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So with the newest Pokemon Horizons episodes coming out last Friday there's been a lot of discussion about Roy showing the ability to feel his Lucario's aura. I'm not going to get into the discourse of whether or not Roy is an Ash clone (because I haven't been keeping up with this new anime super religiously to make an informed opinion one way or the other), but I am going to defend the writer's decision for letting Roy have this kind of connection We have to remember that in the Pokemon worldbuilding aura is something that every living creature in that world has. And even though Riolu and Lucario are like the mascots of aura there are other Pokemon with Pokedex descriptions of being able to sense aura and a multitude of Pokemon who can learn moves like aura sphere which implies a degree of aura manipulation. So if that is the case with Pokemon...it stands to reason that this would involve the human population. Again all humans in the Pokemon World have aura (to the point that I personally theorize that it's a biological necessity to exist in the Pokemon world). So just by using statistics there is going to be a number of people who probably can sense it. Again the worldbuilding already lends itself to humans having psychic powers (to the point there's even a whole trainer class that has it beyond just certain major NPCs), being able to acquire ghost powers (again to the point where there's whole trainer classes with this power beyond just the major NPCs), and people who can even commune with Pokemon. So it's stands to reason that the ability to sense aura would be something that pops up more frequently among the population than just Ash, RIley, Rye and Sir Aaron. If anything I'd argue it should be probably the most common supernatural ability because aura is something that is inherent in all living beings. Of the supernatural abilities we see in Pokemon, aura has been the least explored but I think Roy showing this gives it an opportunity actually be explored more, if the anime writers are willing to do so beyond just adding this for the cool factor.

I personally welcome the idea of seeing more characters exhibit the ability to sense if not manipulate aura so we can get more ideas of what it can and can't do. Plus you can see how people deal with their powers. Some people may try to walk the path of being an aura guardian, and some may just want to learn to control their powers if it ends up being particularly detrimental to them. We know with Caitlin and Sabrina that they struggled with their psychic powers, so perhaps something similar could happing with aura powers too. And some still may only want to hone one aspect and go about their daily lives. Considering we know aura can be transferred for healing purposes, it'd be cool for example to see a medical professional in the series who learns to control it enough to help heal others.

I just think there's a lot of potential that could be explored and I think Roy showing some ability opens the door for this exploration.

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What characters apart from Red, Blue and Leaf could stop Volo if he turns all the Champions using his Arc suits evil. And who would fight who(Example **** vs Leon, **** vs Cynthia etc.)

Hi @ibrex25k

Interesting question! I'll be honest, I don't think Volo's goal is to turn people evil. If I had to guess Volo's goal is a bit of a remix of his plan to collect the plates from Pokemon Legends: Arceus. In PLA, by gaining the plates and getting the Azure Flute he was hoping to summon Arceus. The awakening of arc-suits (one of each type) seem to be following this same path. Especially since Arceus themself has taken interest in Pasio and the sync pairs by telling everyone "show me thy bond". So by encouraging people to awaken their arc suits, Volo is likely hoping that once 18 arc suits of each type is awaken, Arceus will show up on Pasio thus giving him an opportunity to subjugate Arceus. This plan wouldn't require any turning of the characters evil.

"In other words, the strange events happening now are purely driven by Arceus's will!...And I heard Arceus's voice! Which means..." I put this quote here to reinforce the running idea that the Arceus Chapter is very much the will of Arceus and not just Volo scheming. Volo is just taking advantage of the situation. Arceus is interested in seeing the bonds between humans and Pokemon and is willing to bless sync pairs they deem as worthy. And more importantly Volo heard this voice too (assuming he's not lying about that part), which I mean jury is out on whether he gets an arc suit, but this at least plants the seed of him potentially having a bit of a redemptive arc towards the end of this. I say all of this to say it's unlikely to me that Volo's plan involves subjugating those who get arc suits in an attempt to ensure victory against Arceus. I think he just wants to get Arceus to show themself, and is willing to risk unlocking powerful trainer's true strength in order to do so. Now to answer your question properly, let's say he does actually have a way to mind control the characters while they are donning their arc suits. That would be a very wild plot twist. You mention Red, Blue and Leaf as people who could stand up the champions which is true...but that's assuming that the Kantrio wouldn't be mind controlled to. Red, Blue and Leaf are very likely candidates for the Electric (Pikachu), Flying (Pidgeot), and Normal (Eevee) arc suits and thus would also be under Volo's control. They fit the criteria of being champions/champion-ranked who all have strong bonds with Pikachu/Pidgeot/Eevee that could easily be exploited by Volo to goad them into awakening arc suits. Yes they just got Neo Champion fits but DeNA loves the Kantrio. So then who would be able to stand up to these characters? Well this would leave characters close to Arc-Suit characters. Think Silver and Clair against Lance. Benga against Alder. Hop, Sonia and Raihan against Leon. The protagonist Scottie/Bettie and Paulo are likely to get involved too especially if Lear gets the psychic arc suit with Hoopa (perhaps Sawyer and Rachel join in too).

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Milo Appreciation

Today I was just thinking about Milo and how awesome he is. Like he's a major gym leader and a farmer. I feel like the fandom doesn't appreciate how, realistically speaking, how badass he is. Like he's a major gym leader in one of the most difficult league circuits in the word...and he holds down a farm Now we know gym leaders often have second jobs in most leagues...but in Galar it's not as common as it in leagues where nearly all of the leaders have a major job outside of the league. Most of the leaders (both major and known minor league) just have the gym as their job. Part of which we can infer is due to the sponsorship program. Which makes sense because the league wants to keep level of challenge and having your attention split between two jobs is challenge (hence again why the vast majority of Elite 4 and champions also only have being a trainer as a job, and many of their other interests are hobbies rather than "I need this for money") And being a farmer goes without saying, very laborious work. So the fact he can hold down major league position and that is very telling on how dedicated and strategic he is with his time and effort. Plus him being a farmer informs how he battles. Being a farmer requires being able to nurture plants and livestock, and Milo helps to nurture challengers in his gym by not going all out, allowing them to ease in battling at such a high level in front of such a massive audience. The fact he's both a farmer and Galarian gym leader really just makes him a great character who deserves more appreciation for the level of worldbuilding he brings to the Pokemon world.

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"A wrong decision can cost you a battle, or a life. Think you can handle that pressure [player]? Better yet, show me!" Huge thank you to hawpoon on Twitter for this gorgeous comm of my Trainersona Cami as she prepares to send out her first Pokemon! She wants you to stand firm behind every choice you make in the battle against her. Think you can handle her?

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warmup. no context just vibes

and just thoughts about photographs reds always keeping with him

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After getting a taste of Arc Suit stories I have to say that I really wished they did a bit more with the stories for Steven, Lance, and Cynthia gaining their arc suits. I've felt that the chapters focusing only on one character did better at uncovering why the trainer and their Pokemon had a bond strong enough to be seen and blessed by Arceus

With N you see his bond strongly throughout his arc suit chapter. I really like how we acknowledged that across the board N loves all of his Pokemon equally but at that one moment he was willing to work with Zoroark to bring him victory. And how Zoroark helped him confront some of his lingering doubts thanks to the cruel words said by Ghetsis Same with Leon and Charizard as Charizard guides Leon when he's lost metaphorically after losing to Red

But Steven? not much there, same with Cynthia and Lance. We honestly get more about Cynthia and Garchomp in the anime than we do here Also the trials that were undergone were way more significant for N and Leon than Cynthia, Steven and Lance.

N's trial is as much about battling the Unova League as it is battling the preconceived notions he has of himself thanks to his self esteem damaged by Ghetsis' cruel words. Leon's trial is him overcoming his fear of losing and the crowds. I do wish they explored it a bit more than they did (like having him talk to Raihan and Sonia, even Hop), but it still got the job done.

yeah like the problem with Steven/Lance/Cynthia is

A) we barely see their bond with their ace Pokemon

Like as you eloquently stated on N you see his bond strongly throughout the chapter. I really like how we acknowledged that across the board N loves all of his Pokemon equally

Same with Leon and Charizard as Charizard guides Leon when he's lost metaphorically.

But Steven? not much there, same with Cynthia and Lance. We honestly get more about Cynthia and Garchomp in the anime than we do here

B) the trials aren't significant to the trainer

Like N's trial is as much about battling the Unova League as it is battling the preconceived notions he has of himself thanks to his self esteem damaged by Ghetsis' cruel words

Leon's trial is him overcoming his fear of losing and the crowds. I do wish they explored it a bit more than they did (like having him talk to Raihan and Sonia, even Hop)

But Steven, Cynthia and Lance don't really get hit hard enough. It's more like "oh yes I'm a mentor, but I shouldn't forget the desire to win" which is a GOOD point in my opinion. Personally, I've always hated the idea in fiction that mentors have to only focus on mentoring and not their own self-improvement. I just don't think they made it enough of an inner trial. Like I feel like I can get into the heads of N and Leon and explore their doubts and fears through their chapters. I can't say the same Steven/Lance/Cynthia. Like what are their doubts? Their fears?

Now if I were writing their stories individually...

Lance has gotten rocked by…Blue, Red, Ethan, Silver (now with the NC event), presumably Leaf, Lyra… You could make an argument that perhaps he is doubting his worth as a champion…he was an elite four member for the longest and maybe he's wondering if he's good enough (especially compare to colleagues who got the champion title right off the bat). Benga kind of gets under his skin as another young talented trainer and this could've been something they explored a bit more making him reevaluate how he feels as a dragon master, and him realizing he can mentor the new generation while still aiming higher. Maybe turning the tables a bit and him in seeking more experiences with Dragonite (as Benga alluded to him lacking) by learning from the younger trainers who he has watched grow into their power.

Steven is the heir to a whole business conglomerate…and loves stones…and you can make an argument that he may feel a little torn about his path What does he really want? Does that conflict in what he thinks he should he be doing? I think his story should've involved Wallace more before their battle and him kind of reaffirming with Metagross that no matter the path, their bond will always be solid as stone…and that maybe he can pursue different things (much like Wallace is both a champion and a top coordinator)

Cynthia talks a lot in her champion match dialogue about personal weakness. I feel like with her that's what could've been explored more. I know Volo alludes to her Pokemon not having to fight for survival…and she's a researcher so perhaps maybe making her trial a bit more about understanding the period of time from which Volo comes from. She did struggle a bit with Cyrus in Platinum and her original sygna suit story with Cyrus kind of plays into that lack of being able to understand someone you fundamentally disagree with. Her and Garchomp learning more about the harshness of Hisui and examining their bonds while they figure out how to confront Volo.

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Every now and again I just have to laugh at the idea that two of my cactusverse characters technically have stolen Pokemon Jack stole one of Mustard's Kubfu, broke into the tower of Darkness to evolve it into an Urshifu-Single Strike and then went to Paldea to bully the fuck out of their champion assessment before wreaking havoc on Galar Then we have Valen who during the Rainbow Rocket arc actually steals Rainbow Rocket Giovanni's Mewtwo by convincing the Pokemon it would have love and affection from him rather than being used as a tool for power by Giovanni. Which is true Valen definitely gives Mewtwo a lot of love

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The way that B2/W2's protagonist doesn't live up to B/W's... Ugh, I love it. Because it feels so intentional. Like they're stepping into shoes that are both too big for them and that they also never wanted to fill. Everywhere they go, people look at them and they see someone else who's no longer there. Even the original protag's mom sees them and for a split second, thinks they're her kid. N tries to recreate several moments he's already had with another person with them. Everything they do has been done before. They're not chosen by a legendary dragon. They're just given one by someone who was. They're always walking in the shadow of a person they never met and everyone they meet will always see a different person before they see them.

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im just weak… for fibsh… 🐟🐟🐟

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You guys know how in gen 7 the mega evolution dex entries turned weirdly violent? I have a feeling that some of the boss battles in Legends ZA are going to involve mega evolved Pokemon acting violent in the way the dex entries state. I would imagine GameFreak would want to capitalize on those dex entries. I see two potential possibilities for this: 1) the Pokemon are wild but some weird force ended up inducing mega evolution 2) People who have the capability to mega evolve their Pokemon do so and they go berserk due to some type of relationship issue a la Korrina and Mega Lucario in the Pokemon XY anime Between the two possibilities I hope it's number 2. Pokemon has recently been doing a lot to increase the amount of narrative storytelling in the mainline games. I think the idea of having to help trainers work out bond struggles in their Pokemon would be super interesting and help tie in the lore that a strong solid bond is needed to make mega evolution truly work.

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In honor of the 4th SnowMoonShipping anni, here's a pic from one of the most memorable dates the Blue and Cami went on

It seems Blue told his Pidgeot to go extra fast for this one

art by the amazing @/fusenryo2

Here's the accompanying fic of the date: https://t.co/sK4C7r0m2U

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Welp it's February 12th which is the date of the full moon of February...

Also known as the Snow Moon So have Cami and Blue having a heart to heart under the full moon with their Pokemon beside them AND A little fanfic to go with it https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVf6Zf5z0Vxyg1NOJuisUN2pml2K61Bpxqgj6pOT5sg/edit?usp=sharing

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What were your OCs upbringings like? What kind of family and Pokemon did they live with, are they still close with those people and how did it affect them?

Hi there anon! Ooh good question. I'll be honest I'll be doing a bit more detail for the OCs once I do the character biographies for them (coming later this year) But to give a brief bit Calla is an only child who had a very stable home in Wedgehurst, Galar. She did grow up around a few Pokemon but her family wasn't really into training and moreso just regular citizens in the Pokemon world and for a long time they were more focused on her academic potential than her learning how to train Pokemon for a league run. But they were very supportive of her decision to join the league challenge. Māhealani original was born in KoniKoni city on Akala Island as the middle of three children. Around the time she was 5 her family moved to Vermillion City, Kanto as her father was still active military and there was a base nearby (that sometimes Lt. Surge visited). She showed an aptitude for battling early on but refused to challenge the Indigo league wanting her journey to start off with her birthright, the Alolan Island Challenge. She actually wouldn't get back to Alola until she was 17 just before she would've hit the cutoff for the rite of passage. Her family was a little bit more heavily involved with Pokemon owing to her father's military background and her mom being the Scratch Cat Girl.

Jack is the oldest of two and was born in Stow-On-Side to the Royal House. Being the oldest he was closer in line to the throne...if the throne still existed in Galar. Like many of the first born in the aristocratic houses, he had the idea drilled into him that he was destined to rule Galar and the noble class was trying their hardest to figure out how to get the commoners to accept a monarchy again. Like most royals he actually did his formative schooling Paldea at the academy so he spent a lot of time away from Galar when he wasn't be taught by his royal house how to use aura powers.

Valen was created on Ula'Ula Island at that Hokulani Observatory by Molayne and Sophocles at the behest of the International Police to help tame the Ultra Beasts without risking more faller's lives. He considers Sophocles to be his big brother and naturally with his highly advanced AI he was absolutely phenomenal at battles Cami...well she pretty much has my background that I won't go into too much detail other than she's the youngest of her dad's kids, but the only child of her mom. She grew up in a working class household so money was tight at times and there was a lot of arguments between her parents. But she did grow up around a lot of Pokemon as her mom had a natural gift with connecting with Pokemon (rivaling N's) but also similarly shared N's distaste towards battles because of that connection. Cami showed mild aptitude for battling as a child and was eventually allowed to go on a journey after some pushback.

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So I saw this from Serebii.net apparently we're getting a new Web animation featuring a girl wanting to become a postal worker after seeing a Dragonite and finding a letter with no addressee First off this looks so cute! This also reminds me of the very first Pokemon anime movie where there's a Dragonite mail carrier that delivered the invitations to Mewtwo's island It's always nice to see how the Pokemon world functions outside of the league (and contests to lesser extent). Like just the everyday people and how Pokemon get intergrated into jobs like the mail service.

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You know, I have a bit of a Headcanon regarding Geeta and Larry’s dynamic. Specifically, that Geeta, due to her tendency towards obliviousness, keeps piling work onto Larry because she forgets how much work she already gave Larry, who himself is a workaholic despite his lack of enthusiasm for his job and so completes all the work which causes Geeta to give him even more work.

Hi there @channelsurfer02!

That's an interesting headcanon and one that I'd argue has basis in what we've seen in canon thus far We do know Geeta is a bit scatterbrained, likely because she has wears so many "hats" so to speak. By hats I mean she has a lot of roles she plays in Paldea. Top Champion, Chairwoman, on the Academy Schoolboard. That's a lot and I think Gamefreak does a good job in showing the reality of someone who holds a lot of positions. Yeah they're awesome, but at a cost. Geeta is a "girlboss" for holding down three demanding jobs, but she doesn't do it flawlessly and her being scatterbrained is part of that. It's realistic and very refreshing which is a huge plus IMO for her character overall. Having spent more time than I care to admit in higher ed academia she reminds me of more than a few faculty I've met across my uundergrad, grad school and now med school tenures. The ones that are on multiple committees while being the head of some department or what not. They tend to be a bit scatterbrained and oblivious And with that comes the tendency to pile up work on subordinates since they have their hands in so many things. Which understandably causes some frustration among the employees, although many will still do all the work while grumbling because oftentimes the ones who stick around people like Geeta...tend to be workaholics.

Which brings us to Larry...who as you mentioned is a workaholic. Hence why he gets all that stuff done despite lack of enthusiasm and some tension between him and Geeta because he get even more work piled on to him So scatterbrained "I have my hands in everything" boss with an eye for talent and an unenthusiastic workaholic end up in this constant cycle of work. And they both need a vacation (which neither will take because their workaholic and "hands in everything" tendencies kind of prevent them from doing so.

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You know what bothers me about the Kanto radio tower? There’s effectively no Gastly habitat in all of Kanto now. I mean, I imagine the Ghost-type Pokemon that used to live in Pokemon Tower were rehomed to the chambers only Mr. Fuji has access to, but if you’re a Trainer in Kanto and you wanna raise a Gengar, you’re SOL, brah!

HI there @ether-gearhead! That's a good point that you make there's no place on the mainland of Kanto once the radio tower is built. The only exception is if we're in a FRLG universe where the Sevii Islands have the lost Cave where you can find them

Even though the Sevii Islands are sadly not mentioned outside of FRLG, I could imagine outside of wherever Mr Fuji rehomed them this is the other place people might look. While writing this it made me think how nice it would've been in HGSS to have the Sevii Islands and perhaps see Agatha taking care of them. Or perhaps a sanctuary that her and Mr Fuji work together on. It would've been nice for the continuity of Kanto Considering the distribution in the Johto games for the Kanto Ghost types goes solely into Johto it also makes you wonder what interregional travel is like for the two regions. We know they're connected by land routes, water routes and train. But now with this ecological shift (also thinking about how many Johto Pokemon are only found in Kanto) how often trainers and Pokemon enthusiasts cross regional lines to get Pokemon they want

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a funny/sad thing about people who go on tirades about how penny pokemon sv is an awful selfish violent criminal who should be arrested instead of being reached out to and helped, and how they feel insane that anyone likes her is... she absolutely already feels that way about herself and they didn't notice

she spends the whole game doing what she can to protect her friends from being blamed for anything, calling herself a massive idiot under the guise of being someone else, turning herself in voluntarily, wanting to be given more punishment. it weirds her out that her friends and the school directors and chairwoman keep showing her mercy and seeing the good in her and what she was trying to do instead of throwing her in the trash she thinks she belongs in