashipping #enforcer gladion #trainer moon #pokemon fanfic #this isn't entirely original but hard to be with soulmate!aus so we're just having fun here #silvally is technically the greatest wingman in this #and tbh same moon

[clacolu95]

Don’t Want to Let You Go Chapter 6: The Night They Spent Together

I feel the need to warn you! This chapter has adult content. Procceed only if you’re comfortable with that fact. 

Previous Chapter: Chapter 5: Truth or Drink

Next Chapter:  Chapter 7: Wicke Knows

Gladion could feel Moon’s breathing growing erratic with every kiss he gently placed on her apparently over-sensitive neck, her soft unintentional moans felt like the sweetest music to his ears as he realized she was actually trying to contain them and failing in the process. He looked at her kind of nervous as he delicately lowered his arms in order to place her on his bed, her big brown eyes staring directly at his emerald ones. His body trembled on top of her as he slowly caressed her light skin that seemed to reflect the almost non-existent light of the Moon in the most perfect way. He stared at her sweetly as the light blush on Moon’s cheeks became more intense. “W-why are you smiling?” She asked him suddenly becoming self-aware. The soaked dress that still separated her body from his bare chest feeling thinner with every second his sweet but at the same time piercing gaze stared directly at her. “I don’t know…” Gladion whispered as he lowered his body all the way down to her legs and started trailing soft kisses on them, slowly advancing to the top and dangerously approaching her sensitive area right between her slim but still well-toned legs. “I guess I just can’t believe this is happening…” She could feel his heavy breathing right on top of her pubis as a really big part of her wished her dress wasn’t blocking his path and the other screamed her to cover up in awkwardness. She let out a sigh of both relief and frustration as he stopped his ministration of kisses right when he got to the lower part of her dress and instead chose to grab on the fabric, gently pulling it towards her head and removing it from her body. Her heart stopped as soon as she saw the blond throwing the dress desperately to the floor and she could feel her body growing hotter, not only because of the discarded wet cloth but also from the obvious arousal that grew wilder and wilder with each passing minute, gluing her to the blond’s bed and making her desperately long for his touch. He took the initiative as he fused their lips together in a passionate yet sweet kiss, their tongues intertwining in a frenzy. “Arceus Moon, you’re so beautiful…” The blond muttered as her hands reached for his pants and desperately unclasped them, sliding them down his legs and taking his lips on hers, grinding herself against his now barely covered erection. Gladion groaned as he felt her entrance so close to him, perceiving her wetness despite the fabric that still separated their bodies. He fought against the girl’s bra for nearly two minutes, too embarrassed to admit that he was actually having a hard time until he finally gave up with it and decided to remove it as a t-shirt instead, pulling it towards Moon’s head and throwing it to the floor. The girl chuckled at his stubbornness but was soon silenced by his sloppy kisses on her sensitive breasts, his mouth ending up on her right nipple as an irrepressible moan that was more like a scream left her lips. The pleasure overcame her as he played with his tongue, circling the bundle of nerves and driving her crazy as she determinedly tried to fight back, sliding her hand under his boxers and causing his body to arch a little bit. She smiled triumphantly as she caressed his length and his breathing became more and more labored. He let go of her nipple with a final nip and this time took his hands to her waist. He closed the remaining distance between their bodies and nibbled her neck playfully. “Two can play this game” He whispered in her ear making her shiver and causing her goosebumps all over her skin. She felt his hands slowly removing her underwear, which was also the last piece of clothing that she had on her body. He gazed at her, now completely naked as his scientific side took over and decided to inspect her newly revealed body part. “W-what are you doing?” The girl asked as a strong flush warmed her whole face, the undisturbed blond inspecting her soaked entrance with one of his fingers. “You’re really wet… Is that normal?” Gladion asked out of curiosity, earning a kick from the Alolan champion that was now as red as a tomato. “I-I-I don’t know you idiot!” She screamed at him distressed “And also why am I the only one fully naked!? You still have your underwear!” The champion’s kick was strong, putting some distance between Gladion and her as she took the bed sheets to cover herself up. “You didn’t have to do that…” The blond complained as he rubbed the side of his face that had been kicked by the embarrassed girl in front of him “If you wanted me naked so badly you should have just asked” Gladion chuckled and threw at her a lopsided smile that made Moon’s heart skip a bit and her body heat to increase exponentially. The blond’s discarded boxers ended up in the floor as his lips connected with hers and his hands caressed her body making her legs quiver. “Gla---” She muttered as he pushed her against the pillows, trailing kisses down her jawline to her neck and slowly going down towards her breasts. “Mhm?” The boy asked as he took one of her nipples on his lips and started toying with him, causing the young woman to whimper loudly.

He continued going down, ignoring her womanhood and going directly to her legs, only to start going up again, driving her crazy minute by minute. “G-Gladion wait…” Moon moaned in a low pitched voice clouded with desire as he kissed each of her thighs, making the girl contain her breath and grab his hair desperately, pushing his face towards her soaked entrance. “Do you really want me to stop?” Gladion inquired with a cocky grin as he reached her entrance with his finger and started toying with it. It was obvious her body language and her words didn’t match: Her hands grabbed his head eagerly, pushing him closer to her every second and her hips danced and twitched with every new spot of her entrance his fingers discovered. The girl’s breaths were strong and her moans were growing louder, but when he raised his head to look at her eyes he could see some kind of seriousness in them, though it was clearly clouded by the animalistic instincts they’ve both waken up with their heavy make-out session. The blonde recomposed and waited for her to catch her breath and do the same. He had to try his best to not look directly at her body, as he was sure he would lose his remaining sanity if he did. “Moon is there something…?” “Why now?” The brown haired girl interrupted once she caught her breath back. The question took her partner by surprise “What do you mean why now?” He asked trying to force his alcoholized brain to make sense out of her question. The champion frowned, then evaded his gaze in embarrassment as her hands raised the expensive blanket that covered the bed and used it to hide her body instead. “I thought we had something back then… but then you pushed me away and stopped talking to me…” The blond could feel his soul-shattering with every word the girl muttered but decided to accept the guilt anyways and hear whatever the girl wanted to say to him. “I mean… we haven’t spoken to each other in years… so why now? Why all of a sudden…” She started saying but stopped as her body grew hotter both in shame and in anger. Gladion looked at her, trying his best to make eye contact with the girl, but it was useless. She evaded his gaze, not really focusing on anything in particular as she completely covered her body with the white bed sheets tightly gripped over her chest. He knew what he was getting into when he decided to talk to her at the open bar some hours ago. He knew he was probably opening a door to the past that had hurt them both so badly. It’s not like he was expecting to hang out with her and just forget about his troubles like in the old times without actually giving her some kind of explanation... ...Or was he? I need to take care of my mother’s company and you are only an obstacle. He suddenly remembered as he clenched his teeth in annoyance at the memory. What? You can’t be rejected because you’re the champion of Alola?. His heart ached at the memory. He still couldn't handle it. Still, he couldn’t stop remembering the words he had said so many years ago. The words that had broken the girl’s heart and shattered his soul into a million pieces as well. His hands trembled in annoyance to the remembrance of his own words. So blunt. So venomous. How the hell was she able to handle it? “I’m sorry” He finally stated as his gaze focused on his bedroom ceiling. “I’m really sorry I put you through all of that, and if it’s of any help… I’ve regretted it from second one”. Moon looked at him in awe, not really believing his words as she perceived him so fragile, she opened her mouth to speak, but found nothing to say to the boy as he determinedly looked at her again at a close enough distance for her to smell the scent of liquor that still lingered in his breath. “I… I know I hurt you, Moon. And trust me, I’ll never forget myself for doing it. But I don’t want to lie to myself anymore… I-” He hesitated for a moment, the words stuck in his throat as he turned his hands into fists to stop the trembling. There’s no way she’s going to forgive me. What the hell was I thinking? He gave up. His eyes closed in realization as he opened his mouth to speak again. “I’ll get dressed” He spoke defeated as Moon’s intelligible stare was still directed at him. “Feel free to grab some of my clothes. There’s no way your dress will dry off today” He moved the bedsheets away from him in a slow motion to give Moon enough time to look away and got off the bed ready to find some dry clothes to wear, but was surprised by Moon’s hands taking his own and impeding his movement. He turned around surprised, finding the very flushed girl kneeled on top of the bed with her diverted gaze, pulling him towards the bed again. He blushed furiously at the sight of the uncovered champion, but in the end, he obeyed her gesture. He got back to the bed, covering both of their bodies with the bed sheets and trapping her into a tight hug as his head rested on top of hers. “Don’t leave me. Not this time” She muttered with a barely audible voice, making the boy smile sheepishly.

Continue Reading on AO3

#gladion x moon #lonashipping #mahinashipping #gladion #moon #protagonist #hau x lillie #snowlilyshipping #pokemon #pokemon sun and moon #pokemon fanfiction

[tagfer]

you should analyze it! i'm curious

urff okay so. I’ll do it. Here’s some overanalysis on how Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon’s story caused almost all of its major characters to become nothing but jokes compared to their original Sun and Moon characterizations.

With full disclaimers, I actually enjoyed playing Ultra Sun. As far as enjoyment goes, it was probably more fun than Sun and Moon. Story? So much worse.

[Massive USUM spoilers! Of all sorts!]

Also a secondary note: I may have missed a thing or two, so if I have incorrect info, please let me know.

Looker & Anabel (and in a way, Nanu) get their postgame removed. Altogether. None of it happens. Looker shows up early to foreshadow Episode RR, but that’s it. Then postgame, there’s a like, ten line cutscene where Anabel introduces herself as a member of interpol and says she’s going to the Battle Tree, and Looker remarks that she’s not that strong. Yeah, let’s put the dude without any pokemon on guard duty for his boss who also used to run a huge battle facility in another universe.

Compare and contrast to SuMo, where the three of them got an entire story. A very horrifying story, but well written, where it’s explained the consequences of falling through a wormhole turns you into a magnet for extraterrestrial beings who will likely kill you, but not out of malice, and that despite her higher rank than Nanu or Looker, that she’s only being used as bait for those creatures. And it explains Looker and Nanu’s past, showing that Looker was a member of interpol years before the quirky guy we meet in Platinum. And that they had a friend/colleague actually die in front of them, and how they both hold immense guilt for that. Oh and that Anabel is likely from a different universe.

But these characters didn’t have destroyed characterization as much as they don’t get any whatsoever because Looker and Anabel get a mass of maybe 20 lines total, only one of which has anything to do with Episode RR.

I included these first because I’ve previously written plenty about Anabel and Looker, and I absolutely loved their plot, so seeing it absolutely absent is the biggest disappointment of USUM for me.

Lillie loses so much that it’s sad. Let’s be honest, Sun and Moon’s plot is really the story of Lillie. How she can grow from a timid girl afraid of the world to realizing that she has her own strength and can determine her own future.

When you first meet her, she’s afraid of birds. By time the climax happens, she’s traveled to another universe to deliver a Why You Suck speech to her abusive mother (and gets one of the best intense musical numbers in the game!). Early in the game, she idolizes your strength, but over the course of it learns she has her own strength and that just because she isn’t the strongest out there doesn’t mean she can’t overcome her own trials and obstacles. She even has some of the best symbolism in the Pokemon games, ever; discarding her old clothes that signify her mother’s control over her and using ones she picked, saying that she’s now going to take control of her life. And she does.

By the end, it’s emotionally impacting when she takes charge to leave Alola on her own journey.

In USUM, the story has shifted. She’s no longer the main character, you are. Which is classic for a Pokemon game, but compared to the games released a year ago it makes everything hollow. It goes from a story where you’re helping your friend who has family issues that spiral deeply out of control to you being the Chosen One who has to defeat Evil Teams and Lillie is just kind of a companion much like previous “friends”.

Her character arc and foreshadowing plays out perfectly in SuMo where as in USUM it falls flat. In Sun and Moon, the entire reason you visit the Ultra Deep Sea is to finish Lillie’s character arc. During their first confrontation, Lillie (symbolically wearing her first outfit) was not strong enough / did not believe in herself enough to confront Lusamine for everything, but she decides that that’s what she needs to do, and that’s what forces her development and drives the plot. In USUM, she never gets to confront her mother at all. And the plot is driven forward partly by Lillie/Gladion’s want to save Lusamine, but mostly because the Ultra Recon Squad needs more help defeating Necrozma.

This makes all her personal growth so much more shallow. Her motivation is to help you instead of you helping her.

Her becoming a Pokemon trainer in Episode RR isn’t foreshadowed at all either (as far as I know) and rather just comes a surprise when you’re forced into a double battle.

Gladion and Type: Null lose a bunch too. In Sun and Moon, he’s a soft kid who tries to hide his gentleness under a facade of badass edgelord. His escape from Aether Paradise, while obviously inspired by his mistreatment, included saving a Type: Null, because he knew it was in pain. He slowly grows and learns the power of friendship. He even names his Type: Full friend.

After the game, he takes over Aether Paradise in order to make sure everything goes right. Which could be seen as unsatisfying but it’s clear he has grown to the point to accept responsibility.

It looks like it was going to be this way in USUM, but it turns out he just gets a Silver complex. He just wants to be the strongest there is. He implies he kidnapped Type: Null not because he wanted to save it, but because he wanted to train it as the Beast Killer it was meant to be, to the point he even points out its concept as a Beast Killer and attempts to follow Lusamine into Ultra Megalopolis.

Even his leaving Alola is just merely a lust for power instead of Lillie’s search for independence. Wicke even comments that Gladion wants to beat trainers like you and Hau. And he does come back for championship title defense matches (a month after you complete the story). That’s it. He didn’t go on a journey, he went on a training mission. His personal growth has really been traded for a Silver complex, of hollow growth but unending lust of power.

Lusamine is a disaster and arguably gets a worse redemption than she did in Sun and Moon despite having a full redemption in USUM.

SuMo Lusamine is by far one of my favorite villains - both in Pokemon and in general. This is cause despite the fact it clearly isn’t, she totally believed what she did was completely justified. She didn’t see herself as a villain at all. And that’s what makes a good villain. She wasn’t just “oh I’m evil, I want to control the world/etc.” Which Pokemon has a lot of.

Her obsession with beauty (and mistreatment of Lillie and Gladion) was the culmination of years of sanity slippage caused by Nihilego and the loss of Mohn. She even more or less forgets the reason she was looking into Nihilego and instead focuses on Nihilego’s beauty. So while it doesn’t justify what she did, we’re at very least given an explanation as to why she is the person she is.

…

In USUM, so much of this changed it’s… unbelievable. Other than the appearance of Nihilego at Aether Paradise, Nihilego plays no role as far as we know. She suffers little sanity slippage other than delusions of grandeur of helping/defeating Necrozma on her own. She also hopes on seeing Mohn.

She’s still obsessed with beauty. She still treats her kids as ornaments. She still uses Guzma. She still experiments on living creatures, freezes living creatures, and creates chimeras. (And Type: Null gets a special note here because her focus was now Necrozma and not Ultra Beasts - but she was still okay with creating a Beast Killer.)

She also gets no real redemption. Despite all that she did, she suffers no consequence. Lillie never gets to really call her out. Nor does Gladion. She seems to repair her relationship with her children near immediately. Nobody comments that she’s got a giant office full of cryogenicly frozen pokemon, and how she openly announces that her goal was to save Alola from Necrozma to keep that collection. She doesn’t get anything. In fact, you, her, Lillie, and Guzma share a laugh at Faba’s expense right in front of one of her pods, with others also plainly visible.

Post Episode RR, talking to her reveals that you made her rethink her views on beauty. Or something. Honestly, it sounds like the kind of lie you’d feed a kid, but it’s more likely bad and forced character development.

In Sun and Moon, she even remarks to Lillie, who had just stood up to her and then saved her despite Lusamine lunging to kill her, “When did you start becoming beautiful?” Which is a perfect line for her character and Lillie, acknowledging Lillie has grown (and completing Lillie’s arc and foreshadowing). Afterwards, Lillie’s speech to you implies she’s got a chance of redemption - while she doesn’t understand what she did wrong, Lillie is attempting to explain to her, and even though you were a constant disruption to her problems she attempted to visit your championship party. With her trip to Bill to hopefully help her problem of (most likely long-term) neurotoxin poisoning and Lillie’s patience, she could eventually come around and realize what she did was wrong and try to make amends for what she’s done.

Instead, in USUM, she seems to be instantly forgiven for everything. Lusamine deserved better than that.

I will always understand why people hate her. I get it. And trust me, I have strong feelings about what she did too. But she’s still my favorite villain and I will be personally suing Game Freak for what they did to her.

Hau gets a BW Cheren complex where one or two lines of dialog from a character make him rethink everything an in the process lose the major part of his personality that made him noteworthy. Cheren lost his goals, and Hau lost his carefreeness. He’s still a sweet kid and everything, and I’m proud that he actually achieved some more goals in USUM than in SuMo, but his (and Hala’s) changes seem so forced, like they were shoehorned in.

At least for Cheren, he got a game two years later showing how he had developed. We’re probably not gonna get that for Hau.

Guzma is one of the only ones that get a bump. But that’s only because his involvement in the story was hardly affected - he was still Lusamine’s faithful servant, even though she had massively changed.

But because change in the story was minimized for him, his inclusion in Episode RR actually helped his character. And afterwards, he says he’s still looking after his crew. So while the growth was minimal, it was there.

Colress is the only other one I can think of who got better, too, but that’s only because he only had like seven lines in Sun and Moon. This time, it’s shown that… well, he hasn’t changed at all, still being but a selfish, hedonistic scientist who will double cross anyone who asks for his help.

And this is more than proven true when he confronts Ghetsis. Although he didn’t try to hide it in B2W2, he full on says he hates Ghetsis. He was only using him for funding and science.

This is not a real shock.

Like I love Colress’ passion but y’know. Everyone who’s asked for his help got it but also got double-crossed. Oh, and now his technology is reaching scary advanced levels.

[MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW.]

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-

-

-

Mohn. If you were hoping for a happy ending for the Aether family, I’m here to tell you you’ll be sorely, viscerally unsatisfied. While in SuMo he got nothing, somehow, they made it worse for USUM.

Because they finally meet him.

And they choose to let him live his life not knowing he has a wife, children, and friends who have all been looking for him for like, a decade.

Despite the plots of both SuMo and USUM being set into action by his disappearance, he gets no resolution. 

He fucking comments on how nice Aether Paradise is! And they decide to not be like “oh hey yeah you kinda were a major part of it.”

#usum #spoilers #pokemon #lillie #lusamine #gladion #type: null #guzma #colress #hau #looker #anabel #mohn #aether paradise #bookmark #long post #Anonymous #ultra sun #ultra moon #usumo

[artpharos]

Lona angst 1 or 4 you decide how to break my heart because I know I'm gonna enjoy it anyway >:)

“I have to go, don’t you dare follow me.”/“Don’t you dare touch her!”

You asked for it

____ 

Sirens blared in Gladion's ears as he quickly strode through the too-pristine corridors of the Aether Labs. Wicke led the way, quickly muttering something into her comms device as she brought him through a familiar hallway. How she managed to hear anything over the alarms, Gladion didn't know, but right now, he didn't care. 

"Here." Wicke spared him a glance over her shoulder as she stopped in front of a nondescript door, worry creasing her brow. "Are you sure you want to-"

"No," Gladion answered tersely. Anything more and he wouldn't be able to contain the sickening feeling twisting in his gut since he heard she'd awakened, would probably collapse and be useless and that wasn't what they needed now.

It wasn't what she needed now. 

Wicke's comforting smile was weak, and Gladion wasn't able to muster up the strength to return it. With a final nod at Wicke, he stepped forward, slid his ID card on the automated lock, and pushed open the door. 

And stepped straight into hell.

The room was dark, colored only by the flashing lights from the sirens. A few lab technicians and their Pokemon lay groaning on the floor, while others surrounded a creature that stood in the middle of the room. Even with one leg chained to the floor, she still swiped at the people next to her, screaming and hissing at the crowd.

One particularly brave man moved to approach, and Gladion could see the familiar glint in her eye, could see her plan taking shape-

"Don't you dare touch her!"

The technician stopped, just in time to avoid the swipe of her claws. And they were claws, long and sharp, emerging out of a human-like form, a familiar, human-like face. But her eyes were golden now, her hair streaked with flowing lines of amber. She narrowed her eyes, pulled herself upright as she crossed her arms over the thin lab dress that she now wore.

"Hello, Gladion."

Gladion's throat caught at the sound of her voice- rasping and soft, and not at all the full and joyful sound he remembered.

"Moon... is that you?" 

The creature hesitated, and the way she tilted her head and shifted her feet was so much like her that Gladion's heart skipped a beat. It was just like the preliminary tests said- it was her. Except something else was in there, mixed up with who she was. Something had happened to Moon. 

And the last time he saw her, she was standing in front of the Ultra Wormhole, biting her lip the way she always did when she was nervous. Flashing him a comforting smile before she kissed him on the cheek. Teasingly, like she always did, totally unaware of the way his heart skipped a beat whenever she did so. She had hugged him and said,

“I have to go. Don’t you dare follow me.”

"Wouldn't dream of it," he had said. "Come back safe."

And now those words taunted him as he stared at what became of her. 

The knot in his chest was so tight it was hard to breathe. The rest of his staff ringed around him nervously, and Gladion had half a mind to run away, to close the door and pray this was just a nightmare. 

But then he took a step forward, and told the others, "Leave."

"Mr President, sir-"

Gladion shot the man who spoke up a glare, and soon he and the rest of the staff filed out of the room, leaving him alone with the creature.

With Moon.

Golden eyes watched him as he approached. Her arms, long and clawed, were wrapped around her torso, but Gladion saw the speed she moved- he stopped just out of her radius, a few feet away. This close, he could make out the amber lines flowing in her hair, tracing along her skin. The clawed nails of her feet and the fangs in her mouth. 

And yet he could still make out the way she wore her hair in a bob, the way those fingers so easily struck a victory sign whenever she beat him. The way her cheeks would dimple when she smiled and-

She looked so much like her, acted so much like her. But did the Ultra Wormhole spit out was the woman who befriended him, or a monster that stole her face?

"What happened to you?" he asked at last, keeping one hand close to the Pokeballs on his belt.

Her eyes narrowed again, sizing him up. But it was the hostility in them that scared him the most.

Despite it all, Moon never hated him. Once, he thought it was impossible that she ever could. 

She tossed her head, her dark hair and golden eyes catching the spotlight, before she paced a few feet back and said, "You tell me."

He frowned. "Moon-"

"Tell me, Gladion." What should have come out as a snap... didn't. There was a falter in her voice, a tightening of the way she hugged herself. A plea.

And hesitantly, Gladion spoke.

"I don't know," he said. "You were in the Ultra Wormhole for three weeks. After the first week, we began searching for you, but without a Pokemon able to breach the wormhole, our efforts could only pinpoint your presence, at best. We knew you were alive, but you-" He stopped, trying to ignore the way his throat clenched and heart twisted. "You were growing weaker."

Moon watched him in silence as he sighed. Squaring his shoulders, he continued, "On the third week- three days ago, there was an Ultra Wormhole breach. We don't know how it happened, or who. But we found you at the Atlar of the Moone... like this."

"Like this." Moon echoed his words, holding out her hands as she studied them. He wasn't sure what thoughts passed through her mind, but the look in her eyes was distant. Haunted. 

Afraid. 

Instinctively, he took a step towards her, but stopped when her narrowed gaze shot back to him. 

"So you found me, and instead of helping me, you chained me up." The venom in her voice was sharp, cruel. 

"No," Gladion protested, his throat clenching.

"So what's this then? A new healing technique?" Moon glared at him. "This is just like what your mother did to Null-"

"No, that's not it at all!" 

She flinched at his raised voice, and Gladion froze. With a deep breath, he said, "You... you attacked us. Hau. Me. You were in a frenzy. We had to restrain you, and brought you back here so that we could... keep you safe. Figure out how to help you. Before you hurt anyone else."

"W-what do you mean, hurt?" Moon spat out, eyes wide and body tense.

And lifting his arm, Gladion rolled down his sleeve- where a long, vicious, and obviously fresh wound circled around his arm. 

There was a horrid silence, and Moon froze. Her eyes were wide, her mouth hung open, and Gladion hated it. Hated this, hated seeing Moon like this, hated feeling powerless. Hated holding Moon captive, and making excuses for doing so. He wanted to bury his head in his hands, wanted to hold Moon tight and beg her forgiveness for letting her go- wanted to be able to do something, anything because this was Moon and she was the one who brought him joy and happiness, not... this. 

But then, quietly, softly... "I guess... I really do deserve to be chained up." 

Moon's voice was small, and when he looked up again, her head was bowed and her shoulders were slumped. A faint smile graced her features, even though her eyes shone with nothing but pain. 

"I swear, Moon, we only want to help," he began. "I didn't want any of this-"

"I know." She bit her lip, shifted her weight again. Then, gently she said, "You probably don't know if I'm still me or if I'm... not, huh?"

The fear in her voice gave him pause. The eerie light that graced her skin made her hard to look at. But it was the understanding in her eyes that dug deep into his chest and tore through his heart. 

Before he knew it, he had strode forward and thrown his arms around her, claws be damned. A soft, choking sound escaped Moon, and Gladion wondered if he should let her go- until she buried her head into his chest, and a shaking sob escaped her lips.

He let her cry. Let her tears soak through his shirt, her claws dig into his skin. He held her close, and it was as if that touch alone was enough to release all the tears she'd been holding at bay. 

"I can't- remember all of it," she said through choking sobs. "It was dark, and cold, and it hurt and-" She shuddered, and she all but wailed, "My Pokemon, Gladion. They- they're gone."

The heartfelt pain in her voice was enough for his eyes to prick. He clasped her tight, didn't want to imagine what she had to go through, and yet- 

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "It must have been scary, and painful, and I'm sorry you had to go through all of that alone."

"And what, you could have protected me?" There was a sniff, and as she pulled away, even though her eyes were gold and her hair was streaked with lights- she was so Moon that Gladion knew his fears were for naught. 

"I could have tried," he began, only for her to shake her head. 

"Whatever I fought, it-" Her eyes glazed over briefly, before she pressed her forehead against his chest once more. "It was strong.  You would have died, if you were with me. I... barely escaped. And if you were one more death on my conscience, I wouldn't be able to bear it."

"I can scarcely bear it, knowing that I let you leave, alone."

Moon looked up, looked at him. Her eyes shone bright with tears and pain and sadness, her face streaked with tears. And without a second more, she tugged his head down and captured his lips with hers.

It was soft and tender. Full of unsaid words and feelings. It was everything Gladion dreamed of, once. But now it hurt to know how cruel it was, to have Moon in his arms, broken and barely a visage of the woman he knew.

He'd find a way to save her. He had to, if only to give her a reason to smile once more. 

Softly, she whispered, "Gladion, I'm scared." 

He leaned his forehead against hers, pressed another kiss onto her lips. "I am, too," he admitted. 

She whimpered, and closed her eyes, resting against his chest as he settled her down on the cold, laboratory floor. He held her close, rubbed her back until her breath slowed and her grip loosened. 

And it was when she was finally asleep did he finally allow himself to cry.

#lonashipping #do i like nihilego moon a bit too much #ummmmmmmmmmmmm #anyway yeah angst and shit and i went pure angst for this ok bye #could be a bit melodrama too i guess

[crystalelemental]

USUM Did Bad - Lillie’s Family

Ooooh god.  Okay.  I wasn't originally going to bother.  I feel like other people have said it better, and I got my complaining out.  But I've apparently made this into a series of articles and I've referenced this in every single one, so fine, let's talk about the biggest blunder in Pokemon game history: Lillie's family, and the absolute removal of their characters from USUM.

MOHN Let's talk backstory.  In Sun/Moon, through files you find, you learn that Mohn is a professor who studied the ultra wormholes, but went missing.  Based on appearance and implication, everyone figured out Mohn is Lusamine's husband. His disappearance is oft cited by defenders of Lusamine's actions as the reason she is this way.  Personally, I agree.  I think Lusamine's always been controlling, but Mohn's disappearance was something she couldn't control, and it resulted in her losing the one she loved.  People talk about Nihilego's toxins, and Mohn's loss as causes, but they're really not.  It's catalysts at best.  Lusamine was always set to be this controlling.  Mohn's disappearance just spiked the behavior to the point things got bad.  Even Gladion confirms, she was better when he was around, but it got rough when he vanished.  Given how Mohn is as a person, I don't think he'd stay with someone who was always an abusive level of controlling.  More than likely, she was controlling, but able to keep that in check. That's the impression I always got.

Now, in USUM, Mohn comes back!  For a short scene in the post-game, in which Lusamine talks with him, and lets him leave without a word because "he seems happy."  Excellent writing, USUM, great job.  The woman loses her husband, spirals out of control, and we're just going to brush that all aside.  Get used to the term "brushed it aside," by the way, because it happens a lot with this game.

LUSAMINE So with the history out of the way, let's talk Lusamine.  Because I can't explain how bad Gladion and Lillie got it until we've talked about Lusamine.  Lusamine...is awesome.  I love her as a villain.  My main complaint in Sun/Moon, however, was that her entire character, through implication, seemed to hinge on Mohn's disappearance.  I don't blame people who say Mohn is the main cause of Lusamine's actions.  The game kinda frames it that way.  All we ever get from Gladion is that Lusamine seemed okay prior to their dad's disappearance.  Certainly implies he's a cause.  What we never got was what she was like before.  Based on her actions, I think it's safe to say that she was likely always fairly controlling, just not to the intense degree we see in Sun/Moon.  In those games, she's awful.  Lillie dresses only the way she wants, she manipulates Guzma into following her despite him having nothing to gain, and she preserves her Pokemon in ice to keep them with her forever, probably against their wishes.  She is all about control and manipulation, and it likely stems from both her being that way, and from a heavy sense of loss.  I never minded that Mohn was a catalyst.  I minded that it was implied he was the ONLY reason she was like this.   Fear of loss is a powerful motivator, and for that to be expressed as the reason she manipulates and controls brings in a sense of her being damaged, and having the potential for a redemption arc.  Implying that her husband disappeared and I dunno man, she just went crazy, implies that she has little agency as a character, and Mohn's return would be a simplistic fix.

Which was EXACTLY what I feared would happen.  I saw the spoiler that Mohn came back to Aether, and we all knew they'd try making Lusamine good in the upcoming games as some ridiculous twist.  I expected it to be the worst possible confirmation. Instead, they somehow did something WORSE.  Oh, they talk about Mohn disappearing as a reason for her actions.  But that's explicitly stated more than implicitly felt.  At no point is there any dialogue or action that implies her reason for seeking control is to keep things safe.   Instead, they deviate. Now she wants to stop Necrozma.  Best case scenario, it's to help people. Worst case scenario, it's to add to her collection she still has.  Phyco implies she's the worst case scenario, stating that it's arrogant of her to attempt solving all their problems on her own, but again, that's the only line of dialogue to that effect. Everything else implies that she was being selfless, because they next time we see her, she got beat by Necrozma, you take off to combat it, and in the time you were gone Lillie tells you she talked with Lusamine and they're fine now.  No redemption arc, no struggle, just an off-screen brushing aside of the entire conflict of the previous game.

It hurts Lillie and Gladion substantially, but it hurts Lusamine as a character as well.  What could have potentially been an explanation to her actions and a push toward redemption through this whole "working together" undertone they had going, instead gets brushed aside in favor of a quick and tidy resolution in which no one has to talk about the hard stuff.  It's like they started with the ending premise that Lusamine was going to be a good guy, and someone mentioned "Hey, didn't we make her kinda really abusive to her kids?"  And instead of backpedaling and deciding whether this was a good idea or not, or hell, going forward but acknowledging how hard it would be, they decided "that's fine, we'll just say they talked it out and it's all good."

YOU. CANNOT. DO. THAT.  It invalidates EVERYTHING.  Not just the suffering that Lillie and Gladion went through, but any and all meaning for Lusamine's redemption.  Let's be real here: does anyone truly believe that USUM Lusamine is not still an awful, horrific person?  She kept her frozen Pokemon.  When Lillie tries to confront her and talk her down, Lusamine still snaps and tells her she has no children because they dared to disobey her.  Gladion is still terrified the entire time they go through Aether to save Lillie.  SHE STILL HAS HER FROZEN POKEMON COLLECTION.  Lusamine wasn't redeemed at all.  Her actions are still terrible, and nothing was shown to demonstrate that she's gotten any better.  We're just told she did.

I know people who were entirely against any redemption arc for Lusamine.  I can understand this, but I myself am not against it.  I think there's always a way to demonstrate a good turn from evil, but it's a process.  It takes time, it takes effort, and there's a reason that so many redemption arcs end in death.  It is incredibly hard to do redemption, and it gets harder the more villainous you've made a character.  Granted, this seems to apply more to relational villainy, as someone who, say, abuses their kid is seen as much less redeemable than someone who just wanted to unmake reality because of their ennui.  But still, it can be done.  The important thing to remember when deciding to redeem your villain, however, is to make sure that you're showing how difficult it is.  That you're demonstrating how hard it would be to mend relationships, or break old habits, or even just acknowledge what you did was wrong.  When you do that, it can be a powerful story.  When you decide instead to go "They're a good guy now, just make them talk it out off-screen," you invalidate that process, demean the suffering of the victims of their actions, and insult the reader by expecting them to just go along with this paper-thin facade.  And you cannot impress me with this.

GLADION Remember when Gladion's power-seeking attitude was because he had immense guilt over running away from his problems instead of facing them head-on and leaving his kid sister in the hands of his abusive mother to fend for herself?  Yeah, neither does USUM.  Because now, Gladion did all this because he wanted to be strong enough to fight the cool guy Necrozma (who is super cool, did you know?) so his mom wouldn't have to.

Honestly, do I even need to keep talking?  Re-read that paragraph.  Lusamine is virtually unchanged in any significant way, they just tell you things are different. And Gladion, who acted terrified the whole way through Aether?  Yeah, I guess that was just nerves about fighting Necrozma or something?  Probably not important.  Certainly not related to any psychological scarring brought about from years of abuse or the immense guilt for not being able to help his sister out of the situation too.   Definitely not.

His character is so set aside now.  He doesn't DO anything!  And his relationship with Lusamine, for some reason, is just fine.  The entire time they interact, it's fine.  He's concerned about her safety.  Okay, fine.  Maybe if you want to demonstrate the lasting impact of the emotional abuse, we can show that he's willing to fight Necrozma in her place because she's somehow manipulated into it.  Oh wait, no, she's insisting she'll do it herself and calling him a good kid, literally seconds after shouting at Lillie that she has no children.  Seriously, does no one else hate the whiplash of this scene?  We went from Lillie trying desperately to talk her mother into listening and being told that she wasn't Lusamine's child anymore, to a scene where she's calling both of them good kids and wishing they would just let her handle this so they're okay.  These are back to back scenes!  Did you even think?  Just remove the first one if you wanted to go the route of the second!  This is not that hard!

LILLIE Okay, deep breaths...

Lillie is a fan favorite, and it is super easy to see why.  So easy, in fact, that most people would be surprised if someone said they didn't like Lillie.  So easy, that the only way to not understand why Lillie was such a relatable and well-loved character, would be to have your eyes closed shut, head stuck in the sand, shouting "lalala, can't hear you!" while making loud farting noises with your butt. Which must've been what the writing staff did, because good GOD.

For those uncertain: Lillie is so well-liked because she is a character caught in a situation where her mother is emotionally abusive and controlling of her every action.  In an act of empathy and desperation, she defies her mother to save Nebby's life, and is teleported to a place she's wholly unfamiliar with, scared and alone, until Professor Burnet takes her in. She spends all her time out in the world amazed at what it's like, but also fearful of everyone she encounters until they've proven they're a friend.  In the end, she grows enough as a person to change the appearance her mother crafted for her, and confronts her mother by calling out her actions as awful.  She reaches a place where she can reflect on all that's happened and say "I don't deserve this," and pushes back against unjust actions.  That is not a narrative often seen, and to have the message that victims don't deserve this treatment and that people are not something to be controlled by another, is incredible.  Lillie, as the main character of this story, shines beautifully.  For those who are good with a redemption for Lusamine, the end of this confrontation, where Lillie is still willing to save her mother's life and help her recover, only makes her more likeable.  She's able to state that what Lusamine has done is not okay, but is still willing to make an attempt to help her. It's an implied beginning to a redemption arc, and frankly, if you're gonna go that direction, that's what you need to do.  Imply.  The time it would take, and the effort it would take, cannot be demonstrated all within this game.  But you could try.  Instead, they chose a reasonable sendoff, with the implication of mending the damage, rather than trying to force a quick resolution.

Then USUM shows up and is like "That's for idiots, watch this!" and tosses it all aside.  Lillie is virtually removed from this game.  The entirety of her character arc following the Aether invasion?  Gone.  She still gets her change of clothes, and still has the scene on the bridge of her running forward, but she doesn't confront her mother, she doesn't get her scene with you on Exeggutor Island, and she doesn't even get time with Nebby.  What she does get is an off-screen resolution, where she tells the player all that she needed to do was talk to her mom and it was fine.

I've been trying my best to cut back on swearing, but BULLSHIT.  Not only is that insufficient to mend what's been done, but do you know what Lillie attempted to do during the Aether invasion? TALK TO LUSAMINE.  She was actively trying to get her mother to stop and consider her actions, and Lusamine told her that she had no children because they won't do as she says.  Did they just forget?  How else do you explain the fact that they kept the scene of Lillie talking to Lusamine and being shut down, but then turn around and insist that talking solved their problems?  It's ridiculous.  And more than any other character, it hurts Lillie.  Her entire character got removed.   Oh, she's still there, but like most of them, she's a caricature.  She exists for no purpose now.  We've taken the focus off of Lillie's history and the damaging family dynamic for her and Gladion, and instead we've replaced it with...what, exactly?  What does Lillie still have going for her?  She's cute?  She doesn't have any agency.  And that's the entire issue.

This whole family was taken out of the equation.  They have virtually no bearing on the plot, barring Lusamine's decision to awaken Necrozma for some reason. And even then, her justification for doing so is conflicting within the scene it's established, and the justification they want us to believe isn't consistent with her actions.  She's just as quickly removed after waking up Necrozma, so there's nothing to build on after that either.   Gladion's fear of confronting his mother is completely unjustified with their new setup, and his actions of running away and getting stronger to confront Necrozma doesn't even make sense given his age at the time of leaving, and when the Ultra Recon Squad showed up.  And Lillie. Poor Lillie was just removed from every poignant scene she had, and was given an immediate off-screen resolution to everything she experienced.  The story is disjointed, the characters inconsistent, and this entire family rendered meaningless within their own game, all in favor of focusing on a new Strawman Group and the lame Ultra Necrozma fight.

CONCLUSION USUM is known to be the last handheld game.  "Steve, the Switch is-" No.  It is not.  Pokemon is leaving handhelds, and this is straight-up their sendoff. They've confirmed it.  And looking at it as that sendoff, as the beautiful wrap-up of 22 years of games, I am horrified.  We've made so much growth over the years. We went from a very basic game with virtually no plot or characterization, to full-blown stories about ethical treatment of animals, or how people handle abuse, or even just exploring the human condition.  But at the end, at our cap-off, what do we get?  Characters and story brushed aside in favor of what they think is a really cool and hard final battle with a big glowy dragon thing, and a post-game story focused on the Gen 1 team again.  You could've done so much to be a send-off.  You could've shown so much of your growth and highlighted so many things you've developed.  And instead, you went back to nostalgia pandering and flashy battles devoid of meaning.  If this is sincerely the best cap-off you could produce, and is meant to be the demonstration of you moving into the future console, then for the first time in 22 years, I am inclined to agree with genwunners and say that Pokemon is dying or dead.  Because this?   Shameful. Pathetic.  Inexcusable.  I honestly feel like you didn't even try.  If this is the level of quality we can expect from here on out, then we've hit a point where old fans are dissatisfied because they cannot be satisfied, and newer fans are dissatisfied

#lillie #lusamine #gladion #mohn #this is the worst thing they've ever done #usum did bad