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99% of my energy today went into that little headshot so this isn't very polished at all,,,,

An Iron Moth series android named IM-437, also known as Ferris.

Like most IM series, their wings can fold into the triangle on their back to take up less space, and are made to be laboratory assistants who observe their given subjects & analyze data. Ferris was a relatively new android & had just received their first assignment when Turo's time machine captured them. The travel back in time corrupted Ferris's short-term memory bank however, leaving them nearly in the same state as when they had first been activated.

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Okay so a while ago I got an idea for a water type gym leader with a deep-sea theme. At first I had a hard time figuring out how I wanted to design her & even what to name her but I tried designing her again recently (and then when drawing her the file got corrupted because fuck me I guess) & I decided to name her Galatea!

I was thinking her gym is designed to look like the inside of a submarine. Maybe it's really dark but there's lamps in different places so you try to make your way over to the light & when you get there, surprise! A gym trainer! And then if you beat them in a battle they flip a switch that lights up a section of the hallway so you can see. Theoretically you can make it all the way to Galatea without fighting anyone else but it's kinda hard bc you can't see the path & there are of course some dead ends.

Galatea herself dresses kind of mermaidy and has a coral tiara/crown thing. She's very pale with pink eyes and silver hair (in the corrupted design file it fades into a medium grey with a slight purple hue to it; the colors are meant to resemble Cursola). I keep going back & forth on whether her actual clothes should keep the pale theme or go black/green/blue for them.

I put together a list of potential pokemon (including a few fakemon) for her team and I'm thinking the following:

Huntail (water)

Lanturn (water/electric)

Starmie (water/psychic)

Falleen (ghost/water, fakemon by @neanderthalfakemon)

Grimson (water/dark, fakemon by @darksilvania)

Dhelmise (ghost/grass)

Huntail is literally the "deep sea pokemon" so I have to include it.

Lanturn is nicknamed "The Deep-Sea Star" and inspired by an angler.

Starmie is "found in the deepest parts of the ocean" according to bulbapedia.

Grimson is based on the goblin shark, a species of deep-sea shark.

Dhelmise also isn't inherently a deep-sea dweller & isn't even a water type but 1) shipwrecks & 2) she needs something that isn't weak to grass.

Falleen is based on a whale fall!!!

I originally wanted to include Cursola in Galatea's team but I couldn't really justify it, unless I decide to replace Dhelmise with it (but I'd rather not lose the one pokemon who has some effectiveness against grass). I originally had Sharpedo too, but then I realized that Grimson has the same typing AND actually would be a deep-sea dweller, unlike Sharpedo.

Galatea's parents are marine biologists but they mostly focus on coral reef conservation. She grew up by the ocean but while her parents focused their attentions on the shallows, Galatea found the mysteries of the deep to be more alluring.

Outside of her gym, Galatea aids her parents' conservation efforts and hosts horror movie viewings for the public on the last Friday of each month to help raise funds for them.

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Rena & Sol decided to surprise the twins at work!

Tbh I'm not really feeling happy with this at the moment, but it's been sitting around unfinished for a month & I felt like trying to do something with it so I slapped a public domain image in the background & some color on the lines. Maybe I'll redo the lineart with a smooth edged brush? Idk, I just wanted to finally post this idea.

So anyway, I think after they've all been dating for a while, Rena would be more prone to little shenanigans when the twins are at work but she has the day off. She'll also visit Sol at work as well but if they both have the day off they'll visit the station together.

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Sometimes I have a modicum of self control, which is promptly shattered at the slightest encouragement (I'm not complaining though, making OCs is fun)

Sneak peek below the cut!

When she was a little Zorua pretending to be a human child, she was adopted by an actress and named after one of her favorite classical theatre characters: Rosalind.

I haven't decided how angsty her story is yet (whether or not the theatre is still running & she's become a sort of mascot, or is the sort of "Phantom of the Opera", or if the theatre is long abandoned & she refuses to leave).

She likes to play chess though, and hasn't lost a game in years. She thinks chess is vastly superior to pokemon battling and doesn't understand why most humans find the latter more enjoyable.

Rosalind is a trickster with a heart of gold, fiercely loyal to her "troupe" (even though they aren't a traveling group, she likes to call them her troupe), especially her adopted mother. She's been known to memorize all the parts in the plays they put on & thus makes quite an effective understudy.

If I go down the angsty route, maybe there was a fire in the theatre that killed her adopted mother. The theatre was subsequently abandoned, but Rosalind still calls it home & protects it from intruders. She's become something of an urban legend, where if you enter the abandoned theatre & get caught by the "spirit" you can challenge it to a game of chess. If you win, you get to leave, but if you lose... well, you're never seen again.

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Oh! Last week I was cleaning my room & found this old drawing of Rena's precursor, Rentaki!

Yes I was absolutely one of those weebs that just made up vaguely Japanese sounding names rather than doing actual research 😮‍💨

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Y'ALL I JUST HAD AN EPIPHANY RE: GELIDIA AND THE TIME LOOP ULTRA BEAST THING

(And I'm kinda almost completely reworking their character as a result)

Okay so in trying to figure out UB-Ouroboros, even though time loops are a fairly recent trope/narrative device (at least according to the minor research I've done), there are examples of similar things in ancient stories. For example, Prometheus: as punishment for giving fire to human, Prometheus is bound to a rock, and an eagle is sent to eat his liver, which would grow back overnight only to be eaten again the next day. Prometheus is essentially stuck in a time loop!

So! Gelidia could be an analogue of Prometheus, and the UB could be a mix of Zeus and Aion (the latter being a god of time, particularly cycles).

So the UB could be electric/dragon type, and maybe Gelidia was a member of the Ultra Recon Squad but tried to capture this UB in the hopes that it could bring back light to their world. Unfortunately, an Ultra Wormhole opened up and took both of them to the pokemon world.

I kinda want to change what Gelidia's partner pokemon is to a fire type. As funny as it is to just have a shiny Mew, thematically, I think they should have a fire type.

And maybe instead of having landed in Kanto, they actually landed in Area Zero. Maybe to keep just a tinge of humor, their partner pokemon could be an Iron Moth they just kept following them around (which in canon, that pokemon is known to do).

UB-Ouroboros hates Gelidia for trying to capture it, as well as being caught by an Ultra Wormhole and taken to another world, so it puts Gelidia in time loops as an attempt to torture her. Unfortunately, they landed on opposite sides of the world, so it uses all it's energy just focusing on putting Gelidia in time loops and can't prevent Gelidia from breaking out of them. It is slowly but surely attempting to hunt her down to put her in a permanent loop.

Gelidia's short term memory still sucks, but I think I will have it that they do remember bits and pieces of their home world, so they are aware from the start that they're an alien.

They both possessive and generous at the same time. If they buy or are given something, they will despise anyone who tries to take it away; however, if asked for something, there's a good chance they'll let you borrow or keep it (depending on how attached they are to it).

Despite their very sensitive skin & being prone to heat sickness, Gelidia loves to spend time outside in the sun. While part of them yearns for the home they had before, they don't really want to leave this world.

They still enjoy reading romance novels and work as a cashier at Chansey Supply in Mesagoza, but figuring out how they ended up in this world is kinda on the back burner. They are just vibing. *cue that tweet that says "I was put on this earth to do one thing. Luckily I forgot what it was so I can do whatever I want"*

Edit: okay upon further research I may also try to sneak some references to Pandora in Gelidia as well since she was also part of the retribution for Prometheus stealing back fire for humanity (and Pandora is just one of those figures that I'm fond of). Might do this more with Gelidia's design, as Pandora was dressed in a silver gown and veil, although Hermes giving Pandora "lies and crafty speech" and a "deceitful nature" lends itself to Gelidia love for white lies. Plus if you look at pre-Hesiodic myth, Pandora was a giver of gifts, rather than the receiver she's shown as by Hesiod. This duality also lends itself to Gelidia being both possessive generous.

So Gelidia is both Prometheus (the thief who brought a gift to humanity & was punished for it) and Pandora (a controversial figure, known for bring evil to mankind but is not the villain she's often painted to be). Gelidia wished to help her people with a grand gift, only to fail and be sent to another world & punished. I could also put as, she sees herself as Prometheus (as hero unjustly punished) whereas UB-Ourboros sees her as Pandora (bringer of bad things).

Also, unrelated to all that, toying with the idea that rather than being half blind, Gelidia suffers from bouts of temporary blindness due to a rare disease but I'm not 100% sure yet. Idk how to justify it beyond "I felt like it", but the half blind thing also feels just tacked on (which it kinda is, to justify having her hair cover one eye).

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Sometimes I think about projecting stuff with my irl job on Rena but like. Rena is dating her bosses, so just the thought of her coming home exhausted after work and if either of the twins try to comfort her it's like "my brother in christ YOU made the schedule".

Versus Sol who's a costumer at a theatre & generally has a more lax schedule & when she does work more than scheduled it's because hyperfocus kicked in & she accidentally did 3 days work in the span of 10 hours & she only stopped because either Rena or one of the twins called her asking where she was.

Of course, once Rena gets yoinked by Arceus into Hisui, things are different.

Rena trying to adapt to Hisui & working for the Galaxy Team, and then once she meets Warden Ingo she starts overworking herself because the sooner she completes the pokedex, the sooner she can get Arceus to send the two of them home.

And while those two are missing, Sol starts helping out at Gear Station (because they're down a manager AND a shift leader, both of whom are near & dear to the remaining manager; besides, the more time Sol can spend with Emmet, the less likely either of them is to completely fall into despair) on top of her theatre work. Neither Sol nor Emmet are doing too well, overworking themselves to keep the station together & if they're not occupied then their minds start to drift into bad thoughts so they've gotten keep going. At least they have each other to lean on.

When Rena & Ingo come back, it's such a relief for everyone (although the day after Rena has the sudden realization that she & Ingo should go see a doctor, maybe even check into the emergency room because God knows what kinds of bacteria and diseases they could've brought with them, but the doctors are basically like "y'all need to rest for a couple weeks but otherwise you'll be fine").

Rena finally decides to pursue her dream of becoming a singer. Sol realizes that she missed battling on a regular basis more than she thought & quits the theatre to work at the station (and in fact as a third Subway Boss, although officially she's an assistant manager).

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Trying to come up with ideas for an Ultra Beast that would be responsible for the time loops Gelidia gets stuck in

So I thought maybe I could base it on an ouroboros and a clock, for obvious reasons (if not obvious: clock because time, ouroboros is a snake eating its own tail; representing a cycle of death & rebirth, as there aren't really any symbols specifically for time loops afaik).

I looked at the "ultra beast fakemon" tag here in the hopes I might get ideas, and someone mentioned a pokemon AI generator. As an artist I have... reservations about AI image generation, howeverI don't believe it to be the devil's work or whatever and the generator I found for this primarily uses official pokemon as the seed or data set or whatever.

I think the first image I got looks kinda cool? Not quite what I have in mind though.

Unfortunately, including "ouroboros" or "paradox" (and those words by themselves) mostly just got me the same basic form (a circular mechanical looking thing)

So I thought, what about using a fusion as a basis? Something that is visually a cross between Rayquaza and Klinklang.

I came across aegide's "infinite fusion generator", put those two in, & I REALLY like the one on the right

So! New drinking game: take a shot every time I say "so" or "also" in a ramble lol That's a decent base/reference, but I still need to make it mine.

First, I don't have a name name yet, but I figure it's UB designation could just be UB-Ouroboros. Typing... dragon steel? I was thinking the color palette could be more like Dialga.

Might add more to this later when I have more.

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Wanted to draw Gelidia with sunglasses & a big sun hat, which became this.

Summertime in the pokemon world kinda sucks when you're from a world without sunlight.

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Sometimes, a time loop goes very, very badly.

The vast majority of time loops feature benign events. Just average moments Gelidia is forced to relive until they realize they're looping again & get themself unstuck.

But I felt like drawing something a little bloody & I like the idea of Gelidia being forced to kill someone in self-defense during a time loop. Possibly multiple loops. (And maybe the first time they kill a human, the feeling isn't so unknown to them. Maybe the feeling of still warm blood splattering across their face brings back a vague memory from before they fell. Maybe that scares them more than their current predicament. Then the loop resets and all Gelidia remembers is a very bad nightmare.)

I also headcanon that folks from Ultra Megalopolis (is there a word for them? Megalopolitans?) have blue blood. They also don't require as much oxygen as humans (so if you wanna kill one via asphyxiation, you've gotta keep a hold on them a bit longer!)

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Gelidia tries putting on makeup to look more human (but ends up deciding that it is worth neither the time nor the money).

Even if she does get a lot of stares, people very rarely ever ask Gelidia about her skin (and it's usually children).

They come up with various different responses on the fly, such as "it's a costume" or "I have an extremely rare genetic disease" or even just saying "I'm an alien from another planet". If pressed about it (again adults usually just move on while children are more likely to ask more questions) they'll just make stuff up.

One time, a kid asked about "that stuff on your face". She assumed the kid meant her skin, but they were like "no, the spots!". They were so caught off guard that they just replied "I don't know, they weren't there this morning."

They've learned that they find some enjoyment in lying; the more outrageous the lie, the more fun it is. They try to keep from doing it unnecessarily though; only to keep themself save or just harmless joke lies. Their peers learn to accept that Gelidia keeps all personal information private.

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EDIT: Old info, I've reworked Gelidia's character so most of what is said here is obsolete & crossed out.

More stuff about Gelidia

Mew comes and goes as it pleases. It usually makes itself only visible to Gelidia but it will also play little tricks on her sometimes. She secretly worries that one day Mew will grow tired of her and abandon her.

Despite this, Gelidia hasn't bothered trying to use a pokeball on Mew, or to catch any other pokemon. They've been tempted to (they really like poison type pokemon), but don't believe they're capable of taking proper care of a pokemon.

Gelidia visited Alola after finding some blurry photos online of people that look like her (the Ultra Recon Squad) there. Unfortunately it was well after the events of USUM, and all they were able to really get was a lot of rumors and hear-say.

They came to Paldea after hearing about paradox pokemon, hoping that if the rumors about ancient/futuristic pokemon from Area Zero were true, maybe it would be the key to preventing their time loops. Unfortunately they don't really have a way to get down into Area Zero, so for now they're just biding their time in Mesagoza.

Gelidia is considering enrolling in Naranja-Uva academy, but they can vaguely recall how well they did in academia in their own childhood; rather, that they did not do well. Tests are hard when you can barely remember what you did yesterday.

Very, very touch starved. They've taken to reading romance novels whenever they're feeling particularly lonely.

Regarding gender/pronouns, they initially found it to be confusing. Most people assume they're a woman, and they have no problem with that; as a matter of fact, they don't really care what pronouns people use for them. Whenever asked, they just shrug and say "it makes no difference to me". They feel that since they don't refer to themself in third person, there's no point in it. They've been known to use the wrong pronouns for other people as well, especially for a while after they fell, but they've taken to referring to everyone as they/them for simplicity.

They experience attraction to people of any gender as well (again, it makes no difference to them). They feel a bit awkward when they realize they find someone attractive, since they're not human. They try to reassure themself that their skin is the only significant difference between themself and humans, but they don't really know for sure. They've never been to a doctor since falling, so for all they know, their internal biology could look vastly different from the human diagrams they've seen.

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EDIT: I'm reworking this character so a lot of the info here is obsolete.

Introducing yet another OC: Gelidia

A former citizen of the Ultra Megalopolis who got sucked into an Ultra Wormhole and landed in the cave outside Cerulean City, Kanto. They woke up to find a shiny Mew watching them, which guided them out of the cave & has been following them around ever since.

Gelidia covers up their skin as much as possible, mostly just because they're very sensitive to sunlight & will burn quite easily (but also due to the fact that their bluish hue draws a lot of unwanted attention).

In the years since they fell they've traveled around they've taken to studying medicine and have a fondness for poison type pokemon. Unfortunately, their awful short term memory makes retaining information difficult. They're extremely grateful when they finally get their hands on a Rotom phone.

Until they feel comfortable around someone, they'll tend to try to match their mood & mannerisms when interacting. On their own, they're generally pretty chill, preferring to take things as they come rather than worrying themself to death over all the things they've forgotten.

As for getting stuck in time loops, they have no idea how or why they happen. The loops so far have varied from an hour long to roughly a week. Their memories of the loops tend to feel like dreams at best and a vague sense of déjà vu at worst, however Mew seems to retain all memories of the loops & will often let them know before too many cycles have passed. Over time they've gotten better at breaking out of loops once they realize they're stuck, but they secretly fear that one day they'll get stuck in a short loop while they're asleep and Mew won't be around to wake them up.

They have a hard time getting close to people, partly because of their memory issues, but also it's hard to really trust people when they tend to look at you like you're an alien (which yeah, Gelidia is an alien, but they don't actually know that; they've never heard of Ultra Space since falling).

They're currently living in Paldea, working as a cashier at a Chansey Supply in Mesagoza.

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Some small comfort whilst in Hisui.

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Demon!Sol and Angel!Rena

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Short ramble about Rena & Sol's reactions

Sol is very easily flustered, it doesn't take much effort, & her hella pale skin certainly won't hide her blushing by any stretch. Her voice gets even quieter than normal, she stumbles over her words, & her hands can't stay still. She'll pull at the hem of whatever she's wearing, run her fingers through her hair, tug on her own earlobes.

If she's being held close by the perpetrator (regardless if it's Emmet, Ingo, or even Rena) then she'll absolutely hide her face in their chest/neck/shoulder and tug on their jacket/shirt.

Rena, on the other hand, is not so easily flustered, and even when she is, it's usually subtle. A light blush, avoiding eye contact, fiddling with her watch.

If in private, Rena may try to turn the tables & turn it back on them, but in public she just wants to save face.

It's *extremely* difficult to get her flustered at work. If her brain is in work mode, emotions are practically nonexistent. She's also gotten used to Emmet flirting with her at work so that adds to her immunity... but it's not impossible. It would probably have to be very sudden, very charming, and would have to come from Ingo (again, she's basically immune to Emmet at work because she expects it from him).

Emmet has been know fluster her at home on occasion though.

In private, Rena will give a nervous chuckle when flustered and may try to hide her face (whether leaning into the perpetrator or just with her hand).

How they make you blush/fluster

It’s a bit similar to how they want kisses, but it’s just to see you smile. Also I can’t blush so :p. Flustering is just as good.

Ingo

Unintentionally

- words, words words words! He’ll tell you how much he loves you, gently and sincerely. He’s good with his words. Very good. He also does this unintentionally a lot. Ask him a question and you won’t know if you’ll get a normal answer or something so saccharine sweet it’ll burn your cheeks.

- This complement will likely be quite loud too, his regular voice is loud and clear from his work, so good luck with that.

- He’s very gentle and sweet with his words, except when he gets excited, so you might fluster if you do something well and he’s proud of you. He’ll raise his voice to the ceiling, to space, singing praises to you. Deny it and he gets even louder and more insistent.

Intentionally

- During a quiet day or whether he feels the need to be quiet, kisses on the hand is his go-to. His eyes shine with love and admiration as he holds you hand in his. He’ll tell you how radiant and beautiful you are in his eyes. Every good trait. It is only semi intentional.

- He’ll do things for you too. Service! Take things from the top shelf to give you.

- He thinks you look so good when you’re flustered, even when he’s not entirely sure what he did, it makes him proud to have this affect on you.

Emmet

Unintentionally

- kisses, kisses everywhere.

- The ticklier the better! He loves to make you laugh. He’ll kiss your cheek, your forehead, everywhere.

- He’ll also cuddle you, nuzzle your cheek then nestle his face in your neck as he snakes his arm around yours. Humming happily at the feel of your skin against his, his breath against your skin. He loves physical contact in general. He holds hands a lot, and likes to play with your fingers.

- He’s more mature than he realises, his views on life, the way he supports you and helps you, the way he looks at you. He loves you, plain and simple. He’ll do anything for you.

Intentionally

- If he really wants to fluster you intentionally (which is very, very often, the bastard (affectionate)) he’ll act more flirty, his eyes will narrow and his grin turns into a smirk as he leans in.

- He’ll whisper in your ear, maybe nip on it, kiss the base of your neck gently. His voice will be deep too.

- He wants to be a man in your eyes, and he thinks a flustered you is adorable. He preens when he knows he’s succeeded too.

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Sol/Emmet & Ingo/Rena based on this post by @antidotesprout