#season: watchog

[uncle-dusknoir]

camp worry seed could have just been a movie

ten episodes at just over a half-hour long each. a watchog streaming original.

During the Munna-Munna Forest Camp Dreamseed's off-season, a group of 12 teenagers sneak in to celebrate the start of their Journeys and investigate rumors of a rare Pokemon that's been spotted around the area. Their excitement turns quickly into a nightmare as members of the group keep going missing.

Despite its well-worn premise and surprisingly unique villain, Camp Worry Seed doesn't do anything unique or honestly even memorable with its large cast or just under six hours of runtime. It does little to no work to make you care about most of the cast other than the three that make it to the end. So much of its runtime is wasted on the villain's perspective, which really just kills any tension that they thought they were building up, especially by episode 5.

This doesn't make it all bad, thankfully. A star is redeemed for the acting, which was refreshingly competent despite the lines that they were fed. Unfortunately, these actors really cared about the series they were telling, which shows in the care they put into it. I hope that next time they'll be able to find themselves caring for a better show.

You can check here for my full review with spoilers.

OOC cut baby. yeah originally I was going to write a full review with spoilers but I lost motivation as soon as I realized i was going to have to make up 10 entire episodes. but for the sake of RP and my own record, here's the basic extended plot!

Cast of characters, in order of importance (how long they survived basically. first three made it out alive)

Tobias and Lillipup; Sarah and Purrloin; Melody and Snivy; Marcus and Patrat; Daisy and Munna; Archie and Sandile; Thomas and Pansear; Delia and Oshawott; Valerie and Tepig; Occa and Darumaka; Persim and Panpour; Jacob and Trubbish.

Jacob was the 'bully' archetype and was taken first so that the teens weren't that offput. Occa and Persim are siblings and were taken at the same time. Delia and Valerie were rivals; their fighting got Valerie taken, and Delia was guilty and went to find her. Thomas and Archie were taken offscreen at different times to up the tension. Marcus killed Daisy because he thought she was committing the murders, and the last three left Marcus behind when they were escaping because he murdered Daisy.

The actual killer was a were-person Houndstomb that ate human souls who had an army of Greavard. The special effects for him were really good. They focused on him a lot, though, which killed the mystery.

A lot of the dialogue was very cliche and cheesy.

#basilblogging #basils movie reviews #((FAKE SERIES IT IS NOT REAL))

[teamsunfluff]

(@ask-a-staravia) "Do you have any friends here in Cosmos town?" Mukudori asked the pair of Shaymin. "Or, um, at least Pokemon you know? What are they like?" He added hastily at the end.

"Oh yeah, we know a fair amount of residents due to how involved the whole town is with the refugee program here," Kaji said. He gestured towards the bar across the room, where a Tinkaton was cleaning out some glasses. "We already introduced her, but that's Ilva. She's the owner of this café, The Gigaton Brew. She can come off as a bit brash at first, but she's just very passionate about her job and confident in her craft.

"Then there's Prisca. She's a shiny Mightyena Absol crossbread who is a traveling merchant that comes by Cosmos Town every once in a while with rare materials. She really enjoys spelunking, so she finds all sorts of stuff, ranging from evolution stones to maps for other dungeons, the works. Normally she only stays in Cosmos Town for a week before she heads out again, but due to the recent incident at Sky Peak, she's settled in for a time until the guild can ascertain how safe it is to venture out of the town's radius again.

"Speaking of the guild, the Cosmos Town guild is run by a shiny Rapidash named Hrímfaxi. Guildmaster Hrímfaxi is a pretty stern guy, but I think that comes with the territory of being a seasoned explorer. He's seen some things and doesn't want to see those mistakes or tragedies repeated. He's also in charge of investigating what happened at Sky Peak, which is why we're staying at the guild currently. We're key witnesses," Kaji explained.

"He's tried to be gentle with us though, I can tell," Avin cut in. "The incident was... extremely traumatic, so while he definitely wants information from us, I think he's trying to let us adjust to being here first before he does any sort of interrogations."

Kaji nodded. "Much to the chagrin of his vice guildmaster, Mefitis. The two of them were apparently famous explorers once upon a time as Team Midnight? We'd never heard of them but when the Rapidash Scolipede duo opened up a guild, their reputation was enough that they had people in a line out the door and down the road. Or so Ilva says.

"We've also met a fair few of the guild members. Not all of them, since a lot of the teams operate out of their own bases, but the apprentices and staff all stay on site so when we were first given a tour we got to meet all of them.

"Firstly, there's six main staff members: Circe, Otrera, Cluri, Arnold, Roksana, and Kiko. Otrera is the primary doctor on staff, with Circe being her apprentice. The two of them make for a great healing duo since Otrera has natural healing abilities as an Audino, while Circe can handle some patients that Otrera can't, like ghost-types or ones who can only be reached via flying. They usually stay on site but sometimes are sent out during major disasters, like at Sky Peak," Kaji elaborated.

"Cluri is the main chef for the guild. Supposedly her name is short for something but in all candor, she kinda scares me. I can’t decide if it’s just the creepy vibes she gives off as a Morgrem or if it’s because she seems to intimidate the other recruits too, but, she seems like the type you don’t want to mess with, at least in my opinion.

“Arnold and Roksana are the tag team that handles sentry duty. That Boltund Watchog duo can't be beat! They're also an exploration team that graduated a few winters ago, which probably explains why they have such good synergy. Supposedly they caught a couple outlaws who were trying to mascarade as a guild team last year, all because Arnold recognized their scent!

"Then there's Kiko. She's in charge of changing out the job mission and outlaw boards. Apparently she's got a cousin who changes out those requests at a guild in the west too? She often talks about how cool it is that she can go into the ocean when he can't. I'm not really sure what she means by that, but if it makes her little Wiglett-self happy then so be it!" Kaji said with a laugh.

"Oh and then," Avin interjected, "There's the other apprentices. Besides us, there's eight other apprenticing members at the guild that make up three teams. There's Team ZipZop, which primarily focuses on water rescues and missions. Cosmos Town is really close to the ocean so having a team consisting of largely water-types is handy for that. Being a Dreepy, Lich is really fast so they're able to scout out ahead for any danger or people in need of rescue! Then Dre, Rami, and Ju can come in and perform the rescue itself. Between Dre's flotation devices, Rami's schooling ability, and Ju's swift flying and diving, they're able to pretty quickly get people out of the water and to safety!

"Then there's Team RockyShock. Their leader is Fen, an older apprentice at the guild, who took Deli and Vulcan under his wings to form the team. And I do mean that literally, since Fen is an Oricorio. They're currently operating mostly in the Northern Desert region, since Deli and Vulcan are rock and ground-types respectively and still need to get used to the ins and outs of exploring. It's a bit rough on Fen, but he says they're doing pretty well for being newer apprentices.

"Lastly, there's Donahue, a solo explorer and the only member of Team X-Scissor. You wouldn't think a Ninjask would be able to hold his own, but Donahue's a really skilled fighter and rescuer. He's also the apprentice that's been at the guild the longest, so all the others sorta look up to him. I think he's set to graduate soon too? I'll need to ask him more about it."

Kaji lightly smacked his paws on the table in excitement. "Oh! And of course we can't forget-"

"Adam!" Avin said excitedly. The two Shaymin laughed together before turning to Mukudori. "Adam was one of the first non-guild members we met in Cosmos Town. He actually really wants to be part of the guild, but he's failed the entry exam three times already because he gets too scared and runs away. We were thinking of offering to help him train to see if it would calm his nerves down a bit."

Kaji nodded. "He seems like a really nice guy. You wouldn't think a Garchomp would be so easily intimidated by the entry exam, but given we didn't technically take it ourselves... well... we don't actually know what it entails, so best we can do is help him train and hope it works, right?"

"Sorry, I know that was probably more than you were expecting," Avin said with a chuckle, "Did you want to ask about any particular details?"

Ask Hints have been Updated!

#shaymin #teamsunfluff #ask a staravia #pokemon mystery dungeon #written ask blog #pokemon ask blog #avinshaymin #kajishaymin #chrono #thanks for the ask!

[making-dough]

Fishy Business - & Helbindi

It’s time for the seasonal fishing tournament! This year, however, it seems a strange mixture of fish has been added to the pond. Why do these fish have teeth!? And why does this one give off an electrical shock!? Some anglers might find this just an exciting change to the ordinarily boring tournament, but others might feel they need to investigate the sabotage… Or perhaps YOU’RE the one who dumped these exotic fish in the pond. [grants Axe +1]

♠  ~ “Hey, did you hear? There are some really weird fish in these ponds.”

“Yeah, huge ones. With teeth. And fangs!”

Well, they weren’t exactly kidding about the teeth, Farina had to admit to herself, glaring into the jaws of a particularly squirmy eel she’d only just managed to fish up, her rod and tackle still lying nearby. Well, some kind of eel-like thing anyway. Long, thin and way too slimy. And were they supposed to be yellow and spotty and have that many teeth? Razor sharp teeth at that. 

Well, it wasn’t as if she was any kind of marine expert, she supposed, shrugging her shoulders and lazily kicking back at the stagnant waters, splashing merrily. With armoured boots on, of course. Things like this often have buddies. Buddies that like to nip at bare feet and she’d very much like it if her feet were un-nipped, thank you very much. 

Still, she could feel them trying. Slowly nibbling away at metal and leather and cloth, piece by piece. She gave the water another firm kick, splashing wildly, trying to scare off any more wrigglers from encroaching on her boots and greaves. Leaning back down all the way until her back hit the ground, Farina turned back to study at her newly captured specimen. Well, she says ‘study’, she really means more like ‘wrestle with’, grunting slightly as long eel flopped and struggled in her hands. She’s, uh, not really an expert of any kind on the subject after all.

Well, she didn’t particularly need to be an expert to know that something else was up. These wasn’t exactly the sort she’d normally fish out of that damned pond. Might be dangerous. Those teeth clearly weren’t just for show. She could feel its buddies coming back for an appetiser. And speaking of stuff being up, since when was there a giant shadow blocking her sunlight? 

Glancing up from where she was still lying down wrestling with her eel, Farina spied a towering giant of a man marching past. Darkened skin and a wicked-looking horn on his forehead. He didn’t seem like the sort she’d seen before. Somehow, he didn’t even seem to notice her as he made his own way down, seemingly unaware of what was wriggling beneath. “Hey, buddy!”, Farina called out in warning. “I, uh, wouldn’t recommend goin’ down there! There’s all kinds of nibblers in there! Like this one! They’ll-ouch!” Almost in reflex, Farina lifted a leg out of the water, to reveal another wriggling eel clinging onto her heel. Well, it was more annoying than painful but it was starting to be nuisance nonetheless....

@ashtodust​

#season: watchog #to rise out of the earth and into flame: helbindi #the sound of sparkling coins: ic #{and here it is...as promised...one fishing starter!}

[nellie-dritz-official]

Wait a minute. I just realized something completely bullshit with Gen.9 coming so soon.

With the announcement of Gen.9 on the horizon, we basically have confirmed that among all the Gen.8 games (SWSH, BDSP, and Arceus, you *still* cannot get every Pokémon in the National Dex. Specifically:

Yungoos and Gumshoos

The three elemental monkeys

Ducklett and Swanna

Sewaddle, Swadloon, and Leavanny

Patrat and Watchog

Alomomola

Furfrou and all it’s forms

Crabrawler and Crabominable

Scatterbug, Spewpa, and Vivillon. Including all the butterfly variants

Skiddo and Gogoat

Pikipek, Trumbeak, and Toucannon

Chespin, Quilladin, and Chesnaught

Minior

Flabébé, Floette, and Florges, including all the flower variants (these appear to be in the Gen.9 games thanks to screenshots, but still…)

Tepig, Pignite, and Emboar

Snivy, Servine, and Serperior

Oricorio and all it’s forms

Deerling and Sawsbuck and all it’s forms (especially insidious since their season mechanic has basically been scrapped since Gen.FIVE)

Blitzle and Zebstrika

Litleo and Pyroar

Meloetta and it’s Form

Hoopa and it’s Form

Bruxish

Froakie, Frogadier, and Greninja, nor Ash Greninja (BIG shocker right here, like what the hell?)

Fennekin, Braixen, and Delphox

Komala

Tynamo, Eelektrik, and Eelektross

All Pikachu with hat variants

Because of this, the Pokémon Company have firmly told every player wanting to complete the National Dex that they *must* have every game, and utilize every transfer feature.

But wait, that’s not the bad part.

This is:

This includes digital versions of all Gen.7 games, all Demo versions of each game (bye bye Ash Greninja, Pikachu with hats, Totem Pokémon!) and Pokemon Bank.

And since they didn’t include every Pokemon in Gen.7, this is now a goddamn strangle and tangled web of ensuring players can even complete a National Dex.

And what will happen when the Switch Eshop is closed down? Or what about other exclusive variants? What is to be the fate of those exclusive Forms????

God this franchise has gotten down bad.

I just escaped World of Warcraft, I really don’t have the stress for another frustrating franchise. 😣

#pokemon problems #pokemon criticism #Pokémon vent

[cobblepottery]

Pokemon?

Mollie forgive me I’m not actually super knowledgable about Pokemon but I’ll try my best because I do love those little guys

the first mon i ever fell in love with:

I had a Charmander stuffed animal as a very small child, that counts right? I used to suck on its little flame tail. It got all matted and disgusting.

a mon that i used to love/like, but now do not:

Squirtle was my starter for the first game (which I never beat because I played it on my friend’s Gameboy). I don’t really hold a lot of nostalgia for ol’ Squirtle even though I still think it’s the best of the OG starters

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not:

can’t believe I actually have an answer for this. so I watched Pokemon 4ever. (you may know where this is going.) and I was lowkey shipping Ash and Sam. until the end of the movie where it is revealed that Sam was young Professor Oak the whole time. screams of horror

my ultimate favorite mon™:

SWINUB. THINKING ABOUT SWI. THINKING ABOUT NUB. THINKING ABOUT SWINUB.

prettiest mon:

Snivy is my overall favorite starter and I think all its evolutions are gorgeous also

my most hated mon:

Watchog

my OTP:

Jessie and James obviously. Is there any other answer

my NOTP:

Ash’s Mom/Mr. Mime

favorite episode:

I haven’t watched many episodes of the anime so I’m going to reminisce about that scene in Black and White where you and N go on the most ominous ferris wheel date ever

saddest death:

IN POKEMON??? jk i’m assuming it’s that scene where Ash gets petrified to stop the pokemon from fighting each other. i don’t remember what happens

favorite season generation:

Generation V

least favorite season generation:

Generation... II? I feel like it has a lot of stinkers

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate:

I think Dragonite is a piece of shit and a complete letdown from the vastly superior Dratini/Dragonair lineage

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave:

everyone always is so mean about the ‘item’ pokemon like Klefki and Litwick but I love every single item pokemon go away i don’t care if its uncreative character design

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave:

Swinub again because I think it deserves better than to evolve into Piloswine and Mamoswine both of which are ugly

my ‘this mon is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship:

all mon are good mon.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, but i’m not too invested’ mon:

Okay so for this post I was looking at a list of pokemon I’d written up a while ago that I know I kinda like and one of the items was Metanite->Mettaton (where Metanite evolves into Mettaton). When I google these I do not get Pokemon. I’m 100% sure that I was referring to real Pokemon when I wrote this but for the life of me I don’t remember what. Pretty sure they’re Steel-type. Can you help me out here

[hay-and-ame]

X-Men: Pokemon AU

at some point i stopped being able to tell the different between this and a daemon au but here we are, the X-Men Pokemon AU no one asked for. based on the 90s tv series

Jean:

Arcanine (Argus) her service pokemon, given to her as a growlithe by charles when she was younger. he didn’t evolve until after jean had graduated. service pokemon generally aren’t taught how to fight, since they have to take care of their handler, but argus is a special case. living with the x-men isn’t like living with any regular family, it’s dangerous, there’s always one occupational hazard or another, and everyone has to be able to defend themselves. jean taught argus how to fight; he now doubles as her service arcanine and her battle buddy. argus is also very close with scott’s donphan, to where he gets cranky if he doesn’t get the chance to spar with him

Storm:

Jolteon (Javier) storm found javier as an eevee while wandering cairo. they teamed up to survive the streets and before they knew it they were a pair; storm informally adopted him. he didn’t evolve until they had formally joined the x-men and had access to the evolution stones. they’d talked beforehand about when and if he wanted to evolve and what into; it was no surprise to anyone when javier chose the thunderstone. when storm flies, he hitches a ride on her shoulders

Gambit:

Watchog (Wylan) wylan has as keen an eye for card games as gambit does. he was one of the few pokemon to get a victory over savannah by sheer chance when he was on the losing end. he and gambit are partners in crime to the end. he’s quick with his attacks like gambit’s quick with his cards.

Rogue:

Tauros (Thumper) rogue’s first pokemon, not the usual starter, but that’s what happens when you live in the country. she wasn’t trying to catch him, but she did, and nicknamed him “thumper.” she and thumper won a number of informal battles with other neighborhood kids. they beat gambit and wylan in their first battle and they haven’t let gambit forget it. earning the x-badge was one of the proudest moments of her life.

Charles:

Espeon (Savannah) triples as the x-men’s leader, school headmaster, and pokemon gym master. he runs the organization as both a pokemon gym and a school for mutants; those looking to earn the X-Badge have to battle his espeon, savannah, or the pokemon of one of the senior X-Men. savannah isn’t much for battle, she would rather train other young pokemon. those who lose to her get a short lesson and some pointers for both trainer and pokemon.

Scott:

Donphan (currently unnamed) got donphan shortly after his arrival at the institute. as phanpy, he was close to jean’s then-growlithe argus; they ran around and played in the backyard together. phanpy evolved shortly after argus, after scott graduated. 

Beast:

Swanna (Hannah) hank raised her from a ducklett; he found her injured on the shore of a pond, alone after her flock had migrated for the winter season. she decided to stick around and became hank’s lab assistant. she has a good knack for chemistry, having learned about it just watching hank around the lab while sitting in a homemade nest beside hank’s desk.

Logan:

Type: Null (Amos) type: null, called amos, broke out of a separate section of the lab that housed wolverine. they managed to find each other not long after, and they’ve been a pair ever since. amos is bothered by his helmet, stressed and anxious; charles works with him regularly to keep him calm and his anxiety at a minimum

Morph:

Ditto (currently unnamed) the ultimate chaotic good pair, both of them can transform into anything they want. at first, ditto wasn’t able to change his face but through time and patience and careful training, morph was able to get his partner in crime to a place where he could imitate other pokemon perfectly.

Jubilee

Shinx (Blink) newly adopted by first-time trainer jubilee, who insisted on having an electric type to compliment her fireworks. they’re still figuring out how this training thing works, but it’s elating when they win their first battle. blink is small but brave and would fight a sentinel. he has his own pair of sunglasses.

#pokemon au #x-men #jean grey #ororo munroe #remy lebeau #rogue #charles xavier #scott summers #hank mccoy #wolverine #morph #jubilee #pokemon

[themurphyzone]

Absolutely Disastrous Ch 6

AN: Welp I’m done with my Secret Santa projects! Now back to this story! Happy 2019 everybody!

Ch 6: Standby for Battle, Diogee and Mudkip! Milo’s First Rival!

The first twenty minutes of traveling without adult supervision were going incredibly well.

“Don’t worry, Zack! I’ll use these suction cups to get you down!” Milo shouted, attaching the cups to his hands and feet. He tested them against the trunk, picking up speed once he was sure the cups would stick to the bark.

Of course, ‘incredibly well’ was a relative phrase.

“Hurry! I think my cardiovascular system is making a new home in my brain!” Zack demanded, swinging desperately to free his trapped foot from the vine. His actions only tightened the vine’s hold though.

“Hang in there!” Melissa shouted from the ground. Diogee’s claws scrabbled on the tree I worry, but he couldn’t get a grip.

“Seriously, Melissa?” Zack complained. “Your puns are terrible anime dub worthy, and that’s not a compliment.”

Milo shook his head. “All we need is a rimshot, and it would be perfect! You can improve anything with the right percussion beat.”

He crawled onto the branch the vine hung from, approaching Zack at a steady pace. Below them, Melissa inflated an air mattress. Milo hauled Zack onto the branch, then freed his ankle from the vine.

“Thanks,” Zack said, rubbing his ankle to get some feeling back. Before they could crawl back to the trunk, a Taillow landed in their way. It pecked at the wood curiously. Then it hopped onto Milo’s hair, smacking him several times with its beak.

Milo swatted at the bird Pokémon, but he only made it angrier. Taillow squawked angrily and slashed at Milo’s hand with its feet.  Milo yelped, almost losing his balance on the branch.

“What’s going on up there?” Melissa shouted.

“Wild Taillow’s mad at us!” Zack called back.

Diogee growled and tried to shimmy up the tree, but Melissa held him back. “Sorry, but you’re a little heavy to climb trees,” she said.

“Hold on, Milo!” Zack exclaimed as he sent out Treecko. The Grass-type took note of his surroundings, spitting out the twig in his mouth. “Treecko’s great at fighting in foliage like this. It should make up for the type disadvantage. Alright, let’s try a Pound!”

Because Treecko was more interested in selecting a new twig, it took several seconds before he was satisfied with his choice and followed Zack’s command. Taillow hopped off Milo’s head, retaliating with a Tackle. Treecko blocked Taillow’s advance with his tail. Then Taillow’s beak elongated, and it barraged the poor appendage with a series of Peck attacks.

Treecko drew his tail back, wincing in pain. His hesitation allowed Taillow an opening, and it tackled him off the branch. Treecko landed on the air mattress, and Melissa rushed over to check for injuries. Crowing in satisfaction, Taillow flew away.

“That could’ve gone better,” Zack muttered.

“Hey, don’t let the first day get you down,” Milo soothed as they climbed down. “In the first five minutes of my Dad’s journey, he managed to shut down the Cable Car for two months because he broke their generator while trying to get a candy bar out of a vending machine! Besides, you just need to find your groove with Treecko. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it in no time!”

Zack didn’t seem convinced though. He walked over to Treecko, whose arms were crossed as he tried to be nonchalant about hiding his tail. “You okay?” he asked.

Treecko nodded.

“Don’t hide your tail, Treecko,” Zack said sternly. “I know Taillow got you pretty good there.”

Treecko slowly drew his tail out, wincing as he let Zack examine it.

“I have salve,” Milo said, handing Zack a small jar. “It works on just about every Pokémon.”

Zack applied the salve to the abrasion, and Treecko’s eyes twitched as it sunk into his tail.

“It stings, but it’ll heal in no time,” Milo promised.

“Worked wonders on Elliot’s Watchog after the Camerupt Incident,” Melissa quipped. “Remember how Elliot was convinced your salve would force Watchog to do your evil bidding? That was a riot.”

“Wasn’t he Lavaridge Elliot’s dad?” Milo asked.

“No, that was his uncle. Mossdeep Elliot is Lavaridge Elliot’s dad. All the Hoenn-based Elliots have that mole on their jaw, remember?”

“I have no idea how you two manage to tell the difference between Elliots,” Zack shook his head. Treecko was feeling better, so they began packing up the air mattress.

“It’s easy once you know what to look for,” Milo said. “Rustboro Elliot has a badge advertising a local waffle shop. Fortree Elliot tends to camouflage himself as a tree to catch those who dare disrupt the tranquility of the rainforest. The younger generation is a little harder to tell apart at first glance. For example, Violet Elliot and Azalea Elliot both look alike, but the key difference between them is how they sound when they’re yelling at you….”

There wasn’t much to Oldale Town. It had the basics for starting trainers, but no tourist attractions or gyms. Milo appreciated the effort that went into making the flower-lined paths. The flora was perfectly spaced apart so each plant would have room to grow, and there were multiple signs warning visitors to mind the flowers or pay the consequences.

Melissa sneezed, burying her nose into her jacket to avoid the aroma. An old woman glared at her as they passed. “No sneezing on the cosmos!” she called, waving her cane threateningly.

“Got it,” Melissa mumbled.

After a quick detour to avoid a crotchety old Elliot, they entered the Pokémon Center. The lobby was full of young trainers, each of them proudly boasting about their Pokémon and experiences on the road so far.

“Shorts are comfier!”

“Nuh-uh! Skirts are way easier to wear!”

“Shorts!”

“Skirts!”

Well, most of them anyway.

“Hi, Chansey!” Milo exclaimed to the Pokémon behind the counter. “Is Nurse Joy in?”

Chansey smiled, signaling Milo to wait as she waddled to the back area. Moments later, Nurse Joy came out. “Chansey, could you check on Surskit while I’m out here please?” Nurse Joy asked.

Dipping her head politely, Chansey closed the door that separated the patient rooms and lobby.

“Welcome to Oldale Town! How may I help you?” Nurse Joy asked.

“I want to be registered for the Pokémon League please!” Milo exclaimed. He pulled out his Pokédex, but before he could hand it to Nurse Joy, it fell out of his hand and landed on the floor. The impact caused the device to open. As Milo picked it up, it scanned a nearby Shroomish.

“Shroomish, the Mushroom Pokémon. Remove stems, dirt, and gills before cooking. Marinate the mushrooms for ten minutes. Add seasoning and serve.”

The room went silent as Milo awkwardly placed his Pokédex on the counter. “Um, it malfunctions a bit,” he admitted. Nurse Joy gingerly slid it through a scanner by her computer.

“My Shroomish isn’t for dinner,” a boy snapped. His dark hair flopped into his eyes as he marched up to Milo. His clothes were dull and boring by Hoenn standards. The region had a reputation for being brash and in-your-face, which also included fashion. “And you won’t get far with a Pokédex that malfunctions with such basic information.”

“You could at least tell us your name before you start harping on my friend,” Melissa said. “Besides, Zack and I have Pokédexes that he can borrow.”

“Fine, if you’re going to be all insistent on formalities,” the boy complained. “It’s Bradley. May want to remember it, because I’m going to compete in the Pokémon League soon.”

Melissa smirked. “Alright, Bradley. How many badges do you have so far?”

“None. I registered this morning,” Bradley scoffed. “But that’ll change. Unlike your friend, I don’t make rookie mistakes like having a malfunctioning Pokédex.”

He marched off, interrupting a group of younger trainers as they compared their Wurmple.

“Rude,” Zack muttered.

Nurse Joy returned Milo’s Pokédex along with a red and white case. “Your registration is complete,” she said. “This is your badge case. Eight badges are required for entry into the Pokémon League. Good luck!”

“Thanks so much!” Milo exclaimed, storing the items in his backpack. “League, here we come!”

Diogee’s rump wiggled as he pranced around Milo.

“So what gym are you challenging first?” Zack asked.

Milo shrugged. “In the order we come across them, I guess. But I’m definitely not starting with Mr. Chase. I’d need to train a lot to beat him!”

“Thanks for putting that off, cause I’m procrastinating on our next little talk,” Melissa said, flipping through a guidebook. Milo was surprised that she brought up her father so soon after their argument, but he didn’t draw attention to it. Melissa paused, holding up her book so Milo and Zack could see. “We’re close to Petalburg City, which has a Normal-type gym.”

The picture of the gym reminded Milo of the training dojos in Sara’s favorite anime.

“Then we’ll go there first!” Milo declared.

While they prepared to leave the Pokémon Center, Bradley was trying to command attention from his peers. “Well, my Shroomish already knows Wake-Up Slap,” Bradley boasted to a crowd of skeptical trainers. “He’s already starting to break rocks with it.”

Shroomish looked just as proud. If he had arms, they would certainly be on his hips.

“Yeah, sure,” a girl rolled her eyes. She turned to her companion, who was feeding a berry to his Wurmple. “That’s a lie, Travis! Wurmple evolve depending on the time of day!”

“It’s random!” Travis retorted.

“Time!”

“Random!”

“Travis is right,” Melissa cut in, unable to resist showing off her knowledge of Pokémon. “The belief that Wurmple evolve into Silcoon by day and Cascoon by night was disproven by a research team in Sandgem University back in the ‘80s.”

“Ha! In your face, Brenda!” Travis crowed, much to the girl’s displeasure.

Bradley coughed, trying to get their attention back on him. “Don’t you wanna know how Shroomish can learn Wake-Up Slap?”

Then Brenda caught sight of Diogee, and she couldn’t help but stare in awe. “What kind of Pokémon is he?” she asked.

“An Absol,” Milo said. “You wanna pet him? He’s friendly.”

Brenda and Travis ran their hands through Diogee’s fur, giggling at how soft it was. Diogee nudged their shoulders playfully, making them gush over how cute and awesome he was.

“Um, guys? Shroomish is awesome too!” Bradley complained.

Brenda rolled her eyes. ��But they’re so common! Absol are way rarer and cuter!”

“I think your Shroomish is adorable,” Milo said as Bradley folded his arms in defense. “And any Pokémon can be a good partner. Doesn’t matter how common or rare they are.”

But his words didn’t seem to have any effect.

“You think you’re so high and mighty because you walked in with a rare Pokémon,” Bradley scoffed. “Battle me and I’ll take you down a peg.”

“No problem! Single or double?” Milo said.

“Double,” Bradley replied. “See you on the battlefield.”

He stomped outside, leaving Milo to wonder why Bradley was so upset with him. Maybe he just didn’t like being interrupted.

Milo and Bradley positioned themselves on opposite sides of a battlefield next to the Pokémon Center. Zack sat on a bench to watch, sending his Treecko so he could learn through observation too. Melissa agreed to act as referee, her Torchic agreeing to act as a second set of eyes.

“Alright, this is a double battle, so first one to knock out both Pokémon on the opponent’s side wins the match! Whenever you’re ready, send out your Pokémon!” Melissa yelled, slashing her arms in a downward motion to signal the beginning of the battle.

Bradley released two Poké Balls, not bothering with any fancy maneuvers. “I choose Shroomish and Minun,” he said.

His Pokémon let out battle cries as they popped out of their balls.

“Do your best, Diogee and Mudkip!” Milo shouted. Diogee charged in excitedly.

Milo threw Mudkip’s Poké Ball into the field, though he overcalculated and the ball whizzed past Bradley’s head. Bradley yelped, hitting the ground as the ball bounced off the wall of the Pokémon Center and several trees before lodging itself into an unsuspecting Elliot’s bike.

Elliot immediately lost control, shrieking and crashing into a flowerbed. An old woman shrugged, watering his shoes nonchalantly.

“Sorry!” Milo said. “Mudkip, over here!”

Mudkip trotted back to the field, oblivious to the strange looks he received.

“Battle, begin!” Melissa declared. “Without more people crashing preferably!”

Bradley rolled his eyes. “A Water-type? Seriously? Did they not teach you type effectiveness in school?”

“Water Gun on Minun!” Milo ordered.

Mudkip complied, and Minun was blasted back several feet. He shook himself off, squeaking indignantly at Bradley.

“I think you’re supposed to battle, not complain about type charts!” Zack yelled.

Melissa blew her whistle. “No heckling the trainers! Final warning before I give you a red card, Underwood!”

She produced several colored cards from her jacket.

“You don’t have the power to do that,” Zack pointed out.

Melissa held up a card. “Certified Pokémon referee. I took an online class and got my card a few weeks ago. Came with the nifty whistle.”

“She takes her job seriously!” Milo warned. Since his attention wasn’t on the field, Bradley bounced back from his error and Shroomish was able to get several Tackles on Diogee.

Diogee slashed at Shroomish with his horn, flinging the Mushroom Pokémon away.

“Minun, power up Shroomish with Helping Hand,” Bradley said. “And get away from Mudkip.”

Breaking off the odd Tackle and Quick Attack dance he’d been doing with Mudkip, Minun cartwheeled backward and clapped his paws. His entire body glowed, releasing a blue bolt of energy that zigzagged towards Shroomish. Minun cheered as Helping Hand made contact, and Shroomish lowered his head. Several brown seeds formed as Shroomish continued to store energy.

“Leech Seed!” Bradley yelled.

“Dodge!” Milo countered. But Diogee wasn’t moving. Milo squinted, realizing that yellow sparks were dancing around Diogee’s body. Diogee growled, unable to withstand the barrage of seeds that quickly sprouted vines to entangle his legs.

Bradley smirked. “Your Absol triggered Effect Spore when he made direct contact with Shroomish. Should’ve stuck to ranged attacks.”

Milo grinned back. “Great strategy! You’re pretty good at double battles!”

“It wasn’t a strategy. I just wanted to use his ability. That’s all,” Bradley flicked his hand dismissively. “Minun, Thundershock on Mudkip. See if you can knock him into the vines too.”

“Diogee, try to get out of the vines! You can do it!” Milo encouraged. Diogee wasn’t moving as fast as he normally did, but he powered through and tried to chip away at the vines with his horn.

While Milo was distracted, Mudkip had gotten tangled in the vines that littered the ground. Minun scored a Thundershock on him while he was trapped. The Cheering Pokémon waved his paws triumphantly.

“They’re nearly finished,” Bradley said. “Minun, hit Mudkip with Spark. Shroomish, Wake-Up Slap on Absol.”

Shroomish slowly charged at Diogee, tripping over his own vines.

“We’ll work on it,” Bradley muttered.

Mudkip braced himself as Minun rocketed towards him, blue sparks flying off his body. A white aura enveloped Mudkip as Minun crashed into him.

“Mudkip, are you okay?” Milo shouted above Minun’s pained cry as he was launched backward by a white beam. Mudkip panted, grinning at Milo before collapsing.

Minun crashed into Shroomish, the sheer impact sending them careening to Bradley’s side of the field. The Cheering Pokémon released a Thundershock, which hit Shroomish point-blank. While the two struggled to their feet, Diogee finally cut himself free from the vines.

“Get them with Quick Attack!” Milo exclaimed.

Diogee slammed into Shroomish and Minun, and they skidded several feet from the lines that marked the battlefield. They struggled to their feet, but exhaustion won out and they fell to the ground.

“Mudkip, Shroomish, and Minun are unable to battle!” Melissa declared. “Since Absol is the last Pokémon standing, that makes Milo the winner!”

“That was a fluke,” Bradley muttered as he gathered Shroomish and Minun into his arms. “You didn’t even order that Bide.”

Milo shrugged. “I didn’t know Mudkip had that move. But I had a lot of fun battling you. We should do this again!”

“I hope not,” Bradley said as he took a side entrance into the Pokémon Center. Then he paused, tossing something small and red over his shoulder.

After a brief fumble, Milo caught the object.

It was a Cheri Berry.

“Effect Spore paralyzed Diogee,” Melissa recalled. “Guess Bradley’s a good sport after all.”

“He called Milo’s win a fluke,” Zack said, folding his arms. Treecko mirrored his actions.

Milo fed the Cheri Berry to Diogee, and the paralysis wore off instantly. Diogee nuzzled Milo’s face, still excited over their victory. “The timing was pretty lucky,” he admitted.

“I wouldn’t mind battling Bradley myself,” Melissa said. “He knows how to utilize abilities and status moves, something plenty of trainers don’t take advantage of. And he’d make a pretty good antagonist for our adventures.”

“He’s going to be the archetypical rival, isn’t he?” Zack asked.

“I’ll think up a tragic backstory for the book. Readers eat that stuff up. Besides, I didn’t say it would all be factual.”

A/N: Bradley is now introduced! Whoo-hoo!

Shroomish’s Japanese name is Kinococo, which literally means Mushroom Child. I kinda wish we kept the name cause it’s so cute.

Shroomish can learn Wake-Up Slap via breeding. I find it hysterical when Pokemon learn moves they don’t have the body parts for.

Bradley has a Minun cause he’s so negative. Plus he could do with such a happy Pokemon!

#absolutely disastrous #milo murphy's law #bradley nicholson #melissa chase #zack underwood #oras au #pokemon #diogee