#cled inbox

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

I greatly enjoy the effort you put into this blog, it makes me so happy to see people still going crazy for the antagonists of these old games. Cipher has always been one of my favourite villain orginisations <3!! Ein is such an icon!

Wanted to ask a question regarding what other Pokemon games you have played? Specifically asking if you ever played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky/Darkness/Time?

Hi Taga! Thank you so much for this ask, it was absolutely wonderful to wake up to and immediately brightened yet another day in Cipher's basement~

(I'm also going to have to agree, Ein is iconic. An Ein-con if you will. Whoops, lame pun)

The games I've played, whew, quite a few. Basically, I was utterly addicted to Pokémon for several years/gens and played anything that said "Pokémon" on it and that I could get my hands on somehow. This of course included the main series, but also various spin-offs (hi) and yes, PMD too. I'm not entirely sure anymore which ones I played specifically, it's been a hot minute and I was on a Pokémon hiatus for almost half a decade before I decided to come back (for the lore and fandom this time), but among the collection of games I have on display in my apartment we at least have Gates to Infinity. Super fun series either way, I may sneak in a round of the Explorers titles when I replay Conquest ^^

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Even the champions are throwing shade... he also didn't deny it

I swear to Arceus, we need a Champion of Orre just so they can, uh, not be affiliated with Cipher and not leak screenshots like this one -

But we're definitely glad Leon is out of denial stage. Now we can openly bully - I mean support him😊

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

I may need B for Jailshipping !!ヽ(ﾟдﾟヽ)(ﾉﾟдﾟ)ﾉ!!

Sure thing! ^^

So in my verse, Trudly and Folly ended up meeting each other through sheer happenstance as both of them started working odd jobs for Cipher and were assigned a mission together (not the kidnapping, this was months/years before the events of Colosseum). Due to this, their first impression was honestly kind of... "whatever". Like not in a negative way, just matter-of-factly. "This is the guy I'll be working with today, I guess."

But this began to change pretty quickly when they went on their mission and noticed that they were vibing and enjoying each other's company. Both of them, in a rare display of quick thinking, realized that the other was a lot like them, and by the time they had completed their task, they already felt a connection. They've been a package deal since then, so I suppose you could say their first impression of the other was pretty good :D

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

What Venus's that crescent croissant thingy attached too, it seems to levitate lmao

I'll use this opportunity to now publicly peddle my semi-serious headcanon that Venus' crescent accessory is possessed by her Misdreavus and simply levitates via its, well, levitate ability. And follows her around like a puppy.

It is notable that the crescent somewhat goes along with her movements beyond just following her, so maybe it's some very impressive cosplay magic after all or Misdreavus is really good at its job. I like to think of it as a thing for show/party trick she taught it.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

starting a new xd playthru and im thinking about a line one of the npcs says about "but we don't need the purify chamber anymore...?" and that this whole project was in the works for YEARS. ignoring the fact that wes is like. good at his job, i'm just like.

"huh, good point. ......did they have someone on the inside of cipher leak intel that shadow mons were going to come back?" is it actually vice versa and someone CONVINCED this project to start, and then leaked back to cipher when it was ready? who was the inside man for who? DID BOTH THE LAB AND THE EVIL TEAM HAVE MOLES ON THE OTHER SIDE??? like what. i do not remember much about xd's lore despite having started two more playthrus since first beating it decades ago, and its like.

i need the lore

Hi and thanks for the ask! I need to preface this real quick by saying that I currently don't have access to the game, but take all the info I need from the text dump, watching full playthroughs and sometimes secondary sources like the strategy guide.

Anyhow, here's what I pieced together:

The time gap between Colosseum and XD is five years (see quotes 1 and 2, also confirmed by the strategy guide). Coincidentally, it didn't just take Cipher five years to launch their second attempt at taking over Orre, but also Krane, Michael's father and their team to design and build the Purify Chamber. When Shadow Pokémon first appeared during the events of Colosseum and Cipher's conspiracy was revealed, Krane was so alarmed that, just in case this ever happened again, he wanted to be prepared to help Shadow Pokémon on his own, even without the Relic Stone and Celebi; he was also fairly certain that it would in fact happen again (quotes 2 and 3).

Why exactly Krane didn't want to rely on the established purification methods and why he thought Cipher would return isn't explicitly states as far as I'm currently aware, but I have some theories.

As for the former, I'm going to suggest that the Ein Files Wes and Rui found didn't stay with them. In fact, I think it's likely that they passed them on to someone else, maybe the police or even Krane and his team directly once they got involved. Either way, if Krane read the files at any point he knows that Ein looked into purification as well and, after at first not being sure how it's done (quote 4), eventually learned that Celebi and the Relic Stone are key factors (quote 5). In both files addressing this, Ein explicitly tells his co-workers to eliminate these factors to stop any purification efforts. This coupled with the fact that Cipher sent a squad led by Skrub to the Relic Forest was probably alarming to Krane, and he wanted to be prepared for dire circumstances.

As for the latter, I'm going to assume that, as the Colo post game suggests, the original admins were never arrested. Sherles only ever mentions Evice (quote 6). Even if Ein quit Cipher and completely removed himself from the situation, Krane probably doesn't sleep well at night knowing he's still out there. Also, even though everyone assumed Cipher collapsed after the arrrest of Evice (and Nascour who tragically isn't even mentioned), the fact that lots of Cipher people were never arrested or otherwise held accountable and just vanished back into Orrean society leaves the possibility of a Cipher revival wide open. The Under was even shut down in the meantime because various villains were hiding there.

Tldr: Krane had a hunch and prepared for the worst and got lucky that the Purify Chamber was completely just in time to purify the new series of Shadow Pokémon Cipher was producing during XD, including Lovrina's XD001.

Though honestly, I really like the mole idea because it leaves so much room for conspiracy theories (which is... all my self-made lore xD).

Quotes:

(1) "I'm sorry, Michael. After five long years, this project is finally on the verge of coming together." [Krane]

(2) "Take a good look, Michael! This is the Purify Chamber! Michael, your father and I designed it five years ago when we were motivated by the "Shadow incident". If evildoers were to create Shadow Pokémon again, we wanted to be able to save them ourselves. Michael, your father believed that passionately. To honor your father's wish, I put together our Pokémon HQ Lab." [Krane]

(3) "Prof. Krane predicted that someone will again try making Shadow Pokémon. His prediction was on the mark." [Lily]

(4) "Exactly how a Shadow Pokémon is purified is unclear, but there appear to be several causes. We must eliminate reaction to these factors, and create Shadow Pokémon that will never revert back to their original, purified forms." [Ein, Ein File P]

(5) "Celebi appears to have the power to boost the purification process. [...] The Relic Stone of Agate Village also appears to have the power to complete the purification process. These factors must be eliminated if our Shadow Pokémon Plan is to succeed." [Ein, Ein File C]

(6) Five years ago, we arrested a man named Evice who we thought to be the boss of Cipher. [Sherles]

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Heyo! Its me again^^

I know team snagem isnt mostly part of your blog but i'd like to hear about your take on gonzap and what relationships you'd think he'd have with members of team cipher 🫎🌸

Much love (oh and im not sure if it was you but if it was thanks for the bouqette of flowers🫶 means alot!)

Heyy! Thanks for the ask, I do always love to ramble about my takes when people trigger my unskippable dialogue >:D

(Oh and yes, that was me with the bouquet. Ehehe. Glad you liked it, I just loved the idea and had to send one💜)

So! My man Gonzap. I don't have the most extensive lore for him specifically, but I have some ideas and some plot stuff he's involved in. I'll try to write it out without dumping too many unnecessary details regarding the history of the Orrean mob within the last century in general xd

Basically, in my verse, Gonzap is an old school gangster and mob boss. In that sense, he's similar to Evice out of all people. Unlike him, however, Gonzap didn't come from a rich, prestigious family or anything; he came, like many if not most children in Orre, from a not-so-great background. Barely scraping by, if not outright poor. So, again very much like many Orreans back then and still today, young Gonzap didn't have the kind of opportunity that would allow him to create a better life for himself, as a trainer or otherwise - at least not in the legal world. The Orrean crime scene is the main perspective for many young people who either want more or desperately need money.

Some miscellaneous Gonzap takes include that, while he's all rough and scary and loud on the outside, he does have a tiny, hidden soft side; said side of him still holds Wes dear, despite everything. I also recently considered this semi-serious headcanon that Gonzap's mom lives in Agate Village. She knows full well what kind of work her son does, but is on board because it's just so normalized in Orre. My good friend @desertsportshipping suggested it could be the old lady with the Mightyena which would be hilarious.

Anyway, back to the serious business: Nowadays, the main "player" in the scene and the (by far) most powerful faction is Cipher. Back in Gonzap's youth, however, things looked different: Many gangs existed, with Cipher being just one of many (certainly among the better and stronger ones, but not in a position of hegemony... yet). Gonzap was too proud to join any other gang and, as we all know, has a lot of faith in his own strength, so he founded his own: Team Snagem. They dealt in theft and illegal Pokémon trade, much like today. Thanks to his strength, grit, abilities as a trainer and not being stupid either, Gonzap made a name for himself, amassed followers and they all got by just fine.

Unfortunately for him, things eventually changed when Cipher decided they had gathered enough resources of their own and now want to be a big, fancy crime syndicate and take over the entire region. What followed is now known as the Orrean Gang Wars, though those who know the deep lore behind the scenes also call it the Second Cipher Purge. The first was more or less just Greevil busting unions for reasons that are beyond the scope of this post, and the second was all about dealing with the other Orrean gangs - either force them to cooperate or wipe them out.

This is how Gonzap met a young Nascour (who technically wasn't even of age yet, but Evice had been training him so he could do all the killing and fighting in the streets for him while he, Evice, maintained the Es Cade disguise). Needless to say, Gonzap was a) pissed off by the mere suggestion that he should submit to another gang and b) not impressed by some teenager who looks like a creepy porcelain doll and likes wearing skirts telling him to surrender or die. And so Gonzap told Nascour to go fuck himself and that turned out to be a big mistake.

I imagine there was at least one big, if not several fights between Team Snagem and Cipher, and even if Snagem hadn't already been at a disadvantage due to Cipher's apparently crazy resources, they were losing in numbers. My guess is that Gonzap lost about a third to half of his people and ended up having to flee, getting chased across the desert until he learned the hard way that Nascour's mastery of psychic types also lends itself to tracking people down.

The "offer" was repeated, and this time Gonzap accepted to save his people and himself. Team Snagem was allowed to survive for the small price of doing Cipher's dirty work from then on; and this is why Gonzap calls Nascour "master" and does his bidding. He's not risking the angry ribbons coming after him again - until the events of XD, it seems, at which point he assumes Nascour is out of the picture. Sadly, Gonzap will be wrong again as far as my verse is concerned, and he better think of a good excuse why he was caught talking about wrecking Cipher. He isn't fond of them, of course, and deep down he wants revenge, but this one time he's simply too scared (and for good reasons).

As for the other Cipher members, Gonzap doesn't have too much to do with them, so his opinions depend a lot on whether they're part of the Orrean criminal scene and what their reputations are. I'll just list my spontaneous thoughts on that (never considered this much before x)):

𖦏 Venus: By the time of the Orrean Gang Wars, my Venus had already succeeded Agnol as the "de facto ruler" of The Under (more on that here) and was with Cipher. If Gonzap had any dealings down in The Under, he would've already known not to mess with her and he definitely knows now that she may or may not have been involved in nearly destroying Team Snagem. Similar to Nascour, he may not exactly like her, but fears her.

𖦏 Ein: In my verse, Ein is neither Orrean nor a criminal by trade, so to Gonzap he's "just some foreigner". Since I doubt Gonzap is a man who has the patience for endless scientific yapping and experimenting, he most likely has zero respect for Ein, but with Ein being Ein the feeling is mutual. It may be that Gonzap will be forced to change his mind if he ever has to find out just how mean Ein can be, but for now that's how things are.

𖦏 Dakim: Dakim was never too deep into the Orrean crime scene before he joined Cipher (more Nascour shenanigans, though a far more amicable test of strength), but is about as Orrean as they come. Maybe he and Gonzap crossed paths a few times while engaging in illegal street battles to make some money. I would say that Gonzap has some respect for Dakim, hell, I could even see them getting along if the circumstances were a bit different (with Gonzap holding a grudge for understandable reasons, whereas Dakim is genuinely loyal to Nascour who can do no wrong in his eyes),

𖦏 Miror B.: He's very much from the same scene as Gonzap, but I doubt Gonzap is much into dancing. He probably sees Miror as a bit of an "odd" rival, since they both enjoy stealing a Pokémon here and there, but never took him seriously. This might have changed slightly once Miror became a Cipher Admin and briefly took over Pyrite Town, but I feel like Gonzap is a decent-ish judge of character when it comes to other criminals and his pride doesn't get in the way, and so he may have caught on to the fact that Miror is not really serious about the whole Cipher thing and still just wants to dance.

𖦏 Evice: Evice has likely never dealt with Gonzap personally and considers himself above that; though all arrogance aside, he also has to maintain his disguise. I feel that Gonzap might actually know that Nascour is acting as a "decoy boss" on someone else's behalf and even that it's Evice or have some idea at least, but I doubt he was properly informed.

As far as the XD Admins are concerned, I think Gonzap doesn't know them well, if at all, due to breaking away from Cipher, but I would say:

𖦏 Gorigan: Gonzap may have met him before, but Gorigan was never really involved in the crime scene either; he worked as a mechanic for Greevil's mining company and later got transferred. They could have a fun night out under different circumstances, but with Cipher in the picture... yeah.

𖦏 Snattle: I doubt any Orrean criminal likes politicians, and Gonzap would be no exception. He would attempt to punch Snattle and then probably end up with his hideout getting blown up again by explosion strats, which... yeah. They're not getting along for sure.

𖦏 Lovrina: Similar to how things are with Ein, though Gonzap would ironically respect her more since she's not some fancy-pants nerd from university; in my verse, she actually has a very similar background as him.

𖦏 Ardos & Eldes: Gonzap probably hates rich kids too and wouldn't even consider them "proper criminals", since they don't do the dirty work and just hang out with their father all day. In my verse, it's currently Ardos who later snitches informs Nascour about Gonzap's "betrayal", sooo... that's fun :)

𖦏 Greevil: Gonzap would like to be best friends with Greevil's credit card actually. Jokes aside, I think Gonzap may or may not even know Greevil exists, and if he does have some idea, he probably doesn't have much respect for some rich guy who got in on a crime syndicate.

So yeah, those are my random incoherent thoughts, hope you enjoyed ^^

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

19. First time they felt rejected by another character

Drop that ein lore

Ein - First time he felt rejected by another character

There are some big moments in Ein's life in my verse that could be discussed here, but since it's about the first time and not limited to romantic rejections or anything specific, I'll talk about a major moment in his childhood. Please be advised that this post will therefore touch on childhood trauma, (emotional) child neglect and just overall difficult parent-child relationships.

When he was a child, Ein had already begun to notice - on a subconscious level from early childhood on and later on a more conscious level - that his parents were emotionally distant. He learned that crying (as a baby) and other child-like bids for connection (as a toddler) were often met with annoyance or ignored, so he stopped doing it, laying the foundation for stunted social and emotional development. When he was in kindergarten, he began making first comparisons, quietly wondering why other parents were acting different with their kids, but he was, of course, far too young to understand what was happening.

With this already going on, there was a major incident when Ein was in elementary school. He accidentally overheard his parents as they were talking to another couple they were friends with, with the adults being unaware that he was listening since he was supposed to be doing homework, but had finished early and was now looking for other things to do. Unfortunately, he ended up listening in as they were discussing how his parents hadn't wanted a child. And when their friends asked them if they regretted having and keeping Ein, they said no, however the reasons they proceeded to cite boiled down to "he's such an easy child", "he's independent and early with most milestones" and "he's so smart and has all these achievements already".

Setting aside the fact that such conversations can be incredibly nuanced, that this wasn't meant for his ears and that he was definitely too young to be confronted with such topics, Ein noticed (correctly) that the entire reasoning around why he was allowed to exist in this household - and perhaps to exist at all - was focused on what he could do to make his parents proud, not who he was as a person. It recontextualized his previous experiences of neglect that he had come to see as normal as a fundamental rejection of his person, and needless to say, this damaged his psyche quite a bit.

From that point on and to this day, Ein has shifted his focus from interpersonal relationships to performance, achievements and just any kind of measurable success. At first, there was a desperate need to justify his existence to those around him - and this extends to anyone he meets - who he suspects of being at best uninterested in him and at worst in opposition to him and trying to take his place. But once Ein, as expected from someone as intelligent, determined and studious as him, got all the academic achievements he wanted, had so many people praising him and even watched many disregard his lack of social ability and often difficult character because he was just that good at everything he did, he fell into hubris instead.

Now he's on top of everything. Now he gets to reject people and look down on them and make them justify themselves to him.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

colrein for Z, and why is the answer "no" lmao :p

Hahaha, 10/10 ask

Colress and Ein - First time they said "I love you"

So, the bestie is correct. There was no big moment of one or both of them saying the magic words. Instead, I'm going to talk about the moment that would have been this moment if normal people and not these two nerds had been involved.

The situation was as follows: Colress and Ein had been living together for a few years (they were roommates), they were really close and they had been developing feelings for each other, but while Colress had occasionally been stretching out his feelers to see if they could maybe make something happen, Ein had been masterfully tiptoeing around any sort of acknowledgement or confession. However, Ein had also started showing strong signs of jealousy whenever Colress was seeing other people and thoroughly torpedoed his dating life whenever he could. This escalated to a point where none other than Aurea Juniper, who had been on and off seeing Colress for a while, told him in no uncertain terms that he needed to fix his weird roommate situation and sternly warned him that she would not be dealing with this nonsense anymore, neither as a partner nor as a friend.

The fact that other people had perceived the situation like he did and that he was now facing tangible consequences was enough to spur Colress into action and he basically grabbed Ein and told him that he knew something was going on between them and expected him to finally come clean. It was clearly understood what exactly he meant. Ein refused to do so and immediately prepared a retreat to his room for a good long sulk, but as he was on his way out, Colress let him know that he would be waiting and added something along the lines of, "You know I like you, right?". Now, he was of the opinion that, after all the chaos and drama Ein had caused, making him finally confess his feelings was "justified punishment", but Colress also knew how hard such things are for him, so he said this to throw him a bone and make things a little easier.

A few hours later, Ein returned from his sulking session and started a long-winded explanation that went like "Ok, FINE, maybe I like you like that...". Colress let him talk and determined that, while the word "love" had been avoided like the plague, this glorified rant was sufficiently honest, so he rewarded Ein with repeating what he'd said earlier, and they seamlessly proceeded to cuddle. Which, mind you, wasn't the first time they had done this, but the first time they did so with an "I guess we're dating now" mindset.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Nascour for 6

Thanks for the ask! I have returned from my trip and can now finally do what's truly important in life (aka rant on Tumblr about video game villains)

Nascour - First time he realized his "calling" in life

I'll be giving two answers to this because I couldn't decide. One will be on the cute and wholesome side, the other not so much. Please note that the latter passage will mention violent crime, (non-sexual) grooming and child abuse, but there won't be any graphic details or in-depth discussion.

The (somewhat) wholesome: When Nascour was a little kid, he was by himself or with his parents all the time and almost never met other children. The main reasons for this were how generally unsafe Orre is, resulting in him not being allowed to leave the family property and not being sent to public school, being part of a rich family with strong ties to the Orrean criminal scene and his aura powers* making it difficult to be around too many people and strangers in general, causing him to have meltdowns and lash out when overwhelmed.

*I will be making a post explaining that one day, I prommy.

Being a kid, Nascour still needed something to be excited about and connect with, so he became fixated on Pokémon, both those around him owned by family members and all the Pokémon media that exists in the Pokémon world. He was especially fond of his mother's psychic types and even as a toddler played with her Delphox and Gardevoir, making the adults around him wonder if he was bonding and communicating with them in a weird and special way (spoiler: He absolutely was).

Once Nascour grew older, he wanted a Pokémon of his own to train. Thanks to family money, connections and Es Cade gently pressuring dear Uncle Evice into getting his nephew what he wanted, Nascour was eventually presented with a Poké Ball containing a Beldum that we now know and fear as "murder mittens" Metagross. The two were inseparable from the moment it was first released from its ball, and Nascour proceeded to take it everywhere he went and needed it to be included in everything. Finally he had a best friend. And it was now more apparent than ever - both to himself and the people around him - that he was going to be a Pokémon Trainer and psychic type specialist.

The unwholesome: When Nascour was a teen and had been more or less adopted by Evice after the death of his father and the disappearance of his mother, it soon became clear what his future would be like: Fight for Cipher, learn whatever he had to learn to run it effectively and then serve as a decoy boss, so that Evice could keep his disguise. Nascour was smart enough to see where things would lead.

Ultimately, it wasn't too hard for Evice to introduce his nephew to this "lifestyle" and successfully train and groom him. As a child, Nascour had already demonstrated a certain sort of cunning, manipulative behavior (though still fairly benign and innocent at the time) and a tendency to not follow rules, find loopholes, outsmart people and cover his tracks to get away with things - everything you would expect from a criminal mastermind, which older family members involved in Cipher commented on. He also needed to channel all the grief, anger and anxiety he felt due to his circumstances and being a teenager (who was also not "normal" in various aspects) into something, and crime and violence were convenient outlets, at least once any remaining compassion and sensitivity had been eroded. It made him feel empty, but empty was better than hurt.

Still, there was a time (and arguably to this day there are moments) when Nascour was aware that going down this path of being a mob boss may give him access to power and money, but will also prevent him from taking other paths in life. In private, he's opened up to Venus and told her about what he imagined himself doing as an adult if he'd grown up in Kalos, his mother's home region, instead of Orre, and the two shared a moment of... just mourning the future they lost.

Unlike Venus who still wants to make her dream come true, however, Nascour has chosen to (aside from these moments) accept what he's become and take some grim pride in it. He's aware that his innate traits and abilities lend themselves well to being effective at his "job" and that this combined with his family and life circumstances made it pretty much inevitable. He's wholly bought into Cipher's ideology and goals and identified himself with it, so that Cipher's victories are now his victories too.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

🌎 - First attempt at worldbuilding, or a notable piece of worldbuilding you're proud of

I'll start with first attempt.

So many years ago, when I was roughly tween age, I took my first baby steps into online fandom. It was long before I properly joined fandoms, posted my stuff and interacted with people, but I discovered the existence of fanfiction, fanart and online communities. As my first (embarrassing and thankfully never shown to anyone) attempts at writing progressed, I found myself in a pretty dead fandom where I was starved for content and wasn't as properly equipped to get something going as I am now; and eventually this led to me taking the characters I was obsessed with at the time and building a whole new universe around them.

This became my first and to this day only original work. I abandoned it due to loss of interest, and it would need a lot of reworking if I were to pick it up again, but it's already evolved a lot between me accidentally starting to make my own stuff and now. The characters are no longer the same and the lore has nothing to do with the fandom it came from. I suppose this is why I shouldn't be left alone with myself in dead fandoms.

Regarding notable pieces of worldbuilding I'm proud of, it's actually what I'm doing right now with Cipher. My lore documents have exploded into utter monstrosities and it's the most amount of lore I have created in the least amount of time in my writing career so far. I guess I'm just getting good at it, plus I had a lot of pent up worldbuilding energy since my previous fandom already has such solid worldbuilding that there is often no need to add to it, and the one before that gets continuously retconned into oblivion, to the point that expanding on the lore and making headcanons felt like an exercise in futility.

Thanks for the ask!

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

What are Cipher peon uniforms are made from? I feel like they're durable enough for a peon with gymnast skills and stuff. I wonder If there's adverse effects or how to take that uniform off

Interesting question. I've given this some thought so I'll sum up my ideas starting with the Colosseum Cipher uniforms.

Looking at the design, I would say it has to be some sort of fabric. The fabric in question should have the following properties:

Temperature regulation. Orre is a desert region, which means extreme heat during the day and cold nights. Considering that a crime syndicate is most likely not bound by traditional work hours and the peons ideally shouldn't have to change twice per day, the uniform needs to be made out of a fabric that helps with regulating body temperature and protects from overheating and hypothermia.

Protection from the environment. Aside from the temperature, Orre also has various environmental hazards that the peons would require protection from, including but not limited to wind, sand, sharp rocks/otherwise difficult terrain. I would guess that this necessitates a certain thickness of fabric.

Durability. Tying into the previous point, the uniforms also need to be durable in the face of damaging events, both to protect the wearer and to maintain a certain level of integrity of the clothing. However, it doesn't appear to be designed to serve as armor, therefore it isn't expected to withstand things like a gunshot or a knife attack or stronger Pokémon attacks (unless some sort of additional protection is worn underneath).

Flexibility. Being criminals, the peons have to get in and out of situations quickly, need to be able to hide and engage in Pokémon battles and apparently also enjoy climbing and clinging to ceilings. Due to this, the fabric can't be too thick or stiff or it would restrict their movements too much.

I'm not well versed enough in clothing and fabric-related stuff to tell if such a fabric exists in real life or one that comes close to matching these properties. Since we're talking about a fantasy world in which magical creatures exist, I'm just going to say "it's a special Orre thing"; considering that the ruins in Orre hint at people having lived in the region for a long time, it definitely wouldn't be a stretch to assume that Orreans figured out how to make clothes and fabrics that serve them well in the desert, much like real life cultures in extreme environments.

As for the XD peons, it appears that Cipher upgraded to armor after all. Design-wise, it's reminiscent of storm trooper armor from Star Wars, a sort of light white plate armor worn over a bodysuit. I imagine that the suit below is made out of the same or very similar fabric as outlined above and that the armor pieces are made of a fairly light material to maintain mobility and speed (they still seem to be climbing ceilings just fine). I would guess that the armor plates and helmet can withstand knife/claw/teeth attacks pretty well, but am not sure if they would be bullet-proof. Lots of Pokémon attacks, especially those of the "elemental" variety, probably circumvent both light and heavy armor just fine (unless the material can be infused with any sort of "magic" shield qualities), but I also don't think the XD uniforms are meant for the peons to act as tanks. My guess is that the design philosophy is to eliminate the threat of most environmental hazards and weaker attacks while also letting the peons be fast and agile if needed.

As for removing the uniforms, the Colosseum model should be relatively straightforward, with its combination of a coat (?) of sorts (with or without a shirt underneath, I'm admittedly not entirely sure), pants, gloves, boots and helmet. The XD model would be more annoying to put on and take off due to the armor pieces that need to be properly attached and detached.

As for potential adverse effects, I imagine that, unless the fabric is really, really good with the temperature regulation part, the wearer requires additional hydration, especially with the XD uniform due to additional weight and heat underneath the armor plates (maybe I'm just a clueless idiot, but I haven't heard of breathable armor yet... except maybe chainmail...? Lol). They should also take off their helmets occasionally to avoid headaches. The gloves, good for protection and concealing fingerprints though they may be, also seem to have a good amount of thickness to them, especially with the Colosseum uniform, so they might not be ideal for precise tasks.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Team Cypher is all tech bros and economic and business majors heavily invested in NFTs and bitcoin. They use AI and ChatGPT almost exclusively. Their evil operation is just mining for bitcoins and destroying the environment of Orre. Their uniforms make them all look like Lucky Luciano/the “I just had to do it to ‘em” guy/any white privileged man on a boat or yacht.

(Honestly? Orre being a desert because Cipher is some unhinged crypto/tech bro Discord server teaming up and taking things way too far to the point that the environment has been destroyed and they now have to be an actual Pokémon crime group to make money has to be my new favorite crack headcanon. Now we know what fortune Greevil really made in the "mines"! >:D)

(Also I can't wait for everyone's ChatGPT-written apology videos. "I am sorry for my acts of environmental terrorism. It was a continuous lapse in my judgement. I am listening to the sandstorms and learning.")

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Thank you for the precious little guy!

And now I have to hide him before the lab team finds him -

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Is Mr. Ein's antennae a stalk flesh appendage with its nerves lmao

There are many theories regarding The Eintenna.

One theory among sc-ein-tists is that Ein may be new species of anglerfish, perhaps a distant relative of Lanturn, that has evolved to live on land. He has been observed associating with Lanturn and other species of deep sea Pokémon. However, The Eintenna does not appear to be bioluminescent, so it remains unclear if its purpose is to lure prey, how this is done and what said prey might be.

Another theory that has seen a recent rise in popularity is that The Eintenna is an extension of Ein's brain and spinal cord. Attached to the frontal lobe of his brain, it appears to be close to the area responsible for concentration, planning and problem solving, thus enhancing Ein's scientific abilities. It may be the result of either human evolution or careful breeding.

An alternative version of this theory suggests that The Eintenna either is his brain or contains his consciousness and identity. It has been theorized that Ein is closely related to Wobbuffet, using a decoy body to distract from his vulnerable tail. His tendency to hide in a lab and refuse to go outside to take care of his own business, making his colleagues do it for him, may be seen as proof for such theories. However, unlike Wobbuffet, the potential decoy body does not seem very durable, so Ein has to compensate his lack of defensive capabilities with a more offensive approach. Those who support this theory point to his hostile attitude as an indicator of such behavior.

It has subsequently been suspected that The Eintenna may be able to detach and (re)attach itself at will and to different host bodies, possessing them. Maybe Ein is a whole species by himself, operating via a hivemind of sc-ein-tists and achieving immortality by regularly switching host bodies so he can engage in his favorite activity (science) forever. This might also explain the disappearance of the Ein we know after the events of Pokémon Colosseum and how knowledge of Shadow Pokémon made its way to Team Rocket; Arlo appears to be one of the most likely candidates for a new host body.

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

Not a question but i feel like you should see this uncanny manga Nascour

You're right. I should see this. Because omggg-!

While this is uncanny, he's also weirdly cute in this style? I believe there's a different screenshot from the same manga I found which I saved on my phone because he's just 💜💜💜💜💜 (and here's one more for the collection. There can never be enough). Like normally he's "creepy-cute" and here he's way more cute leaning. A baby babygirl~💜

Sorry I'm just unreasonably happy and excited because someone came into my inbox to show me pictures of my babygirl and it absolutely made my day🥺

[cipher-legal-and-ethics-dept]

now they've kidnapped a grown ass man but run from a child with a snag machine instead of kidnapping him too? i don't know why i didnt remember this right/correctly. I assumed something else caused them to scurry quickly.

i can't think too deeply into it bc i know its not deep, but man

y'all can take a scrawny ass kid like michael. you do take his machine later anyways! trouble could have been saved!!!

also when i first played this game, i thought jovi crying over prof krane was cuz that was their dad, cuz i don't think i picked up the inferences about him being dead. now im like. oh. krane praises the kids and acts like a surrogate father to them since their dad's passing. oh. this is just like losing a father all over again. 🥺

Right? It's so sad if you think about it. Jovi (and Michael too, I'm going to assume) are getting traumatized all over again😭

As for the "why don't they just grab the child", my usual thought is that when villains lose a Pokémon battle against the (child/teen) protagonist, attacking them would mean having to go through their Pokémon first, which gives their opponent plenty of time to prepare themselves, run, call for help, etc; not to mention that humans being attacked by Pokémon is... usually not great for the humans involved.

However, in this case that doesn't really fly because all Michael has is an Eevee and the Shadow Teddiursa he just snagged, both of which might be weakened by the fight they previously had (iirc the snag is guaranteed for tutorial reasons, but realistically speaking, they probably fought for a bit before Michael tossed a ball). The best I can think of is that Naps and his squad just wanted to get out quickly and had no interest in taking any more prisoners than the guy they needed; we also learn later that, for all his posturing and acting like a villain, Naps has a soft side to him so maybe he didn't want to hurt a child if he wasn't forced to. He lied about the mercy thing imo.

(Hell, even Ardos underestimated Michael at first and went so far as to help him. Which means he fumbled this one too, but at least in the end he's on the right track, so to speak.)

((Though I'm indeed calling this a fumble because Cipher should've learned from the Kids Grid that Orrean children like to oppose them and do so with surprising success.))

Anyway, back to the HQ Lab drama. If I had to depict this scene in a story and make it make sense without changing too much, I would hint at the aforementioned "we don't need him" and "eh let's leave the kid alone" attitude plus have Naps and the others try to dip quickly. Ardos states later on that, at this point, they didn't want to draw too much attention, which is why he attacked Zook, and Naps says he needs to report the snag, so I guess that makes at least a bit of sense. Maybe. Also I would either have Michael hold back because he isn't sure what to do because no more opposing Pokémon are sent out and he doesn't want to accidentally hurt Krane or have him try to attack, but the gang manages to brush the two off and escape🤔