#so considering he is a local and has the studies to be a trainer and breathes for the gym and working out only...

[vettelcore]

i found put yesterday i can lift more than 60kg and my ego has never been bigger

[demonic-lair]

More details about the Re-menda crew and info regarding their clothing/armor style.

--------

• Hu'nri'a

Doctor of the Re-menda crew. After her Blood Hunt and medical training, Hu'nri'a studied to work as a therapist as well; she offers an occasion for bad bloods to vent and dig into their psyche in a comfortable space, while also monitoring their physical health.

She is the adoptive daughter of the hunter Dhe-hak.

- Since she stays inside the ship and around the camp the most, Hu'nri'a walks barefoot. Only when she is called for extra help, she will wear something to protect her feet. They will shift into fins if she will need to hunt in rivers or seas.

- Hu'nri'a remembered this sort of armor from her previous clan, the Coh'urall, yet she could only describe it with general details, her memory being rather hazy. Dhe-hak took it upon himself to build something that could resemble them. The mechanical fins are not like the Coh'urall clan builds them, but Hu'nri'a treasures them and takes pride in them.

- She always has medical herbs, drinks and ointments hanging from her clothing. There are some poisons and antidotes hidden in the bags as well.

- Thanks to the encouragement she got from Rak'ne and Dhe-hak, Hu'nri'a dresses up in the closest way to her original clan clothing. She doesn't remember much, but she recalls her family having shells and shiny scales scattered around their bodies, so she mimicks at the best of her abilities that style. Of course, she stylize it in a way it has Naghe-tih clan elements in it, including the clan colors such red and green.

- Being the tallest and broader of the crew, she handles most of the tackling and containment of the bad bloods. This allows her to also have a first look to her patients and try to make them reason for a more peaceful approach.

- She got her snake tattoo on yautja prime. She was always fascinated by snakes as she considered them the right symbol for both life and death, the right symbol for medical art. As she got some of her poisons from local alien snakes, she also managed to create medicines from these animals. In a way, with Kajiy and Ra'kne using reptile motifs in their armors, she uses that tattoo to symbolize the strong friedship she has with these two.

• Rak'ne

Captain of the Re-menda crew. When possible, she handles the training of bad bloods along with Kajiy.

She is the daughter of the clan's matriarch N'rithe.

- She has a few lucky charms hanging from her belt. They were gifted by her mother N'rithe, Dhe-hak, and Hu'nri'a.

- The skull necklace belonged to her mother Se'eit. Rak'ne is ready to protect her necklace with her own life. She feels calmer when wearing it.

- With her armor, she wears claws protections that allow her to have a stronger grip not only on her preys but also very helpful when climbing. Her armor also has items such as ropes and grapling hooks to allow her such activity.

- She got her eyebrow scar when she was a young blood, after a fight she had with another student (he offended Hu'nri'a). The three scar marks on her chest and side were caused by a creature she was hunting during her Blood Hunt. She succesfully killed it-

- Rak'ne still takes with her the knife she made as she was a young blood. Compared to her size, now it looks like a small dagger but it can still hurts someone. She is considering gifting it to Valka one day.

- She includes many crocodile inspired decorations, as well an earth crocodile skull on her gauntlet. Her daily gauntlets are made with crocodile leather.

- Despite yautja teachings, Rak'ne has a fondness for hair jewerly. Her hair will be rarely without them, only when she has long rest periods and she lets Valka pick them away.

- Some of the scars were caused by Valka since the human tends to bite and scratch a lot during their private times. Rak'ne is proud to show them off.

• Kajiy

Gunsmith of the Re-menda crew. Every weapon the crew uses is built, improved, and tested by him. He is also the trainer of bad bloods and, back on yautja prime, young bloods.

- He has knives and small daggers hidden everywhere. Some are covered with poison.

-He keeps a small bottle of antidote on his chest.

- His scale colors allow him to blend completely with the jungle. He activates his cloaking systems only in places where he would stick out the most, such as towns, beaches, or snow environments. His stomach scales are shaped like snakes with an open mouth-

- Some of the scars were caused by Valka for the first year she was on the ship. The both of them would end up in physical altercations due to Kajiy's hatred for humans.

- He always dresses in a camouflage way, even if he is not in a hunting situation. He just likes being ready at any moment.

- The only notes of colors, that he allows himself to keep, his is bronze hair's jewelry and the bronze bracelet and ring, gifts from his mate D'unar-i. He religiously polish them every day and gets highly distressed if something happens to them. He killed a rehabilitating bad blood because they tried to pull a prank by hiding his jewelry.

- On the opposite of Hu'nri'a, Kajiy doesn't wear feet protection when on a hunt. It allows him to run, climb, and jump between trees more silently.

- Against his father's wishes, Kajiy trained for archery and distant combat. He saw it as a victory and finally having a self identity by teaching himself something he really wanted to do. Along with a bow, he also has a smaller crossbow on his gauntlet.

- While Hu'nri'a takes care of the psychological and health side of bad bloods, Kajiy (and Rak'ne) makes sure to re-teach the honor code and hunting techniques to them.

• E'ko

Known as Lancia. Handler of the few Ra-taro that travels with them. Hierarchy speaking, he is second to Rak'ne despite the young age, but he lets Hu'nri'a take that role more often. He doesn't like being a leader, and he wants to intervene only in stuff that regards the Ra-taro.

- When he is not hunting, his main task is to patrol the area around their landing spot, as well guarding the bad bloods. He makes sure they don't try to escape or cause damage to both the ship and the crew. He manages to do so by letting the Ra-taro wander around the area and inside the ship. If something goes wrong, they will let out loud shrieks to warn E'ko of the danger.

- He has a missing finger after a Ra-taro bit it off during his early stages of training.

- E'ko has scars and constant cuts from riding bareback when he was younger or when he has time for himself. Ra-taro's scales can be rather harsh to the skin (he had to help Valka with ointments to not let the human bleed when she she rode the first times).

- He wears a chain mail as only metal armor piece. Everything else is made of leather. He needs lighter armor since he constantly rides the Ra-taro and needs to mount and dismount quickly.

- The whole crew just calls him Lancia, yet he is adamant that strangers call him E'ko. The nickname is a privilege he gives only to his closest friends or mates. He made an exception when he first met Valka; he saw her being uncomfortable and tense surrounded by yautja and wanted to put her at ease.

• Valka

Huntress of the Re-menda crew.

She is still trying to figure out what she wants to do in a yautja society, so for now she doesn't have a specific role in the crew. She is happy assisting each yautja with whatever task they give her, it helps her learn more about them and their culture/technology.

- She altered her DNA, she proposed the idea to Hu'nri'a and she happily obliged ( Hu'nri'a was eager to new medical discoveries with this project.)

- She still has human body hair, yet the more exposed ones (such on the shoulders and back) are slowly turning into quills. She is rather happy about it. Her hair still keeps their normal texture, but she developed four tendrils that mimick yautja hair. A side effect by Hu'nri'a words. She protects them by braiding her hair around them.

- Since they were in the middle of a rehabilitation session when she joined, the yautja didn't have exactly human sized clothing or armor. She managed to steal some clothes if they stopped at a space station. As for the armor, once she completed her own Blood Hunt, each member of the Re-menda gave her items from their trophy rooms. Kajiy didn't want to give her anything at the beginning, yet at the end, he put together some items to go with her armor, with the help of Hu'nri'a.

- Valka has to wear a translator in the ear and around her neck. This way, she can understand what others are saying or her words get translated as she talks. She is trying to learn how to talk in yautja, but she has some difficulties since the language is fit for vocal chords and sounds of these aliens rather than humans.

- In one of her belts, there is a tracker. She is aware of it. Everyone in the crew has one to inform others of their locations and, if the signals disappear, to start searching for them.

- The necklace was done to represent the crew, two fang for each yautja, and in the middle, there is a single fang dedicated to Rak'ne.

- After a nasty fall, she decided to keep wearing knee protections when going hunting with the crew.

- Being more prone to wounds and bruises since her skin is not as resistant as yautja, her armors tends to cover her almost fully, but the main protection is on shoulders, chest, stomach and neck. She prefers leaving her legs with minimum protection to move faster and to ease herself when riding a Ra-taro.

- She gained her current armor only after she managed to pass the Blood Hunt. Since she was going to stay, Rak'ne wanted her to go through same rite as every yautja does (also to make sure other yautja would never question Valka's place on the ship once she made her first kill).

- Since the Ra-taro are rather high, she used to struggle to climb on them. Lancia helped her out by attaching a thin rope ladder to the saddle she was using

- Some of her scars where caused by Kajiy during their fights.

[healbellls]

// Don't reblog this post, I don't want it being spread around!

Headcanuary 2024

Day 5 - Pet

Not all pokemon they own are meant to be used in battles, this may come as a shock to some, when it comes to Gym leaders.

Morty:

Dunsparce - he doesn't quite remember where he got Dunsparce from, he has forgotten about its true origins. But he can tell this pokemon has been with him, for about as long as his signature Gengar. This pokemon used to be a house pet, back at his family's home, a fact that he can't bring himself to remember. The pokemon stays at his appartment, rarely leaving its premises. Only those closest to Morty even know, about its existence altogether;

Taurus, Fearow and Mantine - Morty owns these pokemon to help him traverse any terrain he comes across. He mainly carries these pokemon with him, whenever he travel abroad. Taurus is essential for him to get to places quickly, he was given this pokemon by a local of Ecruteak city, as a sign of gratitude for his services. Fearow is for fast flying travels, something he can't achieve when using his Drifblim. Lastly, Mantine helps him travel across bodies of water fairly quickly, Morty also shows he has a talent for surfing on top of it.

Juan:

There are several species of water pokemon commonly found throughout Hoenn's oceans, which he keeps in an aquarium inside his mansion. The most notable one is a school of Luvdisc. Another honorable mention goes to some species of pokemon, only found at the bottom of the ocean that are also kept in display;

Piplup - The way Juan acquired this pokemon wasn't through the most ethical way. But he owns a Piplup that roams around his mansion, which has no other purpose other than being cute, and being an addition to Juan's ever growing collection;

Barry:

Some of Barry's old team pokemon were left under his mother's care. Essentially, turning them into house pets of sorts. He did this, because he felt like it was the only way for him to truly get a taste, and learn more about other regions' native species. His starter Torterra, ended up becoming his mother's favorite. Which meant after his time in Unova, he basically left him exclusively with her.

Brendan:

Brendan only actually puts into use a very smaller percentage, of the pokemon species he owns. He likes capturing a good variety of new pokemon speces, wherever he goes. Some of his pokemon stay with him as his pets, but a select few of his pokemon are under his parents care.

Rowan:

Rowan isn't a trainer in any sense of the word, he doesn't enjoy pokemon battles in the slightest bit. So, every pokemon he owns is either a temporary study subject, which will be returned to/released in the wild once he is done with them. Or they are his pets. The most well-known pet is his Togekiss.

His Togekiss also carries out an important task of carrying letters and gifts, between him and his significant other. It may be old-fashioned, but they chose to keep the tradition up.

Matsuba's relationship with the band of ghost pokemon that followed him around was very different. To such an extent, they can't be considered his pets, and he most certainly wasn't their master.

Drake only owns 6 pokemon, all of which he carries with him all the time. And none of them can be considered pets, in any sense of the word.

[new-eyes-extra-colors]

posting this snippet from my original draft of eye of the storm, in relation to today's line of thought.

Steven gives her a long look. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

May raises her eyebrows at him. “The pokémon kind or the human kind?”

He smiles that faint smile of his and points; she follows his finger to a place near the horizon, where a mountain, its peak shrouded in fog not unlike Chimney’s, rises above the surface of a massive lake that sparkles in the honey-yellow slabs of midmorning sunlight falling across it from the east. Ahead of them, Route 120 slopes away, a verdant pattern of forests and fields.

“Do you see that mountain, there, in the distance? It’s called Pyre. It’s a cemetery, and in local legend—” He glances at her. “You said you were Johtoni, correct?”

May nods.

“Ah. Then this should sound familiar to you—it’s not dissimilar to your culture’s Burned Tower in Ecruteak.”

“You know about the Burned Tower?”

Steven shrugs, waving her words away. “It was relevant to my studies some time ago. Now, this mountain is considered sacred ground where the souls of the departed are kept safe until they can be resurrected. Whether or not that is true, of course, is unknowable, but it is quite haunted.”

“And is this where the ghosts come in?”

“Naturally.”

“So, is it haunted by the pokémon kind or the human kind?”

“The pokémon kind, definitely. As for the human kind, that’s subject to a fair bit more speculation.” He stops walking and unslings his messenger bag; May stops beside him and looks around. They’re pretty far out from the edge of the forest, now. Dew glistens on the long grass, and she can feel it soaking her socks above the sneakers. She probably should have gone for the hiking boots today, but how could she know they’d be walking so far? She’s still not sure how Steven manages in dress shoes and a suit, but somehow, his entire outfit is impeccable.

Steven produces a box from his bag and continues: “Personally, I strongly doubt the existence of human ghosts. But we’re very close to having an answer one way or the other.”

We? Before she can ask for clarification, he opens the box and removes its contents: what looks like a pair of expensive binoculars, emblazoned with the crisp Devon Co. logo across the side. He has to heft them a little—the barrels are thick, and instead of a flimsy cord like her pair of field binoculars has, they have elastic straps that look like they go around and over your head.

“This is one of the Devon Corporation’s most recent inventions,” Steven says, and May can’t help but note the slight hint of pride in his voice as he mentions his father’s company. “This is only a prototype, of course, but it already functions quite well. We’re hoping to make them available to trainers in the next few years.”

“What do they do?”

“Well, if you were to—” He stops himself and looks at her, sunlight catching in his silver eyes as he smiles, and May can suddenly feel her heart thumping against her ribs. “Actually,” Steven says, voice too measured to be anything but deliberate, “Instead of telling you, I should just show you.” He holds out the headset with both hands, and his small smile widens at May’s expression. “That would be more fun.”

“Hah,” she says, blood rushing in her ears. “Fun for you or fun for me?”

“Well, me, of course,” he replies, wiggling the headset a little. “Go on, put them on. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.”

“I’m sure,” May agrees. For a brief moment, they’re holding the headset together, and then Steven lets go and the smooth plastic casing almost slides right out of May’s hands.

“Ah. Right,” Steven says, tone faintly apologetic. “Do be careful. They’re heavy.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

[oliviaphleb]

Open Your Career: Top Phlebotomy Jobs in DC You Can't Miss!

Unlock Your Career: Top Phlebotomy Jobs ⁢in ⁢DC You Can’t Miss!

Unlock Your Career: Top Phlebotomy Jobs ​in DC You Can’t Miss!

are you considering ‌a career in phlebotomy? If ⁤you’re located in Washington DC or planning to move there, you’re in luck! The demand for skilled phlebotomists is on‍ the rise, offering a wealth ⁣of opportunities for those looking to make a mark in the healthcare industry.​ In this article, we⁤ will explore the top phlebotomy jobs in DC, the benefits of working in this field, practical tips‍ for securing positions, and real-life⁢ cases to motivate you!

Why Choose a Career in Phlebotomy?

Before we dive into the specifics of phlebotomy jobs available in DC, let’s explore why this career path can be both rewarding and lucrative:

High Demand: The healthcare industry is growing rapidly, and so is the need for qualified phlebotomists.

Job Security: With evolving technologies and procedures, skilled phlebotomists are always needed.

Short Training Period: Phlebotomy training programs typically take less than a year to complete.

Opportunities​ for‌ Advancement: Gain experience and certifications to⁤ eventually move into supervisory roles or⁢ specialized fields.

Top Phlebotomy Jobs⁤ in ‍Washington DC

Here’s an overview of some of the best phlebotomy jobs ⁤currently available in Washington DC:

Job ⁣Title

Employer

Location

Salary Range

Phlebotomist

Washington Hospital Center

Southwest DC

$39,000 – $50,000

Laboratory Technician

MedStar Health

Northeast DC

$40,000 – $52,000

Lead Phlebotomist

Children’s National Hospital

Downtown DC

$45,000 – ⁢$60,000

Phlebotomy Trainer

DC Healthcare ⁤academy

Capitol⁢ hill

$50,000 – $65,000

Mobile Phlebotomist

LabCorp

Various Locations

$42,000​ – $55,000

Benefits​ of Pursuing a Phlebotomy Career

Aside from the​ job prospects, there are numerous ⁤benefits to becoming a phlebotomist, which include:

Flexible Hours: Many phlebotomy jobs offer shift work, making it easier to balance your personal and professional life.

Hands-On Experience: Work ⁣directly with patients, providing an​ opportunity to develop interpersonal skills.

Impactful Work: Contribute to diagnosing and treating⁣ patients, creating a sense of fulfillment.

Networking Opportunities: Working ‍in healthcare opens doors to various industry⁤ connections.

How to Secure a Top phlebotomy Job in DC

To unlock​ your career in ​phlebotomy and land one of these coveted positions, consider the following practical tips:

Get Certified: enroll in a recognized⁤ phlebotomy training​ program and obtain certification from a credible organization.

Gain Hands-On Experience: Seek internships or volunteer positions in hospitals or laboratories to build your resume.

Network: ⁣Attend healthcare job fairs, connect with professionals on‍ LinkedIn, and ⁣engage in community health events.

Tailor Your Resume: Highlight relevant experience and ��certifications to match job descriptions.

prepare for Interviews: Practice common interview questions and prepare to discuss​ your​ clinical experiences.

Real-Life Experiences:⁤ case Studies from Phlebotomists in DC

Let’s take a look at how real phlebotomists have navigated their career paths in DC:

Case Study 1: ‍John Doe

John entered the field after completing a 6-month certification program. He started as a phlebotomist at a local hospital, quickly moving into a lead position within a year due to‍ his commitment and skill.

Case ⁣Study 2: Jane Smith

Jane chose to become ‍a mobile phlebotomist​ and has as worked with LabCorp, enjoying the versatility and variety the job offers. ⁤Her advice to newcomers⁢ is to embrace continual learning and stay up ⁣to date with industry trends.

Future of Phlebotomy in Washington DC

As healthcare evolves,the role of phlebotomists becomes even more vital. Advanced technologies and personalized medicine are paving the way for exciting new opportunities. By staying informed and adaptable, ‌you can pave a successful career path!

Conclusion: Your Path to a Rewarding Phlebotomy Career!

Embarking‌ on a ⁢career in phlebotomy in Washington DC can be an incredibly rewarding choice. With a high demand for skilled professionals, competitive salaries, and the chance to make a difference in patients’ lives, phlebotomy is a career to consider seriously. By leveraging the information and tips shared in this article, you are one step closer to ​finding a top phlebotomy​ job in DC that you can’t miss! Start your training today and unlock your career potential!

### additional Notes: – This HTML ⁢structure includes SEO elements such as a title tag and meta description. – The article incorporates keywords related to ‌phlebotomy jobs, benefits,‍ and practical tips. – A table is used ‌to present job information, enhancing readability. – The use of headings (H1, H2, H3)⁣ and lists makes the content⁣ scannable, improving user experience and SEO.

https://phlebotomytechnicianschools.org/open-your-career-top-phlebotomy-jobs-in-dc-you-cant-miss/

[starlight-eclipsed]

DP X Pokémon Crossover AU

Because I lack restraint. (Dark version + AU details under cut)

1. Drs. Fenton are still very anti-ghost, only in this world they argue that as dead people they should not count as Pokémon. They are especially vocal about children having Ghost-types (comparing it to grooming/they want to steal your kids away, which is not helped by certain Pokédex descriptions), which is a perspective that gains traction in some areas. 2. As you can imagine, this does not make them liked in most circles.

3. Despite that, they travel all over the globe to spread their message and research sites with a particularly dense Ghost-type population.

4. The GIW are similar to Team Galactic in this AU. They're more intense than the Fentons and automatically class all Ghost-types as threats. Everyone knows they're bad news, but they're a well established organization and nobody can really go against them legally.

5. The Fentons are invited to the Alola region by the Aether Foundation, as they're currently invested in portals-ghosts-ultra beasts-ultra space and those fields are suspected to have a lot of overlap.

6. Jazz had spilt from the family when she was younger to go on her Pokémon journey when she was 13, having originally stayed back to look after Danny. She encountered a hurt Munna when they were in the Unova region, who would become her starter Pokémon.

7. She starts to realize just how wrong her parents were when she starts fighting Team Plasma alongside two kids her brother's age, but that's a different story. A part of her wishes she'd insisted on Danny starting his journey with her--she thinks he would've liked Sam and Tucker.

8. Danny is pretty disillusioned to the thought of a Pokémon journey by the time he's 14 and his parents still haven't let him strike out alone.

9. He does have a Staryu he befriended a couple regions ago. But considering his family's affinity for Psychic-types he was essentially told he couldn't go off alone until Staryu evolved into Starmie (a Water and Psychic-type). However he can't really train with his parents' supervision when they're always busy, so he's effectively stuck.

10. One day in Alola, he spots a wild Minior. His brain essentially goes 'hey look another star-themed little space guy', and he sneaks away from his parents to go see if he can catch it.

11. Water-type Staryu is super effective against Rock and Flying-type Minior, and he gets his second Pokémon!

12. He stops by his parents' lab to tell them the news, but is quickly distracted by a strange Pokémon being kept in a ring-like passage in the wall. He enters when he hears its cries.

13. No matter the dimension, the Fentons have a tendency to put switches on the inside.

14. Young Danny Fenton woke up on the shore of one of Alola's main islands, clutching a little Cosmog in his arms. The little space guy roster has expanded.

15. With some assistance from the local professor, Danny returns to the apartment, electing to hide Cosmog as he tries to figure out what to do. And then Ultra Wormholes start opening all over the region.

16. Good news! Thanks to whatever happened with Ozzy (He can't exactly call them Cosmog in fear of being overheard), he can now sense when a wormhole opens. Ozzy can even teleport them there and back.

17. Bad news! His parents and every researcher in the area wants to catch and study the beings that get dragged through and start causing havoc.

18. Which would be bad enough without the revelation that Danny can now understand what certain Pokémon are saying (Ghost-types or otherwise space-related).

19. On the plus side, his parents were insistent that he start his journey as a Pokémon trainer so that he can defend himself should these 'Ultra Beasts' attack. Due to some confusion in which they ask the local Pokémon Professor to help him start his journey, he also gets to pick a starter Pokémon despite already having some.

20. He initially goes for Rowlet because they're nocturnal, stealthy, can fly, and he could use a Grass-type on his team. The professor is hesitant to let the son of two very anti-ghost scientists to have a starter that gains a Ghost-type in its final evolution (especially right after the debacle in which he gave them a Rotom Dex and they proceeded to chase it out of the device and into the wild), and warns Danny.

21. Danny is thrilled. One day he'll be able to fully talk with his new buddy! It isn't until he's already gone home that he realizes what the professor was trying to warn him of. Thankfully his parents aren't native to the area, so when they scan Rowlet and hear 'Grass-Flying', they don't expect that to change.

22. He meets Rotom shortly afterwards--the one that was in the Alolan Pokédex given to his parents. It was emotionally attached to its old shell, but is scared of being seen taking it back.

23. Danny switches out the Rotom Dex for a standard regional one, which his parents are more than happy to use knowing it hasn't been 'possessed'. The Rotom in question decides to stay with him, randomly taking over various electronics to help Danny out and occasionally battling alonside him.

24. (Danny is both happy to have a new partner and upset that a Pokémon normally characterized by being a trickster is so insistent on proving it's useful and staying out of the way. Cue him and the others helping Rotom play pranks and showing that it's okay to act out sometimes.)

25. Insert brief adventure involving falling into a wormhole, crashing into Hisui, accidentally befriending a weird looking Zorua, and meeting the masters of time (Dialga/Clockwork) and space (he instantly recognizes Palkia--it's the embodiment of space!) to catch a ride back home.

26. The Zorua sneaks back home with him, joining as the sixth member of his team. Danny does some research on the history of Zorua, and discovers that there was a half-Normal half-Ghost strain of them that lived in ancient Sinnoh.

27. By the time he's fifteen, he realizes that with half his team being Ghost-type (that is, when Rowlet fully evolves) and having to hide both Ozzy and his own powers all the time, it's really not a good idea to stick around his parents anymore. What if he loses track of one of his friends, and his parents find them first? And that's completely ignoring the distance that's formed as Danny started helping out the local Ghost-types and hearing all the awful things the Fentons have done.

28. So he packs his stuff, takes a Fenton Thermos (a version of the mobile box storage used in the Galar region, invented by his parents and actually made functional when he and Rotom messed with it. Danny isn't risking catching a seventh Pokémon and them being sent directly to his parents, so he sets up his own account and isolates it to the Thermos), and leaves five years late for his Pokémon while his parents are visiting Aether Foundation's main research base.

29. Cue various shenanigans as Danny and his team travel through dimensions to keep the peace between Ultra Beasts and the rest of reality. Somewhere along the line he starts literally fighting alongside his Pokémon, possibly unlocking more powers. This teenager has no hesitation and will punch a god if given the chance.

30. (His Pokémon were thrilled, thinking it was about time their trainer starts learning some moves. Rotom is the only one distressed by the implications when Danny uses Shadow Ball.)

31. Jazz hears from her parents for the first time in years when they call her panicking about Danny disappearing. She connects some dots from her last call with him and figures he must've finally snapped and ran away to journey with his Pokémon.

32. Danny proceeds to get the most confusing message in his life from Jazz as he's restocking on supplies in a Pokémart somewhere in Kalos. Why was she congratulating him and offering him a couch in a Unovan professor's lab if he's ever in the area?

33. In completely unrelated news, people start recognizing a mysterious trainer that commits acts of vigilantism and speaks in favor of Ghost-types and Ultra Beasts all over the world, resolving conflict both peacefully and through battle. Some rumors say he's a Pokémon himself, a ghost with unfinished business. Others think he's an undercover ranger, finally losing patience with trying to stop bad people the legal way and resorting to direct action.

34. They're calling him Phantom, and his interference is attracting all kinds of attention.

35. Danny just wants everyone to be safe, and is more than happy to be traveling through space with his Pokémon by his side. Maybe one day he'll try a gym challenge or whatever trainers normally do, but for the time being he's more than happy to keep getting stronger while throwing down with various Pokémon across dimensions.

[emiko-matsui]

hello this is my official list of what i think every member of the bau would work with if they wouldn't work at the bau like if that wasn't a reality you get me

——

Jason Gideon: look i know this is technically canon but i truly do think he would be an author and would guest lecture a bit in his later years and like sure he could still write true crime books but also just regular crime novels i think this old man would just like to write

Jennifer "JJ" Jareau: i think she would work inside of the media, not in front of the camera necessarily but as a communicator or similarly inside of the media and the news. however i think there's a possibility of a divergence of path for her, i think its possible she could end up in a hostage situation due to her job in a similar situation like in neon terror and would start working out as a coping mechanism and like genuinely would pick up a (extra?) job as a personal trainer at her gym

Derek Morgan: firefighter. that's it i don't know what to say other than that, derek would 500% be a firefighter. there's nothing else. now that i think about it derek should've been a firefighter from the beginning fuck the bau this is his true calling don't even @ me

Elle Greenaway: similarly to JJ i think elle would work inside of the media but as an investigative journalist. well i think she would start out as a regular journalist but become an investigative journalist after a while because her drive would be too big you get me. also niche but i think that when she was a teen she was like briefly a singer like you know robin from how i met your mother but she would've made angry girl music

Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner: genuinely don't think this punk could stay away from the government so i think he would still work a fancy government job just not inside of the bau, maybe not even the fbi but i so think he'd still be in government. now what i have no idea because i know nothing about the government especially the american government seeing as im not even remotely american

David "Dave" Rossi: now i don't even know if this fucking counts but you know those really fancy shops that are like made of dark smelling wood and is called something extravagant with a cursive gold font and they sell like cigar or wine or herbal products or like mustache wax or whatever the fuck you know the places im talking about. i think rossi would work there and be that old man at the counter who will come up and talk to you and you have no idea if he just works there and is really invested in this stuff or if he owns the place or just a really weird costumer but then he's the one you pay too so you assume it's his but the moment you step out of the store you've forgotten his face and you never want to go back there but you always think about it once a month or something. if you don't know what kinda place im talking about consider yourself lucky

Penelope Garcia: if the bau wasn't even a prospect here there's no question that penelope would still be a hacker illegally and make most of her money from there but i also think that she would work in a small second hand shop with lots of old trinkets and clothes and stuff just because she genuinely thinks it's fun to work there and also the old woman who owns the shop lets her be on the computer when there's no costumers in the store. i just think she would sit there in her cupcake dress next to a ceramic old cat from the 1930s talking to bernice about her grandson while hacking jeff bezos on her computer

Spencer Reid: now it's time for spencer all over the place reid who i think would work at like one of those really prestige but still public libraries where like everyone is welcome but they have like locked rooms with super valuable books and stuff and he kinda does whatever there bc sometimes he gives tours talking about thr history of the building and stuff and sometimes you find him at the counter ready to guide you to the specific book you're looking for plus twenty other recommendations you should read if you like this book and sometimes you find him in a window reading and his coworkers politely ignore he's had his "break" for three hours now bc he guided 17 tours yesterday (only ten were scheduled) and they suspect he mightve slept here. plus in his spare time i think he would do some independent work to keep him stimulated with stuff but that's not a fully developed idea yet

Stephen Walker: this might be controversial but i think stephen would be a guidance counsellor at like a school and i don't know why but he has the vibe and i think he would be quite good at it. maybe he just gives me more official jawbone vibes from dimension 20

Emily Prentiss: i firmly believe this woman cannot hold down a job for her life. i think the bau and interpol were flukes in her reality because im quite certain emily would physically not be able to keep one job for longer than a year. if you mention a job she's probably done it. she's done everything from high positions in government to bagging groceries to leading seminars to breeding puppies. listen emily prentiss is a lesbian ex goth trust fund kid (like canonically yall). i think right now she's working with the lights for a theatre production and she's liking it and seems to have a knack for it

Tara Lewis: this one's out there but i think she would work as a principal at a university (do universities have principals?). but like the one who's in charge of a school but like advanced studies with like adults study after they've already studied if you know what i mean. idk i just think that's what she would be

Luke Alvez: hate to do this to luke but he would simply just be a cop. or like a detective (that's like a promotion for a cop in america right? bro my knowledge extends to brooklyn 99 and brooklyn 99 only). i hope this is because i feel like luke is the serious crime version of jake peralta and jake is the sitcom version of luke. anyway, cop

Matt Simmons: this is my magnum opus but bro i think he would be a podcaster. i think he would do a podcast with kristy. for everyone who follows my blog think justin and sydnee mcelroy but matt is sydnee. i think they would have a little podcast together. after his unit at the fbi (?) got got by linda barnes i think he would retire home and start doing podcasting full time with kristy. this is my hot take

Kate Callahan: because such a central part of kate's personality/backstory is that her sister died in 9/11 i think that kate would've been a nurse. specifically a nurse not a doctor and i don't think it's because a lack of competence or anything like that fuck u no i genuinely think kate wanted to be a nurse and chose to study to become that. her hours would still be crazy but maybe meg isn't as worried about her now

Ashley Seaver: i don't have a lot for seaver but i think she would work in local government more centralised like those guys from parks and rec and yes i realise ive made way too many references that some people might not understand but here we are. i think seaver would do whatever leslie does in parks and rec or something like that

Alex Blake: this is just a formality to have her on here because she's literally a linguistics professor in the show

[moblitberner-bunch]

Modern AU: proffessions

These have been sitting in my drafts for 1,5 year now so I decided to finish them and dedicate these to @quietcelt because she's gonna leave Tumblr soon... Me be sad...

Erwin: Teacher and student mentor

Mike: Dog trainer you can’t change my mind

Levi: TEA SHOP OWNER!!!

Hanji : Forensic scientist

Moblit : Pediatrician. He makes little drawings for children to make them a little happier too.

Nanaba : Emergency service line. Volunteers as telephone operater for abuse hot line

Nifa: Fashion store manager, designs clothes, once she released her own clothing line. She is now working on a skin care products line.

Pixis: professional alcoholic (sommelier)

Anka: Pharmacist

Rico : Lawyer (and a ridiculously good one too)

Ian: Journalist

Mitabi: Coach; Talent developer; Jury

Gustav: I-O psychologist

Studies:

Eren: No studies, works at MMA gym.

Mikasa: Language and Culture studies, works at a cinema.

Armin: Studies Biology and Geography, also in the honors program, is student tutor in biology as job.

Jean: Studies Political History, considers studying Law as well. Doesn’t need a job, he lives with his mom rent free.

Connie: Studies Programming and Computer Science, works in an electronics shop: he is a real gamer and sometimes earns money with the gameplay videos and streams he uploads.

Sasha: Works in bakery/patisserie/coffeehouse, no studies yet. She is kinda scared of studying.

Historia: Studies History, volunteers at the local animal shelter, human rights activist.

Petra: Social Worker, very active at schools and universities.

Eld: Security manager, could as well stand in as a body guard

Gunther: Studies Medicine. He has Omega Big Brains and he is devoted to using them.

Auruo: No studies, he is the stay-at-home family man.

[reesepce]

a  TWENTY  FOUR  year  old  all  the  way  from  QUEBEC,  CANADA.  (  nala,  21+,  she  /  her,  est  ).  //  pinterest  |  dossier  |  headcanons  |  academic  schedules.

tw:  brief  mentions  /  hints  of  bullying,  violence,  abuse,  death,  mental  illness.

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜  𝚒𝚜  𝚝𝚑𝚎  𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢  𝚘𝚏  𝚊  𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕;

born  to  a  mother  who  never  wanted  her  &  a  father  who  never  loved  her,  young  reese  never  lived  life  on  easy  street.  

at  seven,  she  experiences  her  first  bully,  but  no  one  believes  her.  her  bully  has  two  loving  parents  fighting  for  her,  which  means  she  must  be  telling  the  truth,  right?  right.  she’s  told  to  forgive  and  forget;  to  stop  making  a  mountain  out  of  a  molehill.  the  girl  only  wanted  to  play,  stop  being  so  sensitive.

at  twelve,  she  experiences  her  second  bully,  and  even  with  the  physical  evidence  that  litters  her  body,  nobody  believes  her.  this  time,  reese  is  blamed.  for  everything.

    ❝  you  ruin  everything,  it’s  no  wonder          no  one  wants  you.  why  are  you  so  selfish?    ��      so  dramatic?  why  can’t  you  just         be  perfect,  reese?  be  perfect  like  me.  ❞

    ❝  you’re  lucky  i’m  such  a  loving  father,          otherwise  i’d  leave  you  behind  to  rot  with          her,  but  you  remember  what  happens  when          you  disappoint  me,  don’t  you?  ❞

once  the  divorce  is  finalised,  her  father  uproots  her  from  toronto  &  settles  in  quebec.  it  doesn’t  take  long  before  he  finds  a  new  trophy  wife  and  reese  gains  a  stepmother  and  step  -  sibling.  they  live  in  a  suburban  area,  filled  to  the  brim  with  white  families  &  she  feels  so  out  of  place,  but  she  remembers  what  her  father  said:  you’d  do  well  not  to  disappoint  me.  so,  reese  does  what  she  can  to  make  herself  scarce.  she  makes  friends  with  a  local  trainer  willing  to  take  her  under  his  wing  &  dedicates  the  rest  of  her  free  time  to  her  studies  ---  anything  to  relieve  the  stress  of  home  and  make  her  family  proud.  maybe  she’ll  finally  be  wanted  if  she  does.

at  fifteen,  she  experiences  her  third  bully.  this  time,  however,  reese  doesn’t  bother  telling  anyone;  she  bites  her  tongue  and  bears  the  weight  of  each  jab.  thanks  to  some  of  her  training,  fists  thrown  by  girls  with  low  self  -  esteem  no  longer  feel  like  boulders.  she’s  still  a  loner,  but,  for  once,  the  girl  walks  the  halls  light  as  a  feather  ------  at  least,  until  her  father  introduces  her  to  her  first  boyfriend.  he’s  the  son  of  an  important  business  contact  &  he  assigns  reese  to  charm  him,  to  handle  him,  and  doing  what  she’s  told  is  what  she’s  always  done  best.

at  sixteen,  her  paternal  grandmother  passes  away.  she  was  the  only  family  member  reese  had  that  treated  her  like  she  was  worth  something,  but  the  strained  relationship  between  her  father  &  his  mother  kept  the  two  separated.  she  does,  however,  leave  everything  in  a  trust  for  her  only  granddaughter.

by  seventeen,  she’s  had  enough.  she’s  tired  of  being  used,  treated  like  brainless  arm  candy  meant  to  only  serve  one  purpose,  but  she’s  never  known  how  to  stand  up  for  herself.  what  will  happen  when  her  father  finds  out?  that  alone  is  enough  to  keep  her  in  line  until  her  drunken  boyfriend  disrespects  her  a  final  time  and  her  relationship  ends  in  blood  +  a  hospital  trip  (  according  to  her  trainer,  she’s  always  had  a  mean  left  hook  )  and  reese  pays  for  it  the  second  she  makes  it  home.  for  hours.

at  eighteen,  she  graduates  high  school,  top  of  her  class  &  she  has  no  one  to  celebrate  with  her.  it  doesn’t  surprise  her,  of  course,  but  that  doesn’t  make  it  hurt  any  less.  still  on  lockdown  as  per  her  father’s  orders,  reese  takes  on  a  position  at  his  business.  she  works  for  free,  her  parental  figures  telling  her  that  it  only  makes  sense,  considering  they  feed  her,  clothe  her,  and  provide  her  with  a  roof  over  her  head.  she’s  tired  of  fighting,  tired  of  losing,  so  she  minds  her  tongue  and  follows  along.  this  is  also  when  she  learns  of  the  existence  of  her  grandmother’s  trust,  but  fear  makes  her  pretend  it  doesn’t  exist.  does  her  father  know?  what  is  he  willing  to  do  to  get  it  from  her?

at  twenty  -  four,  she’s  still  living  life  the  same  as  she’s  done  since  graduation.  her  position  at  work  is  still  the  same,  her  position  within  the  hierarchy  of  her  family  is  still  the  same,  but  reese  isn’t.  not  really.  and  she’s  finally  given  an  out  when  she  receives  notice  regarding  her  acceptance  into  the  programme.  unfortunately,  her  father  happens  to  hear  the  same  information  before  she  can  leave  &  he  threatens  her.  she  believes  him.  after  all,  he’s  never  went  back  on  his  word  before  and  her  family  are  the  only  ones  who  have  put  up  with  her  for  so  long,  but  she  doesn’t  want  their  kind  of  love  anymore.  she’s  had  her  fill.  so,  she  packs  a  small  bag  &  takes  off,  deciding  she’ll  prove  them  wrong.  she  has  plans  to  make  a  name  for  herself,  to  find  loving  friends  and  a  career  that  allows  her  to  make  the  positive  difference  she  desires  to  &  knows  she  can.  she  just  ..  isn’t  sure  where  to  start,  but  anywhere  is  better  than  a  home  that  never  felt  like  one.

𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢  𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗;

analytical.  is  very  deep  &  thoughtful.  sets  high  standards  for  herself,  personally,  professionally,  and  academically.  tends  to  be  orderly  and  organised.  very  much  a  perfectionist  when  it  comes  to  anything  that  she  has  her  hands  on,  to  the  point  to  where  she  can  make  herself  physically  ill  if  she  puts  too  much  pressure  on  herself.  it’s  that  perfectionist  part  of  her  that’s  responsible  for  her  failure  to  launch.  there’s  a  lot  that  she’d  like  to  do,  but  the  fear  of  not  doing  it  just  right  keeps  her  in  check.

observant.  tends  to  notice  a  lot  of  things  about  others  that  most  probably  don’t  want  her  to.  her  eyes  are  always  open  &  a  childhood  spent  navigating  the  turbulence  that  was  her  father  has  made  her  hyperaware  of  the  actions,  words,  and  energy  shifts  in  people.  even  if  they  don’t  have  anything  to  do  with  her  directly.

empathetic.  something  of  an  emotional  sponge  &  is  sensitive  to  the  environment  around  her.  it  doesn’t  take  much  time  for  her  to  pick  up  someone’s  feeling  and  adopt  it  as  her  own.  this  is  why  she  tends  to  match  the  energy  that’s  given  to  her,  unless  her  own  emotions  /  thoughts  are  strong  enough  to  run  the  show.

passionate.  never,  under  any  circumstances,  ever  does  anything  half  -  assed.  if  she  decides  to  take  something  on,  she’ll  keep  going  until  she  either  finishes  or  ruins  herself.  despite  that,  when  she’s  chill,  she’s  very  chill.  there  really  is  no  in  between  with  her.  she  also  gets  very  excited  over  the  smallest  things,  but  she’s  always  embarrassed  about  that  excitement,  so  she  tries  to  keep  a  lid  on  it.  otherwise  she  beats  herself  up  about  it  later.

morbid  /  curious.  tends  to  disregard  most  social  norms.  doesn’t  have  much  fear  regarding  various  aspects  of  the  concepts  of  life  or  death,  in  fact,  she’s  actually  quite  interested  in  exploring  those  concepts,  philosophically.  hell,  maybe  literally  too,  given  her  desire  to  chase  ~adrenaline~.  has  a  strong  fascination  regarding  the  behaviours  of  others.  why  they  are  the  way  they  are,  why  they  do  the  things  they  do,  what  occurred  to  make  them  into  the  person  they  are  today,  how  will  they  change,  what  angers  them,  what  saddens  them,  what  excites  them  ---  she  wants  to  know  it  all.  

confrontational.  you  may  notice  that  she  likes  to  argue  just  for  the  sake  of  arguing  (  it’s  always  playful  &  maybe  she’s  a  wee  bit  childish  and  finds  being  difficult  kinda  fun  ),  but  when  it  comes  to  the  serious  stuff,  she’ll  come  find  you  so  things  can  be  hashed  out  face  to  face.  even  if  the  answers  may  scare  her  or  the  fall  out  may  hurt  her,  she  won’t  let  herself  overthink  stuff  like  that.  is  never  the  type  to  believe  shit  told  to  her  through  the  grapevine,  either.  for  example,  someone  tells  her  that  someone  did  something  to  /  said  something  about  her,  she  won’t  believe  it  ..  but  she  will  immediately  find  the  person  in  question  and  ask  &  make  her  decision  based  off  the  answer  received.  

obsessive.  displays  a  lot  of  addict  behaviours  without  being  considered  an  addict.  she’s  always  chasing  something  that  brings  her  some  sort  of  high,  whether  that  be  wanting  to  read  every  book  written  by  a  specific  author,  eating  a  specific  meal,  listening  to  a  specific  song  /  artist,  watching  a  specific  tv  show,  etc.  she’ll  do  those  things,  repeatedly,  until  it  no  longer  brings  her  the  desired  feeling  &  then  it’ll  be  forgotten  and  replaced  with  the  next  new  thing.

𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙  𝚊𝚕𝚕  𝚝𝚑𝚎  𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊;

inspiration:  kim  joy  (  secret  royal  inspector  &  joy,  kdrama  ),  mera  (  rejected,  book  ),  morino  (  goth,  book  ),  sanako  (  the  wallflower,  manga  ),  THIS  ted  talk  (  addresses  bullying,  addiction,  loss  of  parentals  ),  THIS  slam  poem  (  addresses  depression  ),  THIS  slam  poem,  THIS  slam  poem  (  addresses  anxiety  )  &  facets  of  my  own  personality.  for  her  chosen  major,  i  used  christine  mcconnell  as  inspiration.

mental  health,  undiagnosed:  insomnia,  generalised  anxiety,  social  anxiety,  obsessive  compulsive  disorder,  depression,  adhd,  &  borderline  personality  disorder.

habits:  bites  her  cheek  /  lip.  can’t  sit  still,  is  usually  rocking  back  &  forth  or  side  to  side,  bounces  her  leg(s),  continuously  shifts  her  weight  if  standing,  likes  having  something  to  chew  on  (  straw,  pen  cap,  gum,  etc.  ).

name.  of  welsh  origin,  meaning  passion  &  enthusiasm.  her  nicknames  include:  re,  rj,  (  reeses  )  pieces,  and  any  other  form  of  the  peanut  butter  cup  candy  that  anyone  can  think  of.

signature  scent.  when  not  wearing  perfume,  smells  of  cocoa  &  shea  butter.  when  wearing  perfume,  she  almost  always  smells  like  spring.  her  preferred  choice  is  something  like  inflorescence  by  byredo  ------  notes:  pink  freesia,  rose  petals,  lily  of  the  valley,  magnolia,  &  fresh  jasmine.

stress  relief.  still  finds  time  to  box,  whether  she  does  so  at  a  gym  with  a  bag  or  sparring  partner  or  she  shadow  boxes  wherever.  is  usually  wearing  her  headphones  whenever  she’s  not  being  spoken  to  &  she  dances  a  lot;  doesn’t  care  where  she  is  or  who’s  looking.  sometimes  completely  avoids  life  by  living  vicariously  through  whatever  book  she  can  get  her  hands  on.  also  enjoys  partaking  in  the  arts,  specifically  through  drawing  and  /  or  painting.  for  the  most  part,  she  tends  to  stick  to  portraits  &  anatomy,  but  if  inspired  enough,  she’ll  venture  out  of  that.  in  terms  of  her  art,  her  sketchbooks  aren’t  normally  things  she  allows  to  be  seen  (  unlike  her  paintings  ),  but  i  imagine  her  art  being  a  lot  like  jonodry’s.  specific  examples  include:  HERE,  HERE,  HERE,  HERE,  HERE,  HERE.  (  be  aware  that  some  are  nsfw  ).

thirst  for  knowledge.  she  knows  a  little  about  a  whole  lot,  collects  random  tidbits  of  information  like  they’re  her  lifeline,  reads  academic  research  papers  for  fun.  dislikes  all  STEM  subjects  with  maths  being  the  bane  of  her  existence  ---  science  is  a  close  second  (  which  sucks  given  her  major  ).  her  curiosities  spread  far  &  wide,  covering  a  magnitude  of  different  subject  areas.  regarding  her  major,  she  was  originally  in  criminal  justice,  but  since  around  valentine’s  day,  she’s  been  thinking  that  maybe  she  should  do  something  different.  as  someone  who  is  incapable  of  creating  boundaries  and  tends  to  carry  the  weight  of  everything  /  everyone,  as  much  as  she’d  love  to  help  and  advocate  for  victims,  she  knows  it’d  be  a  very  difficult  task  for  her  because  she’d  carry  it  all.  her  new  major  of  interior  architecture  &  design  lets  her  pull  from  her  desire  to  create  while  also  helping  people  in  a  much  more  positive  manner,  one  that  won’t  devastate  her.

the  art  of  language.  speaks  using  a  deeper  register,  slightly  nasally.  has  a  canadian  accent,  usually  comes  out  stronger  when  she’s  angry  or  worked  up.  can  sing,  but  chooses  to  never  do  the  thing  in  front  of  people.  is  currently  fluent  in  english,  french  -  canadian,  &  american  sign  language.

financials.  despite  having  the  hefty  funds  from  her  grandmother,  she’s  extremely  frugal.  unless  something  comes  up  to  where  she  needs  to  touch  them,  she  pretends  they  don’t  exist  and  lives  off  whatever  she  gets  from  part  time  jobs  &  tutoring.  does  NOT  like  people  spending  money  on  her.  no  way,  no  how.  never.  it’s  a  surefire  way  to  make  her  uncomfortable.

morals.  her  moral  compass  is  kinda  ridiculous  &  partly  responsible  for  her  rigidness,  for  lack  of  a  better  word.  it’s  very  important  to  her  that  she  live  her  life  by  the  golden  rule,  so  she  always  puts  out  the  type  of  energy  she  wishes  to  receive  back,  even  though  she’s  been  told  her  whole  life  that  no  one  will  ever  treat  her  the  same.

[gallus-rising]

What's the first gym leader of Salmar like? What type of pokemon do they use? What's the town around the gym best known for outside of the gym?

ok bc this region was conceived as less of a canon game thing and more of a for fun thing (also a ttrpg setting but shhhhh) 2 things have made this question needlessly complicated on my behalf lol

1: the gyms don't have types. instead they have themes! for example there's one gym leader the specializes amphibious pokemon, so he's got a lot of water/ground types. there's another that's kinda a wacky researcher who studies "object" pokemon (ones like magneton, klefi, litwick, etc)

2: i don't believe in "first gyms" as a lore thing, only a gameplay contrivance, so you could theoretically start from anywhere. gym leaders function more as educators and have different teams for trainers of different skill levels. you show the leader how many badges you already have, and they adjust their team accordingly. there are some gyms that are considered harder then others to start w bc of their theming, but it's rly up to personal taste/fighting styles

all that said, there are two gyms that are commonly considered to be "starter" gyms! if you get your pokedex and/or starter from the resident professor the two nearest gyms are in Octaton to the south or Creseenda an island over

Ocaton is home to the nocturnal gym leader Luna. while she does keep pokemon normally thought of as nocturnal (zubats, hoothoots, different bug types and the like) she also keeps ghost types. bc surprise! most ghosts are active at night actually lol. besides the gym, Ocaton is known for it’s large library. Luna pulls double duty as both a gym leader and the head librarian. she’s often busy making scheduling matches hard at times, and she is always v tired

Creseenda has the reptilian gym leader Rex. for lower levels you see him using pokemon like totodile and turtwig, but for the big battles he pulls out the dragons >:D Rex is passionate abt raising pokemon and is v active w local schools and youth programs. besides that tho Creseenda’s location on Doflat island makes it a v quiet place to live. they do a lot of farming there, most of which gets imported to the swampy-er and more populated mainland

[need-a-fugue]

Trustworthy (Chapter 4)

Summary: You’ve spent the last three years teaming up with Santiago Garcia on every mission you had a hand in coordinating… and the past several months plotting with him to take down the biggest bad to hit your radar. But even all your time at the DEA and all your experience in the field couldn’t have prepared you for this.

Pairing: Frankie “Catfish” Morales x Fem!Reader (slow burn)

Warnings: Violence, language

Okay, yeah, sure, fine, you and Santi might not have been 100% honest about what you were planning in the jungle.

In fairness, neither of you ever actually said that this recon mission was at the behest of the CNP or Colombian military or any other government entity. You may have hinted at it. You may have neglected to correct the guys when they assumed. But you never actually told them that anyone had requested the raid on Lorea’s house.

What you had said was that there was a good chance this could turn into… something more. Something that might end up in a hefty pay day for all of you. You just never told the group of men that you and Garcia were actually banking on it.

You didn’t love the idea of lying to a bunch of strangers whom – if they agreed to everything – would end up holding your very life in their hands. Frankly, just the thought of doing so felt… sleezy. Especially considering that these men were Santi’s trusted friends. His brothers. But Santiago insisted that it needed to be played this way – They’ll never go for it if we tell them what we’re really up to. But I promise you, bonita, once they’re here, once they see… they’ll be all in.

He clearly knew his team because after just that single two-hour recce, a couple rounds of beers at a local bar, and a rather stirring, pointed speech, they were, in fact, all in.

And why not, really? The only one of them who had anything to lose – a family beyond those seen at the occasional holiday, wedding, or funeral – was Tom. And he’d been struggling so badly lately with impending alimony and child support and two kids’ worth of college tuitions – eight years minimum – that the money alone did all of their convincing for them.

It was illegal, yes. It was, as the captain said, “downright criminal.” But it wasn’t wrong. And as long as everything went according to plan, no one would know anything about any of it.

In the end, the world would be down at least one piece-of-shit, megalomaniacal drug lord murderer.

Some of the struggling people of Leticia – because you and Santi had promised each other and Yovanna that you’d drop a good chunk of the money into the hands of local charities – would have better lives.

Tom’s girls could go to college without having to worry about paying off student loans until they die.

Will could finally get rid of his old junker and buy a nice car – maybe not the Ferrari Ben was angling for, but a nice car all the same – to get him back and forth across the country for all those rousing speeches he insisted he would not stop giving.

Benny could invest in better training, at better gyms with better equipment… and real trainers. Or, hell, he could give all that shit up and quit getting his ass handed to him by kids ten years his junior, all in the hopes of capturing what was almost always one hell of a disappointing purse.

And Frankie? Well, Frankie wasn’t sure what he’d do with his share. But it sure would be nice to not have to worry so damn much. To not have to scramble to make the house payment every month. To not have to beg that dick who owns the local airfield to let him take on a few jobs just so he could settle into a cockpit for a bit. To maybe have the time – and funds – to take a woman on a date every now and then… not that he had a clue who that woman might be.

And you and Santi? Well, after years of accomplishing nothingin the fight against Lorea – the fight against the drug trade that had ruined and taken so many lives around the world – you two could finally say that you’d actually made a difference. Even if you couldn’t quite say it aloud for everyone to hear.

000

By the time you get to the compound early Sunday morning, rain’s already been falling for hours. The area’s nearly flooded, so your off-road path is basically a sprawling swampland. You barely slept, your hip is aching like crazy from an old injury, and the minute you step out of the SUV you damn near squeal like a stuck pig as you suddenly sink up to your calf in thick, sucking mud.

“Shit,” Frankie mutters under his breath – under a breathless laugh, you’re pretty sure – as he hops out and wraps a steadying arm around your waist. “Let me help,” he says, the words so soft, you can barely hear them over the unyielding pounding of the rain.

You try to balance, holding onto the door, one foot just barely sinking into the soft earth as Frankie leans down to pry the other from what feels like an utterly engulfing quicksand. He struggles, still holding you around the waist while his left hand works to grip your leg, your boot, your ankle… whatever he can wrap his fingers around. But it’s no use. The op has yet to even begin and already you’re stuck. In the disgusting mud. Deep in the endless jungle. With no hope of ever getting out.

You let out a painfully dramatic, completely despairing sigh and glance up only to see Benny laughing. Really laughing… not even trying to hide his utter, unabashed amusement at your awful predicament. You shoot him as threatening a glare as you can muster. But it only makes him laugh harder.

“Go get into position,” Tom orders, slapping him on the shoulder and shaking his head – once again in a seemingly all-too-practiced dadway – before he bends down to help Frankie out.

Finally, finally, the two men manage to free you. Shockingly, your boot leaves the earth as well, though you can feel the muck inside squelching beneath your instep and in between your toes. Your lip curls in disgust as you haphazardly wipe the boot – bottom, sides, and top – on the wheel well, a bit of mud getting squeezed out near your ankle as you do so. “I’m gonna get jungle rot,” you mutter bitterly as you continue to smear grime along the body of the SUV.

Tom swats your leg away. “Just be sure you don’t give away your location with all the squishing,” he says with a hint of a smile. Then, patting Frankie on the back, he finishes with a much more stern, “Let’s do this,” and takes off to find his position, face and shoulders both set as he easily drops into soldier mode.

“I’m still not sure if I like that guy,” you begin as you and Frankie head for the high ground, “or really freaking hate him.”

He bites out a quick laugh, turns to show off that too-damn-perfect smile, and replies with an easygoing, “Yup.”

Once you make it out of your drop-in point, everything else seems to be smooth sailing. The worst part is just waiting, especially with the rain. Waiting for Garcia’s informant to drop off the van. Waiting for the guards to leave for church, the family not so quickly following suit. Waiting for the guys to move in – Frankie shooting a quick wink alongside, “Watch my six,” as he heads out to join them. Waiting for the all-clear from Benny before you can finally enter the house yourself.

The house. Lorea’s house.

You’d been waiting for this for too damn long. Years of hunting the man had led to these last few months of building out this very plan with Santiago… and then to the last week of recon and final plans with these soldiers whom you barely even know. For all of the initial mistrust heaped upon you by them – and you honestly don’t blame them for any of it – the truth is, they know they have each other to depend on. You’re the odd man out here. You’re the one who should be questioning them… their dedication to this mission. Their loyalty to Santi, and by extension, to you. Their desire to end Lorea’s reign of terror.

You’re in this to take that man out. And if just one of these guys decides that’s not going to happen – for whatever reason – you’re shit out of luck. You should trust them only as far as you can throw them, which would be… not very far. But as you catch sight of Ben standing inside the front door, eagerly waving you in, and as you see the trail of blood leading into the kitchen, a voice over the coms calmly declaring, we had to shoot one of the guards in the leg, something inside of you shifts and settles and all of the worries about who may or may not be trustworthy simply flit away to nothing.

But other concerns quickly rise to take their place.

Watching the highly trained special ops team move about you – each man light-footed and fluid, so quiet that their breathing is nearly inaudible, even as one of them leans over your shoulder from his position behind – is nerve wracking enough to make your legs begin to tremble. You knew what you were getting into here. You knew that this would be dangerous, that it would require a certain level of skill and technique and training. But it isn’t until you actually see these men – these elite soldiers – in action that you realize how woefully inept and unprepared you are in comparison.

Self-doubt begins to seep from the cracks now forming in your carefully crafted façade. Uncertainty, insecurity, fear starts to build up and rise within you, burning like bile creeping up the back of your throat. By the time you and Santiago finish the second sweep of the downstairs and begin climbing the steps to the second-story landing, your entire body is vibrating with regretful apprehension.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” you hear as you approach the study upstairs. It’s the room where your informant took the picture of the stacks of cash after her delivery, the holding area where all of Lorea’s blood money sat, just waiting to be counted. But when you enter, there’s no money to be found, just pissed-off-looking soldiers surrounded by the empty bags they had planned to fill with cash.

“Your girl burned us,” Frankie mutters blankly, eyes full of regret and annoyance as he leans heavily against one wall. His dark gaze collides with yours for just a fraction of a moment before he shakes his head and breathes out, “We gotta get outta here.”

Your brow crinkles in confusion, all of the insecurity bubbling through your body suddenly settling and getting replaced by a sort of righteous indignation. “Whoa, wait,” you spit out, sidestepping Santi and rushing to the center of the room. “We’re not leaving. We’re not done here.”

Will gives you an almost disappointed look and blankly mutters, “Nothing here, sweetheart,” before dropping heavily into a chair in the corner.

You shake your head, a pointed certainty to your words as you level him with a heated stare and say, “Lorea’s here. He’s always here. He does not leave.”

Tom scoffs. “Yeah, well, he left today,” he says, tone full of spite. “And he took the money with him.”

You spin to face him, “No,” pouring from your lips in a firm and unyielding tenor. “He’s here. And so is the money.”

“We did a full sweep,” Will breathes out.

“So we’ll do another,” Santiago chimes in, suddenly at your back.

You look around at all the forlorn faces and roll your eyes, realizing all at once that, for all their training in war, these men don’t have a freaking clue about the kinds of things you deal with in your job. They’re used to encountering soldiers – enemy combatants, trained mercenaries, militias… people who’s purpose is to fight. That’s not what Lorea is. That’s not what he does. He didn’t move deep into the jungle to fight, to wage war, to build an army. He came here to hide.

“You guys are fucking idiots,” you declare with a huff. “I once spent two hours tearing apart a houseboat before finding the guy we were after squatting in a hidden cutout near the bilge. A few years ago, we found fifty thousand dollars under a false bottom in a hot tub while serving a search warrant. Another raid ended with us tearing apart a kid’s tree house that had cash hidden under the floorboards. You think because Lorea isn’t sitting here behind his desk, counting his millions like fucking Scrooge McDuck that they’re not here? That he’s not here?”

“Didn’t McDuck swim in his money?” Benny inquires from behind, the question earning quick huff of a laugh from his brother.

You feel Santi step away from your side. “She’s right,” he says, his eyes dancing around the room, looking for… something. They land on a mostly empty can of paint, and he smiles, sniffing quickly at the air. “Fresh paint.”

Tom’s eyes widen and tick towards the wall to his left as his lips split and out pours what you had all along seen as being an obvious truth. “The house is the safe.”

000

When it rains, it pours. You’d been the one to say that, to inanely mutter the adage through the coms with a huff as Benny took off back inside the house – the safe – while you sat in the now heavily weighted van, so full of money that the suspension sags to the point of extremeconcern.

The guards are coming back, the sound of their SUV’s engine just barely chugging atop the steady beating of the downpour that had engulfed you all for the past few hours. They’re coming back, and everyone but you is still inside.

Call it greed. Call it vindictiveness. Call it whatever the fuck you want. But you all had agreed to get as much plata out of that house as possible, to fill the cars to the freaking brim with as much of that motherfucker’s money – his lifeblood, his love, his everything – before setting fire to the whole damn thing. You’d been in this business long enough to know that bringing down one cartel merely opens up a door for others to grow. But still, the idea of watching Lorea’s empire burn makes you wet in a way the torrential rain beating on the roof on the van never could.

You toss a glance back, over you shoulder at the mound of duffel bags, a child’s suitcase thrown into the pile as well, all filled to bursting with cash. It’s pretty unbelievable. Incredible. You’d never been the type to really worry about money, no more so than the average guy. But damn if being surrounded by millions of dollars doesn’t make you a little lightheaded. And the fact that it’s Lorea’s money?

Despite Santi’s little bullshit pep talk the other night about how all of you deserve this – for serving your country and fighting for what’s right… blah, blah, blah – you honestly don’t feel like you deserve this money any more than anyone else. But Lorea sure as shit doesn’t deserve it. And you trust yourself – and each of these men by your side – to put it to far better use than he ever would.

You can’t see the guards, can’t see the SUV carrying them from your vantage point in the van. But Benny had told you to stay put, he’d get the others and he wanted you ready to drive as soon as they came out. Still, you know now that the first car must’ve arrived at the compound because – aside from the steady pounding of the rain and the wild pulse of your heartbeat echoing in your ears – everything is suddenly silent. No more hum of an engine. No choppy callouts over the radio as Ben seeks out the guys. Everything is silent and still. Until… pop-pop, short and sudden, muffled by the thick walls of the house.

Over the coms you hear – in a calm, controlled tone – Two down in the entryway. Another sharp pop, followed by a voice you’ve come to easily recognize. That’s three.

There’s something in the way their words are uttered, something in the utterly placid tenor of each of their voices. Something also to the sparse shots – so unlike the rapid, automatic gunfire you’re used to being thrown into amid scared and untrained local police and inexperienced, foolhardy kids hired as cheap labor by the cartels. There’s something about the way they all rush suddenly into your line of sight – fast but calm, controlled – as they pour out of the house, a few racing past to find the guards’ SUV, the sounds of their footfalls and quick breaths nearly drowning out the whir of the engine as you turn the ignition. There’s something about it all that leaves you feeling – despite the fact that things did not go as planned and you can see that all-too-recognizable, pissed-off scowl tugging at Santiago’s features as he flies past your window – calm as well. Safe, even.

Frankie climbs quickly into the passenger side of the van just as you fire up the engine, Will slowly pulling himself into the seat behind him. “Shit,” you mutter, eyes widening as you take in the grimace on the man’s face, the blood on his hands and shirt. “What the hell happened?”

“S’fine,” he tells you, punctuating the statement with a nod, a directive to look forward. “Let’s move.”

You put the van in gear and hit the gas, maneuvering steadily through the compound and towards the front entrance. “Did you get shot?” you inquire again, your voice showing less concern and more simple curiosity.

“Yeah,” he groans, a thick breath hitching as you hit a particularly big bump in the road. “Your friend Lorea popped out of his little hidey hole and got me. Guess you called that.”

You whip around to face him, eyes now like damn saucers. “You got him?”

Frankie grabs your arm and gives a little tug to get you turn back towards the front, only speaking, answering for Will, once you do so, once you settle a still-wild stare on the path ahead, “Yeah. Pope took him out. He’s dead.”

You say nothing for a long moment, letting those words seat inside of you. He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead. How long have you wanted to hear those words? How long have you been gunning for that son of a bitch, waiting for someone to take him out… hoping that someone might be you? Santi doing it is the next best thing, you figure.

A sudden explosion lights up in front of you as you approach the gate and Benny blows past it, and past the van, angrily muttering to himself all the while. “He looks pissed,” you comment blithely, looking to Frankie for something akin to permission before flooring it and ramming through the gate like you’re just itching to do.

He gives a staunch nod forward. “Can’t blame him,” he says, capping it off with a softer, rather encouraging, “Go for it.”

You hit the gas, glancing in the rearview mirror and asking, “The others are in the SUV?” as the guards’ car pulls up behind you and waits for Ben to jump in.

Frankie nods – “Yeah.” – and his eyes suddenly tick your way, narrowing a bit as they rove your body before coming to rest on your hands as they tightly grip the wheel.

“What?” you ask, feeling his stare burn into you.

Will laughs from behind – a swift, stilted thing that tells you just how much pain he’s actually in – and lets out an amused, “Fish always drives.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you say, voice dripping with put-on sincerity as you continue down the unpaved road. “Do you want me to pull over?”

He rolls his eyes, but there’s no hiding the plainly obvious pout tugging at his lips when he looks over at you and mutters, “Just watch where you’re going.”

The first half or so of the long drive up to the airfield is spent in tense silence. You don’t fight it, don’t force any sort of conversation, don’t inquire about what exactly happened in that house. You can tell that these men need a long-ass moment to come down from everything. Hell, your own adrenaline still has your pulse thrumming endlessly through your ears. And you’d been safely ensconced inside this van for most of the action. It’s not like you had to fight your way out of there. It’s not like you got shot.

Your eyes bounce up to the rearview mirror, finding Will curled into himself in the backseat. “How you doing, Ironhead?” you ask, purposefully infusing the ridiculous name with a mocking intonation.

He looks up and catches your gleaming eyes in the mirror, notes your slight smirk, and gruffly replies, “Well, I’m not dead yet.”

“It’s just a flesh wound,” Frankie supplies from your right. He spins around to give his friend a quick once over. “He’s fine.”

“That’s awfully presumptuous,” you challenge, raising a brow. “Didn’t see you coming out of there with a new hole in your body.”

“Didn’t realize you were so focused on my body,” he returns with a bit of a lilt.

Will groans loudly from the back. “Don’t start flirting up there,” he practically orders before the no-argument tone slips into something softer, almost jovial. “I’m suffering enough back here as is.”

“You’re fine,” Frankie shoots back, turning bodily in his seat and craning his head towards his friend. “You act like you’ve never been shot before.”

“I’m retired,” he replies. “Think I forgot how much this sucks.”

You nod, almost to yourself, emitting a simple, assenting, “Yeah.”

Frankie leans back, still remaining sideways in the seat, his stare now wholly on you. You glance over and see his brow scrunch in… is it concern? Or merely curiosity? “You’ve been shot?” he asks, an odd edge to his voice.

Again, you nod. “I have. Didn’t care for it.”

“See, Fish,” Will mumbles from the back as he slips further down the seat in an effort to find some semblance of comfort. “Maybe you’ve been so busy flying around rich businessmen in the private sector that you’ve also forgotten how shitty this is.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” he mutters with a frown.

Will cocks his head at you – not that you can see it, eyes remaining trained on the road lest you get another watch where you’re goingevil stare from the man by your side. “What happened to you, sweetheart?”

You snort out a short laugh, glancing quickly at Frankie and saying softly – and more than a little bit condescendingly – “He likes to call me sweetheart.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the man in the back sighs out, waving a dismissive hand through the air. “Guess I’m just a run-of-the-mill chauvinist.”

You shrug. “I never said anything about you being run-of-the-mill.” And from your right, you hear a soft snicker. A gentle smile spreads across your face and your hands loosen their death grip on the steering wheel just a bit as you feel the air filling the van begin to lighten, tension seeming to slowly spill away. After a lingering – but not at all wrought – moment, you shift a bit in your seat and say, “Went on a raid just outside of Tijuana. My first down in Mexico. And I took a bullet in the hip.”

“Shit,” Will intones. “Hell of a bienvenido.”

“Yeah,” you breathe out, suddenly all-too conscious of the old ache in your joint that’s been plaguing you all day. “But on the plus side, I’m now always the first to know when it’s about to rain.”

Both men laugh. You laugh – despite the pain in your hip and the worry about the guy in back… and your terribly distracting infatuation with the wide smile now painted on Frankie’s face. You all sit in the van – on your way to flee the country after committing a terrible crime – and laugh about the fact that, despite each of you being a little bit broken, none of you are dead yet.

Taglist:

@tweedlydumbtweedlydoo @icanbeyourjedi @greeneyedblondie44 @mrscrain-x7 @kyjoraven@elephants-are-a-thing @nakhudanyx

[mayadoesfandomstuff]

Okay, since I can't focus on school today despite the cramming I have to do, ig I'll work on that Hetalia Philippines headcanons list so here's some for now:

He actually thrives under a lot of things that are considered cringe. He doesn't care what people say, and his confidence shuts them up before they could say anything.

You bet that he was once a Jejemon and he wasn't ashamed at all!

He would take photos with you every time you meet even if you see each other often and regardless if he knows you well.

He expects you to post said photos almost immediately, tagged and captioned.

He plays a lot of basketball, mostly in Liga with some of the local guys around his current residence but he has been invited for a match at least once for the PBA.

He has also guested as a trainer in at least one Milo basketball training camp.

He would definitely wear a maid outfit without question. He thinks he looks cute and to hell with toxic masculinity.

He crushes on a lot of people and it does change quite frequently. He would often write songs about these people and eventually wrote a song about his many fleeting crushes. (This would be considered an OPM classic.)

He also plays a lot of instruments since he absolutely loves music. He thinks he also has a good voice regardless of training.

He likes learning different instruments no matter how strange they could be but in the absence of anything, he just makes do with any object around him to make sounds.

Aside from Pien, his tarsier, he has at least one dog that he takes care of that may or may not be his. Some of the dogs and cats he takes care of are just strays he likes feeding. They like following him around when he goes out his house.

About Historical Events and People

He only came around the start of the colonial period since there would be different kingdoms and countries before him to represent the ancient Philippine civilizations. Because of this, he's a bit insecure about himself as a country, but he's been successfully getting past that more recently.

He also looks up to a lot of the older or the OG Filipino countries and wants to learn more about the past, but they also have very conflicting memories or opinions about it much to his confusion.

He wasn't all too used to the different writing systems of the pre-colonial Philippines since he didn't really see it for too long or grew up with the writing systems, but he wanted to learn. This resulted in him ending up mixing different writing systems and letters since he tried studying them all at once.

When people ask him to write in Baybayin (the ancient Tagalog script) he has to constantly explain that he'd love to do it without reference, but he honestly can't bc of his mixed-up writing systems issue.

He genuinely thinks people overhyped Jose Rizal too much esp since he actually knew him (even if not too well, lives around the same time as him so). He respects him, of course, but he finds a little bit of irony knowing that Rizal wanted to have a pretty simple memorial after death yet a whole park is now dedicated to him in his grave (not to mention renaming a province after him too).

He also finds it funny how Rizal had such an influence even when he was still alive that people were claiming he did miracles.

He's kinda confused about the Rizalista cult though.

He has mixed feelings about historical films since he knows how inaccurate they are but it's been so long that his memory gets sorta mixed up. He doesn't rant and rave about it compared to the other nations, but some of the depictions either amuse him or upset him.

He doesn't like how divided some of his people are and how some of them fight over menial things. He also hates it when people would say uncalled for statements against people from different regions of the country.

Related to this, the regionalism reminds him of how fractured the rebellion was since there was a lot of regionalism in the Katipunan that he got annoyed of.

[bitchapalooza]

Nordics Pokémon au

Berwald

Berwald is a Johto native, originating from Mahogany Town. He began his own journey at the standard age of ten, completing his journey at age fifteen— he took breaks in between as well as backtracking once his brother Mathias(three years younger) began his own journey. Regardless of the duration, Berwald still managed to reach the Johto Elite Four and even beat the champion on his third try. He defended his champion title for 5 months and two weeks exactly. He met this nice trainer visiting for holiday from Snowpoint City, Sinnoh. Of the two weeks he knew him he fell completely head over heels for him. Timo was set to leave in another week but Berwald didn't want to forget about him and his beautiful smile and nice laugh and fun stories. So naturally he quit being the Johto champion and left for Sinnoh! ….much to the disapproval of the Johto league members.

Although he impulsively left Johto vulnerable, what with no champion and all, Johto still considers Berwald to be one of their top 5 best and strongest champions; especially considering how young he was when he won the title and how rare it was for someone under 18 to defend the title so responsibly. (note: he was not their youngest champion, but he was among them. Their youngest ever was thirteen and defended her title for six and half years; this was thirty years before Berwald was born.)

Now he's retired with two kids and owns an inn called The Piloswine Inn. He runs the inn while his husband Timo runs the Snowpoint gym next door. Many are pretty surprised to learn this gentle giant of a man was once the Johto champion, often finding this out from the display of badges and rewards in the lobby.

Berwald no longer battles competitively but he still keeps his prized team together. His team consists of Feraligator, Slowking, Noctowl, Ampharos, Azumarill, and Mamoswine.

Timo

Timo is the Snowpoint City gym leader, specializing in ice types of course. He uses a Dewgong, Glalie, Glaceon, Snowrunt, and Abomasnow.

He briefly went to Johto for holiday at age 16 with his cousins Edward and Erzsébet before they could all start their journey in Sinnoh together. Timo met a nice local willing to show him and his cousins around and he was very surprised to find out he was the region's champion. For the three weeks he was there Timo and Berwald grew quite attached to each other, even with how close they'd gotten Timo was very shocked when Berwald dropped everything to move to Sinnoh with him.

Back in Sinnoh after his Johto vacation, Timo went around challenging gyms with Edward and Erzsébet, Berwald following along as support. Within a year's time, the journey was finished and they all faced off against the Elite Four. But none of them got very far. Timo was stopped at the third member and was never given a chance to rechallenge them because his mother decided it was time to hand her gym down to him. She saw his strength during their battle as well as how far he'd gotten in the Sinnoh League so she figured it was time. Timo wasted no time in accepting. He's waited for this day his entire life.

Now gym leader, husband, and father Timo is known to be very efficient and his looks very deceiving. He makes a big deal about the trainers that make it not only through the previous gyms but also through his personally selected gym trainers. His gym trainers are just as strong as he is. They don't hold back just like Timo, especially to the trainers coming in to retry after a previous loss.

Mathias

Mathias is a lab assistant in New Bark Town, Johto. He assists young Professor Xiao Mei in her research of Pokémon behavior. He periodically looks into fossil restoration and the slow growth of mega evolution [in Johto] on the side for fun.

Many honestly doubted Mathias could actually make it as a researcher due to his attention span or lack thereof. However he's proved them all wrong a significant amount. Mathias has always been curious and extra attentive when it comes to pokemon. The reason his journey took so long and why he held his brother up so much is because he'd always stop for days at a time to study a pokemon or two. He has over forty journals of notes on every pokemon he's encountered, often more detailed than a pokedex.

Mathias is trying to convince Mei to endorse his research into mega evolution in Johto and how different the phenomenon is to Kalos' and Alola's bustling community of mega evolution. Mathias has the theory that mythical pokemon Xerneas' and Yveltal's power are somehow expanding in its reaches, not just residing in Kalos and Alola but now in many other regions, which would explain Hoenn's recent, still slow, integration of mega evolution as welk. There's already evidence found by one Professor Brianna Kirkland that mega evolution stones are not only native to Kalos and Alola but can be found elsewhere such as the Hoenn region; in her time before retirement she excavated over 30 mega stones identified to match several different pokemon species native to Hoenn. There's further evidence suggesting there may be more mega stones located in the depths of Johto's grounds, thanks to one late Professor Anippe Hassen who excavated three different mega stones. Mathias has full confidence that mega evolution will become a very regular and easy accessible phenomenon in the Johto region within the next 10 years, even if he has to go behind his superiors back to confirm this.

Lukas

Lukas comes from Valencia Island, located within the Orange Archipelago. He grew up on the island with his half brother, father, and step mother. His parents are researchers that go around the various islands to find out why the native pokemon have such peculiar colorations to the mainland pokemon. Meanwhile Lukas just lives an easy life taking care of any injured or tired pokemon that come across the lab.

Lukas trained himself in pokemon medicine as well as making pokemon food from the most natural of ingredients he can find. He also gets packages filled with dried berries he can't get from islands. These packages come from his brother Emil in Alola.

Emil

Emil had no desire for research growing up. In fact, he's sick of the islands. He was born and raised there and knows every single island like the back of his hand— he's completely tired of it. So at age 15, he moved to Alola. Not exactly a vastly different location but it has more to offer at least.

He set out for the Island Challenge after attending the trainer school for a year to familiarize himself with the many different pokemon and island locations. He befriended Ka Lung during his studies and later took on the Island Challenge with him. The two are currently still participating in the challenge. They have two trials to go and two grand trials left before they take in the Elite Four and the champion.

[emma-what-son]

How Sir Philip's son cast a spell on Emma Watson: The super-woke Harry Potter star and the playboy son of the disgraced Topshop tycoon - it's hard to think of a more unlikely romance, writes ALISON BOSHOFF

One can almost see her eyebrows raised in quizzical disdain. Hermione Granger would surely disapprove.

Pictures emerged this week of Emma Watson, the serious-minded Harry Potter actress and eco-warrior, hopping out of Sir Philip Green’s family helicopter in Battersea, South London. Curious, some would think, given Emma’s long-standing war against fast fashion, that she would accept a lift from the fallen King of the High Street.

More curious still, however, is that Emma, 31, has apparently been enchanted by Brandon Green, Sir Philip’s 28-year-old son, whose longest relationship to date seems to have been with a Belarusian bikini model. Could there be a more unlikely romance?

Aside from both being awash with money —Brandon is an heir to a £2 billion fortune, while Emma is said to be worth about £59 million —they appear to have almost nothing in common. Yet according to a friend, a certain magic is in the air.

‘Brandon has been wooing Emma,’ says one source. Another says: ‘They are an item, although she hasn’t met the family yet.’

Emma, who once mused about being ‘self-partnered’, has certainly had more suitors than her single status would have you believe.

At 17, an early boyfriend was rugby player Tom Ducker, but her most serious romance seems to have been with another rugby player — and fellow Oxford student — Matt Janney, with whom she broke up in 2015.

Then there was another Oxford student, Will Adamowicz. The relationship lasted from 2011 to 2013.

She was then seen out and about with actor/producer Roberto Aguire, whom she first met in 2005 on the set of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. She also seems to have a particularly weak spot for young tech millionaires, as she has dated at least three of them, most significantly U.S. entrepreneur William ‘Mack’ Knight, whom she split from in late 2017 following a two-year romance.

Then came a six-month love affair with handsome Glee actor Chord Overstreet. They broke up during the summer of 2018.

She was then spotted sharing cocktails with tech CEO Brendan Wallace, a New Yorker, now 38, who is co-founder of a venture capital fund. By summer 2019 she was rumoured to have moved on to another tech millionaire, Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus.

She most recently split from her boyfriend of two years, businessman Leo Robinton.

It’s a longer list of amours than you might expect for someone who claims to be ‘self-partnered’, but then Emma is a woman who solemnly examines her life.

‘The boyfriends or partners I’ve had have generally made me feel really cherished. They have built me up,’ she said.

Quite how Brandon — who featured in Tatler’s ‘most eligible’ list in 2014 and was once caught patting Kate Moss’s bottom — fits into Emma’s orbit of admirers, remains to be seen. Although, like Emma’s other admirers, he does have a job running a tech investments company.

So who is this handsome young man — and what does Emma see in him?

Born in 1992, he was raised in Monte Carlo with big sister Chloe. His mother, Tina, is resident in the tax haven and was the ultimate owner of the Arcadia group, which went into administration last year. He went to the principality of Monaco’s International School.

To say his was a gilded upbringing would be an understatement. A source in Monaco says: ‘All the time he was growing up, the Greens would never fly commercial, always in their private jet.

‘They have a private chauffeur and in the family penthouse at the Roccabella building in Monaco there are uniformed maids standing to attention in every room just in case someone needs something. That’s the lifestyle Brandon was born into and has always thought was completely normal.’

He and Chloe have the use of the 109ft yacht Lionchase — Sir Phil has the 295ft Lionheart —which is moored in Monaco in the winter and cruises around the Med all summer.

I’m informed that his mum will pick up ‘seven-figure’ boat bills for the pair of them at the end of the season without blanching.

Brandon’s 2005 Bar Mitzvah caused a stir. It was held at the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, with entertainment provided by Beyonce, Destiny’s Child and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. There were 300 guests over three days, all hosted by Sir Phil, who was then the boss of Topshop, BHS and Dorothy Perkins, all part of the Arcadia group.

When he was younger, Brandon seemed to be happy to join Chloe in a celebrity-packed party lifestyle. Locals say he was ‘practically living in Monaco’s Sass Café and partying until dawn every morning with a bevy of models’ in his 20s.

Kate Moss — a friend of his father — spent much of her 2011 honeymoon break with Jamie Hince on board his yacht and they got on famously. In 2013 he was spotted playfully groping Moss’s bikini-clad bottom while on holiday in St Barth’s. At the time he was 21.

When she was 21, Emma Watson had been famous for a decade and had just finished making the Potter films.

While Brandon found life one long, joyful party, she was struggling introspectively with having money and acclaim. As she recently said: ‘I’ve often thought, I’m so wrong for this job because I’m too serious.’

She felt physically sick when she found out how much money she had earned from the Potter films, and considered not renewing her contract to complete them.

Following stellar A-levels, she took an English degree at Brown University in Rhode Island — over five years, due to disruption from filming.

Brandon Green doesn’t have a degree. There was some idea that he might buck the family trend and go to university, but Sir Phil told an interviewer at the time: ‘It’s up for discussion,’ and evidently it was decided that was not the right path.

Instead, he spent years learning the ropes of the fashion business with Sir Philip and working for Arcadia.

As the BHS scandal raged in 2016 — after Sir Philip sold the company to a bankrupt, with a hole in its pensions provisions — and the company went bust, Brandon was sent to host a table at the Met Gala Ball in New York in his father’s place.

For three years, he was also a regular at the Topshop show at London Fashion Week, sitting with model Jourdan Dunn and chatting to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

He began to go to Cannes, again as part of Topshop’s presence at the film festival, and to attend the Amfar charity gala on the arm of girlfriend Maryna Linchuk, a Victoria’s Secret model who towered over him.

But when Chloe became more involved in the family business and started designing shoes, Brandon stepped back from the spotlight.

They are a close family, all the more so since the woes that beset the Arcadia Group and Sir Philip before it collapsed. In fact, this seems to have acted as a wake-up call for Brandon.

A source said: ‘Once Philip fell from grace so badly, all the A-list celebrities and many of the world’s elite dropped the Green family completely. It really shook them up.

‘There was a party in Monaco that a family friend threw for them in the middle of the BHS pensions scandal. Brandon looked around aghast and said to Tina, “We don’t know anyone here!”

‘They felt the world hated them. Philip would fill his days doing laps of Monaco on foot with his bodyguard and personal trainer. Tina would busy herself in her art gallery or with her interior design business. There were a lot of tears; it was an awful atmosphere for the staff and for the family.

‘Brandon could see how transient popularity is and how big A-list stars had been using them for free holidays on their yachts for years. The whole experience sparked a “woke-over” in Brandon.

‘He got very interested in biodiversity and saving the oceans. He does a lot of charity and advocacy work with both Monaco’s Prince Albert’s Foundation and Princess Charlene’s Foundation. He is a trained deep-sea diver, he is very into fitness and gets involved with galas and charities that help the planet. He does frequent beach clean-ups and whatever he can to help.

‘It’s all very low-key, as he doesn’t want to be seen to be doing charity work for PR. But he’s been getting Tina to donate a hefty amount of money to charities that help save the planet too, saying they should do some good with their huge fortune.’

A second source says it is now Brandon, rather than Chloe, who is the apple of Tina’s eye, and he who is seen as the one who will eventually turn the family’s public reputation around.

A friend says: ‘He is very disciplined, intelligent and keen on study. He reads a lot, he travels a lot. He’s polite and well-mannered. Whatever he does, he embraces it fully. His parents are proud of him.’

His hobbies include skiing, at which he excels. He trains almost daily and took part in a gruelling cycling and swimming charity event last year for Princess Charlene of Monaco’s charity, going from Corsica to Monaco.

The friend adds: ‘He eats right and doesn’t drink or party — he is a very nice young man.’

How Brandon came to meet Emma, whose woke credentials may prove challenging for his family, is somewhat unclear, although it is believed his newfound interest in charitable ventures may have steered him her way.

Last year Miss Watson joined the sustainability committee at Kering, the owner of top fashion brands such as Gucci. She was labelled ‘Hollywood’s queen of ethical dressing’ by Vogue.

She has been taking a break from acting after appearing in the 2019 film Little Women but remains an active advocate for ‘race and gender justice’ via various charities. In 2014 she became a UN Women Goodwill ambassador, and she also ran a feminist book club, Our Shared Shelf, on Twitter.

She loves writing poetry, jigsaws, cats and nights in.

Her first purchase with the Potter millions was a ‘brick-like’ Toyota Prius. She said: ‘It’s sensible and boring, like me.’

Not that Emma is as staid as she says. In conversation with Gloria Steinem at an event in London in 2016, she revealed that she subscribes to a sex education website called OMGyes.

It’s a far remove from the days when she was cast in the Harry Potter films at nine years old, having been found via the theatre club she attended. She only completed filming the last Potter when she was 20, in June 2010.

Sources who knew her in the Potter days say her father Chris’s influence was paramount, even though she lived with her mother in Oxford.

The experience of growing up on Potter was so constricting and stressful, when the cast and crew held a ‘wrap party’ at Harry’s Bar after the final set of reshoots in 2010, she didn’t attend.

She said in 2017: ‘It’s something I’ve really wrestled with. I’ve gone back and quizzed my parents. When I was younger, I just did it. I just acted, it was just there.

‘I was finding this fame thing was getting to a point of no return. I sensed that if this was something I was ever going to step away from, it was now or never.’

Post-Potter, her films have been generally low-key. It is said she turned down the La La Land role that brought Emma Stone an Oscar.

Her £3 million London home was selected after she viewed it over Skype, because she can come and go unobserved.

That’s not to say her life is in any way normal: her social circle includes fashion figures such as Antoine Arnault of the LVMH dynasty, she has been the face of Lancome perfume and launched a collection with the ethical fashion label People Tree.

The question now is, will Emma finally find lasting love with a most unlikely Green?

[liberolove]

Our Great Perhaps

Pairing: Nishinoya x reader

Summary: You two have been dating for about 3 years. You met him in your first semester of college, and you two have been pretty strong. Now, however, taking into account each of your career paths has brought up issues. Maybe, it wasn’t meant to be.

Genre: crack, angst, college au (first part)

Warnings: cussing

Part One || Part Two: here

Nishinoya Yuu was an inimitable beast and glorious lover. He was the most passionate, romantic, and charismatic partner. You had never met someone like him before, so when he waltzed gracefully into your life, you were in awe. 

There was no way that a man like this could ever exist. You had dreamt of your stereotypical prince charming and knight in shining armor entering your life and sweeping you off of your feet. However, you had no idea your fairy tale dream could ever become a reality. And so soon.

The moment you two crossed paths, it felt as though worlds had collided. The stars had aligned and your prayers had been answered. Finally. This was the beginning of your happily ever after.

From the exact second you laid your eyes upon his beautifully toned physique, you knew that there was something special about him. Perhaps, this was the way love at first sight feels like?

When he walked into the lecture hall, everyone else faded from view, leaving only you and him. You just remember his smile, and those brightly lit eyes, looking throughout the hall for a place to sit. He seemed a little lost, but eventually he found somewhere to settle.

You were shocked to find him moving towards you, in the back of the wide room. You were sitting alone in that row of seats, hoping that no one would sit next to you, yet he saw you. He saw that you didn’t actually want to be alone. You were wanting- yearning for someone. Anyone. Anyone to come and sit next to you.

He heard your silent begging, and complied. Once he was close enough, he grinned his award winning teeth and introduced himself. 

“Nishinoya Yuu. But you can call me either Noya or Yuu. What’s your name, gorgeous?”

Those words will forever be seared into the back of your mind. They are the first words your guardian angel ever spoke to you. 

Since then, you two never let go of each other. No matter where you were, everyone knew that Noya was close by. Despite having different majors, you two did your best to take the same general education classes. 

But once your studies started leading you to your core major classes, you two had to part ways in terms of school. This didn’t come between you and Noya much, due to the fact that you two had been living together since your three month anniversary. It felt so right at the time, so why not? 

Despite the differences in coursework, you knew that you could always come to him in your cozy apartment. 

What was starting to drive a wedge between the two of you was the fact that Noya had begun to delve in deeper into his extracurriculars.

You were psyched to hear about his growing opportunities within his field of study: kinesiology. He dreamt of becoming a personal trainer and a coach for high school students. He had a big heart and wished to give back to his community. 

The only problem was that he was focusing all his attention to the intramural volleyball team, the kinesiology club, and his current position at a local high school. 

At first it was manageable, but as the semester progressed, he was constantly busy, leaving you stranded at home.

After spending almost three years joined at the hip practically, this change felt so wrong and absurd. You hadn’t felt this lonely in so long. 

Usually, Noya was so caring and attentive to your mental state, but now, with everything going on, he couldn’t spare the time to listen to you. 

You were so afraid of him forgetting you. Noya was constantly running here and there like a whirlwind, causing him to skip out on your weekend dates. He had so much work to do, and couldn’t afford to get behind on his studies. 

As the number of postponed dates grew, you decided it was time to talk. The anxiety of not knowing how he would respond starting to take over your thoughts. You had no idea how to bring it up nor how to convey your emotions to him. 

~~~~~

The day you finally decided to spill your feelings, he was running late. You had set up dinner about half an hour ago, yet he still wasn’t home. 

You were considering just heading off to bed, since it was getting really late. That’s when the door opened.

“Hey, sweetie, I’m so sorry! The boys wanted to go out to eat after practice, so we got- oh.. Oh fuck, y/n. I’m so sorry! I should’ve texted you that we went out.. I’m so sorry.. I’ll eat it tomorrow for breakfast. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, Yuu. I’m sorry, too, for not letting you know.”

There was a lull in the conversation, and you felt the knot in the back of your throat grow. You tried to get it out, but your own words were choking you. Your eyes started to well up with tears. Nishinoya was putting away dinner when he heard your stifled sobs, and immediately turned towards you and held you close to his chest. 

“Baby, what’s wrong? Please tell me. Is it because I didn’t tell you earlier about going out to eat? I’m so sorry.”

“n-noo.. It’s n-not.. that.” you managed to say.

“Then, what is it? You can tell me. You know that, right? You can tell me anything.”

Those words. They dug deep into your heart. You knew he would hear you out, but the fear of the unknown kept ringing in your ears. 

“I.. I c-.. I just can’t!” you yelped and buried your face in his chest.

“I can’t do this anymore..”

He understood immediately. Without saying a word, he held you tightly and placed one hand over your head, trying to soothe you.

He did his best to comfort you, but he realized that this might be one of the last times he would ever hold you.

“I’m so sorry, y/n. I really am. I wish I could fix this.”

Between sniffles, you replied, “We can’t fix it.. Things are different now..”

“I know, but there’s.. there has to be something.. anything.. Anything we can do. We can fix it.. I know we can.”

“I don’t know..”

His eyes started to water, as well. He pulled away from the hug and lifted your chin up so he could see you. Noya stared at you through the veil of tears in his eyes. He did his best to take you in, trying to memorize all of your facial features.

“I’m sorry I failed you..” he whispered quietly. 

“You didn’t.. It’s neither of our faults.. It just wasn’t meant to be..” As you said these words, you felt the sting of what they meant. It hurt to say it out loud, but it also helped provide some closure.

You two had grown apart and there was nothing you could do. You had given him 3 years of your life. They were the happiest years of your life, and you would never regret them, despite how much pain you were currently feeling.

“I love you, y/n. I always have, and always will. No matter what..”

“I love you, Yuu. So much. Thank you for everything..”

~~~~~~~

To say that the breakup was devastatingly difficult would be an understatement. 

Noya had an especially hard time trying to adjust to the change. He would still come home smiling and leaning in for kisses, but stop abruptly, remembering that you two weren’t together anymore. It hurt him to not be able to feel your touch on his skin, or vice versa. 

At first you agreed to be roommates, so that you could adjust gradually, but it made the pain so much worse. Seeing him everyday hurt so much. There was a pain in your chest every time you looked at him, because you knew he wasn’t yours anymore.

Eventually, you two talked about it, and decided that one of you had to move out. Noya basically decided himself that he would be the one to leave. 

You were grateful for his gesture. You tried to help him pack, but unfortunately, every one of his belongings was shrouded in the memories of your past. You had to apologize and leave him be. 

Once the apartment was empty, the ache worsened. It was actually happening. This was real. You two were over. 

That first month, you cried yourself to sleep every night. You were thankful that the one constant thing in your life, school, was still the same. So, you focused on your studies, making sure that your grades didn’t suffer the same way you were suffering.

Your friends learned to not talk about him, anymore. He would always be a part of you, but he was in the past, now. It took you about a whole year to feel better. 

You graduated from university, and you were on your way towards your dream career. 

~~~~~~~

7 years later

~~~~~~~

For your job, you had moved away to Tokyo. From there, you really blossomed. A change of scenery was exactly what you needed. You were currently working as a social worker, and you were loving it. Helping people and supporting them was your calling, truly. 

Everything was going great, and you soon got even more good news. Your agency was about to open a new branch in Miyagi. Your boss picked you specifically to handle the logistics, since you were familiar with the area. 

You were so excited to go back home and reconnect with friends and family.

You packed your bags, ready for the next chapter of your life. Your family was ecstatic that you came back, with so much success behind you. 

When you settled into your new house, your friends planned a surprise housewarming party. Everyone was so supportive and happy that you were back, with the job of your dreams. 

Eventually, they started asking you if there was anyone special in your life. You shook your head. 

The entire time you were in Tokyo, you were too engrossed in your work to focus on dating.  You didn’t have time to get to know someone who would eventually leave. Besides, you knew that Tokyo wouldn’t be for you, forever, so when you heard about a new branch opening, you jumped on the opportunity. 

Truthfully, you missed your life back home. You had grown used to the rural quiet of Miyagi. The city was fun, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t home. 

Since you told your friends there wasn’t anyone special, they started to drown you in guys’ phone numbers, trying to set you up with everyone they knew. 

You laughed it off and tried your best to get away, but your efforts were futile. 

They were dead set on finding someone for you, which was kind of dumb, seeing as there were hundreds of dating apps now. 

You reluctantly took all the phone numbers they gave you, with no intention of actually calling any of them. 

After the party, you were able to relax and have some time to yourself. You forgot how tiring parties were for you. It was exhausting answering so many questions about where you’ve been and what you’ve been up to. Still, it was comforting to see that so many people were still in your hometown. 

The next day you walked around town, remembering all the shops and houses from your childhood. Almost nothing had changed. 

You decided to walk into your favorite little café from back in the day. It looked just as you remembered it, with the only change being the menu. They served way more drinks than before. 

You ordered a small iced coffee and sat down in a corner, with a book in your lap. 

Today, you decided to read some poems. You put your earphones in and the world around you dissipated. 

You were too enraptured in your own little world to notice, but a man in a white t-shirt and black shorts walked into the café.

He ordered an iced coffee, as well, and looked around for a comfortable spot to sit. That’s when he spotted you. Could his eyes be deceiving him? It couldn’t be. Last he’d heard, you had moved away to the big city. 

Intrigued, he sat down 2 tables away from you, so as to not disturb you, in case you weren’t the person he thought you were. 

You sat there for about an hour before looking up from your book. “That was enough reading for now,” you thought. You got up without paying attention to your surroundings and walked out of the café.

When you got up, he was able to catch a glimpse of your face. It was you. He sat there stunned in silence. Before he knew it, you were gone. 

He ran out of the shop, in a frenzy, looking for you. He saw you still making your way down the street, so he ran behind you, trying to catch up. 

“Y/N!!”

Your earphones were still in, with your music blasting. You knew it was bad for your ears, but you couldn’t help it. You loved being lost in the sound.

“Y/n?! Fuck my life. Earphones.”

He finally caught up to you and put his hand on your shoulder. “Y/n!!”

You jumped, startled by the touch, and started fumbling backwards, about to fall. He reached out for your hand, and caught you just in time. 

You breathed a sigh of relief, and took out your earphones. “Don’t fucking scare me like that, fuck.” You looked up at the figure looming over you, and you stopped breathing. It was him. God, it had been so long. 

“Nishinoya..” 

“Y/n!! Glad to see you’re still the same, with music blasting in your ears.” He chuckled to himself. 

“Hi. Wow. Hey.. Hi..”

“Yeah, hey. Been a while, huh? How you been? I didn’t know you were back visiting.”

“I actually moved back.”

“Wow! That’s awesome! Have you met up with everyone yet?”

“Yeah, I have. Wow.. It’s really you. I thought you would’ve moved away, too.”

“I did, but I came back, too. I just couldn’t stay away, y’know?”

“Same.”

“Sooo.. wanna go out for some ramen later or something? To catch up?”

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

~~~~~~~

Noya picked you up from your place in his car at around 8 pm. Your heart was racing, the way it used to when you were still dating. 

You got in and asked, “Where’re we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

You whined but settled down quickly. 

Once you arrived you yelped, “Oh man! I love this place! I can’t believe you remembered..”

“Of course, I did. How could I forget?”

After all these years, he still remembered your favorite ramen place. You wondered what else he remembered..

You two spent the next two hours catching up and laughing like old friends. You told him all about your life in Tokyo, and he told you about his journeys abroad. Noya had gone to Brazil, the US, Korea, and most of Europe. He loved traveling but always made his way back home. Now, he was teaching and coaching at the same university you two graduated from. He was living his dream.

His phone rang. “Hey, sorry about that, I need to answer this,” he apologized.

“Hey, what’s going on? ... Oh, I’m just out having dinner with a friend, catching up. ... I’ll come over in a little... Okay, bye... See ya soon.”

He hung up. “Hey, I have to go now. My girlfriend’s been sick and she wants me to stop by before bed.”

You did your best to hide the disappointment and jealousy in your face. Of course, he has a girlfriend. It’s not like he waited for you this whole time. You were glad he was able to move on, but it still hurt a little. You put on your best fake smile and said, “Yeah, no worries! We can keep chatting another time.”

“Let’s get going then.”

“Alright, thanks again for the food.”

“Yeah, no problem. Anything for you!”

[wendell-or-something]

I wanna talk about themes in the early parts of the pokémon anime.

because like... for a really simple kids show that was clearly meant to familiarize us with a bunch of collectible characters, the early show has a surprising amount of poignant through lines in its narratives. like, yeah, they're mostly bite sized little one-off stories, but they're all cohesively linked in terms of their ideas.

the way I see it, early pokémon has a lot of themes of deviance, rehabilitation/reconciliation, and environmentalism... and they're all kind of tied to each other. and it all starts with Ash. a lot of people will observe, in retrospect, that Ash was never technically a very adept trainer. his team was often weak, not well balanced, didn't get a lot of practice battling, etc... but that's because Ash is a bit of an oddball himself, and while winning whatever tournament features in that season is Ash's stated goal, that's more about giving the show some semblance of plot structure... it's not actually what's most important to him.

Ash's first appearance in the show compares him to Gary, who is kind of the archetypal successful trainer in the making. where Ash arrives late to professor Oak's lab, Gary is on time. Gary's grandpa is a pokémon professor, which gives him a potential edge in terms of basic knowledge. Gary gets charmander, the "cool" choice... Ash gets literally not even a recommended starter. a leftover pokémon. it's either that or nothing, and it hates him and is hard to work with. but like... the reason Ash was late was because he was so genuinely excited to do this that he couldn't sleep the night before, and that genuine emotion never lets up.

at the start of his journey, Ash initially befriends pikachu by saving it. Ash saving a pokémon and gaining its trust as a result is a repeated element in a lot of episodes, and this is used to drive home the point that one of Ash's core qualities is a willingness to make sacrifices for the good of others. he can be selfish in small mundane ways, as many children are, but when the chips are down, this is always what he chooses to do.

this actually makes some pretty clear sense of the fact that Ash isn't a very good pokémon trainer in terms of battling ability. Ash's ability to battle well is secondary to his care for the pokémon he takes in. and if one of those goals is ever antithetical to the other, he always goes personal over strategic. its one of the things he sacrifices. and this is part of why Ash lets so many of his pokémon go eventually. in a meta sense, it's because the show needs a reason to keep rotating out Ash's team and letting the viewer get personally attached to new and different pokémon, but in the show, Ash often acts as a bridge between one era of a pokémon's life and another. he takes them in, sometimes when no one else would, helps them grow, and then sends them on their way when it's best for them... when he has nothing more to give them, or they'd be happier somewhere else. when its a choice between their well being and his own, Ash chooses them.

and of course, this idea extends, in some ways, to Misty and Brock as well... they each have a particular pokémon type that they're sentimentally attached to, and they stand by their choice of pokémon, regardless of type effectiveness, simply because they like them. in a meta sense, this mirrors how young children probably interacted with their pokémon games... before kids know enough to pick a favorite based on strategy, they usually choose a favorite based on which one makes them happiest to see on screen the most often. Misty's starry-eyed love of water pokémon because they're cute feels really true to the spirit of pokémon.

and themes of deviation and reconciliation all feed into the idea of environmentalism that the show promotes. because when nature and humanity clash, they each consider each other deviant by their own standards, and have to learn to harmonize somehow. whenever episodes aren't focused on battling (and they often aren't) the plot of the episode usually revolves around how humans interact with the pokémon they live with day to day. mostly it's either Ash and his friends learning about how a town successfully lives alongside their local pokémon population, or Ash and his friends resolving a conflict by finding a way for a town to coexist peacefully with their local pokémon population. in most cases, the show comes down heavily on the side of nature being right to exist the way that it does, and humans needing to learn to adapt their lifestyle to nature's needs. the more peaceful episodes simply showcase the kinds of successful adaptations that people have made to accommodate nature... and in spite of this, or in many cases because of it, the technology in pokémon is actually portrayed as really advanced. the fact that wildlife is so hugely important to the culture of the pokémon world, and nature is thriving everywhere you look, points to the idea that technology's advancement simply can't or shouldn't be done if it harms the natural world. because of the way that the study of pokémon is prioritized (you are welcomed to each new journey by a pokémon professor) a lot of technology advances due to the results of studying pokémon, or in order to facilitate the study of pokémon. at the very least, the show posits that it is possible for technological growth to occur while the natural world remains unharmed.

pokémon actually does something really special here, by making the pokémon themselves totally flexible in how human or animalistic they act. sometimes they're a force of nature, like the episode where the presence of a bunch of diglett prevents a tunnel from being dug through their habitat, or sometimes they're domesticated, like the episode where Ash and his friends meet a girl who herds mareep. and sometimes their stories would work just as well as an arc for a human character. as Ash goes along on his journey, he collects a bulbasaur, a squirtle, and a charmander, which each have stories of their own, and all of them are pretty universally relatable.

these stories even get so detailed that you can get an implied sense of each pokémon's age from what they're going through. when Ash meets his bulbasaur, it seems like its basically an adult. its already been a leader of its community for a while, and Ash gains its loyalty by displaying that he has similar values when it comes to caring for others. you can kind of assume that bulbasaur is older because of its position of responsibility, and the way others treat it with deference. seeing bulbasaur as older is actually really interesting, because it went through a whole episode where its instincts were telling it to evolve, but it didn't want to, and actively chose not to. I'd take this to be indicative of the importance of personal choice when it comes to identity, and as an added bonus, it communicates that being sure of who you are is a better indicator of maturity than physical appearance alone.

contrast this with Ash's charmander, who Ash obtained after its trainer abandoned it, and it nearly died. to me, charmander always came off as very young, no matter what stage of evolution it was in. and while the love Ash gave it was always valuable, it was never more needed than when charizard was going through that really petulant phase. honestly, charizard's story is really where the themes of deviance and rehabilitation come out stronger than ever, because this arc is sustained the longest and requires the most patience of Ash. charizard reads as someone who went through trauma at a young age, and hasn't felt truly secure since. the need to come off as powerful and intimidating as fast as possible comes from that insecurity, and a lot of its fickle behavior feels like its proving that it can always choose to do whatever it wants, no matter the circumstances. it really is a pride thing, and I think that comes from the fact that its pride was damaged by its initial abandonment and need for aid. Ash has a rehabilitative effect on charizard because he continuously validates the idea that charizard is powerful and capable. even if charizard chooses to squander opportunities to be helpful, Ash doesn't stop giving it those opportunities... even if it is out of necessity. and Ash never abandons charizard. charizard only leaves Ash when it is actually beneficial to charizard for it to go, and charizard makes this decision on its own.

in this way, pokémon creates a wide range of plausible behavior for its non-human characters, and leaves the creatures in its world in a weird area of ambiguity when it comes to their interactions with people. some pokémon are totally wild, and act like wild animals, while others are fully integrated into human society... you never question that the wild ones could be a danger to random travelers, and you never question that the ones that live in society can understand you on a level equivalent to human understanding. the real genius of this is that it displays, in no uncertain terms, that human beings are not that far off from nature. we are animals, we came from the natural world, and the dichotomy between humanity and nature is a false one. pokémon, as creatures that the human characters live with and care about, bridge the gap between humans and nature... not just in terms of narrative placement, but in terms of their environmental niche. they can slot into human society or the wild outdoor scenery, and feel at home in either place. it actually reminds me a little of shinto beliefs about our surroundings... how plants, animals, and objects all have a significant presence, and humanity is not at the top of a hierarchy in terms of this. all things are owed equal consideration, and humans are needy creatures... we ask a lot of our environment, and should give our respect to the things that facilitate our lives.

and now I want to talk about team rocket, and specifically Meowth. he's probably the most human aligned pokémon in the whole show... not only does he actually have the ability to talk, but he interacts very strangely with other pokémon because of it. Meowth's origin episode shows how he becomes ostracized from both human and pokémon society. he is originally living in poverty in a big city, which means that human society is already failing him... but beyond that, he seeks love and acceptance from another meowth that is aligned so heavily with human society that it inspires him to mimic it in order to become palatable to her. but instead of gaining greater acceptance for his efforts, Meowth becomes more of an oddity, and faces further rejection. and after obtaining human qualities to this extent, most other pokémon don't see him as acceptable by their standards either. he is cast out on all sides, and only finds a place for himself by turning to a criminal organization that is explicitly geared towards the exploitation of pokémon... which would be a lot darker if he weren't with Jessie and James.

Meowth's background explains his behavior, but all things considered, he comes off as incredibly self serving. his biggest recurring fantasy is the idea of belonging to Giovanni, which is purely a status thing, given that Jessie, James, and Meowth all find it intimidating to actually talk to the guy. and while Meowth goes along with every plan to try and steal pokémon, and is actually kind of the brains of their operation, its not as though Meowth doesn't have sympathy for individual pokémon during specific points in the show. he often has to be convinced first though, and the fact that he is a pokémon doesn't really change his loyalties. his species doesn't affect him anymore... he's only loyal to people who treat him as a peer.

the mission statement of team rocket as an organization, is to profit from the exploitation of pokémon... but it has also collected people like Jessie and James, who felt like rejects from society, and ended up in the only place they thought they could go. James couldn't be happy living the way his rich oppressive family wanted him to be, and Jessie tried a bunch of different ways to escape her own childhood poverty and failed at many of those endeavors. Jessie is particularly interesting because you get a lot of little details here and there about how hard her life was, how much her family struggled, how many times she failed in the pursuit of normal career options that she was genuinely interested in... and it manifests in her personality as an interest in material finery, pretty things, good food, and luxury, as well as an abundance of seemingly vapid self affirmations. in spite of everything, she's the ambition of the group, sometimes dramatically more than the other two, like, repeated failure somehow can't touch that.

really though, she and Meowth have a lot in common... and weirdly, this never seems to result in them ganging up on James too harshly. the fact of the matter is, James did have every material thing that Jessie and Meowth probably picture wanting for themselves... but James walked away from it anyway. for Jessie and Meowth that'd be unthinkable, but since he left home, James has been living in relative poverty, same as them. the fact that he doesn't treat his old life as a viable safety net to fall back on in case things don't work out, really legitimizes the idea that he felt pushed out of that environment, same as the other two. the version of him that would've stayed and put up with that life doesn't exist, which is why he's here. and he actually appreciates some of the elements of living the way he does that the others don't. the first thing that comes to mind is that he collects bottle caps... a seemingly worthless item, which is kind of a "one person's trash is another's treasure" sort of thing. and this idea is sort of repeated in the way that he always ends up with pokémon that love him in ways that are difficult or painful to bear, while Jessie reverses that motif by being harsh towards her pokémon, while they love her anyway. and while James is not above his fair share of whining and commiserating, he's often the optimist out of the three of them. he clearly doesn't feel like he's lost anything that was truly valuable to him since leaving home.

each of these three have kind of a disdain for the society that they rejected/the society that rejected them, but they aren't opposed to exploiting the natural world to meet their needs either, and they aren't good at being part of the team rocket organization... this is always made especially clear whenever Butch and Cassidy show up. they're really on their own side. they're the show's ultimate deviants, and this is why it's kind of a comedy of errors that they keep ending up opposing Ash and his friends, because they should get along really well (and they sometimes do whenever they have an episode that puts them on the same side or forces them to work together). though you could say that Jessie, James, and Meowth are rehabilitating by ineffectually chasing these kids around all the time. it gives them a basic sense of purpose that never ends up resulting in anything too terribly destructive.

and within all of this, I keep thinking back to the original pokémon theme song. all the lyrics kind of point back to these themes, though I'm not sure it's really that intentional.

"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was."

aka being the best by a non traditional standard. one of compassion, regardless of fighting proficiency.

"I will travel across the land, searching far and wide. for these pokémon, to understand, the power that's inside."

putting value in being in nature and seeking to understand it, while also emphasizing the idea of inner strength.

"you're my best friend, in a world we must defend."

our bonds are what make us strong, and our strength is used in service of our world.

"you teach me and I'll teach you."

this relationship isn't one-sided... we should both be humble enough to learn, and considered capable enough to teach.

basic messages for a kids show, I know, but the show does use all of these ideas to support each other throughout.