#pokemon anime salt

[crystalelemental]

I caught up on the Ash vs. Cynthia fight and folks, I am choosing violence.

My stance on the anime has overall been really negative this tournament run.  Barring Diantha vs. Lance, nothing has been particularly exciting to me.  I can live with the Alain vs. Leon outcome, and the Ash vs. Steven outcome, I just feel like they could’ve done a bit more to make the match feel like it mattered.  I’m still not over Diantha vs. Leon, and doubtless, never will be.  But barring how hard they disrespected Diantha...this is the most bothered I’ve been.  This is worse than how sidelined Iris was.

It’s not because Cynthia lost.  I feel like I need to preface that.  Cynthia was always going to lose, no one should be surprised.  It’s not even strictly how she lost.  Ash still fights like a cheating anime protagonist (what the fuck is “Use Breaking Swipe on the shield to remove Stealth Rock supposed to be?), but most situations could’ve been handled equivalently without it, they just did it for dramatic effect (just have Pikachu tech in Electric Terrain this fight for Hypnosis immunity and it checks out, Breaking Swipe on Garchomp would’ve dealt damage that cancels out what Lucario would’ve taken from Rocks and the same outcome occurs anyway, etc).  It’s a mild inconvenience at worst.  In fact, I’m willing to say that on the whole the fight itself is really solid.  Part 1 is fantastic for ramping up the tension by taking Pikachu out early, the reveal of Dynamax Togekiss was amazing and that little blob actually did fantastic.  Even smaller bits like surprise, Roserade has Natural Cure, Gengar effectively accomplished nothing, is great.  It’s a little dumb that Cynthia apparently didn’t bring a Ground-type attack on Garchomp, but small potatoes in the grand scheme of an otherwise good fight.

No, what bothers me is what they did with Cynthia herself.

“By the way, win or lose, I’m retiring after this.”  That had people pretty mad, but personally, I was all for it.  Cynthia’s always had her fixation on her research and travels, and I had assumed this was leading into Black and White timeline stuff, where she’s going off to visit Caitlin’s villas around the world in her research, and is participating here just to show off that she’s the best, and retire on top.  Which is cool and interesting and works for her character.  But that’s not what happens.  No, instead, we get some nonsense in part three as she gets really into the tension of the fight with Ash, and decides that no, actually she’s not retiring, how could she ever give up something as fun as battling?

Fuck.  You.

That is stupid.  That is bottom of the barrel bullshit stupid.  You’re telling me the whole retirement thing was just so arrogant ploy of “Oh, I am simply just so bored of always winning.”  Fuck off.  That is the least compelling reason for anyone to do anything.  Especially for someone in her position.  You’re not even #1, Cynthia, what the fuck do you mean you’re bored?  All this motivation serves to do is make you intolerably arrogant for no reason.  To say absolutely nothing of the sheer disrespect it paints toward Iris.  Iris also had you down to your last Pokemon and was battling pretty well, but apparently absolutely nothing in that counted for anything?  Nothing Iris accomplished made you feel excited about battling, or like there was something worth doing in the fight?  Are you goddamned kidding me?  Fuck Iris I guess, not even good enough to register.  Oh but Ash is though.  I guess if you wanted to showcase a divide in his skill compared to Iris, there you go.  Just grind the poor girl further in the dirt, why don’t you?  But at the top of this list of bullshit, there is the most frustrating aspect of this whole situation.

THAT’S JUST VOLKNER

Apparently the anime’s grand plan of action with Cynthia was to whole-hog rip off Volkner’s entire personality.  I’ve been on record saying I can’t stand Volkner, and it’s because of this exact thing.  Dude, you’re a Gym Leader in a region with a proper Elite Four.  There are five people at minimum who are better than you in the region, and you’re bored of battling because no one’s challenging enough for you?  Sounds like a you problem.  Like maybe you’re avoiding facing off against opponents that obviously exist and can challenge you, and then complaining when there’s not enough challenge.  It’s intolerably arrogant, self-important, and stupid.  And despite having plenty to draw from on the topic of a regional champion, this is all they could think to do for her.  Copy the worst personality trait of a gym leader from her own region.

I legitimately don’t know what I expect anymore.  I got two parts of really fun engagement with the battle, before the anime decided to remind me it can’t do anything right with its characters.  I’m just blown away at how little everyone matters.  Lance and Steven get swept aside and effectively do nothing.  Iris gets a little but is unceremoniously pushed aside, her entire association with Ash as a former travel companion and rival just rendered meaningless.  Diantha gets a really cool debut fight, only to be obliterated off-screen and pushed aside for Leon, who has been given exactly 0 personality thus far.  And now Cynthia just gets her entire personality obliterated and replaced with Volkner.  What an absolute shitshow.  In for a penny and all that, I’ll get to Ash vs. Leon eventually, but boy I am not expecting anything beyond the battle anymore.

#pokemon anime salt #legit impressed by how hard they fucked this up

[geekstudio]

New Candles from Geek Studio

I have a new line of candles that are all inspired by games, tv shows, anime and other pop culture.

Shop Geek Studio

#candles #candle making #anime #video games #bnha #mha #bakugou katsuki #sailor moon #pokemon #pokeball #super effective #kingdom hearts #sea salt ice cream #geek studio

[theerurishipper]

Pretty much confirms that Goh is leaving after 136 lol

I'm not happy about it. So I'm gonna rant about it on tumblr dot com.

Goh deserved better. As a character. He got one of the most unsatisfying and rushed conclusions to his goal. The pacing in Journeys was so poor that both Ash and Goh suffered from the effects. It was a chore to get through Project Mew. I'll say it again and again and again. The episodes were scarce to begin with and the new characters were glorified plot devices. Goh's development throughout the series was to learn not to be a loner, and PM was a good way to challenge him... on paper. But you can't expect me to believe he isn't willing to team up with people when he's done it before. With Team Rocket, no less, for far less. And it doesn't really challenge him either. One episode he's antagonistic to the idea, the next he's working flawlessly with Horace and then with Gary. And the problem never gets explored.

This is all an issue with JN's pacing. They have all these interesting ideas and they commit to nothing. It's not just Goh. Ash too, has arcs that on paper sound good but really? They're rushed, spaced out far too much to leave any impact. We get Gengar centric episodes after we've barely seen him in the anime for over 20 episodes or so, and like, where was he all this time? And it's the same with Goh. We got too much Goh focus in the first half of JN and next to nothing in the second. And it hurts his character. Ash's journey through, well, Journeys was lackluster too. The battles were average, he was not challenged much at all, Leon was more built up with lip service than with actual feats on screen... thematically, the battle was not that meaningful in terms of their relationship as compared to Kukui or Paul or even Alain. But the actual M8 tournament more than made up for it, even though it had flaws. The battles were good for the most part (we don't talk about Alain and Diantha), and Ash vs. Leon, while not well built up, still managed to amaze me. The animation, the moment with all Ash's pokemon... and even the Flashbacks with Leon sold me on it being a grand finale battle for the series. It was well written. It was good. The whole M8 tournament lasted about 13 episodes. It made watching Ash's journey through the series worth it.

But Goh didn't get that. He got 2 lackluster episodes that were slow, and oversaturated with characters we don't care about. Let's be real, no one cares about Tsurugi and Asahi. The only ones people care about are Gary and Goh and Horace to some extent. Groudon and Kyogre were clearly to fulfill JN's quota of "showing every pokemon." And Goh's always wanted to catch Mew? He should have more of a reaction at not doing that (unless I missed it, regardless my point kinda stands). He should have had a few moments where he realized Mew needed to be free or something and let it go. Instead, we got bootleg Groudon and Kyogre for half the episode. And just like that it's over. What was the point of learning all that backstory again?

I liked JN. I really did. After Ash vs. Steven, I wrote a whole rant about it, but I still tried to like it. But now? I can't. I see every criticism of JN that I thought was too much and I find myself agreeing with them. It started out so well too, and it just kept going downwards. These episodes solidify that for me. I guess they're good. They're nice. But as a conclusion to Goh's whole arc, the whole 4 years? Lackluster. Poor, shoddy, meaningless. And I say this because I love Goh. I really do. He's one of my favourite characters in the anipoke. Aside from Ash and Pikachu (and Alola), Goh got me into this show. He deserved way better. I saw someone else make this point somewhere, but even characters like Dawn and May, who weren't exactly co-protagonists like Goh was built up to be got so much more. They got 4-5 episodes to their Grand Festivals, May even had 2 tournaments. Goh got done dirty, and now he's leaving, destroying any hope of redeeming his character. I hoped that he would keep going on as a companion, but it was kind of a pipe dream anyway. I knew it wasn't going to happen. I would have been fine with it if his conclusion had been strong and solid. But it wasn't. And as far as the preview says, he's not sticking around. If he does, I'll be over the moon. But he's not. And to see him go out this way is sad. But hey. That's all JN does anyway, one disappointment after another. It just took me too long to realise that.

A meme to sum it all up.

#Pokemon #Pokeani #Anipoke #Pokemon Journeys #Ash Ketchum #Ash #Satoshi #Pikachu #Goh #Trainer Goh #Gou #Trainer Gou #This honestly sucks and I'm tired of trying to defend this shit lol #I don't hate it but I do not like it at all #Here in the tags I will admit that I really just don't want Goh to go (lol) #But him getting a good ending would have made it less bitter #Now it's all just a pile of salt #(If they make Ash and Goh kiss tho I will forgive every sin XD) #(Actually I won't but ssshhh) #(But I'm not opposed to the idea just letting the anime staff know) #(It's all in shambles anyway might as well go the whole way) #My meta

[pivziksixdude]

Turns out, tomorrow is the start of National Salt Awareness Week. It’s only natural that I’d draw and animate Nacli from Pokemon Scarlet & Violet to honor this minor holiday. I love this adorable rock salt mushroom <3

Animated with Aseprite v1.2.40. If you’d like to use this animation (albeit for acceptable purposes/reasons), permission is not required, but credit is highly appreciated. Thank you!

#nacli #pokemon #pokemon scarlet #pokemon violet #pokemon scarlet and violet #rock pokemon #mushroom pokemon #salt #national salt awareness week #holiday #minor holiday #small holiday #rock salt #aseprite #aseprite animation #pixel art #pixel animation #animation

[totally-gogo-salt]

Sitting here on the sidelines with no interest in the Pokemon Anime:

"Wow, I can't believe Ash Ketchum is dead."

#totally gogo salt #pokemon #pokemon anime #ash ketchum #pokemon journeys

[corvidaescreations]

932 Nacli Evolution

Nacli: It was born in a layer of rock salt deep under the earth. This species was particularly treasured in the old days, as they would share precious salt.

Naclstack: It compresses rock salt inside its body and shoots out hardened salt pellets with enough force to perforate an iron sheet.

Garganacl: Garganacl will rub its fingertips together and sprinkle injured Pokémon with salt. Even severe wounds will promptly heal afterward.

Follow me on all the socials for more Pokemon!

#artists on tumblr #art #anime #pokemon #creatures #video games #animals #nintendo #speed drawing #speed painting #nacli #naclstack #garganacl #salt #sodium chloride #rocks #rock monster #monsters #scarlet violet #west province OST #made with krita #kritadigitalart #krita sketch #kritaart #krita illustration #digital artwork #digital drawing #digital artist

[hehe-hoho-ohno]

Submas canon vs fanon

The entire time I have been in the Submas fandom I have seen a lot of confusion about what is canonical and what is a wide-spread fanon. Both in the sense of people thinking things were canon when they were not, and (more rarely) people thinking things were fanon when they were not. So I thought it might be useful to put together a little guide.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with using fanon. I use most of these headcannons in my own fics because I like them and canon is dumb anyway. (Note: pokemon is a huge sprawling mass and tends to contradict itself, and there have been changes across the various games/manga/anime)

All quotations are taken from bulbapidia.

Nimbasa Trio - FANON

Elesa has no connection to Ingo and Emmet besides living in the same place. There is one interaction between them in Pokemon Masters, and while they are on friendly terms they don't appear to be particularly close. Similarly, the idea that Ingo likes bad puns/Emmet does not stemmed from their fanon friendship with her.

Uncle Drayden - FANON

The only confirmed family Ingo and Emmet have are each other.

Cilan is a huge fan - CANON

Cilan is a fanboy of both of them in the anime.

Ingo is the older twin - CANON

In the original Japanese Emmet calls Ingo "nii-san" which means older brother.

"Do you have any siblings? I have an older brother, Ingo."

- Emmet, pokemon masters

Emmet's joltik hoard - FANON

Emmet's galvantula knows the move cross poison. This is an "egg move" which can only be learnt through pokemon breeding. Since it would take several tries to get this move it probably would have left Emmet with a lot of Joltik. In theory. We don't see Emmet with joltiks in canon.

Ingo's kitty smile - CANON

He smiles like that in the manga. (Admittedly, it's not as exaggerated as the full on :3 people sometimes draw him with.) He also briefly smiles in PLA, but less cat-like.

Ingo's perpetual frown is unintentional - CANON

"<player>! Someone just told me something that troubled me deeply! They said that compared to Emmet, I'm too stiff! But that's just a misunderstanding! I know I smile when I'm having fun! I'd even say that I'm quite proud of how expressive I am when I speak! What? You say you've never seen me smile? I-is that so..."

- Ingo, Pokemon Masters

They are both autistic - FANON

They are related to the twin heros - FANON

They share similar themes and motifs to the twin heros/Zekrom/Reshiram but that's it. They have no canon relationship.

Both of them are heavily coded as autistic. However, it's never been directly stated in the games that they are autistic and (to my knowledge) nobody at Game Freak/Nintendo has confirmed anything.

Ingo has a receding hairline - (debatably) CANON

He is drawn with one in the art book. Does the art book count as canon? Until something in the main games says otherwise, probably. (Though there is some argument to be had that it might be an unflattering haircut instead.)

Ingo arrived in Hisui via wormhole - FANON

"For my part, I simply found myself one day here in Hisui, a region whose name I'd never heard... All I could remember was my own name. I was still standing there in bafflement when the Pearl Clan came to my aid."

- Ingo, PLA. (However, the art book depicts the pearl clan finding him facedown on the ground, so take his standing claim with a grain of salt)

We still don't know how he got there. Similarly, it is quite common to show Ingo arriving during a blizzard/freezing to death and generally in poor health/injured/unconsciousness. But the way he recounts it sounds much more peaceful.

It'a also common to have Sneasler be the one to find him. The art book (of dubious canon) shows a human pearl clan member finding him, and Ingo's quote seems to confirm that. It's possible Sneasler was involved but she isn't mentioned.

Ingo got amnesia from hitting his head - FANON

We don't know how he got amnesia.

Ingo remembers Emmet as "the man in white" - FANON

"I'm starting to recall a man who looked... like me. We'd battle and discuss Pokémon, I think... The words "I like winning more than anything else" flashed through my mind just now..."

- Ingo, PLA, about Emmet

He makes no mention of remembering Emmet wearing white or smiling.

Ingo calls her "Lady Sneasler" - FANON

Ingo only calls her Sneasler, no Lady. In fact, nobody calls her or any of the ride pokemon Lord or Lady because...

The ride pokemon are noble pokemon - FANON

There are 10 blessed pokemon descended from the heros of old, and these pokemon are revered by the clans and have wardens. The blessed pokemon are divided into two groups, the rides and the nobles.

The ride pokemon are not called noble pokemon, and they do not get titles. Mai talks about "the great Wyrdeer" but does not call him lord or noble.

"This suggests that even Pokémon that are not nobles can become frenzied..."

- Kamado, PLA, about the ride pokemon Ursaluna seemingly becoming frenzied

Ingo lives in Sneasler's cave - FANON

We don't know where he lives.

Ingo became a Warden because Sneasler liked him - FANON

"I showed a natural affinity for taming Pokémon, which is why I eventually became a warden. But still I wonder what my true purpose is here..."

- Ingo, PLA

There is no further information about his wardenship. There is no information on what his relationship with Sneasler was prior to him becoming her warden.

Ingo likes having photos because of the amnesia - CANON

"Ah, photographs. I appreciate having physical keepsakes—less ephemeral than memories. Would you do me the honor of posing for a photo with me, <player>?"

- Ingo, PLA, at the Photography Studio

Ingo has been in Hisui for XX years - CANON

The art book uses the placeholder XX for the amount of time Ingo has been in Hisui. Some have taken the double digits to mean 10+, however the first digit could easily be a 0. So, we still don't know. Net 0 information.

Emmet must be taking Ingo vanishing badly - FANON

We have not heard from Emmet.

***

That's all for now! I'm sure I've missed or forgotten something, feel free to add stuff in the reblogs! I might edit the list later to add more if needed.

#submas #subway boss emmet #subway boss ingo #nobori #kudari #canon vs fanon #pla #pokemon

[queenpanpan]

Pokemon Headcanons: The Bulbasaur Line!

* Capable of photosynthesis but also like to nosh plants they’re herbivores

* Momma venusaurs lay clutches of 4-8 eggies

* They smell SOO good all the time like fresh flowers and rain :)

* Bulbs and ivys aren’t that lazy but venusaurs VERY much are they be nappin

* Very affectionate and love snuggling with each other, other Pokemon, and humans :)

* They shed their skins every 6-8 weeks and they need help pullin out those nose bits like irl breaded dragons

* When they shed their flower also dies and reblooms

* Baby bulbasaurs are EXTREMELY clumsy and will fall over

* Especially when they get excited and start running they trip on they own feet </3

* Venusaurs can get LOUD if they want/need to thems can ROAR

* Pack animals fr they travel in large herds out in the wild

* These herds include a dominant male that protects the females and their babies

* When about to lay eggs, female venusaurs get visibly swollen tummies (again like irl bearded dragons they are very bearded dragon core to me)

* They chew very slowly like cows

* Go CRAZYYYY for berries especially the very sweet ones

* No object permanence they fail ball cup game </3

* I just see them being so stupid (affectionate)

* Like you point to the treat on the ground in front of their face and they’re just like HUH?! WHUH??

* They like to swim but only in fresh water as salt water is bad for their plant

I think that’s all I got!! I wanna try to do all the mons if I can! Also yes a lot of them are sciencey BC IM A BIOLOGY NERD GOT DAMMIT and we need to talk more abt Pokemon just being fuckin animals bc they are!!! They’re just fuckign!!!!!! Creechurs!!!!!

#pokémon #pokemon #pokeblr #pokemon gen 1 #bulbasaur #ivysaur #venusaur #pokemon headcanons #they just little guys #pokemon biology

[roxannarambles]

Title: Home For the Holidays

Ship: Nemona x Juliana

Summary: Nemona doesn't have much planned for this holiday season but in the very least, when it comes to getting Juliana a gift, she wants to do things right

Nemona never had such a difficult time getting a gift for somebody before.

Getting gifts for someone was super simple, normally. Just find out what they’re interested in! Then maybe do a little checking to see what they already have and get them something they don’t. Easy, right? With the Winter Solstice coming up, giving gifts was a big part of that. And Nemona had new friends this year, so she definitely wanted to get something for each of them. It was smooth sailing for most of them. For example, Arven: he loved cooking. Nemona talked to Mr. Saguaro to learn what fancy cooking gadgets and ingredients were desirable, and she bought Arven some really gourmet salt from different regions. For Penny, she asked her about the shows she was currently into, and then she checked her shelves of DVDs to make sure what she had, before buying her a nice DVD set of her current favorite anime.

For Juliana, well, of course she loved pokemon battling. Nemona had some really rare and useful Ability Patches, five of them! She knew Juliana would love those, so it was a great gift for her. Piece of cake!

. . . but then Nemona started to second-guess herself.

Getting a gift for Juliana was different, somehow. True, Juliana would love the Ability Patches, but it wasn’t a particularly personal gift, was it? And Juliana was . . . special to Nemona, really special, and she wanted her gift to reflect that. Nemona felt like she wasn’t always really great at telling Juliana just how much she meant to her. Sometimes she would just blurt it out, true, but she usually did that just prior to rushing off in embarrassment, too nervous to see Juliana’s true reaction. And the times she did see her reaction, well, Nemona wasn’t the greatest at reading people, so she didn’t exactly trust herself to know for sure. 

Oof. Feelings were complicated. But maybe gift giving could help with that. She could just show Juliana how much she cared for her. That seemed like a lot less scary way to do it. But it had to be perfect. Not too practical and impersonal, but also not too intimate, otherwise that’d be offputting and presuming too much about how close they were. It couldn’t be too cheap but it also couldn’t be too expensive, she didn’t wanna seem like she was showing off or drawing attention to any sort of expense disparity between gifts. Also it should be something creative and unique, something that really stood out, but not so unique that it misses the mark and Juliana doesn’t even like it. Something that was thoughtful and showed she clearly put a lot of effort into it, but not too much effort, something that told her how she felt but also wasn’t too raw and honest in case that was overwhelming or it wasn’t reciprocated.

She could . . . do all that, right? Nemona brainstormed for hours but every idea she had was rejected for some reason or the other. She wandered shops for inspiration, but nothing seemed quite right. She even asked Arven and Penny for suggestions and asked them what they’d gotten Juliana. (Arven had made Juliana some really nice Solstice cookies and Penny had bought her a cute pair of headphones with Umbreon-shaped ears attached) They tried their best to give Nemona suggestions, but none of their ideas really felt like the perfect answer.

Eventually Nemona just had to go with something and hope it would turn out okay. She chose something that had to be custom-ordered, a little on the pricey side but not extremely so. Once she put the order in she tried to just put it out of her mind and stop worrying. 

As the Solstice drew nearer, they had to bid Arven and Penny a temporary farewell. Penny was flying back to Galar for the holidays to be with her dad. Arven’s case was a little more complicated. When he learned of his mother’s death, his next of kin had to be notified, once they’d managed to track them down. He hadn’t actually met any of his extended family before. But they did track someone down, Arven’s grandmother on his mom’s side. She lived in Kalos and hadn’t been in touch with her daughter for some time, but had seemed very warm and welcoming when Arven contacted her. She had invited Arven over for the Solstice, and so he was flying out to Kalos to meet her. They made sure to exchange gifts before they left. And so that left Nemona and Juliana in Paldea. Juliana would no doubt be spending the holiday with her mother, of course. It was nice that all of Nemona’s friends were spending time with their families. She was happy for them, truly. 

Thinking about it sometimes made her feel a pang of loneliness and maybe even jealousy, but she ignored it as best she could. Her home life was not exactly ideal, true, but she wasn’t going to complain about it and bum her friends out. They deserved this chance to enjoy their time. 

There was a piece of bad news that did manage to really dampen Nemona’s mood, though. It turned out that the gift she had custom-ordered for Juliana probably wouldn’t be ready in time for the holiday. They had called that morning to give her the update– they would do their best, but it might be delayed for a few days. Nemona felt very disheartened after that. Not only was she unsure whether the gift she picked out would be a good one, but it wasn’t even going to be on time. She moped in her dorm room after that, not really feeling like going out. She was leaving Mesagoza tomorrow to return to the house in Cabo Poco, since her family wanted her to tend to the house. If she wanted the chance to buy something last-minute, she should really jump on it now. Yet she couldn’t seem to muster the willpower. Seeing all the Solstice decorations and music and such seemed a bit . . . unappealing now. She didn’t want to be a grump, but she couldn’t help feeling like one at the moment.

Nemona was busy zoning out with videos of pokemon matches, munching on junk food, when a knock at her door startled her. The door swung open soon after, a girl bounding in, her voice cheery as she sing-songed,

“Happy Solstice Eve, Nemona!”

Nemona immediately dropped her tablet, her face brightening.

“Jules!”

She bounced off her bed and rushed up to her, hugging her.

“Happy Solstice Eve! How’s it going, you excited to see your mom tomorrow? Betcha she’s excited, we’ve been so busy this semester you’ve hardly seen her for months now, huh?”

Juliana chuckled,

“Honestly I think she’s been enjoying the time alone, she tells me all about the places she’s been exploring in Paldea. She’s kinda been having her own treasure hunt, haha. But yeah, it should be nice! We’re going to have a big Solstice breakfast and everything. Mom’s cooking is the best. Oh, don’t tell Arven I said that.”

“I’m sure he’d understand. Tell your mom tomorrow I said ‘hi,’okay? You still have to invite me over one of these days, I’m dying to meet her.”

“Of course! Oh, and that brings me to why I’m here.”

Juliana had an excited gleam in her eye as she set down her bags. She pulled a brightly-wrapped package from one of the bags, presenting it with a little flourish.

“To my best friend and beloved rival, heehee. I figured we should exchange our gifts now since we’ll both be with our families tomorrow.”

Nemona accepted the gift, a slim, tiny package wrapped in shiny red paper, topped with a little green bow. She felt the guilt and anxiety return.

“A-about that, I . . .”

She trailed off and sighed.

“What? What’s wrong?”

She looked to Juliana with sad eyes.

“I got you something, but the problem is, it’s, um, it’s a custom-order kind of thing and they just called me earlier today and said it’s gonna be late, probaby for a few days. I’m really sorry, Juliana–”

“Oh, gosh, that’s all? Nemona, don’t worry about it, it’s fine!”

“I really wanted to give it to you on time though, I feel really bad . . . I guess I should have ordered it sooner, ugh . . .”

“Nemona,” Juliana put her hands on both her shoulders. She spoke breezily,

“You’re being silly. I don’t even need a gift from you, you know that. Not when I have you!”

She leaned in and rubbed the tip of their noses together the way Pawmi kissed. Nemona giggled,

“J-jules!”

“Now don’t give it another thought, just open your present, okay?”

Nemona tried to ignore the tingly sensation that had spread across her entire body– if she knew any better she’d be convinced Juliana packed as much electricity as any Pawmi’s Nuzzle did– and instead just laughed,

“O-okay, okay, you win. But um, you want me to open this now? It’s still Solstice Eve.”

“That’s okay, you can open it now. Unless you wanna save it for tomorrow when you open gifts with the rest of your family?”

Nemona glanced away from her, discomfort flickering across her face briefly before quickly being replaced. 

“Mmm, well, let’s just do it now!”

“Okay! Heehee, great, I can see your reaction then.”

Nemona turned her attention to the little package, excited and curious about what it could be. It was very small, whatever it was. She carefully tore the paper off and found a jewelry box within. She opened the clamshell.

Inside was a necklace. It was a pokeball encrusted in sparkling little gems, red gems on top and white ones on the bottom. The center button of the pokeball was set with a pearlescent gem that had a rainbow sheen. The little pokeball rested on a thin gold chain. 

“Oh wow . . . Juliana, it’s beautiful!”

When she looked to her friend, she saw that Juliana actually looked a little nervous.

“You really like it? I know you’re not much of a jewelry kind of person, but when I saw these, I thought . . . well, it seemed like such a good fit for you.”

Nemona smiled brightly, answering,

“I love it! And yeah, you’re right I’m not usually one for jewelry, usually it kinda just gets in the way, you know? But a necklace like this is perfect. It’s so cute and it’s so sweet of you . . . oh, I hope it wasn’t too expensive though?”

Juliana shook her head.

“It was pretty reasonable. Those little gems are tera shards that pokemon drop after they Terastallize, the jeweler collects and polishes ‘em.”

Nemona’s eyes widened.

“Whaaat? That’s so cool!”

“Yeah! Oh, also, there’s a little surprise. It’s also a locket.”

“A locket?”

“Yeah! I guess it’s kinda an old-school thing, hold on, I’ll show you.”

Juliana gently pressed down on the little center ‘button’ of the pokeball. The top and bottom of the pokeball swung open on two hinges, revealing a flat compartment beneath.

“See? You can put a tiny little picture inside it. Usually people put a picture of their pokemon in these, I thought you could put a photo of Pawmot or something!”

Nemona made a delighted noise and gushed,

“That’s amazing!! Juliana, thank you so much, this is such a cool present!”

“You’re welcome! I’m glad you like it so much.”

Nemona hugged her again, squeezing her tight.

“I love it. You’re the best, Jules.”

Unfortunately, Juliana couldn’t stay for very long after that– she’d promised her mom she’d do a bit of shopping for her while she was still in Mesagoza. Juliana invited her to come along if she wanted to, but Nemona declined, saying something vague about finishing up some work. In truth, she didn’t have much work to do; she just was nervous she’d bring the mood down. Or worse, Juliana would notice something amis. But this was fine, she didn’t mind lounging in her dorm the rest of the evening. It was rare she took the time to just chill, after all.

As the hour grew late and she was sitting in bed with Pawmot, she looked up ‘locket’ online. Juliana had mentioned it was sort of an old-school thing. She found a website on the history of the locket and read aloud,

“A locket is a pendant for storing a photograph or other small memento, usually given to loved ones . . . it symbolizes something you want to cherish forever. . . ooh, Pawmot, that’s so sweet!”

It was supposed to contain a photo, but Nemona figured it probably had to be a physical photo. She didn’t have any of those. How did you even get physical photos? She did a little more searching and found out you could get any digital picture printed as a physical photo if you wanted. Great! So she could just use any of the pictures she had on her phone. She scrolled through her phone, trying to see if she had any really good shots of Pawmot. She found plenty of photos of Pawmot, but they hardly could be called ‘good.’ The majority were super blurry because Pawmot rarely stood still and Nemona wasn’t exactly great at snapping pictures. 

“Urgh, none of these will be clear when they’re really small. Hold on, let’s try to get a better shot.”

She aimed the phone at Pawmot.

“Smile, Pawmot! Lemme see those cute ‘lil cheeks.”

Pawmot came closer and shoved his face into the phone.

“No, back up, silly, that’s too close. Here.”

She nudged him back and tried taking some shots, but Pawmot squirmed and squeaked at her.

“Hold still, Pawmot, just for a second, okay? Ok, look at the camera!”

Pawmot bumped the phone again and jumped onto Nemona���s chest, nibbling on her face.

“Pawmot, c’mon!”

She struggled to get a proper photo, but the pokemon was way too wiggly and refused to sit still long enough. Eventually she gave up, sighing,

“Ok, ok, fine. Maybe I’ll try again when you’re sleeping?”

Pawmot shoved his way ontop of her again, smooshing his face against hers and chirping happily. Nemona pet his fluffy head and chuckled.

“Not that I really need a photo of you, huh? You’re already in my face pretty much always.”

Pawmot purred, his big ears twitching as she pet his soft fur. Nemona let her thoughts wander as she pet him and relaxed. As her mind lazily rotated around the memories of Juliana’s visit earlier, an idea occurred to her. 

A really amazing idea.

“Something you cherish . . .”

She scrolled through the photos on her phone again, until she landed on one that would be perfect.

“Yeah!”

So excited by her idea, she leapt to her feet (Pawmot slipping off of her) and grabbed her bag. It wasn’t too late yet, the shops should still be open. 

“C’mon, Pawmot! This shouldn’t take us too long, if we hurry.”

On the morning of the Winter Solstice, Nemona got up pretty early to make the trip out to Cabo Poco, packing some essentials in her bag and taking the first Air Taxi out there. It didn’t snow in this part of Paldea, but it was a pretty chilly morning, cold enough for Nemona to see her breath– she was glad she bundled up. When she arrived, she walked down the familiar path and let herself into the house with her key. 

The house was very empty and quiet. Truthfully, the house always felt pretty empty to her, but it felt even moreso this morning, with even the usual house staff gone for the holiday. Nemona did some basic tasks, taking in the mail and checking on some of the family’s pokemon. Her mother was particularly fond of Pachirisu, and she fed the hyper group of squirrels, all of whom seemed very excited to see her. It didn’t take Nemona long to finish the rest of her house chores. After she did, she got herself some breakfast, eating it while sitting on the couch in front of the massive TV. She sighed as she flipped through channels. A million different channels and yet it felt like nothing good was on. She left the station on some cartoon and tried not to think about anything in particular.

Inevitably, her thoughts turned to her friends, though. She wondered what they were up to. She hoped Arven and his grandmother were getting along well in Kalos. Arven had mentioned he was going to cook for her. She bet his grandmother would be very proud of whatever he made. Penny had made a big show of being annoyed about returning home for the Solstice, telling them about all the twee holiday traditions her dad was really into, but Nemona suspected that deep down, Penny was actually looking forward to it. Nemona hoped Penny didn’t take what she had with her dad for granted. 

And, of course, Nemona wondered about Juliana. Just down the path from her, so close, and yet so far away. Nemona’s chest ached just thinking about it, but she refused to give into self-pity. Juliana deserved the chance to catch up with her mom and have a nice holiday– Nemona wasn’t going to interrupt that. She sighed, deciding to make herself some tea. Maybe she’d put a movie on to watch.

Nemona was sipping her tea and in the middle of halfheartedly purusing her family’s streaming services for a movie when the doorbell chimed. Huh. That was weird, she was pretty sure there was no reason for anyone to drop by the house today. She moved to the foyer, hoping it wasn’t somebody from house staff that thought they needed to work today.

When she opened the door, she found a delivery man standing there, large box in tow.

“Hello! Have a package here for a . . . hmm . . .” The man checked his tablet.

“Nemona Sánchez?”

“Oh! Yep, that’s me, although I don’t remember getting any . . . oh, oh! Is this from Dragon Claw Sports?!”

She grabbed the box to check before the man could even reply and then exclaimed,

“It is!! Oh my gosh, this is fantastic! It got here on time!”

“Happy to hear. I just, um, I need a quick signature here . . .”

“Right, of course. Sorry.”

Nemona scribbled a messy signature and thanked the delivery man before hauling the box into her house with a grin. She had completely given up on the idea that Juliana’s gift would arrive in time, so this was a really big boost to her mood. Once she’d dragged it in, though, she realized she still needed to wrap it. Dang. There’s no way there was any wrapping paper around here. She wasn’t about to give up yet, though. Maybe she could find something that would work?

After a lot of digging, she managed to find some parchment paper in the kitchen. It took a surprising amount of work but eventually she was able to wrap the box after she found some scissors and tape, although when she finished, her wrap job still looked pretty lumpy and sloppy. She groaned, unhappy with the results. Not only was it really sloppy but the plain white paper was ugly, too. She tried to think of how she might make it look better. Nothing in this house was whimsical or pretty, not in a Solstice-presents sort of way, so it seemed an impossible task.

“Oh! Maybe . . .”

Nemona rushed to her bedroom. Clicking on the light, the room was very clean and stark, much like her dorm room at school. A long time ago, her room had been vibrant and colorful, covered in posters and fairy lights and wild decorations, but that was back before Nemona had been made self-conscious over such things. She’d painted over the walls and given away a lot of that stuff since then. 

But not all of it. Nemona got down on the floor and pulled a box out from under her bed. She rifled through the box for a bit, giving a satisfied, ‘Aha!’ once she’d landed on something useful. It was a sheet of pokemon stickers, bright, colorful, childish. Maybe a bit silly, but at least it was something. She went back downstairs and used the whole sheet of stickers on the box. It looked a lot better after that, and she smiled. 

It didn’t take long for Nemona to think of her next problem, though. Juliana was still busy enjoying the Solstice with her mom. She didn’t want to interrupt that, but at the same time, she wanted to get her gift to her. Should she just leave the box on her doorstep, maybe? Although somebody might swipe it, that’d be awful. It would take a pretty cold heart to steal a gift like that, sure, but the possibility still made her nervous. Well, she could always give it to her after the Solstice? 

Feeling very indecisive, Nemona took her phone out, typing out a text.

hi jules, sorry to bother you but I just wanted to let you know your gift arrived today

Juliana replied soon after.

 oh cool!!  you can bring it by if you want to :D or if you’re too busy with your family we can do it whenever

Nemona hesitated, then typed out,

ok. sure. we can do it after the solstice that’s fine. 

Juliana answered,

ok, if that’s what you wanna do, sounds good.

She went to sit back down on the couch, slumping. For some reason her stomach was twisted into a knot. What was wrong with her? Was she secretly hoping Juliana would want to drop everything just for her stupid gift? Ugh.

so how are things going? enjoying solstice with your folks?

Nemona blinked at the text. Her heart picked up speed, nervous. She hated lying, she hated it so, so much. Especially if it was to Juliana. Not that she ever had lied to her before, she couldn’t think of any time she did, although she did omit stuff sometimes. She’d hoped her family situation could remain a lie of omission, but that was tough with such a point-blank question.

well the solstice isn’t a super big deal for my family to be honest

She hoped being indirect would work.

wait, really??

yeah, we don’t do much for it. but that’s fine, I don’t mind.

After a bit, Juliana came back with,

so what’s everyone doing right now then?

Nemona stared at the question for a while, trying to think of how she could weasel out of this. She answered vaguely,

they’re working

working?? seriously? you tellin me your parents cant even relax at home on the solstice, damn. 

The guilt was getting to be too much. She tried to type out an excuse or just laugh it off, but she just couldn’t make herself do it any longer. She typed out her confession.

well they’re actually away on business right now

Juliana’s reply was rapid.

what?? wait so it’s just you and your sister then?

she’s with dad. family business stuff, they’re in unova. mom’s in kalos. 

so you’re ALONE?! 

yeah, but it’s no big deal jules, I’m used to it! I’ve spent a lot of solstices alone, so no need to worry.

This apparently was not the right way to convince Juliana that it was no big deal.

are you kidding me?? that’s horrible!! why didn’t you tell me sooner, I could have just invited you over to have solstice here!

I didn’t say anything because I don’t want to intrude on your family time. juliana, really it’s fine. it doesn't bother me

I cant believe they’d do that to you, thats so messed up

they’re just super busy is all

I dont care if they’re busy, they still should make time for their own daughter! theyre like NEVER around!!

jules, thank you for being mad on my behalf but i dont wanna make this about me. just go back to enjoying your solstice, ok? we can–

There was a knock at the door and Nemona grumbled.

brb theres somebody at the door again

As she walked to the foyer her phone bleeped again,

how am i supposed to enjoy it knowing youre sitting there all alone?

Nemona typed,

one sec ok

She pocketed the phone and opened the door. When she saw who it was, she sputtered a surprised,

“J-Jules–”

Juliana was clad in a cute Solstice turtleneck and her winter coat, a checkered scarf in her hands. She looped the scarf over Nemona’s head and gave it a little tug, pulling her close. Her hazel eyes sparkled as she said,

“You’re coming with me, tesoro, no excuses, no escaping. We’re gonna give you a happy Solstice this year.”

Nemona was doomed the moment she’d opened the door. How could she possibly resist this girl? She felt her resolve crumbling instantly, her cheeks heating up as Juliana held onto the scarf firmly with a smirk, as if daring her to try and escape. For some reason, she felt a little tongue-tied. 

“I-I-”

A laugh bubbled up from her chest and she agreed helplessly,

“Okay.”

They had to stop briefly for Nemona to get her coat and her bag– and then she realized she needed to grab Juliana’s gift too– but then they were off, walking down the path to Juliana’s house. Juliana’s eyes widened when she saw the gift.

“Whoa, that’s my present? It’s huge!”

“Mmm, yeah,” Nemona mumbled, glancing away and feeling a little self-conscious.

“I love all the stickers . . . man, I wonder what it could be. And you said it’s custom-made? Hmm . . . do I get any hints?”

Juliana was poking at the box, trying to see through the paper.

“Hey! No peeking! I thought you liked surprises, Jules.”

“I do, but I also hate waiting.”

Nemona laughed, 

“Well you won’t need to wait much longer, I promise.”

“Okay, but first we gotta get you some breakfast. Have you eaten anything yet?”

“Just some toast.”

“Oh, perfect.” Juliana took the steps to her house quickly and swung the door open, calling excitedly,

“Ma, we’re back, I got her!”

The woman that came to greet them was in an apron and had her hair tied back in a loose ponytail. She smiled warmly at Nemona; she had kind, hazel eyes and pretty features, the family resemblance obvious. 

“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you, Nemona. Oh, let me help you with that!”

“Oh, thank you! And it’s great to meet you too!”

The woman took the large box from Nemona and helped deposit it on the floor in the living room, right beside their Solstice tree and some other gifts. 

“I have to say it feels like I already know you, in a way. Juliana’s talked about you probably every single day since we’ve moved here,” the woman chuckled, wiping her hands on her apron. 

Juliana’s eyes widened and then she squirmed, looking embarrassed.

“Mommmm! C’mon, I don’t talk about her that much. . .”

Her mother smiled mischievously, ruffling Juliana’s hair.

“If you say so, dear. The two of us have already eaten, Nemona, but there’s plenty left over. Why don’t I serve you something, Juliana and I can enjoy our tea while you eat. Does that sound good?”

Nemona nodded, somehow feeling a bit more shy than usual. Well, it was Juliana’s mom– it was important that she liked her, she wanted to leave a good impression. 

“Y-yeah, that sounds great. Thank you!”

Nemona was treated to a full Unovan breakfast; eggs, bacon, crispy potatoes, toast with jam, and fluffy pancakes covered with fresh fruit. It was a much heavier meal than Nemona was used to for breakfast, but she had to admit that everything tasted amazing. She spent the time chatting with Juliana’s mother, learning more about where they used to live in Unova and where Juliana’s mother used to work; Juliana’s mom also had plenty of questions for Nemona, excited to hear more about her experiences during her first year at Naranja as well as the more recent adventures she’d been having, including a new school club she and Juliana were trying to start up. Juliana mostly let the two talk and would put in the occasional comment or exciting detail. 

Nemona found Juliana’s mother to be a very smart and surprisingly very funny woman– not to mention incredibly kind– and she took an immediate liking to her. And judging by just how much she already knew about Nemona, she was perhaps not exaggerating about how much Juliana had talked about her. It felt a little foreign for an adult to listen to Nemona so very intently and to clearly care so much about all the details of her life, for somebody to be so warm and encouraging and present. Well, it wasn’t entirely foreign, because Nemona had some wonderful teachers of course, but that wasn’t quite the same. Nemona found herself actually getting a little emotional over how quickly she felt welcomed into the household, how easily and effortlessly she already felt at home here.

After a very leisurely breakfast, Nemona helped clean up and then they went to the living room to open gifts. They had a little tree dressed in fairy lights and tinsel and a modest number of gifts sitting below it; the room was decorated with pinecones and sprigs of evergreen, a snowglobe on the coffee table and candles flickering merrily on shelves. The house was quite small compared to Nemona’s– the entire downstairs could practically fit into Nemona’s foyer alone. It also felt like the coziest, nicest home she had ever been in, and she was so grateful in the moment that she was here instead of sitting in the cold, empty house just down the path.

Opening gifts didn’t take too long, but it was very enjoyable to watch Juliana and her mother open their presents, especially to see Juliana’s reactions to Arven’s and Penny’s gifts. They had saved Nemona’s contribution for last, at Nemona’s insistence. In truth, Nemona was still nervous about Juliana’s reaction to her gift, even though there was no reason to be. When the time came, though, Nemona realized she still had another present she’d almost forgotten about.

“Right, one sec! I got something for your mom too.”

She got up to rush over to her bag and dig through it. She took a tiny box wrapped in gold paper and handed it to Juliana’s mother.

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you, thank you dear.”

“It was kind of a last-minute purchase,” Nemona confessed, sitting back down with a nervous smile. She’d seen it in the shops last night when she had gone out and they’d been good enough to wrap it there; she never expected she’d be able to give it to her in person, though, so this was a pleasant surprise. 

Once Juliana’s mother had torn the paper open, she exclaimed cheerfully,

“Oh, how lovely! Juliana, look.”

She held the box out for Juliana to see; it was a glass ornament in the shape of an Ice Tera Jewel.

“They’re really popular in Paldea, a lot of people put them on the very top of their trees. Like, erm, like the same way a Tera Jewel sits ontop a pokemon’s head, you know?” Nemona explained. Juliana laughed,

“I love that! What a good idea. We should put it up now!”

She fetched a stool to stand on and lugged it over to the tree.

“Careful, dear. Why don’t we have Nemona put it up there?”

“Oh, yeah, good idea. You do the honors, Nemona! Your arms are longer than mine anyway.”

Nemona laughed and took the ornament from her. She carefully placed it on the top, adjusting it until it looked perfect. They all admired it for a few moments. Juliana’s mother said,

“Very nice. It looks beautiful, Nemona.”

Nemona smiled,

“Yeah! Your tree’s terastallized now, heheh.”

“Okay okay but now it’s time for my last gift!!” Juliana said, clearly with other priorities in mind. She got down on the ground and grabbed the large box, her eyes glinting with excitement. Nemona sat back down on the couch and watched Juliana poke and prod at the gift, trying to see through the paper.

“I thought you wanted to open it,” Nemona commented, amused.

“It’s part of the ritual, okay?” Juliana said, knocking on the box as if that would somehow give her more information. Nemona gave a little snort. 

Apparently finished with her assessment, Juliana proceeded to tear the paper off with gleeful abandon, finding a plain box inside. She grabbed the pair of scissors to cut through the tape and open the box, rifling through the packing peanuts and flinging them all over.

When she pulled out the contents of the box, her eyes grew wide.

“Whoooa . . .”

Her mother said,

“Oh, goodness. Look at that!”

Juliana held aloft a large saddle. It was made of a rich, beautiful black leather and had a wide, comfortable-looking seat, looking similar to the higher-end saddles that Cyclizar were sometimes fitted with. Juliana seemed speechless, just gazing at it, and Nemona started to nervously ramble.

“It’s for Koraidon. Um, you remember the day I borrowed him? I took him in so they could take measurements and everything. They normally made saddles for Cyclizar so this was a bit unusual for them, but they were very thorough with it. It should fit him perfectly if they did their job right–”

Juliana cut her off with an excited,

“Nemona, this is incredible!”

Nemona smiled, relieved at her reaction– maybe more than she cared to admit. Juliana set the saddle down on the couch beside her, smoothing her hands over it.

“It’s so soft!”

Nemona nodded.

“Yeah, w-well, you know how you’re always saying your butt hurts after you ride Koraidon for too long, I wanted to fix that. It should feel even better once it’s broken in a little. Oh, and it should be more comfortable for Koraidon too! They made sure to make it well-padded. I also made sure they made the seat big enough for when we– uh, when we both ride him together . . .”

Juliana gave an excited squeal,

“It’s perfect! We should go try it on him now, let’s go!”

She started to haul the saddle to the door, Nemona laughing and following after. Juliana’s mother called,

“Juliana, don’t forget your coat! Goodness, that child is always in such a hurry . . . don’t forget your coat either, Nemona, dear.”

Nemona was grateful that the saddle fit Koraidon just as it was supposed to; she helped Juliana put it on and then they went out for a ride together. They raced along the path all the way to Los Platos, tearing through the sleepy town at high speeds, laughing all the way. Juliana wanted to go further but Nemona made her promise to not overdo the first journey out so they could break the saddle in gradually. They spent some time fooling about in Los Platos, enjoying the Solstice decorations and letting their pokemon romp around, then returned home. It was surprisingly still quite chilly out, the overcast skies and nippy breeze suggesting it might rain later. 

When the girls returned, Juliana’s mother made them some hot chocolate, and the two went up to hang out in Juliana’s bedroom. Juliana said she used to sit in front of a fireplace back in Unova during the Solstice, but her new house didn’t have one, which kind of bummed her out. Nemona joked she could always just sit in front of her Volcarona, but Juliana loved that idea. They gathered a bunch of pillows together on the floor and Juliana let her Volcarona out so they could sit there together, sipping their hot cocoa. Rain began to gently patter against the windows, and Nemona had to admit it felt incredibly cozy.

“So how’s your butt?” Nemona suddenly asked with a smirk.

“Whuh? Oh, pffft. It’s great! Way better than riding bareback. I could tell Koraidon liked it better too. Thank you again, Nemona, I love my present so much. And I love that it’s something we can enjoy together.”

Nemona's expression melted into something soft.

“I’m glad. To be honest, I was kinda nervous about getting you a gift. I must have spent weeks agonizing over it, so it’s a relief I did an okay job with it. Hold on, oof, getting too warm here.”

It was very toasty in front of Juliana’s snoozing Volcarona, so Nemona pulled her sweater off, tossing it aside. Juliana leaned against her and giggled,

“An okay job? You did fantastic. Also, you worry too much, I meant it when I said I would have been happy with anything, Nemona."

“I knooooow, but I still wanted to–”

Juliana’s eyes brightened as she suddenly exclaimed,

“Oh, yay! You’re wearing it now, that makes me so happy!”

Nemona glanced down and realized she was referring to the necklace she’d given her. 

“Oh, yeah! Of course. I’m gonna wear it every day.”

“What?? Aaaa, that’s so sweet, Nemona, you don’t have to!” Juliana buried her face into Nemona’s shoulder bashfully and Nemona laughed, 

“Of course I don’t have to, I want to!”

“Heehee, I’m so glad . . . oh!” Juliana looked at her with bright eyes, asking,

“Did you decide yet what you wanna put inside it? I thought I could help you take pictures of Pawmot if you want.”

Nemona’s smile disappeared and she glanced away, suddenly looking very shy. She mumbled,

“Oh um, well . . . I kinda, um, already put something in there . . .”

Juliana’s eyes widened.

“Oh wow, already? Can I see?”

Nemona looked to her, hesitating. She knew that of course Juliana would want to see, she’d always planned on showing her, of course she did, but now that she was faced with it in the moment, there was a sudden terror gripping her. What had seemed like such an incredible, brilliant idea late last night was starting to look like an awful, horrible idea now that Juliana was looking at her and wanting to see, oh god, what if she thinks it’s weird–

“What’s wrong?”

Nemona forced a laugh, grinning,

“Ahaa, nothing! ‘Course you can see, here . . .”

She took the little pokeball up with shaking fingers and depressed the button, revealing the little photo beneath. Juliana leaned in to see.

Then her eyes grew wide and she held a hand to her mouth in shock. The little photograph of Juliana’s face was very crisp and easy to make out– the photo printers at the store did an excellent job with it– so there was no mistaking what it was. Nemona’s heart was pounding and she was trying so hard not to start on her usual nervous rambling, but every second Juliana spent staring in silent shock was just killing her. 

Finally, Juliana’s brows curved inward and she squeaked in a high-pitched voice,

“Nemona . . .”

The trouble was that still did not clarify anything- was that good? Was that bad?? Nemona opened her mouth to start backpedaling like a champion, but before she could get a word out, she suddenly found herself in the tightest grip of her life, Juliana squeezing her so hard that it felt like she was trying her absolute best to suffocate her. Nemona grunted,

“Ulllk!”

With her face smooshed against her, Juliana squeaked,

“Nemona this is the single sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me ever in the history of ever??”

“J-jules– n-need air–”

Juliana loosened her grip a little, saying,

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just– gahhhh!” She buried her face in Nemona’s neck and squeezed her again, making adorable and completely indecipherable noises of joy. Nemona decided if she was going to suffocate this way, it was entirely worth it and she had zero regrets.

Eventually Juliana managed to pull away, though, her face flushed and her eyes just a little teary. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner, you coulda just– oh, my god, you– you were worried about it, weren’t you! You acted all worried when I asked, you silly Zangoose, why?”

Nemona smiled self-consciously and glanced away, answering shyly,

“I dunno, I guess I was worried that it, um, y’know, maybe you’d think it was a little . . . a little . . . too much? I-I–”

Juliana quickly hugged Nemona once again, saying earnestly,

“Never. You’re never too much, Nemona. Never hold back for me, never.”

Nemona felt as though a soft, rhythmic static was rumbling pleasantly inside her, echoing through her head and crackling under her skin, making it quite impossible to string a coherent thought together. She hugged Juliana back, not trusting herself to speak.

Still hugging her, Juliana giggled,

“To be honest, now I kinda wanna get a necklace too so we can match, and put a 'lil picture of you in there, tesoro."

Nemona’s face grew incredibly warm and the static grew impossibly louder, her heart stuttering in her chest. Some distant part of her mind managed to wonder if this was what people meant when they used the word ‘bliss.’

Juliana finally pulled away so she could look at her and ask,

"Would that be okay? I don't wanna make your present seem less special, so it's fine if you don't want-"

"Of course it'd be okay that'd be AMAZING!" Nemona blurted quickly. Juliana laughed, then said,

"Okay! Oh, wait, I gotta tell mom!! C'mon, let's go show her!"

Juliana bounded up and grabbed Nemona's hand, pulling her along. Nemona stammered,

"O-oh, um, w-we- okay-"

Juliana rushed downstairs, finding her mother in the living room, reading a book.

"Mom, look what Nemona put in her locket!!"

Nemona laughed nervously, not at all prepared for this but apparently this was a thing that was happening now. She held up the little pendant awkwardly and glanced away as Juliana's mother carefully examined it. She felt a blush rapidly spreading across her face.

"Well, now. Would you look at that."

Nemona's gaze flicked briefly to Juliana's mother. When they made eye contact, there was something very knowing in the older woman's eyes. Nemona quickly looked away again, reddening further.

"What a bold statement of devotion. Very beautiful, Nemona."

"Thanks," Nemona mumbled. Juliana exclaimed,

"I'm gonna get one too so we match! I gotta find the perfect picture for it."

Juliana's mother returned her focus to her book, smiling fondly.

"Why don't you borrow my camera, dear? I'm sure you'll be able to get a very lovely photo of Nemona with that."

"Ooh, yeah! Good idea! Thanks ma!"

The rest of the day was spent very comfortably: helping Juliana's mother with cooking, playing games in the living room while Juliana's Gengar and Nemona's Pawmot rough-housed, and later, when the rain eased up, walking along Nemona's litte piece of private beach. Juliana snapped so many photos, but her favorite one was a picture she snapped at the top of the lighthouse when the skies had cleared and the sun was beginning to set. She'd angled it so that the setting sun had given Nemona an orange, radiant glow. She said it suited her perfectly. They stayed out there on the lighthouse until the stars came out, just talking, breathing the sea air, and enjoying each other's company. They could see all the houses below glittering in their multicolored Solstice lights, in Cabo Poco, in Los Platos, and even further beyond into Mesagoza. It had never looked so peaceful and beautiful to Nemona before.

It turned out that it was a much, much happier Winter Solstice than Nemona had ever dared to dream.

#fluff #tropey #someone online said 'what if nemona's family is away on business during the holidays bc they're just barely ever around' #so here you go #pokemon #pokemon s/v #pokemon scarlet/violet #julinemo #terajules #julinemo fanfic

[mcofthemansion]

Hihi! Hugs! Currently a little bit obsessed with pokemon since the dlc for indigo disk comes out soon (4 days as of now when I'm posting this) so apologies if I'm not posting some pretty lovely otome guy/girl stuff for a little while...I just can't help but live and breathe pokemon until I have terapagos securely in my party! Little baby turtle must cuddle forever and ever!

So for now, I offer you random pokemon teams that remind me of my/your men for no particular reason : (Ikevamp) -> (Tears of Themis)

Arthur (Ikevamp) :

• Popplio -> Primarina line (Because Vic! Ok? I think I'm referring to one of my first posts)

• Applin -> Flapple (Because of that thing when you give someone an Applin you confess your feelings and ensure a happy future together, reminds me of the red ribbon thing ok!!! ><)

• Lillipup -> Stoutland (Remember in Alola how it helped you find stuff like a dowsing machine would in previous gens? It can be a detective-y pokemon! Yay! Also again...dog...Vic...yeah...still this one represents his detective skills)

• Happiny -> Blissey (Arthur's doctor skills and how much he cares! I can see him having a Blissey!)

• Mimikyu (His interest in the occult and its cute)

• Shiny Milcery -> shiny Alcremie (Reminds me of his love of fudge! It just does! Not much of an explanation but yeah, also the blue decorations!)

Isaac (Ikevamp) :

• Porygon-[2-Z] (It's a super math-y pokemon ok! Well at least the most math-y in my opinion, plus it levitates which I think Newt would find cool)

• Magnemite -> Magnezone (Idk it's a pokemon for really smart people and it's a super science-y and professor-y pokemon...so yeah...don't expect me to try and give a physics answer, my brain is fried)

• Applin -> Appletun (Enough said, just has to happen, it's a big cuddly sweet apple pie, Newt...apples...yeah...this one is sweet ok, also the romantic thing about Applin)

• Sandshrew -> Sandslash (Kanto to be exact! Because Harry, need I say more?)

• Hatenna -> Hatterene (Newt is super calm...so I can see a Hatenna sticking around him! It might cutely fall asleep at his desk with him)

• Togepi -> Togekiss (Newt had a thing with Theology, don't quiz me I'm tired, anyways in Sheild the dex entry is "Known as a bringer of blessings, it's been depicted on good-luck charms since ancient times" and I was like...awww Newt might like that...kind of a sweet angelic pokemon)

Napoleon (Ikevamp) :

• Rufflet -> Hisuian Braviary (Jupiter! Because, because, because)

• Honedge -> Aegislash (Have you seen his rapier? Enough said, the man can fight)

• Sewaddle -> Leavanny (Idk this always feels like a nurturing pokemon that I could see in a school as an assistant or smth so it would help out at L'École de Napoleon or smth like that)

• Riolu -> Lucario (It's a smart and just fighter, it fits! Plus it doubles Leon's coolness factor XD)

• Bagon -> Salamence (Bagon wanted a change so bad it happened! The whole flying thing...Leon gets it! He wanted to bring about some change pretty badly so they just kinda connect...plus it's a cool dragon!)

• Komala (Cute napping Koala to cuddle with...need I say more? Even more of a reason to sleep in)

Faust (Ikevamp) :

• Shroodle -> Grafaiai (Mephie! It's a poison type! Yay experiments!)

• Beldum -> Metagross (It's a smart person science-y pokemon that floats!)

• Elgyem -> Beheeyem (It loves experimenting with humans and thier memory so Faust would probably get a kick out of it!)

• Zorua -> Zoroark (He would be fascinated by the shape-shifting and it brings the coolness factor, sorta somewhat matches his vibes)

• Nacli -> Garganacl (It can hurt and heal with its salt powers which might get rather useful for Faust)

• Spiritomb (guy works as a priest...I'm assuming he's had experiences with funerals and stuff and I can see this as his ghost type pokemon)

That's about all for ikevamp for now!

Vyn (ToT)

• Deerling -> Winter Sawsbuck (Svart's animal is a deer...and Vyn's hair is white ok!)

• Petilil -> Liligant (His love of gardening and elegant things...it just kinda works)

• Ralts -> Gardevoir (seems like a pretty good psych nurse pokemon to help him out with the feelings stuff and all)

•Rowlet -> Decidueye (His love of Archery)

• Fidough -> Dachsbun (His love of sweet things! And pastries)

• Sinistea -> Polteagiest (Authentic! Just because that's the Vyn-est thing he could get in pokemon!)

Marius (ToT)

• Gimmighoul -> Gholdengo (He's a rich fun loving CEO...explain to me why excitable money made surfing ghost isn't up his alley!)

• Smeargle (Artist...yeah...enough said)

• Ekans -> Arbok (His symbol is a purple snake...I couldn't not do this!)

• Luvdisc (Our Marius is sort of a flirt!)

• Pikachu (It's fluffy and as in the public eye as he is...probably felt a lot in common)

• Rotom (I associate Pax with tech so...yeah...idk...it just fits in my mind)

Anyways! Thanks for letting me ramble! Should I do this with other guys?

#pokemon #tears of themis #tears of themis Vyn richter #tears of themis marius von hagen #ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp arthur #ikevamp isaac #ikevamp napoleon #ikevamp faust #hugs

[stardustcentral95]

Everyone knows that Jaiden has said that she hasn't seen the code entity yet but in actuality she HAS but she didn't know that that was what it was.

This clip makes me think two things ever since philza had confirmed that the code was an egg.

The first is that Quackity was saving money by using the eggs actors to also fill the role of Cucurucho as well as the code, that canonically the eggs have no relationship with anyone else that they play as

My second theory is that there IS a connection between who the actors play. If Bobby was also playing as the code then there could be a reason that Bobby has never attacked Jaiden as he is her mom and it is shown that bobby acts nothing short of an angel near here (a big mamas boy). I don't watch Roiers perspective so I don't know if this theory holds true but it's also shown that Bobby amd Roiers is the complete opposite of his and Jaidens. While Roier is still nice to Bobby he also goofs around with him and both are equally assholes to each other so if Bobby did attack HIM it would make sense because both like getting on each other's nerve and Bobby loves pissing him off.

I don't have an answer for the time Bobby and Roier were both attacked by the code but I suspect that that was another eggs doing to fill in to not make Bobby seem unfair because he was the code and couldn't attack himself.

Just a theory tho so take everything with a grain of salt :p

#qsmp jaiden #qsmp bobby #qsmp headcanons #qsmp code entity #qsmp roier #roier #jaiden animations #bobby chingon #qsmp gegg #qsmp philza #philza #qsmp quackity #qsmp osito bimbo #qsmp forever #qsmp cucurucho #qsmp federation #qsmp cellbit

[thenixkat]

[id: A three-panel sequence from the Pokemon manga featuring a conversation between Wicke, Faba, Moon, Professor Kukui, and Professor Burnet. Faba and Wicke are in the first two upper panels. Moon and the professors are in the last panel.

Wicke: It was most likely hurt by Team Skull, because, well...

Wicke: This year there have been 45 cases of them abusing pokemon...

Faba: Assistant branch chief Wicke, you mustn't jump to conclusions. There have been more cases than usual, though.

Moon: Is that true?

Faba: Yes. Twenty-nine cases of assault... eleven destructions of habitat... and 5 cases of being sold as food. But there may be more considering how some cases are ignored or left unreported. /end id]

Ok so say we take the listed crimes of manga Team Skull with a grain of salt since, the pokemon manga really likes to make things more violent to a degree that feels cartoonish to me. And we cross out the shit that we know they do b/c the Aether Foundation/Lusamine pays them to do in searching for 'what does anime Team Skull do to pay the bills'.

So we have to cross out habitat destruction and pokemon abuse b/c we know that the Aether Foundation pays Team Skull to fuck shit up and harm pokemon in a way that means that the Aether Foundation can confiscate and rehabilitate those pokemon.

Only crossing out the assault b/c the assault isn't tied to robbery. It's fairly reasonable to assume that Team Skull does some assaults. That they're ready and willing to start shit with people that piss them off for one reason or another. And I think it is especially reasonable to belive that Guzma beats the fuck out of people that piss him off outside of pokemon battles. He's a violent dude with a violent temper and we know he's willing to lay his actual hands on someone and especially hates when people give his crew a hard time.

(I don't think it'd be shit to the extent of what he does in the manga, like the manga version of Guzma doesn't seem to care about his grunts and is willing to be violent towards them when the other versions of the character don't come across that way. And also I'm not willing to belive a ref in any other iteration of the franchise outside of the manga would let him whole ass break his opponent's arm/having his pokemon attack the other trainer and let that slide over ending the fight and declaring him the loser)

Now the selling pokemon as food, and I have to assume its poaching and selling protected pokemon as food or illegally harvesting things from places that's its illegal to or selling a person's stolen pokemon as food, rather than just selling pokemon as food in general. B/c people do eat pokemon, there would be people raising, harvesting, or selling pokemon as food.

And poaching would be something they could profit off of and we do see the grunts illegally harvest pokemon in the anime. Not to any success but we do see it.

Another money-making thing we see Team Skull do in the manga that isn't related to the Aether Foundation is run food carts/sell food. (Which is neat b/c manga!Guzma seems to be able to cook and care about making good/quality food)

So of the things just on hand for potential possible ways anime Team Skull are financially supporting themselves we have: battling (off-screen from Plumeria and Guzma), running food carts/selling food, poaching, and illegally selling pokemon as food.

#nix meows #described #team skull #pokemon #pokemon sun and moon #guzma #plumeria

[valiisthea]

Sighs not my FFVII muses coming back because of Rebirth. I've sort of shelved Roche for now since I am enjoying getting to write with one vs writing him for now but he does still exist if wanted.

I'm gaining a lot of muse for Zack and Tifa on top of already having Reno, Leslie, Biggs, and Wedge.

But also my brain is still in a very bad place and everything changes in me at the drop of a hat so take it with a grain of salt.

It was really nice to be able to write some FF16 again too! Though for some reason, it was much easier to slip into Barnabas than it was Dion who I mained for HOW LONG sheesh.

Grief and anger mentions beneath the snip snip.

I'm stuck in the 'anger' portion of my grief. I have 3 free therapy sessions through my insurance specifically to address grief that I will be going to starting next week. But the anger is really starting to be coming intrusive and concerning. I'm misplacing it too. I can notice all of this AFTER the fact, but I can't seem to stop myself in the heat of the moment. Like, my dogs pissed me off so much last night that I legitimately threw a (very small) vacuum at my door. I also slammed a lot of doors and screamed incredibly loudly into a pillow before storming out of the house and angrily marching around dollar general until I felt okay enough to come home. My anger does not ever get taken out on people or animals, even when they're the reasoning behind it, so I'm really really glad for that. But I am not the 'throwing a vacuum, running out of the house, slamming doors" kind of person and I didn't like any of that at all. But I felt so out of control in the moment.

I do think the anger and lack of patience is from the grief. I think I flutter in and out of the anger stage of grief and sometimes it just gets to be too much and I'm overstimulated and I just sort of...lose it. So I'm glad I'll have the therapy to address that. As soon as I calmed down I was booking appointments so damn fast because it is NOT acceptable behavior.

Aside from that, things have been okay at best. I just want my grandma and she's not here and she will never be here again and it's not fair to her. I struggle with it every day. I know it's only been a month (on sunday) and that it's still fairly fresh, but I didn't expect it to still be eating at me THIS intensely at this point.

I miss my fiance. I want him to come back desperately.

I want to write more, I think it's helping a bit to get some anger and frustration out but my motivation is so lacking, I feel like I cannot start anything without my hand being held.

On a happier note....I started playing pocket frogs again and those lil froggies are so damn cute. If nothing else, I have my froggo babies. And my best friend has been shiny hunting pokemon at night for me to fall asleep to so I don't feel so alone. I super appreciate that so much. AAAAND Stuart has been playing Rebirth a little bit every afternoon too so I can see the game/story since I don't have a ps5 so that's been nice too <3

#tw: long post #tw: grief #tw: loss #tw: anger

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 25 Review - The Grand Finale Of The First Chapter

Wow, they went all out for the grand finale of the first chapter. Everything’s so action-packed, fast-paced and there are some satisfactory conclusions mixed in as well. Nothing feels too rushed and the build up for future events is present as well. I cannot decide which episode of the Liko and Roy’s Departure chapter was the best, but I cannot deny that this episode was amazing.

Right from the get-go, everyone’s moving around and battling. Friede gets a battle. Liko and Roy gets a battle. Sango and Onyx gets some spotlight. I can’t believe OLM actually had guts to be able to fit everything into one episode without the need to gloss over important detail like what they did with Episode 23. The Friede vs. Amethio battle finally got a conclusion after four rounds of teasing around. Friede was basically holding back all this time because he’s clearly a very strong and strategic battler. He looked as if he was going to lose to Amethio, but decides to use Terastalizing to essentially get the type advantage and beat Amethio since Ceruledge is part Ghost-type. It’s weird how Terastal can be used in Galar, but I think Terapagos might be the biggest reason for that.

Speaking of battles, Liko and Roy battle Amethio’s goons once again and Liko finally gets an on-screen win against Onia; man, she should’ve gotten that on-screen win back in Episode 5—THAT WAS TWENTY EPISODES AGO. It’s too bad that they could only knock out Golduck as the battle against Zirc’s Rhydon was postponed due to Sango and Onyx’s arrival. Had they stayed a bit longer, Roy could’ve gotten his first win against Zirc too. Oh well, at least the kids are finally improving. Also, I’m surprised that Liko knows how to use a Pokeball as she finally returned Hatenna back to her Pokeball four episodes after her capture.

Sango and Onyx are very formidable enemies. They were not clowning around at all, despite them getting beaten by Captain Pikachu of all Pokemon. Cap shows that even if Friede isn’t with him, he can still move around independently, as shown back in Episode 22 and now this episode. Onyx shows that he does not seem to care about the safety of wild Pokemon as his Garganacl’s Salt Cure had gotten to them; his Garganacl is also the first Pokemon to use Wide Guard in the anime. In contrast to Sango, Onyx is very composed and only lashed out at her when she was getting reckless. On the other hand, Sango is a gremlin. She can be very impatient and hot-tempered. The faces she make easily stole the show, especially since she was yelling at Captain Pikachu—they share the same voice actress, so it’s basically Ikue Otani screaming at herself. The fact that she makes her Glalie use Self-Destruct was clearly something I wasn’t expecting and I commend the writers for being a bit creative with the move choices for the villains’ Pokemon.

Other than the amazing action scenes, world building is also implemented here as Diana reveals three important things in this episode:

She is shown to have Lucius’s diary and an ancient belt in her possession, most likely belonging to Lucius.

She reveals that the Explorers were once Lucius’s companions, meaning he had human companions during his travels. If Terapagos was angry at Amethio, that means the Explorers had betrayed him or they turned over a bad leaf later on? This really intrigues me.

She reveals the identities of the remaining Hero Pokemon. Lucius companions are: the black Rayquaza, Arboliva, Galarian Moltres, Lapras, Kleavor, and Entei. These are very interesting choices, especially Kleavor. How will Kleavor and Hisuian Pokemon be implemented into the story? Will they implement what the Teal Mask DLC introduced to the universe and have it so that the Hisuian Pokemon aren’t extinct but off in distant lands to preserve their species? I’m very curious to see how the last three Hero Pokemon will be introduced and which regions it will take place in.

The way everything played out here really makes me hyped for the next chapter in the Rising Volt Tacklers’ adventure. I want to unravel these mysteries as much as they do! I’m super excited for what future episodes will show! What are your thoughts to the grande finale of the first chapter?

#anipoke #pokemon horizons #liko #sprigatito #terapagos #roy #fuecoco #friede #charizard #captain pikachu #diana #arcanine #lucius #amethio #ceruledge #zir #rhydon #conia #golduck #hamber #dusknoir #sango #glalie #onyx #garganacl #review #anime #anime review #ecargmura #arum journal

[kafus]

random thought but my feelings on Blanca as a character are so complicated, like more than they should be. realistically blanca cares a lot for her daughter and while overbearing has dot's best interests in mind, but her behavior during HZ041 just makes me Sooo uncomfortable. like more than i expressed in my big "dot being a recluse means a lot to me" post. i am really glad that the episode handles her in a nuanced fashion because it shouldn't be normal or healthy to spam a bunch of angry stickers when someone you message doesn't respond instantly, and it's unnerving to me that blanca was somehow unaware of gurumin existing (if dot was truly hiding it that well from her, that's also concerning, like it's normal for young people to do want to do things without their parents being involved as they start growing older but that's kind of a massive thing to not mention to your mother at all and dot seriously doesn't tell her mother anything... her overbearing nature affected dot that much. that's a lot)

this is not a proper analysis post i'm just sort of airing out my thoughts, they've been haunting me a little bit lol. i have similar complex feelings about liko and her parents. the level of danger liko was thrown into at the beginning of the anime felt negligent and her parents are just weirdly distant and hands off to the point of concern. obviously liko needs to be away from her parents for the whole setting and plot to work but that doesn't mean it isn't strange. pokemon protags are children who get into dangerous situations but usually they opt to ignore family themes for the most part, and horizons actively focuses on it, making you notice it. her openly confessing to roy that she doesn't know her grandma like at all and only finding out that she was going to leave the airship because she overheard it while eavesdropping... yikes

this isn't to say anyone in either of their families are Bad People, or don't love their kids, it's just complicated and as a victim of neglect and abuse i really pick up on the smaller bits between the lines here, idk. but i think it's interesting and i'm glad horizons handles it the way it does. and also obviously the two of them have really amazing influences in their lives on the brave asagi and have adult support so it's not like they're devoid of care.

anyway again take me with a grain of salt i'm just rambling my mouth off because i'm autism hyperfocused as fuck

#kiki was here #kiki.txt #anipoke spoilers #pokemon horizons spoilers #unfortunately the relationship between the kids and their parents here reminds me a lot of my own #like i love my parents. and they love me #but damn if its not complicated #horizons

[focusontheheart]

Meet the Team Lead - Cthu

Up next is the Lead for the Drakka route, with an ever-quick wit and a wonderful way with words, it's the one and only @cthu-boo! You can find her on Twitter @cthulovesyou, and on AO3 as CthulhuButCute!

I’m a cat mom to three cats and one human who is trapped in a cat’s body, and married to someone who I’m pretty sure is a cat trapped in a human’s body. My first ever fanfics were written on lined paper and they featured my friends as Pokemon (back when there were 151, don’t do that math.) Since then I’ve written fic on and off for anime and video games, but Horizon is the first time I’ve gotten involved in a community of like-minded people and I’m grateful for the friends I’ve made along the way. I’m a big Draloy, Niloy, and Niloyakka shipper because they’re all just so attractive, ok? But really thinking about people smooching is like, most of my day.

Q&A with Cthu below the cut!

What is a favorite piece of work you've done (completed/ working on/ in-concept)?

I took a long hiatus from writing fanfic, and am a very slow writer in general so I don’t have any completed longfic for Horizon. However, I do have a series of VERY SMUTTY one-shot compilations in “Scraped from Salt and Rust,” a handful of Nil + the Gauntlet Squad one-shots in “In A Day”, and probably my favourite piece, “The Bachelor Party”, which is a companion to Didi’s “Number of the Beast” series.

What are some of your favorite tropes (to read/ write/ draw)?

Oh my god, forced proximity, fake dating, ONE BED. Really I just love making my barbies kiss in fandom, ok?

What is an unexpected thing or fun fact about you?

Uh, in my adult life my jobs have ranged from retail assistant manager to welder to body removals!

What has been your favorite thing about working on this project so far?

Getting an inside look at the thoughts of a whole community of talented people.

#focus on the heart #foth #foth dating sim fangame #foth visual novel fangame #meet the team: leads #team lead (drakka) : Cthu